Chapter Two: Quickly Merging Lives (1,232 Words)
Alistair had done it! She had finally taken Christena Corporation from her parents. A couple weeks ago, she had set her father up for a common sex scandal that left not only her parent's marriage in ruin, but it sent the company on a downward spiral as well. While her parents and the public were busy with the scandal, she swept the company up and into her grasp. Now, she would never let it go.
She twirled around in the chair that she was sitting in with a huge grin on her face. Pay back was indeed sweet. She sighed in happiness as she stopped spinning. Her father's office was well furnished with numerous bookcases and cabinets. "That's going to change soon," she mumbled with a smile. "Run the company to the ground, ha! They got bigger things to worry about now. If only they could see how they squirmed when news broke out!"
Her own words reminded her of something, and she quickly turned the nearby flat screen TV on. Every channel was practically broadcasting the news of her parent's scandal. When a well-known and respected CEO was put in the spotlight, it seemed the entire world turned on their TVs or cell phones or radios to find out what happened.
"It has been clarified by the court," the female news reporter said from the broadcast. She was standing in front of Domino City Court's welcome sign. "Adrian Christena has been found guilty of rape and abduction of a minor!"
"What?!" Alistair screeched suddenly, leaning forward in the chair. Her father's secretary who was sitting outside the office turned and gave her a weird look, but she paid him no mind. She turned the volume up on the TV.
"Kaitlyn Bulow-Christena has been charged with obstruction of justice! This is completely unbelievable!" the reporter continued. "Christena Corporation is surely going to suffer from this new-"
Alistair didn't hear the rest of the report, as she had clicked the TV off. Rape, abduction, and obstruction. It was true that she had set her father up with a young lady, who said she was twenty-seven, and it was true that she got her father drunk far past the legal limit. However, she never thought that it would escalate to this. Her face held a shocked emotion for a couple moments before turning into a devilish grin. She threw her head back and laughed. This was even better than she had wanted!
"Oh God, you are so great!" she yelled up to the sky which was a calm blue outside of the window. The puffy white clouds drifted by as if ignoring her outburst. Then, a thought occurred to her which caused her smile to falter, if only slightly. She would have to fire everyone and change the company name if she expected it to survive.
"Eh," she mumbled. "Only the name should be a problem."
Alistair listened intently to Kaiba's conditions for the company merge, as she leaned over her desk. She had already stated hers previously and all was written, or typed in this case, on paper. When he finished, she nodded her head in agreement and put her signature on the paper. "Glad we could come to an agreement, Mr. Kaiba," she said while standing up from her desk. She held out a hand which he shook immediately. His grip was firm.
"Yes, we shall become even greater than we are today," he replied, relieved of this burden at last. Releasing her hand, he continued, "The moving trucks will be here tomorrow to move all the furniture and technology. Will your staff be joining us at Kaiba Corp?"
She laughed softly, knowing he didn't care either way, and her eyes flashed with an emotion that Kaiba couldn't put his finger on. "They want a pay raise, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for either of us."
"No, it certainly won't be," he chuckled dryly. "I expect you all, or what's going to be left of your staff in any case, to be at Kaiba Corp's main building no later than seven o'clock tomorrow morning."
Alistair nodded her head in agreement and showed him out of the building. Watching his limousine pull away from the parking garage, she released a weary sigh. "Now comes the hard part," she thought dully. Dealing with people had never been one of her strong suits.
She went back up to her office and tapped the intercom button so that she could issue an announcement over the loudspeaker that ran throughout the entire building. She took a deep breath to relax herself before speaking, "Attention all staff! This is your boss, Alistair Dernier, speaking. If you don't already know, we've just signed an agreement with Kaiba Corporation. Pack everything up. The moving trucks will be here tomorrow to transfer everything over. Tomorrow morning I expect everyone to report to Kaiba Corp's main building for work at seven. That would be all."
Just like she expected, everything erupted into chaos shortly after the announcement. Many of her staff called in saying that they would quit if she merged with Kaiba Corp because it would hurt Dernier Corp's reputation. Others said they would call in the 'Board of Directors' if she didn't keep the companies separate. She fired each one on the spot and had security escort them from the building immediately after. She didn't care, and she knew Kaiba didn't care either. There were many other people looking for opportunities, and she would take them all in if she had too.
Besides that, she had fired the Board of Directors upon taking the company over. She only let the staff think that they had one to keep the peace. This contract was going to stick. Damn them all to Hell if they think that they can tell the boss what to do!
Justine turned and looked at her through the glass wall. A small smile was on her lips, and her violet eyes shone with glittering happiness. She gave her boss and huge grin and a thumbs up before returning to her work. Her phone, just like Alistair's, kept ringing. She would pack after she had sent out the apologetic emails to other gaming corporations. They were officially off the market now.
Alistair shook her head at her secretary's antics and leaned back in the chair, suddenly tired. The old thing squeaked as she did so, and she closed her ocean blue eyes to the sound. "Well," she thought. "I guess I know what I'm not taking over there." She smiled at the thought.
Dernier Corporation was finally going to be back on its feet. It took a while; many people had gotten hired and fired, but she did it. From the happy takeover to the lowest moment in company history, this chair had seen it all. "A new start with a new chair. I hate to say it, but I'm actually going to miss this." She patted the chair's arm as if it were a pet, as she gazed around her very plain office. She didn't know that she would end up keeping the chair.
