29: Marta (2)

The new boardroom table was larger — not quite double the size of the one they'd had at GOZZE, but then that one had been too big for six shareholders to begin with.
Marta and Manuel took the seats at the head of the table.
On Marta's side sat Julián and Melisa, followed by the three minority shareholders who still held their small percentage.
Beside Manuel, Mario had positioned himself at the foot of a chair, with two seats next to him occupied by two attractive dark-haired women who looked as though they would rather be shoe shopping than voting on administrative decisions.
"I'd like to thank Ana and Eva for finally attending a board meeting." Mario used sweetness as a vehicle for sarcasm. "I would ask that from now on you try to be a little more diligent about your own interests."
Melisa stood up, cast a fleeting glance at Mario and switched to her most diplomatic mode to address the three men beside her.
"Lucas Vázquez, Mateo Sánchez, Marcos López—" she looked at each of them as she named them "—you remain shareholders of GOZZE despite the changes to your percentage. We are very grateful to have you with us."
Melisa then looked at Mario with a touch of swagger. He felt mildly put out, but decided to continue with his presentation once she sat back down.
He moved to the far end of the table where his father and Marta were sitting and spread ten folders in front of those present. He grabbed the whiteboard from the corner and unfolded it.
Mario picked up a marker and wrote in large, firm letters: GODANE.
"It's simple—" he explained, underlining each syllable "—I've taken the liberty of shortening our names and giving them a more contemporary feel."
Melisa leaned back, showing a trace of mockery.
"There are two companies and I see three groups of letters — can you explain?"
"GO from Gozze, DA from Adan and NE from Nueva Empresa — New Company."
"New company?" Julián tried to sharpen his sister's line of criticism to his own advantage. "Doesn't that sound a little presumptuous?"
"I consider it practical, easy for investors to remember, and respectful of both companies' origins." Marta offered her view.
"But calling it new..." Julián still wasn't entirely convinced.
"RUMASA and its conglomerate — Ruiz Mateos tried to resurface using that approach and many people took the bait, even knowing the first attempt had been an absolute disaster." Lucas Vázquez remarked.
"If it's going to bring misfortune on the merger, I'd rather step off this ship." Ana offered.
"It's my understanding that calling something new implies there was an older version before it—" Mateo Sánchez joined the chorus of opinions "—isn't that right?"
"I'm with my sister." Eva crossed her arms and planted them on the table. "If the company goes under, I'm out."
"I shouldn't have tried to play at being a businessman with my late wife's money," Marcos López said in a thin voice, "however much she asked me to in her lifetime."
The five minority shareholders began debating the final syllable of Mario's proposal.
"I love it!" Melisa exclaimed, trying to steer things back. "It sounds modern — and it even evokes an ancient goddess."
That detail caught something in Marta — a silent alarm. She studied the letters on the board. Her businesswoman's eye was assessing the name's viability, but something in its composition gave her a sharp twinge of suspicion.
She glanced sideways at Mario. He held that gaze — the one only she could feel as something entirely directed at her. She recognised the glint in his eyes, that quiet satisfaction of someone who has hidden a secret in plain sight. The same look he'd had the first time he suggested cork as their secret signal.
"May I ask the reasoning behind the choice of letters from each name?" Marta stood up, looking intently at Mario — silently pleading that it wasn't another hidden message, though she wasn't sure how to press the question without giving herself away. "In the interests of placing both companies on equal footing."
A mischievous smile crossed Mario's face, though it shifted to innocent playfulness in a fraction of a second. He turned to the board and wrote out both company names, underlining here and there and drawing arrows towards possible combinations.
GODANE, GODZANE and GAODZAZNE, among others.
"Who's Zane?" Melisa asked.
"Exactly." Mario picked up the eraser and wiped GODZANE from the board. "That one's out."
Everyone fell quiet, watching as Mario went through each option on the list one by one.
"I prefer the longer one — nine letters." Melisa stepped in, purely to needle him.
"I'm glad you like it, Melisa—" Mario made the face of someone who knows they've already won "—because it's the most symbiotic of all, isn't it?" He drew lines upward from the odd-positioned letters and downward from the even ones. "All the initials interlocked — it looks equitable and balanced, but that's far from the whole story."
"Why do you say that?" Julián was curious.
"Great question, Julián!" And Mario looked directly at Marta. "It's a beautiful thing to show our clients — two companies merging with their initials interlocked like the hands of two people in love. Romantic, isn't it?"
"Sickly sweet, more like." Melisa looked up at the ceiling in exasperation, and even her brother echoed her by doing the same.
Marta, on the other hand, was watching Mario with intensity, heart contracted, holding her breath, fingers pressing into the thin folder in front of her.
"We said equity, didn't we?" Mario turned back to the board and, marker capped, pointed to the two sets of arrows. "One, two, three, four, five — letters in GOZZE." He didn't hesitate before crossing out the old company name. "One, two, three, four — ADAN has one initial fewer."
Mario erased all the surrounding diagram, leaving GAODZAZNE alone on the board until last.
"Magnificent presentation, Mario!" Manuel stood up and struck the table with pride.
Mario, face full of pride and satisfaction, ran the eraser across all nine letters.
Julián searched something on his phone and his expression of delight spoke before he did.
"For registration purposes it's perfect—" he added, checking a website "—there's no other company with that exact name in the sector."
"So we're going with GODANE?" Mario asked, looking directly into Marta's eyes.
"If there are no objections..." Marta paused, feeling a strange unease as she watched him. "Then go ahead."
"Perfect!" Manuel leapt to his feet, beaming. "This calls for a celebration!"