15
You are my manager. What do you mean you have no idea? Besides, why do I have to call the CEO? Since when did models start talking directly to the CEO?”: Ava questioned not quite believing her manager knew nothing about her predicament. Are they using such tricks to force her to sign the contract?
“‘Am serious here Ava, I was told to go home until I receive a call from the company so I know nothing of what is happening.”August insisted.
” Okay.” Ava said, disconnecting the call. It seems that this matter was out of the hands of her manager. She figured out the only way to know the way forward was to call the CEO directly. It’s not like she had a choice. The call was accepted immediately, making Ava wonder if the CEO had been waiting for her call and his next words proved her thoughts right.
” Ava dear, I have been waiting for your call.” The Man said, dropping the formalities between them. Mr Adams had figured out that if he wanted to be in a safe place, he had to make Ava sign that contract. It doesn’t matter if he had to beg her or even bootlick her, he would do anything as well as he can to save his family and company.
Ava was surprised by the tone of voice he used on her. Mr Adams was known to be strict to everybody in the company irrespective of personal relationships, so what was this? Him Calling Ava dear was completely new or let’s say alien in Ava’s ears.
” Mr Adams, I was calling to inquire about my apartment, why is my gate padlock changed?” Irrespective of his earlier tone, Ava still asked the question she intended to ask.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
” I don’t know what you are talking about.” Mr Adams denied outrightly.
“What joke are you playing on me? The company provided a house for me after I signed my contract with blue ocean. I haven’t yet retired nor is my contract void, so how do you go back on your words?”
” Miss Ava, I sincerely Know nothing about that. The moment I signed that contract, you are no longer under blue ocean entertainment for the next six months. Everything about you is now managed by the Johnston company and that includes your house.” The CEO replied.
“So you sold me to another company? Just like that?” Ava questioned her voice turning cold. For a minute there, Mr Adams felt like he was talking to that handsome devil but he soon recovered after hearing the voice of a woman.
” Don’t make it sound so ugly, do you think I had a choice from the beginning. It was never a request but a command. Blue ocean is a small company, do you think we have the guts to go against the legendary Johnston family? That’s just akin to signing a death warranty. Miss Ava, you should know that this is no longer about you. It’s about all the thousands of employees who get their daily bread from the blue ocean. It’s about the company I used half of my life to build. It’s about my family and poor children. Mr Johnston threatened that if you don’t sign the contract in the next forty eight hours, the company will cease to exist. Think about how many people will lose their daily bread. Think of my poor children who will be forced to roam the streets hungry and without a roof over their heads. You know how it is to be hungry and without something to eat Miss Adams. Think about it and give me you answer tonight.” With that he dropped the call. Yes, the mighty CEO of blue ocean entertainment resulted in using emotional blackmail to get Ava to sign that contract. It’s not like what he said wasn’t true but he also knew it wasn’t good to use someone’s weaknesses to make them do your bidding. He was desperate, desperate to save his company, his marriage, his family and the poor workers. He was desperate to save the effort he put in for years to build the now Blue ocean entertainment company.
Mr Adams also knew that only Ava Adams could save them from impending doom. Only she was their saviour.
Ava who had listened to each and every word Mr Adams had said stood rooted in place. One day, her parents were in this exact situation. Her parents were like any regular parents. They didn’t own a company but a small bakery. Her father and mother worked in the bakery together to support the family. Their family was happy together with the little they had until one day a group of men approached their Small bakery demanding payment for whatever they called security payment. Their father had threatened them that if they didn’t stop coming to collect money from them and leave immediately, he would report them to the police. Those men had laughed and after that shot her mother and father right in front of her eyes.
She wasn’t in the vicinity so those men had failed to see her and that’s how she got saved. She had watched silently as her parents’ bodies turned cold before her eyes and she couldn’t do anything. Ava was just fifteen years old and with nobody else to call family. Life had turned to be tough on her. She had to drop out of school and start working to support herself. She can’t recall how many times she slept hungry or slept on the streets on rainy or chilly nights. The memory is still engraved in her mind like it happened yesterday. Ava thought that at this moment, even her dignity didn’t matter anymore as long as she could save someone from sleeping with a grumbling stomach or having to seek shelter from buildings at night. If signing that contract could save it all, she’ll take it as an act of sacrifice, a way to repay Mr Adams for changing her life by offering her a Job at his company. Yes, he was the one who took away from the slums serving as a waitress in a local food kiosk and signed her under Blue ocean entertainment. It might have been a selfish act of wanting to use her to make money but to Ava, it was a blessing.