A New Dilemma (Imitai Book 8)

Chapter Twenty-Four (Nerida)

First things first. As the interim CEO of Ashear, it was up to me to respond to the shooting event which now left one member of my board dead. Not by first releasing my speech, but by gathering the board and setting up an immediate change to the structure of the board.

Shortly after everyone gathered in my office on December 27, we spent several hours into the night brainstorming. Everyone else throughout the company had the week off while the board worked to figure out the changes to the structure. Lars had a subordinate training under him already. He was doing relatively well.

Matthias De Leon. A prominent 24-year-old man fresh out of Harvard Business School whose father in Spain founded a big-time firm out there in Europe. He knew Estella and even felt horribly for her. So did his friend Miguel Del Campo, whom he attended Harvard with. Miguel however, was a whiz at finances. Both of them knew Estella well.

Matthias was a tall man with a neat combed to the side haircut and bright green eyes. He had the look of just about many beautiful Hispanic men out there, but his skin was bright. Something was going on.

Miguel had a curly man-bun with baby brown eyes and a goatee. Ashley went off on HR and the entire company when other people were raising concerns about personal hygiene and grooming in the white-collar sector of Ashear. Traditional executives were critiquing their appearance and complaining, which led Ashley to fire several people. Of course, there was a lawsuit given their personalities, but I was around to argue how complaints about hairstyles and appearances were unfair.

All it took was me to step into the courtroom and point at my head, uttering the words "I had to dye my hair a color which I thought was natural for several years!"

Judge ultimately sided with me. A young man who just so happened to replace the aging judge who was ordered ousted by the attorney general. No doubt there was an outcome which changed many things. I was among the audience when this young new judge agreed with the verdict of the jury.

Miguel was here to stay, and there was no way in Hell we'd let him go. Not even for a hairstyle like his. As he approached me following the first board meeting, I could already tell what was on his mind: He wanted to fill in for Estella.

"You're on while she's recovering," was my response, and she really did train him on everything she knew. "Miguel, be honest with me: Based on recent performances, you've been the one filling in for her a lot, have you?"

He nodded. "Yes Nerida."

"I figured. You know, it's not very hard for me to notice things like this, and with this said, I think when Estella gets back, we're all going to sit down and have a talk."

His eyebrows raised as his mind panicked. Thoughts of me firing Estella or even possibly letting her go could easily be read. With the way he thought, I could already tell that he knew about the hijinks between her and Lars. "A meeting?"

"Between us," I firmly repeated. "You may know Estella at a different angle and even longer than myself, but I can tell you that after these recent tragic events at Ashear, there is going to be a lot of restructuring. This isn't official yet, and don't keep this as an anticipation just in case Estella pops up saying she wants to continue working her job, but I'm considering promoting you to being my main financial advisor."

His face lit up. "What?"

"And your friend Matthias. I need to speak with him next if you'll excuse me."

His worry now mixed with surprise. "Yes Nerida."

Matthias was going to take over Lars' position as the main advisor. It was only fitting that two good friends could easily work together and hang out without any issues would work. Approaching him, I maintained a rather prestigious look on my face.