Caelus Online

85. The Board (Part 1)

While she did admit it sounded like she thought all of them were manipulative old men, of the 7 on the board, there were only two of them she actually liked. 

Of the members of the board, there was one person related to Aurora, her Grandmother, and she was the only direct member of the family still alive other than her estranged uncle. Before last week it had been a long while since she had seen any relatives, and within a normal family, it might have been something to be happy about. 

However, her family was particularly complicated with the main Branford line becoming distant from the rest following her grandfathers and then her parent's untimely passing. 

Aurora’s stray thoughts returned to Sasha who looked a little taken aback by her hardline stance, but the secretary expertly schooled her expression as she spoke, her professional demeanour returning.

“As you say, Miss Branford. Are you prepared? Do you need me to get anything?”

Aurora let out a sigh filled with the annoyance that had been building within her as she leaned back into her chair.

“Sorry Sasha, I didn't mean to get sassy with you. I’m just fed up of having to deal with all this bullshit again- And don’t ask, I said I would explain it all later. It’s just that everything today is winding me up more than usual.”

Sasha’s expression slightly changed a few times with quirking lips and occasional twitches of her eyebrows as she went through different thoughts. The secretary seemed to decide on how she felt and then spoke with a slight smile.

“Well, I should warn you the board will push harder than they did in the last meeting Chester had with them as you likely guessed, so expect to need some painkillers for a headache when you leave.”

Aurora let out a laugh as she smiled back at Sasha who was giving her a small amused smile.

“Yes, I imagine I would. Anyway, it's about time now so let's head over.”

Aurora stood up and quickly finished her tea before she moved over to where Sasha was standing and holding the door for her. With a quick word of thanks the two women exited the office.

Aurora glanced to her left where where she found Harold waiting for her outside. The three of them then made their way through a couple of the relatively quiet hallways of the floor until they reached their destination.

She entered through the glass door into a large meeting room with a long oval-shaped glass table in the centre surrounded by multiple modern seats that were all occupied. As she stepped into the room she could feel the eyes of everyone waiting in the room turn to her while she moved to stand at the end of the table. Harold took up a seat at the left end of the table nearest to her while Sasha moved to the other end and prepared to take the meeting’s minutes. 

Behind Aurora was a screen projected on the white wall that displayed the Branford Group’s logo, while in front of her sat 7 people of note. There were five gentlemen, three in their late 40s to 50s and two in their eighties, while the two women consisted of a younger lady in her 50s who looked quite young for her age and a seventy-year-old woman with long white hair in a braid and pretentious look across her face.

The older woman was her grandmother, and her dislike for the woman had only grown over the years. Her grandmother was looking at her with the expression of someone who was in control of whatever Aurora whatever she did, and that if she did not comply with the older woman's wishes she would be dealt with like a rebellious child who would be disciplined into compliance.

She had seen the expression way too many times before, and it honestly made her feel sick. But now it was far worse than when she was a man, maybe it had something to do with how her grandmother was the former lady of the house, and now as Aurora’s supposed senior in the position felt she had some form of power over her as the current lady and head of the house.

The old woman gave her a once over while her expression fell into one of undisguised disgust, eventually turning her gaze away from Aurora to the others at the table. From her fake god-given backstory, she concluded that her grandmother had not had many chances to meet Aurora due to her seclusion, and given how rare her grandmother's visits were in the past, it made sense. This was likely their first proper face-to-face meeting. 

Either way, her new situation clearly didn't change the fact the other woman was still just as jealous, spiteful and unpleasant as she had been before which she found a shame. She held some sympathy for the woman that her husband's early passing had affected her so much, but she couldn’t deny the suspicion it was the wealth and fame she mourned for more than anything else.

Aurora looked over the people present while ignoring the collective glances they gave each other, no doubt because of her attitude of walking into the room without a care while standing before them. With her back straight and a neutral expression she started to speak, her voice commanding and firm as her beautiful voice brought the quiet murmuring to an end.

“It is nice to meet you all, I am the new head of the Branford Family, Aurora Branford. Due to the untimely passing of my dear brother I have inherited the Branford Group and will be taking up my brother’s former role of owner, majority interest holder and CEO.”

After her introduction, the rest of the members of the board went through a brief round of introductions, giving her each of their names and associations as they went around the table. Despite finding the whole process incredibly tedious, she wanted to maintain an image as a polite woman despite how ruthless she may appear to be later on. 

Most members of the board seemed quite neutral or put up a positive facade while interacting with her, no doubt hopeful that she would share their stance on how the company should continue from where they were now. That was however until Aurora had to interact with her grandmother.

“Ah, hello there dear, I am your grandmother. I have sadly not had the chance to meet you before now due to some… disagreements, but I hope you will follow and learn from this old lady's wisdom.”

Her grandmother who was the exception, making no effort to hide some sort of superiority complex aimed at her. The woman spoke with a patronising tone as she introduced herself as her grandmother instead of her actual name, despite it being expected of the older woman in a business setting. 

Aurora was also fully aware of what those disagreements were and why her parents wanted to sever contact between an easily influenced child and a manipulative woman, but she kept those thoughts to herself as she moved to return the greeting.

“Ah, Hello there Miriam. Yes, it is nice to finally meet you.”

Aurora tried to ignore the annoyance her grandmother's attitude caused as she gave a short and curt reply while remaining civil. She was not going to make any trouble herself, but she felt that she didn't need to given the scowl on the woman's face. She sighed inwardly as she moved the meeting straight into the main topic, noticing that some of the younger members of the board shared her distaste for her grandmother's interaction. 

“With introductions now made, let us move to the main topic of the meeting, the future direction of the Branford Group.”

Aurora started by throwing her copy of the document given to the others in the room last week onto the table as she spoke.

“You all got a copy of this document regarding Mr Branford’s plans for the next few quarters last week, yes?”

The board's collective expressions became distinctly mixed, some looked aghast at her attitude, some held a small smirk seeing at her no-nonsense attitude, while a couple looked hopeful, no doubt holding expectations she would call the document trash and scrap the plans.

After Aurora received nods from all of the members she continued to speak.

“Well, this stands. Every part of it. We will be continuing the projects Chester initiated and seeing them to completion. The same agreement as last time stands as well, if you have issues, you can bring them up in the mid-first quarter meeting.”

As Aurora expected there was chaos amongst the members of the board, however, most of the outrage came from 5people in particular. They were the older members of the group, and that distinctly included her grandmother who had become the most vocal, clearly very upset by this turn of events.