I Need to be a Father part 01

I was in yet another boring meeting here at Carvalho Engenharia Ltda. I was dying after last night's night out. My dear little brother forced me to go to this meeting. I wasn't really looking forward to it, not to mention the fact that these meetings with clients are very boring. Right now I'm seeing one of our dear, boring clients, Mr. Benjamin Monteiro, owner of Monteiro Residencial.

"So, Mr. Monteiro, we've been here for over an hour and we've gotten nowhere. I'm getting a headache already. My time costs money. Can you stop stalling and get to the point?" I said, tapping my pen on the table. I was already getting impatient.

"That's why I prefer Bernardo to you. You're very insolent!" grumbled the dark-haired man sitting opposite me.

Fuck! Bernardo, I'll kill you for that! I leaned forward, resting my arms on the glass table and faced him.

"Listen here, sir! First of all, address me as Mr. Carvalho and not you. My dear little brother is traveling on business and can't be here, so stop crying and let's get this over with!" I let out a huff of air and got up from my chair. I sat down at the table, staring at the man. "And please, get to the point. What do you want? I'm not here to waste time!"

I started to feel a pain in my knee. How strange... It must be from sitting for too long.

"Okay. I'll tell you why I've arranged this meeting..." He looked around, straightened up in his chair and looked at me. "Could you give me a little more time for the payment...? You know, we're opening a new residential apartment in Manaus. And I won't be able to..."

"Pay," I cut him off. "Once again, but this time you have to pay. We're not going to change the deadline. I'm sorry."

I got off the table, went back to my chair and sat down.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" He leapt out of his chair, shouting at me in my living room.

I put my hand up to my face and counted to ten, because I wanted to hit that idiot!

"First lower your tone, you're not talking to your employees! Then I want respect. Or am I going to have to call security to get you out of here?" I stood up and glared at him, mentioning calling security.

He nodded and sat back in his chair.

"Now we can talk like civilized people. As I was saying, you have to pay this month. You said you opened a new residential apartment in Manaus, right?" He shook his head in agreement. "Look, I'll tell you what. You give me a guarantee and I can give you a bit more time."

"A guarantee? What do you mean a guarantee?" He raised an eyebrow, not understanding what I was saying.

I put my hand up to my hair and let out a breath. I'm running out of patience with this old man.

"I need a guarantee to give this deadline. So you don't wind me up, you know?" I winked at him, who crossed his arms and stared at me.

Then I picked up the spreadsheet on my desk. Before starting my meeting, I had asked my secretary to call my lawyer to get the financial reports for Monteiro Residencial. I sat down and started looking through the spreadsheet. Then I laughed at what I was seeing. I can't believe it. That's a lot of luck! Vitor, you're going to make a lot of money today!

"What's so funny?" he asked, knocking on my desk, which shook with the force he exerted and made my pen holder fall off.

"The fun of it is that your company is bankrupt! And I want your shares, they could be the guarantee I'm talking about!" I pointed, stood up and threw the spreadsheet in his direction. His countenance quickly changed.

"HOW DID YOU MANAGE THAT?" He stared at me, pointing at the papers he was holding.

"You don't care how I did it! Do you want it or not?"

"But I can't do that now... I have to think..." He gestured, running his hand through his gray hair. Holy shit! This is my chance to get these shares at a bargain price. I can't miss this opportunity!

"Mr. Monteiro, if you don't resolve this now, you won't get another chance. Give me this guarantee and I can give you a little more time to pay us." I advised.

I sat at the table looking at him, who was a little thoughtful about my proposal. After five minutes in silence, he said something:

"I just have one question: if I don't manage to pay on time, what happens?" he asked, scratching his head.

I got off the table and walked around it, standing in front of him.

"If by any chance you don't manage to pay me, that's three months you'll owe us, not to mention the fact that you used our services to build that apartment in Manaus, remember?" I said, and he nodded in agreement. I continued: "You'll have to give up one of your shares. It's as simple as that." I smiled at him.

"I can't do that!" He protested, turned away and gestured negatively with his hand.

"Calm down. Of course, that's not going to happen, is it? This new residential development in Manaus is going to be a success and you'll be able to pay me." I said, raising my hand for him to shake.

He looked away, but then shook it. He said he accepted the deal. I celebrated, went to my desk and picked up the intercom to speak to my secretary.

"Laís, please bring the contract. Thank you."

"But why the contract?" He asked, arching an eyebrow. He's suspicious.

I explained that it was just a formality, so we wouldn't have any problems later. He didn't believe me, but eventually gave in. Then my secretary came in with the contract and left. I handed it to him, who signed it without reading it. That's perfect! After signing, he handed me the contract. I took a look at it and shook his hand, then walked him to the door.

As soon as I'd said goodbye, I went back to my desk. I leaned back in my chair and relaxed a little.

That meeting wasn't so boring. I did well!