Fan Fiction

On Shadows and Tendencies(Completed)

by mei chin and shin mei

Chapter 1

Talks Over the Phone

A man in his mid 20’s was on his chair in front of his polished oak table where piles and piles of documents were waiting for his approval. The man had been working non-stop since seven in the morning that day. He has been given the Businessman of the Year Award for the past four years and hasn’t been beaten ever since. Many young businessmen aspired to reach his level, but sadly this man continues to impress the business world with his decisions that always brought about success for him and his company. He has everything that a man could ever want, money, power and women flocking his side. In the outside, he may seem contented having all these things around him. But in the inside, there was nothing he could give or share because he has been alone ever since he started working. At the end of the day, there was nothing to look forward to because his house was surrounded by coldness, it only becomes warm with the presence of his mother but for the past few months his parents have been traveling together to make up for the times they have lost. He was happy for them, but is he happy for himself? He only wished that he was happy. His friends were a source of happiness but as time passes he was yearning for more. It may seem that he was now unreachable because of his triumphs at an early age, but a certain woman has touched his life without him knowing.

He had spent so many sleepless nights drowning himself with his “what ifs’” and truly there was too many of it after Xiao You left. He knew that he was a fool for letting her slip from him. He knew it when she showed him the billboard but instead of grabbing the chance to be happy, he acted like she was nothing to him and made her leave again. A part of him ached for her but his mind tells him that he was right. He didn’t know if this was love and if it was, he didn’t know how long it would last. REGRET. Regret was the only thing he was sure of in his life. How he wished that he could cling on to somebody when he needed comfort, but he knew that the only person who could comfort him left because he pushed her to do so. Looking at his friends, Dao Ming Si and Mei Zhuo, he could sometimes feel jealous towards them for having settled with the woman they love and as for him, it seemed that it was only a dream that he would settle himself. A soft knock interrupted his flow of thoughts as his secretary went in.

“Master, here is the file that you asked for.” He said holding out the file to him.

“Thank you” he replied getting the folder from his secretary.

“Is there anything more you need, Master?”

“I’ll just call you if there is something.” He said opening the folder and scanning its contents.

He glanced at every page looking for a picture but there was none, he was sure that his investigators would include a picture for he paid them to search everything about this person. “Probably it fell on the way here,” he thought to himself. At that point, he didn’t care about the picture, what was important was for him to find out who the person is since she is becoming known in the business sector. He was particularly curious about this woman but he didn’t know why.

Name: Adriana Chien
Age: 26
Date of Birth: March 16, 1975
Parents: Arnold Chien and Judith Chien
Education: Business Management at Yale University (Suma Cum Laude)
Occupation: President and CEO of the Chien Group of Companies.
Citizenship: American
Companies:

Innovative Technologies
Think Big Company
Build Machineries
Mind Works Microchips
Media Electronics
Reach Telecom
Tyler Enterprise
Upgrade Software

The next information was useless so he scanned through the papers looking for something worth his while. After much scanning, he finally found something.

Occupational History:

Worked at Intel as the Operations Manager in the United States after graduating, then after 6 months promoted to International Operations Manager because of her great potential and her admirable traits. She has impressed many of the CEO’s because of her hard work and dedication so after a year they decided to make her a member of the board. She has increased the company’s revenues and made it more productive to utilize its facilities in the United States and abroad.

A year later, she started her own company focusing on technology with new applications and approach. With her skills and talent, she has made her company penetrate into the market. She has tripled her investment and continues to boost its revenues. After making her $ 100 million, she started buying new promising companies in the United States and later on, abroad.

Company History:

Its owner, Adriana Chien, single-handedly manages Chien Group of Companies. From a single company to a 7 multi-million International Companies around United States and Asia. A well off company that is continuously being competitive in the market today their products and services are continuously in demand by consumers. Spearheaded by a woman, this company is one of the biggest and most promising businesses today.

Adriana Chien, one of the few businesswomen who made it big in the business sector. In the competitive business dominated by men, Adriana managed to gain respect and become one of the few women who managed to stand strong. She single-handedly built her name and company after working at Intel. Having won the Most Outstanding Woman in the Business for 3 straight years, she is regarded as the promising businesswoman in this century. Many women tried to follow her suit to the top but none of them matched up to her.

As Ximen read her profile he couldn’t help but admire this woman. “Quite an impressive woman,” he thought to himself as he finished reading. After closing it, all he could do was to sigh, not that he was missing something but in the thought that this woman will be one of his competitors. An uneasy feeling took over him as he remembered that he just sold 3 out of his 11 companies in Taiwan to someone.

He looked at his computer and scanned through his documents and found out that this woman has bought these 3 companies. He didn’t like the idea that he didn’t realize this earlier. He looked again at his computer to see the impending transactions and there it is once again…Adriana Chien. He didn’t know what she was up to, he didn’t know why something like this would slip from him but he knew he had to talk to this woman.

He summoned his secretary to come in.

“Secretary Xu, I want you to make an appointment with Ms. Adriana Chien."

“Yes, Master. When do you want it to be held?” his secretary asked.

“As soon as possible” Ximen said while looking at the folder in front of him.

His secretary bowed as a sign of respect and proceeded outside. Minutes later his secretary went in again and confirmed the appointment with Ms. Chien.

------

A week later, it was now the day when they will meet. Ximen couldn’t help but feel anxious that he will meet this Adriana Chien. He proceeded to the conference room, once he entered in everyone in the room fell silent and stood up.

“Good Morning” he said, searching the woman who has been buying his company. He imagined her to look old since she seemed to be very uptight by the way the investigators pictured her.

A woman stood up in front of him that he thought was Ms. Chien, but her next words disappointed him.

“Good Morning, Mr. Ximen. I am Linda Scott. On behalf of our president, I want to apologize because she cannot be with us today. So instead, I called your secretary to inform him that we could just set up a teleconference.” She said.

Ximen looked at his secretary with a questioning look, his secretary then spoke up.

“The things needed are now ready for use, Ms. Scott,” he secretary said nervously.

Everyone settled into their seats as Ms. Chien’s crew patch the communication line between them. Minutes later, everything was in order.

“Good Morning Mr. Ximen. I am sorry that I was not able to meet with you personally.” The person on the other line said.

“Good Morning Ms. Chien, Ms. Linda already apologized earlier on your behalf. I am disappointed that we didn’t meet personally because I am quite anxious to meet you.” Ximen said in a serious tone.

"So am I. Let’s go to the point of our meeting.” She said with authority.

Ximen hasn’t been spoken like this ever since he took up the business. For him this was an insult but never the less he remained calm because she was a client.

“Very well then, I arranged this meeting for I have been informed that you are planning to buy one of my companies in the United States.” He said.

“Yes…” She was about to continue but Ximen interrupted her.

“After previously buying 3 of my companies in Taiwan?” he said wondering.

“Yes, I see a good opportunity in your business and I have no doubt in its state because I know that you handle it quite well.” she said earnestly.

“Quite well?” he thought to himself. No one has told him that he managed his company “quite well”, it has always been excellent but this woman is underestimating him.

“I know that but why the sudden interest? There are many businesses out there offering the same opportunity.”

“I am in the process of expanding my business and I think by the way you handle your company it is much easier to use it.”

“But by the looks of it, it seems that you wish to put me out of this business or that I am just too good in business.” He said frankly.

The person on the other line laughed at what he said and continued on.

“Believe me, I think you’re good in business and I do not wish to put you out.”

“So then, I know you would agree that I do not make any arrangements with you until you see me personally.”

“What?” she said obviously shocked.

“You see? I am a good businessman and I do not make contracts over the phone. I am sure that nothing can hinder you from coming if you’re really interested in my company.”

“Fine then, I’ll see you tomorrow Mr. Ximen.” she sarcastically said and dropped the call.

Ximen felt much better after making that woman come to him the following day. He didn’t know why but he wanted to smile after the conversation, he found the woman highly amusing and he was beginning to be excited for the meeting tomorrow. After a few minutes, he stood up and went to his office leaving the people inside the conference room in awe.

The people inside the room remained quiet after Ximen left the room, it seemed to them that these two people knew each other but his secretary knew that his Master doesn’t know the woman. They were shocked at their conversation that no one dared to utter a word. The two of them seemed to be engrossed in their world and unknowingly watched by their staff. They didn’t know what was brewing up with the two and it was the first time they saw their
president speaking like that. The secretary cleared his throat after seeing that the people inside the room was lost wondering about the two, the people jerked into reality and abruptly left the room.