excerpt
Hakim is left alone and digs in to finish the report, but his mind simply
cannot concentrate on it; he calls George Pappas.
“Hey, George, how are you?”
“I’m okay, what is on your mind this morning, Hakim?”
“Call Edith. See whether you can get the keys to the apartment; we’d like to
look at it again. I’ll bring along my friend and Jennifer’s mom.”
“That’s not a problem; do you want to do this today?”
“Yes, if you can arrange it.”
“I’ll confirm with you later.”
Hakim goes back to his computer and promises himself not to stop unless he is
finished. He works for a while and completes the small report regarding their
newest products. With that off his mind, he calls Jennifer at work and lets her
know about visiting the new apartment later in the evening with Emily and Talal.
“Okay, honey. I’ll call my mom and you call Talal; do you want to have lunch
with me in an hour?”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that, baby. I have a business lunch with Peter and
another guy from the office. Sorry.”
“You never have time for me, these days.”
“Oh sweetheart, you complain for no reason again,” he argues.
“Bye, honey. See you later,” she says and puts the phone down.
By one o’clock, Hakim, Peter, and Robert are at Mario’s for lunch. They get a
booth, and when the server comes to get their order, Hakim asks the others
whether they would like to share a bottle of wine.
“I would,” Robert agrees.
“I’ll have a beer,” says Peter.
Hakim turns to the server and orders. “A bottle of red wine, a Shiraz, and a
beer for my friend, please.”
They are silent a few moments and then Peter breaks the ice, “We should
have lunch together more often.”
“What are you guys up to?” Robert asks, looking at Hakim.
Hakim waits until their server pours their wine then turns to Robert, “We are
concerned about the direction the company is headed Robert; we are concerned
that we the shareholders, aren’t receiving as much value as we should be getting,
looking at the price of our shares in the marketplace. We’d like to attract the
attention of a larger number of people and set our goals higher regarding
product quality. We don’t see ourselves getting much further ahead with these
goals if we stay the course. I simply don’t have much trust in the abilities of Lorne
to take us any further, to take this company to the next level. He has done what
he is capable of so far, but I want a lot more from this company.”
Mayanaam
vequinox
Manolis 