studiobondurri 84. Power Plays
84. Power Plays
84. Power Plays
Aurora spent the next hour pouring over her documents, signing and initialling various legal contracts and agreements as time slowly ticked by.
Despite knowing all of the content of the documents she still read through them to make sure everything was as it should have been, a task she found particularly tedious despite its necessity.
By the time she had signed the last document, she had a frown on her face. Aurora hated repeating things, and this was now her third time. She could feel her annoyance bubbling inside but suppressed it as she took a sip of the tea Sasha had brought her earlier.
Thankfully it was the last time she would need to deal with all the bureaucracy, well, she hoped. She could never be completely certain the gods wouldn’t send her back in time again just to redo all this paperwork for the amusement that they could probably find in her expression right now.
She let out a sigh as she lightly tossed her pen on top of the last document and leaned back in her chair. With all the administrative parts now dealt with the lawyers who were there as legal advisors and witnesses left with Sasha and Harold. She was finally alone and had a moment to herself, well, as much as she could get without getting up and pulling the blinds down.
Aurora spun her chair around to look over the morning London skyline that lay outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of her office. It was a sunny day without a cloud in the sky giving her a picturesque view of the bustling city. She could easily make out some of the iconic landmarks like the Tower of London just on the opposite side of the Themes from the shard where she was, and a bit further upriver she could see the London Eye.
She found it slightly amusing how a glorified Ferris wheel had become one of London's most iconic structures despite the city's rich plethora of ancient buildings, but she was thankful that at least Westminster Palace on the opposite side of the river from it was just as famous.
Sitting and looking over London had been one of the things that had become an ingrained habit over the years, finding that watching the slow flow of cars, the people walking the streets and the occasional air traffic passing overhead helped ground her.
The scale of the sprawling city that spread out in her view gave her a sense of perspective that while yes, she was the owner of a massive and influential conglomerate, she alone was just the tiny captain directing where things went.
It was a reminder to her that the only reason she could sit where she was, in the position she was in, was all thanks to the efforts of her family and the many thousands of people who had been employed by them since.
So instead she leaned down to the lockable drawer in her desk and started to weave some mana into it to start strengthening the lock. Whilst doing that she began to draw a basic runic circle over the front, just a simple mana recognition lock that would block people who were not her from trying to get to the keyhole.
It was frankly something quite pointless to do, but it helped clear her mind while also killing the 5 minutes she had. She could start working on another big project, but she would end up having to stop before actually being able to make any progress so it would end up being pointless.
After she finished messing around inside her drawer, she looked up at the clock and saw that she still had a couple of minutes to walk the few dozen metres over to the meeting room where the board was convening, letting out another annoyed sigh.
She was brought from her thoughts as Sasha knocked on the door and walked in.
“Miss Branford, you have a few minutes before the board meeting starts, so we should make our way over so we are ready for the directors.”
Aurora gave a small laugh before she took a sip of her tea, making no motions to get up and move.
“Sasha, they are the ones that need to wait for me, not the other way around. It's them who need to impress me.”
Sasha hesitated and thought about it, giving her lip a small bite which Aurora thought was quite cute before she eventually spoke.
“I... suppose you are right. Still, it would look bad if you were late, and ideally, you want to make them more compliant so showing up early would be a good sign.”
Aurora let out a long sigh as Sasha of all people was questioning her judgement. Yes, she may now be younger, but for people to keep suggesting what she should be doing? She found her annoyance growing ever hotter in her heart.
“Yes, a brilliant sign for them to think I am trying to get on their good side, and thus coming from a weak position while confirming to them that I am a naïve young woman who doesn’t understand the balance of power. They don't need any other reasons to think they can treat me like some form of puppet queen. No. They will comply in the end, so no need to stroke their egos.”CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m