Love is War (L.S.)

1

"Pay attention Tomlinson!" Chandler Browski yelled from the head of the table. His thundering voice caused multiple people to startle in their seats and a few to spill the coffee that was halfway to their lips. 

Browski wasn't an angry looking guy, but his appearance faded to the background once he opened his mouth and spoke in his loud, ferocious, and terrifying voice. He was almost 39 years old and was starting to look older as fine lines appeared on his forehead and along the sides of his eyes. His suit was a dark blue today and his handkerchief was evidently worn as he had spent most of the day using it to wipe the sweat off the back of his neck.

Browski was the chief of the CLM (Central London Multitasking) division that worked closely with the Secret Intelligent Service in the United Kingdom for the past seven years. They weren't cops, not even close - consultants, more like. Their strategies weren't really by the book but higher ups often looked past that since they helped them find and catch those that seemed impossible to find and catch. For instance, when Tom Jonal, the most wanted drug trafficker in Paris was coming up on his fifth year of illegal business, Browski's team was hired and caught Jonal within six months. Everything is under the table. The Secret Intelligent Service refers to them for in and out of country cases; they offer them a flat rate fee per case; and in addition to money, in exchange for a job done successfully, they refrain from asking questions as to how it all gets done. 

To Browski's right stood Sam Lorne who was as good at his job as he was annoying. And he was very annoying. Sam stood proud and tall as he adjusted his magenta tie and took a sip from his glass of water before placing it back on a little table that was situated behind him. His corduroy pants had a little bit of mustard that looked like it had been watered down in an attempt to remove the stain. He placed his hands behind his back as he waited for further instructions from Browski on when he should pull up a new presentation slide for the group. They had already finished the slide about resource allocation.

Oh yeah, he's also been Chandler Browski's bitch for about five years now.

Louis was sitting on the opposite end of the long boardroom table in his classic black suit and tie that he wore to almost every meeting. It was his favorite suit since it had been tailored to fit snugly around his waist just the way he liked it. 

His eyes flickered away from the window and toward Browski. Louis held his gaze momentarily before clearing his throat and sitting up in his seat a little. While Louis would never say he was anything close to intimidated by his boss, he could admit that Browski had earned his respect. Browski was good at his job. He belonged in his position. Louis recognized that which is why he muttered a low, "apologies," and gestured loosely with his hand for him to continue on with the meeting.

Browski rolled his eyes and looked over to Sam. He gave a nod for him to pull up the next presentation slide before turning his attention back to the table.

"As I was saying, the June 2015 issue is now closed. We'll have Kevin fax over the last of the files and make sure everything's in order but as far as I'm concerned, we've been paid so it's done with." He wiped his hands together to emphasize his point as the projector screen behind him illuminated with a spreadsheet Sam had pulled up from his computer.

Browski didn't move from where he was standing, he never did, which resulted in half of the projection being covered by his shadow. No one ever said anything though. They knew better than to ask him to move.

"Now that we're done with the boring shit," Browski continued. "Let's get into why we're all really here today. I know that most, if not all of you, in this room have heard the rumors about the next trip to Montpellier. Everybody wants this one. I know everybody wants this one. But, we're not going to be little baby bitches and cry about it. I get the final say on who gets this job, you understand?"