Chapter Three
1063 Words
Lorraine was having lunch with her daughter at Gizole’s Italian cuisine when she saw a man in a suit come in for pick up. She didn’t think much of it until she heard the name of her stepdaughter being mentioned.
“Pick up for miss Roxanna?” She heard the owner say. She found it odd that the owner of such a gourmet restaurant would know Roxanna personally. She had hoped that little witch would be living like starving homeless by now, there were rumors that the girl had started her own business venture and was doing better without the Lockhart family fortune, but she could scarcely believe it.
“Her daughter absolutely loves the stuffed shells and the toffee cream scones you sent her last time. Miss Amelia has been under the weather and miss Lockhart thinks some food from here will be just the trick to cheer her up.”
The old man laughed and nodded. “I’ll add in some of those cream pastries too! I didn’t know little Amelia had been sick. That precious girl is a true gem!” The owner agreed.
“I’ll bring it out shortly.” The old man said and disappeared into the back.
“Mom, are they talking about Roxie, and her daughter?” Eve said with a whisper. Eve hated Roxanna, and was delighted when Lorraine had her thrown out of the house. She became an only child to the family and was treated like a princess, but it seemed like Roxanna was doing fine without the family money and she hated that. Roxanna definitely didn’t deserve to live luxuriously.
She watched the man pick up bags for them and turn to leave.
“Sir!” Eve rushed after him, leaving her mother at the table. “I’m friends with some people, I couldn’t help but overhear what a kind woman you work for… What’s the name of the company you work for?”
Garett flushed seeing such a pretty blonde lady trying to talk to him. “Monet Enterprises and Pharmaceuticals, are your friends looking for a job?”
“Don’t worry! I’ll have them apply.” Eve lied and headed back to her seat, where her mother was anxiously awaiting her.
“Monet is our biggest competitor, they’ve snatched up dozens of contracts and refuse to partner with us on any projects… or collaborate with us in any way. So is Roxanna purposely trying to run our company into the ground?” Lorraine said, horrified.
“That’s why she doesn’t do public appearances, she’s been hiding! Mom! We should go see her and make her give us a contract!” Eve said angrily.
“She’ll pay for this!”
Roxanna was glancing over a new contract proposal, when Garret came in with food.
“Miss Lockhart, the executives from overseas are here as well, they’re waiting in the conference room for you. I’ll watch Amelia for you. If you need.”
“Sure, make sure she behaves, and lunch before any sweets.” She said, and gave Amelia a pointed look. Amelia looked back sheepishly and nodded.
“Okay Mommy! I’ll be good.”
Roxanna smiled and left the room. She made her way to the conference room and confidently stepped inside. There were several older men of various ages, and a few women, whom many of which, Roxanna had previously spoken with.
“Good evening ladies, gentlemen.” She smiled. “Let’s get to it then. I’m sure many of you are interested in knowing how having a contract with Monet can be beneficial to you.”
“Denali has a contract with Lockhart and Ross already, can you beat their offer?”
Roxanna smiled and gave a firm nod. “If you decide to drop your contract with Lockhart, we will cover the cost of the severance we will also provide a discounted percentage interest rate for using our products instead. That rate goes for everyone who wishes to drop their contract.”
“The Ross contracts? We don’t see any benefit of dropping those, Miss Lockhart.”
Roxanna smiled solemnly. “Monet isn’t affected by the Ross company, if you’d like to add Monet to your contracts, we are of course willing to negotiate fair rates for fair profits. I see no reason to buy any of you out of your contracts with Ross, I do understand that their business relations do not affect Monet profit margins, so there isn’t a reason to cancel any contracts with them. We might collaborate with them on some projects in the future and would try to avoid causing any deficit to their business operations at this time. If there aren’t any other questions I will have my assistant send over the formulated business proposals to your offices. Thank you all for collaborating with Monet. I do hope we can negotiate contracts and business opportunities in the future. The secretary will see you out.”
Roxanna left the conference room and made her way to the executive break room where her daughter was still stuffing her cheeks full of creamed pastries. She graciously accepted her container of fettuccine from Garett and sat down to eat. She took a couple of bites and heard a knock on the break room door.
“Miss Lockhart?”
“Yes Rose?” Roxanna commented between bites of food.
“There are two women to see you. They say they are your mother and sister.” Roxanna scoffed. So they finally figured out that Monet was her business did they?
“Tell them to meet me in my office, after I finish my lunch. Have security detail watch the elevator and exits, and Garett? Watch Amelia and I mean it, don’t let her out of your sight. If something happens to her I will hurt you. You understand this right?” Garett gulped and nodded in understanding.
“I don’t want to stay, I want to go with you Mommy!”
Roxanna shook her head. “Not this time sweetheart. If you’re good, I will reward you, okay? Think about what you want for being a big girl for me while Mommy handles some business, okay?” Amelia nodded slowly in understanding and Roxanna quickly finished eating and left the room.
She sighed as she headed to her office. Well, Roxanna mused. This should be good.
- Writer
