Chapter 415: First Meeting.
Silence dominated therge meeting room, except for the person who was discussing the progress of the projects that their department handled. Everyone looked at Lucas curiously, and some women''s faces were even flushed with wide smiles at how good looking he appeared to be.
Lucas waspletely immersed in what was being said and didn''t even notice that he was being stared at. He was leaning on the back of arge chair that was at the head of the table as he listened with his pen rhythmically tapping on the opened file in front of him.
After the presenter finished, another one came up to do their own presentation. Lucas would ask them a few questions asionally, which would make them sweat, but they answered them satisfactorily, anyway.
Their heads of department had warned them that the only people they needed to be extremely wary of besides the big boss (Noah Lewis) were his sons. So they had prepared for the meeting when they heard that he was going to being. That was almost six months ago.
"I heard that construction for a new hotel is going to begin in a couple of months," Lucas said when they finished presenting.
"Yes, we n to begin at the end of the year," the head of the nning department said.
"And also a couple of workshops, if I remember correctly, ceramics? Woodworks?" Lucas asked, and the man nodded in agreement.
"When do you n on building those? Can I see the ns for these things?" Lucas asked, and the head of the department became tongue-tied.
"We are still creating the ns," he answered.
"Oh?" Lucas asked as he looked at him, a trace of a smile appearing on his face. The entire room suddenly became immersed in silence.
As the general manager at the headquarters, he was very aware of how a lot of the branch offices weren''t time conscious. It is okay if they can get it right the first time, but sometimes you need to reject proposals two to three times before they are good enough to end up in his father''s office.
"So when do you n on submitting a n to the headquarters?" Lucas asked, and the silence in the room continued to prevail.
"Have you been cking off?" Lucas asked them because he knew that all departments needed to take part in nning suchrge-scale constructions.
The hotels of his family were always built on acres ofnd, with so many facilities, forget about nning, the cost of building them was astronomical, if they couldn''t even provide an estimate of the budget six months prior, they might as well forget about building the hotel that year.
"I want to see a draft by Wednesday, the proposal should be on my desk by Friday," Lucas said with cold eyes. He had to do so much overtime previously because of people like this, he was not happy at all.
"Sir, can we have more time it''s a bit too sudden," one courageous person said.
"Okay, how much more time do you need?" Lucas asked.
"Can we have until next Friday?" they asked, and Lucas looked at them. His gaze was very sharp, it felt like it could pierce into someone''s scalp.
"Since it''s the first day, I''ll agree," Lucas said, and everyone rxed as if relieved by his generosity.
"I want to see the hotel ns next Friday, for those workshops, I want them on Wednesday. If they are subpar, you will take responsibility, okay?" Lucas asked, and the person who proposed more time suddenly lost their voice. What kind of responsibility was he supposed to take? Didn''t he know?
"This actually, we can bring you the hotel proposal this Friday," the man said and shut their mouths. They would have to spend their days and nights in the office, that was all. If he takes responsibility for the whole thing he could get demoted, worst-case scenario, he would hand in his resignation.
How did thest son end up worse than the first two? The workshop proposals in two days? It was better to submit everything on Friday instead. He knew to work people to the bone and also had a glib tongue. It was like he was abination of both his brothers.
The tension was high in the room. Everyone was too afraid to speak lest they had to ''take responsibility'' as Lucas put it. That was until the phone he had ced on the table started vibrating. Lucas picked it up and nced at the screen.
To everyone''s astonishment, that superficial cold smile he had had on before bloomed into a warm smile, and everyone found out that the President actually had dimples in that instant.
"Hello?" he said as he stood up from his seat and walking to the door.
"Meeting dismissed," Lucas said when he remembered that there were still people behind him. The gaze he used to look at them was not warm at all, but the moment he focused back on his call, his expression changed again.
"I have never seen someone''s face change so drastically in a few seconds," one of them mumbled as they collected their things to go start on the nning. Yes, they said the ns were underway, but they hadn''t even started.
If they said they hadn''t started, they were too afraid of what Lucas would have done. So when they were given such a short deadline, they knew that what they''ll submit is probably not going to be satisfactory. That was why no one wanted to be responsible for this job.
Lucas who left people in the roommenting was currently warmly talking to Jen on the phone. It stunned even the assistant behind him as to how much just a phone call changed his temperament.
"Did I disturb you?" Jen asked when she heard him dismiss the meeting that he was having.
"No, your timing was perfect. We have finished anyway," Lucas said as he put his hand in his pocket.
"I was also in the library and came out for a break," Jen said, and Lucas hummed in response.
"How was your first day?" Jen asked him, and the smile on his face wavered.
"It was okay, quite a bit has to be done, but it''s not too bad," Lucas answered. His assistant only sighed internally. It was only okay for him, he was afraid that he had traumatized everyone else.
"I missed you," Jen whined, and Lucas could even imagine the pout she was sporting as she said this. A low chuckle escaped his lips as he savoured the sweet feelings he was experiencing.
"I missed you too," Lucas answered, and his assistant almost tripped over his own feet. He was now curious about the person who could soften this kind of man to this extent.
"I wille to see you the week after next," Jen said, and Lucas paused before the smile on his face became even brighter than it was before.
"Mmmh, just let me know when and I''ll send a ne to pick you up," Lucas answered and Jenughed from the other side.
"How many people can confidently say these words?" Jen asked, and Lucas alsoughed as he realised how unusual those words would sound to other people. He has heard his father say these words so many times he didn''t find them strange.
"I know quite a few," Lucas answered.
"Mmmh, I just wanted to hear your voice, I''m going back to study," Jen said, her voice much brighter than when they had started talking.
"Okay, I''ll talk to youter, don''t overwork yourself," Lucas replied.
"You are the one who should overwork yourself," Jen said, not forgetting to remind him not to work too hard.
"I won''t," Lucas said as another smile appeared on his lips. As he turned into a corridor, he met a familiar-looking face but didn''t really remember where he had seen her. He looked at the person for and nodded in greeting and continued with his business.
"Bye Lucas, I love you," Jen said from the other side, bringing him back to the present.
"I love you too, Jen," Lucas said and smiled when he heard her giggle happily before the call ended. His assistant felt like someone hit him on the head with a hammer. His boss could be this sweet? Is that why he dismissed everyone to preserve his image?
In reality, Lucas cared little about what they would think of him. At the end of the day, wasn''t he still their boss? The two men got in the elevator and went back to the office.
Meanwhile, the familiar face was still standing frozen in the corridor. She still couldn''t believe that she had met Lucas once more.