Chapter 56
“I think that nothing is missing Marco. You have already done too much” Melina said.
“Just one last thing” he said and he picked up a box from one of the chairs and gave it to Melina.
Melina opened it and inside she found three frames with photographs. One was a photo of Johnny, one was a photo of Melina and Marco from the farmer’s market and in the last one it was a photo of the three of them, from when they took Johnny at the beach.
Melina’s eyes watered and after she placed the frames on her new desk, she went to Marco and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I don’t know how to thank you enough” she said. “You are the best boyfriend in the whole world”
“Amore…you don’t need to thank me. I would do anything for you” Marco replied and kissed her on the top of her head. “Now let’s head downstairs. Kate should be here any minute”.
They headed downstairs and soon enough the doorbell rang. Marco opened the door and he walked back to Melina with a woman, who she assumed was Kate. Kate was blonde, with a thin waist, large breasts that no doubt were fake, unnaturally big lips, fake lashes and blue eyes. She was wearing a pencil skirt and a tight shirt. Melina didn’t miss that she had left her shirt unbuttoned low enough, for her fake breasts to threaten to spill out if she was not careful.
She was walking close enough to Marco, to innocently rub her side to his and she was all smiles and battering her eye lashes. Marco and her walked to Melina and when they reached her, Kate gave her a look from head to toes.
“Can you get me a coffee? No sugar and no cream” she said to Melina.
Marco was about to speak, but Melina shook her head at him. She went to the kitchen and poured some coffee in a mug and returned. While she was walking back, she saw Kate laughing and bending over to Marco, trying to give him a good look at her breasts and touched his arm. Marco pulled back gently and looked uncomfortable.
Melina gave Kate the mug with the coffee and said “You must be Kate Walker, the business planner”
“And you are?” Kate asked without looking at Melina. Her attention was solely on Marco.
Marco stood at Melina’s side and placed his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.
“Kate, meet my girlfriend, Melina Gkalis. She is taking over the online casino project. You will present her the business plan you have prepared and make any adjustments to it she sees fit” Marco said.
“Your g-girl…” Kate mumbled, but she quickly regained her composure and spoke. “Yes, of course. Nice to meet you, Melina. Apologies for earlier. I thought you were the housekeeper”.
Melina smiled. It was not her first rodeo and if Kate thought that her little dig would shake her, she would be unpleasantly surprised.
“Oh don’t worry about that Kate. It can happen to anyone. Of course, it never happened before, but I suppose there is a first time for everything” Melina replied in a sweet tone, and she saw Kate’s eyes showing annoyance. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s start. Boo will you join us?” Melina said to Marco.
“No, amore. I have other matters to attend to. Should we have lunch together?” Marco asked.
“Yes. I’ll see you then” Melina replied, and Marco gave her a peck on the lips before he walked away.
Melina led Kate to her office and offered her a seat. Kate went through the business plan and Melina heard her out and took notes while she was talking. Once Kate finished her presentation, Melina had quite a few questions.
Kate’s plan looked very basic. She might not had tried to build an online casino before, but she spent the night before visiting some of the existing ones. If they were to go ahead with Kate’s plan, then the project would fail due to competition before it even started.
“Kate, is there a reason why the options are so limited in your business plan?” Melina asked.
Kate didn’t seem happy at all with Melina’s question. “Limited?”
“Yes, limited. I have visited quite a few of the existing online casinos and as a competition, they are strong. If we were to go live with the options included in this business plan, why would consumers prefer us? What is it that will make our online casino to stand out?”
“Look, maybe you are new to this, but I am not. The other online casinos you mentioned are well established and their funding is huge. My business plan is solid, and it guarantees full return on investment within 10 years” she said in not a very friendly tone.
“An online casino, that requires no space renting and other utility costs, will need 10 years to return the investment of a basic setup?”
“Listen darling…You might be sleeping with the boss, but this doesn’t mean that you know what you are talking about. I am a successful business planner, with years of experience and a large portfolio of happy clients. I have worked hard on this project, and this is as good as it can get. All you have to do is to follow the steps of the plan”
“First of all, in this concept I am your client, so there will be no more of you calling me darling. Second of all, I have no doubt that you are a successful business planner, but I assume that your specialty is not e-commerce businesses, which an online casino is exactly that. Lastly, I won’t just follow any steps if I am not convinced that they are the right ones. I might not be a business planner like yourself, but I have extensive experience in operational management. Extensive enough to know that your plan is not fit for purpose” Melina said.