[Leonard]
The business deal we flew all the way to Korea to close was taking longer than I expected, and I was beginning to lose my patience. The fucking CEO of the company was out of the country and there is no way in hell I would close the deal with his personal assistant. I might as well have sent mine to represent me. Speaking of personal assistants, who the fuck is mine, and why the fuck has she not reached me yet?
Louis had spoken highly of her, and clearly he was wrong. I'll have her fired once I get back to my country.
I tried calling the whole deal off but Idris would not hear of it. "You know just what we stand to gain from this company if we close this deal." He reminded me in whispers while I scoffed. We can always get all those from another company I said in my head but I stayed back on the fancy seat on which I was seated.
Every minute we spent in this goddamn place reduced my chances of finding the strange lady, and it surprised me that Idris wasn't the least concerned about that.
The CEO's personal assistant stepped into the private conference room where Idris and I sat, holding in his left hand a file which I believed contained all the documents of the deal. He was ready to close the deal but was I?
I could not hide my disapproval as my face curled up in disgust at the very sight of him. Who the fuck hires a male assistant? What happens when you want a quickie right there in the office?
I stepped out of the room with my face curled still, after whispering to Idris to take charge. There, across the hallway was another office which was different from the others. It was dark and empty and I was sure it belonged to the CEO of this company, whose name I could not remember at the moment. The transparent glass which surrounded the office, and served as the wall displayed the artefacts with which the office was decorated.
From where I stood across the hall, I saw the office setting, noting just how orderly and richly furnished it was. As I watched with so much interest I decided just then to make my new office just as colourful even though I had no idea what the office currently looked like.
"Christopher B. Gibbons." I read aloud from the part of the glass which served as the entrance, and realized that I hadn't forgotten the CEO's name, I just did not know it.
Well, I shrugged. What do I have Idris for? I asked myself just as the door behind me pulled open, and Idris stepped out. He was closely followed by Mr Gibbons' personal assistant.
"We closed the deal." Idris announced with a wide smile. There was a hint of excitement in his tone.
"How did it go?" I asked, completely ignoring the CEO's personal assistant who seemed to be ignoring me just as well.
He left for God-knows-where after saying a polite 'thank you' to Idris, and nothing to me, not even a glance. Who the fuck does he think he is?
I made to call him right back but Idris was quick to notice my anger, and so he intervened quickly as well.
"You don't want to cause a scene here, buddy." He advised, leading the way to the exit which was in the opposite direction.
"Like I give a fuck." I fired but went with him nonetheless.
"Disrespectful bastard." I cussed, suppressing the urge to go back to him.
"I don't think he was disrespectful though." Idris started to say after some time. By now my anger had subsided.
"Of course he was! You saw him." I countered.
"Yes, and I also saw you. You treated him like trash, and he only reacted the best way he knows how." Idris explained.
"No, I did not. He is trash." I defended, and a feat of laughter ensued between us.
"Man, you're incorrigible." Idris added between laughs.
"But what do you have against him?" Idris asked in a more serious tone.
"Well," I shrugged. "I guess I was really expecting to see a pretty lady, one I could flirt with." I added, just as my men joined us from their various positions where they stood guard.
"How did it go?" I asked again once I remembered that he did not give me a reply the first time.
"It was great. Mr Ross is really good." Idris replied, and I scoffed, showing my disbelief.
"He is. Mr Gibbons wouldn't have done a better job." He added, meaning every word.
"Does that mean I judged him wrongly?" I asked with feigned remorse.
"No, you didn't. You condemned him." Idris corrected, and we laughed some more.
"Son of a bitch." I cussed just as one of my men stepped forward to get the door to the car.
I stepped into the passenger seat and was followed by Idris who was still laughing.
"Drive straight to the airport." I informed my driver once he got behind the wheel. I focused my gaze on the road, refusing to meet idris' gaze which was boring into the side of my face.
"Why the rush?" He asked when it became obvious that I was avoiding his gaze.
"What?" I asked, pretending to not understand him.
"We haven't checked out of the hotel yet, and we still have some stuff back there." Idris informed. His surprise was not lost on me, and I couldn't fault him for it.
Usually, on business trips like this we would stay back even after the business has been attended to, and visit the biggest clubs in town. But this trip was different, and as much as I tried, I just did not feel like clubbing or having any fun with some bitches.
What is the whole point if I can't get to the peak of pleasure or even settle down when I eventually feel ready to.
"Are you okay, man?" Idris called, disrupting my stream of thoughts. He must have been talking, and got no response from me.
I turned towards his direction, and looked away quickly when I saw a look of concern in his eyes.
"Don't look at me like that." I said, tiredly.
"I'm sorry, but I'm worried about you." Idris replied.
"Why? I'm completely fine." I assured him.
"It's about her, right?" Idris asked. Although his voice was low, I still wasn't comfortable talking about it with two of my men in the driver's and passenger seat of the same car with us. This made me consider fixing the faulty partition of the car for the umpteenth time.
I gave Idris a look then I nodded towards the men while Idris nodded in understanding.
"Maybe," I said distantly. "I already told my men to get our stuff from the hotel suite, and check out." I said instead, changing the topic.
"I didn't think about that."Idris said, distractedly.
"You couldn't have, not with your fish brain." I teased.
"Son of a bitch." He teased back, amidst laughter.