Husband With Benefits-Chapter 532: A Meeting

Gabe sighed inwardly as he looked at the faces of those who stood in the small meeting room. Apart from the big-eyed girl, all the employees seemed to be in their middle age to the older age. For a moment, his eyes rested on her and he wondered how she was doing after yesterday. "Whatever her problem was, had it been resolved? From her countenance it seemed unlikely. Maybe he should..." Gabe shook his head. "He went off tangent! A first one for him.

He reminded himself he was thinking about the employees...It was without a doubt because of the embezzlement that the previous manager and management had done, which had cost this beautiful place to lose out.

From what he understood, B town had always depended on tourism for its survial and with the decline of the biggest resort in the place, the people had probably been forced to move towards the cities to look for work. And the older ones who’d been left behind? They were now looking at him with a mix of hostility and hope, wondering if he would throw them out or keep them on.

Gabe cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had settled over the room. "Hi everyone. I think most of you already know me by face or name but for those of you who don’t. I am Gabriel, but you can call me Gabe. We won’t waste much time today as many of you are eager to go home and the remaining ready to begin work. I will be working with you all for the next year, at the end of which, we are gearing up for a big event that will breathe life back into this place."

"In the meantime, we will begin evaluating the performances of all the employees. I have no plans on firing anyone.. so all of you can relax. But those who are found to be lacking in terms of training or skills, may be asked to get some for them to continue. The training will be provided by us and if that need arises, my office door is always open to discussions." freeweɓnøvel.com

"The Frost Industries has always treated it’s people like a huge family that you all are now a part of so welcome and I hope, we can work well in the future. That is all for now everyone. I will be meeting each of you personally over the next few days so any questions you might have, will be addressed there. For now, if you have any urgent queries, you can question my assistant- Jack Goodman here. Good day everyone."

Hurriedly, Gabe finished the address, leaving the people gobsmacked and lost. They had expected something long winded. Not this

Jack intercepted Gabe as he walked out with a questioning look," Don’t tell me you forgot that YOU were supposed to have a question and answer session with them? Why am I going there now?"

"Because I have some work. Come on. Don’t keep the people wiaitng. Answer everything honestly."

Jack shook his head and wondered if something was wrong with the water here in B-town. Since the day Boss had stepped foot here, he was behaving too oddly...

***

Autumn could feel the world spin. She maintained her balance carefully, trying to keep her eyes open and pay attention to what the manager was saying. She’d already met the man twice and both the times... had not been favourable to her. But if she fell asleep while he was talking... that would probably be the death of her existing ’career’ in the resort, let alone having a hope of getting a better postion.

However, as much as she tried to keep her attention, she felt slightly hopeless. She could not understand a word he was saying over the ringing in her ears and almost blacked out even as she swayed on her feet.. It was a good thing she had chosen to stand on the back.

"I’ll just close my eyes for a minute. Maybe he’ll think I am blinking really slowly... if he looks over..." she whispered to herself.

As Autumn’s eyelids fluttered shut, her knees buckled beneath her, sending her teetering towards the ground.

Just as she would have collapsed, a strong arm shot out from beside her, wrapping around her waist and pulling her back against a solid chest.

Gabe, who had just re-entered the room from behind, caught Autumn just in time. He felt his heart race as he watched her eyes roll back. He’d been right. She had been about to faint. Thankfully, he’d noticed. As he felt her weight against him, he instinctively tightened his grip, preventing her from falling to the floor.

Noticing all eyes focused forward, he quickly maneuvered her limp form into his arms, cradling her gently against his chest and walked towards his office, closing the door firmly behind him.

Gently, he placed her on the couch before grabbing a bottle of juice. As he placed the straw near her lips, he could see her coming to and gently suck on the sweet liquid instinctively. Her lips touching his fingers holding the straw, made him feel odd but he ignored the feeling and reminded himself that he needed to concentrate on something much more important.

Finally, she stirred and let out a small moan, trying to open her eyes. He leaned close and brushed away a strand hair which had fallen over her face and murmured softly, "Autimn? Can you hear me?"

Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes that were bleary with confusion. She blinked once, twice, before her gaze finally focused on hiss face hovering above her. And then, she screamed...

Gabe winced at the sound and hurriedly stepped back but the scream almost cost him his hearing as his ear drums protested the last sound. He was tempted to cover her mouth and stop her, but that momentary fear he saw in her eyes stopped him. The scream was a reaction of true fear and if he covered her mouth...

Hurriedly, he stood up and walked further away, thanking the heavens that his door was closed and sound proof. Or eles everyone would wonder what he was doing...