Andrew made his way over to the Dreadnought Investment group. He knew from Jackson that this company had been established in its current form just a few years ago. Jackson briefed him from time to time, and he gave input and resources as needed. Thankfully Jackson was a capable person and had been ever since he had been assigned to Andrew’s team in the field all those years ago. When he got out and came back home, he quickly became Andrew’s top force and right hand in many ways.
When he stepped up to the receptionist, he asked politely to informed Mr. Liam that Andrew was here to see him.
“Mr. Andrew is it? I am afraid I do not have you, or any for that matter, on the schedule… Mr. Liam does not normally take visitors that are not scheduled ahead of time.”
“Miss, please inform him, and let him decide. I am confident he will be down shortly.”
The secretary frowned but picked up the phone. “Mr. Liam, there is and Mr. Andrew here to see you. He does not have an appointment.”
“Andrew? He is here? Now? I warn you, if you value your job, be very respectful to this man. I will personally greet him in just a moment.” Was the replay.
Secretary Rosie was startled. President Liam was never reverent to anyone. This Mr. Andrew must be a big shot to get President Liam roused to greet him personally.
“Mr. Andrew, President Liam will be down in just a moment.
Liam rushed down to the elevator and came out as soon as the doors opened. He looked around and headed right for Secretary Rosie. When she saw his face, she quickly pointed to Mr. Andrew.
“Ah, you must be Mr. Andrew! Please come with me, and we can go to my office.” Liam said with a bow.
Secretary Rosie was terrified. A bow from President Liam? And so respectful! This Mr. Andrew must be the emperor incarnate!
Once they were in Liam’s office, Liam offered to pour tea.
Andrew strowed over to the main seat and plopped into it. Liam finished with the tea and took a chair on the other side of the desk. Cold sweat poured from his back.
“you seem to have managed things well so far.”
“Everything I have accomplished is thanks to your grace and wisdom.”
“Hmm. Well do well by me and work hard for this firm, and I will remember your efforts. I give you fair warning, this position may not always be where I have you, but you will be treated well if you continue to follow me.”
Liam was thunderstruck. 5 years ago, he had been little more than a street brawler. A mid-rate player in the underground world. Now he was in charge of this whole corporate group. But he understood he might lose it in an instant if this Mr. Andrew before him become displeased with his work.
“what are your orders?” asked Liam in trepidation.
“Durres is about to undergo changes. But I want the change to be positive. I know your background. You have connections to the underground circles. For a time, that was permissible, as you knew nothing else, and it was a useful connection and proving ground for a time. But now, things need to change. Others will… ‘deal’ with the underground sectors. You and this firm will have ZERO to do with the dark realms. Even those in the gray circles, drop it completely.”
Liam was speechless. Just drop all underworld business? You couldn’t even get a permit to build without some muscle and paying off the right people. Besides, many underground businesses were very lucrative.
“I see you hesitate.” Stated Andrew.
“No Master, it’s just there are many businesses, and some are very profitable…”
“It will not be profitable for long,” said Andrew seriously, “and the cost of doing such business is more than you can bear. Drop it, ALL.” The fire in Andrew's eyes was intense.
“For now, bring me up to speed on all above-ground business. And by week's end, I want to be assured that any other side business is concluded, permanently.”
Liam trembled but obliged and for over an hour, brought Andrew up to speed. Andrew was mostly quiet but when he did speak, it was to tweak an upcoming agreement or redirect Liam’s energies away from one endeavor and to something far better. In the end, Liam was just dumbfounded. This young man was worth every drop of awe that Jackson has instilled. Such subtle changes would save the firm Millions, grant them better contract terms, and set them up to make millions more through the new directions he wanted them to pursue. Many of these ideas complemented each other in ways that Liam would never have considered.
Just as they were concluding, a knock sounded on the office. Liam jumped up, furious someone would interrupt. But when he answered the door, he froze. Arya Croft, Vice-Chair of the whole Fire Dragon Corp stood at the door. While Liam had met her on previous occasions, it was rare to see her now except in passing, being that her office was on the top floor of the same building. “President Liam, Is this Mr. Andrew I have been told about?” “Yes, Ma’am.’ “When you are done with him, please send him my way.” “Well actually, we are finishing now,” said Andrew as he stood from the desk. “Shall we?” And with that, he left the room to follow Arya upstairs. Liam was ready to melt and felt a huge pressure leave with Andrew. Upstairs was an impressive area. The whole floor had a clearly fung shui focus and Raya instantly could sense that it was well done. There was even a large waterfal
Roisin Eisen was one of Durres’s cities great beauties. To her, being told this was next to telling her that a bear craps in the woods. It was a useless bit of information and in no way felt like a compliment these days. Her beauty had never brought her a suitable man nor had it been a huge asset in business. Instead, she was envied by women who felt inferior and thus targeted by all manner of mean schemes. She was practically stalked by men of low IQ and even lower hygiene habits. Her own mother insisted on setting her up on an untold number of blind dates. It was true that she was of a good age to marry, and she would not mind finding someone she could enjoy being with. However, right now, she was successfully climbing the ladders in the family business, and working hard to get her family of two out of the squaller house they lived in. well, perhaps family of three if you considered Emily who practically lived with them now. Both Roisin and Emily were making great strides in
Roisin looked at him curiously but noticed as Andrew subconsciously touched an earbud and realized he must have been on a phone call when she walked up. She wondered absently who Raya might be. A coworker at Dreadnought Investment? A girlfriend?“I don’t believe we have met before. But my mother told me to meet you here. Is now still a good time for us to catch a meal together?” this blind date was off to a grand start Roisin thought.Andrew was utterly lost, but here was a beautiful woman who knew his name and wanted to have dinner.‘if you don’t say yes I will do it for you.’ Snarked Raya.“yes, yes of course have a seat,” said Andrew in an instant as Raya snapped his confusion.“I know these blind dates are a bit awkward, so sorry for that. My mother has set me up on enough.” Started Roisin.“Blind date? Ah yes, they can be quite awkward but with a beautiful woman
“Well Miss Eisen, I do think there are opportunities for you to look at in the future. I have a proposition for you to consider,” said Andrew.“Yes, have already given me much to consider. Wait, a proposition you say? What do you have to offer?” asked Roisin noticing Andrew’s attention had shifted back fully to her from his moment of absence.“I believe the Fire Dragon group would be interested in working with your company. They have resources few can fathom. They even wholly own Dreadnought Investment as you may be aware. I can connect you with Miss Croft, who would be the one to discuss possible future cooperation, but I can give you a taste of what such cooperation might benefit your company. How much would a brand new formula be worth?”“A new formula? Something the push my company forward?”“Well, the formula is actually very old but would be something the modern world has not seen. I can pr
After that, they chatted for a while and Roisin mostly talked about her family and time with her cousin. Andrew only briefly mentioned his time in the military and mostly focused on his medical experiences because that was Roisin’s specialty and she might recognize aspects of his experiences.Suddenly Andrew noticed a chill in the air. This was odd being that it was rather warm outside this time of year. ‘Raya?’‘COLD’ was Raya’s slow reply.‘Cold? What are you sensing Raya?’‘COLD blood physique. This girl is lucky to be alive this long with that. It's super rare. There are some odd treatments but they take time. Like 10 years. Some manage to live longer if they inadvertently find a fire-blood, who has the opposite problem. While she freezes, fire bloods may boil to death.’‘what is happening now?’ asked Andrew bewildered.&l
Slowly, Roisin began to wake. She quickly realized her dress was torn and she felt cold all over. “Miss Eisen, please drink this. The good doctor has just left and ordered this when you wake up..” “my, my clothes. What happened to me?” whispered Roisin, terrified of the possible answers. “not to worry much, my dear, the doctor did have to make some quick actions to save you, but I was present the whole time. Nothing untoward happened. Here, drink, you will feel better,” said Arya. She was stunned at how much better the girl looked after just the needlework Andrew had done. With what she saw and the prescription, she had no qualms about calling him “doctor”. As Roisin drank the tea, she instantly felt the chill flee from her body. She had experienced these chills for years, but never to this extreme but now, this tea, this wonderful tea was removing all trace. Normally she would be sick and suffer for at least two days. But now, right from the onset, w
Andrew made his way back to the construction site. Tomorrow would begin building a new team. Things were about to change in Durres, and he needed manpower to do it. While he could bulldoze his way through almost anything, he had learned several years ago how invaluable capable team members were. When you could not be everywhere, your team was your eyes and your muscle. With a force of his own here, things would become much easier. Plus, change always created enemies. So, he wanted to be sure Dreadnought Investment and especially Miss Croft had real protection, not just this subpar bunch of thugs. Tonight though, he went up to the top floor of the construction site turned training ground, and lay in a hammock set between two I beams. Here he could lay back and watch the stars overhead. As he drifted off, he felt Raya merge with his thoughts. Together, they soared on the winds of memory. 7 years ago, deep in the Haderac desert, he was a young squad leader newly
The dream began to shift and Andrew fidgeted in his sleep. A storm was brewing and his hammock had begun to rock. As the first flashes of lightning crossed the distant sky, his memories flashed though firefights.Anika and Asrana helping each other gear up, Zev, Antonio and Gad checking gear, Malachi working on the radio, Jackson cleaning his sniper rifle carter reading off the orders from HQ. this team had been through so much together. Jackson was on his last rotation before he would be heading home.O how Andrew missed his team.Lightning flashed in the waking world, and Andrew saw in his mind the battles. Carter taking a hit to the gut, asrana trying to stop the blood. That was when Raya first directed him in the use of his needles. Flying through motions as she walked him through the pressure points to seal the wound and stop the bleeding. Anika’s eyes were wide with wonder as their captain did things none of them had every learned in medical training