Black Beauty - The Arrogant Billionaire

Chapter 5

Yve de Paula

How overbearing these people were, looking at me as if I were an alien. No drama, but a black woman speaking in Mandarin wasn't something you saw all the time.

The point was, everything the professors told me in college I followed. It reminded me of Dalton in economics: speaking English is demure, but necessary. The business language of the moment was Mandarin, the whole world was doing business with the Chinese. And I quickly set about putting the language on my CV.

I've always had a way with languages.

"Did you model in China?" Arthur whispered, as the eavesdroppers tried to hear what we were saying.

"Are you asking me if I've worked with Chinese people?"

"Yes, I am."

"Yes, I have." In part I wasn't lying, I worked in Mr. Hum's Akira bakery, it had nothing to do with me knowing Mandarin, but let him deduce what he wanted.

"You should have told me that you understood what was written on the menu, more than anyone else at this table."

"You didn't ask me, you just drew your own conclusions. You asked me to keep it short, remember?" When I realized that my mouth was very close to his, the way he stared at my face made me uncomfortable.

Ziza made a noise like she was clearing her throat.

"The food's here, darlings, leave the flirting for later."

I wanted to reply to this woman, but I'd already exceeded my quota. Arthur Ribeiro demanded that I keep quiet, even though I use his speech when it's convenient for me, I've done just the opposite.

While they were showing off with the chopsticks, I ordered the good old fork and knife. Vargas wanted to wrap a rubber band around the end to help me, the old beginner's trick. I told him I wasn't interested, I thought it was strange and didn't understand how more than a billion people could eat with two chopsticks.

(...)

After dinner, I enjoyed an appetizing harumaki with dulce de leche, served with vanilla ice cream. The conversation among the others at the table was heated. Arthur Ribeiro was restrained, he was offensive and rude without changing his voice, the man knew how to kill a person with his fingernail. Let me tell you.

"I swear I thought this meeting was to discuss supply prices with Vargas." Arthur questioned.

"Yes, that's one of the meeting's agendas. The other is that it's not fair for you to manufacture a product within my company and not share the royalties¹ with me." Ziza voiced his indignation.

With caution, Arthur sipped a little of the Amarula liqueur from the small glass.

"Dear sister, before implementing Coloríssima, I sat down with you and Vargas. You both said it was crazy to implement a new product in the middle of a pandemic. It's my company too, if you don't want it, that's your right, I've put the project ahead without affecting your part in Black Beauty at all."

"But it was a different time, brother-in-law, at the height of the pandemic. It was almost certain to go wrong. We were going to have to lay people off, this money would have helped soften the blow," said Gilvan.

"If the product had failed, I'd have been screwed out of my money, I doubt we'd be having this conversation." He threw it in everyone's face.

If Sabine was bored before, now that they've started talking business, the woman has already gotten up to smoke and go to the bathroom about five times.

"Arthur, I can try to reduce the price of the raw material and maybe you'll come to an agreement on the royalties from Colorissima."

With a serious expression, Arthur leaned back with his hands intertwined on the table.

"What's your interest in this, huh, Vargas? The presidency of Beleza Black? Is that what you were promised?" The man leaned his body closer to Vargas' face. "Get out of the rain, I am and always will be the CEO of the company."

"You've got it all wrong..." the handsome man began to explain, only to be interrupted by Ziza."

"Vagas has taken pity on the situation of the institutes. I have 63 employees returning from maternity leave. At home, in quarantine, these women thought that f*****g didn't hurt. While they're away for seven months, I have to put others in their place. Now that they're coming back, I'll have to send people away and there'll be a lot of trouble in the courts."

"And all this problem will be solved with the money from my product, which you, together with your husband's brilliant brain, rejected?" I felt the irony of "Si Ou" in every word.

While they talked about money, all I could think about was the lack of planning and strategy.

Irritated, Ziza even lifted her butt off the chair a little.

"It's not your product, King Arthur, we thought of it together, I just didn't think it was time to take a chance on something new."

"Nothing you say to me will convince me to give you the share that would be "yours" and you rejected. I'm investing in a social apprenticeship project, I won't let it go."

That surprised me. I'd imagined a sham project. It must have been some kind of money laundering.

"So you took my money to invest in a bunch of slimeballs?"

"Not your money. My money." He wouldn't let it go.

Ziza picked up her cell phone and grabbed her car key from her purse.

"Get the Colorissima product out of the factory or hand it over to me by the day after tomorrow, otherwise you'll be visited by my lawyers."

Arthur stood still and continued to do so. He didn't bat an eyelid when he saw his sister get up and leave the table.

"Your turn, Vargas, say what you have to say." Gilvan pressed.

Somewhat stammering and afraid, the man took courage.

"If... it's.... If you don't do the right thing, Bawer will disassociate itself from Black Beauty, it will run out of raw materials."

Gilvan also left the restaurant. Vargas got up to join Sabine, but first he said goodbye to me and placed a card in my hand. I was startled when, without my expecting it, Arthur pulled out the square of paper before I could close my palm with it inside and handed it back to Vargas at the same moment.

"You can take it, she doesn't need your card. She already has mine."

"Huh! I didn't want one and I didn't have either."

As soon as Vargas left, I put the almighty in his place.

"You can let me speak for myself, no..."

"Yes, you have to. This isn't your nohall² of people. Besides, for five hours you're mine, so do what I want.

"I'm not yours, I'm just accompanying you." I tried to put Arthur Ribeiro in his place.

As if he didn't care what I said, he spoke again.

"If you want anything else, just ask. I'm going to the restroom and when I come back, I'll ask for the bill and we'll leave. I need to de-stress, save my evening."

"I wonder what he meant by saving his night."

Something told me that my body was in Arthur Ribeiro's de-stressing plans. I grabbed my bag and tried to leave, but was politely stopped by the receptionist. My attempt to escape didn't work.

I had to return to the table. Arthur was paying his bill and, as soon as he saw me, he tried to make fun.

"Trying to leave without paying?

"I was just going to wait for you outside," I explained, "After all, I'm not going to pay for anything."

Arthur Ribeiro put the black card with the platinum letters in his wallet. Standing up, he put the object in the pocket at the bottom of his blazer. With a few steps, he reduced the short distance between us.

Our bodies were our greatest betrayers. I don't like the look of this man, not at all. However, I couldn't deny how physically attractive he was. He made me swallow and the hairs on my skin betray me. Arthur slid his hand from the back of my neck and down my vertebrae to my tailbone. With a soft, almost whispery voice and his mouth at my ear, he finished wrapping my belly.

"Not the bill. But you'll pay it... looking at me and on your knees."

(...)

Inside the car, I still felt dizzy, remembering the velvety touch on my bare back, while his libidinous words disgusted me. I tried to pull myself together, I wanted to get a cab from the restaurant, but Arthur Ribeiro told me that he still had three hours of my company.

"Where do you live?" was one of the few words he said while driving.

"In Copacabana." I lied through my teeth. He was very close to the neighborhood, so I'd tell him to stop in front of some building. After he left, I'd take the bus home.

Changing my plans, before arriving in Copa, Arthur turned a corner in Leblon, walked a few more meters and maneuvered the car into a motel parking lot.

"What do you think you're doing here?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. "I'm not going in there with you."

He snorted, impatiently, as if this were a natural situation.

"Name your price." The brazen man didn't even look at me and spewed out his words without reservation. "If you perform well, you'll get a nice bonus at the end."

"Do you think I look like a w***e?"

"No, but if you like, I can call you any swear word I want." He finally looked at me. "I'll slap you, pull your hair and c*m on your face."

I opened the car door and got out. I could still hear him laughing debauchedly.

"Scrotum."