The Meeting

My stomach turned the moment my knuckles rapped on the door. I had gone over this new plan a dozen times and was absolutely sure it was completely foolproof, but something was still making me nervous. I didn't know how my boss would react in the next few minutes.

"Come in," came the voice from the other side, effectively gluing me to my spot. Why was I so anxious?

'Come on Amaria, move!'

My hand came to rest on the door knob and goosebumps came up on my arms. I couldn't do it.

"I said come in," the voice repeated again. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and stepped inside the office. "Ah, do you have the new marketing plan?"

"Yes, here you go," I set it down on his desk cautiously, waiting for him to take a look at it. The President picked up the Manila folder and opened it to inspect the contents of the documents inside. "There has been an unexpected bump in the finance department. Our budget for the new campaign is smaller than last recorded. I included the monetary summary and budgeting records as well. They're in the back."

The President glanced up at me wordlessly and looked back down at the papers in his hands. His expression was unreadable and that made me extremely nervous. The deafening silence in the office wasn't helping either, so I distracted myself by looking out the floor to ceiling windows behind him and watching the daytime life pass along below. This building was too tall.

"What happened to the five percent of the budget that's missing?" He wondered, never once looking up from his papers. I almost jumped out of my skin upon hearing him speak so unexpectedly. Was I distracted or was he getting better at sneaking up on me? Something told me it was the first option.

"We don't know. I reviewed it with my team and there has been nothing out of the ordinary. Last season's budget was invested completely and we never once used an extra cent, so it's not to say that we borrowed anything from the future season. We tried to trace the missing money but it basically never even made it to our department,"

"They gave you an incomplete budget fill?" My boss's eyebrows were raised high, causing wrinkles to appear on his forehead. "Why?"

"They didn't give us an incomplete budget fill, the whole budget never made it to us. It's in the records behind the new design appeal," I pointed down at the folder. "We contacted the financial department and they provided us with proven transcripts that state the amount of transfer and when it was transferred. We believe that it's a flaw in the system."

Five perfect of the given budget for new marketing strategies wasn't much, but it was still a loss to the company and moreover, to Jason Chevalier Greene. The man was very meticulous with money, and he only hired people who were also meticulous with money. There was nothing Jason Greene hated more than seeing a dent in his assets.

"A flaw in the system? Like the monetary trackers are reporting false figures?" He put down the papers and leaned back into a pensive pose. "I'll have to call a technician down from JetStream to take a look at the equipment. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

I nodded in response, turning to leave his office, but his voice stoped me in my tracks. "If you could choose a spot for the corporate vacation spot, where would it be?"

"Sir?" Why was he asking for my input all of a sudden?

"Where would you choose our vacation spot?" He repeated, this time more slowly. The confusion must've been extremely evident on my face because he smiled like he was looking at something amusing.

"With all due respect, boss, why are you asking me?" My forehead was going to have permanent creases in it one day. "You've never asked any employees that question before."

"I've asked Delilah that question before," I could feel my scowl grow by the second. Why would he bring her up now of all times? "She never gave me an answer I was happy with."

"Why are you asking me?"

"You and I are of the same mind," he simply replied. There was nothing else that came out his mouth, he just sat there and stared at me.

Now that I thought about it, where would I choose to go on vacation? "Locally? Miami."

He hummed and prepared to go about his work. That was probably my cue to leave.

Walking out of his office, Delilah gave me a side eyed glare while she was walking past his private secretary. The urge to piss her off was too much to resist, so I gave her a little wink and a smirk for extra decoration. Her gasp was like music to my ears.