Amanda was talking with her boss over her laptop, which they were on a meeting through a video call. She was nervous, because her husband, Chris was walking towards her.
“You’re amazing, Amanda,” her boss, Mr. Anders said to Amanda.
As Amanda was smiling towards her camera, her husband’s steps were coming closer. As he was next to her, she was frozen with fear.
Then Chris hit to the keyboard with the beer he was holding. He leaned into her and asked, “What are you doing?”
And continued, “Where’s my food?”
“I’m so sorry,” Amanda said to her boss. Then she turned to Chris, “I’m just finishing up my meeting, honey.”
Her supervisors at the call, Claire and Mr. Anders were confused. Amanda was trying to save the situation. She wanted her husband to move away, so she needed to chose her words carefully.
“Honey, I’m hungry,” Chris said to his wife, “You don’t want to upset your hubby, do you?”
Chris was actually threatening her, which Amanda understand. She knew her husband, and the tone he would use when he wated to intimidate his wife.
“I just need a few more minutes, honey. Please?” Amanda asked, “I’m on a call with my supervisors. We should be finished soon.”
“Supervisors?” Chris laughed. “Come on, off you go,” he said, as he shaked Amanda’s chair. “You know what happens when you work too hard.”
As Amanda didn’t wanted to be humiliated in front of her supervisors, she decided to play along with Chris to avoid any conflict.
“And get everything on the table in fifteen minutes,” Chris continued.
“Of course, honey,” Amanda said, as she was terrified.
“I will talk to your supervisors myself,” Chris said.
Then Mr. Anders started to talk. “Chris, Amanda is indispensable for the meeting tomorrow. Her presence is crucial for our success, do you understand?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure thing,” Chris responded, as he wanted their meeting to be over.
As Amanda was in the kitchen, she was thinking as, “How did it come to this? My career hanging by a thread because of my husband. I’ve worked so hard for this and sacrificed so much… Where do I draw the line? Why am I still with him?”
On the next day, as the meeting with the investors arrived, Mr. Anders apologized from the investors, “Apologies for the delay. Amanda will be here shortly. Thank you for being so patient.”
“We’ll wait. We’re eager to hear from Amanda,” Mr. Whitney said.
“Thank you for waiting. I’m so sorry,” Amanda said, as she was taking deep breathes, since she rushed for not being too late for the meeting.
Then Chris entered to the room, “What’s the fuss about? Mind if I join?” He said with a smile.
“Fancy watch. How much did you spend on that?” He asked to Mr. Whitney. People were shocked with his terrible manners.
“Money talks, right? Let’s get to it,” Chris continued, as he was annoying the people in the room.
“Chris, not now, please,” Amanda tried to stop her husband. She was sweating with the stress.
“We need to contain this,” Mr. Anders said to Claire. “Chris, how about a tour of our facilities? We’ll show you around while Amanda continues the meeting.”
“Sure thing, boss. Lead the way!” Chris said with a laugh.
“Claire here will assist you,” Mr. Anders said to Chris.
As Claire understood her mission, she smiled and said, “Of course, Chris. Let’s start with the main office area,” she led the way.
“Show me around, girl,” Chris said to Claire. “Huh-huh, do what your boss said. You know what to do if you want things to run smoothly, sweetheart.”
Amanda tried to maintain herself with the stress she received from her husband’s presence. “Apologies for the interruption,” she said, and started to her presentation.
But the world started to turn around Amanda, and her vision got blacked quickly. She fell to the ground.
“Give her some water,” Mr. Anders rushed towards Amanda. “This is unacceptable!” He said. “Get up, Amanda! We need to proceed!”
“She needs help,” Mr. Whitney said. As the other investors helpedAmanda, she was sitting on a chair.
“What’s happening there?” A voice came from Mr. Ander’s private computer. Chris was on the screen, sitting in Mr. Ander’s office.
“I need to stop this,” Amanda said, as she was coming to herself slowly. She was afraid for Claire.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Mr. Anders asked, “We need to get back to the meeting!”
“Chris, leave her alone!” Amanda shouted. Mr. Anders, Mr. Whitney and Mr. Morgan were following her to Mr. Ander’s office.
“I didn’t do anything!” Chris said.
“You’ve gone too far this time!” Amanda said. She was looking to Chris’ eyes.
Then the security arrived. Chris was taken out from the building. “I didn’t do anything wrong! You all know they want me! Especially her!” He was looking at Amanda.
“Enough, Chris!” Amanda shouted. “You’ve done enough. It’s over.”
As her husband was out, Amanda saw her angry boss, Mr. Anders. “This is an outrage! You two have ruined everything! You—” as he was about to fire Amanda, Mr. Whitney and Mr. Morgan stopped him.
“Mr. Anders, enough! Your lack of leadership exacerbated this situation.”
“Exactly,” Mr. Morgan said. “Amanda and Claire did everything to salvage the meeting despite the chaos caused by your neglect. This is on you, not them.”
“How dare you interfere in my business!” Mr. Anders said angrily.
“This isn’t how you treat your employees. We value their dedication and professionalism, something you’ve failed to recognize.” Mr. Whitney continued.
“Furthermore,” Mr. Morgan added, “they’re too good to work for you. We’re offering Amanda and Claire positions at our investment fund. They deserve better.”
As he was livid, Mr. Anders left the office with anger. Then the investors talked with Claire and Amanda. Offered them the work, where their efforts would be appreciated.
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