Chapter 6: Just when you thought you are up, you fall down

Sulli arrived at the ground floor of the Go Corporation building where she is supposed to meet with Luis and Minho. When she got there, Minho is already sitting on one of the chairs in the waiting area. Luis is not yet around. That’s good, she wanted to ask some questions about the proposal that will be presented to Mr. Shepherd before they actually meet the client.

“Good Morning Boss. You’re early.” Greeted Sulli

“Yes, I always am. You’re early too.” Said Minho

“Yes, I wanted to get some background on the proposal. I went early hoping either you or Luis will be here to help me out. “ answered Sulli

“Hmm…Do you remember the document I asked you to complete and submit to me today?” asked Minho

“Yes, I sent it to your email.” Said Sulli

“That is the projected sales that Go Corporation will have in this proposal. I added it in the presentation.” said Minho

“At first I didn’t know we’ll be able to get this schedule. But when I did, I was worried that we don’t have the numbers yet. It was a blessing from heaven that you stayed last night to finish it. I have them all now.” Said Minho

“Does that mean…”

“Yes, that means you did well. Of course that was a big coincidence, but that saved the presentation today.” Said Minho

Sulli can’t help but be happy. Her heart skipped a beat knowing that her effort will be helpful to Minho. All the hours she spent in the office last night is worth every second. This is the first time she did something right.  Although she just got lucky with the timing and all, she is still happy that she can help Minho.

Minho noticed Sulli smiling happily. From the first time Minho met Sulli, this is the first time he’s seeing her smile this happily. Something about that smile felt different. It felt like something about Sulli glows. But maybe it’s because Minho has always seen the uptight Sulli. The Sulli who always try to look brave, the Sulli who always try to be good at what she does. This is the first time he has seen this Sulli. The happy Sulli.

Sulli noticed Minho looking at her. Something about the way Minho looks at her is different.

“Don’t worry, Boss. I know that this does not mean that staying in the office late is right. I know you worry about the safety of the people who work for you. ” Said Sulli smiling

Minho immediately looked away from Sulli as if his eyes got burnt.

“Luis is taking a lot of time. You should probably review the numbers you sent me yesterday.” Said Minho

Sulli had to stop for a second to think.  Ah, he needs me to review the numbers in case Mr. Shepherd has a question.

Minho noticed the crease between Sulli’s eyebrow which is starting to look familiar.

“You want to know why I am asking you to review the numbers?” asked Minho “It’s because you will be presenting the financial projection part of the presentation later.” Said Minho

Sulli can’t believe what she’s hearing. She will also present?! But she’s not prepared for this. Although the computation is still fresh on her mind, she hasn’t practiced how to present it yet.

Luis came while Sulli is reviewing her numbers.

“I made it on time. Should we get going?” asked Luis

Luis noticed Sulli sitting on the other chair.

“Wow you still got her to be here even if we only got the schedule last night?” asked Luis

Minho immediately stood up.

“We’ll be late if we don’t hurry. Let’s go.” Said Minho looking irritated

“What’s gotten into him this early?” asked Luis

“Hmm..he was ok before you came.” Said Sulli

“So I pissed him off? What did I say?” said Luis

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Minho was sure the contract is the best Go Corporation can get from any other companies out there. With all the discounts and additional benefits, Go Corporation will never go wrong with SkyRock. The problem is, Mr. Shepherd does not decide on these considerations alone. He is known to make the weirdest decisions which eventually turns out right.

The presentation started out well, Minho made the introductions and what the SkyRock company is about. He has to make it concise since he only has 5 minutes to make the intros. It was Luis who discussed the details of the presentation. He discussed the contents of the proposed contract, its benefit to Go corporation. He only had 10 minutes to do this.

Sulli had been listening well in what Luis is saying. But her heart is beating fast in anticipation of her part. She only has 3 to 5 minutes to discuss her part because they wanted to give Mr. Shepherd time to ask questions.  And so when Luis called her name, she had to breathe deeply to calm her nerves.

“Mr. Shepherd, as you can see on this slide, with an average of 100 spinners a month, your company will earn up to 120,000 USD. That is 40,000 USD higher that most competitors. I’ve collected the information about the competitor too in the attached file so that you can compare the benefit the different companies can give you. “ Sulli said

“I have to stop you, Ms. Sulli” said Mr. Shepherd. This is the first time he talked since the presentation started.

“Your projection shows 100 spinners. 100 spinners in a month as the average. That might be true to a company as big as FlyAir and SkyRock. But that won’t be true to a company like Go corporation. Our scale is lower than that. The 120,00 USD would be a bloated projection.” Said Mr. Shepherd

Minho knows Mr. Shepherd is not convinced of the projections and he felt that Sulli is in a bad situation. Just when he was about to talk in behalf of Sulli, Sulli started to talk again.

“Mr. Shepherd, on the research paper I did on Go Corporation a few months ago, I know that the average spinner sales your company has is around 80 spinners. Lowest of which is 40 spinners a month and highest at 120 spinners a month. The research showed that the highest sales is during the month of April while the lowest normally happens the month after. On my research, it showed that the reason why sales increase on the month of April is because of the discount that Go corporation provides to the customers during this month. Customers hoard as much spinners as they can. But then, on May, the price increase usually happens. “ said Sulli

“So what are you trying to say?” said Mr. Shepherd

“Go corporation can give the same price you give your customers on April all year round if you sign the contract. Because you can now provide the lower price all year round, we can say that the sales will increase. Upon the studies I made, the projection of 100 spinners per month is already very conservative. The calculation showed 120 spinners but for purposes of presentation we didn’t use the maximum since we do not want to bloat the numbers.” Said Sulli “I can share the details with you later today.” Said Sulli

Minho doesn’t know which to be more surprised at? He’s surprised to hear Sulli so composed and has already considered all these factors when she did the computation. But he’s more surprised at the smile that is now forming Mr. Shepherd’s lips.

“Just as expected from you , Miss Sulli. You never disappoint.” Said Mr. Shepherd “I will look at the details. This is very promising. But honestly, the numbers are temporary. Though I like what I see on the projections, no one can say for sure how long we can do business together. In my long stay in this business, I learned that long term partners