Caelus Online

84. Power Plays

Aurora spent the next hour pouring over her documents, signing and initialling various legal contracts and agreements as time slowly ticked by. 

Despite knowing all of the content of the documents she still read through them to make sure everything was as it should have been, a task she found particularly tedious despite its necessity. 

By the time she had signed the last document, she had a frown on her face. Aurora hated repeating things, and this was now her third time. She could feel her annoyance bubbling inside but suppressed it as she took a sip of the tea Sasha had brought her earlier.

Thankfully it was the last time she would need to deal with all the bureaucracy, well, she hoped. She could never be completely certain the gods wouldn’t send her back in time again just to redo all this paperwork for the amusement that they could probably find in her expression right now.

She let out a sigh as she lightly tossed her pen on top of the last document and leaned back in her chair. With all the administrative parts now dealt with the lawyers who were there as legal advisors and witnesses left with Sasha and Harold. She was finally alone and had a moment to herself, well, as much as she could get without getting up and pulling the blinds down.

Aurora spun her chair around to look over the morning London skyline that lay outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of her office. It was a sunny day without a cloud in the sky giving her a picturesque view of the bustling city. She could easily make out some of the iconic landmarks like the Tower of London just on the opposite side of the Themes from the shard where she was, and a bit further upriver she could see the London Eye.

She found it slightly amusing how a glorified Ferris wheel had become one of London's most iconic structures despite the city's rich plethora of ancient buildings, but she was thankful that at least Westminster Palace on the opposite side of the river from it was just as famous. 

Sitting and looking over London had been one of the things that had become an ingrained habit over the years, finding that watching the slow flow of cars, the people walking the streets and the occasional air traffic passing overhead helped ground her. 

The scale of the sprawling city that spread out in her view gave her a sense of perspective that while yes, she was the owner of a massive and influential conglomerate, she alone was just the tiny captain directing where things went.

It was a reminder to her that the only reason she could sit where she was, in the position she was in, was all thanks to the efforts of her family and the many thousands of people who had been employed by them since. 

But unlike in the past, she held considerably more power than every single person below her in the streets. She had access to magic along with the vast knowledge and experience she had gained. She knew the future and what would come and had the power to prevent so much damage and loss. 

So now, instead of just looking down and seeing a reminder for her to not become arrogant and conceited, she saw the addition of the weight her future actions would have, the millions of lives all below her going about their business, all none the wiser as to the danger that loomed ever closer with each tick of the clock.

Aurora grit her teeth with renewed determination. She would not let anything hinder her. She had 3 months to put into place as much as she could, and gain the control she needed to be able to prevent many of the tragedies of the future, or if nothing else, reduce the damage. 

But for now, she had to whip the board of directors into line. Under normal circumstances, she would work alongside the board quite well, at least most of them anyway. But for now, to be able to prepare for the future she needed to make many internal conglomerate decisions, buy certain companies, and invest in different land and commodities without having to worry about the board causing her trouble. 

Many of the things that she had started in the last couple of weeks were not financially profitable within the current economy, meaning that the board without her knowledge of the future saw her decisions as just sending money into a bunch of sinkhole businesses which would take up too many resources to make a profit from when they could be put to better use elsewhere.

There was also the land she was looking to buy with no clear use, and the commodities such as metals which she had started to have stockpiled in various warehouses. The board was no doubt incensed at her previous actions as Chester and would take this golden opportunity of a ‘young ignorant girl’ taking over to get things ‘back on track’.

They had some power, yes, but it was superficial at best. As a private company, only a few people sat on the board of directors, they were either private investors from the company's early history or their descendants. And while they might think she would be clueless and bend to their whims, she knew the company bylaws like the back of her hand.  

Aurora was after all the controlling interest holding 63% of the company’s shares, as well as the owner. If the board didn’t comply, then unlike them, she would force them through the executive power she held. 

With her last thought crossing her mind, she clenched her fist with her renewed resolve as she gave the scene before her one last look before spinning her chair back to face her desk. She gave the pack of documents she had prepared for the previous board meeting a week ago a glance over to ensure everything was there.

Since the content of her plans didn’t change, the only sudden difference being that she was now a woman, there was no need for anything else other than to reintroduce herself and force their compliance as she had before.

Aurora sighed again, feeling herself becoming irritated at the nonsense she had to put up with. She picked up her pen and slipped it inside of her blazer’s interior pocket while checking the time. She still had five minutes till the meeting, and she wouldn’t be stood around waiting for people by being early.

So instead she leaned down to the lockable drawer in her desk and started to weave some mana into it to start strengthening the lock. Whilst doing that she began to draw a basic runic circle over the front, just a simple mana recognition lock that would block people who were not her from trying to get to the keyhole.

It was frankly something quite pointless to do, but it helped clear her mind while also killing the 5 minutes she had. She could start working on another big project, but she would end up having to stop before actually being able to make any progress so it would end up being pointless.

After she finished messing around inside her drawer, she looked up at the clock and saw that she still had a couple of minutes to walk the few dozen metres over to the meeting room where the board was convening, letting out another annoyed sigh.   

She was brought from her thoughts as Sasha knocked on the door and walked in.

“Miss Branford, you have a few minutes before the board meeting starts, so we should make our way over so we are ready for the directors.”

Aurora gave a small laugh before she took a sip of her tea, making no motions to get up and move.

“Sasha, they are the ones that need to wait for me, not the other way around. It's them who need to impress me.”

Sasha hesitated and thought about it, giving her lip a small bite which Aurora thought was quite cute before she eventually spoke.

“I… suppose you are right. Still, it would look bad if you were late, and ideally, you want to make them more compliant so showing up early would be a good sign.”

Aurora let out a long sigh as Sasha of all people was questioning her judgement. Yes, she may now be younger, but for people to keep suggesting what she should be doing? She found her annoyance growing ever hotter in her heart.

“Yes, a brilliant sign for them to think I am trying to get on their good side, and thus coming from a weak position while confirming to them that I am a naïve young woman who doesn’t understand the balance of power. They don't need any other reasons to think they can treat me like some form of puppet queen. No. They will comply in the end, so no need to stroke their egos.”