He sat motionless like a statue, with legs crossed and eyes shut. He leaned slightly to the left arm of his seat and two fingers pressed to his left temple.
He appeared to be bored and uninterested in the old man's long speech and pep-talk, but in reality he was paying keen attention to every word being said.
He was a very tall young man, dangerously handsome, and who didn't look a day past 30. He had a jet black hair, a thin but sensual pink lips, prominent nose, and a set of brows and lashes that didn't seem to fit with the rest of his facial features, for they sort of softened his appearance.
And now that he had finally opened his eyes, there sat a pair of piercing grey eyes. In an overview, he had the sort of figure that would be remembered for a long, long time.
Everything said by the old man didn't seem to spark a reaction from him until this very moment, his brows suddenly furrowed in objection, his eyes darkened in contempt, and his lips parted and sounded vehemently, "there must be some other way!"
...
"What do you think you're doing??" Kevin questioned in a horrific whisper. He knew exactly what Lexi was about or already doing, but a part of him desperately wanted to believe he was wrong, 'it can't be!' he mused in his head.
"I believe you are in my seat" Lexi whispered back with a big smile, as she gestured for him to vacate the seat.
He felt humiliated, but what would be more humiliating is trying to contest with Lexi over this, cos although he hates to admit it, he had lost.
"Thank you" she said as soon as he got up to take a seat amongst the rest of the board members and she was now seated.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, let me first of all apologize for my lateness to my very first board meeting.
Actually, this meeting was slated for 8am, but I'm rather astonished to find that the meeting had commenced long before the actual commencement time, which leaves me to think that someone is trying to double-cross me or is it just a negligence on my path?" Lexi queried rhetorically as she observed the expression of everyone in the room, then she continued.
"Well that we might never know and do not have time for. As you all might already be aware of, I'm to be acting CEO in my father's stead up until the time of his recovery and return. Let me not bore us with the known and quickly delve into the unknown" she said as she held up a report file.
"It's been only 3 days without a figurehead and things are already going south. "
"You speak in parables miss Alexandra. What exactly are you driving at?" Mr Brown asked.
"What I have in my possession are records of funds being pushed into accounts with a fictitious company name, and just in 3 days $100m have been fraudulently moved from the company's purse, which leaves me with one question, who approved those funds??" Lexi demanded while looking intently into the multiple eyes staring right back at her.
"This is an indirect accusation to my office! I am the chief financial officer of the company, and if you are saying funds are been dubiously moved from the company's account, then you might as well be calling me incompetent!" Mr Vincent retorted.
"Incompetent is what you call someone who's ignorant of what they should know, but when someone deliberately defiles his office that's a law breaker or better still a criminal" Lexi declared unflinchingly.
"What??!" Mr Vincent shouted just as every other board member exchanged glances and murmured in shock.
"Do you still want to play this game Mr Vincent?? We have proves and witnesses who can attest to your fraudulent activities, the financial secretary you coerced into omitting and deleting records that could trace the money to you, or the audit committee chairman who's your partner in crime.
Oh need I add that the criminals behind the fake charity organization you made deposits to have been apprehended and currently in police custody and have already admitted to your involvement with them.
So I asked again, do you still want to play dumb, Mr Vincent?" she queried again.
Mr Vincent looked completely defenceless, one could see the defeat and guilt on his face.
"Ma'am please, I nev... I.. I mean, please give me a chance to explain, it's not what it looks like. I was going to include the record later, I never intended to use the money without proper documentation. I'm deeply sorry for my actions" he apologized shamefully, and he was shaken too.
"Well don't say it to me, say it to the cops", and just as soon as Lexi said the words, the cops came in and took Mr Vincent away despite his pleas.
Everywhere was dead silent, Lexi watched as different expressions displayed on their faces, she knew that some of them had skeletons in their closets and it was just about a matter of time before she found them out. But she wasn't quite done here.
"Moving on, I'm surprised that y'all are shocked at this, cos it's no longer news, it is now everywhere on the news."
"What?? How in the world did something so sensitive get out in the media??!" Mrs Reginald demanded hotly.
"Well, that would be a question the PRO would have to answer. Care to explain to us, Mr Oliver?" she directed at a middle aged man who had just silently cursed anxiously.
"I really have no idea, I'm shocked myself. I apologize for the oversight, as soon as this meeting is over I will start an investigation within my department to find out how this got out and also see to it that this doesn't repeat itself in the future" he ensured.
Lexi considered him intently, then said, "I'm very much interested in knowing how this got out, and you have 24hrs to come up with a result else, two things would be involved, It's either you step down for your deputy or you submit your resignation letter" she sounded vehemently.
Mr Oliver's eyes widened in shock, "with all due respect ma, I have given this company 15 years of service and in those years, not once have I fallen short in any way, you cannot dismiss 15 years of effective service because a momentary mistake" he defended.
"Have you?? Well we would know after 24 hrs.
A special thanks to everyone that made out time to be present for this meeting, I promise you all and this institution my best of service. A day, ladies and gentlemen" she concluded and got up to leave as Matt who had been taking note at a corner got up to get her stuffs for her.
"Another disaster waiting to happen" one Mr Lucas muttered, "I heard that!" Matt retorted without even sparing him a glance as he left with his boss.
As soon as Lexi left, Kevin was the first to exit the boardroom, cos he couldn't stand the taunting and mockery he knew would follow, he only waited this long cos he needed to fill mother in on the minutes of the meeting.
"She isn't fit for this position! She's reckless! One month and we all are goners, can't you'll see it??" Mr Lucas said agitatedly.
"So you suggest we do what exactly??" Mrs Reginald asked with a corked brow.
"We need to pass her a vote of no confidence! It's height time we had put a stop to bad choices being shoved down our throats! Even the CMO could do a better job at being acting CEO!" he sounded.
"Oh, isn't the Chief Marketing Officer your nephew?? I'm not surprised at your indirect pitching of the CMO, no one is thinking about the future of the company, everyone is thinking of their pockets and selfish interests. I'm surprised some persons are still sitting with us on this table and not behind bars like Mr Vincent right now, well it's just a matter of time" Mrs Reginald said gingerly.
"I beg your pardon?!" Mr Lucas objected infuriatedly.
"And just for the records, I see a promising leader in Alexandra, experienced or not. Mr Greyman couldn't have made a better decisions. Good day gentlemen."
...
"Well for one, I'm totally disappointed that you couldn't handle the situation, you failed as usual. But looking at the bright side of it, I would say that this is good news."
"Good grief mum! What could be good about me not being acting CEO??" Kevin questioned disappointedly and frustratedly.
"You can't see it cos you're shortsighted and as well as a shallow-thinker. Alexandra is just about to destroy the company with her very own hands, and we wouldn't need to lift a finger.
If she continues like this then she would keep making enemies within the company and it's only just about a matter of time until they vote her out" Mrs Greyman explained confidently.
"And we would just sit back and wait till the day it happens??"
"Not really, we would give her a little push."