AN: So now that they've sorted out their thoughts, let's get this train back on track and continue the story.
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Disclaimer: I do not own KWMS. All honor and glory to Hiro Fujiwara-san! Nor do I own any other fairy tales or stories.
Chapter 14: What About Bob?, Frank Oz, 1991.
Kanou handed Misaki a thick dossier. "Here is the information on Walker Enterprises. We are meeting with them and Igarashi Conglomerate after lunch."
She leafed through the documents. It was pretty standard stuff: company history, market share, number of employees, top competitors, etc. However, two items caught her eye. The first was the joint collaboration with Igarashi Conglomerate. The second was the list of conference attendees from both companies.
Addressing the first item, she crinkled her forehead in thought. "I suppose the collaboration is the reason why we are meeting with them."
Kanou nodded. "That is my assumption, although they didn't specify a reason when they contacted us. They only requested that you be at the meeting in person."
It seemed odd that two large companies like those wanted to meet and engage their services without expressing a particular purpose. However, AWA Consulting Group handled every type of business concern. And it was a given that she would be there. It didn't need a special request. She made it a point to personally meet with every potential client no matter how big or small.
"What do we know about Igarashi Conglomerate?"
He handed her another equally thick dossier before she had finished asking. She grinned. As usual, her right-hand man anticipated her questions and had the answers already prepared. They discussed at length the various scenarios the collaboration between the two companies could take. When she was satisfied with their game plan, she addressed the second item.
"Will we be meeting with everyone listed here? It seems pretty light, especially on the Igarashi side." She had her signature brow furrow again.
"I believe so. Their bios are included in the dossiers."
"So who do you think will do all the talking?"
They launched into another lengthy discussion about the personalities and dynamics likely to be encountered. It was a variation on the old phrase "Know thy enemy" (1) except this time it was "Know thy client".
Near the end of their briefing, Kanou brought up something that had puzzled him more than he thought it should. There was someone listed under the Walker Enterprises attendees that he had struggled to trace. It was as if that person didn't exist. He pointed the name out to Misaki.
"I was assuming that he is a family member, maybe a distant cousin of the chairman. But Bob T. Walker doesn't exist in any of the databases. I crosschecked them with the first name Robert, but still nothing came up. So then, I checked for any names starting with T. There was one hit: Takumi Walker."
Misaki looked startled. Kanou paused in his recitation.
"Do you know him?"
"No, I once knew a Takumi, but he wasn't a Walker."
"Well, it seems that this Takumi is the half-brother to the current CEO. But there was no more information about his role in the company. It just said personal assistant. So I dug around a bit more, and here's where it gets really interesting. The information I finally found was buried pretty deep, and I'm not surprised why, but apparently Takumi Walker is an illegitimate son. The mother of the current CEO had an affair."
He paused again. Misaki was silent with a distant look on her face.
"However, his bio is incomplete. The birth is recorded, and that he works for Walker Enterprises but that is it. There is no mention of his schooling, activities, or that he goes by Bob now. It could all be a coincidence."
"Yeah, probably." She sounded uncertain.
Snapping back to her usual focused and determined self, "Well, I think we're pretty set for the Walker/Igarashi meeting. Who else is on the schedule for today?"
Misaki was at her limit. She had grown increasingly frustrated as the meeting with Walker Enterprises and Igarashi Conglomerate dragged on. Both entities, without a doubt, needed the help of AWA Consulting Group. Igarashi was on the verge of major labor violations and in desperate need of HR reform. Walker had issues with IP protection and their real estate holdings left a lot to be desired. Surprisingly though, their employee policies and books were in great shape. Whoever was in charge of their finances knew their stuff. However, these were all fairly standard problems and were not what was bothering her.
What should have been a very straightforward consultation was odd from the get-go. The moment Misaki and Kanou arrived, they were immediately ushered into the lavish conference room. Surprisingly the room seemed unoccupied at first. They were expecting to meet a few members from each organization. However, only the two CEOs were waiting for them, attempting to make a dramatic appearance with their high backed chairs facing away so that their backs were towards the door. When they simultaneously swung around to face their visitors, the effect was unexpectedly comical. Misaki and Kanou had exchanged a brief glance of disbelief. What gangster movie did the two of them think they were in?
Then there was the looming patriarchal presence of Richard Walker. Even though he was not attending the meeting, the former CEO, and now chairman of the board, still managed to cast his threatening shadow over the proceedings. Misaki was used to dealing with these sort of things. Arrogant, old men with outdated notions were a walk in the park.
What drove her mad was the blatant and constant flirting from Gerard and Igarashi. The two were falling over each other, trying to one-up the other, and not focusing on the obvious problems. They evidently thought they were God's greatest gift to women, not realizing that kind of attitude was her biggest turn off. It astounded her that they hadn't even bothered to do their homework on her, only seeing her and her company as a prize to be won. It was all she could do not to hit them over the head or kick them where the sun doesn't shine. Of all the scenarios Misaki and Kanou had envisioned for the meeting, this was certainly not one of them.
At last, the torture ended and the meeting wrapped up. The initial contracts were signed with the typical confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. AWA Consulting would draw up detailed proposals and present them to the leadership teams in two weeks. Unfortunately, that meant having to endure the two boys' antics again. At least more of her team would be present and, she could only hope, act as a buffer for her.
She felt mildly disappointed there was no sign of "Bob" during the meeting. After the morning briefing with Kanou, a slight curiosity lingered. As they were exiting the conference room, she thought she glimpsed a flash of short blond hair from the corner of her eye, but when she looked directly, it was gone. She shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking about him. It was probably her imagination and even if real, she wasn't sure whether the hair had belonged to a man or a woman.
In a last ditch effort to win her affections before she could escape, Gerard offered to give them a quick tour around their office suite, complete with a stop at their personal European coffee bar. Misaki would have liked nothing better than to turn on her heel and head out the door; nevertheless, she decided the polite and business-savvy course of action would be to humor him.
As the tour dragged on, she had already tuned him out, automatically nodding and smiling at his various attempts at jokes. They drank the overly hyped coffee. It was tasty, but still fell short of his praises.
Finally escaping Gerard's clutches, Misaki and Kanou passed by a couple of simple desks for the support staff on their way out. Reflexively she turned her head towards them as a familiar whiff of lingering cologne caught her attention.
There, sitting on the side of a desk with a crudely drawn nametag stating "BOB", was an object Misaki had not seen in years. She stopped abruptly, nearly causing Kanou to collide with her.
The pieces of the puzzle all came together as the realization about her mystery man crashed down upon her. The blond hair, the alien abilities, the perverted teasing, the unexplainable familiarity, the unmistakable red stapler. She knew without a doubt that Bob T. Walker was indeed Takumi Walker aka USUI TAKUMI!
cheesy sound effect: DUN-DUN-DUNNNNN!
1 – "The Art of War", ancient Chinese military treatise, Sun Tzu, 5th century BC