Meeting Unexpectedly Novels & Stories

By the time the meeting finally approached its conclusion, I was struggling to focus on anything being discussed. “I guess that’s everything.” Zephyr closed the folder in front of him. “Let’s meet again in…” He paused briefly. “…two weeks.” I immediately looked up. Two weeks? That wasn’t normal. No matter how busy he became, Zephyr always held weekly meetings. Always. Yet nobody else in the room seemed surprised. In fact, Darren and Monica exchanged a look. Then Theodore did the same. The whole thing felt oddly coordinated. Almost like everyone knew something I didn’t.

He quickly caught up with Grace and entered the elevator together. "Milady, are you here for the meeting?" Timothy asked. Grace nodded. Timothy's smile widened even more. As usual, Amirate held a meeting every Monday morning. Grace had rarely attended them before, so Timothy found it somewhat surprising that she was here today. "The main focus of today's meeting is the project in Dunhill. We'll finalize the budget, and we'll participate in the bidding tomorrow," Timothy informed Grace. Grace was familiar with Timothy's business capabilities and knew how enthusiastically he approached work.

My cell phone rang from Benjamin; I glanced at Sean, who was focused on his tablet, and with a feeling of hesitation, I answered the call from the kind and friendly man. “Hi, Ben.” “Hey Ana, about Wednesday could you meet me? Come on, Jessica, Caroline, Peter and the others are coming.” It’s a surprise, I feel I have to attend this reunion. “Yes, Wednesday, where?” I glanced at Sean, who seemed still focused on his tablet. “How about at Starbucks?” “Good choice, see you Wednesday.” “What’s on Wednesday?”

The mention of a larger meeting looming at 10 am only added to her apprehension. Sitting in the boardroom with her coworkers, Liza felt a mix of excitement and anxiety as she awaited the start of the meeting. She had her priorities laid out, ready to escalate certain issues for further support. Engaging in lively conversation with Pat about an innovative project she was working on, Liza was taken aback when the enigmatic executive walked in, silencing the room with his presence.

Something that, months ago, would have been resolved by instinct—by habit—by deferring to whoever remembered the last time this came up. But that person isn’t here anymore. Neither are the others who carried those instincts like muscle memory. We meet anyway. Not because we know what to do. Because we’ve learned that not meeting creates ghosts. The room feels different now. Not tense. Uncertain. And uncertainty, when no one rushes to dominate it, becomes visible. “I thought we’d already agreed on this,” someone says early on. “I thought so too,” another replies. “But when I checked the notes, it wasn’t clear.”

I look at my watch and as anticipated, I find it’s quarter of eight, the earliest I expect them to arrive for an eight o’clock meeting. I busy myself the fifteen minutes leading up to the start helping the kitchen omegas finish setting up a simple breakfast bar of egg, sausage, French toast sticks, coffee, milk and juice. Everything settles just in time for me to get started. “Welcome, ladies and gents. I do apologize for the suddenness of this meeting but a member of the Blue Ridge pack recently crossed over our border seeking me in a time of great desperation. He brought me disturbing news to say the least and it is time to return to the neighbors we used to be.”

I said to her, and we headed back to the company for another meeting. When we arrived back at the Estaban Global Conglomerate, the staff were in their offices as usual, and Sylvia and I rushed up. I already missed one meeting, it will be such a disaster to miss another one on the same day. “Good morning, ma'am.” I met with Mr Smith on the way to the conference, and I felt relieved believing he was heading over for the same meeting. “Good grief! Thank goodness the meeting is just starting, I was about to worry.” I said to him, and he immediately looked shocked, fueling my worry all over again.

Anna replied with a shrug. "True, but then, Clayton is like family, and it's hard to stay professional when it comes to family." Michael mumbled. Anna nodded and replied, "That's why we need to have that meeting." "Yeah, and that reminds me, something came up, Anna; it's a good thing I ran into you." Michael said. "What is it?" Anna asked, a scowl appearing on her face. "We have a conference to attend," Michael replied. "Conference? What conference?" Anna asked, still puzzled.

I came out of my room to see Robbie putting on his overcoat. Are you leaving already?" I asked, seeing him check his pocket. "Yeah. I am leaving tomorrow morning," he replied, taking out his cell phone and quickly looking through something, "The meeting's on Monday!" "I see," I said, feeling slightly disappointed. Disappointed? "Robbie has really made me used to his company. I shook my head and looked at his eyes move through the content on his cellphone, "Hope you have a successful merger!" Robbie stopped looking and put the cell phone back in the coat pocket and said in a little disturbed voice, "To tell you the truth, I don't want to go. I am having this weird unexplainable feeling that I

Actually, he served Esther's meal and Nicole's meal. "Great work!" Shane said at about 9pm. "I think we should call it a day. Let's meet very early tomorrow morning. If anything else pops up, do not hesitate to give me a call," Shane said and his subordinates sighed in relief as they dispersed. Soon the office was empty. Shane tarried into the night. He tried to remember the particular case that he had worked on that seemed similar to the case at hand but nothing popped up. It was 2am, Shane was going through the details of Esther's call history when he suddenly yelled.