Chapter Thirteen

As they made their way to the conference room, Richard stole glances at Ivy and sensed that she was upset. He had never been one to meddle in personal affairs; not that he was good at it anyway. He wondered what her encounter with Luke was about- whatever it was seemed to have shaken her. He thought of many possible reasons why she was with Luke, and why she had faked a relationship with him. He had met Luke twice during the yearly conference held for CEOs of marketing firms; one like they were currently attending and although they never interacted beyond the conference level, he never had a good feeling about him.

Turning to Ivy, he said "are you okay? I'm sorry I snapped" just before they stepped into the conference room

"I'll just wait outside. These are the files you need" Ivy said, pointing the files towards him. She didn't think there was a need for her to be in the room; in fact, she never thought of it...the meeting was for the CEOs and she was just a marketing director

"Don't be so modest. You're the backbone of the company's marketing unit....and who knows, you just may meet another Mark " he said with a light chuckle, as he patted her on the shoulder

"Sorry for showing up late, ladies and gentlemen," Richard said loudly for everyone to hear as he made his way to an unoccupied seat

Ivy allowed her eyes to do a quick scan of the room; there were about 50 people seated, most of them CEOs of big fashion brands she had only seen in pictures and the ratio of men to women was about three to one; everyone of them looked elegantly dressed. Ivy suddenly felt so small and prayed that nobody noticed her as she searched for an available seat- and guess what! The only available seat was beside Luke. Ivy groaned as she made her way towards the seat, wondering how a day that started so well could suddenly go wrong

"I see we meet again," Luke said with an arrogant chuckle

"Not now, please. Allow me to focus" she replied to him, not bothering to even glance in his direction

Ivy looked on as the meeting proceeded, and was grateful she attended; from the speeches to the business strategies, and some stories about the journey to the top, Ivy was in total awe of everyone gathered in the room....except Luke, of course. Ivy didn't even realize that the day had been far spent until it was announced that the last speaker was about to talk; the last speaker turned out to be Richard

"You know, I wouldn't say I had a from grass to grace story" He started with a little laugh, as he climbed the podium

Ivy was surprised by honest he was and could see that some other people shared her thoughts from the expressions on their faces, while some people didn't seem to like the idea of not working hard for the position he held; their definition of hard work most likely related to suffering

"But that doesn't mean I've not worked my butt off to get to where I am today" As if reading their minds "you would bear me witness that the company has grown tremendously the past few years" he went on to add

"You know you still haven't told me what you're doing here" Luke whispered just loud enough for her to hear

"I'm here for the same reason as you," She said, throwing him a glare

"So you slept your way to the top. How desperate" he said in a condescending tone

"What?" She almost screamed, whipping her head in his direction, so quickly that one would fear her neck would break, only for him to shrug innocently at her like he did not just call a slut indirectly

As Richard read out his speech, he looked on at the interaction between Ivy and Luke; it was so subtle one would miss it if close attention was not given. From the moment Ivy walked in, he had noticed that they sat down together and had suspected that they had a history between them, especially with her posing like he was her boyfriend in the morning. As he looked at her at that moment, he knew that she was uncomfortable and thought that he had to do something about it

"Just before I round up, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to invite the regional sales director of the stone marketing firm to give us a detailed answer to your question," Richard said in reply to someone that had asked him a question as he looked steadily at Ivy

Ivy didn't know how to behave as she made her way toward the podium; it was like she suddenly forgot how to walk and smile. She wished everyone would stop staring at her unashamedly

"Please join me to welcome miss Ivy Jakes, the backbone of the company" Richard announced, as he helped her climb the podium

"You got this" He went ahead to whisper to her

Even as Ivy stood on the podium to talk, she could feel her heart beating faster and could feel so many knots in her stomach. She knew that she had been given a golden opportunity; an opportunity to prove that she was not just a pretty face- something so many people would kill for

"Good day everyone, thank you all for having me here. Standing before such great men and women is such an honour to me. I must assure you that I do not take this for granted" Ivy started her speech, and it was like she had rehearsed for this moment as words flowed freely from her mouth, and she felt the knots in her belly loosen...

"Thank you for your time," She said, finally ending her speech with a mock bow

Rounds of applause filled the room, and Ivy could feel her grin stretch from ear to ear

"Well done, Ivy. That was perfect" Richard said as he walked toward her

"You have such a good head on your shoulders. We should talk about that collaboration now," Mark said, patting Ivy on the shoulder

"I told you you were perfect," Richard said, his voice laced with pride