Is this destiny?

When Norman reached location for 11 o\'clock board meeting, the familiar conference room was almost full.

His spot is waiting for him, next to Mr. Stocker. On Norman\'s right is an empty chair, that spot is reserved for Mr. Bally.

It took Norman few takes to recognize young lady on Jasper\'s left as Ellie, girl who joined them for dinner on Saturday.

Norman was about to flip the lid, why is Jasper bringing his girlfriend to a board meeting? What kind of irresponsible behavior this is?

His fury increased when he saw Ellie look straight at him and nod in greeting with a smile on her face. Why is she even smiling at him? Didn\'t she get the message that he DOES NOT like her? She must have a low IQ if she missed all the obvious signs. Norman snorted while thinking that his son likes such girls, not the smart ones. 

He remembers that Melissa told him to stay out of Jasper\'s relationship with Ellie, and after seeing that she is serious, he agreed. But this is different. This is business, not Jasper\'s relationship.

Norman was about to call out Ellie and ask why is she there, when Jasper started the meeting.

\'Yes. It\'s better if I call her out when it\'s my turn to speak, so everyone\'s attention is on me.\' Norman narrowed his eyes while vicious smile appeared on his usually frowned face.

Jasper stood up to get people\'s attention: "Since everyone is here, we can start the meeting…"

"Mr. Bally is not here.", Norman interrupted.

"He will not be joining us today.", Jasper responded and went back to the agenda.

Norman assumed that Mr. Bally is not feeling well. Why else would he not show up and Jasper knows about it? Yes, it makes sense. Mr. Bally is not well, and he notified CEO about his absence.

After Jasper laid out the agenda for everyone, he turned to Ellie and introduced her as newest board member as a shareholder who owns more than 3% of stocks.

Norman blanked. He was sure that he is hearing things. New shareholder with more than 3%? How is that possible? This silly girl? Norman held his breath while Ellie stood up and greeted everyone present with a friendly smile: "Good morning, everyone. It\'s an honor to be here…"

After some usual pleasantries, Ellie took her seat and went down to business. "I was looking to invest into energy sector and I just happened to see that there are shares of your company available. I hope that you all work hard and make me a lot of money."

Everyone laughed. They liked this friendly girl. Well, everyone except for Norman.

Ellie continued talking to everyone present: "I must say that I am lucky that I was able to get my hands on 16.7% of company\'s shares…"

Norman thought that he is about to hyperventilate. \'This silly girl has how much?!!\'

He scolded himself for taking her too lightly. Why he didn\'t look into her background? 16.7%? That is huge! From where did she get the money?

Ellie\'s her next words made Norman take a complete turn and… like her. A lot.

"I am not very familiar with the inner workings of a company in your field, so in order not to get in anyone\'s way I will give my voting rights to the person I believe can do the most for the company." She glanced at Norman. "I familiarized myself with current shareholders and their voting in last six months, and I decided that Mr. Kiani is the person who aligns closest to what I believe in."

Norman was not sure about first time, but now it was the second time that Ellie is looking at him, and she even said that she will give her shares to \'Mr. Kiani\'. Everyone knows that he is Mr. Kiani and Jasper is CEO Kiani. And Norman is absolutely confident: she is giving him her voting rights! 16.7%! Ha! She is silly… gave a fortune for stocks and is just giving him her voting rights! It seems that Jasper didn\'t complain to her, otherwise there is no way that she would do this. Or maybe she would. She is smart enough to recognize that he is the right person for those 16.7%.

Norman smiled widely with a smile not seen in the company before. Ever.

Ellie saw that Norman is hooked and reached to one of three folders in front of her. "My lawyer prepared documents necessary to make it official, and I signed them already. As soon as Mr. Kiani signs, it\'s official. He will represent me during voting…"

Norman bolted out of his chair. "I am honored, Miss Young."

"Oh, no. The honor is all mine." Ellie smiled and pushed the folder slightly in front of her.

Norman reached to get it and he heard Ellie say: "I told you when we met two days ago that I really admire you. You are a great father. I respect the amount of support which you give to your son."

Norman froze in spot with his hand almost touching the folder. "My son?"

"Yes." Ellie glanced at Jasper. "Mr. Kiani will get my voting rights."

She turned to Norman and blinked few times.

"Miss Young…", one of the directors called. "Are you giving your votes to CEO Kiani or Mr. Kiani?"

No one was able to ignore the fact that Norman is the only one standing and his hand is still extended toward that folder.

"What is the difference?" Ellie\'s innocent expression accompanied with her clear eyes wide open told everyone present that she needs a clarification.

The director pointed at Norman. "That is Mr. Kiani.", and then he pointed at Jasper, "And his son is CEO Kiani."

Ellie placed hand over her chest dramatically. "I am sorry for the misunderstanding. You can see my inexperience in a corporate setting. I meant CEO Kiani."

Ellie pushed the folder in front of Jasper and her gaze didn\'t leave Norman whose smile already turned into a scowl.

Norman was about to explode. He was not sure if this stupid girl did it on purpose or not, but she humiliated him!

"Mr. Kiani, I apologize. I misspoke and caused you to believe that I\'m giving my voting rights to you.", Ellie said sweetly to Norman. "I hope you will not blame me for my ignorance."

Norman glared at Ellie for few endless seconds. He didn\'t know what to say. Of course, he is blaming her! But he can\'t say that in front of all these people. At the same time, he does not want to say that he is not blaming her either. He straightened his back.

"Excuse me.", he mumbled and stomped out of the conference room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Ellie looked after Norman and thought how it\'s no wonder that he gets along well with Lily. Two of them are both arrogant, easily upset, and they even stomp out in the same way when they run out of arguments.

She wondered if he will still underestimate her after this? First he thought she is promiscuous, then that her IQ is questionable. What\'s next?

Ellie had a satisfied smile when she gave pen to Jasper. She made a mistake to look him in the eyes. His icy-blue eyes full of admiration and love, and she held her breath while desire to kiss him swelled inside her. Her eyes darted few times between his lips and his eyes, and she started inching closer when someone from the conference room cleared his throat and made her snap out of her daze.

"Sign it, please.", she said with a shy smile while lowering her gaze.

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