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Annalise shook her head.
“Part of being a chairman in a mega-company is how to put on an appearance. You’d be spending your time in meetings and power lunches. As such, I want you to be prepared. Your appearance reflects the company image.”
Her heart slowly sank into her gut. She started wondering if she could pull her end of the bargain fulfilling her uncle’s wish.
“When those basic necessities are taken care of, we must start tackling the inner working of Dune Industry. Naturally, I’ll be the one who makes decisions until you’re comfortable enough to take over. There’ll be board of directors meetings, then inter-departments, shareholders meetings and such. Quite mundane I’d say.”
Mu
ndane? Meeting with smart, powerful people? She wouldn’t know what to talk about in the first place. She’d be making a fool of herself. And she had a feeling she’d be doing that quite often.
Sven noticed her discomfort. “Don’t be nervous. I’ll be with you every step of the way. I won’t leave you alone with those wolves.”
Annalise cringed.
Sven continued. “On a personal side, I’ll be making an official announcement about our marriage to the press by the end of this month. My publicist will handle most of it. We have a meeting with them on Thursday. I think one interview and a session of photo shoots should suffice; only I haven’t decided which magazine should get the exclusive. I’ll let Laurent, the head of PR, fill us in with suggestions.”
“Wait, wait, what interview?”
“You want to make this marriage convincing, don’t you?”
Annalise slumped in her seat. “I guess so.”
He scanned the schedule. “I think that’s about it. Once we get through the initial hurdles, the rest should be smooth sailing.”
Somehow, she didn’t share his excitement. “What if I totally screw up and drive the company to the ground? I’m not cut out for this kind of job.”
Sven steepled his fingers and looked amused. “Dune Industry would probably force you out and compensate you with a ridiculous amount of money, and then another giant company would probably want to hire you as their CEO with even more ridiculous amounts of money and benefits. I can name five people who ruined the companies they worked for, and they still get hired after they left. The whole system is shady. Sad thing is, this practice is not only happening in the private sectors, but in the government circuit as well.”
“Why do people still hire those CEOs?”
“Nepotism, mostly. Those people usually know a member of the board of directors in another company, so they vote for each other for their own benefits. These days you rarely see a person at management level who devoted himself to the good of the company or his subordinates.”
“So, are you a good guy, or a bad guy?”
“Depends on the person you ask. My assistants think I’m a slave driver.”
“Hmm. Ice King.”
“Pardon me?”
“That’s my first impression of you.”
“Ice King?”
“When you enter the room, everything freezes. But now that I’m getting to know you, I think you’re a kitty cat.”
“I take it that means I’m cute and adorable?”
She grinned.
He studied her. “I bet you’re tired.”
“Huh? Yes, I am. There was so much going on today.”
“Shall we retire for the night?”
“Can we? I really want to take a shower. No, a bath. A long hot bath.”
