Meeting of Minds

[Nathaniel Graham]

    There was an air of tension spreading quickly throughout the building. Whispers carried through each floor, even as desks were straightened, reports were rushed to be filed, and everyone worked their damnedest to appear as if they were working their hardest. The boss was coming.

    Expected to arrive sometime between noon and three, nothing important was officially scheduled. This was odd because the boss never visited unofficially, always scheduling his visits beforehand.

    Rumors spread that he may lay off a portion of the workforce or that he was having a secret meeting with someone important, the most popular tale being that someone had been embezzling and he was coming to sort matters out personally. In truth, they did not know what to expect and feared the worst.

    Through the main entrance came a large, nearly hulking man who stood closer to seven feet than six. Very athletic and intimidating, his face was a permanent scowl, with a lantern jaw and shaved head. His eyes shone with a vicious intelligence that made nearly every person who met them glance away. He walked past the front desk with such confidence that they all assumed he was the man they had been told to expect. With some effort, they managed to drag their eyes away to the two men who walked a few short steps behind him, one carrying a garment bag.

    A lean young man entered behind him. At barely 6 feet, his appearance was not nearly as impressive as the larger man who had preceded him, yet he was clearly the one in charge. He confidently walked forward with an air of arrogance. Dressed casually in jeans and a black tshirt, he certainly didn't seem like the mysterious figure everyone had been waiting for.

    Pale green eyes glared from underneath the clean, disorderly mess of pale blonde hair. His face was twisted in a smirk as he scanned the room, bored eyes moving to each person and on so quickly it was as if he hadn’t even seen them. As he passed, they caught the barest hint of his faint scent. It was something primal, that of a dangerous predator and yet extremely enticing. Everyone could tell immediately that they had been mistaken. This was the boss and the other two larger men were his guards. This was Nathaniel Gram III.

    Most of the employees, with the exception of upper management, had never even met him. While Gram was commonly referred to as the boss, he did not actually hold any official position within this particular company. You see, the company that owned and operated within the building was Levi-Turner, a corporation and a subsidiary of an international conglomerate. Gram held a controlling interest in and was the CEO of Levi-Turner’s parent company. He was essentially the boss of their boss.

    Gram ignored them all, following Frederick to the elevator, trailed by the barely noticed Drew. During the ride up to the top floor, he distracted himself with emails on his smartphone. When he exited, Gram was greeted by a familiar face.

    Aubrey was a mature woman, in her mid sixties, and as capable a CEO as they came. She’d worked with his father for decades and there was no one Gram trusted more to handle the business of LT and its subsidiaries. She sat comfortably, waiting, to the left of the large oak doors leading to his office which dominated the entire floor, with the exception of the boardroom and Aubrey’s own impressive office. With glasses, silver hair, and an elegant appearance, Aubrey often reminded Gram of what he thought a kindly but stern grandmother should look like. The last time Nathaniel had spoken to her, personally, was at the last board meeting. Her hair had been longer.

    With only a nod to Aubrey, Gram handed her a piece of paper telling her who to expect and what arrangements to make for his meeting at three, before entering his office with the large oak doors closing behind him.

[Ciel Valencia D'Morte]

Ciel was rather bored to say the least. She had a meeting today and was going to go as herself, after all Ciel D'Morte was named as the vice president of the Arelous company. It was three on the dot when she walked into the waiting area of the office of Nathaniel Gram. Her dark blue hair tied up in a ponytail on top of her head with only her bangs in hanging off to the left. Her dress is form fitting but still professional. The girl looked every bit the sweet twenty year old that she pretended to be. Albeit the twenty year old was a truth her birthday had just passed. Her engagement ring rests on her finger, a beautiful band that was everything you would expect from one of the richest couples in the world.

She looks at the female at the desk and smiles politely, "Hello I am Ciel D'Morte here to see Mr. Gram. I came in place of Ms. Arelous." She says with a pleasant smile. Ciel was very easy to like which was weird seeing as she is a sociopath. Ciel though was good at hiding that fact, able to fake emotions to fit in with the rest of the world. She had to in order to survive, there was nothing much she couldn't do though, she was a super genius though she hid that as well, unless she was doing business. She had learned how to run a business at a very young age since that was what her father did though she was expected to go into religion not into business, plans changed after her mother died and the temple shut down. No one knew that it was little Ciel who killed her mother in order to escape the woman's tyrannical ways.

[Nathaniel Graham]

    When Ciel walked into the waiting room, Frederick, who'd been waiting outside, immediately notified Gram, who received his notification via a ping from his cell, of her arrival.

    The doors leading into Gram's office opened from within and there, several feet inside, Gram stood, relaxed. After entering his office earlier, Nathaniel had preceded to change into the outfit that Drew had carried for him. For some business meetings, Nathaniel liked to look professional. He wore a dark, three piece suit, custom made for him, with a tie that contained slashes of red, as he tended to prefer. On his wrist he wore a watch that, like his shoes and belt, cost more than most people could afford after years of saving. The only element of his appearance that did not match his new professional look, was his hair. Like always, it was a mess of blonde locks that he occasionally had to move from in front of his pale green, almost reptilian eyes.

    "Welcome. I have been eagerly anticipating our meeting all day." Was all Gram said before turning and strolling to the far end of his rather large office, taking a seat at his desk, an impressive construction of titanium and wood, upon the left side, out of his way, sat three monitors, connected to the beast of a machine that was his part time work computer and lay hidden below. The rest of the office was mostly grey, a bleak color scheme that made the large window located beyond Gram's desk seem a glimpse of a different world. This window and Gram were the only sources of color within the office, and that was how he preferred it.

    In the corner away from Gram, Drew stood, playing a silent game on his phone. "Before we begin, would you like some refreshment?" Nathaniel asked, a quick, barely discernible, scan taking note of her appearance, gesturing slightly towards a table where sat a variety of expensive, high quality beverages, including bottled water. Her appearance told Gram a few things about her, but it was nothing he considered important. Drew had already fetched a bottle of water for him and now stood waiting to bring Ciel something, if she requested anything.

[Ciel Valencia D'Morte]

Ciel stands and waits to be invited in, when that happens she walks in quietly not really making a sound. The girl never seemed to make a sound unless she wanted to. She takes a seat across from Nate, "Water would be fine." She looks him over. His appearance told her somethings about him as well. She crosses her ankles and sits waiting. When given a bottle of water she takes a sip and looks at the man, "So from what I hear you are interested in some of my bosses businesses?" She asks politely. "So I figured it was best to talk in person." she looks around the room, curiousity was getting the best of her but that was just the type of person she was. She was always curious about emotions and the like. What they thought about, how they handled business.

Ciel sits back in her chair completely relaxed.

[Nathaniel Graham]

    At Ciel's request, Drew quickly fetched her one of the bottles, setting it down in front of her before retreating back a few steps as Gram eye's flickered downward briefly to reply to a text that had caused his phone to vibrate. Some minor question he answered with a simple response of no.

    Gram sat back in his chair, steepling his hands together. He was, indeed, interested in one of the companies. The corporation built by his grandfather had originally grown so large and powerful due to Gramps' ability to judge the worth of a company and decide whether or not it was worth buying. Levi-Turner was heavily involved in the medical industry and had been turning such a tidy profit that Gram had decided to expand it's operations.

    "Yes. Levi-Turner has taken an interest in your boss's medical supply company." Purposefully terse in his speech, Gram watched Ciel closely to gauge her reaction, though she seemed

    Tilting his head slightly, Gram examined the woman more closely. She had an odd way about her, but he could not quite place why she seemed strange to him. The young executive had gotten such feelings before, when meeting with killers, but he took very little stock in such feelings that could not be explained through logic. He expected this woman to be a shrewd person to bargain with which was likely why her boss trusted her to meet with him in her place.