Chapter 26 Celebrate an Achievement
"Perfect. Let's meet him at the restaurant across the street," Susan said.
"Okay," Eva replied and quickly sent a message from her phone to the person who had sent her the guy's details. "Okay, let's go. He headed for the restaurant now," she said.
"Okay," Susan acknowledged and stood up from behind her desk.
Eva equally stood up from behind her desk, and the two ladies exited the room, heading for the elevator.
Outside, as soon as the ladies entered the restaurant across the street, Bryce's car drove in, and it was followed by that of Bernard. Bernard saw the back of Eva when she entered the restaurant, but he said nothing. Bryce, on the other hand, was occupied by something on his phone, so he didn't see anything, and Angela was on her laptop. The two cars parked in their respective places, and the occupant alighted, heading to the company. Everyone went to their respective office, and Angela, after drafting her email for the staff screening, shared it with Bryce for his approval before emailing it to Don.
At the restaurant, Susan and Eva sat with a gentleman.
"Look, we need a clean job. I was told you are good at what you do. I want this girl to take the fall for all the mistakes. I need her to make costly mistakes," Susan said.
The man shifted his cold gaze from Susan to the image of Angela on Susan's phone screen. He picked up Susan's phone and stared at Angela's image for a while.
"How much are you paying me for my work?" the man asked, his voice very deep.
"Five hundred thousand dollars," Eva replied, and Susan shot Eva a glance, but Eva rested her hand on Susan's thighs under the table, assuring her she had everything under control so she should just roll with it.
"What I'm about to do, if I get caught, I'll serve a jail sentence. You think five hundred grand is juicy enough to get me to put my life on the line?" the man said.
"How much do you want?" Eva asked, and Susan just looked on.
"A million," the man replied, and Susan's eyes widened.
"Where the hell do you think we are going to get such money from? Do we look like heiresses, CEOs or celebrities to you?" Susan snapped, and Eva tapped her thigh under the table, making Susan turn to glare at her.
"I see," the man said calmly. "If you can't afford it, you can do one thing," he said. "Leave the girl alone," he said and was about to stand up, but Eva stopped him.
"Forgive my friend. She is new at this. You have a deal," Eva said, and Susan frowned, staring at Eva, who offered the man a handshake.
The man looked at Eva's hand, which she had stretched towards him. Eva had so many bracelets and bangles lined up in her hand.
"Hmm, I see you understand the business world," the man said and accepted Eva's handshake. "Deal," he added.
"I will need a week to gather my data," the man said, and Susan moved her head back in surprise.
"A week?" Susan questioned.
"Do you want a good job or do you want a job with loopholes?" the man asked, staring at Susan, who appeared to have lost interest in the whole deal.
"We want a good job," Eva replied, tapping Susan's thigh under the table, but Susan could not help but react to some of the man's demands.
"Good, allow me to work," the man said.
"Yes," Eva acknowledged.
"The project starts in a week. I need fifty per cent of the amount paid in cash to me before the end of this week," the man said and stood to his feet. "Call me once you have the money," he added and left the table.
"Eva, where are we going to get a million dollars from?" Susan asked worriedly after the man had left.
"Relax, we just need to combine our resources. I have some money we can use. My late husband's account. He gave me access before he passed on. I have never touched the money since his passing," Eva said.
"And you want to use it for this?" Susan asked, staring at Eva with a questioning look.
"If it is to get rid of Angela, I can even become a prostitute overnight to raise the funds," Eva said with determination.
"I also have some money I could add. I can raise two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the down payment," Susan said.
"I can raise the other two hundred and fifty thousand dollars," Eva said with a smile. "Let's do this," she added.
They emptied their cups of drinks, paid the waiter and exited the restaurant. They returned to their office only to find all the employees were moving in a particular direction.
"What is going on?" Eva asked Susan.
"How am I to know? We both just got here," Susan replied, still looking at the employees moving.
"Audrey," Eva called out to the receptionist. "What is happening here? Where is everyone heading for the auditorium?" she asked, and Susan stared at Audrey, waiting to hear her answer too.
"It's an instruction from the president," Audrey replied.
"Why?" Susan asked.
"I am not sure," Audrey replied.
"There is only one way to find out. Let's go to the auditorium too," Eva said, and Susan nodded.
The two ladies headed for the auditorium. Almost all the employees were already seated. Eva and Susan walked up to the front and joined the other managers.
"Bernard, what is going on?" Eva asked as soon as she sat down next to Bernard.
"The president asked us to meet here," Bernard replied, not ready to share anything with Eva.
Bryce walked in with Angela trailing behind her, and everyone stood up to acknowledge him. Eva and Susan were annoyed when they stood up because of Angela.
Bryce walked towards the front and climbed onto the stage. He stood behind the podium, and Angela stood next to him. He gestured for everyone to sit down, and everyone sat down.
"I had called for this gathering to celebrate an achievement. My goal for this company is to make it the headquarters of multiple businesses. We have two Estates, four top-notch hotels with restaurants and two big hospitals. I am happy to announce to you that we have found a way to dive into the entertainment industry," Bryce said, and the employees applauded.
"Some of you will be called to join in this project, but this is our project. Let's all work together like we always do to make this a success. I called you all here to let you know we have a big project coming, and I will need you all," Bryce said.