chapter 6.5 - client pressure

Meanwhile...


The sun beamed through the the balconies' gigantic window, illuminating the empty boardroom. A large rectangular table stood dead centre in the room, surrounded by blood red armchairs which were all pushed back from the sides, someone was expecting company. Which left a smaller table toward the top end of the room, alone. Facing the window a lone figure sat there, smoking a cigarette and spectating from the window, her face in thought. She took a long drag from the cigarette and stubbed in out in the ashtray placed on the desk. Smoke flowed from her mouth and she let out a deep breath while rubbing her eyes. She turned to her left and looked at a faded picture sat on her desk. The picture contained two young girls, a older women and a older man smiling on a farm somewhere, a moment frozen in time. Both the girls had long blonde hair and were dressed in frilly dresses while the mother was a larger lady in a blouse and skirt also with blonde hair and was wrapped around the midsection of the man in the photo. The father like figure was tall and dressed in a white polo shirt with shorts and sported a large moustache which covered his mouth so you could only just make out the fact he was smiling underneath . The nostalgia made her smile, times were simpler, they were happy.


'Bzzzzzt'


T he telecom buzzed. The smile faded from her face and she pushed the button down with her thin fingers.


"'Sigh' Ja, Sigrun here" She said.


"Ma'am, the clients want a word" Came the voice


Sigrun swallowed, "Very Vell, tell Zem i am ready for visitors and zey can come straight in"


"Yes Ma'am, they will be up right away" it replied.


Sigrun stood up from here desk to reveal her slender figure in her red business attire. Her face was wrinkled with age but mostly stress, the responsibility put on her small shoulders by her family weighed Sigrun down heavily. She nervously put another cigarette in her mouth and tried to fire up her lighter but her right hand was shaking too much, she eventually managed to light her cigarette, she placed it in her mouth watching the door.


The door opened and a army of lawyers marched into the boardroom all armed with briefcases, followed by a short man and a large women entered behind them one carrying a clipboard. They meant business.


Sigrun forced a smile, "Mr and Mrs Mama, please take a seat" She said gesturing towards the closest chairs.


"We would rather stand Miss Hamer because we will make things quick and clear" Said the short man.


Sigrun took a large drag of her cigarette. "Go on then" She said.


"As you know, the profits of Big Mamas Big Pizza Inc are plateauing still... even though we have invested a lot of money into your company to test our new products,we have seen little in terms of results" Said the chubby women slapping her clipboard.


" Zat vas due to a staff shortage, i assure you ve have ze guinea pigs ready for testing your new topping, ve picked up a new batch this veek in fact, of all shapes and sizes" Sigrun spluttered, sweating a small amount.


"You better be correct Miss Hamer... or your funding goes... 'poof' " Said the man


"Any vhy are zey here, to intimidate me?" Sigrun asked gesturing at the army of lawyers now littering her boardroom.


"To make sure you understand the gravity of the situation you are in, should we, the biggest pizza distributer in the world pull out, your other clients will perhaps doubt your ability to provide your service to a standard they find satisfactory and pull out themselves." Said the man grinning.


Sigrun gulped, she knew he was right.


The man clicked his fingers. On que the lawyers left in formation and and was followed by his wife. Before he left Mr Mama thought he would make one last remark.


"You will do the right thing Sigrun, it would be a shame to drag the company your father built through the mud for nothing, It was a shame your father couldn't find a successor on the same level he was". He smiled then shut the door.


Sigrun waited for the door to close and dashed to her desk. He reached for her intercom.


"Dr Yun..., Deploy substance A3"


"Yes Ma'am, Do you think the subjects are ready?" Replied Dr Yun


"Zats none of your concern,i'll make zat call, you have your orders Doctor, carry zem out!" She barked.


She turned to the picture of her family on her desk. She picked it up and stared at her father's face.


"I vill fix zis dad... i vill fix zis..." She murmured as tears began to pour down her face.


She took one last drag of her cigarette and threw it in the ashtray and buried her face in her hands.

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Thanks for reading, I do also have a DA account where I will be posting this story as well as on FF and i do have plans for future stories.


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