13 Politics & Mind Games I : Meeting With The Board Of Directors

I was livid, I didn't get to play for as long as I wanted before I got kicked out, though my situation seems to have taken a very ridiculous turn. What the hell kind of luck did I have, that I would end up on an island with a monster that for all intents and purposes was a demigod.

The mystic grade was above legendary, and just below the divine grade. I now have a good understanding of why I've been lucky so far, it was just so that I'll get stuck in this sort of unfortunate situation, and being chased by a snake the size of Godzilla. I hate snakes.

RIIIIINGGGGG

The sound of my phone ringing caught my attention, and I made my way out of the gaming pod I was in. The Wade manor was still pretty much old school, so there was no voice activated commands. Most rich folks nowadays live in smart houses, their doors open for them, the food are cooked for them, their phones answered and even the asses wiped for them. My grandfather hated such houses, because he felt it made humans lazy, and it was a sentiment his father shared before him.

I picked my phone up and hung it over my ear, prompting a holographic display to pop over my eye, as if I was wearing glasses. The caller ID read Old man Jones.

"Hello, hey old man what's up."

"You've been calling me old for years, and while I'll like to argue that I'm in the prime of years, my aching bones beg to differ. I need you to come down to the office."

"The office? Why?"

"You're rich in name only. There's a multitude of documents you have to sign to fully take control of your inheritance, you also have to meet with the directors of your grandfather's.....I mean your real estate empire. You're the boss now, and you have to meet your employees. You should get an assistant, or two, maybe three. Also your father and a couple of his 'associates' are here. It seems they want to initiate a buy out. So you better get down here, and fast, because I can't stand one more second of this kid's arrogance. And please bring the cavalry along, and prepare yourself. I have something I want to tell you."

"Okay old man, I'll b there in an hour."

"Good, I'll be expecting you."

I don't know why I suddenly felt exhausted all of a sudden, but I had this nagging feeling that I'm really going regret meeting a lot of people today. But old man Jones was right about one thing though, I had to bring the cavalry along. It's the only way my grandfather had always made my dad shut the hell up, as ashamed as I am to admit it, I'll have to hide behind a woman for now.

"Nanny Florence! Could you get Ron ready, we need to go see old man Jones at the office. And you have to come along too, my dad's around."

While my grandfather was not too kin about making the manor more technological advanced than the normal electricity and water facilities necessary, we also had an intercom installed. And it was very old, kind of like the type that was used In schools during the olden days. God! using it made me feel old too. I'm not my grandfather, the manor was in dire need of a renovation.

Fifteen minutes later I was in the back of our Cadillac heading to old man Jones's law firm. The Cadillac was old, vintage, ugly(in my own opinion), and very expensive. But just like the chair in the study, this has been in the family since the time of my great, great, grandfather.

I think I missed a great or two, or maybe it's less. While it's shape remained the same, the Cadillac has had numerous paint jobs done over the years. And just like the manor and that bloody intercom, I needed to make some changes. I had no choice but to use this, seeing as it's the only car my grandfather owns.

Nanny Florence was driving, and as she drove out the gates of the manor(thankfully automated) our car was assaulted by a bevy of reporters, with camera's flashing and questions being asked. Ron seemed fascinated by it, and tapped me, pointing at the window, and the paparazzi doing what they always do best. I didn't mind the attention, in fact I enjoyed it.

I'm not going to be like all those guys in the movies who would feel unrealistically uncomfortable when they're thrust into fame and fortune, and will find every chance they get to be normal. Come on! Who wants to be normal when you're rich as f*ck,definitely not me.

Nanny Florence was a veteran in handling the press, as she skillfully drove around and through them, and got us on the road. I drew Ron closer to me, as I pointed and showed him different places and sights to see. Los Angeles was a beautiful city, and he's spent all of his life in an orphanage, though it's a rather short one, I still feel the need to make up for lost time.

I answered his questions as best as I could, laughed at what he laughed at, and stopped to give some homeless guy a fat wad of cash at his insistence. Seems he's learned how to be a giver from his time in the orphanage, it was inspiring, especially since it's from a three year old.

We got to the firm in record time, and unexpectedly there were also reporters there. But the firm had it's own security, so going past them and headinginto the building was not that much of a problem. I knew a lot of the workers here, back from my time as an intern. Of course there were also a lot of new faces, but not much. The employees here, were extremely loyal to old man Jones. He was kind, and he took care of everyone around him. Nanny Florence was carrying Ron,behind me, while we were led to the top floor by an assistant.

I was ushered into a conference room, and sitting at the head o the table was old man Jones, and a little ways down was my father, a woman, and another man. The man had skin as dark as mine, if not darker. With head full of luscious black locks of hair, that just seemed to shine, I knew that this had to be Sharman Farouk. And Indian member of the board, who owned 4% of the company's shares.

The woman was in her early to mid forties, she's a brunette, but her hair was braided, and fell to the middle of her back. She had this intense brown eyes, that looked as if it held a secret within them.

Without a doubt, this was Coralline Stone. One of, if not the youngest self made billionaire ever.Bursting into the corporate scene at the young age of fourteen, by revolutionizing the mechanics of advanced AI and quantum mechanics and computer programming.

She has an IT company, and owns 9% of the shares of Imperium Industries. She's an old friend of my mother's who used to baby sit me, until she stabbed my grandfather in the back and had him kicked off the board of directors. She's unmarried, has no kids, and lives with a dog and three cats. Her extended family were probably waiting for her to kick the bucket so that they could take over everything she owns.

"Well it seems like the gang is all here. Nice to see you again aunty Cora, it's been a long time." She could only smile and nod her head at me. Then I turned to face my father.

"Father"

"Aaron."

That was as good as it gets. Most of the time he doesn't even acknowledges my presence. But no matter, let's get this done with, but before that.

"Who the hell are you?"

I turned to Mr. Sharman and asked. Of course I knew who he was, and I'm pretty sure he also knew that. But I had to rifle a few feathers, let them know that I wasn't going to make this easy on them. Not one bit.

"Mr. Aaron! Sharman Farooq is the name. We've met before, back at your grandfather's 65th birthday."

"Oh yeah, I remember now. You're the dude who's son slapped me for spilling water on him. Called me a servant, a worthless piece of trash not worth his attention, and even tried to throw me off a balcony. And if I remember correctly, you were watching each and every second of it. I'll look forward to getting reacquainted with you Mr. Sharman Farouk. How is your son these days, Amir was it? I heard he's playing cricket for the Indian national team, and a gold medalist at that."

"(Cough) he's.....he's doing fine sir...I mean Mr....…sir Mr. Aaron."

I had a wide grin on my face. I played him, he knew it, I knew it, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Regardless of how this meeting goes, they knew that without a doubt, I had all the playing cards stacked in my favor.

The game, well at least this round of it, was completely rigged. It wouldn't do for them to get to rowdy, especially now that it's out in the open that Sharman and I had a little bad blood. And it not that I cared about the actions of teenager from years ago, but it was enough leverage to make his old man uncomfortable. Whoever said being rich and powerful was too much trouble must have lost his mind, this feeling was awesome.

"Alright that's enough Enyo, is that little Aaron, bring the little guy over here, let him say hello to his grandpa Jones."

And then we spent fifteen minutes watching as 'grandpa Jones' fed cookies to Ron, and Ron, refusing to be outdone, fed cookies back to the old man as well. It was a rather comical scene, and the melancholic smile on Cora's face was more than enough proof that the lovely scene affected everyone here in different ways. Hope it makes my father's stomach churn.

Of course I'm sure his stomach was churning already. Nanny Florence was standing behind me. She took her job to seriously, that even with her age, she refuses to sit down, but rather stand like a true bodyguard. I had to get her a replacement, and thank God she's already doing that on her own. but that aside, for the whole fifteen minutes, she spent it glaring at my father, intensely.

He probably wished the ground would open up and swallow him right now. He had a little sheen of sweat on his forehead, even though the room was a little cool. I noticed old man Jones looking at him a few times, but completely ignoring his predicament. He was purposely prolonging the time he spent playing with Ron, just so that Nanny Florence would intimidate him to an early grave, or at least a high blood pressure.

"Okay enough with the giggles and laughs, we've come here for a reason let's get to it."

His words were loud, and he banged his hands on the table so loudly Ron was spooked, and his eyes began to water. Thankfully Old man Jones calmed him down, before he went wild with his crying.

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

"OWWW!"

This was me, super rich, not very handsome(not handsome at all), has a cute kid that makes my day all sunshine and rainbows. But my Nanny just slapped the back of my head.

"Watch your language Master Aaron. The young master should not be hearing such crass words at his age. You can insult the buffoon at a later date."

I don't know if my words, or her's hurt the most. But my father ignored it, and everyone else and just got right to business.

"Aaron let's put our differences aside for a moment, and look at the facts here. You're young, and as far running the Imperium industries go, you have no idea how to maneuver that landscape,it like your brothers and me….."

"And who's fault is that?" I interrupted him

"Without a doubt, it's mine. I should have been a better father, and for that I'm sorry. But the future of the company is at stake today, and ever since the incident at the burial, we've been experiencing some major setbacks. Please understand the Imperium Industries is as much your own, and it is mine. It would have been a legacy that I would have left to you, when I'm gone, even if my father didn't do so already. I failed you, but you're my son! And there's no father who doesn't love his son."

I was dumbstruck. The first question that I had in my mind was that was he being sincere. I mean I considered the fact that he was acting and playing at my heart strings, but he was saying the words I always wanted to hear ever since I was a child. He was saying he loved me. Did hearing him say that, wash away twenty four years of pain and abandonment, not it didn't. But it made me feel better, there was just something about hearing my father tell me he loved me, that shook me. It affected me a little too much than I wanted to admit. I really did have daddy issues. I felt Nanny Florence place a hand on my shoulder.

It was all I needed to remember what I came here for. About what I have and what I have to do. Whether my father is sincere or not, getting on the company would give me enough time to figure it out, and get justice for my grandfather. If he was honest, then maybe, just maybe he was not as bad as I thought he was, and that truly; he really was a puppet for his wife. But regardless my violent stance had already been doused, my father had made his move, and he had won the advantage.

"What do you want?" I said with a sigh.

"I'm happy that you're at least going to try and listen to me. There's two options for you now, because in all honesty you're not ready for a position in the company. You need a little time to mature, and also you need to spend time with your son, my grandson. Give him a life that I was never able to give to you. The first thing you can do, is sell all of your shares."

My eyes turned sharp and I glared at him. It was not as if I didn't expect this to happen, but hearing it from his lips after everything he just finished saying pissed me off. He raised his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Now Son, don't get angry just yet. Like I said, it's one of two options. And this one was an offer decided upon by the board of directors. I would really like you working with me, but to them, you're an unknown factor that they don't understand. But they also understand that this company is a part of you, and they can't just say no. Which is why they offered to buy your shares, to prevent you from having any of the stress, and the hardworking and suffering that comes with running a company like that. They're willing to pay you the sum of 10 billion dollars Aaron, ten billion Us dollars! With that amount of money, you can open up your own company if you like, and you son's grandchildren's children would have a comfortable life of their own."

"Sorry but I'll pass. My Shares in that company was given to me in good faith by my Baba. Selling it would mean I'm letting him down, all of his hope and dreams, that's he's passed on to me would go to waste. I'm sorry but I can't do that."

"I understand Aaron, which is why there's a second option. You could join the company, but since you don't know much about it, you'll have to let someone help you manage your part of the shares and your duties. But it has to be someone in the company, and me, your brothers and you're step mother will be willing to help you run it Aaron. You can think of it as a way for us to make amends. It's what Megan would have wanted."

My father was really pulling out the stops. First of all he used our relationship, then my son, and now my dead sister. If I said the sentimental bullshit wasn't getting to me, then I would be lying. But I've been a soldier, and in case he didn't know, I graduated from law school in half the time required. I knew how to be focused, how to at least keep my emotions aside and look at the bigger picture.

"The second option, sound's very promising. I could take a position, but have an assistant of sorts that will help me learn the ropes, and navigate the company until I could do everything by myself. Right?"

"Yes that's right, but the assistant has to actually work in the company, and preferably from the already employed executives, or employees with leadership positions."

He was setting a trap for me, I like to believe that all of the emotional words he had said were sincere, and that right now it was just his business man personality that was trying to push me into a corner. But I have a card of my own to play, something he would never expect.

"Okay then, I can work with that, but on one condition. Well not one condition, but two conditions."

This time it was not my father who answered, but Mr. Sharman. The scathing glare my father gave him for interrupting was not missed by me. He probably thought that because of my history with him and his son, Sharman talking would make me angry and back out of the deal. But no worries, we're all adults here.

"I want an important position that can affect and really help the company, but it must be autonomous. I don't want to answer to anybody, not even you Dad. Is that okay."

I called him Dad. He was playing a game, and so was I. One thing my average looking face has always done for me, was to make people overlook, underestimate me, and think me stupid. And to be honest for most of the time I spent around my father growing up, I acted rather gullible and weak just so that he could notice me. I craved for his approval, maybe somehow, in some other ways, I still did.

But that's what he's using against me, my intense need to have a father figure in my life, my grandfather was amazing, but he was not my dad. That need, was what my father wants to use and trap me. And I need to let him feel as if it's working.

"There's no problem with that Son, we can definitely work something out. But you mentioned two conditions, what's the second one."

"Yeah I get to pick my assistant though, and in regards to that, could you send me a list of employees that you feel are good enough for the position. I'll be by on Monday to tell you my choice, if that's okay with you."

"There's no problem with that Son. I'll have someone send the list down to you as soon aspossible. Since it's a Tuesday, you'll have enough time to make the right choice. But on that note, how about joining me, your mother and brothers for dinner Friday night. It'll give us time to catch up and bring the boy along, I'm surehis uncles would want to meet him."

"I definitely will Dad. See you Friday. Mr. Sharman, aunty Cora, have a nice day and drive safely."

I watched them leave, before I leaned back on my chair, moving my neck left to right as I let out an exhausted groan. Old man Jones looked at me and said.

"What sinister plot do you have cooking in that African head of yours boy."

"Well don't forget this head is also a sinister plot cooking American head. And as for what's coming, you'll see, Hahahaha, you'll all see."