Owner - Aou

Chapter 1

Swirling his glass, ice cubes clinking against the sides, proved a small distraction from the conversation around him. He watched their mouths moving but had stopped listening a short while ago; the sounds coming out from between their lips were giving him a headache. He hated dealing with people like this. Incompetent. Unreliable. Not worth his time and certainly not deserving of the job they'd been entrusted with. But, he knew his father had sent him to deal with the problem, assured that his youngest son was the most likely to clean up the mess efficiently and quietly.

Stopping one of the two men mid-sentence, he asked calmly, "So am I correct that because one of your lackeys, not one that we hired, but one you picked up on your own, shot his mouth off while drunk, our shipment was intercepted by the police? Then you decided not to contact us so we could handle it, thinking, instead, you'd somehow fix the problem on your own, which you failed to do. So now here we are. No product. Money lost. And an obviously incompetent team."

Aou set his glass down and leaned forward. "So, whatever do you think we should do about this? Suggestions?"

The men began stumbling out apologies, excuses, but no real solutions. Unsurprising, really. Aou never really thought they would add any value to the conversation this evening.

"So here's my thought, which is generous really. Consider yourselves stripped of your positions. You walk away and I never see or hear from any of you again. How does that sound?"

Realizing they may get out of this with their lives intact, they both nodded vigorously, thank yous flying forth from them, nonstop. Watching them made Aou want to throw his glass at their yellowed teeth and watch them crack and fall out. The image brought a sinister smile to his face.

Neither man attempted to move from their seat so he signaled to one of the guards who quickly moved forward, grabbing them by their collars and hauling them towards the stairwell. "Make sure to escort them out the back door."

Aou gestured to another of his men to come closer; the guard leaning down to hear over the music from the club below. "Make sure they stay quiet. I'll follow in a minute with Narong."

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he called the most frequently used number in his phone.

**

Hello?

Hey, baby. Just wondering when you'll be here. I have some business to attend to and didn't want you to think I'd left when you show up. If I'm not here, wait for me, yes?

Okay, I'll probably be another 15 minutes or so anyway. Sorry I'm so late, my client's been a pain. It's not been the greatest of days.

Awww, poor baby, I promise to make it all better when I see you.

So corny Aou, yuck.

Eh, you love it. Okay, see you soon. Love you, my teerak.

Be there soon.

What? C'mon Boom. Nothing else to say?

Ugh, fine, love you too.

**

As much as he'd prefer to continue on the phone, work was waiting for him. Standing, he made his way to the stairwell, with his personal bodyguard, Narong, following closely behind. Pushing his way through the suffocating and crowded main floor, he exited the backdoor, the cold night air filling his lungs.

The two men from earlier sat on the ground, backs to the brick wall, covered in blood. Aou simply stared at them for a few minutes then crouched down, looking the men in the eyes. He ran a finger slowly across one of their cheeks smearing blood from a ragged gash, before smacking him loudly, the man whimpering at the added pain across his bruised and bloodied face.