Mr. CEO(5)

Charlotte Rose is mine.





Chapter 4





Charlotte





The pressure is real.

Convention hall. Game face on.

I’m sitting in the audience filled with my peers, coworkers and powerful business executives, trying to calm my rising anxiety. A lot is riding on this presentation. It could literally be the difference between having a job, or being on the street. Armcorp just hired me, and if I don’t ace this I know they’ll be wondering if I’m worth it.

To make matters worse, my boss is sitting right behind me and he’ll see everything. I’m doing my best to stay still and not appear nervous. I hold my head upright and do my best to project confidence, even though I’m drowning with anxiety inside. I hope he can’t sense that I’m nearly having a panic attack right beneath his nose.

I can do this, I tell myself. I’m strong, smart and confident. I have this presentation memorized. This is what I do, and I’m damn good at it.

I keep repeating these words in my mind, letting it become a powerful mantra that drives back the anxiety that threatens to send me running from the room a nervous wreck.

I will succeed. There’s nothing I can’t do. They hired me because they were impressed by my resume and experience. I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

I obsessively click on my phone and look at the time. Each presentation is fifteen minutes long and I’m up next. Two minutes left. Shit. My heart won’t stop racing. I dim my cell’s screen and put my phone away.

I don’t know what I’m going to do when I’m called up on that stage. I’m practically shaking like a leaf.

A soft voice interrupts my anxious thoughts.

“You’re going to do fine,” Eva White, a coworker who’s sitting right next to me, says. I look over and she’s staring at me with empathy, her large brown eyes looking at me reassuringly. For a moment, I feel my anxiety ease and I’m grateful that she’s sitting next to me.

Like me, she's dressed to impress, in a sleek black pantsuit with her dark red hair pulled back into a professional ponytail.

I smile back at her, unease twisting my stomach, and mouth, thank you.

“You’re welcome.” She gently pats me on the leg to comfort me and I’m reminded of her nickname. Sweet Eva. I’m so lucky to call her a friend. In the corporate world, there's no shortage of people who will backstab you in the blink of an eye to climb the ladder, but not Eva. She’s a team player, and it’s one of the reasons I trust her already. When we’re together, shit gets done.

The announcer walks back up on stage to the podium as the previous presenter leaves, and despite my mental pep talk and Eva’s reassurance, my heart begins doing backflips and sweat slicks my palms.

“And now,” he says into the microphone, “I’d like to introduce the keynote speaker presenting Armcorp’s quarterly report, Miss Charlotte Rose Harrison.”

Oh my God. I’m so f*cked.

Polite applause floods my senses and I climb to my feet with a tight smile on my face.

You’ll do fine, Eva mouths to me.

I give her a thankful smile despite the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

I make my way to the front of the room as quickly as I can without falling on my face in these heels, my heart beating wildly with every step. I’m careful not to trip as I climb the steps to the stage and walk over to the podium. The announcer hands me a small clicker to control the projector behind me. I glance up and see the powerpoint I prepared. My heart races as I square my shoulders and straighten my back.

Alright, Charlotte. You can’t f*ck this up.

For a moment I’m blinded by the bright lights on the stage making me the center of attention in the darkened room. I can’t view the sea of executives in the audience or anything for a moment. It’s just me and the stage with the projector behind me.

Slowly, everyone comes back into focus. I can see them all. Faces I know, some that I don’t. They’re all waiting for me. Staring. I swear I’m starting to sweat in places I didn’t think I could. The pressure is immense.

Get on with it, girl! I can do this.

I swallow, and then take a deep breath. The lights are shining on me, waiting. My voice is caught in my throat, suffocated by nerves. But I take another deep breath and begin what I’ve rehearsed. It’s almost like white noise in my ears as I rattle off the background and current state of Armcorp’s hold on the market. I know these lines by heart.

I turn to the projected slides and click the small button to move forward. Everyone’s watching. My blood heats and my heart races, but I know this. I quickly hit through all my notes and bullet points with an ease in my voice that doesn’t reflect my nerves, and the more I talk, the more my confidence grows. This is how it is every time. I can barely handle the pressure, and it’s huge, but I’m damn good at pushing through and maintaining the professional presentation that’s expected.

“So as you can see, the company’s market share is growing by seventeen percent and it’s on an upward trend,” I say, turning around to face the room of corporate executives. They’re all watching and judging me. And they should be; this is business, after all. “By reaching out to the other markets depicted in table five of this slide we anticipate a growth-” I pause as my eyes lock with the handsome stranger from the bar last night, my ability to speak momentarily stolen. The lines I’ve rehearsed seem to vanish and not a word can pass the lump in my throat.