A Night To Remember

6. dancing the ball

Azrael Carmen

It turned out my life was an absolute cluster fuck. I glared at the red lines on my computer screen and gripped my phone against my ear. Stocks were dropping and the damn arrow on the graph was pointing so far down I could feel it stabbing into my fucking chest. Everything was happening so fast and so terribly wrong.

Barbara paced back and forth in my living room with her phone between her ear and shoulder as she furiously typed on the laptop cradled on her left arm. My sweet assistant looked ready to kill. If I wasn't in my bad mood myself, I would be amused.

The sound of my television grumbled from the living room, reporting news about the explosion of the queen's castle and the horrible treason two weeks ago. I felt my stomach churched, having not be able to check on my friend yet. Adalina had told me to leave, promising she would be fine. She knew it was going to happen. And, I did leave with the help of her brother in law whom suspiciously had gone radio silence.

I would say he had taken a hint but his cocky grin flashed in front of my eyes in an instant. Something was bound to happen and I was dreading it.

I clenched my hand and went for the liquor cabinet. I wanted to stab something but right now I could settle for afternoon vodka.

I clicked on my own computer, waiting for the emergency conference call. My father was telling me to handle the situation calmly from the phone and prepping me for the meeting while I drank my sorrow straight from the bottle. We both were aware of the fact that they wanted me off the board.

"How bad?" my father finally asked the dreaded question. Vaughn Carmen would raise hell before he let his company crumbled to the ground. Fuck, I hated disappointing him.

I took a deep breath before answering. "Critical. Sales are dropping drastically and the investors are trying to pull away." I listened to the silent pause. My heart pounding inside my chest. I swallowed and blinked the burnt away from my eyes.

"I should close Carmen Couture for awhile and focus on Carmen Corp until we're stable again." I said silently. "I thought I was juggling it well, Dad. I'm sorry."

"You're not closing anything. You're my daughter. You conquer the world not bow down to it. Find the problem and erase it. I know you can do anything, my sweet." the man behind my sole existence said calmly.

I hesitantly nodded my head like he could somehow see me. "I will see you at the Tucker's gala tonight?"

"You and me, dancing the ball and plotting schemes. Always, Rory." he answered immediately, bringing a ghost smile to my face.

"Safe flight, Dad."

The next few hours consisted of me yelling at my computer screen. My fax machine had never been used so aggressively. Barbara gritted her teeth from her seat on the stool beside me at my kitchen island, watching more papers shuffled through the machine. We rushed through the hundred pages of documents and glared at the men on my board every once in awhile. They secretly grinned through the screen and I just fucking knew about their cheap attempt to kick me off my chair. Internally screaming bloody murder, I tried not to think about how my own people wanting me out so badly they were willing to drive their hard work to the ground.

I listened as they blamed me for chasing off important partners with my bitch attitude. So, I disrespectfully told them to fuck off which didn't exactly help our situation but I wasn't going to let their egos ruined my company.

"You threw a folder at a client's face last month. Why are you surprised he wants to stop working with us?" Jameson's smug face expanded across the screen as he talked.