2: Allea

eight

"Look, isn't that Allea Ciarve?"

"I saw her interview some months ago..."

"Yeah, it's her!"

Eyes turned toward her, staring, and after recognizing her whispers broke out in the lobby the moment Allea stepped inside the Salvadge Corporation.

Following Allea are four people; her assistant Nayla, a member of her team Gěi Ah Lam (who's also a part of the Company's legal department) as well as the Directors of Finance and Marketing departments. Today, they are here, at the Salvadge Corporation, to attend the scheduled meeting with Aris Salvadge. Before they even reached the reception, crossing the table the receptionist hurriedly reached, in her modest stance she greeted and escorted them toward the exclusive elevator.

Allea's face was devoid of any expressions, her posture straight but her one hand resting inside her pants' was giving her a leisurely touch. As they reached the floor, where the meeting was going to be held, another employee was waiting for them who then showed them the way toward the meeting room. Stepping inside, on one side of the table Allea and her team sat down.

In just a few seconds, the door opened once again, this time Aris Salvadge stepped inside.

His eyes reflected the image of Allea, whose head was tilted toward her assistant (Nayla) who sat beside her as she was saying something to her. Perceiving the movement around her, Allea turned her gaze and till then Aris Salvadge along with his employees (that were entering the room after him) was standing on the other side of the table expressionlessly.

"Miss Ciarve."

Accompanied by a slight nod, he called her name greeting-ly to which Allea responded likewise.

No further words were exchanged between them, and in seconds the meeting room once again filled with silence, but no one came up the podium to start the meeting.

Allea moved her head toward the man seated opposite to her, his eyes met her for a second and then moved toward his secretary standing a few steps behind him. Allea's eyes flickered toward the other employees of Salvadge Corporation, in their eyes & stance anxiety and disagreement were visible. Years of experience is enough for Allea to vaguely guess their identities and the reason for their disgruntled emotions must be the person they are waiting for — and also the reason the meeting hasn't started yet.

In the next second, the meeting door's room was pushed open and a person walked inside, followed by a string of apologies for the delay.

In the silent room, the words of apology resonated, and as they reached Allea for an inconspicuous second her whole body froze.

Gaining her composure, Allea raised her eyes and in the same instant the room turned dark, and her gaze caught the figure of the girl dressed elegantly standing in front of the illuminated screen, her back straight, head held high and confident, her voice clear as she started the meeting, from time to time her eyes flickered toward and met Allea's impassive eyes.

Hearing her words, Allea's eyes followed her movement, it took a second for her to overcome the surprise of seeing her here. Inwardly taking a deep breath, not letting the focus dwindle from the purpose of her being here and pushing these thoughts for later to ponder over, Allea focused on the contents of the project.

Intending to step inside Global Logistics Industry, transport and travel have been chosen with aviation being its main focus. The presentation of the project contained brief explanations of the industry's market, followed by the deliverables, key risks & issues as well as their probable solutions, success criteria, and reporting. The later part of the presentation was focused on the financials including details on the estimated budget of billions and approximate post-completion financial impact, as well as the division of ownership and the expected gain.