Married To My Bully by Sakshi C (read me like a book TXT) 📗

Presentation

The whole night I kept tossing and turning in bed. I was exhausted to the bone but the sleep had bailed on me. His confusing behavior was not letting me think anything else. I felt his passion in that kiss. His longing and I dare say, his approval of me too. One second he made me feel so wanted and in the next, hurled me like trash. I had never met someone so confusing before. The feel of his lips was still fresh in my mind and I craved to feel that again. My lips were still tingling by the impact he had left on me. I had no idea where were we going with this.

The next day proved to be more terrible than the last one. Alex had already left for work when I came downstairs to have breakfast. He didn't even eat his breakfast. I wondered if it had something to do with last night. I finished my food and headed to the office, not knowing a day full of chaos was awaiting me.

Shirley informed me that the Executive Management Team of Knight industries had scheduled a meeting with us this noon where we had to present our performance report. I was going to present the report in front of all the high-ranking executives including the CEO. And we had prepared nothing as the email had arrived out of the blue. We were pressed for time. 

I hurried my team into collecting all the details and share them with me. It was beyond me as to why they wanted a presentation on such an urgent basis. Anyway, I had no say in it. I put off all my meetings till tomorrow as the executive meet-up was on top of my priority list. We were expected to have a meeting at 1:00 PM. Surprisingly, our whole team was called to the meeting. My team wasn't very big as the business had just started growing, so it wasn't a big issue.

The clock struck 1:00 and we marched towards the conference room. My heart was pounding fiercely inside my chest. I was having a premonition. I felt as if something ominous was going to happen but I brushed it away thinking it to be the product of my nervousness. 

The conference room was quite vast in size. This was the first time I had seen the conference room of Knight Industries. 

Some of the people were already there. They nodded at me and shook my hand. Even though I was supposed to present them our performance report, they knew I was still their boss's wife. People started settling in. My team was told to sit in the audience chairs that were placed behind the main table. 

We had to wait five more minutes till Alex arrived, snatching everyone's attention instantly. The man exuded authority and domination. I noticed hos the air of the room turned darker and heavier as he stepped in through the room. He is one of those men who you don't want to look in the eye but at the same time, something about them would dare you to look away. 

I pulled in a shaky breath when his orbs found my blue ones. I expected him to look away but he kept staring into my set of blue pools while sprawling in his chair. There was a hint of amusement in his cold eyes that made me a little suspicious. 

"Shall we begin?" A baldy man voiced, making me break my eye contact with Alex. 

I nodded and cleared my throat. My gaze swept over the room and I realized there were at least ten people sitting at the main table along with Alex. I connected my laptop with the projector and started presenting. Ten minutes into the presentation a shrilling sound of ringtone echoed in the room, breaking my rhythm. I thought the person would cut the call but he answered it. Alex answered the call right in between my presentation. I eyed him with disbelief as he continued talking over the phone. Irritation flared inside me. I waited for his call to end which took a whole couple of minutes. He didn't even apologize for disturbing me and gestured me to continue. With a set jaw, I recommenced my presentation. Everyone was listening in with utter attention except for Alex who was busy doing something on his phone. It felt so insulting. As if he had been forced into sitting in this meeting. I even caught him yawning a few times and that was infuriating beyond words. Who called him anyway? Why can't he just leave? I thought to myself.

It took me fifteen minutes to finish our presentation. 

"Any question?" I ended it with a question.  

Most of the executives shook their hand in no. I was going back to my seat when a familiar voice tore through the air. 

"I have a question," Alex uttered in his stern voice, making me halt in my step. 

His cold eyes were bored into mine. 

"Why is the amount of revenue id lesser than the amount of revenue you had proposed a month ago while applying for the expansion in the budget," he asked me with a straight face. 

I swallowed a lump not because I didn't have an answer but because I had understood the true reason behind scheduling this meeting. He wanted to affront me in front of everyone.  

"A big fraction of budget got invested in replacing the outmoded goods with modern ones. Besides, the website needed a makeover of its own. We are also in the process of hiring more manpower. So as you can see this month my focus was more on strengthening the business from the inside. We have started reaching out to the clients and a lot of them have shown their interest in our service. I am positive we will have a boost in our revenue moving forward," I answered as smartly as I could. His neutral expression didn't change a bit as he stared me down. 

"You are an all talk and no show. But unfortunately for you, what I favor is data. I remember clearly that you had claimed that we will have a better revenue this month and you miserably failed to deliver Mrs. Crystal as the revenue is nowhere near the amount you had claimed it to be. Now tell me why should I trust you when you are standing here claiming again that we will have a boost in revenue next month, " he looked at me through the steeple of his fingers. An evil glint shone in his eyes. 

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