The Italian Heir-CASTELLANO SERIES: MARTIN’S STORY

8

“Finally, the F.A of Castellano Holdings in the flesh seems like you’re a lot harder to make an appointment with compared to the man sitting in the White House.”

Zoe Blunt was seated straighter than a ruler, a placid smile on her face while her fingers lay intertwined on her lap. I wore a blank look on my face, determined not to show any form of emotion as I did not have any. But Erika was right, I had to at least hear what she had to say, personal feelings aside, it was all business today. My patience is yet to be stretched.

“The appointments are made necessary so as to not cause human traffic here at the company. That way, I have the privilege of deciding who I want to meet, or don’t.” I said plainly, unbuttoning a single button on my coat whilst taking a seat at the head of the table. I heard Erika let out a little sigh at my reply. Zoe scoffed quietly, smiling as she did, letting the comment bounce right off her. “There’s no need to be so hostile, Martin. I didn’t come here to wage war on your company and mine.”

“Yet you brought your father along for dinner and introduced us for the first time. Should that mean otherwise?” I remarked calmly. “He was only accompanying me for a father-daughter trip and he wanted to meet a potential business partner.”

“You.” I corrected her. “You wanted to meet a potential business partner.”

“You got me.” She smiled wryly before shifting her gaze at Erika who was seated to my right, then smirked. “Just how many secretaries do you need following you around in a day?”

I’d warn Zoe not to push Erika’s buttons, but then again, Erika knew how to handle a situation like such on her own. Surely she didn’t need a man to fight her fights.

Erika smiled, flipped open her little notebook with her fuzzy blue pen, choosing not to answer. She had a look on her face that told me if she could, she would zap Zoe into a gnat with that pen. But surely this morning’s breathing exercises proved to be working…for now.

“Erika isn’t my secretary.” I said curtly. “And never mind why she’s here; surely you didn’t come here all the way from Melbourne with the intention of catching up on old friends, did you?”

If Zoe did look flustered, she hid it pretty well. Then again, she’s good at that. “I came here with a business preposition that might interest you and if you accept, I assure you that this business partnership will greatly benefit two large companies such as ours.”

I looked over to Erika momentarily, to which in reply she smiled and nodded reassuringly. Strangely, I gained a little relief in those three seconds.

“Go on.” I encouraged.

“I’ve received news about the F.A of Castellano Holdings aka you have recently restructured the board of investors after a diligent evaluation and investigation that seemed to have been in the works lasting a couple of months. And in the business world, a word like such travels faster than you can tell someone they’re fired. I can’t say that my father and I weren’t surprised that you did what you did. No sane businessman would ever attempt to remove the very people that fund their corporation and you, Martin, are the very first. However, I take it that you’re aware of the consequence of losing huge amounts of revenue by needing to fork out various expenses that will in time take a tow on your finances, thus creating losses.” She explained. And this time, she didn’t look too smug but seemed rather concerned. It was as if she was searching for my expression to see if I felt the same way as well.

I clasped my fingers together, staring at her straight in the eye. The mechanics in my brain were working surprisingly fast this morning; the answers were at the tip of my tongue, ready to be shot. “The aftermath was something that I had duly anticipated and had prepared for. If these men and you must indeed know why I did what I did, here’s a personal preference of mine—I carry out my business dealings in a candid manner, though at this time and age, honesty is quite the lackluster element, ah, absolute privacy would be another.” After that was said, Erika kicked my shin lightly to which I only smirked in response. Fine, I may have indirectly labeled Zoe as one of those busybodies. But it was true—people love to take it upon themselves to spread unnecessary and inaccurate information regardless of the topic and people involved, disregarding and unbothered to find out the truth altogether as they know they don’t have to deal with the aftermath of it.

Zoe looked mildly amused at my comment, it seemed to me like she had taken the hint. Nevertheless, she managed a small smile but didn’t bother to interrupt, so I continued.

“The whole point of restructuring and evaluating these people wasn’t done solely based on a whim, but this is me taking action to protect the company at all costs. I do care how these investors contribute to our cash flow and I want all transactions under my care legal. I simply do not have the time to be investigated. Neither would I risk my department nor the company being placed under unnecessary scrutiny—not if I can avoid them in the first place. I won’t deny that I haven’t spent a thought on the revenue in months to come, but not to worry. Castellano Holdings’ has been in business for more than two decades now, if not, greatly expanded across global civilization, even if you take notice of the different sectors of business we’re involved in.”

“I understand where you’re coming from.” Zoe pressed her lips into a thin line before smirking slightly. “But if you were as sorted out as you claimed to be, you wouldn’t have the time to even sit in this room with me since you’d already be surrounded by your new addition of investors no?”

Erika put down her pen and ripped a small section of the paper she was writing on and slipped it under the table. I took a quick glance at her scribbled writing ‘She got you real good’

“You have something to contribute perhaps, Crawford?” Zoe asked calmly as I slipped the note into my slacks pocket. To hear Zoe called Erika by her surname did surprise me. They were civil with each other once upon a time, but the hostility between the two women just multiplied ten folds within seconds. But Erika, once again, seemed unfazed.

“Martin isn’t racing against time in terms of securing new funds for the company. Of course, there are countless individuals who want to work with him, but there is a lot to take into consideration. In simpler terms, if I were to dump someone yesterday and show up with a new man today, that wouldn’t be too nice, wouldn’t it, Miss Blunt?” Erika smiled mechanically without taxing her face muscles much.

“This isn’t the place for romance and childish games, Crawford,” Zoe shot back.

“This is neither a place for you to make decisions for Martin either.”

I had two fingers pressed against my lips trying not to laugh as I hastily cleared my throat. “I presume both of you understand how delicate yet critical this situation is, but nevertheless, I assure you it will be handled accordingly.” I put one hand on Erika’s kneecap—perhaps the little gesture alone could ease her annoyance with the woman sitting opposite her. Her rigid shoulders relaxed but, nevertheless, her chin was still sticking out in slight defiance.

“As for your business proposal, Miss Blunt, you may proceed to present whatever it is you came here to do.” I flipped open what looked like a duplicate copy of Zoe’s document that sat right in front of me on the table as Zoe then presented her business idea and not once even looking at what seemed like the original document in front of her—it was as if she had the whole business plan memorize and I can’t deny that I’m impressed. It showed how passionate and well-prepared an individual can be.

Erika remained silent throughout the whole presentation and I only popped an occasional question here and there. Otherwise, Zoe was straightforward with her plans she had for us.

The appointment ended exactly 30 minutes later—short and sweet, just the way I like it.

“Okay, I’m just going to say it. I’m sorry, I should have held my tongue and not snap at Zoe like that. I broke my promise although I did tell you I’d try my best to be nice to her, but she was so...” Erika struggled to finish her sentence so I did it for her instead.

“Difficult?”

“Not the exact word I was looking for, but that will do.” Erika’s shoulders sagged as she breathed out harshly through her nose.

Zoe had left the meeting room a little while ago. Lingering behind in the meeting rooms was starting to be a little habit of ours—just the both of us for a little debrief or rant session.

“You need not to apologize, E.” I reassured her with a small smile before continuing. “Zoe has always been very persistent in putting forth her ideas and suggestions after assessing a situation. However, her constant assumptions and domineering attitude has always been her greatest weakness, thus putting her at a disadvantage with a lot of people.”

“You mean she pisses people off by being straightforward and blunt regardless of the situation?” Erika asked sarcastically. “That isn’t something new, really.”

“Agreed, but there are times when there’s some good that comes out of a particular situation as such, would you like to take a guess?” I overturned Zoe’s copy of the business proposal face down and slid it to the side.

“At times, it's people like her that make people rethink their judgement and decisions made, especially if one is being irrational.” Erika said without hesitating. “Sometimes the things she says aren’t things people want to hear but need to—that’s a huge difference.”

“That’s ten brownie points for you, Crawford.” I leaned back against the chair and clasped my hands together. “As headstrong as I am, I can’t help but rethink what she had proposed earlier. Divide and conquer has always been a great business strategy of mine and her idea earlier just reaffirmed that I need to use that tactic once again.”

“You’re planning to segregate the board of investors into the different trades of businesses Castellano Holdings owns? But…how?” Erika shook her head, frowning. The deeper she thought, the more evident her frown lines were. “The choice to invest in the company is of theirs, no? I just don’t understand how you’re supposed to have a say in this?”

“That is something I’m still figuring out, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. This is one of my methods for check and balance, so these people won’t think that the company owes them anything besides the revenue we make and the percentage they have a share in. We want to limit the direct involvement of these people in our company’s proceedings and the way we run our business so as to prevent something like board restructuring from ever happening again. These people tend to stick their noses in places that don’t belong just because they own a few percent of shares of the company.”

Erika was silent while she processed the information I had just shared. I pushed myself away from the back of my chair, reached over and smoothed her frown lines with my thumb; she looked up, not even realizing I had moved from my seat. “Alright, that’s enough of business talk for now; I think you must be hungry. How about we take a short break?”

“A break?” she raised her brows. “You almost never take a break at work.”

“Who told you that?”

“John, of course.”

My lips twisted at the little revelation at the mention of my secretary. John kept to himself most of the time and he rarely spoke unless needed. “Maybe it's time I reminded him who it is he’s actually working for.” I got up from my seat, gesturing to Erika to come with me. “Don’t you dare! He’s such a sweet guy and that’ll only prove those people on your floor…whoops.” Erika immediately pursed her lips together and slowly began to slip toward the other end of the long table and that was the other end of the room.

“Care to elaborate on the gossip from my fellow subordinates?”

“Well, it’s not so much of what they said. It was more like a…whisper.” She smiled nervously, flashing all her pearly whites, but covered her mouth immediately with the small 4x4 notebook with the fuzzy blue pen stuck out when I narrowed my eyes at her.

“And what exactly have they whispered to you?” I prodded, squeezing the top of the leather chair with my fingers.

“Tyrant, domineering, sexy hunk—those came from the younger ladies, of course, and then there’s you being uptight, arrogant…do you really want the whole list? It’s no surprise to me really that you’re on everyone’s naughty list.” She shook her head, tilting her head to the side as she questioned me.

“Naughty list, you say? I think we both have very different definitions of that word alone, Erika.”

“Oh really?” she clicked her tongue against her teeth, making a sound of distaste. “You big p*****t, I knew that whole celibacy thing was too good to be true.” She shook her head in disapproval and she stood rooted, on the spot directly opposite me. “Get over here intern, stop messing around. Exit’s this way.” I pointed with my thumb.

“That’s alright, you go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”

I released my hands from the seat I was grabbing and stuffed them into the pockets of my slacks. “Suit yourself then.” I walked toward the door and pushed it open with my shoulder. “Although I should warn you, some of the staff here always complain about this room being haunted.” I shrugged nonchalantly and stepped right out round the corner, waiting.

I heard a little shriek that followed just as the door was about to close and it didn’t take too long either for Erika to come running out. All I said was ‘boo’, that was enough for her to hit me hard on the arm while I wrung my arm around her neck, tugging her toward me. “What happened to respecting me as your superior?” I reminded her.

“Guess it slipped my mind that sometimes my superior can be a real asswipe too! Unhand me this instant Castellano!” She smacked my forearm, glaring at me. “You’re lucky someone’s coming this way.” I said while releasing my grip around her neck whilst she brushed her fingers through her hair hastily, straightening her dress after. “You’re acting as if we were about to get caught misbehaving at the office.” I teased.

“Oohh...” she looked at me slyly—a playful smile crossed her features. “I can only assume you must’ve been caught one too many times?”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I have a strict policy on no dating my co-workers, which includes you, no dating in my office, not on my watch.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do? You’re not the boss of me.” she pulled a face when I pinched her cheek. “The impertinence coming from you is unmatched. You seemed to have forgotten what you had promised me.”

“There are instances like when your boss demands ridiculous requests from you,” she argued.

“Oh hey Erika, thought I heard you from the corridor.” Lucien appeared on the walkway with Jackson and the rest of the Marketing Team members. “Hey.” Erika chirped, not before giving me one last death glare. “Are you here for a meeting too?”

Jackson from Marketing mumbled a little hasty greeting of ‘Sir’ before zooming off into the direction of the meeting room we had just come from. “Yeah, Jackson wanted me to work on a new marketing proposal for his department, says he’s running out of ideas…”Lucien trailed, looking quite pleased with himself.

“Does he now?” I asked coyly, folding my arms, looking slightly amused. In all my years of having Jackson work for me, I can safely say this man's mind sparks the brightest, wildest ideas for marketing tactics and the last thing he needs is input from a mere intern that can’t pronounce his ‘h’ properly. “Yes, he’s been asking for my input with the hopes he might be able to gain insight about a thing or two.” Lucien now turned to me.

“Then you better get going, Jackson hates it when people make him wait.” I nodded my chin towards the meeting room. “Yes Sir. Uhm E, so, how about dinner later?” Lucien asked unsurely. The hell they’re going out together two nights in a row. “Sure, why not?” Erika was quick to answer. I may or may not have let out a low growl before butting in, suddenly feeling possessive.

“She can’t. She’s having a meal with my family later, surely you’re not planning on bailing, are you Crawford?” I interjected and Lucien’s face fell a little. It was a pretty sight...for a petty man like me. Erika looked like she was about to protest but Lucien was quick to back down too. “Another time then.” He quickly added and Erika nodded and smiled apologetically while she watched Lucien jog off towards the meeting room.

“You didn’t have to speak to him like that, Martin.” Erika said disapprovingly once Lucien was out of ear shot. “You simply do not go out two nights consecutively with the same boy, not unless you have a big fat crush on him…do you?”

“I…well…no…”she answered unsurely. She hesitated. “Speaking of which, since when was I having dinner with the Castellanos?”

“Didn’t you say you were dying to see Marco and Ana?”

“Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that.” We continued walking until we arrived at the doors to the elevators. While waiting, Erika turned to me. “Didn’t you say this floor is strictly for management personnel only? How come Jackson gets to use it?”

“Privileges are given to those who perform well. You have no idea how many people are dying to get to the top floor. Have you seen the view from up here?” I asked, smirking a little. “Or were you too busy scribbling notes on that little book of yours? What have you written in there? Show it to me.” I opened my palm towards her and she shook her head. “You should know better than to read anything a woman writes in her notebooks.” She reprimanded, hiding the book away from my sight.

“The more you hide it from me, the more curious I get. Come on, what’s in there? Nuclear codes? Floor plans of the Pentagon? Your shopping list maybe?”

“I’ll give you a hint—its 10 ways to murder your best friend when you’re done with his shit.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. You love me too much to do so.”

“Oh, sometimes I admire your delusions. How bold of you to assume that of me?” She put her hand on her chest, feigning surprise. We arrived at my floor and made a beeline towards my office.

“What is this?” Erika lifted up a little cardboard folded into a 3D pyramid. “Erika Crawford, Intern.” She read out loud. “I made that for you, do you like it? Had John look for those glittering star stickers you girls like.”

“Why is the word ‘Intern’ written in all caps? What is the meaning of this?” she then pointed towards a small table not too far away from mine. “That’s your desk.” I explained as-a-matter-of-factly.

“This isn’t a desk, this is like a kid’s drawing table from Ikea!” she protested. “Why won’t you let me sit outside with the rest of your employees?” she whined. “This is like…are you perhaps keeping me here like some pet?” she questioned, making whimpering sounds.

“Pet is a bit too much, you’re my intern and I prefer to keep an eye out for you in case you…well…”

“In case I what?” she squinted her eyes threateningly at me. “Your tasks are different from the rest. I need your help with other things. I’ll leave it at that.”

“Like what? Drawing portraits of you with my crayons?” she cried waspishly.

“You need them?” I asked, resting my palm on the crown of her head to stop her from advancing towards me.

“Martin!” she hissed in annoyance. But before she could say more, there was a quiet knock on my door. A mousey-faced girl stuck her head in and looked around before stepping in. Erika looked towards the door hesitantly. “Sorry to bother Mr. Castellano but I…oh I didn’t realise you had a guest here.”

“Erika isn’t a guest, she’s my in…”

“Protégé.” Erika smiled brightly as she interjected, to which the mousey-looking girl pushed her spectacles further up the bridge of her nose. “Intern?” the girl offered and Erika shrugged. “Works for me.”

“Do you need anything, Belle?” I asked, not even bothered to remove my hand from Erika’s head even though Erika was trying to get away. “Uh yes, I would like to report the reason for my absence yesterday, I wasn’t feeling too well, you see…”

“You can report that to HR Belle.” I said kindly, albeit cutting her off. “But seeing as you’re fairly new here, I can only assume you don’t know the procedures that well. Anything concerning an employee’s welfare is to be reported to HR on the 5th floor.”

“Oh y-yes Sir, I’ll remember that.” Belle blushed bright red, folding her cardigan. “Um, I, yes, okay.” She nodded, not before casting Erika a quick look and a frown formed when her eyes followed the length of my arm. “Do you have anything else I can help you with?” I offered, eager for her to leave.

Belle shook her head. “That is all, good day to you Sir. I’ll see myself out.”

“Go ahead.”

The door shut quietly and Erika swatted my hand away from her head. “She clearly admires you smartin.” Erika teased. “She does not. And this is yet the second time she’s come in just to report her absence.” I brushed her words away and glanced at my watch.

“Maybe she was just worried her tyrant of a boss would jump on her ass and interrogate her about it.” Erika offered.

“Funny,” I said flatly. “Tea would be here right about…now.”

John balanced two coffee cups and a box of Erika's favourite Belgium chocolate coated donuts. “I knew that teabreak was too good to be true,” Erika muttered. She must’ve really wanted to go outside.

“What? Did you think I’d possibly make a pointless trip outside during office hours just to grab a coffee?”

John placed the box on the coffee table along with our coffee cups. “Enjoy,” he said and excused himself shortly after.

“Coffee outside the office always tastes better. It’s like a mini break for you to clear your mind off the clear load while you’re out of that suffocating environment.”

“Remind me to never hire you as a full-time employee, else you’d be sneaking out every chance you get.”

“You’re insufferable.” She walked past me and made a beeline for the coffee table, popping open the box begrudgingly and glared at me while she picked one out. “After you’re done with those, I want you to write up a report on whatever Zoe had discussed with us earlier, make sure to leave out any name calling and unpleasant words, will you sweetheart?” my eyes scanned through a document that I was reading earlier before we that meeting with my ex.

“Why’d you need a report when you basically have all the documented information given to you?” her words came out muffled. “Because.” I slammed the file shut, leaning against my seat. “I want to know just how much of her presentation, did you understand, and maybe by doing so, you could come up with a backup plan in case Zoe’s proposal takes an unprecedented detour.”

“You don’t trust her,” Erika said simply. “It’s not just her, Crawford, it’s anyone in the business world, for that matter. People say you build a good rep as long as you’re able to trust in the other, but unfortunately, it does not work for me. In case you didn’t know, Zoe Blunt is the acting CEO of Blunt Corp, she’s acting on her father’s behalf—a man whom I’ve only met once and only recently and frankly, I do not trust that man.”

“That’s justifiable.” Erika agreed. “Although…”she trailed. “It'’ not just business acquaintances you find it hard to trust, you also have a hard time trusting those who are around you.”