The telephone on his table rang and scrambled to pick it up. He had been expecting the call since morning. He placed the receiver part of the telephone on his ear as he waited for the caller to speak up.
“Damn!” he slammed the telephone back on the table in anger. Apparently, his deal had been rejected. Currently, he had only two strong financial partners, one of which was Harr communications, and if he was to continue this way, he knew he was going to lose a lot. Harry had returned to Chicago two weeks after the incident. He had his own work to attend to. He sometimes envied his friend. He had everything going for him, his company was now going to become the biggest in the region. It was thanks to Harry that his company still had its head above the waters. After most of his investors pulled out, Harry had doubled his investment, and encouraged his business partner to invest with him.
He scoffed as he read a news article that had crowned Damian the best business man for the second half of the year. In less than two months, he had been able to achieve a lot. And he blamed himself for that. He had been too relaxed in showing his weakness and Damian had capitalized on that.
Everything about the man interested him. What he found on the blogs weren’t enough to put a face to the name. He had done a background check on him and found nothing except from the fact that he had a period of absence from the city. No one knew where he had been. He had suspected him of being linked to a drug or sex trafficking cartel, but with no iota of proof, they were just thoughts.
He punched in some numbers into the telephone and let it ring. It rang few seconds before it was answered.
“Hello, Jack. How is it going?” Harry’s voice rang spoke through the receiver.
“I’m okay. How is your work going on at the company?”
“Everything here is perfect.” Jack nodded. Well, everything here wasn’t perfect. They never were.
“I have thought about it. I am going along with my decision.” he spoke and a short lived silence dawned between the two men.
“Are you sure it’s what is best?” Harry asked.
“Yes. Absolutely. ”
“Alright then. You have my support. I will be flying in tomorrow. Let’s see how I can help.” Harry replied.
“Thank you, Harry. ” he dropped the call. He had decided on taking Antonio Aesthetics under JN constructions as a sub division. This meant that the former would no longer be operating as a single business entity, but as a unit of his company. This was best for him to reduce cost, and grow his company stronger.
“Set a meeting with the board of directors of AA for noon tomorrow. It’s very important all of them attend.” he spoke to his secretary through the phone.
“Yes sir.” she responded and got to work.
***
Damian Woods sat on the high end swivel executive chair behind the table in his office. A personal computer laid open on his table while some documents were stacked on one side. A smile if satisfaction graced his lips as he worked. He was now the CEO of the biggest construction company in Los Angeles. Scratch that, the biggest company in Los Angeles, and he had achieved that in months.
Life as a CEO hadn’t been as tough as he had expected. Just about having enough capital and the right work force. He couldn’t deny the fact that his success was also due to the fact that most of his directors badly wanted to topple Jack Antonio. He himself had two degrees from two different colleges, plus the wealth of experience he had gathered while in New York.
He picked up an award from his table and stared at it in admiration. He had just been awarded few days ago. -Best business man in Los Angeles, beating Jack Antonio who was now trying to get back on his feet. A wry smile appeared on his face as he thought of Jack. He wondered how he felt, seeing an unknown man displace me.
“I will love a meeting with you, Jack Antonio.” he mumbled.
****
In the boardroom of Antonio Aesthetics sat four middle aged men dressed in corporate suits. They sat, trying as much as possible to remain calm and relaxed. They knew the storm their CEO had been facing and calling for a meeting at this point meant two things. They really hoped it wasn’t the second.
“Good afternoon, distinguished gentlemen.” Jack greeted as he walked inside the room. He stood at the end of the long glass table as he addressed them. The men mumbled a reply to his greetings. At this point, they just wanted to hear what he had to say.
“You all are aware of the hurdles I’m currently facing in the business world. Handling two companies as chief executive officer with inadequate funding isn’t something I want to do.” he paused and looked at their faces, trying to read them. “You all know of my new business competitor, the withdrawal of my investors and liquidation of their shares. At this point, I will make a decision with us best for me and for the company.” he added. The tension in the room grew as the men remained silent, waiting for him to end his speech. From what he had said so far, they knew where he was heading.
“I have therefore on this day, made a merge between Antonio Aesthetics, AA and JN constructions. AA ceases to exist as a separate entity, but as a unit of JN construction.” he revealed and the was stunned silence in the room.
“What of our jobs?” One of them managed to ask.
“We are taking this action to cut down on operational cost and have an increased funding so, unfortunately, we can not take in new staffs at JN currently, though all the workers laid off here would be highly renumerated.” Jack replied.
The men wore sober looks as they stared at each other. Somehow, they had seen it coming. They knew this was the best decision Jack could make. They could have given him a resounding applause if the decision hadn’t been against them.
“Here is the official documents. We will begin sales of some of the assets of this company.” he pushed the document forward and they all picked a piece.
Few minutes later, and the story was everywhere on the news. Jack Antonio had just shut down one of his companies in New York, selling off some of its assests. The building had been put up for sale too. Damian sat back in his office as he read the news online. What was Jack Antonio doing? He scoffed and drank from his glass as he stared blankly at his laptop screen. He hated his guts.
“Let’s watch and see what happens.”