A/N: Longest chapter yet! Whoo!
I would just like to point out that writing Kali is incredibly hard. She fought me tooth and nail but I finally tied her down as best I could. Oh, and I have no idea what I was talking about in regards to the film industry, I just spat out some statistics and went with it.
Gabriel was floating on cloud nine when he walked into work the next day, his feet barely touching the ground as he strode, almost gliding, into his office. His door had been fixed by now, the shining gold letters spelling out 'Gabriel Shurely' once again. Gabriel swung the door open and sauntered into the room, the mounds of paper that were piled on his desk seemingly less daunting then they should have been. Gabriel walked behind his desk, dropping his briefcase beside the wooden structure. He went to sit in his chair when a flash of brown caught his eye. Turning the chair Gabriel saw the toy otter posing in the chair. Set on its hide legs the otter was facing the desk, sitting like a human would. On its face was a set of reading glasses, a full sized striped brown and gold tie around its neck, a mug stating 'I Drink Coffee for your Protection' placed before him, the coffee within it still steaming. Gabriel couldn't help the giggle that escaped him at the sight of his otter; thanking his lucky stars that no one was around to hear him.
Picking up the otter Gabriel placed it in a paper free section of his desk, facing it towards the door so that when ever someone came in they would be greeted by the stuffed animal. Gabriel kept the cup of coffee for himself, lifting it gingerly to his lips as he took a cautious sip. Gabriel sank back into his chair groaning the instant the liquid hit his tongue. Not only was it a White Chocolate Mocha, his favorite drink, it had extra whipped cream on top, leaving a heavy sized mustache on Gabriel's upper lip when he finally lowered the mug from his mouth.
"What is that?" Gabriel's eye snapped up, the mug pausing a few inches from his lips. Kali was standing in his doorway, arms crossed, face closed off. Gabriel put the mug down, knowing all to well what that expression meant. He followed her line of sight to the otter, her eyes narrowing at the sight of it, as if the combination of synthetic fibers and cotton was offending her.
"That," Gabriel said, "is a toy otter. I got it yesterday at the Central Park Zoo. We should really go there sometime-"
"As lovely," Kali hissed, "as that sounds, you have a meeting that you need to be in. Now." She turned swiftly, striding down the hallway and out of his sight, the air crackling around her head.
Gabriel got up and followed her, running his hand over the toys head as he walked by, not knowing what compelled him to do so.
The meeting was on the third floor in boardroom C, the largest one that was located in the building. When Gabriel arrived there was only one seat left, and was the one located to the right of his father, the man himself staring Gabriel down as he entered the room.
"Finally decided to join us Gabriel? How courteous of you," Chuck watched as his son sat down, clearly fighting the comment that was bursting to get out. Chuck grinned slightly before standing up to address the rest of the workers gathered in the room, which just so happened to include the rest of his family also.
Lucifer was sitting at the end of the table, as far away from Chuck as the room physically allowed while Michael was the complete opposite, sitting across from Gabriel and subconsciously scooting closer to his father every few seconds. Gabriel raised his eyebrow at this but Michael pointedly ignored him.
"For those who have just arrived," Gabriel sulked in his chair, "We have been discussing the multiple offers that our company has received for the production of The End is Where it Begins. So far the studios of 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal, Paramount, and strangely enough, Disney have given us the best offers for production rights. We are here to discus which offer would be best for our company." Chuck sat back down in the head chair, leaning back and leaving the table open for discussion.
The first one to speak was a young man that everyone called Alfie; no one could properly pronounce his real name and gave up after the fiftieth attempt. He was originally hired as an intern but when he excelled at everything he did, Gabriel hired him on full time, putting him in the finance department under Lucifer. "I don't know about the marketing aspect, but according to the recent rise in Universal's shares, the safest and most logical choice would be going with them. Over the past year their gross income raised by %147.1, that's a total of $145.8 million dollars. To say that we wouldn't have to worry about money is a bit of an understatement."
Lucifer was smirking at the end of the table, proud of his young protégée. Beside him though, Balthazar was serious, clearly not impressed by the child, "And yet Universal has already taken on two more projects for this year. Ours would be added to an already long list of projects, which are probably higher up than ours, and therefore given less attention than if we went with another studio. Then there is also the fact that we haven't chosen a director yet. If we choose a certain company we may loose a director that will do our play credit. I know for a fact that there are directors who will not work for certain studios due to disagreements and so on. This is not just about money people. There are multiple factors that we need to discuss and you're simply pushing them to the side."
"Besides," a slightly timid young girl named Ava piped up, "If you want to go with the most financially secure company you should have gone with Lionsgate. They have risen by %248.1 and have only taken on one other film. To say that they would have our best interests at hand would be completely plausible."
Lucifer snorted at that, leaning back in his chair, "There was a reason that offer was shot down sweetheart, not only did they want complete production rights, but we would only receive five percent of all profits and we would have no say in what they did to the script. We would lose control, there is no saying what would happen to Gabriel's poor little play."
"How about you stop arguing and look at the facts," Kali spoke up from the center of the table, her voice commanding silence from those in the room, "Every offer that we have is practically the same. Not one studio will go over ten percent and we have the ability to pass or deny the final draft of the script. We will be cut a share of all merchandise and what ever branches out from the film, be it a television show or anime series, all relying on our agreeance. So what we really need to decide on is whom we want to work with, studio, actors, and director. Money is not the problem here."
Lucifer glared at Kali, biting his tongue from saying anything to the woman with Chuck in the room. He might have no respect or love for the man, but he liked his job and the pay far too much to risk doing anything to lose it.
Gabriel looked down the table, chuckling as he said, "Well I don't know about anyone else, but I can say that Disney is a definite no. I personally don't want to watch my play become two animated character running around on the screen with a few sexual innuendos thrown in. I don't think they would do good 'princess-ized'." The mental image of Sam running around in a ball gown and tiara made Gabriel smirk, storing the image away for later use.
Lucifer looked up at Gabriel, his voice sharp, "Why are you even here Gabriel? I though Dad took over."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed, his teeth grinding against each other, "Because I still own this company you bag of dicks and whether you like it or not, I have the final say in any decision that you come up with."
Gabriel had Lucifer's full attention now, his brother leaning on the table towards him, his voice lowering, "What did you just call me?"
Gabriel face him, meeting his brothers gaze, "You heard me. Just remember, I am your boss and I can get rid of you faster than you come."
Lucifer was on his feet now, making his way towards Gabriel before Balthazar grabbed him, holding him back, "Why you little-!"
"That's enough." Michael had gotten up now, speaking for the first time, "Both of you can leave, take some time to cool off. We'll come to you with our decision later."
Gabriel and Lucifer stared at each other before Lucifer wrenched himself out of Balthazar's grip, storming out of the room. Gabriel followed a few seconds later, slamming the door behind him and walking the opposite way down the hall from where his brother went.
Sam walked down the streets that morning with the sun shining of his face and laughter on his lips. He sat on a bench for a few minutes, soaking in the warmth from the sun and the pure bliss in his heart. He had made a pit stop at Gabriel's work that morning before anyone got there after seeing that the otter was still sitting in his front room. Dressing the toy up was something that he had come up with half way to Gabriel's office.
Sam headed to the gym, meeting Jake for his scheduled training. Sam had taken to boxing lately, finding the modern version far superior to the primitive methods that he had learned when the sport was first invented in Egypt. He found that not only was it great exercise, but Sam could channel all types of emotion into it, giving him a great outlet.
His training was scheduled every other day for three hours, something that Sam's lack of job allowed him to do. It was the only time in the day that he could just let go, releasing everything that he had stored up in two days, which tended to be a lot. After pounding the crap out a few punching bags and sparing partners, Sam always pleasantly surprised Jake; he headed home, more than ready for a shower and big lunch.
Sam washed himself down, the feeling of grime and sweat rolling off of him with each drop of water, soothing his muscles and helping the tension ease out of them. Emerging from the steam filled shower Sam ran a hand over the mirror before filling his palm full of shaving cream. Covering his face in the white foam Sam dragged the blade against the stubble that grew far to fast for his liking. He was almost finished when a sharp jolt of pain went through his jaw. Pulling the razor back Sam saw that he had cut himself, just a tiny cut on his jaw line, but a cut nonetheless.
Sam watched at blood rose to the surface of his skin, the red a stark difference against the light tan of his skin. Most people who have been annoyed and wiped the blood off their face and continued with what they were doing, but not Sam. Sam laughed, the oddity of the situation making him nearly hysterical. Sam had never cut himself shaving, Sam had never bled, he hadn't even caught a cold before.
Something was going on and Sam had no idea what, so he just laughed.
Gabriel got back to his office, leaving the door open and heading right to his desk. Taking the otter in his hand Gabriel dropped it into one of his desk drawers, causing a small earthquake when he shut it. He grabbed his briefcase from beside his desk and made to walk out of his office before he was stopped by one of the last people that he wanted to see.
"We need to talk Gabriel," Kali was blocking Gabriel's door, not letting him leave the office.
"What do you want Kali?" Gabriel really wasn't in the mood for his girlfriends dominate side at the moment. He just really needed to get out of the building and fast.
"Where are you going?" Kali had her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed.
"I don't know. Out." Gabriel tried to go around her only to have Kali put a hand on his shoulder and pull him back into the room.
"That's not what I meant Gabriel. I meant when you disappear for days at a time. Are you cheating on me?" Her eyes were fire, burning into Gabriel, searching for the truth.
"You know that I would never do that Kali," Gabriel knew better than to provoke her, "I was just meeting with an old friend."
"And this old friend, are they who you were with last night?" Her tone was getting dangerous, confusing Gabriel further.
"Yes, we spent the day together," Gabriel tilted his head slightly, something he had unconsciously picked up from Castiel, "Why?"
"You forgot. You never forget." If Gabriel didn't know better he would have thought that she was disappointed.
"Forgot what?" Gabriel was now itching to get out of there, practically bouncing on his toes.
"First it was Friday, we had a dinner date. Then Saturday you blew me off, not answering my calls or listening to my messages. We had planned to go to the art showing for months now, and you simple forgot. Then yesterday, how hard is it to remember something that we have been doing for years now? Is it too much to ask for you to come for dinner with me at the same restaurant at the same time, at the same table? Are you getting tired of me? Is this your way of blowing me off without actually breaking up with me? Because you can save it Gabriel, we're done." And with that Kali left Gabriel's office, leaving him stunned in his doorway.
Shaking his head Gabriel left his office, trying to figure out what just happened. There was one thing that he knew; he needed a drink, bad.