the thing about revenge

37 i r t y - s e v e n : meant to be

12 years later

"Good Lord, Emily. You are awfully late!" Lou cried as she passed me my cup of coffee the way I liked it. "Are you just asking to get fired?" She continued yakking at me as I gathered all my presentation materials.

"If that means not seeing you everyday, then yeah, sure." I paused melodramatically. "Hm, I take that back, because who is going to get me my coffee then?" I teased.

"You are rude." She huffed.

"I was joking. You know I love you." I smiled as I flipped through my folder. I took a deep breath.

I was scared shitless. This was the year's largest project, that is, if we got the deal. Pumbae Research and GreenField Private Hospital were discussing on a partnership to research on a new cancer drug that could potentially act as a preventive measure against terminal lung cancer. GreenField Private Hospital was a specialised hospital that focuses most of its resources on cancer research and cure. We were just one of the many research companies that were fighting for the chance to have this chance at a partnership deal with the state's most prestigious specialised hospital. (I think it was also because they were funding 65% of the project.) Finding a cure would mean recognition for the company, this would bring us to greater heights. This would open doors to more opportunities. Finding a cure would mean everything to me. If only this was done 12 years ago...

My heart ached.

"Earth to Emily." Lou snapped her fingers in my face. I jerked to attention.

I had the proposal in my hands, why was it so hard to walk into the lift? I was ready for it. I was in charge of the finance management sector and had to draw up the budget for this partnership deal. Michael was in charge of sharing about our progress so far in our research upon the current drugs that were catering to the most similar types of cancer. The hospital was in charge of the logistics side. They would also be sharing about their success in research so far because even though we were the ones that needed the partnership deal, it would have been unfair to us if we shared what we knew and they didn't. Knowledge would be contributed by both sides.

I had gotten my files checked by almost everyone in the building, before it reached the hands of Don, the founder of Pumbae Research. Having gotten the nod of approval, I set about my task of memorising the contents in entire folder.

"No screw ups." I said to myself.

"Okay, so today, you will be presenting your budget to the leading team of research and development specialists in the hospital. They will be the ones considering the plausibility of both yours and Michael's proposal. Remember, it's a combined effort, so chill. It will be fine." She explained as we waited for the lift. I tapped my feet on the floor impatiently, which was albeit hard to do in killer heels.

"Mhm." I answered, trying to calm the heck down.

"GreenField board of directors would be here, I heard the head surgeon would be attending, what are they called? Oh yeah, the head cardiothoracic surgeon of GreenField would be there and I also heard that he's really cute. So altogether, about thirteen of them would be here. Take a deep breath, we're here." She rubbed my arm soothingly.

"Think of the promotion you could get and how happy your boyfriend would-" She paused and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry." I shook my head.

I was just unlucky when it came to love. It had been 12 years and I was still single. Work kept me busy so I wasn't exactly able to wait at a bar to find myself a boyfie.

"Good luck to me." I muttered as Lou shoved me into the meeting room. The lights had dimmed and I had to squint to get to my seat. Thankfully, no one noticed that I was late.