Miss Secretary takes charge

Chapter 18

Everyone was shocked when Henry announced that Julie is going to present at the meeting today.

"She needs a reality check on knowing her Worth" he said to Mr Smith.
"What was your thoughts on this Mr. Smith?"
"She has the knowledge on the subject, she can do this but the experience to handle such a big event was my concern"
"today she will gain that too, every expert was once a beginner"
"your judgements have always been right Mr Kingston, I will arrange her a stylist for attending today's event."

Mr Smith found her in the guestroom, lost in thought. "Mr. Smith, don't you think this is such a grand event and a big responsibility too. I am not sure if I can do this, if something goes wrong, the company's name will be ridiculed. I don't want to bring that disgrace to Mr Kingston"
"Then don't bring it, Julie, do you believe Mr. Kingston's intuition and prevision?" Of course, she does. She nodded.
"It's an excellent opportunity and honour to represent the Kingston corporation. You are going in place of 'The Henry Kingston', keep your head high and make us proud" she took a deep breath and accepted this. She finished the powerpoint presentation in the next half an hour and sent to Paul, the structural engineer who will join her today at the meeting.

The stylist brought her a few professional suits and they decided on a grey skirt suit. She smoothened her had,made a bun and did a minimal make-up.

Julie was nervous, so she went to meet Mr Kingston. He was sitting in his bed and reading a file. "Sir, here are your medicines, please have it after your breakfast" he glanced up from his file and gave a surprised look. "Wow! Miss Secretary is all set, ready for action!" she smiled. He could feel the tension in her smile.

"Come here" he extended his palms like welcoming a child, she placed her hands, he gently held her and said, "You have been in this project from day one, had spent more time reading, collecting resources than anyone else, this is Your Project" she nodded.
"Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, what do you see?"
"Nothing"
"Right, empty your mind, see 'nothing' in front of you, focus only on your presentation" she felt bit calm and light. "Remember, You are the Head of this project, go run the show" he patted her shoulder. She thanked him and left.

Henry's chauffeur was waiting for her. Mr. Smith said "Julie you leave with Mason, I will join you soon, Paul will be there at the venue".

She collected all the files, laptop and about to leave when a sudden entry of someone terrorised the entire house. The sound of his walking stick gave an awful rumbling in their hearts. As no one expected his entry, they all stood still.

Mr Smith stepped forward and greeted him with a bow, "Good morning, Senior Kingston" Ben, Steve and Mason followed his gesture and greeted him.
Julie was dumbfound on his sudden visit. She remained still, so Mr Smith called Julie to greet him "Good..."
"Are you that wh*re?" he growled. Everyone stood bolted on the spot in shock.
"How dare you lie to me?" His voice was very loud. She did not speak.
"If you think you can swindle the money by possessing him, forget it, I will destroy your very existence"
She went blank, she did not defend herself when Sr. Kingston accused her of all fake allegations.
"Kingston men are not an easy targets for vixens as you, you should find men who are obsessed with s*x and entertain sl*ts like you"
All the men in the room are ashamed of Sr. Kingston's choice of words and his accusation on Julie.

Julie's eyes could not hold the tears anymore. Mr Smith tried to intervene,but he motioned him to be quiet. He took a stack of cash from his jacket and threw it on her face and said, "there is more money than you can ever imagine or make from this business, take it and get lost. You're fired from all the positions, you held in Kingston Corp, don't ever show your filthy face again."
Julie went to the door and realised that someone else had accompanied Sr Kingston, it was Lisa Hudson. She was silently listening to all of this, she mimicked Julie(reference chapter15) and whispered "please leave".Julie left the penthouse, crying.

Paul had submitted the file and given the presenters names. He was waiting for Julie to arrive.

In the penthouse, "Do you all think I will spare you for keeping this from me? She was here controlling things, Henry took off from work for spending time with a 'woman', he had never been so unreasonable, how did she possess him?" No one answered.

Lisa said, "looking at their silence. I think they were all partners in crime." Smith and Ben glared at her but controlled them as to not provoke Sr Kingston anymore than he already was.

The in-house elevator bell alerted everyone. Henry came out in his electric wheel chair. It was heart-wrenching for Sr Kingston to see his grandson like this. "Oh! Grandfather, Good morning, you do not come without a notice, so is there any emergency?" He asked casually not knowing the tension prevailing here.
"I just wanted to see you, but not in a wheelchair, what happened?"
"It's just a mild dysfunction in my limbs mobility, nothing to worry".
He thought everyone was stiff out of respect for his grandfather. He questioned Smith, "who got the telecast rights for the state event?"
"FX news" he replied.

Henry switched on the television and checked the time."It's almost time for the presentation" he announced.
Lisa cleared her throat. But Henry did not approve her presence. She did not know whether he ignored her or not notice as he was engrossed on the television content.

Lisa was hellbent on reconciling with Henry today. With his grandfather around, he wouldn't unleash like the last time, she thought.

In the event, Paul was getting anxious as the meeting was about to commence, but Julie was nowhere to be seen. He kept trying her phone, but no answer.

On the live telecast, they had focused on the table allocated for Kingston Corp., the seat next to Paul was empty.
Henry questioned, "where is Juliet? Mr Smith did you check on her? Had she reported at the venue? Did Mason go with her?" Without taking his eyes of the television.
"No, Mr. Kingston" he said feebly.
"She should be there by this time" he checked the time again.
"The hall entry will be sealed once the meeting starts".
Henry was clearly getting impatient. The meeting hall was completely packed, the dignitaries were the Secretary of the State, the Governor and other notable members from the society. The meeting has commenced and after few minutes of speech, the presenter announced, "The next event will be the presentation from the Kingston corporation"
The auditorium lights had been put off and a single light was focused on the podium.

It was EMPTY!

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*Again a cliffhanger? Give your opinion about this chapter in the comments.

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