Chapter Thirteen: The Executive's Decision

Peter left Agnes in her office typing and filing some documents. He walked quickly toward the boardroom, wondering what this sudden meeting was all about and why they'd find it necessary to include him.

 Earlier that morning, he had seen Ed and other prominent senior exclusive staff members of the bank walking toward the bank boardroom. 'Perhaps the president has requested the information that he was still working on already,' he thought. And if that was it, then he is in a big mess. 'How could I have let some silly thought distract my attention?' he thought to himself. If only he had concentrated, he could have almost finished the task by now. He knew Rodney would be mad at him, and that he could guarantee. Rodney might even start considering him an unserious individual.

 He soon arrived at the door to the boardroom, and he stood there for a while, his heart beating faster. 'What should I tell Rodney if he requests the documents? Perhaps I should cook up a story as to why the task was delayed. But what excuses could I possibly come up with now?' He decided to play it straight, lying could only complicate issues for him. He decided to go in and face the consequences of his actions.

 He pushed the button at the door for permission to be let inside. The green light appeared, and the sliding doors opened. He walked inside, feeling his legs a little heavy.

 Inside the boardroom was a big round conference table, and at the far end was Rodney seated as the head. To his left-hand side were Mr. Brown and Mr. Hopkins, and to his right were Ed and Mr. Lewis. They were all old board members of directors and senior officials of the bank. He looked around and didn't notice any strange faces among them, concluding within himself that the meeting wasn't about the files he was working on.

"Hello, Peter!" Rodney called to him. "What kept you so long?" he asked casually.

"Just putting some files in order," he lied, attempting not to mention the task Rodney had given him.

"Well, are you done with the task I assigned you?" Rodney asked casually.

 Peter felt his legs give way. He knew that Rodney would surely ask for the files, but he wasn't expecting it to be this soon.

"No... I... haven't," he started to say in a stuttered tone, "but I am almost through."

 Rodney stared blankly at him for a while. "What is biting you these days?" he asked calmly. "You always finish any task assigned to you before time, but lately, you seem to be slackening." He pointed out.

 Peter lowered his face in shame. He was aware of his recent slackening, but he never knew that Rodney had also noticed. "I will be done by noontime," he said firmly in an assured gesture, knowing within himself that it wouldn't be possible.

"Well, I called you here for a special reason," Rodney said. He hesitated and stared at Peter, who still stood a couple of paces away from them. "Come in and have a seat," he ordered.

 Peter felt a bit relieved now. He knew if Rodney could ask him to come and have a seat among them, then he was certainly not mad at him.

 He walked in and took a seat to Rodney's right, facing Mr. Brown and Mr. Hopkins. He raised his head to meet their gaze, feeling like an underage sitting among the oldies.

 However, he still wondered what the meeting could be about that they found it compulsory to include him.

"As I was saying," Rodney continued after Peter was comfortably seated, "I invited you here for a crucial assignment, and this assignment, I believe I can entrust you with. Is that right?" he asked, staring at Peter for a brief moment.

 Peter nodded in affirmation, although he hadn't been told what the task was about.

"Have you come across the RSA loan?" Rodney asked bluntly while still staring at Peter.

Peter felt his heart skip a beat. 'Could Rodney have suspected his strange behavior?' he thought for a moment. "Yes!" he replied promptly, seeing no reason to lie about it.

"Well," Rodney continued, "you know the bank has a tradition of safekeeping repaid loans for a few weeks before shipping them to the Swiss bank in the absence of its need for any budget. Is that right?" he asked. Peter nodded in agreement but still wondered what this had to do with him. "And to this end," Rodney continued, "we often nominate a candidate who would oversee the shipment," he said and paused to observe if Peter was following.

"You see!" he said, "Ed has done the delivery twice now, and currently, he would be going on a mission to Sudan in Africa along with the secretary general of the state to survey if there is anything we can use to recover our capital spent on its war crisis. Brown and Lewis would be traveling to Iraq along with the Federal minister of finance to discuss the U.S. interest in investing in its fuel production," he explained. "And since we wouldn't want to leave the bank without some top management officials, Hopkins and I will be handling the day-to-day activities for the while."

 Peter stared at him calmly; he still couldn't see where this had anything to do with him. He wondered why the long story.

 Rodney halted briefly and looked him straight in the eyes for a moment, then continued again.

"Ed is supposed to do the delivery to the Swiss. However, as for Ed, I'm quite certain that you're aware he would be off the job sooner as he is due for retirement. And to this end, we will need a new hand on deck to take up his responsibility," he elucidated.

'That was it!' Peter thought to himself. 'They are promoting me to senior exclusive members,' he concluded.

"Well," Rodney continued, "the puzzle here is that the cash delivery to the Swiss and the visit to Sudan happen to fall on the same period." He explained and paused briefly, then went on again. "And you, my friend, that is where you come in," he said and stopped again to observe Peter's reaction. "You see, Peter, all the exclusive members of this board here have seen your diligent and good work, and we have all with one accord agreed that you be promoted to a higher level. So, from now on, I want you to resume your responsibility as an exclusive senior member of the bank. And to commemorate that," he said, "I'm assigning you the responsibility of delivering the RSA's recently returned loan to the Swiss bank. And by the time you're back from this assignment, every necessary document for your new position would have been put in place." He noted.

 All the while, Rodney had been speaking like a programmed robot. He didn't stop once to see Peter's reaction as he passed the news across. However, Peter was transfixed, feeling like he was in a fantasized daydream as he often did.

 Rodney stopped abruptly and walked to where Peter sat, reaching out his hand to him.

"Congratulations, Peter boy!" he said. "You're welcome to the team." Peter rose to his feet with a joyous expression on his face.

"Thank you, sir! I'm so honored," he replied, feeling excited, as if the world was just placed under his command. "I promise I won't disappoint you," he promised.

 All the other board members came up one after the other to congratulate him. Ed came last. He patted him on the shoulder and then gave him a hard handshake. "I'm so proud of you, Peter boy!" he said.

"Thank you," Peter replied cheerfully.

 The meeting came to a close, and everyone left for their various destinations, congratulating Peter once more before they left. Peter strode alongside Ed to the bank exit, and Ed discussed and outlined the challenges he was to encounter in the course of running his new position. As they arrived at the parking space, Peter stopped and appreciated Ed once more for his support and guidance and told him how he was surprised at how everything had happened so fast.

 However, Ed stopped still and stared hard at him for a while. His eyes had a disturbing look. There was something about his eyes that looked familiar to Peter; he wished he could tell what it was.

 Finally, Ed heaved a sigh with a quick grin, and then he said something that made Peter restless. "Peter boy!" he called. "I have given you that card you've always wanted. I only hope you never throw it away," he said.

 There was something in that note that scared Peter, and he stopped and stared back at Ed in shock.

 Ed grinned at him again and sauntered toward his Alfa-Romeo convertible model parked at the bank officials' parking space. He hopped in, ignited the engine, and raised his hand toward his forehead, saluting Peter as he drove out of the bank premises, leaving Peter staring after him in a rather confused state.