CHAPTER 39: DISCUSSION
Moments before, Patricia had been to the president's office, yet he chose not to tell her about the matter at hand.
Instead, he asked Jayson to carry the documents to her and notify her of what was happening.
Obviously, the president wanted to stay out of the line of fire and made Jayson the scapegoat.
The company belonged to the president, but he didn't want to hurt anyone himself.
Instead, he made Jayson take on the role of 'bad guy’ to deliver any unpleasant news to the employees.
The more Jayson thought about this, the angrier he felt! And although he felt enraged inside, he remained rational and relayed everything the president had told him.
Whether she would assist with this matter or not was on her.
This had nothing to do with him!
"So, according to what you've said, our company indeed has an inescapable responsibility for what happened this time.Thus, it's reasonable that the Reynolds Group pulled their investment from this project.Did the Reynolds Group negotiate with our company on the project before defunding it?"
Patricia asked, a frown forming on her brow while she thought.
Although she didn't want to get involved in this matter, she couldn't sit on the sidelines and watch as a long standing employee who cared about the company.
Not when the company was in trouble.
However, that didn't mean she had any intentions of going the extra mile to assist them.
If she was asked to use her personal relationship to make Zac change his mind, she would have to refuse them.
As Jayson listened to her, he thought there might just be a turning point after all.
Besides, not only was she the savior of the company, but she was also his savior.
Once she was willing to help, the incident would have nothing to do with him any more.
At least the president wouldn't put the blame on him for this! Excited by the prospect that she might have a way out, Jayson sat up straight in his chair and replied, "No, when the Reynolds Group discovered the problem, they immediately cut off the money without even contacting us.It took us two days to realize what they had done!"
Patricia felt a glimmer of hope when she heard the answer.
But her brows knotted as she said, "It's his typical way of doing things!"
Jayson had no idea what Patricia had on her mind.
His only option was to sit quietly and wait to see where her train of thoughts was headed.
"Two days? Why did it take so long for us to find this? Didn't the people of our accounting department notice something awry after it happened?"
Patricia questioned.
Even if there was a slim chance that this matter could be resolved, if they didn't learn from their mistakes this time around, then they could encounter the same problems in the future.
And by then, there may be no changing the outcome.
"Indeed, the president had this matter investigated and found out that the director of the accounting department, Ronan Bristol, had not been in the company for several days during that point in time.So, naturally, a slip like this occurred," Jayson said helplessly.
Even though that was what he said to Patricia, he was still skeptical about the whole situation.
Even if Ronan wasn't present at the time, other members of the accounting department, like the deputy director, should have caught this sooner.
So, how could they let things develop to such an extent that they missed the best opportunity to negotiate? This could have made the Reynolds Group think that their company didn't care! "What did the president say?"
Patricia asked grimly while rubbing between her eyebrows.
"The president hopes you can negotiate with the Reynolds Group.You don't have to be too forceful.Just try your best, and if nothing changes, then we'll think of another solution."
Jayson repeated the president's words to her.
After relaying the message, he started thinking about what he'd just said, and felt something was wrong with that statement.
So, he continued speaking by saying, "Miss Sampson, truly, it wasn't the president's intention to ask you to negotiate with the Reynolds Group at this time.But given the circumstances, he had no other alternative.After putting 70% of the company's total asset into this project, if we can't get it up and running smoothly again, the company could face bankruptcy at any time."
It was not that she hadn't thought about what Jayson had just said, but given her current relationship with Zac, she wasn't confident that she could be of use to fixing this problem.
If anything, she was afraid of making the situation worse.
‘Does the president really think that I can turn the table?’ wondered Patricia.
In actuality, this was precisely what the president thought of her.
He was a man, so he knew that Zac would regret it after divorcing Patricia.
He also knew that Patricia might not give Zac a chance to make it up to her, which would only deepen his guilt toward her.Therefore, as long as Patricia was willing to talk to him about this case, Zac would ensure the problem would definitely be solved as well.
"Jayson, please tell the president that I will negotiate with the Reynolds Group, but don't put all your faith in me.As it stands, my abilities are limited, and there are some things that I can't change even if I give it my best shot."
Patricia said this in a low voice as she looked directly at Jayson.
"Okay, I will pass on your words to the president.Please rest assured!"
Jayson nodded in affirmation.
He looked a little nervous as if he was afraid that Patricia would change her mind in the next second.
Looking at Jayson's expression, Patricia unconsciously touched her forehead.
Then in a solemn tone, she said, "Before I negotiate with the Reynolds Group, ask the engineering department to send me the report of the project quality inspection! Remember, I will need the most detailed report!"
"Okay, I'm on it!"
Jayson replied, with great seriousness and expectation in his tone.
"You'd also better tell the president to reassign the person in charge of the project to another job and find a person with a better reputation to take over the project temporarily!"
Patricia said after thinking about this for a while.
"The person in charge was transferred from the post immediately after the incident.The person in charge of this project now is the deputy director of the project department, Porter Moron," Jayson said firmly.
"Okay, you can go back now!"
Patricia nodded as a sign of concluding their discussion and looked down at the documents in her hand.
After looking over two pages, Patricia raised her eyes slightly and found that Jayson was still there.
She raised her eyebrows with displeasure and said, "Jayson, shouldn't you be going back to report to the president?"
Ignoring the annoyance in her tone, Jayson asked deliberately, "Miss Sampson, do you have any other orders?"
"Orders?"
Patricia repeated.
Thinking about the meaning behind Jayson's words, Patricia said with a grin, "Jayson, you are one of the most influential people around the president.How dare I give you any orders? If you make things difficult for me because I bossed you around, it will become troublesome for me!"
Jayson was a little embarrassed by her teasing and he blushed.
Balling his hand into a fist, he covered his mouth and feigned a cough.
"Miss Sampson, don't make fun of me! If there is nothing else, then I'll head back first!"
After saying his piece, Jayson stood up and hurriedly exited.
More precisely, it was like he had fled the scene like a gust of wind.
A burst of laughter could be heard coming from Patricia's office.
As she watched Jayson scurry along, the smile forming at the corners of her lips grew.
She always had the impression that Jayson was a rigid man, so it took her by surprise to realize that it was just a mask he wore to hide his true self.
Who knew he could be so cute! Unlike Patricia, Jayson was anything but happy.
When he heard her laughter and recalled what she had just said to him, he blushed even more.
He wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.
She laughed heartily.
She let the distress and pain that had been haunting her for the past few days go with her laughter, so she felt much better now.
Lowering her head once again, she continued to pore over the documents in front of her. Original from .
She needed to understand everything written in the agreements first before she could even think about negotiating with the Reynolds Group.
This way, she could use the contract to her advantage and perhaps even think up a better solution to their problems.