Chapter 2

• "You are late!" He fired and Liam nodded, feeling uncomfortable with the way the blonde was staring at him. The man was legit staring him down like he was an exhibition and Liam didn't like it at all. It made him so self-conscious, and it didn't even help that he wasn't looking his best that morning; from all those running, he sure did look disorganized. 
• He was an advocate of leaving a good impression with anyone he met so having this man stare him down, he wondered what was going on through his mind.
• "I'm sorry, sir. It was because — " he tried again but Mr. Blaise raised a hand in the air.
• "It is fine. I will let this slide because today is a glorious day." The old man beamed, winking at the young man who was sitting beside him and breaking into a laugh when the young man rolled his eyes.
• "When does the meeting start?" Mr. Blaise asked after a while of laughing.
• "In ten minutes, sir," Liam answered and the man nodded as he stood to his feet,  his companion doing the same and they both left the office, with Liam tagging behind. 
• As they walked to the conference hall where the meeting would be held,  Liam listened to the conversation between his boss and his friend.  His boss looked really happy that morning and Liam couldn't understand why. He was to hand over to his daughter and he was smiling? Wouldn't he miss the company?
• "If I didn't know, I would have thought you won a lottery this morning," the young friend said, making Mr. Blaise laugh hard once again.
• "Didn't I win a lottery?" The old man nudged the younger man in the shoulder and the man smiled, making Liam wonder what kind of relationship the two men shared.  
• From the way they were interacting, Liam could tell they were tight friends — but could Mr. Blaise have a tight friend Liam didn't know about? He was his personal secretary, so he should know.  Besides, the age gap was quite a handful.
• "Why are you so happy about retiring?" The young man asked and Lian nodded. He really wanted to hear the answer to that question.
• "Because I will finally have the freedom to visit every single place I intend to go. In fact,  I will be spending the first two weeks of my retirement in France." 
• "Oh, so you've made plans already?' The man raised his eyebrow and Mr. Blaise laughed again.
• "I thought you would like to stay for a while, you know,  to put Anastacia through her first week?" The younger man turned serious but Mr. Blaise only shook his head, his big smile still on his face.
• "Stacia already knows her job. She won't need me for anything. Don't you think she can handle this?" 
• "Oh, yes, she can." The younger man sighed. "She has been trained for this all her life."
• "Exactly my point.  It is time for her to put to practice all that she had learned. I believe she will do a good job. Stacia is a dogged and resolute lady and with the help of the people here, she will have no difficulty." Mr. Blaise slapped the younger man softly on the shoulder.
• "Don't you trust your woman?" He asked and the man chuckled. 
• His woman? Oh! Liam's eyes widened in realization.  He could now recall where he had seen the man. He had come visiting once and Mr. Blaise had introduced him as the fiance of his daughter. Little wonder they interacted so freely.  Liam envied the relationship. 
• They finally arrived at the conference room to see the board of directors already seated and Liam quickly stood by the side,  getting ready to take in the minute of the meeting. 
• He could already feel his anxiety setting in and he took a deep breath to calm himself down. He had never liked conference meetings because it made him look so small like he didn't fit in.
• Everyone looked so serious and poised, dressed in their expensive suits and ties, they looked so unreachable and Liam felt out of place. 
• However, he could not escape it and despite it being six months of his job as a personal secretary, he still wasn't used to it. It was for this reason he made sure to make himself as invisible as ever whenever he was in any of these meetings.  
• He watched as Mr. Blaise stood at the center of the table, his big smile still on his face, while his son-in-law and friend,  took a seat on one of the vacant seats. 
• Mr. Blaise finally cleared his throat and he opened his mouth to speak,  first of all thanking every board of directors and committee chairs who had in one way or the other contributed to the growth of the company and had supported him right from the creation of Blaise corporation to where they were. 
• "Up until today, we have given our all to make Blaise corporation better and though we might have started unskilled and lacking in many ways, I can confidently tell you that the passion we had for the past fifty years was genuine.  I am forever grateful for your support during the past years." He paused, making sure to smile at everyone before continuing. 
• "Today, I am happy to inform you all that I will be handing on this baton of leadership to my only child, Anastacia,  and though,  I have introduced her to you, most of us are quite familiar with her, I wish to introduce her once again. So please, join me in welcoming the new chairman of this corporation, Miss Anastacia Blaise." 
• He beamed and faced the door, making everyone follow his line of sight as the door opened and a young beautiful woman dressed in a white blazer coupled with skinny black jeans and heels so high, walked in. 
• Liam, who had been dying to meet his new boss, immediately turned to the door only for his jaw to drop when the lady came to full view.  He gasped and would have fallen had he not been leaning on the wall. His heart began to pound as she walked to the center of the table to meet her father and he quickly lowered his eyes when she looked in his direction. 
• "Hello! I am Anastacia Blaise and I hope we can all work together to move Blaise food company to greater heights." She bowed and a round of applause resounded in the room with people nodding in approval and camera flashing lights filling the place. 
• The young man who had come with Mr. Blaise rose to his feet and hugged the lady, whispering words into her ear that made her chuckle a bit. However,  Liam remained frozen and could barely move his hands as all he could do was try to comprehend what exactly was going on. Could it be?
• Oh no!
• Shit!