Creed of the Leviathan II

20 | M

Mattia

"You're a coward, Mr. Mulaney." 

"Excuse me?" 

"I said," Her forehead furrowed, "Your client, Mr. Howard. Is. Here. Mr. Mulaney." Celeste repeated herself, though these were not the words I heard the first time her lips moved. 

"Mr. Howard. Right." I massaged my forehead. I was stressed and going out of my mind.

"Can he come up? Or" Celeste sported a quizzical expression, "Do you need a minute?" She spoke in a slow-motion manner that suited her attractiveness, but in this moment all I wanted was for her to finish her damn sentence.

"Rosie can send him up. But have him wait in the lobby. I'll let you know when I'm ready for him." I replied, to which she nodded and left. "Fuck," My head hit the chair when I sat back. Although I seldom spoke about my brother after his death, I did often think of him; this was one of those times. As much as we fought due to our differences, we knew how to keep one another focused on our business. I was in dire need of this, the motivation, pressure— the competition. I wished he was alive. 

"Sir?" Celeste stood in the doorway. "Mr. Howard is getting impatient." Her lips pressed together.

So, was I. 

"Send him in." Unfortunately, with the attack on the warehouse where damage was also brought to the products that I needed to deliver, we had to set back the opening date of the casino. Therefore, I needed M.A.D. to bring in considerable amounts of finances. Which meant that I had to deal with brainy fuckers like Howard.

"Mr. Mulaney," He walked in, stretching his hand out for me to shake.

"Howard." I shook his hand, knowing that I was going to empty the small bottle of hand-sanitizer that I kept in the drawer underneath my desk, as soon as he left. Howard was known for dabbling in, well, what one might refer to as peculiar activities. 

"I've, I've read your proposal." He began looking through his bag, searching for the document I also had a hard copy of. I probably should have told him that to spare him the time, but I used his moment of struggle to deal with my own. "Just give me a second here." He picked up his bag, only for all the stuff to fall out.

"Take your time." I said with my eyes glued to my phone. Both, Marissa and Nuelle had been avoiding me since my disputation with my sister. Marissa had ignored my order and stayed at her apartment, did not even come into work nor did she notify me that she was taking some days off. Nuelle on the other hand made it very clear that she would only talk to me if I was ready to give an explanation of what was going on.

"Here it is!" Howard held up the file, grinning. "I like this. This is," he nodded whilst tapping the page he was on, "This is good. But I'm curious, why is your company suddenly interested in this kind of project. M.A.D. doesn't need this kind of income, you have projects that deliver millions at once."

"It'd be a passive income for us. We'll deliver our standard designs for a, well, with the monthly scheduled payments instead of a whole payment upfront, it'll be affordable. And we already have an organization interested. A rehabilitation center focused on helping addicts get back on their feet. It's also a way of giving back."

"You have outdone yourself," His smile reached from ear to ear, to the point where I was disturbed. "Talk about reaching out to a broader audience. Who will be in charge of this?"

"Ms. Artist. This was actually her idea a while ago."

"Who?" He looked above the tiny round specs that rested on the tip of his nose.