A Difference in Views

Posted on Mon Feb 20th, 2023 @ 1:52pm by Caeda & Endia
Edited on on Thu Jul 13th, 2023 @ 10:51pm

Mission: Historiae Terrae Et Imperii
Location: Bella Gia HQ, NY
Timeline: Date 2371-07-24 at 1315
2341 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Despite the ongoing Feast of Heroes, the Bella Gia Corporate building was still functioning at full steam. After all, what did a fashion corporation have to do with the glory of the Terran military machine? On every floor of the skyscraper, it’s new employees put in their hours preparing designs, reworking expense reports, painting offices, and holding strategy meetings. It was strange, since it was a startup on a massive scale. No climbing up the market; Bella Gia would start at the top.

Niels Azelman might have scored the top job as CEO, a rank he shared with the ambiguous Chief Creative Officer role created for the Empire’s favorite princess and the corporation’s president, Giana Orsini, but Benjamin Young was the one with the real industry experience and talent. The new Chief Operations Officer was the son of a Starfleet Officer and a small time actress-turned-model who had introduced him to the major players in the beauty and fashion industry early on. Interning as a teenager, working as an underwear model as a young adult, and then some study at a university with a double major in business administration and design, prepared him for a life in corporate style.

He had a meteoric rise in the design department at Soie, a men’s formal fashion company in France before taking a job as VP for Product Management at Luccichio, a major jeweler that once cornered the market and, with his help, was about to do so again. He hoped to skip a few steps when Bella Gia started scouting him, all the way to the top, but it seemed he wasn’t yet old enough for the big job in some people’s view. But old enough to do the real work while Niels kissed every rich ass he could find.

Ben walked down an executive corridor in a blue suit, as stylish as he had ever been, his face a mask of irritation. He was handsome, with light coffee colored smooth skin, a symmetrical face, and a string jaw. He spent a decent amount of time in the gym and it showed through his suit. His face, generally pleasant, was lined with a kind of dangerous anger. When he walked through the opaque glass door and closed it behind him, he ignored the papers, plants, and clutter that was spread across the margins of the windowed office and reached for the top button of his jacket.

“You need to get your boy, Jean.” He said, his tone hard as the door closed behind him. His jacket popped off and made contact with the back of a chair, leaving him a chiseled form under an expensive white button-up and a dark green tie. He came down on the couch, leaning forward onto his knees.

“Good afternoon, Ben.” Jean greeted with a pleasant but dry voice, her attention fully focused on what was on her desk before her. She was wearing a long sleeve figure hugging midi dress in a steel gray accented with a black belt and gold buckle across her waist. She was a beauty without a doubt in the face though with a figure some might consider slightly lacking in the top department; she had never let that bother her nor had she felt the need to “correct” such a thing as many women might have. There was a confidence about her, but it wasn’t overbearing and was simply communicated with the quiet, sure way she held herself and communicated with others. Finally, she pulled her piercing grey eyes from what she was doing and settled them on her guest. She didn’t seem bothered by his rather rude entrance, and her perfectly manicured brows raised just slightly and slightly displaced the neat fringe of her shoulder length dark brown hair.

Jean Stone was the daughter of two very successful business people in their own right. Her father had served as the COO of Vox for many years and had been one of the founders, only recently stepping aside in favor of his oldest son to take up the mantle. Her mother was in the textile business as the owner of Nymph, a company that specialized in high quality and exotic fabrics - a company that was now providing Bella Gia with said fabrics. It was a good deal for both companies. Jean herself had grown up wanting for nothing, but that had not kept her parents from teaching her and her two siblings the value and necessity of hard work - perhaps with too firm of a hand sometimes. It had paid off though given all three of the Stone children were quite successful in their respective business ventures and the family was a name in the industry. Jean had always been drawn to people more than numbers, though, and her double major in business and psychology naturally put her in the path of Human Resources. It was something she received quite a bit of fulfillment and joy from.

Usually.

“What happened now?” She asked.

“He’s a little prissy twat is what happened.” He said in response. He wasn’t generally this unprofessional, but he was a man for whom anger could really change things. He was typically so nice, so smooth, and so charming. But when he was mad, he was beyond reason. “I want you to tell me how we can fire his ass without a lawsuit or how I can get away with slapping him so hard, his head spins completely around.”

He sighed heavily. He didn’t like himself like this. He looked at her, ready to shift the topic.

“Did you see the social event calendar plans for next month?”he asked, sighing again. “The social debut event on the cruise ship?”

“I did, yes.” Of course she had. She stood from her very comfortable chair and smoothed out the skirt of her dress. “Would you like something to drink?”

She moved toward the small replicator on her wall, obviously going to get herself something and offering the same for him. It was usually something that helped in the act of redirecting. She hadn’t even flinched as he vented his anger nor given any indication she disapproved of it. She understood that people were simply people, and some people were more… irritating than others.

She was doing that counseling bullshit he had always hated. He rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair.

“Coffee.” he said simply, his dark brown eyes following her. “Black. No need to worry about that other stuff.”

“One coffee, black and one caffe latte.” The two drinks shimmered into existence and Jean picked them both up to walk over to the couch and join Ben. Handing him his drink, she sat down on the opposite side of the couch with her own and simply looked at him.

“Now then, you were saying?”

He took the hot liquid and sipped it generously. Lowering it, he looked at the brown haired woman.

“Tony doesn’t want to pay for the event and he wants us to downgrade it.” He said, rolling his eyes. “Bella Gia is starting at the top and we can’t afford anything less than a full display of power and wealth. That dickhead doesn’t know the first thing about this industry and he’s thinking like a small-time startup CFO. I tried to talk to him, but he says he’s recommending to Niels we scrap the plan; going over my head.”

Jean didn’t react other than letting out a slightly longer exhale over her own drink which she then sipped. The vast amount of complaints that crossed her desk were regarding this man and he had more than once butted heads with the Princess herself. Internally, Jean had begun to wonder if he was some sort of plant in the company to try and sink it despite what appeared to be their best efforts. “Has Niels said anything about it yet?”

“Niels is on Mars and I haven’t called him. I’m not risking him listening to that idiot.” He answered, clenching his fist. He couldn’t let Tony make him look weak in any way. If he wanted the top job, he needed to be determined with a perfect record. And he needed to keep Giana Orsini and Camilla Zajak happy besides. This party had to go on. “I need to handle this on my end.”

She gave a nod and sat back, crossing her long perfect legs carefully in her skirt. “I agree that it is important. How can I help you?”

“I hear you’ve got him on a leash somehow. Maybe it’s because you’re that good.” His eyes wandered to those long legs and lingered for a while, admiring and not hiding it. “Or maybe he wants you. Either way, I need a nonviolent solution that doesn’t involve lawsuits. Help me bring him on side for this.”

Jean didn’t seem put off by his appraisal; she was used to it in this industry after all. The truth was her hold on Tony was very much a mix of both. Jean was good, but Tony was also a womanizer with a failing marriage and was seeking attention from any half decent woman who would give it to him especially when Giana had so publicly eviscerated him. It had of course been a delight to most of the people who had been present, but politeness dictated shock and discomfort.

“You know in instances like these, it is better to compromise. Are there any concessions that you can make to Tony? If not on this, something else that he has in his teeth?”


Ben rolled his eyes slightly.

“He has plenty of ideas, but not a one that isn’t amateurish and embarrassing. This industry is about status and breaking the mold, and his suggestions have been…” he paused, looking for the right word, “pedestrian.”

Jean noticed the roll of his eyes and sipped her drink again.

“Ben,” she began gently but firmly, “I promise I am going to try and help you here, but you know a heavy hand shouldn’t be used unless it is necessary. A big part of bringing Tony - or anyone - around is to make them feel like they aren’t getting completely shafted by the deal. Now, are there any of these pedestrian ideas that you can look at which could potentially be turned into something better?”

“Not at this time. In a year, yes, but now, absolutely not.” Ben said with a self-assured tone. “You we’re at that meeting with the Princess. The man doesn’t understand what we’re doing here. He’s in the way. In a year, I could throw him a bone, but he doesn’t want to talk about anything like that. He wants to kill my pet project and try to take my place.”

“Alright… and there is no room for perhaps a few budget cuts that could be given?” Jean asked calmly, obviously trying to cover the bases to figure out the best solution.

“To be honest, we aren’t making any profit yet. Massive donations have been funding our startup until we get out of the product production phase and get things advertised. It isn’t long from now, but most of our budget is for general upkeep and payroll until Giana is satisfied with her creative projects.” He said, shaking his head. “I suppose, if we had the donors, we could pay for this separately, and that would appease the walking scrotum.”

“Do you think you are capable of getting the donors?” She probed lightly. It was a question spoken in genuine curiosity, not with doubt to his abilities in the slightest.

“Technically that’s Niels’ job, but I can certainly make it happen. I already brought some major donors in as we were forming and I could get more. I’d just need to be careful not to outshine the master. He’ll think I’m out for his job.”

“Aren’t you?” Jean teased with a slightly amused note to her voice. It wasn’t really a joke because they both knew it was true, but it was meant in good humor. “I would suggest don’t tell him, do it, and in the next meeting say that you did so under his encouragement.”

“I am so happy being second best, Jean.” He said sarcastically, his eyes wandering to her legs again. Though he wasn’t shy, he had no intent on staring really. He nodded, turning his gaze to the skyline outside the window. New York was still a busy city. “I’ll look into it and see what I can come up with.”

“If you need any help, let me know. In the meantime I’ll talk with Tony and see if I can get him to tap the brakes on trying to rush to shut this down.” She finished her drink and put the empty glass on the narrow coffee table in front of where they were sitting.

“You’re going to win my real MVP award.” Ben said with an infectious grin, the effects of the anger having worn off. He was typically jovial, masculine, and forward-thinking. He reached for his coffee and finished it off too. “How can I pay you back for your help, Jean?”

Jean laughed softly and waved a hand. “I’m sure I’ll think of something. Thank you for coming to speak with me about this.”

Ben stood up and grabbed his jacket, pulling it over his strong shoulders and closing the top again. He was transformed from how he had entered and he didn’t try to hide it.

“I’m sure you will.” He said in a low rumble. “See you at the meeting later.”

With that, the man gave her a wink and turned for the exit, walking toward the door with a confident stride.

END