Chapter 29
Oliver’s POV
The door to my office flew open, and the angry Ivory marched towards my desk with a stack of files in her hands. She looked pissed, and I knew she was about to tell me why, even though I was not
interested.
“Well, come in.” I ushered dramatically since she didn’t do the courtesy of knocking. “And it is nice to
see you, Mom.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” She exploded, and her high–pitched voice made my head ring.
“I am not a magician; I will not know unless you tell me.”
“Do not play coy with me, boy. The finance team returned with their annual report, and the
company has lost more this year than it ever had.” She said that and threw the documents at me,
causing them to fly everywhere. “At this point, we will be lucky if anyone will offer a hundred
thousand dollars to buy this company when we declare bankruptcy, and we will because we are at
an all–time low.”
She placed her hand on her waist and took the well–known Ivory’s stance. “Do you have the desire to
run everything your father and I have used our sweat and blood to build into the ground? This is not the company we ran for many decades; this is not the company that we handed over to you three
years ago.”
My eyes shut tightly, mentally trying to block out her voice and presence, but when I opened my eyes again, she was still in my office, angry and waiting for an answer.
I took a long breath. “Since we are pointing fingers and pushing blame, is it also my fault that the
country is experiencing the lowest recession ever recorded in its history and has been for the last
two years?” I demanded with a raised brow.
I didn’t appreciate that, without doing proper research, she had walked in here to bark out orders
like she was in charge.
“We are supposed to be better than others. The aviation business is an ever–flowing business; I know
because I’ve been a part of it for over thirty years.” She argued; she was so loud and yet so wrong.
I rose to my feet, doing my best not to cuss or explode at her. “Perhaps you don’t watch the news, so let me educate you on what is happening in the country, Mom. Everyone is cutting down on what they can and laying off employees. Every organisation still standing is either government–owned or
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heavily funded.”
“If you were as competent as your father and I thought you were, you would have found your way around this mess,” she bit out crudely.
Red flashed in my eyes, and my teeth clenched. “I am a businessman, ma’am, not a magician. People are choosing to spend four days on the road or board a cheaper flight that’s half our price. People would rather go on cheaper flights that could end their lives than spend extra on our airlines because they are trying to save money. It is not a new phenomenon, and you may have sweated blood and tears, but I am still bleeding. While you and Dad fly around the world enjoying your retirement, I am here doing my job, and I do not appreciate you storming in here whenever you like and acting like you are the boss of me. I am the CEO of Plane. You and Dad retired, so stay retired and let me do my job. If you have nothing better to say, get out of my office.” I pointed to the door.
She didn’t say anything before storming out.
My hand balled into a fist, and I pressed it against my mouth. I picked up the desk phone and pressed the number.
“Yes, Mr. Plane.” My PA, Georgie’s voice, came through.
“Do not let Ivory Plane into my office without an appointment from now on; is that clear?”
“Crystal.” She replied, and I placed the desk phone down.
I intended to keep it that way, and if she became a nuisance, I would instruct the security to lock her
out, too.
I needed a smoke in times like these.
“If I were in your shoes, I would have lost it and hung myself by now.” Vivian Aina, my best friend,
said while we sat at the table waiting for our drinks.
I didn’t doubt him; the reason he chose Oxford over Harvard was because he wanted to be as far
away from his parents as possible. When he finished his four–year degree in computer science, he studied machine learning and AI for his master’s and only came back to start his own tech company
two years ago.
You could say his parents didn’t care much about him, and his feelings were the same for them.
Unlike mine, the Ainas didn’t try to control everything their son did and believed he would make the best decision in the end. He has done well so far with Drone, his company.
“It’s like the core part of her brain used for reasoning also retired,” I said through gritted teeth as I
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gulped the whisky served by the bartender.
“They act like they were so perfect when they were our age. No, Dad, the world was much easier, s the fuck down!” Vivian said, gulping his shot of vodka.
He had a similar fallout with his father two months ago.
“How’s things with Julie going?” I asked, changing the subject to a less annoying one,
He smiled, and his eyes flickered. “She’s great; I can’t wait for her to get back from her Hand of Hope campaign in Botswana. It’s been a month, and I have never felt so miserable, life was so much easter with her here.” He shamelessly revealed it.
Julie Zamani was Vivian’s girlfriend. Vivian was a man whore, and he always had his mind set op playing games and didn’t believe anyone could tie him down. He had the looks to support his player lifestyle back then, and he still does. Standing at six feet, two inches tall, with thick black luir and hazel eyes, he had the perfect chance to steal anyone’s girl with just a smile. He wore glasses in logh school, so though he had all these features along with full lips and toned skin, he still looked dorky, but he switched to contact when he left for Oxford. There was one thing Vivian loved more than
staying fit, and that was girls. How he balanced his playboy lifestyle while staying on top of his class
at Oxford was still a mystery.
Julie and Vivian met in Oxford, and though he had initially wanted to play her like he did the other girls, he changed his ways because he wanted to be the man she deserved. I had never seen him so in love, and his eyes always lit up whenever he spoke about her,
He reminded me of how I was with Ela; only their love story was perfect, while ours wasn’t. I didn’t
want to dwell on the bitter memory for fear of ruining the night.
“How’s Cecil?” Vivian asked.
“She is fine; I wish she went to Botswana and stayed there for a month,” I grumbled,
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