15- It Wasn’t a Question

Elena arrived at the office at her usual time, but she hadn’t forgotten the meeting that had suddenly appeared on her schedule.

She had already decided not to attend.

There was no professional reason for her to sit through a meeting when she didn’t even know its subject, and she was no longer willing to treat Kaysen’s sudden decisions as orders that couldn’t be questioned.

She opened her laptop and sent his assistant a brief message asking for clarification about the meeting.

Less than five minutes later, a reply appeared.

“Mr. Vance is waiting for you in the conference room.”

She closed the message with an irritated sigh.

She could ignore it, but she knew that wouldn’t make the matter disappear. So she picked up her notebook and headed toward the conference room, determined not to let him turn this into another confrontation.

Kaysen was seated at the far end of the table. A single folder lay in front of him, beside a cup of untouched coffee.

He looked up when she entered.

“Sit down.”

She chose the chair opposite him.

“I’d prefer to know the reason for this meeting first, Mr. Vance.”

He didn’t comment on the title this time. He opened the folder and turned a document toward her.

“Read it.”

She looked down at the page, and her expression gradually changed.

It was an official request from the hotel’s management to change the person responsible for coordinating the opening event, transferring part of her authority to an outside company. At the bottom of the page was a deadline for approval.

She raised her eyes to him.

“Who made this decision?”

“The board.”

“And you agreed?”

“I haven’t agreed yet.”

She returned the paper to the table.

“Then why am I here?”

“Because the outside company will take over if you don’t submit an alternative plan before the end of the day.”

She stared at him.

“Is that all? You could have sent me the document.”

“I could have.”

“But you preferred to summon me.”

He lifted his coffee cup, then set it down without taking a sip.

“I wanted to see whether you’d ask me to keep your position for you, or prove that you deserve it.”

Anger flashed in her eyes.

“I don’t need you to test me.”

“Then don’t treat it like a test.”

She stood and picked up the document.

“I’ll submit the plan before the end of the day.”

“I know.”

His confident reply only added to her irritation.

She headed for the door, but stopped when he spoke again.

“Elena.”

She turned.

“Don’t waste your time trying to prove something to me. Convince the board.”

She left without answering.

⸻

The following hours passed without Elena leaving her office. She reorganized the budget, removed unnecessary details, and prepared an alternative plan that preserved her original vision without exceeding the approved amount.

Just minutes before she was about to send it, she received a call from one of the board members.

His tone was formal, but he made no effort to hide his displeasure.

“We’ve received information suggesting that you rejected the changes we requested during the previous meeting.”

Her hand froze above the keyboard.

“I didn’t reject them. I explained that implementing them would affect the guests’ movement throughout the venue, and I proposed a suitable alternative.”

“But we didn’t ask you to redesign the project according to your personal vision.”

She took a slow breath.

“This project is my responsibility, and it’s my duty to point out when a decision isn’t practical.”

A brief silence followed.

“We’ll discuss this with Mr. Vance present. Send us your plan immediately.”

She ended the call and sent the file.

Less than ten minutes later, a notification appeared informing her that the meeting would begin in five minutes.

⸻

When Elena entered the conference room, she found Kaysen seated beside the board members.

She chose a seat away from him and placed her tablet in front of her.

The discussion began, and the comments quickly turned into direct objections to her work. One of the members tried to interrupt her several times, until she finally stopped presenting and looked at him.

“May I finish what I’m saying?”

“We’re here to make a decision, not listen to lengthy justifications.”

Before she could respond, Kaysen’s voice came from the head of the table.

“She will finish.”

He didn’t raise his voice or repeat himself.

But the man immediately fell silent.

Elena resumed her presentation, and this time no one interrupted her. She explained the costs, the time required, and the expected outcome. When she finished, she didn’t look at Kaysen. Instead, she addressed the board members directly.

“This is my plan. If you have a better alternative from a practical and financial standpoint, I’m willing to review it. But changing the person responsible without examining the results won’t solve the problem.”

The board members exchanged glances.

Then Kaysen closed the folder in front of him.

“The plan is approved.”

One of them turned toward him.

“But we haven’t finished discussing—”

“We’re finished.”

He said it as he rose from his chair, then looked at Elena.

“Come with me.”

She didn’t move immediately.

She waited until the board members had left before slowly gathering her papers.

“I can return to my office on my own, Mr. Vance.”

Kaysen stopped at the door.

He turned toward her, his expression so calm that her objection seemed to have changed nothing about his decision.

“I didn’t ask you to return to your office.”

“Then what do you want?”

“For you to come with me.”

“Where?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

She closed her tablet and stood.

“You do realize that this approach doesn’t exactly make me want to cooperate with you, don’t you?”

He approached and took the folder from her hand before she could pick it up herself.

“I don’t need you to want every decision I make.”

She looked up at him, more irritated by his composure than she would have been by an argument.

“You have no right to do that.”

He stopped in front of her, studying her for a long moment.

“Keep that objection. You’ll need it shortly.”

Then he opened the door and stepped aside, allowing her to leave first.

⸻

Kaysen wasn’t heading toward his office, as she’d expected. He continued down the corridor until they reached the private executive wing, where one of the conference rooms had been prepared to receive a delegation of investors.

Elena stopped when she noticed the names arranged on the table.

One of them belonged to the man who had questioned her competence during the previous meeting.

She looked at Kaysen.

“What is this?”

He removed his watch and placed it on the table before raising his eyes to her.

“Your next meeting.”

“You didn’t tell me there was another meeting.”

“I told you to come with me.”

“And you expect me to be prepared for a meeting I knew nothing about?”

He approached, took a copy of the plan she’d submitted earlier from the folder, and placed it in front of her.

“You’re prepared. You’ve spent the entire day working on it.”

She looked at the papers, then at him.

He had been following her progress, knew when she’d finished, and had even arranged this meeting around her proposal before telling her anything about it.

“You leave me no room to make my own decisions.”

He pulled out a chair for her.

“You have complete freedom to decide what you’ll say to them. As for attending the meeting, that has already been settled.”

She didn’t sit immediately.

She remained standing, watching him while he kept one hand on the back of the chair, waiting without the slightest sign of impatience.

Finally, she sat down.

He leaned forward slightly to place the folder in front of her, then lowered his voice so only she could hear.

“Keep your head up when you speak to them. I don’t want anyone thinking you doubt your own work.”

Her breath caught for a moment at his sudden closeness. Then she lifted her eyes to his.

“I don’t doubt my work.”

He straightened, his expression returning to its usual coolness.

“Good.”

He moved to the other end of the table, leaving her with the folder.

But before the investors entered, Elena realized something that unsettled her more than anything else that had happened that day.

Kaysen wasn’t trying to persuade her to keep her position.

He was acting as though her decision to stay had already been made, and the only thing he was leaving to her was how she would face the others.

As for him, he’d made up his mind from the very beginning.