Rule #14:Control...Control...Control...CONTROL FUCKING CONTROL!!
Amy came over to pick her up as early as 8 am as if afraid she would change her mind and cancel the meeting.
"You don't need to be so tense. I'm not going to change my mind; the contract will be signed today." Lilac said, leaning her head on the window. Amy had been gripping the steering wheel so hard, sitting at the edge of her seat. "I can't jump out of the car now, can I?"
"You're speaking like I'm kidnapping you." Amy mumbled and finally relaxed into her seat. "You want breakfast?"
"Of course."
Amy stopped in front of a café; they had a quiet breakfast and began their journey to ROWEN again.
It was about 10 am when they got there and headed to the conference room. Brandon and Asher were seated talking, waiting for her.
"Hello." Lilac greeted as she opened the door. Brandon stood up while Asher gave a casual glance without responding.
"Hi, welcome, Ms. Callen." Brandon said with a huge smile on his face. Amy gave him a dirty look; he wasn't even trying to hide his interest in Lilac anymore.
"I hope we can sign the contract today, but that's on the basis that I'm satisfied." Lilac said, ignoring him, and she sat down opposite Asher. "Let me see the new designs then."
"I made sure to do more research about red gemstones, and I made some new designs. I designed a new set, but this time, it has a pair of earrings, a necklace, a watch, and a brooch. The brooch is like an additional gift for the first 20 buyers, and it's made entirely of the sapphire rose, making it the second most expensive piece in the set." Asher handed her his new drawings and quickly explained.
"Hmmm..." Lilac looked over it; she had to admit this was more to her taste than the previous one was. Unlike the other one, the whole set wasn't unfashionable; instead, they were simple, chic, and beautiful. Each of them, except for the brooch, had the sapphire rose gem mixed into its design but wasn't made entirely of it like the old designs were. "Why did you not add a ring to the set?"
A little surprised that she didn't go into a rant about how much she hated the design and such, Asher paused for a second before answering. "It would be hard to add rings into the design since everyone has a different finger size. So it wouldn't be wise to add it since it isn't a customizable set."
"Makes sense." She looked over it again while Amy watched with bated breath; they had to sign the deal that moment, or she would be in trouble!
"Can you switch the bracelet for a pair of anklets?"
"I mean, that could be done, but why would you suggest that?"
"No reason. Anklets would be prettier, and I'm done with bracelets."
"...The set is not for you though." Asher commented, unable to help himself.
Lilac chuckled, "In case you don't know, CRM gets the first-ever design...and when I say CRM, I mean me. So I need this to be perfect."
Asher frowned, glancing at Brandon to confirm; his frown deepened when his brother nodded. No one had bothered to inform him of that development.
"Get me a pen."
Quickly Amy handed her a pen and watched with shining eyes as her pen inched towards the paper.
"Hmm...on second thoughts." Lilac paused just as the pen was able to connect to the paper.
Brandon and Amy leaned back into their seats, disappointed.
The only unaffected person, Asher raised his head to her. "What is it?"
"Can the first 10 buyers get the brooch instead of 20, and also can the first 5 get customized rings and a different overall design?"
After thinking for a while and drawing something quickly on the paper in front of him, Asher nodded. "It would take a bit of changing, but yes, that can be done."
"Good." In a single swipe, Lilac signed her name. The cooperation between CRM & ROWEN was finalized.
ּ ֶָ֢.₊⊹
Due to the cooperation, the extremely lazy Lilac had to start putting in work, sleeping early and waking up early to head to ROWEN. The designs were still being finalized, as Asher and she could never truly agree on one final design for both the first five and the regular ones.
"I'm telling you this won't work!" Asher pulled the paper away from her, scratching out her design.
"Are you stupid? How are you so sure this wouldn't work when you haven't tried it?"
"Unlike you, M.S., I actually graduated with a PhD in designing, so I know what'll work and what won't work. Just because you have a general idea of how you want something to look or you feel it would be pretty does not mean it works."
"I know what will increase sales; I know what women want."
"The ideas you bring are unrealistic expectations!" Asher couldn't help raising his voice; Lilac pissed him off more than anyone else had. She was one of the reasons why he preferred working with his team, people he had handpicked himself.
"I brought lunch...is anyone hungry?" Amy walked in suddenly, holding two bento boxes, breaking the tension in the air.
"Yes, thank you, I'm famished." Lilac tied up her hair, opened the box, and dug in quickly but elegantly. Asher also took one with a thank you.
ּ ֶָ֢.₊⊹
It took them almost 3 weeks before they finally agreed on one final design; they went over the final sketches already worn out from both the arguing and creative pressure.
"Wait...stop. You're changing the outline again!" Asher muttered, pulling away the paper from her, "You can't keep doing that, we have a deadline to meet!"
"I don't care about any freaking deadline; this has to be perfect."
"This isn't about you, Lilac." That was the first time he called her name instead of Ms. Callen. Her head snapped up to stare at him. "This is about ROWEN."
"No. This is about making something worth looking at."
"No!" He said, slamming his pencil down, he had had enough of her! "It's about control. That's all it has ever been for you. You want everything to go your way even if we miss the deadline and lose money!"
She clenched her pencil, her head throbbing. "Yes. You're right. I actually don't give a fuck about this whole project. Even if we lose money, we can always make it back now, can't we?"
"Are...you listening to yourself?!" Asher yelled. "You sound like someone who has never lost anything that mattered!"
She froze. "What did you just say!?"
He didn't know the half of it; he didn't know everything she had lost; he didn't know ANYTHING about her life!
"You act like you know everything, but you don't! You're not some genius; you're just a control freak!" Anger blinded his reasoning, making him say anything that came into his mind.
She couldn't deal with this...she could not deal with him. She stood up suddenly, grabbing her bag and walking out of the office. She couldn't afford to lose control, not at a time like this. From behind her, she heard the sound of Asher coming in his wheelchair.
"That's it? You're just going to walk away? We're not done with the design, but you're just giving up? What did I even expect from a rich spoilt brat who has never lost anything in her life?"
She turned around sharply. "You don't know a damn thing about me!"
This argument was different; Asher kept pushing, like he was waiting for something...maybe for her to snap...?
"I know arrogance when I see it."
That was it. Everything happened so suddenly; one second she was glaring at him in anger, and the next thing she knew, she was behind him, her hands on the back of his wheelchair, before she could think. Asher gripped the handle tight, yelling her name, but she couldn't hear anything. The next thing, motion. The chair rolled forward, fast...a little too fast. She tipped him over, and he went tumbling down half a flight of stairs. Despite the shock that followed, Lilac couldn't deny the sharp satisfaction of watching him fall and hit his head with a sickening bang. Thankfully it wasn't lots of stairs, so all he hit was his back and his forehead, which started bleeding.
Asher lay there unable to move, staring at the ceiling. He didn't scream or cry out in pain; he just stared. Perhaps it was something else, or perhaps he knew that no one would come to his aid even if he screamed. Brandon, tired of their arguments, had left the third floor of ROWEN to them, making them the only ones there.
Slowly she descended the stairs to where he lay, carrying his wheelchair with her. She crouched down, staring into his eyes. "Now this will teach you not to say things you aren't meant to."
"I could call the police and get you arrested for attempted murder."
"Well, will someone who just attempted murder do this?" She pulled him up slowly and dumped him into his chair. Her fingers trembled when she stepped back. Control, she reminded herself. Control, control, control. "Also, you can tell anyone about what happened, but trust me, no one is going to believe you." She quickly added, taking a deep breath
"You seem oddly confident that I wouldn't find any evidence...however, you missed one thing." With something akin to a smirk on his face, Asher pointed at the CCTV cameras.
She leaned in closer to him, making him lean back, instinctively bracing himself for another impact. "Unfortunately the CCTV would not be able to help you get any form of evidence because unfortunately they had some technical difficulties and got broken."
"...You've been lying."
"Me? How?"
"You're very different from how you portray yourself. Is there a reason you came to ROWEN!?"
She leaned back. "You're bleeding; I'll get you a Band-Aid. And remember, you accidentally hit your head."
She left him and soon returned holding a small first aid box. "Where'd you get that?"
"None of your fucking business."
Silence.
While cleaning up the blood, she purposely pressed on his wound, causing him to suck in a breath of cold air.
"There. Now should we go finish the final sketch or...?"
"..." He was silent for a while, just staring at her. "Sure, let's do that."
I'm going to reveal the real you sooner than later.