VLV

VLV

VLV

Sora didn't get to see much of the company before Rosetta steered her somewhere else.

"We got an invite for lunch."

"Already?" Sora tripped a little on her pointed black heels. "Damn witch shoes."

The designer jeans were easy enough to wear as well as the white and black striped sweater. Her black coat made her red hair and and lipstick pop out in an otherwise muted outfit. But the shoes...They were comfy but the pointy long tips kept making her trip. If they weren't in right now, she would have ditched them. She was the wife of the owner of the company, thus living up to the image of such a high leveled socialite was a requirement. It didn't mean she was going to sacrifice her personality.

She was just sacrificing her foot wear.

Sora followed as Rosetta hailed a cab. She went in first, taking a moment to look over the teen's outfit. It was casual, with jeans and a dark aqua coat. She pursed her lips as she looked at her feet.

"How come you get to wear flats?"

Rosetta told the cabbie the address. "I'm just Leon's cousin. You're the wife." She looked over at Sora. "Isn't that scarf Leon's?"

"Yeah it is. How'd you know?"

"It's the only one he'll wear in the colder seasons."

"He gave it to me."

Rosetta blinked at that and then grinned. "Got him wrapped around your finger already?"

Sora grinned back. "Maybe." She sat back. "So who's coming again?"

"Not as many this time. Probably because it was too short notice. But definitely Madam Pamela Blanc," Rosetta pulled up a photo of a woman with silver hair, but slightly darker than Leon's. From the look in her sharp eyes, Sora had a feeling it wouldn't be easy to connect with her. "Charlotte Rohmer, Julie Noir," Sora looked at the blonde and dark haired ladies with a frown. They looked like the type to gossip incessantly. "And Sayaka Amari, the wife of our newest member."

Sora blinked at the demur, dark haired lady. "She's Japanese."

"Yeah. Leon and my dad are planning to expand into the Asian territories."

"Wow. That's going to take a lot of time."

"Yeah, but I'm sure Leon will still make time for you."

"...He'll try, at least." Sora gave a small smile. "We'll just deal with it as it comes."

Tha cab stopped. Rosetta paid the man.

"Ready for your adoring fans?"

"Adoring?" Sora slid out after Rosetta. "I feel like I'm going to get hazed."

VLV

"Oswald-san."

They were taking a lunch break in the conference room. Alen was on the other end of the long table, laughing at something his companions said. Leon eyed the bottle of amber liquor. He had hoped to make it through the day without his uncle breaking into it. Leon turned his head to the person sitting next to him.

"Amari-san, correct?"

Akito Amari was dark haired and dark eyed, like most Japanese, with a small pair of square glasses. His suit was of good quality though his hair was a little unruly. The man pushed up his glasses before nodding his head.

"I wish to congratulate you on your recent marriage."

"Thank you. I believe you married not too long ago as well."

"Ah, yes. Half a year now."

Leon lifted his cup. "I hope your move to Paris was as painless as possible."

The man half smiled. "It was smoother than anticipated." Pause. "I understand that your wife is Japanese as well."

"She is. Second generation."

"Mm," Akito nodded his head. "Do you know where her family originated?"

Leon tilted his head. "I have not thought to ask."

"Oh."

"Not from lack of interest so much as lack of knowledge of the country," Leon felt moved to explain. "One day we will travel there, I am sure."

"Of course," Akito smiled. "When you do, I recommend going around New Year's. Some of our best festivals are around that time."

"I will keep that in mind."

VLV

Almost immediately, Sora understood the hierarchy.

Pamela. Charlotte, Julie, and then Sayaka.

The silver haired lady was in the middle of the seating arrangements with the most plush looking couch that clearly could seat another three people. Charlotte and Julie sat on either side, the next best chairs, and then poor Sayaka was on the stiffest seat, furthest away from Pamela.

"Rosetta," chimed Charlotte and Julie nearly at the same time.

Sayaka turned and was about to greet them when Pamela cut in.

"You're late."

"The cabbie had some trouble with traffic." Rosetta inwardly rolled her eyes. They were on time, it's just that the others came early, probably because of Pamela. "Tourists."

A nicely dressed server came around, placing drinks on the table. Sora tilted her head. They looked like lemonade. Not exactly what she would have expected for these ladies.

"I took the liberty of ordering some drinks," Pamela gestured to the seats near Sayaka. "Please sit."

Sora smiled brightly, taking Rosetta's arm and inserting them on the couch. Pamela was forced to scoot over or else get squished. Rosetta looked at Sora wide eyed at the blunt move, but then grinned to herself. Pow wows just got more entertaining, especially with the ticking brow on Pamela's usually haughty face.

"Thanks for doing that. I'm parched." Sora took a sip and then wet her lips. "There's alcohol in this."

"It's a citron presse," Charlotte informed her, "it's supposed to have alcohol."

"Like, who'd have just plain lemonade?" Julie tittered behind her hand. "We're all adults here."

Sayaka silently sipped her drink.

"Learn something every day," Sora smiled. "Thanks for the tip, Julie."

Julie flicked her black hair over her shoulder. "I guess Rosetta told you our names, Mrs. Oswald."

"Mm hm." Sora looked over the menu. "You're not from France, huh?"

"She's half," Pamela sipped her drink. "You don't need to bother looking over that. I ordered as well."

Sora flipped a page. "I think I'll try the quiche special."

Charlotte and Julie looked over at each other. No one ignored Pamela. It just wasn't done. They glanced over at the senior of the team, seeing her face blank. Then, a toothy smirk appeared.

"You have balls."

VLV

The second half of the meeting was underway.

Leon was a little surprised to see May enter the conference room and go to the front. He glanced at his uncle down the way. His uncle didn't turned towards him. He hadn't said anything about May coming here. But it wasn't too surprising, given that she was going to be the main point of contact between Hong Kong and the company.

"Who is that?"

Leon heard someone whisper to his left. He looked over, seeing loose orange hair half covering his face. Dio didn't seem to care that his right eye was obstructed. He couldn't understand how Dio could put up with only half his vision.

"May Wong, our Hong Kong contact."

Dio murmured to his blonde co-worker, Arlon Brass. His bangs were much shorter than Dio's, but some strands were in his face. Leon narrowed his eyes. He heard the rumors around the office of Arlon being more than familiar with his female co-workers, but there were no sexual harassment charges or any evidence of foul play. He supposed Arlon was a romancer, not a harasser.

As long as people did their jobs, he supposed Arlon posed no threat.

VLV

Sayaka softly coughed into her napkin, not having expected such language. Sora calmly looked up at Pamela and then coyly smiled.

"I'm quite female, thanks."

Pamela laughed before putting her drink down. "I had hoped Monsieur Oswald picked more than a trophy wife," she grinned, "though you're no size two model."

"Of course he didn't." Sora smirked into her cup. "He's a fan of curves."

Rosetta coughed not too quietly. "Sora."

"For a while there, I wondered if his tastes went in the opposite direction," Pamela sat back, much more relaxed, "Though he was never short on admirers."

"Pamela!"

"Calm down, Rosetta," Pamela stirred her glass, "I'm not getting graphic. Besides, he didn't take them home."

"You seem to know Leon beyond the company," Sora curiously tilted her head towards her.

"Our grandfathers dreamed of this company for ages." Pamela wiped her lips of the excess drink. "We had actually been engaged before I met my husband, Dio."

"I didn't know that," Rosetta murmured.

"You were still running around eating dirt, squirt. Of course you didn't know."

"I never ate dirt!"

Pamela called a server over. "Madame Oswald wants to change her order."

Sora placed it while Charlotte chimed in.

"Did you two like each other?"

"We at least didn't want to kill each other. Enough about me."

VLV

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