His Secret Desire (12 page)

A bald man was looking at me with deep interest. Two older women looked at me with faint smiles on their lips. Another man was writing something in a leather notebook while another seemed to be writing something on a tablet computer. One man drank water from a glass and a very elderly man appeared to be sleeping, although I wasn’t sure. The room wasn’t hostile, at least not yet.

I continued, “As you know, Strauss Engines is working closely Sun Industries and Manufacturing. They have already agreed to manufacture the BR36 prototype at an unprecedented one hundred and ten dollars per unit. This is directly due to Miss Dubois’s negotiating skills,” I read aloud. I tried to hide my blushing and I felt immediately touched and embarrassed. Alex had made sure to thank me publicly for the board. I once again marveled at his ability to give me authority so it suited his needs.

“Yes, we’ve heard about the BR36 prototype unit,” Henderson cut through. “Also, does Alex go into any detail on how much it’s been tested?”

“Give me one moment, Mr. Henderson, while I look through his statements to try to find if he’s made any comment,” I said nervously, trying to hide how flustered his comment made me.

“We’ll wait.”

I looked through the papers quickly. Alexander had made no comments about the BR36 prototype and anything related to its testing or testing of any sort. I felt like lowering my head in defeat. I was unprepared. Why was Henderson questioning me like this anyway. Surely he must know that I am only the messenger?

“I apologize Mr. Henderson,” I said, turning to the board members at the table. “And to the rest of the members of the board, but I am without such information. Ale—”I stopped, catching myself before anyone could hear me say Alex’s name. Henderson was making me flushed and nervous. “Mr. Strauss did not prepare me with a statement about the testing of the BR36 unit.”

“That’s alright, Miss. Dubois. It seems he’s willing to allow you to negotiate price over something of which you have no knowledge. And, a major deal with a major client that we now have a binding contract. Am I correct?” asked Henderson.

I was speechless. I began to stutter over my words as I searched for something to say.

“Also, I’m told that there were even promises made of future dealings with Sun Industries and Manufacturing based on the cost of the BR36 prototype. While the deal itself was small, the future implications are enormous if the company keeps moving towards this new water filter direction. Am I correct?”

My mind latched onto the small phrase he said, if the company keeps moving towards the new water filter direction. I wrote a note quickly about it. Henderson obviously had his doubts. I underlined if and looked up to Henderson.

“Yes, that is correct, but not exactly—”

“Ok, great, so I am correct,” Henderson interrupted. “Now, I do have the information on the testing of the BR36 unit. Let me present the information that I brought with me, as I decided to come prepared to this meeting.”

Henderson stood up and stepped aside from his chair. An image came over the back of the wall and it was a graph. I struggled to focus my eyes on it, yet I couldn’t make sense of any of it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, while you will see that the BR36 prototype has been through a couple of rigorous tests, you may also notice that it has not been independently verified, nor has it been tested in the field. Thus, we are taking it on blind faith that the unit is production-worthy. And that word comes from the company that Miss Dubois, who barely has a bachelor’s degree, and not even in any kind of engineering field, has made promises that Alexander Strauss has authorized his assistant to make.”

Henderson looked at me coldly, a dull smile on his face.

“Strauss Engines is moving towards a new direction with Alexander Strauss that definitely involves some risky moves. Please, Samantha, continue,” Henderson said sweetly.

I eyed Henderson, feeling the anger growing inside me. He watched me just as closely, his face giving nothing.

I continued on with Alex’s notes, “Sun Industries is a valued future partner of Strauss Engines. We already have many units of theirs in production in various other models. The BR36 prototype will be revolutionary for Strauss Engines. It will help provide a new future for the company, propelling it forward with brand-new water filtration technology that will be the envy of every other engineering company and third-world government. Even many cities in the United States would benefit from the implementation of the BR36 unit in production with our current water filtration designs here at Strauss Engines. I know going with a prototype with such a major operation is risky, but the risk at this point is very low and the payoff will be enormous, not only for the company, but for the world.”

I looked up at Henderson as I finished reading, content in the small victory that Alex had addressed Henderson’s concern over his risky move. It was as if Alex had predicted the criticism and addressed it immediately. Yet Henderson seemed unfazed.

The meeting moved on. I had said everything that Alex had sent me to deliver to the board meeting. Despite Henderson’s subversive questions, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had done as well as I could have. I vowed to myself that I was not going to let my guard down around Henderson again. I wouldn’t return to a meeting with him without having first considered every angle he could attack from. And he would attack again, I was sure of it. Alex might trust this man, but I thought him as vile as a snake.

I studied him, writing down every nuance in his expressions. When one of the board members began to speak about his doubts over the proposed direction of the company in a tone that was reasonable and controlled, a hungry look spread over Henderson’s face. He egged the board member on subtly, not directly telling him that he was right, but his questions moved the board member into a terrain where he was ready to cry mutiny against Alexander Strauss.

The meeting ended on that note. Alexander Strauss was not in good standing with many of the board members by the end, and when everybody walked out, I felt that little bit of hope in Alex’s dream fall away to nothing. I felt miserable. I had let Alexander down. I was here on his behalf and Henderson had practically rallied a mob against him in the company building that Alexander owned!

How could I have failed so completely?

Chapter Twelve

The boardroom was empty and I had gathered all my papers into my expensive leather briefcase that Alex had left out for me this morning. Then I looked up and Henderson had returned to the room.

“So, Miss Dubois,” Henderson said, his voice filling with contempt when he uttered my name. “How was your first board meeting? We’re not so bad, right? Not as scary as you thought?”

This bastard was mocking me.

“No, I wasn’t scared at all,” I said defiantly. “You’re very vocal about your opinion though, I must say.”

“Yes, well, when one’s opinion borders on an ignominious fact for the company that one helped to build and cultivate into a world power, then that opinion must be shared. But, I’m not sure you would have much experience with that, now would you?” asked Henderson. The vitriol in his voice unmasked now.

“No, I don’t suppose I do have much past experience with that, but I must say I’m certainly getting acquainted with ignominious facts related to people in this company.”

Henderson shut the door to the boardroom. I felt a lump close in my throat. The only other person on the floor was the security guard waiting for me by the elevator. Why did he close the door if there isn’t really anybody around to hear us anyway?

He walked closer to me. Too close.

“How did you come to work for Strauss Engines?” asked Henderson.

“I applied through an agency. They hire recent grads for temp work for these big companies. I was fortunate enough to be asked to renew my six month contract after the end of the first one. So I’ve been here for eight months now,” I said.

“Eight months? Quite a meteoric rise, for an employee to jump from the temp offices to the executive level, especially as Alexander Strauss’s personal assistant, no less.”

I searched his words for any insinuation that I had somehow cheated or lied my way up. It was clear that he felt I did something immoral or unsavory to get to where I was. I paused before answering, standing as high as I could to face him eye to eye. The man still looked down on me, I suppose figuratively and literally, but I stared back at him with fury. I wasn’t about to be talked down to by this man or any other.

“I climbed high in this company due to a combination of luck and ability.”

“Luck and ability? Such vague words, my dear young lady. They really have no meaning outside of the subjective meaning we give them. Eight months is hardly enough time to show one’s abilities when you’re typing up memos and making copies of those memos. I mean, I’m sure I could hire a group of monkeys to do the same type of work, and believe me, I would if not for them having such a proclivity for throwing shit,” Henderson said, laughing.

I burned with fury. I imagined the coworkers down in the temp offices, being told they were only better than shit-throwing monkeys because they could refrain from defecating in their hands and throwing at each other. This man, Henderson, had no idea that the workers down in the temp offices worked hard at their jobs, hoping that they would someday be hired to an actual position where they could relax for one day with the knowledge that they would have a job tomorrow. What did he know about worrying about money?

“Did you play sports in college?”

The question threw me off. I was so busy being mad at the comments about my coworkers and friends being monkeys that I thought I had misheard him.

“Excuse me?” I asked, bewildered.

“Did you play sports in college?” Henderson repeated slowly, as if he was speaking to someone who didn’t speak English and he was the kind of asshole who thought speaking slower and louder was going to help.

“Um, yeah I played soccer, but I didn’t stick with it past my sophomore year,” I replied, the memory flooding back to me.

I played soccer well. I would never have been a professional soccer player, that I always knew, but I loved playing. It kept me extremely fit and I loved the camaraderie with my teammates. I made relationships that I still have today, and I loved the game. But in one game I was struck in the shin and I fell, twisting my ankle so horribly that I was crying in pain until the ambulance arrived. I was sure that it was snapped, but I lucked out and it was only sprained. I was out from the game for the rest of the season and I filled my time with other activities at school. When the new season started, I decided to hang up the cleats for good. I still went to every game, but as a spectator. I yelled louder and harder than any other fan for my friends.

“So you quit, I see. It’s so hard to keep up a commitment to something, even something as silly as a sport. Well, that’s too bad. I know Alex likes the sporty types. Very fit,” Henderson said, looking out the window as he said it, as if to himself.

But I hadn’t quit, not like that. Had Henderson known about me playing soccer? Had he had me vetted or something? And why?

I thought of the implications of what Alex likes in a woman and I felt a rush of anger. Henderson was beyond simple insinuation now.

“That’s nice for Mr. Strauss. As his personal assistant, I don’t see how I require any kind of information related to the type that Alex likes,” I said curtly. Also, I felt a pang of jealousy. Henderson was talking about Alex with other women. Other women who weren’t me. Who weren’t my type.

“Oh yes, of course,” Henderson said, smiling wide. The smile of a car salesmen trying to sell you a lemon. The smile of a born liar. “There have been many assistants before you, though, who definitely would have cared what type Alex was into. Many of them who were exactly that type.”

My face reddened at this. Just how many assistants had Alex had before me? And where were they all now? Samantha, I thought. Don’t let this guy get to you. He’s trying to hit you where it hurts and you’re falling into it like a stupid little girl.

“That probably explains why they aren’t around anymore. It sounds very unprofessional,” I said, forcing a small polite smile.

“I’ve known Alexander since he was a little boy, you know that, right?” Henderson asked, changing the subject quickly.

“I’m aware of your history with his father.”

“Yes, me and Max go way back. Alexander is a good boy, he really is, but you know I’m concerned about the company. I want what is best for his father’s company. Max and I built this place from the ground up. It’d be a shame to see it all laid to waste by some sort of misguided altruistic endeavor. You should know that my loyalty is always to this company. Where do your loyalties lie?” Henderson eyed me. His voice sounded genuine. I paused and thought about his question for a minute. It was a honest question and it deserved an honest answer, regardless of whether it came from this vile man or not.

“My loyalties lie with Alexander Strauss sir, and through him my loyalties lie with the company, of course,” I answered thoughtfully.

“Well, then you and I are on the same page on at least one point. But Alex is going to ruin Strauss Engines with his save-the-world bullshit. The company has to make money,” Henderson said. He paused, looking out the window again. “Oh, why am I telling you all of this anyway.”

“You know, Alex is probably following the path of his mother,” I said.

Henderson’s eyes darkened as they turned on me. I saw something in them that made me recoil as if I had been struck. There was something dark in them. Something like hate.

“You know, a lot of professional harlots work their way up the ladder from the temp offices. But not many make it all the way to Alexander Strauss’s office. Congratulations,” Henderson hissed.

I stepped back, speechless. No words would come to my lips and my mind drained to a blank void of darkness. I felt like Henderson had slapped me upside the head and screamed “whore” in my face.

He smiled an acid smile at me, turned, and walked out of the office, leaving the door wide open. I heard him greet the security guard with a friendly hello and with that he was gone. I sat down, shaking with fear and rage.