138 Her First Meeting

Hearing Will, Liz widened her eyes before saying, "Me? Are you sure? I mean…this is the future of the company, right? Don't you have to speak to the board or something before making such a big decision?"

Smiling and looking into Liz's eyes, Will replied, "The board listens to what I say, it's not the other way around. I say you are qualified. Sam has definitely been forming this plan for a long, long time. I expect that he has taken stock of all the variables in the company to make sure that his goal is met. However, he could never have expected that you will be employed as my assistant. I think this assignment requires an out of the box, unorthodox approach that only you are capable of. I know you can do it. Call me if there's anything you can't handle by yourself, but for all intents and purposes, you represent me. Good luck."

Showered by praises in this way, Liz didn't know what to say.

Wait…"unorthodox"? What did he mean by that?

Before she could ask, the car came to a stop in front of the office.

Squeezing Liz's hand, Will said, "All right. We have no time to waste. I know you won't let me down. My gut instinct says you'll do great, and it's never been wrong before. Bye."

As Liz sputtered in response, Will got off and headed to a limousine that was waiting for him.

He had gotten into the car that had driven her here so that he could talk to her, and now, he returned to his and drove away to god knows where.

Meanwhile, Liz was at a loss for words.

What gut instinct? If she could talk to it, she would ask how the hell it was entrusting such an important task to someone who was just an assistant?

True, she did have a degree in business administration, but she had never been in a leadership position before.

She still couldn't believe that he had dumped this on her and left!

Liz felt pressure weighing down on her, which made her panic at first before taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

'Ok, Liz, you can do this. He trusts you.'

'That's beside the point. The question now is: how can you trust someone who has left an almost trillion dollar company in the hands of…you?'

'Hey! What the hell do you mean by that!'

'Oh, nothing. Just try not to let the company crash and burn.'

Yup. It seemed that she, herself, didn't believe in herself.

It wasn't a matter of self-confidence. Anyone, who was simply working as a personal assistant, would be very bewildered if they suddenly found themselves in their boss's shoes.

She represented him? Really?

The more she thought about it, the more Liz started to wonder whether it was a prank.

5 minutes had passed since the CEO had left to his limousine, but Liz was still sitting in the car.

"Miss. Elizabeth? I'm Joshua, I've been assigned to be your assistant in this matter. Mr. William has already intimated everything to us: the entire Toronto office is at your disposal. We have assembled all the key personnel for a meeting with you. This way."

As this voice was heard from outside the car, Liz peeked out of the opened door to see a smiling man in his 40s.

He had spoken in a very respectful tone, as if he was addressing his superior.

This finally made the realization settle in Liz that this was all real.

Somehow, she now had the power of the CEO, and she was supposed to stop Sam Raimi from harming Happle, Inc.

With lips pressed together, she got out of the car and nodded at Joshua, who led her to the large, 50-story office building.

On the way, he stayed silent for the most part, while Liz was deep in thought.

Later, she was going to have a talk with William about how he had suddenly thrown this on her before leaving.

This was not on her job description!

However, now, she had to attend this meeting and do something so that they could begin their plan to stop Sam.

Just before she reached the meeting room, she couldn't help but ask, "Does this happen often? Does a CEO put his assistant in his place to make key business decisions?"

In response, Joshua looked awkwardly to the side before saying, "Er, no, Miss. Many inside think the CEO has gone crazy, especially after that press conference where he spoke about you. They question his decision making, and you."

She had been expecting this response, but hearing it out loud made it all the more real.

She was going to walk into a room where almost everyone must be doubting her capabilities, and she still had to make sure to stop Sam and whatever his plan was to bring catastrophic losses to Happle.

William trusted her. He was counting on her. Regardless of everything else, he was believing in her.

The least she could do was believe in herself.

And be the Liz he was expecting her to be.

Unorthodox? Out-of-the-box?

Yup, that was who she was, and she was going to put it on full display.

Banging the door to the meeting room open, Liz startled those inside who seemed to have been muttering between themselves.

She had her classic "don't mess with me" face on, which was a mix of a frown and a growl.

She didn't care one whit about these people and what they thought: after this was done, she would go back to New York. All she needed was results.

So, she didn't bother to put up pretenses.

Taking a deep breath, Liz spoke in an iron tone.

"Listen up. Let's get the obvious out of the way. I'm Elizabeth Redmaine, the personal assistant of the CEO, and I am now representing him and taking decisions on his behalf. Yes, yes, this happens NOWHERE else, I know. Yes, I am that girl whom he spoke up for, and who was accused of being a gold-digger. Now that that's out of the way, here's what I want from you: Complete. Obedience. I give you a task, you run and make it happen. Run, not walk. If I see you working, it will be with your 100%. 100%, not 80, and certainly not 50. Anyone whose ego stops them from taking orders from a 'mere' PA, get out. Now. I will stop this man, and if any of you come in my way, I will make damn sure you are fired, or worse. Now, get me everything you have on Sam Raimi and Raimi Inventors."