January 26th
Schnee Dust Company
Valerian Headquarters
City Of Vale
Vale
8:36 PM
"Miss Schnee, I know I didn't have to come down from Atlas, but I really thought that it might make things easier, especially considering that we -" Phoebe Vail said as she continued to try and keep up with Cristal's fast pace. "Miss Schnee, do you always walk this fast?"
"This is my normal pace," Cristal said with a shrug. "You sound a bit -"
"I'm fine," Phoebe said though her breathing was a bit heavier than usual. "How were your meetings today, Miss Schnee?"
"As one would expect," She said, pushing open the door to her office while Phoebe followed. "The elder members of the board here in this division of the company in Vale don't like that my daddy isn't here to speak with because he's the official CEO. They're annoyed that his twenty three year old daughter who's been COO for three years is acting in his place. They do know that I balanced studies as a huntress with my COO responsibilities during my third and fourth years, right?"
"I don't know, but they're being stupid," Phoebe said, scoffing. "Even if they'd prefer Nicholas, they won't get that option if he dies so him being in Atlas for medical treatment is good."
"I know that," Cristal said, opening her laptop on her desk to check her email. "But they don't see it that way. They see it as Nicholas hinting at something that they view as a negative."
"They really think of the possibility of you becoming the CEO as negative?" Phoebe shook her head, her glass heels clicking. "I don't like that."
"Neither do I, but I'm not bothering to correct them," She said, sighing. "There are better ways to spite them and by proving myself that's exactly what I'm doing."
Phoebe's amber eyes flared. "But they're being complete and utter -"
"Go ahead and throw about whatever term you want," Cristal said as she deleted a few emails from old partners who wanted her to bed them once again. "Ugh, does no one realise that I've stopped sleeping with so many people because I've begun a relationship that is legitimately romantic?"
"With who?" Phoebe asked her, raising an eyebrow.
Cristal looked up, eyeing her seriously. "That was a rhetorical question."
"But -" Phoebe protested.
"I don't want to hear it," Cristal said tiredly. "I've already got things I have to do for the SDC in both my work and in my daddy's place. Not to mention the fact that I've got a personal task I committed myself to with a close friend of mine, and that doesn't even include the problems I have with the rest of my family!"
"Miss Schnee, are you sure you don't need me to get you anything?" The amber eyed woman asked her, twisting her long black hair in her hands. "Maybe a drink?"
Cristal glowered. "I hope you know that the rumours Jacques's been spilling for years about me being an alcoholic aren't true."
Phoebe took a small step back. "I wasn't going to say that they were, I was only making the suggestion because it seems to me like you've had a rough day."
"I've had more than a rough day," Cristal muttered. "Phoebe, you can head back to your hotel if you like. I've got a few things to finish up here but that's it for tonight."
Phoebe nodded. "I'll speak with you in the morning and inform you of whether or not you need to come into the office."
"That would be useful information, considering that I'm supposed to have a day to myself in Patch tomorrow," Cristal said, biting her lip. "I'll talk with you later, Phoebe."
Phoebe gave her a small smile. "Of course, Miss Schnee."
Half collapsing into her desk chair, Cristal glanced at the files she had organised and read through on her computer during the day though she cursed when she saw a new email from Vale's largest news outlet wanting to know if she was involved with anyone. Ignoring that, she instead opened her video software and sent out a call to her father in Atlas. "Daddy?"
"Did the meeting go well?" Nicholas asked her, reaching for his water. "Ah, nevermind, of course it did. You're my daughter after all."
Cristal couldn't hide her smile. "It was alright, though I got the feeling that the Valerian board wanted you there and not me."
Nicholas chuckled. "They're going to have to get used to you. After all, you are going to be taking over the company."
"Not any time soon," Cristal said quickly. "You've still got a long life to live."
Nicholas sighed. "The new medication is working well, but I don't suspect it's working that well."
Cristal swiftly brushed away a tear. "No, you're not going to die. Not any time soon, I know you won't."
"Cristal, you are a cynic in many things but you are almost scarily optimistic about my longevity," Nicholas shook his head. "There are three things I want for you that have nothing to do with lien, and those are that I want you to be happy and healthy, I want you to find love, and if you wanted one I would want you to have a family."
Cristal chewed at her lip. "If I was with someone I loved, of course I'd want a family."
"Cristal," Nicholas said gently. "Are you seeing anyone right now? Secretly, of course or at least secretly from the media? I only ask because of our conversation about love from the other week."
She looked down at her hands. "I don't know how you'll feel, and my partner and I have only been involved for a week. We're not doing anything of interest to the media, we're trying to have something genuinely romantic."
Nicholas smiled. "I hope this works out for you. After all this time, I've wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. I would never have suggested the idea of an arranged marriage to you, and neither would have Victoria. Willow had actually asked us to arrange her marriage because she thought she was too headstrong to do so herself."
Cristal scoffed. "If she thinks she's headstrong, then she lives under a rock because the woman grew up with me for a sister! For god's sake, I went to public school after I finished my primary education, albeit public school with the best academic program in the Kingdom Of Atlas."
Nicholas smiled warmly. "If I recall, you would come home most days complaining about being picked up with security."
"I know that I had just become the heiress when I was thirteen and in year seven - my second in secondary school - but I still don't know how necessary that was," She said, and he sighed.
"Cristal, remind me what you wore over your uniform in the months of November through March?" Nicholas said, smirking. "Because I can't seem to remember..."
"Of course you remember, if you're giving me that look!" She exclaimed in slight exasperation. "And it was a custom made white mink fur coat that we had to size up once because I stopped growing once I reached 4'9'' at fourteen," Cristal rolled her eyes. "When I was thirteen, though, I was only 4'4''. I grew five inches."
"Victoria and I had always hoped that you were going to get to 5'0''," He admitted. "For your sake."
"That," Cristal said with a small smile. "Was a hope that was in vain."
"It doesn't matter," He said, shrugging. "Things are what they are. Please tell me you're not spending all of your time in Vale working."
Cristal sighed. "I've been seeing Ozpin and visiting Raven and Tai...and by association Summer and Qrow. Does that count?"
Nicholas smiled. "I take it Ozpin is your new partner?"
Cristal nodded. "We're not coming public until we have a basic idea of where this is going."
Nicholas only smiled more. "Cristal, I'm so happy you have someone in your life who is going to care for you and love you."
"We've only been together a week," She pointed out. "I wouldn't make any calls now -"
"Of course not," Nicholas said kindly. "But what I was saying is that I can see you and Ozpin going far and that makes me happy because I know that if the two of you are involved there must be love."
Cristal bit her lip. "I just hope this doesn't go to hell."
"It won't," Nicholas said gently. "I would be able to tell."