The Traps of Black Swan

At Palm Island,

Aarvi knew the Palm island owner had his way of filtering out the companies. But she hadn't expected him to give the orientation for the palm island. Upon that, the owner, Mr. Palmer didn't bother appearing.

Disregarding all that, she didn't like the way the Palm resort group had organized an itinerary for them. At the beginning of the conference, everyone got to know there would be a video presentation, then lunch break. Later, the companies will get an email if they are eligible for the next round.

None had any idea how they were being filtered so the probability of Skylar earning the project decreased with the other companies.

Then the selected teams would go for island sightseeing with a resort guide. By the end of the day, it will be dinner. The next day, they will get to know who will be selected to proceed.

Aarvi, no not just her. Most of the attendees felt like they were in some kind of game show where they didn't know how they were proceeding to the next stage in the game or how they were being eliminated.

There were at least thirty companies around the world that participated after the first filter. There were many presidents or CEOs, Managing directors, and groups representing their companies. The projects teams would be fine to stay as it will serve as their vacation while working on only one project. But it was a different case for Managing directors and operation executive officers.

Understanding, it was unsure how many days they would have to stay on the island by abandoning all other work, they started weighing if the Palm island deserved their excess time. Some who had their schedules tight reached out for their company to meet during lunch.

While having lunch, Aarvi heard top management remarking their views about the situation.

"What the hell is going on here? I felt like it's my first day at school and attending orientation." There was annoyance in the tone.

"What is Mr. Palmer is even thinking? We have prepared for business but we are playing games here." There was contempt in their words.

"Are we going to become their puppets by letting them control our schedule?" Irritated one.

"These activities or conferences or whatever it is, if it was just half a day, we could at least work another half from here." He made some sense.

"Exactly, now I have to lose my sleep. And I don't even know how many days this will take." One who was worried about the beauty sleep.

"This is highly unprofessional. And we won't even get to know why we will be out either." One who wasn't ready to accept the rejection.

Aarvi shook her head in resignation and grabbed her ice cream. She was about to leave, and the table members caught sight of her.

"President Evans… Omg, I thought we would never get to meet you." The lady in her late thirties smiled as she stood up. "I am Claire Mokh, Managing director of Fallart, Noka branch." She extended her hand for a handshake.

Aarvi regretted wandering away alone from Aaron. Her face stayed emotionless while she clenched her teeth, trying to make her mind for shaking her hand. 

She drew a deep breath and hesitantly moved her hand but the spectator didn't find anything odd. When she was about to hold the hand, the lady nodded her head in a bow. Aarvi felt a strong presence behind her before a hand wrapped around her shoulder.

Aarvi's shoulder slightly slacked in relief and she shook the lady's hand without hesitation, "Aarvi Evans." She let her name speak of her.

Clarie flashed a courteous smile and greeted Aaron, "President Rivas!!" She looked at both and continued, "We weren't expecting  the couple's presence here."

The men who had stood up, nodded adding in chorus. "Yeah… Yeah…" They wanted to introduce themselves to Aarvi but for some reason, after Aaron stood by Aarvi, they just couldn't move their legs. They even had the urge to lower their heads.

Clarie continued, "I was expecting CEO Grant. We all had met him in a conference before."

Aarvi's serene face barely flashed a smile. When she opened her lips to finally speak, everyone became too attentive expecting to hear a barely audible, low mellow voice.

"Well, initially the plan was the same. We heard Mr. Palmer's choice is sincerity over money. So here I am." Aarvi responded looking at the lady.

Aaron saw the younger men surprised and even nodded their heads as though his wife was singing them a lullaby. Well, they felt Aarvi's melodious voice utter each word, clear and perfectly audible. There was no fear or hesitation despite meeting them for the first time. It was acceptable from the owner of Skylar. So they gave another nod in appreciation and acceptance.

Clarie focused on the information Aarvi let them know. "Oh, I see… Now I understand the intention of Mr. Palmer."

The thoughts, mentality, and judgment of the higher up of various companies smoothly changed after it. 

----

Meanwhile, in a villa on the island.

An old man who was having his lunch didn't bother focusing on the smart screen where his early thirties assistant was changing the screen of the buffet area.

He suddenly heard a soft voice uttering his name. "Pause there." He instructed. 

Leaning back on the chair, he saw the widescreen. He heard the young lady and asked, "Is she selected for the next round?"

Mr. Palmer's assistant speechlessly looked at the boss. His boss didn't only forget her, he hadn't watched the top trending news. "Sir, weren't you scolding a girl for throwing the money from a viral video?"

The old man shifted his gaze to his assistant and heard him continue, "She is President Evans. Founder and President of Skylar Industries."

In the next filter, Mr. Palmer had eliminated the companies whose President or CEO or Managing director wasn't present. So Palmer understood the young lady was moving up in the chart.

Palmer was impressed hearing Aarvi's words for understanding his main intention while the rest were scolding him, showing their displeasure. But once he recalled Aarvi throwing the money, he passed the order, "Eliminate that audacious girl."

Palmer's assistant didn't like how Palmer had misunderstood Aarvi. So he went to the laptop and searched for the viral video and played it.

Palmer shot a deadly glare at his assistant. The latter pretended to be unknown, increasing the volume. It didn't take long, Palmer heard the ambulance sire from the speaker. His whole attention shifted to the screen. By the end of the video, his opinion on Aarvi changed.

"She is fearless and reckless but smart and sensible," Palmer muttered, more to himself. Nonetheless, it reached his assistant's ears, "Alright, I will eliminate Skylar." He took the liberty of an old man's leniency to tease him.

Palmer grunted, "And I will feed you to the sharks."

His assistant chuckled silently and looked at the screen where Aaron was suppressing the males while Aarvi was patiently responding to Clarie meanwhile worrying about her melting ice cream. 

His job was to help Palmer to choose the capable company and person to acquire the resort. So he cleared the misunderstanding of Palmer, unwilling to let go of such a great leader over a stupid misunderstanding.

Palmer thought for a while before deciding, "Add that little girl to my table for dinner."

Assistant's lips twitched seeing the quick favoritism. He nodded, "Roger that." He paused, recalling Aaron, "Then we will have to add President Rivas to the same table."

Palmer lifted his eyebrow.

His assistant couldn't believe Palmer had no idea about any trending news. "Because President Evans of Skylar is the wife of President Rivas of Rivas Industries, Sir. You can turn down President Rivas as another company President but you can't stop him when he accompanies President Evans as her husband."

Palmer snorted, looking away, "Urgh, that kid annoys me."

Curiosity sparked, "Sir, have you met President Rivas?"

"Aish… Why do you talk too much?"

"So you know President Rivas." The Assistant was aware of the behavior of his boss.

"I won't give my resort to him." He announced grumpily.

"But sir, President Rivas…"

"What President, president… He is that annoying doctor who lectured me in front of everyone at a banquet for neglecting my health." He blurted out.

The assistant burst into laughter recalling two years old memories. Palmer was fuming, scolding Aaron for three days straight.