Cal led Erick into an elevator - spacious and glass-sided - and then into a boardroom with a panoramic view of the factory interior. There was no one else in the board room yet, so Cal motioned towards a table at one side. "We've laid out coffee, tea, chocolate, water - help yourself."
"Chocolate?" Erick questioned. "Well, I suppose this is a chocolate factory."
"Are you a connoisseur?" asked Cal.
"No, never touch the stuff," replied Erick, taking a bottle of designer water. Cal took a square of chocolate and a coffee, and the two gym bunnies sat down together at the boardroom table.
"So, before the presentation, tell me, what is this place really like?" asked Erick, speaking as if Cal were already a friend.
"Well, the product is superb, the labour force is willing, but the competition is cut-throat," Cal replied. "Ms. Wonka pushes us regularly to innovate - new products have higher profit margins - but new product failure rates are high. We do need to modernise the joint," he added, "in a variety of areas." He paused as the two of them heard a door opening, and Wilma Wonka walked in.
"You must be Erick," she said, holding out a hand to shake. She sat down on the other side of Erick from Cal while Cal took a keyboard and called up a Powerpoint presentation.
The discussion went on for nearly two hours, as Wilma rolled through Powerpoints, spreadsheets, projections, and Erick probed with questions. Other senior personnel joined in - particularly Violet, the senior financial officer, who seemed to Erick to be like an older, female version of Cal - or of himself - in her dark tailored suit. Alphonse, the head of HR, came into the discussion late to discuss labour at the plant - and Erick noted him because he was the first non-skinny person to appear, looking to be about 40, six feet tall and...
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