THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

When Emily and her companions entered the conference room, they found the two Audi representatives waiting for them.

One was a graceful older blonde lady who seemed to have just reached the point where age had just begun to encroach on her incredible looks. Nevertheless, she was still a beautiful and elegant woman with a confident air about her persona. She seemed like a typical office-type that was always in charge.

By her side was a much younger stunning alluring woman, probably in her early 20's. Although Emily had met countless good-looking women, the one before her stood out in particular. She was so unimaginably attractive, the sharp lines of her oval face that matched well with her deep brown hair and green eyes, reminiscent of the idea of perfection. Emily could find no viable comparison to her beauty as it lay in the unspoken, in the unknown realms of the miracle of genetics.

"Good morning and welcome," the older lady said right after they'd entered the conference room. She stood up from her seat, moved around the table, and extended a hand to each one of them, starting with Zachary, then Emily, and finally Ryan.

"I'm Susanne Berdal, the head of marketing and publicity for Audi here in Norway," the woman continued after the handshakes. "I've been looking forward to this meeting for quite some time. I'm glad that Ryan made it possible for us to meet earlier than I'd expected." She paused, first taking a step towards Zachary.

"It's nice to meet you, Zachary," she said, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you too," Zachary replied, his tone polite and respectful. "Thank you for having us."

"And this here should be your agent, I presume," Susanne said, turning her gaze to Emily. "It's a pleasure having you here. I hope we can work together to make this happen quickly." She added, stepping towards Emily and patting her shoulder.

Emily had already noted that everything about Susanne Berdal projected confidence born from the experience of having chaired meetings for a long time. But, she didn't let herself feel the least bit intimidated by the older lady's dignified air. Instead, her spirits soared higher since she was close to negotiating a deal between her client and one of the most popular automobile brands in Europe.

"Thank you for having us," she replied, a polite smile outlining her face. "I'm Emily Anderson. And yes, I'm Zachary's agent. I also hope this works out. But that'll depend on what you're willing to offer." Her voice came out of her mouth with a steady rhythm as she tried to counter the self-assured air projected by the older lady. The negotiations had already begun with the handshakes. As an agent, Emily didn't want to lose any ground even before the actual meeting to discuss the endorsement deal could commence.

Susanne chuckled before turning away from Emily towards the stunning younger woman behind her. "This one is Camilla Schneider, one of my assistants," she said. "She'll be handling most of the issues between Audi and Zachary here in Trondheim. That is, of course, if we can come to an understanding. Camilla! Come say hi to our guests." She added, motioning the lady over from her seat.

Camilla's face lit up into a smile. "Nice to meet you," she said, extending a hand to greet Emily and Ryan one after the other. "I already met Zachary in the showroom. So, I guess there is no need for any more introductions or greetings."

"You already met!" Both Emily and Susanne exclaimed in unison.

Emily, in particular, was surprised as Zachary had only left their group for a few minutes. She couldn't help but wonder when he'd gotten time to link up with a hot young lady. Or maybe, the lady was trying to entice Zachary into a deal without her knowledge. The doubt started running through her thoughts. Her mind stirred to full attention as she inclined her head to observe Zachary's reaction to the question.

"Yes, we met in the showroom," Zachary said, maintaining a soft smile and his voice steady. "She was telling me about the specs of one of the cars that'd captured my attention. But I would never have guessed that she was a member of the Audi marketing team I was supposed to be meeting."

Emily let out a pent-out breath on noticing that there was nothing unusual in Zachary's response. "Well, we should get on with business since we seem to have completed the introductions?" She asked, a soft smile still outlining her face.

"Since we're already acquainted, we can start on the business at hand," Susanne concurred. "Please take your seats."

"Thank you," Emily and co said, more or less in unison before settling down in the comfort of the office seats at one end of the conference table.

"I'm glad that we're finally taking this step," Susanne said after also settling into her seat on the other side of the table. "We would really like to work with Zachary to promote our brand here in Norway."

"Thank you," Emily said, smiling at Susanne. "Since we already know what we both want, can we get right into the thick of it? As you know, Zachary here played a match yesterday evening. He needs to head back and recover in preparation for his next game." She added, patting Zachary's back.

"Of course, of course," Susanne replied, nodding. "We can get into business right away. But first—" she paused, turning towards Ryan.

"Ryan, would you be a dear and first go and check on that engine that Annah had talked about," she said, her tone formal. "We need to talk to Emily and Zachary alone for a few minutes."

"Of course," Ryan was quick to reply, a sunny smile outlining his face. "I'll be going now. Emily! You can call me when you finish up here. I'll be waiting for you in the service department." He added before rushing out of the conference room like the wind.

"I'm sorry about driving your friend away from the meeting," Susanne said, her tone apologetic. "It's just that we don't want the details of our negotiations to end up in some tabloid or the web before next month. The only way of ensuring that there's no leakage is by dealing with as few people as possible during the negotiation process. So, we usually don't allow any unrelated parties into our business meetings. Just company policy. Hope you understand!" She added, sweeping her gaze over both Emily and Zachary.

"Yes, of course, we completely understand," Emily replied, smiling back at her. "In fact, if you hadn't asked him to leave, I would have done the same before starting the actual negotiations."