Alexi rifled through her tote to check that she had brought her business cards and the portfolio containing the details of the merger between Redcon Inc and Ritter Global. Satisfied that she hadn't forgotten anything, she grabbed a mint from the container she kept in her car's cupholder and popped it into her mouth while checking to see that her dress shirt was buttoned up all the way to the very top.
It had been five years since her divorce from her ex-husband, and Alexi had absolutely zero interest in starting another relationship again. With no distractions, she had decided to take advantage of her status as a single woman and devoted herself to advancing her career and pursuing hobbies that she never had the time or money to take on before. At only thirty years of age, Alexi found herself bored of repeatedly having to reject advances and invitations to dinners, coffees, clubs, sporting events and even a bachelor party at a strip club. Not wanting to deal with further requests for a date, Alexi decided to tone down anything that made her feminine. No makeup, no form-fitting shirts, no low cut tops, and always pants. It was easier to change herself than to expect others to divert their eyes from her. Now she was confident enough to have whomever she was speaking with hold eye contact with her and not let their gaze wander down. As a result, she became very assertive in her work, earning praise for her work and disdain for her straightforwardness.
Alexi exited her car and started making her way into the elevator to arrive at the conference room floor. Stephanie, the executive secretary, was already in the room, setting the meeting agendas down around the table at each seat.
"Morning Stephanie," Alexi said.
"Alexi! I was just about to leave and bring in the refreshments. Would you like anything in particular?" Stephanie chimed.
"No thank you, but thanks for asking," Alexi said as she took out her portfolio, setting it in the seat that had her name card on it. "How was your weekend?"
"Oh it was so fun! Johnny took me to the new bar downtown and we had a blast!" Stephanie exclaimed. Alexi started to tune Stephanie out as Stephanie blabbered on about her exciting weekend. Weekends for Alexi were never really exciting or filled with action. Alexi liked to keep to herself and she found it easier to avoid both men and women altogether since the men would hit on her and women would always go on about how thirty is the time when a woman has to start settling down and planning their future and then try to set Alexi up with one of their friends. Why does a woman need to wait for a man to arrive to start planning her future? Why does a woman's future need to involve a husband and a child? Alexi would always roll her eyes and scoff at such ideas, which in turn made her unpopular to be around.
Noise gathered outside the conference room doors and soon enough, bodies started to enter the room. Chit chat started to form but died down as the elevator ding was heard. Out stepped the CEO and people that Alexi assumed were the executives and high-level management of Ritter Global. As everyone moved around the oblong conference table, Alexi kept her seat facing more in the direction of the presentation screen, not interested in the many new people she would have to meet and introduce herself. The CEO himself made his way to the front and cleared his throat.
"Everyone," he began, "Thank you for attending this meeting today to finalize the details of our merger. As you know, this merger has been in the works for a long time, and it is the goal from both sides to make this transition as smooth and uncomplicated as possible for everyone. Now, some of you may have met before, but there are a few more people in here than in the last meeting, so we will go around the room and briefly introduce ourselves so we all have an idea who is in what role and what their responsibilities are. Let's start with the Redcon folks."
