As Ophelia approached the headquarters, she could feel her stomach churn, even though she had angrily walked out of the house and told Cade not to follow her; she wished he was there now. She would hold his hands to stop her uneasy heart, and she would tell him that it was because she was trying to show the world that they were truly together and nothing more.
“You are a big girl,” she whispered to herself as she sat in the car. The car stopped at the entrance of the company; she was supposed to walk in. She had no idea what her father was planning for her. Was there to be a welcome entrance for her by the staff at the lobby? Did they do those kinds of things for directors?
“Maam?” the driver said, turning to her. He had stopped for almost five minutes and waited for her to get out of the car so he could go park the car.
“Oh yes,” she cleared her throat, held the handle and then pushed the door open. She stepped out and began walking into the office. She took deep breaths, trying to steady herself as she walked in. Why was she afraid? This was supposed to be her turf so why did it feel like she was walking into the lion’s den?
“You made it, on time,” Diana said as she walked to her.
Ophelia had been so focused on maintaining her composure that she had not noticed Diana until she spoke and stood before her. “I tried to make it early,” she murmured, and she nodded.
“So Mr. Frost asked me to send you up to his office immediately after you came in,” Diana said, turning and leading the way to the elevator.
“He is already in?” Ophelia asked. She could not believe that her father had come in, and he did not think to do an introduction to the staff for her. Was she just supposed to resume without anyone knowing that she was here?
“Yes, ma’am, he resumed quite early today, and it has put all the staff in a state of frenzy.”
“That is Mr. Frost,” Ophelia mumbled to herself. She wanted to ask Diana why there was no huge ceremony welcoming her to work, but she kept the thought to herself. She would be seeing her father in a few seconds, so she was going to ask him herself. She was even more glad now that Cade did not come; otherwise, he would just have attracted attention for no reason. They got to the office and walked in; Carter’s assistant let her in, and Diana waited outside.
“You are late,” Carter murmured from his desk without looking up.
“I believe resumption time is nine am, and I got into the premises a few minutes to nine, so I am good,” Ophelia replied, sitting on one of the couches. How could his first instinct be to pick a fight with her this morning?
“If the staff comes in by nine, how can a leader come in by nine?”
“Oh, please, you act like the staff aren’t the ones doing the major work here,” Aphelia replied. She had not had coffee yet, and even though she loved sweet things, she still wanted to have a sweet coffee. “Can I get coffee?”
“Have your assistant bring you that,” Carter said, scribbling on the paper in front of him before putting it aside and then making way to sit opposite her. “So what of our deal the last time?”
“What deal?”
“You have a child, then I promote you to become vice chairman,” Carter said. Ophelia had said that in a fit of rage, and she did not expect that he would take those words seriously. She was just saying it because everyone seemed to be hung up on the fact that they should have kids.
“Come on, Dad, you know those words were said out of annoyance.”
“So because you said them in annoyance, they should not be taken seriously?” Carter asked. Now that he said it like that, she could not have a refute for him. “As a Frost, you should be responsible for your words. You should never say anything carelessly,” he added, and she groaned.
“So what are you saying? Am I not going to work as a director for a few weeks and then get promoted? Are you saying that I must have a child before you get me promoted? You already promised me this; does your word not carry any weight?” she asked. She had a feeling that she would not like where this was going; it felt like it was going to end badly.
Her father was obsessed with keeping the company within the family, so it was sure that he would leave the company to her, but as for now, she was not sure what the end would be. “You would have to climb all the way up by yourself; you would only get a position because you deserve it.”
“What?”
“I mean, my child does have its perks because you do not have to start from the bottom.”
“Dad, this is just unacceptable. We have an agreement, and you should honour it,” she said. She did not like how this was going; she had seen it quite a lot in magazines and books, and it was a lot of work; she was stuck in for a lot of work.
“You would head the entertainment industry; the person who had been acting as CEO had constantly allowed the company to run at a loss, so you are to step up and grow it within a year if you do that. I will ignore that you do not want to have a child and promote you to chairman.”
“Chairman?” Ophelia was started by his request. “Does this mean you will step down for me?”
“Yes”
“Bring the documents; we must sign on them.” Ophelia said excitedly, How hard can it be? “Also, I have a request,” she said, causing him to look up at her.
“Huh, a request? Let us hear it,” he gestured, and she nodded.
“I have always thought of building a fashion brand; I want to do that, so you have to fund it,” she demanded. One thing she learned from her dad was that he was more inclined to hear confident people. So this was her shot anyway.
“A fashion brand?” he asked, smacking her lips.
“And what do I get from it?”
“Oh, you get nothing,” she said, and he nodded.
“Submit a proposal for that, and I’ll see what I can do about it,” he replied.
“When do I resume?”
“Tomorrow”