The Functional Arrangement

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The moment Marcus walked into work Monday morning, he knew something had happened. There was a certain energy in the air as he walked past a few of his coworkers who were talking with one another, their eager hushed tones making him curious as to what they were talking about. Marcus was planning to stop by his office to drop off his things, but before he could, he was approached by his boss Felix.

"'Morning Marcus. Meeting in the big conference room in ten," he said, his eyes glinting jovially. "You're gonna want to be there for it."

"Did something happen?" Marcus asked, interested.

"You'll see," Felix said with a wink. He clapped Marcus on the shoulder before walking past him toward the conference room, and Marcus hurried toward his office to drop his things off.

Ten minutes later, everyone in the office was gathered in the large conference room: Rose had about a hundred or so employees, and all of them gathered together in the largest conference room was a rather tight fit. A few people sat in chairs or leaned against the walls, and a majority of people simply stood, watching Felix stand up at the head of the table. Marcus stood near the back of the room with two salesmen Greg and Liam.

"Hey, do you guys know what happened?" Marcus asked Liam quietly as everybody around them gathered in the conference room for the meeting.

"No, do you?" Liam asked, and Marcus shook his head.

"I heard it's something to do with Rax Technologies," Greg whispered to both of them. Marcus looked at him in surprise.

"Really? I feel like I would have heard something about that."

"Everyone!" Felix held out his hands so people's chattering voices quieted down. "Everyone, please settle down... I think a majority of you have all heard the news already, but I'd still like to make the official announcement right now. Rax Technologies, who we've been in negotiations with for the past several months, have not only agreed to let us utilize their sensor technology for our self-driving cars, but they have also agreed to work in conjunction with us and become a key investor in Rose Engineering. Their investment is set to bring five million dollars into our company... and we have our very own Marcus Sato to thank for it."

Everyone began to clap and cheer, many heads turning toward Marcus and grinning at him. Marcus was in shock, barely able to register what he'd just heard: Rax Technologies was going to be working with them! Marcus had no idea he'd made such a good impression on the Rax guys during that meeting, but apparently his hard work had paid off.

"Dude this is amazing!" Greg said excitedly, grasping Marcus's shoulder and giving it a shake. Marcus could only give a shocked laugh.

The clapping and cheering went on for another minute or so before Felix held his hands up to settle everyone down. "I know, this is great news for Rose! And to celebrate, we're going to have lunch catered from Marty's Pizzeria at noon today. Courtesy of the company."

Everyone cheered once again for that, and Felix soon dismissed everyone and told them to get back to work. Everybody left, chatting excitedly with one another, while Marcus approached Felix at the front of the room.

"Great job, Marcus," Felix said sincerely, clasping his hand and shaking it. "Seriously. This will be reflected in your Christmas bonus at the end of this year - you've definitely earned it."

"Thanks Felix," Marcus smiled, a swell of pride growing in his chest.

"Good work, Marcus," Randall, Rose's CFO, now approached them with a grin on his face. Trailing behind him were Gerald and Sam, a couple other upper-level executives, and Marcus suddenly felt nervous to be in the presence of all his superiors.