By mid-morning, I was in the backseat of my SUV, surfing through my phone while my driver navigated the treacherous traffic of Silicon Valley. I had tried my best to get into contact with Casey, hoping that I would at least see her one last ti before we returned. I just wanted to make things good with her once again. However, she was being adamant. I hated how we had left things off; ever since she walked out of that hotel room, I had been unable to think of anything else. I just wanted to make things work.
When I realized that I wouldn't be seeing her this morning, I left the Royale, but not before telling Lena to book an appointnt with Leo. It was ti for to talk to him about the changes he was enacting. A quick helicopter ride out of the hotel took straight to my head office, and now, about thirty minutes later, I was on my way to the headquarters of Beacon Studios. Lena was back at the head office, preparing my itinerary for the rest of the day.
Beacon Studios had a gigantic building smack in the middle of the bustling city. They had a great landmass that stretched out as far as the eyes could see. Within these buildings was where all their movies were made. Action films and what have you, most movies made on set were made right here in the building. And in the heart of it all, Leo had his office.
The driver pulled to a stop before the massive skyscraper. Ethan and I stepped out. The building was tall and large, very intimidating as it towered high above us, casting a shadow that seed to stretch out to infinity. I adjusted my jacket and walked into the cool building. The first thing I noticed was the abrupt temperature change. The air inside the building was chilly, due to the powerful air conditioners that were pumping cold air into the air.
As we stepped in, a young woman approached us. I recognized her from my last visit but her na just couldn't co to mind.
"Hi, I'm Abby," she said with a smile. "Welco to Beacon Studios, kindly follow ."
Without a word, Ethan and I followed her into the elevator and we were taken to the top-most floor where Leo had his office. It was a sprawling space with lots and lots of room. The air was even more chilled here, the entire floor was covered in a blood-red rug, I knew just how expensive it was. Sowhere in the background, soft music was playing while the TV pinned to the wall was tuned to the news channel but the volu was on mute.
Leo was seated at his desk, his laptop was lit up before him and he had a bottle of water half-filled before him.
"Thank you," he told Abby before he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
I glanced at Ethan who nodded and quietly followed Abby out of the office as well. When we were alone in the office, I walked closer to the desk and stared at Leo. Many tis, seeing him up close was always a jarring experience to . I always thought of him to be this unshakable and unbendable force of nature, however, whenever I was close enough and realized just how old he was, it was always an experience for .
Now, as I stared at his wrinkled face, he kept his eyes on mine as his long gnarled fingers were interlocked.
"Would you like to have a seat?" He said after a while.
I took the seat and went straight to the point, "Are you trying to breach our contract, Leo?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Kira and I had a chat last night, she told about-"
"What? Did she report to you already? Silly girl! She seems to be taking this marriage thing to heart, don't you think? You're not really going to be her husband after all."
"That's not why I'm here, okay? She raised so pretty concerning developnts. If you don't want her taking over the company, then who heads it after the rger?"
Leo gave a sigh as he shifted in his seat, "You know, so people would be happy that I'm trying to give them more power in the company."
"Oh fuck off! You and I know that's not true, the only power I would have with this plan of yours is as a figurehead. You'd never give , an outsider, absolute power in your company."
"But when you get married to my niece, you beco my in-law. I don't know about you, but where I co from, that makes you family."
I sat back in the chair as I stared at the old man, "this doesn't make any sense. You're going against the contract that we signed, and let just tell you now, I won't be doing any more work than I absolutely want to. The agreent was that after the rger was in place, I keep leading Chillz while Kira would lead Beacon Studios. Now, you want to lead both? And what the hell do I get out of that?"
Leo scoffed at that, "That's the problem here? What you're going to get out of these changes?" he laughed hard.
"I can't be working 100% and splitting the profits 50/50 with you. That won't happen. The scales have to tip in my favor if this conversation is going to go any further."
Leo picked up his bottle and took a drink, "So, let get this straight, you're willing to take over the company? Even though you know very well that Kira won't like it."
"If the right conditions are t, then I see no problem with it."
Leo nodded once more, "what conditions?"
"We split the profits that co off the rger 70/30, not 50/50 anymore."
"What? Are you insane? No one would agree to that! What do you think the shareholders would say about it?"
"Don't ask , Leo. You're the one going out of your way to keep the company away from your lovely niece, maybe you should try explaining that to the shareholders."
"You're not gonna twist my arm, Jace. Don't forget you're not the only option available. You can take 55%, and that's it."
"Fuck no, but I can go down to 65%."
"It still won't work. You're basically telling not to take anything from this deal. Then what the hell is the point? 60%!"
"63."
"62!" Leo barked, squeezing his hand into a fist.
I was about to open my mouth when I shut them once again. I sucked in a deep breath as I looked at him, I thought about it and slowly nodded, "fine. I think this is sothing I can work with. 62% it is."
As I got to my feet to shake his hands, Leo also got up and took my hand in a firm grip.
"So, you'll take charge of Chillz and Beacon once the rger is set, right?"
"Yeah... I will. But don't forget that I still have conditions to be t."
Leo looked exasperated, 'what else?"
"Those will be stated in the new contract that I'll be drawing up."
"A new one?" Leo muttered, "can't we just and the existing contract?"
I thought about it and slowly nodded, "okay. I'll have a chat with my lawyers and we'd get back to you. Have a great day, Leo."
I turned then and began to walk out of the office when he called , "Jace, Kira is not gonna like this when she learns about it."
I paused at the door as I looked back at him, "we're businessn, Leo. What Kira likes is the least of my worries."
With a simple nod, I walked out of the office. As I walked out though, I couldn't stop thinking about his words, No matter how I looked at it, I just joined hands with Leo against Kira.
Yeah, that was a betrayal!
Reviews
All reviews (0)