The Bucketlist

41 | THE BOARD MEETING

The silence set dead through the conference room when I entered. The boomers stared  at Will. In the corner, Rachel stood fumbling with her phone, and I was getting worried with every passing moment. I could feel my palms turn sweaty when I spotted Benny. Gosh, did I fuck up big time?

I walked to the conference table and took a seat; all eyes were on me. I am doomed. I know it.

Breathe. Count to ten. One, two, three.

"So this social media live stream was your idea, Miss Mellon?" One of the boomers asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Do you even know what is at stake? How could you pull off such an announcement without the chair informed beforehand?" He asked.

Well, because the chair was a bunch of people; who were too stubborn to try out new ideas and as if they were going to allow me to do it! That's why! I zipped shut, counting my sins.

"Miss Mellon, you think this would prevent investors from dropping out?" Benny asked with pity in his eyes.

"We are waiting for the stats to turn in. It's only been thirty minutes, and we are counting the responses. The HR has lagged a little on the task, but I guess it's going well." I said reassuringly.

"What do you mean you are waiting for stats? If we aren't through this, do you even know what losses we will have to bear? That could cost you your job!" One of the boomers yelled.

Josh stood in a corner, doing an excellent job of smirking and pretending to listen attentively. Fucker!

"I am well aware of the situations and the social media audience. It's 2018, and we are monotonous with the old ways." I said.

"A live stream announcing Free E-books for four months to users who subscribe within thirty minutes? It's about time! I hope you have answers to all the questions. One of our investors is going to drop by any minute now." Will said, glaring at me. Fuck, not him too!

"The stats are here!" Rachel said.

I felt my heart racing. My mind prepared for the worst. If I lose my job, I will go back to Seattle, grow berries and live under the rock for the rest of my life. There would be old paperbacks, no new manuscripts, no more office espressos, and no more Will! No! I couldn't lose everything.

I inhaled. Letting my nerves loosen up a bit. If I am going down, I'd better catch fire; that way at least I will be a comet.

I put on my best smile, but on the inside, I was crippling.

"We got..." Rachel stopped in the middle of the sentence, then stared at her phone.

"Go on," I nudged her.

"1.5 million new users; opting in from across the globe and... that's 90% more than the average real-time response!" Rachel said.

"We did it! Yes, we did it!" I screamed aloud, finding nearly fourteen pairs of eyes looking at me with shock.

Benny was dazed. Will looked like he would pass out any moment, and the cruel boomers froze in their chairs.

"Mr. Johnson is here." Miss Scots said, and a man entered.

My eyes went wide with amazement. Pink highlights and the scent of cigars zoomed in my head. It was the man who lent me a cigarette that day! What the fudge! That cigarette guy was Mr. Johnson?

When our eyes met, I knew he recognized me. Shit. What will I do? How's this going to turn out? I had no idea. I looked at Will, who only looked back at me. A confused Rachel was shooting me a dazed glance. What was going on? No one knew.