The Visionary That Got The Short Straw

Eric Yang sat in his spacious airy office that hot February afternoon. The air-conditioner was on but streams of sweat poured down his neck. He had been so deeply lost in thought that for half an hour he hadn't touched the glass of iced tea on his desk. Occasionally he rose and paced the smooth, marbled floors of his office and then bent over his desk and scribbled in his jotter.

It was definitely the short straw he had gotten. He felt like he was the donkey chosen on a large farm to do some tedious work because the others were not fit enough. He had given his all to the company, MEELY. He was around even the days when the famous founder of MEELY, Tao Fei, was alive. Tao was an energetic young man full of bright ideas. Eric looked up to him as some sort of role model. He admired Tao's exceptional leadership qualities. He remembered the days when the company was still a fledging, there had been great pressure to sell to a bigger competitor, but Tao advised the board of directors otherwise. They held meetings during which he outlined his plan to them. Through the company, he hoped to stop mankind's dependency on fossils fuels, thereby saving the planet. Slowly they started believing in Tao's words and agreed not to sell the company. Tao also had discussions with Eric in his office about the company's future. Eric became quite close to Tao and believed strongly in his plans. Eventually the tech company became a sensation after it hit a billion dollars in market cap and yearly revenue. Unfortunately Tao died shortly afterwards. He was involved in a ghastly road crash while returning from a doctor's appointment one fateful evening.

The board of directors fell into chaos. Many of them wanted to replaced Tao as CEO. Eric knew he was the most qualified to take over from Tao but many of the board members were far more powerful. So he kept himself out of their way and watched them brawl like children till a new CEO emerged. The CEO was the college classmate of the late Tao. His name was Andre Li. He was a bright head just like Tao, but he wasn't exactly a suitable replacement.

Andre hated Eric because he mostly opposed him during board meetings. So he intentionally messed with Eric's career. Promotions hardly came Eric's way and he was always sent to tackle the most difficult and nastiest of jobs for the company. Still he kept his cool. One thing that kept him still at the company was because of his respect for the late Tao and also because he believed in Tao's vision.

One day he complained of his difficulties at the company to his wife, Michelle. Michelle had just put the kids to bed. She sat in the living room with her husband while they watched TV. Eric was drinking a hot cup of cocoa and gazing absentmindedly at the screen. Michelle had learnt how to read her husband. She rose and went to sit near him. She slipped her hand into his, and when Eric turned to her, she asked him

”Honey what's wrong?”

Eric kept his gaze on her face for a few seconds then returned his eyes to the screen.

“Nothing.” He muttered under his breath.

“I don't think so. You are clearly troubled. Can't you tell me what's wrong?”

Eric sighed deeply and fixed his gaze at the floor for a while. When he raised his face, he talked in a slow, tired voice.

His wife let him talk without once interrupting. He was considering quiting his job at MEELY. He was constantly being overlooked for tasks he was most suited to than everyone and he was always sent to handle the most difficult tasks. He was only still in the company because of Tao, he believed in his vision for the company. He was hoping he would come to a position in the company that would help him realize Tao's original vision. But it seemed impossible.

His wife's hand was still in his. When he finished she encouraged him with the softest and sweetest of words to still stay at the company, maybe things would change for the better soon.

That was several years ago. Now the wonderful company that Tao had built had been wrecked by bad leadership. Hundreds of workers had been laid off and the board of directors were looking for a new CEO. No one came forward. The new CEO would have to take a very bad salary cut and salvaging the company was a most undesirable job.

Eric managed to drive home in a dreary and dazed state. When he talked things over with Michelle she advised him to take the job. Eric agreed to do it for Tao's sake.

He accepted the CEO position. It was a tedious and most undesirable job. But he went at it with all his grit and determination. First thing he did was to make sure every position at the company was occupied only by highly qualified people. Then the company invested a lot into improving the quality of their products. The company also put a lot of money into advertisement and rebuilding the damaged reputation of the company.

During board meetings he told the employees of the original vision Tao had and that anyone who was not comfortable with it could resign. Gradually Eric's efforts began to pay off and the company began rising from the ashes. They regained customer confidence. Soon the revenue flowed in in tens of millions. But the progress happened at a snail-like speed.

But Eric persisted. He was really happy the day the company hit 1 billion USD in market cap and yearly revenue. It reminded him of the old days with Tao. But it wasn't enough. Tao's vision had become his vision and he had to achieve it.

The company thrived to the point it was able to cut fossil fuel usage globally by 7%. A small yet joyous win. Their electric vehicles and solar technologies were widely patronized. Eric still dreamt of the day when mankind's dependence on fossil fuels would be non-existent.

The day when global fossil fuel usage reduced by 25% Eric drove back home from the office happy as a Lark. His family were not home, his wife, Michelle, had taken the kids to visit their grandparents in another state. Eric stopped short at the doorway when he noticed the door was unlocked. But he had locked it securely when he left in the morning. He took reluctant, jerky steps into his home. He put on the light and he nearly jumped out of his skin! There was a tall, hefty man sitting calmly on the sofa. His face was completely masked and he had a pistol pointed at Eric.

“Sit down.” He commanded in a husky voice.

Eric sat shakily at the edge of the sofa facing the man.

Silence for some moments. Eric's heart was almost falling out of his chest for fright.

“What do you want?” He managed to ask at last.

“It's about what they want not me.” The frightening figure sitting opposite him said.

“Who are you talking about?”

The masked figure didn't reply for sometime then he spoke:

“There some important people that dislike what you company is doing. They are losing billions because of it. And they've set me to make sure it's stopped.”

He was screwing on the silencer to his revolver and his voice, cold and ruthless, sent chills down Eric's spine.

“When we took out Tao we taught you people would learn but you didn't.” He seemed to notice the surprise on Eric's face. “Yeah, well, Tao's death was no accident, it was us. Even when we started undermining the company you folks still didn't learn. So we want to make sure it's all eroded once and for all.”

Eric was frozen at his seat. He tried speaking but his lips were sealed shut, and when he did speak his words came as stammers.

“Please don't kill me. I will give you whatever you want, please…”

“Don't worry we will make it will look like a suicide…”

Just then there was a knock at the door. Soon the door was broken in and figures clad in black and carrying rifles streamed into the house. It was the police. Eric was grateful to see them. The masked assassin was no longer in the room.

Just then the phone rang and Eric picked.

"Honey, you okay?” It was Michelle. Her voice showed deep worry and concern.

The stammer hadn't left Eric's voice.

“Yes I am. You can't believe what just happened to me.”

“I know what happened. But are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“You know I forgot my phone when I made the trip with the kids. There's an app I downloaded on the phone, FURNA it's called, that can help you listen to conversations in any environment without being there. I activated the app on Lenny's phone over here and was able to catch the conversation between you and the assassin that's when I called the police about the incident."

This took moments to sink into Eric. His wife had just saved his life by some miracle. He was grateful. His wife could hear his sobs over at her end.

When he was reunited with his family he knew he had two choices before him and he must choose one. Either resign his position in MEELY or continue as it's CEO and grapple with the consequences. He'd made a choice but still he was going to talk it over with Michelle first.

All images generated with Meta AI

The End