THE BOSS

CHAPTER FOUR

"The demise of a seed reincarnates into a tree…"

His lungs contracts and expand in a rhythmic acceleration as he runs.

He walks out of the woods into Stone's mansion and sits by the garden.

His hands were sweaty, face tensed, heart was racing wild, skin boiling, and a pool of water runs all over his body.

His thick clothing supplies more heat to the body than expected, and it stuck so close to his skin due to the wetness of perspiration all over his body.

He pants and gasp for breath and he sits still for some time to blow off the steam coming out of his body.

He knew he had to take off his clothes soon as possible cos they stuck to his skin, and they stunk with a foul odour.

The wind screeches against his skin.

He felt a great surge of refreshment as he watches the birds sing from afar and his heart calms down; he felt so much peace.

His mind wanders about the meeting he schedules with Hudson.

He must go back to the city as soon as possible; Hudson won't accept being late as an excuse.

He hurries to his feet with much reluctance. He leaves the garden and goes to the door on the left wing of the mansion.

He plunges into a swift speed to beat time as he quickly climbs the stairs that lead from the pantry into the hallway.

As he reaches his room, he quickly changes his wet sticky clothes into his bathrobe.

He heads into the bathroom to take a warm shower. A few minutes later, he leaves the bathroom wearing his bathrobe and fluffy slippers.

His mum stands by the door. She looks so exotic wearing an embroiled long pink robe and her hair stashed up into a bum.

He looks back and says,

"Good morning mom."

"Good morning, son," she replies.

She moves toward him and places a kiss on his forehead, and she says,

"God bless you, my son."

Lance, sensing his mother's agitation, asked: "what's wrong mum?"

"Oh, it's nothing, son," she says.

Lance looks at his mum, holding her chin with his two hands, and says,

"Mum…. I know that look. Your eyes say it all."

"You want me to be sincere with you?" she asks.

"Yes, mum," he replies.

"Son, can Emily stay with us for some days?" She asks.

"You may come to get her on the weekend."

Lance raises his left eyebrow towards his forehead as if he had to think it through.

"Mom, I will grant you this request. I must be in a meeting in less than an hour and I do not know how I will manage with Emily by my side."

Her face lit up with excitement.

"Thank you, son." She replies….

She moves away from him and looks at the mess on the floor of his room. She nods her head sideways and smiles.

"Let me leave you to get dressed," she says.

"Ok mum," Lance says. "And mum, thank you for the gift."

"I appreciate all that you did for Emily. You and dad made her smile and am happy she is happy."

She pats him on the shoulder and exits the room.

Lance hurries into his dark suit, with a white tie and black shiny shoes. He knows he is in for a fit with Hudson, and he will take a risk at it.

Lance can not see his dad before leaving. Yesterday was a surprise he never expected, and they all slept so late.

He steps into the hallways and marches out to the front yard. The chauffeur waits at the door to usher him into his Ferrari.

He had his private driver bring his car from the chapel, so he does not have to wait on his father's chauffeur.

In his right hand, he carries the small briefcase that holds documents for Hudson's proposal. He felt they need to be reviewed. He cannot work in an austere situation.

He steps into his car back seat and tells jimmy,

"Please take the fastest route to the city. I need to be there in 45 minutes."

"Can you do that Jimmy?" Lance asks.

"Yes, sir, "company he replies.

Jimmy steps on the wheel, moving out of the front yard to the mansion gate. As the gate swings open, Lance looks back at the mansion from his car. He smiles, turns back, and settles in.

The car hits the country road, and the huge gate closes in...

THE DREAD FIGHT.

He paces back and forth, cursing under his breath.

Hudson could not withstand the silence. He thrust his hands in his trousers pocket, searching for his lighter as he picks up another cigar, he kept in his silver porch that he carries around.

Lance should be here by 11 AM. His incompetent secretary had to apologize severally for the delay of his boss.

"Bunch of incompetents," he curses.

He took the lighter and put smoke into the cigarette stick, fidgeting on what to say to Lance when he arrives.

He kept wondering how things could be slow in a multi-dimensional corporation.

He stares at his wristwatch repeatedly; he walks towards the glass window, his back turned to the door to see his reflection.

He smiles at himself and thinks of how smart he has been dealing with this fool, called the acting vice-chairman.

He hopes everything goes as planned. He needs to get a hold of the company shareholding records and become one of the shareholders as he plans...

Lance arrives in the boardroom with his secretary by his side.

"It's about time you showed up, Stone?" he says with sarcasm.

"What took you so long, Stone?" He asked.

Lance replies politely, "Am sorry Hudson, I had a few family urgencies, and I had to sort it out first."

"Oh, I told you when we started this project, you need to put your house in order and besides, it's been a year since your wife died."

"I guess your daughter needs a new mother." He says with a mischievous smile.

Lance is not comfortable with his remark and his blood boils from within, but he maintains his calmness.

"We should put that aside for now. Will you mind taking a seat?" Lance says.

"The meeting is about to start," he says

Well, let's start then…. Hudson mimics.

Julia, Lance's assistant and secretary, pulls out some documents from her portfolio and hands them over to her boss.

"Thank you, Julia," he says.

She sits beside her boss. Hudson, irritated by the secretary's presence, blurts out,

"Why is she sitting with us here?" Hudson asks. "I believe this is a meeting between me and you. She has no business being here or listening to our conversation."

Lance wonders what he will do with this menace he has as a partner.

He replies, "I ask her to be here and besides, Julia has been my assistant and secretary for some time now and she notes all I do."

"So, she's my right hand, and she must be here in this meeting."

"Why is that so, Stone?" Hudson asks with contempt.

"I do not expect you to play this type of game."

"You do not trust me or what?" Hudson asks.

Lance becomes impatient within and realizes he needs to straighten things out before it gets worse.

Julia kept mute, shaking from within. She dreads him so much and she wonders how her boss could be involved with this man or how his boss could let him continue to insult her.

Lance looks at Julia and says,

"Please excuse us, Julia."

"Ok… bu... ut sir," Julia says.

It's alright Julia, I understand. Lance says.

She leaves the boardroom with a big frown and fright on her face.

Lance's fury boils from the depth of his skin and he looks straight at Hudson, speaking sternly, "I think we need to talk, Hudson."

"What do you mean, Lance?"

"How could you disrespect me in front of your secretary?"

"I won't take this from you or her," Hudson says angrily.

"I never disrespected you. Besides, you are rude to Julia."

"Hudson, we don't disrespect any of the staff here," Lance says.

"We keep it a code of conduct to treat all our staff fairly because we consider them as being a part of the family."

Oh! I see, so you now give your staff the right to act as the owner."

"Come off it and tell me something better; I now understand why your staffs are full of incompetency," Hudson says.

'Bunch of incompetents." Hudson blurts out with sarcasm.

Hudson, what is wrong with you? Lance yells.

"Listen well, Hudson, am sick and tired of your complaints and how you have been pushing everyone around.

This is not your company where you treat your staff like pigs. Here we treat people with respect, staff or not." Lance says sternly.

"Lance, I can't believe all that you are telling me."

"Are you calling me a bully or what? I don't get it." Hudson asks.

Lance's tempers unleash within, and he could not hold himself longer. He says,

"I have been so patient with you, but you disrespect me and my staff in my office and you sit here to talk about being disrespected."

"What the heck is this?" Lance screams.

Hudson removes his cigar from his mouth and puffs the smoke into the air and it hits Lance's face,

Lance could not take the insolence from his partner. He wished he had listened to his dad and siblings when they all warned him about Hudson's creepy ways.

Lance's head swells like a full volcano ready to erupt its hot molten lava into the air. He takes the file Julia left with him and opens it. He flips through the pages of the form and says, "you know what, Hudson? This ends now!"

"This is over. I can't do this anymore."

He tears the file into shreds and throws them at Hudson. "Get the hell out of my office and company," Lance yells, his tension rising to the roof. He puts both hands on his waist.

Wai…. it What do you mean this is over? Hudson asked.

"You heard me right, Hudson," Lance says.

"This is over. I quit and I cancel this project." Lance speaks.

You can't just quit here. We have an agreement, Hudson says, disturbed.

"That ended when Julia left the door." Lance blurts out,

"What! you are kicking me out of your company because of your secretary?"

"There is more to this, that is unethical," Hudson responds.

Lance holds his fist in a knot, swaying both hands in the air and screams,

"Am sick! Am tired! You tell me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it."

oh! so you know it Hudson replies.

"Well, if you don't run things the way I want, I guess I have to show you how to do it."

I can't sit back and fold my hands while I watch you and your incompetent staff run things in an unprofessional manner." Hudson says.

"Unprofessional, you say, I made a big mistake accepting your offer."

"I tell you, show me and my employees some respect and leave my company," Lance yells louder.

"Well, Lance, we will meet in court, am going to sue you and the entire company," Hudson says as he rises to his feet.

"Well, in court we will meet, am tired of you and your pranks. Leave my office and company." Lance yells so loud that everyone in their office shivers from the noise coming from the meeting room.

"We can't keep up with your hassles anymore." This is over Hudson." he shouted.

Hudson's eyes brim with anger. "This ain't over, Lance."

"You will hear from my lawyers soon."

He slams his hands on the table with a loud bang that echoes through the wall.

Bolts of loud noise vibrate from the wall into the nearest offices around.

Heads turn at the door, wondering what could have occurred in the meeting room

Julia stands at the door to eavesdrop on the conversation. She's surprised at her boss' rage and outburst, but she is grateful to her boss. Her boss is doing what he should have done to that monster of a man.

Everyone close to the boardroom kept wondering what could be happening. No one dares ask what was wrong, irrespective of the loud noise they hear in the meeting room.

"I ask you to leave the building or I will call security to escort you out," Lance says.

Hudson, feeling so humiliated, raises his head in pride and says, "You going to regret this."

"If I gave you a chance to build my estates, is because I believe in you, but now I see I made a big mistake…"

Hudson's face fumes with great annoyance and he says with disgust, "This is not over, Lance. I promise you that."

"Please leave," Lance says.

Hudson walks to the door. Julia hurries back to her office before Hudson opens the door.

"You know what, this is not over," he says before he steps out of the boardroom.

"Goodbye, Hudson.," Lance says waving at him with a smile on his face.

Lance sits on his enormous chair with a big sigh of relief. At last, he did it. Now he has to get everything back in order.

He has to hand over the details of his decision to all other directors and look for a way to sort out the mess they might get into with Hudson.

"I will have to prepare myself for any surprises and any consequences that follow. I will have to talk to dad even though he might reprimand me for this." He thinks.

"I pray I don't get voted out as vice-president for this choice I made, but I believe dad will understand and help me with the board of directors." Lance thinks.

Lance presses the intercom and says,

"Julia, please send a fax for an urgent board meeting with all the directors and shareholders by tomorrow afternoon. But I will be away till tomorrow afternoon."

"Julia I'm sorry you had to go through that…. but it's settled now."

"It's alright sir, thank you, sir." Julia smiles.

Lance places his hands on his face while he nods his head back and sideways.