The Devil’s Embrace

Everyone sat stiffly on their seats. Tensed and scared.

My hands started sweating, but I kept myself composed as I sat behind the boss that was now making everyone tremble in their seats.

I looked in front, seeing one of our employees almost crying as he stood in front of the boardroom. Poor Allan.

“Did you think about this properly, Mr. Smith?” Mr. Troy Sanford, the CEO of the biggest, fast-rising group of companies in the industry, pierced his bright brown eyes at Allan who had just finished his marketing presentation.

The boss sat firmly on his seat at the head of the long table in the boardroom. And even in his sitting form, he looked big and tall. Intimidating. Most especially with those striking eyes.

I couldn’t help but grimace at the situation. The devil is showing up again.

“I want all of this redone.” Sir Troy suddenly announced that garnered collective gasps around the room.

Yup. Like I said, the devil is on the rise.

“B-But, Sir. W-we only have 2 weeks before the launching—“ Allan started protesting, sweat trickling down his forehead and cheek despite the air conditioning in the room. But the boss cut him off with that rich, and deep commanding voice of his.

“I gave you and your team 6 months to think about this, and yet you gave me a presentation that even a middle schooler could pull off. Do you think this is a kid’s play?” The entire room fell silent altogether at how icy the boss’s voice was.

Allan swallowed, seeing how serious Mr. Sanford was. Even I, who wasn’t in his direct line of vision got the chills.

“Two weeks won’t be much of a difference, considering your incompetence.” Blossoms of red flush crept on some of the employees faces at the boss’s harsh words. Both in shame and anger.

I grimaced. That was real harsh and shameless of him to say. But what do I expect? He’s not called the devil for nothing.

“With all due respect, Sir,”

We all turned to Ria, one of Allan's team members, when she suddenly spoke. It was evident in her face how she was getting mad. But still, she should know better than interrupting the boss.

I shook my head. I just know she’d regret this later.

“We’ve worked our brains so much for this. We worked hard for this launching—“ she emphasized each of her words, but Sir Troy cut her off.

He stood up from his seat, towering over everyone like the boss that he was. I started standing up either.

“Then show me the workings of that brain. Let your presentation show the efforts you’ve made. Not this low-quality output that you’ve worked so hard on.”

And like I said, Ria had nothing to say after that. She couldn’t, when she knows she can’t speak her way through the boss’s high standard.

Mr. Sanford’s piercing brown eyes watched everyone in the room. “I don’t want to see incompetence in my business. If you continue wasting my time, consider wasting your time in another place.”