The Ruby
Confident I step into the meeting and take my seat next to Aziel.
"Where were you all evening?", he hisses in my ear as I put out my documents. "I knocked on your room door, you weren't there either. Did you run off with that blond guy? Danner won't like that." I give him a warning look.
"Today it’s up or down. We have to get the contract through today, come what may. Concentrate on that. We'll talk about the rest later during our victory drink!". With a gooey smile, I look across the table as Aziel opens the meeting.
My hand with the ruby demonstratively travels to my lips, visible to everyone in the room. And just as I imagined, my beauties next to the eye-catching ring are attracting everyone's attention. All eyes are on me, even Mr. Cheng's is stunned at what he sees.
"Get out the original contract," I whisper to Aziel. He looks at me startled as if I've gone mad. "Do as I say," I insist urgently. I clear my throat to get the focus of the audience to my words and start selling our original contract to my partners, throw in a joke every now and then and my sparkling smile. I see the Chinese relax, the stern Mr Cheng even shows a dry smile.
After some grammatical adjustments that are quickly sorted out by Iva, the counterpart accepts the contract as it is. "It took us three days to come to this result. Shall we sign right away after investing so much energy in this?", I suggest with a friendly smile to Mr. Cheng. He nods excitedly and I take his copy and bring it to him personally. With the hand with the ruby, I place it in front of him slowly so he can’t miss the beauty of it and offer him my expensive Parker.
Clearly pleased with my action, he nods again, takes my pen and places his firm signature under the document. Seeing this, his staff follow suit. Inwardly I heave a deep sigh. That ruby was really a master move of mine after all.
Still standing next to Mr. Cheng, I applaud this new partnership and happily propose to have a successful collaboration drink on my account in the bar. "No, no, we'll take care of that, Miss Loraine," I hear Mr. Cheng say. Aaahhh, I forgot. Chinese businessmen are gentle, always willing to show a woman their best side. I love that.
I grab his elbow and leave the conference room with him. After a few seconds, Aziel is next to us. "Don't forget the pictures. We still have to make the news," I remind him. Of course, my unfailing assistant has arranged for a professional photographer, and we get the material on a stick.
When we arrive at the bar, the local press is also waiting, invited by Mr. Cheng's company. Working with Americans is still a big marketing issue here, even though his company is the market leader. I pose kindly but with a serious look in the eyes, honorably next to the Chinese delegation.
Then there is the party, we congratulate each other, toast as a pledge of successful cooperation. The atmosphere is pleasant and relaxing. "You did a great job, Loraine. They accepted the original contract after all the adjustments we made for days. Our hard work has still paid off," Aziel compliments me.
"Are you calculating your big bonus, Aziel?", I ask him with eyebrows raised. I know this deal comes with a six-digit signing fee for him. And he deserves it. His commitment was great, we wouldn't have come this far without him. Aziel laughs heartily at my comment. "If I had you as a fiancé to spend it, I would be the luckiest man in the world. Going on vacation in Barbados, hitting the beaches. But hey, not everyone is equally lucky", he sighs dramatically. "Is this a proposal, Mr. Aziel? Don't forget I'm already taken."
We bicker until it's time to break up the party. We walk to Mr. Cheng and shake his hand again. "My staff will contact yours and then we can start the actual business. I am counting on fruitful cooperation, Mr. Cheng," I tell him politely. As we walk up the lobby to our rooms, I see the pool enticing me. It is now noon, the hotel guests are having fun, some with children. Aziel sees me staring. "Shall we go for a swim? We don't leave until late in the evening. Everything is already arranged".
That's what I love the most about Aziel, he is proactive, always responds to follow-up actions. Staff members with such a work attitude are rare, which is why my company always awards an extra bonus to excellent workers and they earn extra money on successful projects apart from their monthly salary. "Yes, let's enjoy these last hours. A tour of Beijing has been lost with this extra day of negotiation."
We wait for the delegation to leave the hotel and head for the swimming facilities.
We decide to first take a sauna and a wonderful massage in the bubble bath, before we try the pool. We swim a few laps, join a water polo match and before we know it it's time to get out. We say goodbye to our teammates and leave for our rooms. I rest for another hour before closing my suitcase and putting it at the door. In bed, I grab my phone and call Danner.
"Hi, babe. I did it, the deal is done and still in the original concept", I greet him happily.
"Yes, Loraine, that was also several hours ago. I read it in the online newspapers," he says sourly.
What now? "Is something wrong, Danner? Spit out what's on your mind," I sigh. "It's nothing, honey. I'm glad everything went well for you and you're coming home now. Your flight leaves in three hours so you must leave for the airport now. Don't miss your flight, I'm waiting for you at home, in the penthouse ". I expected a more enthusiastic attitude from him, but hey, maybe he's saving that for my return.
A knock on the door, the hotel help is there to transport my luggage to the lobby...
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