PARKER | Dark H.S. AU

xxviii. um, no

Copyright © zylgnagnaba 2014

The conference room is dim. The only source of light is coming from the LED projecting figures on the white board mounted on the wall, casting swirling colored lights over the top-half of the tall, white man standing in front of the oval panel as he moves his hands while speaking (one of his hands is holding a pen as a pointing tool).

Harry is seated laxed at the head of the table, his back leaning against the plush chair. His brows are furrowed while his head rests over his propped arms, index finger tapping the side of his forehead while listening to the marketing executive's monthly report.

"So as you can see, sales from engines and parts have increased for 36% in the last four months combined. Demands on the said products have subsequently increased, hence --"

The man stops talking as he's interrupted by the sound of the heavy door opening. Heads trained towards its direction, all eyes follow Terrence as he casually trots inside the room, ignoring the attention as he continuously fingered the screen of his phone.

Silence. Only his steps could be heard in the room until he pulls a chair next to Harry and situates himself there, crossing his legs together...eyes still focused on the device within his hands.

Other attendees roll their eyes at his interruption, more so of his arrogance; others just blow him off and turn their attention back to the person in front of them.

If it was Harry, they would have rattled on their seats, knowing he could practically fire question after question...scrutinizing every inch of intricacy regarding how the business goes. He could read the first few statement of a printed copy of a report, the next thing his employees would see is him pulling his brows together, lips pursed as he close examine every character and figure. If he so much as determine a slight descripancy, the least he could do is yell at anyone in particular...worse would be getting fired.

Terrence, on the other hand, is more laid-back and carefree -- and it's not in a very good way. The company could be filing bankcrupcy and he still wouldn't move a muscle, unless Derek or their father tells him to do this or do that. Even then, after doing what is asked of him, he's done. Mediocracy is his main theme.

That's the reason why Harry questions his father's judgment about sending his older brother over to administer their corporation in the US. Although it'd only be a week, allowing his brother to take over for a while still doesn't sit well on him.

To think Harry had been itching to leave Chicago from day one. He just wanted to be done with every task assigned for him in the city once and for all, pack and return to England. Turned out, he'd find another reason to stay and hesitate leaving...thanks to that gorgeous blonde girl who's head over heels for her red scooter.

Terrence feels his younger brother's eyes burning at the side of his face, nonetheless, his face remains emotionless...unfazed even as he hear Harry sigh in exasperation, annoyed by his behavior.

"What did I miss?" He asks Harry, his gaze still glued to his phone as the voice of the man speaking in front resumes in the background.

"Nothing." Everything, he corrects inwardly, shaking his head at the all too familiar behavior his older brother always pulls off.

Terrence only nods, not having the energy nor the will to even interrogate Harry further, although he knows he did miss a great amount of information regarding their sales from the past couple of months. If he's being honest, he'd say he is really slow about figures and numbers. They bore him with the unending inscriptions, he thinks they're nonsense. Often, Harry is tempted to switch graphs and diagrams into pictures of ladies to represent their sales, so that he could somehow motivate full attention from Terrence.