Arranged Marriage To The Princess Of The Red Scorpions

Chapter 199 - Board Meeting

When Monday came, Samuel was more nervous than Lena was about the board meeting. He knew who most of the people there were, it didn't help him to know what exactly to expect however.

"You really don't need to stress yourself about it so much." Lena told him when she noticed that he was going over the notes from the last meeting and reviewing who be attending this one again.

"They might have a hard time their thoughts and opinions to themselves, but they're fairly harmless beyond that. Most of it is just review projects that are ongoing, deciding on future projects, and making sure everything is moving along at the right pace."

She knew that there were going to be some people at the board meeting who would wonder why Samuel was being involved since he wasn't part of the company. Plus, they'd likely hold his age against him and the fact that he didn't have any kind of formal education that would benefit them in running the business.

The princess had her own reasons for doing it however and wouldn't really care what the other board members thought about it or didn't approve. She knew that there would benefits in having him as part of the business.

Before the board meeting, she had Samuel take off his cuff links and put them in the case in her desk draw that she could lock.

"Though some of these people in the meeting know who my father is, I don't trust all of the and would prefer to keep your identity within the mafia hidden for the time being." She explained, grabbing a few folders off her desk. Even if she didn't them, she had to give the airs of being a professional by taking them with her.

"Are any of them part of the mafia?" Samuel, he hadn't read anything about that, but he knew that looks could be deceiving. The princess scoffed as they left the office, she looked the door behind herself after handing the folders off to James who had been standing outside waiting for them.

"No, but some of them are aware of who my father is and think that he's worth investing in because of how good he is with business." She explained as they headed over to the elevator.

At least the meeting would perhaps not be so unbearable with Samuel there, it might help her refrain from visibly rolling her eyes when the meeting got stuck on an insignificant topic.

Samuel became more quiet once they were on the elevator. Her office was on one of the middle floors while the board meeting room was located on the top floor. They only used the room on the top floor because it was the only big enough in the building to hold everyone that attended the meeting. Otherwise, they would have just had it in one of the meeting rooms on the floor where the princess's office was located.

Last time that was tried however, it was a disaster as it felt like everyone was sardines trying to fit into a can that was one size too small for them. Eventually, things would be remodeled so that the meeting room would be located on one of the lower floors.

"Don't worry about being too tense either. Technically with me being the CEO, you have a higher position in relation to me than most of the people who will be in the room." Lena told Samuel under her breath before she opened the meeting room door. She already knew to expect that there would be a number of people waiting inside.

Even though Samuel knew to expect a lot of people to be in the room, actually seeing them in person somehow made him feel more daunted than he had expected.

It looked much more like the board meetings that were depicted in a number of movies that he had watched growing up. Even the way the table was set up and the grump looking men who were around the table with only a few women scatter amongst them looked similar.

There were still a few seats open at the table, but Lena motioned for him to follow her to the other end of the table where her seat at the head of the table was located.

She motioned for Samuel to take the seat she usually did and she took the new chair that had been brought in. The one she used to use had been originally her father's which meant that it was a touch too large for her even if it was comfortable.

When she noticed that her fiancé was still being rather stiff as he sat there next to her glancing at the other people in the room who were staring at him either covertly and indiscriminately. She patted his leg gently or at least she thought it was in an attempt to reassure him though she wasn't fully certain that it helped.

He glanced over at her, but by the look in his eyes it still seemed to her that he was rather nervous with all the unfamiliar faces. Sometimes, her fiancé really made no sense to her.

He managed to go to an unfamiliar estate with a cousin he hardly knew where a bunch of other people he didn't know would be occupying and hardly had a problem with it. Yet, now that he was in front of board meeting where most of members where spineless and toothless despite how they looked, he was nervous.

Maybe once the meeting was over and he saw how everyone was, he would be less nervous about the matter. If not, she could talk with him about it after the fact. Right now she just wanted it to be over already even though it hadn't even started.

It took an additional ten minutes before everyone else had made it for the meeting. Some had been running late due to traffic and the rainy weather was taking place outside. If it wasn't for the fact that they had important things to bring up at the meeting, Lena would've started without them.

"I think now that we are all here, there is one thing that we are curious about." One of the older men started. Based upon the expression on his face and the way he looked at the Princess, Samuel surmised that he must've been the head of the board. He seemed like the one who was least intimidated by Lena.

"He's here because I want him to be there. If you have a problem with it, we can talk about it after the meeting." The little queen told the other, holding his displeased stare. When the staring contest continued after a moment of silence, she raised her eyebrow at him as though daring him to challenge what she said.  Instead, he just huffed, organized the notes in front of him and turned to the man who was supposed to start the board meeting with their update.

Lena figured that Samuel would be interested in this update as it was related the the partnership that had taken place with this uncle John and his business. Of course, the princess didn't need an update to know that she had made the right choice in investing in him. She had a good eye for business even if she was far younger than her father was.

In fact, growth was going better than expected and it was determined that by the last quarter of the year there might be a chance to expand the business and hire more people to help out.

The next topic that followed on the heels of this was the one that the princess wanted to get over with quickly. They needed to do a vote on whether they would go through with the partnership with Marcus or not.

This was an issue that the board was split on. Half thought that it would be worth-while investment based upon his background and what he had done in the past. The other half thought that the proposal that he had brought to them was a little to vague to give the greenlight to.

"Why don't we just do a hands vote first and if it is a tie, we can debate it after?" The princess suggested with a sigh when the bickering over what to do lasted for a good five minutes.

"If you're in favor of it, raise your hand for aye." She said, she didn't plan to raise her own hand until she saw which way the majority was leaning. Perhaps she could push it off on the board if they majority didn't want to go ahead. Could buy some time.

"If you're against it, raise your hand for Nay." She mentally counted the number of people and when she saw how things turned out a small smile flittered across her face. They technically didn't even need her vote for this decision, but she did it out of custom.