Double take | T. Blyth

06

Esmeralda could feel her patience wearing thin as she sat in the large conference room, surrounded by businessmen and women who were twice her age. Although the meeting had already surpassed the three-hour mark, progress was almost non-existent. She had wasted the past three hours listening to their petty arguments and mediocre ideas. To be honest, her attention had already waned after the first hour, leading her to draw tiny animals in her notebook and hum from time to time to feign attentiveness.

"What do you think, Miss Belamour? Is there anything you did not understand? We do after all have a translator with us in the room to help you understand more if you feel lost. You just need to ask." A man not worth remembering inquired in a tone that indicated his displeasure with having a foreigner as their project leader.

The Belamour woman snapped her pen in half, roughly closing the notebook as she slowly looked up at the man who had been talking. "What I think is that every single person here has wasted three hours of my time that I could have spent on a lot of other things. Therefore, I believe our collaboration will have to end," she declared as she stood up and walked towards the door, ignoring the glares thrown her way.

Esmeralda exited the conference room, grabbing her phone from her pocket to quickly send a message to her driver to pick her up. As she headed towards the entrance of the building, her mind contemplated the project and what discontinuing it would mean. While her brother could easily take over and ensure its completion, she, as the CEO of the fashion department in the Belamour corporation, felt the weight of her responsibilities.

"We need to talk," she wrote to her brother. Esmeralda stepped into the car as the personal driver held the car door open for her. Her phone vibrated on the seat as she fastened the seatbelt—a message from her brother, acknowledging his awareness.

She leaned her head against the car window, pondering the worth of being the CEO of a company with centuries of history. When she agreed to take over with her brother, she hadn't fully grasped the challenges. Perhaps, she should consider herself fortunate to have an older brother always ready to help when things become too difficult.

About thirty minutes later, the car stopped outside the hotel building. Esmeralda opened the door, not requiring the driver to step out from the car. "Thank you." She thanked him before walking towards the hotel entrance. She had approximately two hours before Madame Eyra would visit her to discuss which emergency dress she could wear for tomorrow's premiere.

Her phone vibrated a familiar pattern in her pocket, indicating that someone was calling. Esmeralda took out the phone and pressed the answer button.
"Hello, Ros." She answered as she entered the elevator.
"I heard you said that you won't do the project." Her brother said, his voice was calm and soothing.
"No beating around the bush. Got it."
"Just explain your part of the story, Esme."

"The first thirty-five minutes of the meeting went quite well. After that they seemed to believe that they were the project leaders, ignoring everything I said from the start and then proceeded to waste three hours of my time, brother. I will not have my time and energy wasted on meetings that could have been finished before the two hours mark is up." She answered as she inspected her nails. "Besides, my agent sent me a script of an upcoming Netflix series and I am quite interested in it. That does not mean I am completely disregarding the project. In my opinion, however, the project was already doomed as soon as all those folders and documents landed on my desk with incomplete works."

"I know. I read over the papers after you left the office. It was a mess. As I understand it, you want me to take over the project?" Anteros asked calmly.
"If you have the time then yes, please do." Esmeralda answered as she took off her shoes after she had walked into her hotel room.
"I'll do it. However, there is one condition I have for you then."
"Whatever the condition is, I'll do it. Or it depends on. I won't commit severe crimes for you, Anteros."