Chapter 6

Emeralds POV

I had a very long day.

This morning after I had gotten to work at 9, my assistant Crystal, had told me something went wrong between the ordering, payments and shipping process. The customers were calling and emailing to say that they were getting charged for double or triple the product when they only ordered one or two of the product. I was on the phone with the IT guy here or there through out the morning to hurry up and have the problem fixed. Then I was calling and emailing customers back and forth all morning to say that they will get their money returned to them but to keep the extra product on our behalf since it was an accident. Luckily, it seemed like even though this happened to many of our customers where they had the same issue, it wasn’t too bad. Nobody seemed to be too upset. Surprisingly most were very understanding.

When I did get a minute for a break, I looked out the windows of my office. Somehow I got lucky with where I had picked for my office and warehouse location. It had floor to ceiling office windows and faced the lake. The winter driving sucked being close to the lake but I loved the scenery and so did my staff. It always calmed me down before my next item on the agenda.

I had ordered lunch from a nearby restaurant, deciding to quickly eat before my 2:00 meeting with a new investor. It was suppose to be this morning but with all the chaos I had to hold off till this afternoon. I had never seen this investor in person before. Only over the phone and the computer so we will see how this will go. I felt a little uncomfortable talking to him over the phone. I don’t know why but something about just having a bad vibe that I had gotten from him. So we will see what happens in person.

At 2:00 I had already finished my lunch. I had been sitting back in my chair with a fresh iced mocha coffee ready to finish the afternoon when I heard the door open with no knock which I thought was incredibly rude.

I looked up to see a man standing there in a navy blue, form fitting suit, with a blue tie over a white undershirt and black shoes. His skin was tanned, his dirty blonde hair was gelled back, and his eyes were black and beady. He was holding a black briefcase in his right hand. Something about him gave off a bit of bad juju even in person. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I had to play nice with all of my clients and investors. Today was no different, at least for now.

I stood up, holding out my hand politely, “Good afternoon, Mr. Blackwell.”

He stood there, staring at my hand for a minute, which I thought was odd, but then he finally grasped it in a firm grip, shaking it, “I’m sure the pleasure is all mine, Miss Stone.”

I nodded politely but noticed he held on to my hand longer than what I was comfortable with. I finally was the one to let go since he didn’t seem like he wanted to let go. Trying to act nicely and politely I gestured to the chair across from my desk, “Please make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you, you are too kind.” He said in a weird tone of voice. It was almost a mix between nasally and condescending. He sat in the chair across from me crossing one leg over the other, setting his briefcase on top of his lap.

“Should we get started?” I asked politely sitting back in my chair.

“In what way?” He asked with a smirk.

“I meant business. I am sure that you had brought the contracts with you, am I correct?” I asked not liking what he thought I had meant.

“I did.” He said opening up the briefcase and handing the contract to me.

As I took them he purposely made sure our hands brushed against each other. I took the papers, annoyed, trying my hardest not to show it. I glanced over the numbers real fast.

“Now, what I do with all my investors as I am sure you do with all your investors or clients, I make sure to read the contracts over, word by word, negotiate terms and details, if there is any, then let my lawyer take a look at the contracts. I don’t sign anything without her stamp of approval. As a woman being a business owner I am sure you can understand that I have to protect myself, my assets, my employees as well as my customers.” I explained.

“Well, I can understand, but you have to understand that I was suppose to be here this morning. Unfortunately, I wasn’t, you had pushed back that time so you don’t get as much time as you think you do. See I am a very busy person with other clientele to see so unfortunately after today I won’t be back in town for a week. I would need the contracts signed by the end of today which isn’t far off.” He explained leaving no room for argument.

“I am sorry about that. That I had wasted your morning. I had a few issues to take care of this morning. As I said I don’t sign anything without reading a contract over word by word as well as for my lawyer taking a look at it as well. If you can’t or will not allow me to do that much then I am sorry but I cannot finish this business with you today.” I said matter of fact.

“I am sorry you feel that way. You’ve seen the numbers for yourself, on what I can offer. I was sure that would be enticing to you of all people. Money can do wonders.” He said.

I stood up, standing my ground, “Well, where I come from money doesn’t mean everything. I did just fine making my own way. Unfortunately since we can’t come to an agreement of terms at hand then we are down with this conversation. If you would please take your leave.”

I gestured to the door being as nice as possible handing the contract back to him.

He stood up, straightened his suit, then reached into the front pocket of his suit for a small business card, “You keep the contract. If you change your mind, call me. Maybe we can get together for dinner before I leave tonight and discuss it before I leave. You never know.”

“Um, thanks.” I said completely disgusted but took the card anyway and set both on my desk.

He left without another word.

I shuddered after he left. I felt disgusted. I definitely needed to go home and shower.

Crystal walked into the office as I sat down with a huff, rubbing my temples, “Coffee didn’t do the trick?”

I looked up at her. She had put on a white sweater over her blue shirt. This morning she had the sweater off. I wonder if it anything to do with that Mr. Blackwell. “No the coffee was great actually. It was our new investor.”

“I know right. What a creep.” She said as she brushed her strands of brown hair behind her ears looking grossed out.

“Oh thank god! I thought I was the only one.” I said with a sigh of relief.

“Oh no! All the girls out here thought he was strange.” Crystal said confirming my suspicions.

“As long as I am not the only one then I’m happy. I thought I was crazy for a minute.” I replied as I sat back in my chair to finish my coffee.

“We are not doing business with him are we?” She asked biting her lip.

“No we are good. I didn’t sign anything so we are in the clear. We shouldn’t have to see him ever again.” I said.

“Good, I’ll go tell the girls. We were worried there for a minute.” Crystal said going back out to the main office area.

I took the guys card and contract throwing both in the trash. Since he not only made me uncomfortable but my staff, yeah right. I would never allow someone like that to ever work with me or for me. That was just nuts.

By the end of my day, I started closing up. I packed up my lap top, turned everything off in my office, locked it up, then went and made sure everything else was turned off in the main office area. I locked up the front door to the main office area then walked over to my car. It was a midnight purple Chevy blazer with tinted windows and my baby. I was about to climb in when I suddenly felt like I was being watched.

I looked around but didn’t see anyone.

It made me uncomfortable though. Uncomfortable enough to where I had hurriedly climbed in and locked my car doors and windows, then drove quickly home.

Finally climbing out of my car at about 7:00 pm, I went up to my apartment and went to shower immediately. First thing was to get the filthiness of Mr. Blackwell off of me. I felt so much better and so clean afterwards. I made a frozen dish for myself for today for dinner. I was exhausted and it was only Tuesday. I ate, turned on the tv, grabbed my new mystery/romance novel, climbed into bed so I could read it. At some point though I had no idea I had fallen asleep.