In short, I am impressed.
Nestor leads the conversation and hashes out the more detailed ideas behind the proposal.
“I am certain that our clients would benefit from the expansion of products we would be able to offer them if we work together. Your clients wouldn’t even need to know that theproducts came from us. They would be presented as your own. The business ties would be internal,” he explains.
“We’ve crunched a few numbers on our side, integrating the possibilities of your products being available for our clients, and we think we can provide an attractive profit increase for you,” Ardalion says, sliding a piece of paper towards me. “Obviously, these are just projections based on ideas, but it gives a nice indication…”
I glance at the document, letting my eyes trail over the far column. I will look at this in detail later tonight, but from this brief inspection, I can see that their client base would be a very nice addition to my business.
“I like what I see so far,” I say.
We discuss various possibilities over the course of two hours. By the end of it, I'm fully committed.
“Obviously, there's a lot to plot out still, but we'd like to leave tonight with a handshake in place to say we're all willing to start putting together an official contract for a future partnership,” Nestor suggests.
I stand up and reach my hand out towards him. He smiles and stands immediately. His hand grips firmly around mine.
“I look forward to doing business with you,” I smile. “All of you. You can go ahead and draw up the proposed contract and send it to my office. I will have my legal team look over everything."
“Brilliant!” Nestor says.
Benedikt stands and reaches for my hand, too. “We are very excited about this new opportunity,” he says.
After dinner, I head home, confident that I've made a good choice. For now, I can set that aside and focuson tomorrow’s interviews. While the HR department handles everything, I do like to silently observe from behind the scenes. Every person who is employed by my business requires my approval.
As I've said, I have a knack for reading people. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been so successful in this life. Another reason is that I make sure I am part of everything. Regardless of whether the decisions are big or small, I want to be involved in all of them. It is, after all, my kingdom.
***
Seven a.m.
The building isn't as quiet as it usually is at this hour. There's already a buzz of movement through the halls as everyone preps for interviews.
I head straight to my office and flick on two screens. Both are tuned into the video feeds of the interview rooms. Two rooms, two interviews running simultaneously throughout the day.
Both are muted for the time being.
Alongside the video feed, I also have a chat window open, which sends messages directly to the person conducting the interview. I can end an interview in a matter of seconds or hire someone just as quickly.
While I wait for the interviews to begin, I go through my inbox and get all of the tedious admin out of the way.
“Good morning, sir,” Bianca says, setting my coffee down on my desk.
“Thank you,” I mutter without looking up.
She knows I’m busy, so she silently moves away.
At half past eight, the first two interviews begin. I watch. I listen. I don’t feel particularly drawn to or away from either participant.
Marking a number in the column on the sheet in front of me, I use the rating scale to indicate that they were both mediocre.
All morning, the interviews continue until around eleven, when I become extra interested in the people walking into the rooms.
They are now beginning the process of hiring someone who will be working directly alongside me, on the top floor, as my personal business analyst. This person needs to be sharp, focused, and brilliant in every possible sense of the word.
I close the other files I was working on to give the next set of interviews my full attention.
Turning the volume up on both video feeds, I lean back in my chair with my arms folded over my chest and my eyes locked on the screens.
