Chapter 6: The Mysterious Delivery
The Annual Global Meeting continued.
After twenty minutes of laughter...
Everything had finally become serious again.
The giant screen displayed graphs.
Financial reports.
Future investments.
Expansion plans.
Every employee around the world watched attentively.
Kiefer stood confidently on stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
"This year, LKR Corporation achieved a 27% increase in global growth."
The audience applauded.
Lily sat quietly beside the stage, reviewing the next presentation.
Rose...
Was also sitting quietly.
Too quietly.
Kiefer glanced at her.
"...Why are you behaving?"
Rose smiled innocently.
"I'm listening."
Lily immediately whispered,
"...She's planning something."
Five minutes later...
Kiefer continued.
"Our next goal is to expand into—"
DING DONG!
The massive auditorium doors opened.
Everyone turned.
A young delivery boy walked inside.
Behind him...
Came dozens of workers pushing food carts.
One...
Two...
Five...
Ten...
Twenty...
They just kept coming.
The audience stared in confusion.
Even Kiefer stopped speaking.
The delivery boy looked around.
"Excuse me!"
"I have an order for..."
He checked his receipt.
"...LKR Corporation."
The Chief Secretary hurried over.
"There must be some mistake."
The delivery boy shook his head.
"No, ma'am."
"I have..."
He looked down again.
"...Fifty large pizzas."
"...Fifty chocolate cakes."
"...And fifty family-size fries."
The entire auditorium went silent.
Kiefer blinked.
"...Fifty?"
"Yes, sir."
"They've already been paid for."
One board member whispered,
"Are we feeding the entire city?"
The delivery workers parked the mountain of food beside the stage.
The smell of fresh pizza filled the auditorium.
Employees quietly swallowed.
Kiefer looked toward the audience.
"...Did anyone order this?"
Nobody answered.
He slowly turned his head.
Toward Rose.
Rose was looking everywhere...
Except at him.
Lily suddenly became fascinated by her tablet.
Kiefer narrowed his eyes.
"...Rose."
"Yes?"
"...Did you do this?"
Rose gasped dramatically.
"I am deeply offended."
"You think I would interrupt a global business meeting?"
Kiefer folded his arms.
"...Yes."
Rose smiled.
"...Fair."
The audience laughed.
The delivery boy interrupted.
"Actually..."
"The order was placed under two names."
Kiefer sighed.
"Of course it was."
The delivery boy read the receipt.
"Miss Rose Bennett..."
He looked at Lily.
"...and Miss Lily Hart."
The camera immediately zoomed in on both of them.
The entire company burst into laughter.
Kiefer slowly covered his face.
"Lily..."
Lily raised one hand.
"In my defense..."
Everyone waited.
"There is no defense."
Rose talked me into it."
Rose proudly stood up.
"Correction."
"I inspired you."
Lily sighed.
"That's somehow worse."
Kiefer looked at the mountain of food.
"...May I ask why?"
Rose smiled brightly.
"Simple."
She grabbed a microphone.
"Everyone!"
The employees looked toward her.
"You've all been working hard for months."
"You helped LKR become the world's greatest company."
"So today..."
She pointed dramatically at the food.
"Lunch is on us!"
For two seconds...
Nobody reacted.
Then...
The entire auditorium erupted into thunderous applause.
Employees cheered.
Some even stood up.
Kiefer couldn't help smiling.
He looked at Lily.
"You knew?"
Lily nodded.
"We wanted to surprise everyone."
"You could've warned me."
Rose grinned.
"That would've ruined the surprise."
Kiefer laughed.
"You two really are impossible."
Rose wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders.
"We prefer..."
"The iconic duo."
Lily immediately corrected her.
"The iconic trio."
She nodded toward Kiefer.
Rose smiled.
"Oh right."
"Our grumpy CEO."
The audience laughed once more.
Kiefer walked over to the delivery boy.
"Thank you."
The young man smiled nervously.
"I've never delivered food to a trillion-dollar company before."
Kiefer laughed.
"First time for everything."
He turned toward the audience.
"Well..."
"I guess the meeting can wait."
He picked up a slice of pizza.
"Our financial report..."
He took a bite.
"...Tastes much better with cheese."
The auditorium exploded with laughter.
Even Jay Mariano, sitting in the VIP section, couldn't stop smiling.
She had attended hundreds of corporate meetings.
But never one...
Where the CEOs paused a trillion-dollar presentation...
To have pizza with their employees.
She looked at the three childhood friends laughing together on stage.
And quietly thought,
"Maybe this is what true leadership looks like."
The meeting resumed an hour later.
But no one complained.
Because for the employees of LKR Corporation...
They hadn't just shared lunch.
They had shared another memory with the three people who never forgot...
That a company is built by people.
Not profits.