The One Billion Dollars Translator

Resignation

Henry stood in the doorway of his office, his eyes moving from the empty spaces on the desk to the bag hanging from Alex's hand.

“Packing my things,” Alex replied.

Henry stepped farther into the room, scoffing at the same time and asked, “Packing your things?”

“Yes” Alex replied as he picked up the last folder from the desk and placed it inside his bag.

“Is it because of me?” Henry questioned, walking closer to Alex who only stared at him in return.

“Hey, I'm not taking your position. I'm just here to ease your stress and for the betterment of our father's company” Henry added

“Ease my stress?”Alex almost smiled at the choice of words.

“You know what I mean, right?” Henry leaned against the door.

 “Mom said you have been working overtime, trying to keep up with everything and brought me here to help out. It's nothing bro. It's all to make things easier for you” he repeated 

“You're right” Alex replied as he slipped his bag, “but it's not about you, Henry, it's all about me” 

“What does that mean?” Henry further asked but Alex didn't answer. Rather, he walked past Henry and headed into the hallway.

“Alex! Wait!” Henry kept calling as he was tailing behind Alex with no response from him. 

“Wait! Where are you going?” he kept asking as Alex continued toward Gracias's office.

Henry's expression changed when he realized where they were headed

“You're really going to resign?” he asked

Alex finally glanced back with a smirk, “I've already made my decision.”

Henry gave a small, disbelieving laugh.

“I can't believe you're doing this because of one thousand dollars” There was a smirk on his face when he said it.

Alex stopped for half a second, looking at Henry, “If that's what you believe, then there's nothing I can say that will change your mind”

He continued walking while Henry followed him.

“You're taking this too seriously. We can sort it out as brothers. This is our father's company, you and I need to work here” he kept ranting.

By the time they reached Gracias's office, Alex had already made up his mind that he wouldn't argue with anyone.He knocked once and entered, not waiting for her response.

Gracias looked up from her computer, she noticed Henry behind him.

“What is this commotion all about?” she fired angrily at them but mainly at Alex

Alex walked straight to her desk. Without saying anything, he reached into his pocket and placed the folded resignation letter in front of her.

Gracias looked at it, opened the letter and began reading loudly. Her eyes moved down the page. When she reached the end, she let out a short laugh.

“Seriously?”

Alex remained silent as Gracias placed the letter on her desk.

“You're doing this because of one thousand dollars?” she said then burst into another round of laughter.

Henry stood near the door, watching the exchange while Alex shook his head, “No, it isn't because of the money”

Gracias folded her arms, “Then explain it to me”

Alex took a breath before he began his explanation “For five years, I've worked for this company. I didn't just work as a Site Engineer. Whenever the company needed someone to translate German documents, communicate with German clients, attend meetings or explain technical information to foreign partners, I handled it”

He looked at the resignation letter, “That extra thousand dollars wasn't a gift. It was compensation for work I was already doing”

Gracias leaned back, cutting him off, “And now Henry will handle it”

“Exactly which I have no problem with but because you felt I'm using the privilege of my sick father to work here is something off. I got insulted, rather than the appreciation that I deserve” he responded, with a calm tone.

“You're working in the company your father built, isn't that a privilege already?” Gracias half yelled at him 

“My father might have brought me here and I was able to stay due to my competency. None of the sites I handled had issues, not even the translation jobs that I did. With or without this company, I'll do fine” he retorted using the same tone.

“Bro! You don't need to leave out of annoyance! You can discuss things with mom and she will add something to add to your salary” Henry thought but was immediately cut off by his mother.

“If he wants to leave, let him leave! I'm sure he wouldn't get the opportunity he got while working here! Rubbish!”

She picked up the resignation letter again, stamped it and approved it right away.

“The company will continue without you and henceforth, you are blacklisted from this company for employment. If you choose to come back, it's against the company to employ you. Do not forget to hand over the company tools in your capacity to your departmental Lead” she added, hissing out loudly.

“Mom! That's too much!” Henry screamed out 

“I'll never step my feets into this company again, Mark my words” . With that, Alex left her office.

Just a few seconds after he left, Derick rushed inside.

“Gracias!” He called as he dashed inside.

“I saw Alex leaving the company environment with his few things. I got to know that he had resigned. How? This is gonna be a huge loss to us!” Derrick explained, panicking at the same time.

“...and would his resignation be a loss to us?” Calmly, she asked.

“He is the only one capable of handling our foreign clients. Even if you are going to replace him, you should have allowed him to train Henry for a while” Derrick responded, sweating profusely.

“My son will take over. I gave him the position, not because he is my son but because he is capable. In just a few days, he will get used to the terms. Worry not, Derrick, my son is capable” she explained with a smile while Henry also nodded positively.

“Really? Okay. I hope so” Derrick uttered, stared at them for the last time before he left her office.

★★★★★

Thirty minutes later, Gracias's phone rang which she answered casually

“Hello?” Her expression changed almost immediately

“Tomorrow?”.She sat upright

“You mean Eric Stephens is coming tomorrow with a one billion dollars contract?”

Henry, who was still in the office, looked toward her as Gracias listened carefully.

“Of course, We'll be prepared, thanks” Another pause.

“Yes, I understand the importance of the meeting, see you tomorrow” with that, she hung up the call

For several seconds, she remained still confused. Her expression was hard to read,whether she was scared or was just shocked.

Henry looked at her and asked, “What happened?”

Gracias slowly placed the phone on the desk, replying “Eric Stephens is coming tomorrow”

“Who is Eric Stephens?” Henry inquired 

“Don't you know him? He is a German multi billionaire. He is coming to the country tomorrow to award us with a contract with a billion of dollars” she explained

“Wow! That's massive!” Henry rejoiced.

“He is a German, so we need to prepare for his arrival. He understands nothing about English but his P.A, Elena understands a bit. We will be going to the airport tomorrow to welcome him and be prepared. You will have to follow me to the airport tomorrow, check over the contract content and make sure everything goes well. You can check the former contract phrase that Alex left for you and be prepared” she instructed.

“That's not a big deal. I'll surely do that” he smiled.

Almost immediately, Derrick rushed into the office without knocking at the door..

“Gracias, I heard Eric Stephens is coming over tomorrow and he had chosen us” he rushed his words.

“Yes, I got a call as well and of course, Henry will be there to receive him” she replied.

“Good! Now shall we brief each other about the project?” He added, bringing out a small USB from his pocket. He handed over it to Gracias who connected it to her office system.

Henry also moved closer to have a look.

“It's gonna be the biggest hotel in history. I need you to explain to him, about this casting aspect, especially the column casting” Derrick said, pointing at the building sketch that was displayed on the screen 

“I don't understand. Do you mean I would explain the concept of the drawing one after the other?” Henry asked.

“Exactly cos he needs to be satisfied. Kindly study the drawing and the key words before tomorrow. See you later” Derick rounded up his conversation then left the office.

“Henry, you can do it right?” Gracias asked

“Mom! All these look new to me. I do not understand anything regarding this sketch” he murmured.

“What!!!!” Garcia exclaimed.