Lament of the Moon S&H - Ch.05: A Kirin's Origin - Ep07
#7 of LoM 05
On the other side of the city, within the business district, at the top of a tall company building, Seif was inside his office, working through some business and deals papers of the day. Seif Lowefang was the founder, owner and CEO of this big company building, named Shishi-O Inc., which specialized in producing and distributing all kinds of drinks, from cool beverages to the finest of wines, all over the world for many years. He had made a big name of his company among the world of business, yet managed to keep a very discreet profile of himself and his private life, so a large portion of society didn't know very much about him, which was perfectly fine by him.
Seif was sitting calmly on his office disk, looking through the routinely round of papers he had to sign, when his secretary spoke through his intercom speaker.
"Sir, the president of ToraPharma Co. has arrived for your 12 PM meeting," a female voice informed him through the intercom.
"Send him in," Seif replied.
"Yes sir," she complied and a few moments later, the door to Seif's office opened by his secretary, who was an attractive-looking female deer in an office outfit and a short skirt. "This way, please," she said with a gentle smile and led the guest in. He was a male tiger, large and tall, easily over 7 feet, wearing a fancy blue business suit over his heavily muscular body, his barreled chest was wide with two thickly strong arms folded behind his broad back, his stripy tail loosened down. His fur was strikingly red with some white covering the lower side of his muzzle and thick cheek fur, with very distinctively shaped and edgy black stripes decorating his undeniably handsome face, which had quite a calm smile drawn on it at that moment as his bright yellow eyes met Seif's.
"Thank you, June. You may leave now," Seif said to his secretary and she nodded and closed the door behind her.
"Please, have a seat," Seif said as he stood up from his desk and kindly gestured for his guest to sit down, as the later sat down on a seat in front of his desk.
"Let me first thank you for giving me the pleasure and the time of your busy day to meet in person, Mr. Lowefang, since I hear that you very seldom do that. I am Razan Khan, head of ToraPharma Co., one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the region; if not the biggest," the tiger introduced himself in a proud, deep voice.
"No, the pleasure is all mine. I apologize for having you come all the way here in person; I have my own personal reasons for being subtle. You could've sent one of your representatives to meet with one of mine, though, instead of making the head of the high-esteemed ToraPharma trouble himself," Seif said genially, as he stepped out of his desk and went over to the small bar he had in his office, pouring two small bowl-shaped cups of a rice wine. "Sake?"
"Yes, thank you. And it's no trouble at all. I've always sought the chance to get to meet the elusive president of Shishi-O. I have to admit, you look far more intimidating than the rumors state. Like a king on his throne. I'm quite impressed," Khan said approvingly as he gladly accepted the cup of sake Seif had handed to him, the lion returning to his desk soon after.
"You flatter me too much," Seif's smiled and took a sip from his drink. "So, Mr. Khan, what can I do for you?"
"Ah, direct to the point. I like that," the tiger chuckled. "Well, I won't waste too much of your time. I'm here to discuss a business deal between our companies."
"What kind of deal?"
"Glad you asked. You see, we, our company, have been working on these newly developed vitamins supplements. They're supposed to be 5 times better than the normal supplements available now and would increase the intellectual and physical prowess of children aged four to sixteen," Khan explained to Seif as he listened in interest.
"That all sounds good, but what does it have to do with us?"
"Oh, I'm just getting to it. Your corporation has one of the biggest marketing and selling powers in the world. Pharmaceutical companies have somewhat of an infamous reputation among the general public and aren't easily trusted, especially when they want to publish a new product. So, I was thinking, what better company can we partner with to help us advertise and market our new product? That's where your company comes in. Maybe even add it in your children's drinks and juices products?" Khan said with a slick smile, finishing up his cup.
Seif kept silent for a few moments, assessing the situation, before he spoke, "I'm quite flattered that you placed us in your first consideration for this seemingly important project of yours, but I'm afraid I have to say no."
"Oh? This fast? I understand if you have any concern, but can you at least give me your reasoning?" Khan enquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, but I won't," Seif bluntly replied.
Surprisingly, the tiger was impassive by the lion prompt rejection, smiling back calmly. "It's unfortunate to hear that, Mr. Lowefang. However, you have left me no choice," Khan said mildly, pulling out his cell phone and quick-dialing a number, as the door then opened and a female elf walked in uninvitingly.
"H-Hey! You can't just barge in! Oh, I-I'm sorry, sir, she took me by surprise and I couldn't stop her," the secretary anxiously apologized as she followed the mysterious elf in.
"It's okay, June," Seif comforted her.
"Oh, sorry, I don't mean any harm. I was just calling for my personal assistant, Josette," Khan apologetically said as his assistant stood right next to him silently. She was a beautifully-faced human-like elf woman, with pale-white smooth skin and long pointy ears, with long, silky black hair the reached way over the end of her back. She dressed a dark-violet tie-less suit and a short mini-skirt, and evidently had no tail of the sort. Her face, while pretty, expressed little to no emotion, as she stood quietly by her boss side. Seif was a bit surprised by her to say the least. He heard that elves existed centuries ago, but he hadn't seen one in his life, so it was pretty uncanny to witness one before him at this day and age, and as Khan's own personal assistant to boot. That didn't seem normal to him, and he didn't like it one bit.
"Sir?" the elf merely uttered in a cold voice.
"Josette?" Khan simply said to his assistant and she complied without delay, opening a case she had been carrying with her and pulling out a piece of paper, then handing it to him. "This is the contract to the deal we just discussed. I'm still hoping for you to reconsider my proposal and that your word isn't final," Khan said with a confident grin and placed the contract on Seif desk, as Seif just returned his grin with a serious stare. Khan then stood. "It was nice meeting you, Seif. I hope this won't be the last. Thanks for the sake, it was refreshing. Come on, Josette. We're leaving," Khan said, being clear in addressing Seif in an informal manner, before he turned around with his hands held behind back and took his leave without saying another word, his female assistant following him closely and silently, as they passed by Seif's secretary without paying her much due.
"Did... Did everything go well, sir?" June gulped when they were far away enough.
"Yes, June. Don't worry. You may return to your desk," Seif told her and she nodded and closed the door behind her. That Khan character didn't seem trustworthy at all to Seif. Something about him didn't click well with the lion, and his hunches had never failed him before, lest he wouldn't have made this far and big. He then turned to his laptop and did a fast search on his new tiger friend. What he found wasn't outside the unusual, with most info regarding Khan's business and company history for the last few years. However, when he tried to search deeper and know more about him outside ToraPharma, he came out empty handed. Getting suspicious, he ran a background check on that elf assistant of his. Nothing. Not a single detail regarding her. Not even an ID security number. Like she didn't even exist.
Things were looking quite shady for Razan Khan and Seif could tell he wasn't stupid. He knew Seif would refuse his offer. He knew Seif would get suspicious of him and his unnatural elven assistant. Yet, Khan risked it and came all the way here to meet him in person. But for what reason? Seeing the contract lying on his desk, Seif picked it up in his hand, and without even giving it a look, his hand emitted a faint crimson glow, as the piece of paper burst into flames in seconds. "Idiot." A smirk spread across Seif's muzzle as he watched the paper burn to a crisp in his hand, before tossing it into the trash can. Whatever Khan's scheme was, be it a challenge or a simple intimidation, the lion was more than glad to fight back.