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‘We leave on Wednesday and the client will be coming too. That’ll give us an opportunity to potentially expand into the rest of the organisation. I’m going to be working, so you slackers in sales better be doing the same,’ he lightly reprimands with a laugh. ‘Ariella, wanna tell them what we have ahead of us?’
This is going to be interesting. Ariella never speaks at these things. She looks terrified. I watch Lara put her hand on Ariella’s arm to comfort her as she stands.
‘Our focus for Zambia is to ensure the venue is compliant to universal standards for the clientele, which it unfortunately isn’t at the moment. We’re going to source local experiential suppliers with cross-border potential just in case we wander into Zimbabwe, negotiate our way around the vacillating agricultural import bans at a governmental level, introduce and schedule fine dining training for all staff with global certification to give back to the community, hop over to South Africa to interview the Michelin-starred chef and team, arrange fumigation services for the kitchen, redesign, purchase furniture and renovate the bedrooms, vet aviation providers for the Livingstone transfers—’
‘And much, much more!’ Harrison laughs nervously as he cuts in, saving the room from boredom and terror.
I feel for her.
‘Thank you, Ariella.’ He clears his throat. The mood in the room changes measurably. The electric high of the sale has just been sucked into an operations black hole by Ariella, and everyone looks worried. The enormity of the project just multiplied. A little smile plays on Nicole’s lips. I don’t like it.
‘Just a second, Harry…’ Christopher Ivory, our other co-founder, who has been standing at the back of the room with his hands in his pockets, pipes up casually. ‘Ariella, it sounds pretty impossible to pull this off?’ he asks with a glint in his eye.
Ariella sighs nervously and reluctantly stands again.
‘Most of the work has been done from here. We’re already working with the UKTI for government access, we’re meeting an aviation expert out there, we have suppliers lined up and the chef will be on-boarded during the day trip. Suppliers and talent are all sourced, with second and third options in place. Approvals for the renovation have already been agreed, and the social responsibility skills transfer programme has already been written and approved on a local and governmental level in order to give us our agricultural exemption. I also have renovation plans under way.’
‘Are you saying the execution is already pretty much there, with all the players in place?’ Chris smiles.
I see what he is doing.
‘Yes.’
‘But you’ve only been on it for five days,’ he presses.
He’s giving everyone the answer to the question that has been floating around the office. Why they picked her. Ariella, however, doesn’t get what he is doing and I can see she’s frightened that he doesn’t believe her.
‘I have all the plans and paperwork filed and categorised on the server. I’m happy to take you through it if you set a couple of hours aside for me today?’
‘No. You’ve done an unbelievable job, Ariella. Thank you.’
She sits down quickly.
‘Phew, for a second there I thought it was going to be a shitshow,’ Harrison announces as everyone laughs, relieved.
Chris has just used Ariella to stop the rumours and reassure the entire company. That’s what I like about Chris. He is practical, intuitive and steady. If Ivory Bow was a rock band, Harrison would be the charismatic frontman and Chris would be the level-headed songwriter.
I feel pride in Ariella rise up in me. You wouldn’t think it to look at her, but in her own way she is a badass. I didn’t understand half of the things she was talking about, but I know she is on top of it and nothing is going to get past her.
No one wanted to give their progress reports after that. Compared to what Ariella was faced with, all the other updates paled in comparison. With everyone suddenly becoming update-shy, the meeting finishes early. Ariella dashes out of the room quickly, clutching her notebook.
As soon as I make it back to my dome, Piers –a total creep – walks in.
‘Caleb, can we talk?’ He didn’t bother to knock.
‘Make it quick.’
I know he wants to be continent sales lead for Africa and needs me out of the way. It would mean an automatic promotion. I can’t stand Piers but I hope he gets it. It’ll keep him busy and away from my customers.
‘I was thinking…’
‘You want continent lead.’
‘Yeah.’
‘I won’t stand in your way. I have my hands full with Asia and West Coast USA.’
‘How do you think I should pitch it to Harrison?’
