Chapter 88 The Loopholes
Chapter Eighty-Seven
“Well, not anymore.”
Nathan closed his eyes in fury when Aria said those words, “Careful.” He gritted in an icy tone.
Aria ignored him, looking around the room, “Well the CEO is back now.” She uttered in a clear voice, “and the Graves capital group is not a mid-tier firm. We don’t play small and we don’t settle for “fine.”
She looked at Nathan then, leaning forward to say in his face, “I will restore this company to the top. And you admit you’re not good enough to sit in this room.”
Nathan slammed his hand down in the mahogany desk before them, “You sure talk a lot when you’re so clueless,” he answered, his voice dripping with hate, “you think it’s by sitting there and spouting out fancy words. You still haven’t told us why we should drop the Crown Avenue project. What exactly are the loopholes you noticed, goddamn you?!”
The employees sucked in a huge breath at that outburst. Their gazed darted to Aria to see how she would take it.
Aria had previously warned Nathan to be civil and this was the second time he was losing his cool at her.
While the employees thought Aria was insufferable, they were also in some strange awe of her, and did not think it was a wise decision for the Director to be so against her.
They also thought Nathan was being a bit too venomous with his words.
“Did he almost call her a bitch?” An employee whispered
“I thought I was the only one who heard it. What’s wrong with Director Nathan today?” The other answered.
“Do you really blame him? Team leader Aria has definitely pushed him to the edge” A third whispered as well.
“I don’t know, I wouldn’t mess with her if I were him. She’s one tough nut to crack.”
“Phoeeey, it still doesn’t change the fact that she’s overbearing. Imagine telling us to drop the crown avenue project for no good reason.”
“I think we should give her a chance. Who knows? She might just be a gem in the rough in this business.”
“Oh please. I don’t know about that but at least, she ought to tell us why we should drop the crown avenue project that we worked months on.”
Aria could hear everything the employees were saying, but she didn’t really care at the moment.
She had her gaze on Nathan, a sly smile curving her lips. Finally she’d managed to turn the tables on Nathan and let his mask slip away.
The employees now know that he was not the kind, graceful boss which they always knew.
Nathan was at the end of his patience, not willing to play this staring games with Aria. He totally forgot that he had decided to set Aria up and completely lost his character, becoming more and more rude.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” He snapped then scoffed in a mocking manner, “Are you trying to stall because you have nothing to prove your stupid order now? What’s wrong, no more bright ideas?”
Aria smirked, “A little while ago, I asked you to go through the same reports which you compiled….”
“My reports are fine,” Nathan snarled, shaking the sheaf of papers in her face, “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. Tell me, anyone…” he turned to the other team members, “…Did you happen to see any loopholes or errors in the reports?”
The employees were silent.
They had actually not seen anything, convinced they had prepared the reports with utmost care and had checked every corners.
Even if they did, they were not going to speak up. At the moment, they were more scared of Aria than Nathan.
Even as Nathan asked the question, they were suddenly filled with resentment against Aria for looking down on their work, but not a soul dared to speak back at her.
Seeing their silence, Nathan thought that it was the employees agreeing with him. He looked back at Aria with a smug smile, “See? No one saw anything in the reports,” he uttered, fling the report down roughly in the table, then wagged his finger at her threateningly, “You’re just bluffing. Like the country bumpkin that you are.”
Aria sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes heavenward at the same time, “Can you be more creative with your insults?”, She groaned in annoyance, “It seems to me like country bumpkin is the only word you know how to pronounce.”
Nathan was livid at her indifference, “What?!!
Aria picked up the reports in front of her and arranged them well, “I may be a country bumpkin but isn’t it a shame?” She uttered, “That a country bumpkin like me should be able to spot loopholes in your report?.”
“Oh my fucking god…” Nathan threw up his hands in exasperation, “…There are no fucking loopholes. Stop bluffing!”
Aria slammed the papers in the table, “Open your freaking eyes and look at this reports,” she said through her teeth, “The lease contract has a variable rent clause. Rent increases based on foot-traffic numbers controlled by the mall owner. We don’t control the data. Crown avenue does!”
Nathan stared at the reports before him , and his frown got darker, “So?”
Aria looked up at him, rolling her eyes slightly. She had expected that Nathan would be a big dumbo and not actually see the consequences of what she just showed him, but he had actually gone ahead and fulfilled that expectations.
She tapped her fingers in the reports as she looked round at the others as well, “Open your freaking eyes as well,” she ordered, “Are you saying no one is seeing the implications of this clause?!”
The employees shuffled their papers nervously, trying their hardest to see what Aria was talking about.
“Just get to the point.” Nathan growled, furious at her stalling, “There’s a clause like that and so what?”
Aria glared at him, “So they can raise rent anytime. Also, two new malls are opening in those same cities next year.” She looked round at them, “Foot traffic will split. Sales will drop and guess what, we’ll still pay higher rent.”