Claire Fox has taken over her father's multi million dollar company, after he retired. She was well taught by her father, and runs the company extremely well. However, she is referred to as 'the devil' by her employees. She has a tendency to be shor...
Picking up my black clutch, I took Stephen's arm and we took the elevator down to Charlie. He was waiting with the limo, and he looked so handsome in his tuxedo and black bowtie.
"Good evening, Ms.Fox." He said as he opened my door for me.
"Good evening, Charlie." I said as I kissed his cheek.
As Charlie drove us out to the dinner, Stephen poured us each a glass of Dom Perignon. He smiled as he handed me my glass and held his out for a toast.
"Tonight is a night of appreciation. And although we appreciate all of the employees of Fox Industries, I appreciate you so much more. You are so incredibly beautiful, inside and out, and you absolutely blow me away with how well you run your company. But more than anything, I love you more than I ever thought possible. I really hope that you enjoy tonight. To you, my beautiful Claire." He said.
I wiped the tears off of my face as we gently tapped our glasses together. "You think far too highly of me." I said as I took his hand.
"Not at all." He whispered.
"I love you." I said as I looked up at him and kissed him again.
We arrived at a large event center that I had never been to before. Typically we just hold the dinner at a hotel banquet room or something. I couldn't imagine why we would need such a large venue. Before I could ask Stephen, he was out of the car, and walking around to my door. He extended a hand to me after opening my door. Taking it, I stepped out, and held his arm as we walked inside.
We stepped into a large room filled with seating for several hundred people. It was beautifully decorated, with a large dance floor in the center of the room. There was a stage at the far end of the dancefloor, and on the other side was a centered table that Stephen led me to. Mom and Daddy were standing near the table talking to some of the many guests that were here.
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"Claire! You look absolutely gorgeous!" Mom said as she saw me.
"Thank you, Mom." I said as I hugged her.
"You need to wear red more often. We will go through your closet soon and fix the colors." She said as she took a glass of champagne from a tray that a server was offering.
"Ok, Mom." I just said with a chuckle.
"Stephen, you look handsome." She said as she flattened his jacket. "It's good to finally see you in a tie. Ill have to get you more when Claire and I go shopping."
I watched as he just smiled at her before pulling her into a hug. "I wouldn't expect anything different." He said.
Daddy gave me a hug as he just rolled his eyes at Mom. He shook Stephen's hand and we spent quite a while greeting people and socializing before dinner was served. The entire company was here, no matter how small of a roll the person held.
Mom and Daddy were of course at the table with Stephen and me, along with Diane and Vanessa. The conversation was lighthearted through dinner, and the food was incredible. I made the mental note to make sure that all events in the future should be organized by Diane and Stephen.
As dessert was served, Daddy got up and went to the stage and gave his short but sweet thank you speech to all the employees. I always followed him so as everyone applauded him, I made my way up to the stage. I took Daddy's hand as he guided me up the stairs, and walked over to the microphone. I was never a fan of speaking so publicly, but some things are just expected out of a CEO.
"Thank you for being here tonight. I know it isn't normal for us to have two of these dinners in a single year. Let alone so close together, but I felt that we needed it. We, as a company, have been through a lot in the last few months. There have been several changes, and many more to come. But I firmly believe that we are headed for great things." I said as I looked over at the table where Stephen, Diane, and Vanessa were.
"Through the past several weeks, everyone has been working exceptionally hard to meet my demands. I know I expected a lot out of all of you, and you delivered with everything I asked for. Effective Monday morning, every employee will be receiving a 10% raise along with two additional vacation days for this year. This is my way of saying thank you for all of your hard work." The entire room was filled with applause and shocked faces. I couldn't help but smile as I saw the excitement on all of their faces.
"Although I greatly appreciate all of you, there were a few people who worked alongside me who deserve to be thanked publicly. Stephen, Diane, and Vanessa, will you please come up here?" I asked. They all gave me a questioning look as they stood and made their way to the stage.
"Vanessa, as soon as you were hired on you were thrown into chaos. You were with us for every late night of digging through papers, and trying to make sense of the mess that was made. You brought us food, and made sure that we had everything we needed, all without even being asked to do so. If ever I needed anything, you already had it ready for me. That is not an easy thing to find in an employee. You were exceptional and I of course noticed. I would like to officially promote you to being my new assistant." I said to her with a smile. Vanessa's eyes grew huge as she tried to take in what I had just said.
With a small nod, she barely got out, "Thank you."
"Diane," I said as I turned to her. She already had tears running down her cheeks as she smiled at me. "You have been with this company for far too long to still be the office administrator. You do the work of ten people and help me in ways that I don't even know. I have been looking for a COO, and as we all know you already do the job, you just need the title.... And of course, the office." I said with a smile.
She put her hand on her chest as she mouthed, "Thank you."
Turning to look at Stephen, he gave me a smirk. "I guess I have to move you too, since I just gave your job away." I said as everyone laughed. "For those of you who don't know, Stephen is exceptional with numbers and all the fine details of how this company is run. He was invaluable while going up against Medical Corp, and he has proven to be an exceptional employee. A few days ago we had a board meeting, and Lynda, our CFO, has officially decided to retire." I said as I looked up at Stephen.
His face fell serious, as he looked at me, "There wasn't a single question in my mind as to who should fill her place. Due to our relationship, I cannot promote him myself. But the board took a vote, and unanimously voted that Stephen be promoted and named the new CFO of Fox Industries." He looked at me as a slow smile spread across his face. "Please give yourselves, and these three a round of applause." I said.
Vanessa and Diane turned and walked down the steps, and I turned too, as Stephen gently took my arm.
"We're not done yet." He whispered to me with a smile. Stepping up to the microphone, he cleared his throat.....
