Revenge Rule #10: PSA-Plan, Strategize then Attack
"Excuse me. I'm Amy and this is my Boss, we're from CRM, we're here for our appointment..."
Lilac zoned out staring around, ROWEN was a lot similar to CRM in Country V, it was sophisticated and elegant.
"...Okay then. Thank you." Amy smiled at the receptionist and turned to Lilac, "Boss...Boss.." She called out snapping Lilac from her thoughts.
"What did she say?"
"Mr. Rowen is waiting in Conference Room C with the design team, she's going to take us there." Amy pointed at the secretary, the receptionist had just called, standing by the side.
"Ok."
The secretary led them to Conference Room C and left to bring some refreshments. Without bothering to knock Lilac pushed the door open. A man was seated on one of the chairs, he was staring at the view outside from the window while tapping his fingers slowly on the round table. He looked in their direction once the door opened & Lilac froze for a second. The man, whom she knew was Brandon, had stunning grey eyes and white hair, his rare hair and eye color complimented his face perfectly. Despite sitting there silently he seemed to be glowing....or maybe it was just the sun from the window.
"Boss." Amy called out, breaking both of them from their staring contest.
Lilac stepped in and Amy followed, shutting the door behind her. "Hello Mr Rowen, sorry we arrived late. There was traffic and..."
Brandon smoothly interrupted standing up, "I know you've been here for a while..as for why you chose to be purposely late that's something you'll have to explain Ms...?"
He turned to Lilac silently asking.
"Callen" Amy supplied since Lilac didn't reply.
"Callen? From Country V?" Brandon's eyes widened for a minute. He tilted his head wondering if this was the legendary Iron Lady, Emily Callen? But why would she care about such a small cooperation?
He couldn't be blamed for assuming that since most people knew the Callen family only had one daughter Emily and some barely knew what she looked like.
"Why do I need to explain? I do things the way I want." She shrugged. Guessing what he was thinking she explained, "I'm not Emily. My name is Lilac. Lilac Callen and I'm the new Project Manager for the Sapphire Rose project."
"Lilac....? As in Purple?"
She frowned, when she was younger some people made fun of her name by calling her purple hence she hated that "nickname".
Brandon quickly stretched out his hand, "I apologize for the bad joke. I hope Ms. Callen would forgive me like I forgave her for the traffic lie. How about that?" He smiled.
Brandon, despite being a CEO, had this vibrant positive energy and his smile made you want to smile back.
"Sure. Let's let bygones be bygones." Lilac shook his hand lightly. For others, like Alex she had to act innocent to be more appealing to them but for Brandon, since she had no interest in him, she could be herself, her "real" self.
They all sat down with Brandon opposite Amy and Lilac.
"We heard the design team was here. Where are they?" Lilac asked, taking a sip of coffee that the secretary had just brought.
"It's just the manager, he'll be here soon."
Just as he spoke the sound of rolling wheels came closer, the door opened and a wheelchair rolled in. It was a man being pushed in by a younger woman, he had his head lowered going through the papers on his lap, "Brother I couldn't find the second design and I.."
"Ahem" Brandon interrupted with a fake cough, "Asher, the representatives from CRM are here."
The man, Asher, raised his head and assessed them, "Hello, I'm Asher, the Design team manager, how do you do?" He spoke calmly but slowly.
Asher, just like Brandon, had unique features, his eyes & hair color were both dark Violet. His brows were furrowed naturally making him look like he was always frowning, it added an intimidating vibe to him.
"I'm Amy and this is my boss Lilac." Amy quickly introduced. Lilac silently nodded in greeting before looking away. She couldn't really stand people on wheelchairs because of Sean.
The woman, Asher's secretary, pushed him to Brandon's side and left.
"Since this is our first formal meeting. Why don't we begin by going over the terms and roles. I'd like to make sure both sides are fully aligned before we dive into the creative details." Brandon clasped both hands leaning on the desk slightly.
"That's fine by me. Let's make sure ROWEN and CRM are on the same page before we waste time arguing over sketches." Lilac leaned back, crossing her legs.
Asher's eyes brows raised, staring at her for a second before looking down at his finger silently.
"I took the liberty to draft a contract," Brandon gestured to his secretary to give Lilac and Amy a copy of the contract he had drafted. He watched with a confident smile as Amy's eyes widened when she flipped it open. This project was really important for ROWEN and he made sure to list very enticing conditions. "According to the contract, CRM provides the rare materials and oversees the prototype crafting. ROWEN will handle the design and final assembly."
"That's acceptable we can.."
"No." Lilac interrupted Amy's excited ramblings, tossing the contract on the table. "I don't agree with this."
Brandon squeezed out a smile, "What don't you like about it Ms. Callen? I'll be sure to review it and make changes." He had thought they'd be able to sign the contract today and get everything started but it seemed that would be impossible.
"The part about ROWEN handling the design. I want this to be a joint work. CRM will provide the raw materials, yes. But ROWEN will also be involved with the prototype crafting just as CRM will be involved with the final design for the products."
"That's..."
"I don't think I can agree with that Ms. Callen." Asher suddenly spoke.
"And why is that?"
"The design team in ROWEN are a very professional group of people, you don't have to worry that the design won't meet your expectations so let us do this by ourselves then all disputes can be resolved through a joint board review."
"...I don't care about the team's professionalism. I have a vision for the Sapphire Rose design and I want that to be achieved."
"I also have a vision for that, I'm not sure Ms. Callen and I would agree on that. Moreover, I don't like working with other people that are not in my team."
"That's stupid." Lilac said, rolling her eyes.
"It's not stupid, it's an act of self confidence because I know what I can do and what I can create." Asher said sitting up.
"Uh..how about this? Asher will show you his designs if you don't like them then we can work something out." Brandon proposed, "That's better than both of you arguing here."
"Sure. Let's see what designs Mr. Self Confidence created."
"It might not be perfect since I haven't seen the exact raw material but I designed some stuff based on the name." Asher slid a paper to Lilac. She grabbed it and unfolded it, she had to admit Asher had a good eye for design even though he had not seen the exact raw material he was able to form something out of thin air.
But his design was an exact opposite of what she had in mind. His design was for a set, a necklace, earring and a bracelet. "Because of the name Sapphire Rose, I thought we could have rose designs and make the bracelet have a budding rose design, the necklace would have a complete open rose with rose gems and the earrings could be simpler." Asher explained his design.
"I don't like this." Lilac threw the paper on the table silently.
"....Why?" Even though his face remained the same, one could hear a hint of anger in Asher's voice.
"Because this would not work with the Sapphire Rose material. Also, just because the name is Sapphire Rose does not mean it has to have rose designs! That's the most stupid thing you could do! Also gems?! Have you ever designed anything? Or do I have to explain why that would not work? This design is utterly trash and I don't like it. Do you have anything to say?"
Asher was silent, "Yes I admit having rose designs using a sapphire rose raw material is not the smartest choice. But isn't the Sapphire Rose like a red gemstone? How does using gem clash with that? Also that's not the only design I have Ms. Callen, I would appreciate it if you looked at all of them with an open mind."
"No need. I don't want to see any more designs from a handicapped." Lilac blurted out but froze immediately. She unconsciously clenched her fingers, her nails digging into her palm, Fuck, she didn't mean that. Because of Sean she had an unexplainable hatred for people in wheelchairs and that affected her when she interacted with Asher, his designs were actually really beautiful but she couldn't bring herself to say that just like how right now she couldn't bring herself to say sorry looking into his anger filled eyes.
Heavy silence descended the room.
"Handicapped?" Asher repeated with gritted teeth.
"Boss why did you...?" Amy was sweating, she had already been feeling tense while they were arguing now her boss said this, what was going to happen to their contract and cooperation now? After all Asher was the CEO's brother.