Chapitre 41: Chapter 41

As Ian and Camilla entered the meeting room walking a step behind Hank, they were quite surprised to see the room packed with people sitting around a long meeting table.

Some, those that Ian assumed to be lower ranked employees, were standing with some leaning against that wall.

"Mr. Laurel, to what do we owe the pleasure?" A man who was seated at the head of the table asked. The way the man greeted and spoke to Hank clearly showed how much respect Hank commanded among the other employees.

Ian couldn't help but wonder if they were aware of his connection to the Reyes Family, or were they simply respecting him due to his boss.

"Just running some errands for Miss Mendiola." Hank said in a casual tone. "Do you and your people have five minutes, Armand?"

The man whom Hank had called Armand nodded.

Ian and Camilla both could tell that he was someone of importance among this group since he was seated at the head of the table.

"Great." Hank said with a nod. As he pushed Ian and Camilla in front of him. "These are Ian and Camilla, new hires from the HR department. They will be going around, working with different companies and departments trying to figure out what it is exactly you guys do and need."

Ian and Camilla gave an awkward nod, they were unsure of what to do next.

"Nice to meet you." Armand said with a smile as he offered his hand to shake to Ian first then Camilla.

The pair obliged and shook his hand.

"Oh right, Armand is the Vice President for Sales and Marketing of Krisanta Land." Hank said as he quickly remembered to introduce the man in front of them.

"I thought you would forget to introduce me, Mr. Laurel." Armand said with a laugh.

"With my workload, it's normal to forget things like these." Hank said with a nod. "They will be working here for a few months, I believe I emailed you their work schedule?" Hank asked the man in a more serious tone.

"Yes, and I already have a team in mind to assign them to." Armand said with a nod.

"I guess I'll leave the two of you with Armand and his team. Good luck Ian and Camilla." Hank said as he turned and left.

As soon as the door closed behind Hank the room was quickly a buzz with people chatting among themselves.

It seemed to Ian and Camilla that Hank had intimidated the room full of top salespeople into silence.

"Sorry about that." Armand said as he scratched his head. "Mr. Laurel is, well, he works for Miss Marie and everyone knows Miss Marie is the CEO's niece, so he scares a lot of the employees."

"He seems to be a nice guy Mr. Armand." Ian told the Vice President as he carried a confused look.

"Yes, Mr. Laurel is a nice man, he seems nice at least." Armand said with a nod. "The thing is you don't want to slip up around him. If he works for a Reyes that means he is important." Armand explained.

Ian and Camilla looked at each other and wordlessly nodded at Armand.

"As a matter of fact we aren't even sure if he is related to Miss Marie, you see he has Reyes in his name." Armand explained.

Ian wanted to laugh when the VP of Krisanta Land began to explain their suspicions about Hank.

"We don't want to jump into assumptions because why would a member of the Reyes Family allow themselves to be subjected to such low positions in their own company." Armand told Ian and Camilla.

"But then again, the Reyes Family is so low profile that we don't even know who is actually a Reyes in the company." Armand said as he shook his head. "It doesn't help that Reyes is such a common surname, just in sales and marketing alone I have five employees with that last name."

"Are they related to the CEO?" Camilla asked, giving what would be the natural response to Armand's statement.

"No, no, none of them are, but that just shows how many people are walking around with the same last name." Armand said.

"I guess we should be careful with the employees around here." Camilla said with an awkward laugh.

"Let me introduce you to everyone then to the team you will be working with." Armand said as he clapped twice to get everyone's attention.

It was clear that his people respected him very highly, as soon as they noticed that he had something to say they all became quiet and turned to face the front.

"As you all heard from Mr. Laurel, Ian Lim and Camilla Montero will be working with us for a few months." Armand announced. "I hope you will all be nice and give them a warm Kristanta Land Sales Team welcome."

Everyone clapped and smiled at the end of Armand's introduction, confusing Camilla and Ian.

As Ian scanned the crowd, he spotted Mike who nodded and waved at him and Camilla.

"Manager Jake." Armand called out.

A tall and fit man in his 40s stood up and walked over to Armand, he had been seated to Armand's right along with those Ian assumed to be his team members.

"Ian, Camilla, you will be joining Jake's team." Armand said as he allowed Jake to take Camilla and Ian aside to talk. "He'll explain the situation a little bit more, for now, we'll continue with our meeting."

At that, Ian and Camilla nodded, finding some spots to stand behind Jake.

It seemed that there was far more than the eyes could tell to Manager Jake's team.