talking to him

destiny

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

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"not to mention our increase in revenue since the start of the year and the obvious benefits of partnering with an advertisement firm that's barely five minutes down the road from your main building," karl concludes. the powerpoint ends on a black slide and the brunette smiles, relieved that it's pretty much over.

"and we got pretty things like karl working here," ryan laughs like it's a joke, but the brunette still has to hold back an uncomfortable shiver. he tacks on a scoff of his own, trying to save his boss from doing something stupid for some unknown reason.

the owner of gray-price cars, who is sitting across the table from ryan, at an angle that faces karl and the interactive screen, furrows his brows at the comment. "carefully buddy," he says, not laughing along but speaking with forced amusement, "say things like that and you're right on track for an hr case."

ryan laughs a little harder at what is, to anybody else, clearly supposed to be a warning. he shakes his head and waves the other off with the woosh of his hand. "he doesn't mind it. do you, karl?"

karl forces a smile and shakes his head.

the other man squints his eyes, offering karl a worried sort of look, but says nothing more on the subject. karl has spent years now hiding his discomfort from people, he highly doubts that this stranger has picked up on it in the hour since the three of them met for this meeting.

ryan stands from his seat with a grin, nodding down at the other man. "thank you for coming to listen. i have another meeting now, so i'll leave you with karl here and he can answer any questions you have and see you out."

karl's gaze darts to the clock, noticing that his workday actually ended almost twenty minutes ago. he knows damn well that ryan hasn't got another meeting to go to, and he finds it frustrating that the older man so easily gives up karl's free time as if it's his own to hand out.

karl watches the two men as they say farewells and thank each other for their time.

when ryan sees himself out, the door clicking shut behind him, the owner of gray-price cars turns to look at karl with a frown. "does he always treat you like that?"

karl can't even act like it was a one-off comment, because ryan said other things during the presentation - happily cutting karl off mid-sentence to drop an inappropriate joke. so the brunette just shrugs, trying to brush it off like no big deal.

the other man shakes his head, clearly displeased, and stands to make his way towards karl. "you shouldn't put up with that," he says, seeming frustrated, though karl knows it isn't directed towards him. "if i knew someone at my company was pulling that shit they'd be immediately out of a job."

karl doesn't point out that ryan owns the company because that would be an insult to this man's intelligence. obviously, he already knows that and just doesn't see it as a barrier. "thank you for the concern, sir, but i-"

"you can call me punz," the blond interrupts, not rudely. "you're struggling with enough shitty authority to be calling me sir. we're practically the same age."