People who said things like...we have a problem. More often than not, were people who had no idea how they were going to solve whatever issues they were having. As such, Tristan made sure to never have problems.
He had situations...and he solved them accordingly. Not wasting time by panicking, simply taking in facts, and then coming up with solutions not influenced by emotions.
It was an approach to life that had earned him the title of 'ice prince'. But being the ice prince was the reason for all of Tristan's success. So he did not mind it one bit.
That being said... Tristan had a situation.
The whole thing with him needing to get married, or leave his post as CEO was not good at all. But be that as it may, if it were the only thing on his mind, Tristan would have been able to handle it. Arranged marriages, though not common were not out of the ordinary in his social circle after all. But unfortunately for him, someone had overheard the conversation between him and Mr Riley and that someone happened to be an unknown factor.
Ariel Jones.
Not for the first time. Tristan was glad that he was not one of those people who instantly forgot a name once somebody had introduced themselves. Not only did he have a name, he also knew that Ariel Jones had a food truck.
She had been babbling about that when she'd been begging him to give her alone. There were many aerial Joneses around. If he had just gone on her name alone, it would have been difficult to track her. He would have been forced to enlist outside help, something that he did not wish to do at all.
If he had people out there looking for her, then there was a huge chance that word would get out and people would begin to wonder why he was searching for a woman who had no social status. But thanks to her letting slip that she had a food truck, she had inadvertently narrowed things down enough for him to be able to just do a search online and instantly get a few hits. Ariel Jones' food truck, that was what he typed into the search engine. Then he proceeded to go through a multitude of photos one by one until he found what he was looking for.
In the one picture that showed her face instead of her cooking, she was smiling, her grin-wide teeth showing, her eyes half closed. Behind her, there was a battered old food truck, but it was clear that she was very proud of the tiny establishment. Staring at the picture,
Tristan wasted a few moments taking her in.
She was beautiful, he noted absently.
Then when he realized what he was thinking, he shook his head.
Her beauty did not matter. What mattered was that if she decided to go out there, and sell the story to the highest bidder or maybe just go on social media and post it, she would cause a problem for him. Something that he did not need. Sure, it would be her word against his.
But the effort of quelling the spread of what would no doubt be the latest gossip to a lot of people would be too taxing for him. And so armed with the knowledge of who Ariel Jones was, and the general area where she normally set up her truck, Tristan had intended to head straight to her place in the morning. To walk up to her and let her know in no uncertain terms that she would keep everything that she'd overheard to herself or else. But unfortunately for him, he ended up not being able to head over to Ariel's location right away.
It had started with a Lucy's name clear to see on his phone screen. So even though he had not wanted to, Tristan had answered. And now he was very glad that he had done so.
"Are they all there?" He asked as he walked through the hallways of Asher Industries, his brow furrowed in irritation. Employees got out of his way, some squeaking and literally jumping back. The braver ones paused in their work and stared as he walked past, but Tristan barely paid them any mind. Walking a step behind him, Lucy answered his question.
"As far as I can tell they are all there. Your cousin called all of them this morning and I found out that they intended to keep you from the meeting which is why I decided to inform you,"
His PA said simply. Like it was the easiest thing in the world to have acquired such information. The day he'd hired Lucy Torres, he had really done himself a huge favor.
"Thank you, Lucy," He told her. And then all traces of warmth left not only his voice, but also his face as he walked in to the boardroom where the meeting his cousin had called was being held.
The two of them walked in just as his cousin was finishing off what was no doubt a speech meant to sway the board.
"Think carefully people, the winds of change are upon us. Sometime in the future, the current CEO might no longer be in charge and I will remember who was on my side when I needed them most and they will be rewarded handsomely,"
"As for those of you who have not been making the right choices so far, there's still a chance for you," For a moment, Tristan thought that Ariel had told. Then he recalled that the woman did not know his cousin. Most likely, since the contract marriage concerned him, his cousin had told of the clause as well.
"A chance to do what?" Tristan called smoothly and everybody in the room startled, though his cousin hid it better than most. They had been so focused on the man that they had not realized that Tristan was standing by the door.
A plastic smile on his face, Zachariah looked over at Tristan. "Ah, dear cousin! I was just informing these lovely ladies and gentlemen about the values of keeping your options open. After all, one never knows what might happen. Power is such a fickle thing after all. Here one day and gone the next. Who knows, maybe even you might step down at some point,"
Zachariah did not come out right and see it, but the vicious glee in his eyes confirmed things for Tristan...his cousin definitely knew.
Not only did he know, he had clearly begun a countdown, ready to take over at the end of the month. Being counted out so early made Tristan's blood boil, but he kept his temper in check. Pasting his own fake grin on his face,
Tristan addressed his cousin.
"Power may be fickle, but like any mistress, it depends on the man. If you're good at your job, you needn't worry. But if you are some bottom-feeding scum that is always waiting for scraps, that's when you're going to have a problem," As he spoke and thrift and let his voice become colder and colder.
With him on one end of the giant table and his cousin on the other. The board members kept looking from one side to the other, clearly realizing that there was more going on than they were being told.
Realizing that Tristan would not be so easily intimidated, Zachariah huffed, breaking eye contact.
"Well then ladies and gentlemen, now that morale has been boosted, all of you are free to leave,"
The board members filed out of the room like people trying to escape an explosion. In the end, was only Tristan, Lucy and his cousin left.
"Do not play games with me Zachariah," Tristan said once it was just the three of them. His cousin merely shrugged.
"Just what games do you speak of, dear cousin?"
Once again, they had a staring contest. And once again, Zachariah lost. But never one to admit defeat in anything, he rolled his shoulders and began walking towards the exit. His steps slow and measured, clearly wanting Tristan to know that he was living on his own accord and not running away.
Crisis averted, Tristan could have headed straight out and searched for Ariel, but he found himself making his way to his office.
Officially Zachariah was an accountant in the company, a position that he was very unhappy with, especially since he was of the belief that simply because of his blood he should have been the head of finance.
But even though he was an accountant there, Zachariah seldom did any work. Getting away with it because even with the low position, he had a seat on the board, and a significant amount of shares.
Instead he spent most of his time at the office pot-stirring, and so instead of leaving to go and see Ariel like he had wanted to do first thing, Ethan Tristan found himself staying behind in the office until he got word that Zachariah had left, later that day. It might have been a tad too paranoid on his part but he would rather be paranoid than have his cousin catch him off guard by pulling a second stunt.
Exhausted as he was when he finally left the office later that day. Tristan did not go to his penthouse. Instead, he pointed his car in the direction where Ariel's truck was and drove. Hopefully, he would get there before she left.