Monday morning, Kerrigan had Evelynn braid her hair in two rows that crossed just above her ears and connected into a single braid down her back.
"Mr. Nuri sent word that Conor is coming in to meet his whole team this morning. he invited you to join." Evelynn was telling her.
"Well, we cannot be late then." Kerrigan said.
"It is just down the hall. Thankfully you only have to roll down three doors. Its amazing not having to take the trolly car down the mountain every morning."
Kerrigan grimaced remembering those cold descends down from the temple. She definitely did not miss that commute. She only really missed her violin she had left in her room.
When Evelynn declared her ready, they situated a blanket across her legs again, and wheeled out into the hall where Reilynn joined them and followed toward the conference room. Through the glass walls Kerrigan saw Conor set down his briefcase and take off his tan suit jacket, revealing a black shirt.
"They said the clothes make the man. Well, his tailor certainly knew what he was doing." She commented. She watched as Conor handed his jacket to Anna who hung in in a corner for him.
"Shame he is sleeping with his aid." Commented Reilynn.
"What?" both Evelynn and Kerrigan said in unison.
"Oh, come now. You both cannot be that blind. That Anna girl who just took his coat? They are totally hooking up. They may not be going at it like lust bunnies right now, but there was some sort of spark between them. You can see it at least in how he passes her, and she certainly doesn't recoil from his touch." Reilynn commented.
Kerrigan watched more closely as they wheeled her to the door and knocked. Conor held open the door for them and gestured for her to take the spot she had before. Mr. Nuri and Jarad joined them shortly after.
Conor looked to Mr. Nuri. "Anything that is pressing before we recap for the week?"
"As a matter of fact, there is. It seems that someone has decided to sue us. Well, you actually."
"Really? Do tell." Conor said with a shocked expression.
"The Spice Guild of Pinon Province is suing for false advertising, fraudulent business practices, and failure to apply for permits to trade an unregulated spice."
Conor had just taken a sip of hot tea and nearly spilled it as he choked. It looked to Kerrigan like he was trying to keep from laughing. She watched him carefully set the cup back down before he said, "Are they for real?"
"It appears so. They have contracted with Heyv Law Firm, which is closely associated with the Benedict Group, and has been the Benedict family's primary counsel for many years." Mr. Nuri explained.
"I see. So, this is just a ploy from Kelan."
"I am not so sure about that," Kerrigan said, deciding now was as good a time as any to speak up. "Kelan, last I knew, was in Targu Province for the winter. His focus was entirely on Dragon Corporation, and well, me. The Spice Consortium came to visit dragon corporation and was asking about our franchise rights for Spice of life. If the Consortium and guild did not get those rights from you, perhaps that is what this is about. The Benedicts would do anything to take down any company that piqued the interest of another province."
Conor watched her and rubbed his chin. "You may be right. Though I don't know what all the fuss is about. I only trademarked the name, not the spice itself."
"What?" Kerrigan knew just how valuable this spice was and to think he had not patented the formula and ensured a monopoly on the supply was insanely arrogant, or just dumb.
"There is little that is special about the spices included. Their claim of trading unregulated spice is completely ludicrous. They likely have all of the spices in their shops right now by the bucket load. If they want to sue, there is little they can win. We don't even advertise anything other than general ads for the shops."
"Sir, I know these lawyers. For them, its not about winning the case in court. Its about the opportunity to smear your name in the mud. They can likely find ways to turn the public against you far more effectively than they can the court case, even if we win." Mr. Nuri said, looking nervous.
Kerrigan watched Conor contemplate and then an idea came to her. "Conor, You said the other day, burn brighter."
Kerrigan noted Anna's face flushed at those words and was curious why she would be so embraced about such a phrase.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Why not let light and truth prove who is right to the community? You say there is nothing special about the spices, just the name? is the price of the spices roughly equivalent in your spice of life as they would be separate?"
"Honestly they may be a bit cheaper in the spice of life bottle now that we have the ratio tweaked and production figured out."
"Perfect! Then make it known that Spice of life is just that, something to give everyone a bit more flavor in life and thus, the spice emporium will offer the formula on authentic bottles from now on. total transparency. You can send back to spice emporium a defamation suit for slander. After that, trust the community to decide who to believe."
She watched Conor's face light up as he beamed at her. "I like it. Mr. Nuri, make it happen."
Jarad took the lead next, "Sir, the business models are mostly all on track with the exception of NewAge Gaming. The Bayan Rail line issue is hindering their rollout of the new system."
Conor glanced to Mr. Nuri who answered calmly, "It takes time, however, things should be shifting there within a month. Outside that, I don't have an update for you right now."
Conor sighed, "Ok fine. How about the land project?"
Anna glanced up from her stack of papers, "That is actually going well. The Harden Group is quite interested in selling that 120 acre track. With the way the city has blocked them, they were willing to price it at only 4.8 million dragons."
Conor nodded, "That's not bad. Do we have the funds to do that right now?"
"Not at the moment, but we could by the time the Gala happens in two months."
"Ok, do you think they are fair on their price? It seems high even for commercial land." Conor asked. Kerrigan mentally applauded him. He was clearly in touch with his people's work and knew enough to ask the right questions, while letting them be the experts in their fields.
Anna replied, "No, I see that land as only being worth 1.2 million dragons. But they are going to fight for every copper they can get."
"Fair enough. Let's see where we stand closer to the Gala, but perhaps we can proceed with offering them a trade for our buildings that are under valued. I don't like the idea of them building there but perhaps we can get a better deal out of a few of those. See which ones are the least strategically located for their future plans and work up the true value for those for me please. If I am going to give them anything, I can at least keep it complicated to use."
Conor dismissed his team after that and nodded to Kerigan. Was he really done, just like that? Kerrigan couldn't fathom what he did all day. She was used to endless meetings and paperwork. It seemed that Conor was more of the delegator around here. She tried to catch up to him in her chair.
"Conor!"
"Miss Lokir, is there something I can do for you?"
"You can call me Kerrigan for one."
He smiled, "Kerrigan."
"Where are you off to? Surely you have meetings and such."
"My team is extremely efficient. They tend to work best when I am not looking over their shoulders. Besides, I do best getting my hands dirty so to speak, meeting the community to see where we will expand to next. I am off to the community center."
"Community center? Could I go?"
Conor seemed to consider that for a minute. "You really would want to go?"
"Yes." She had no idea why, but it had to be better than sitting inside all day.
"I don't have a team in place for you today, but how about I make sure tomorrow everything is set. Will that work?"
She frowned but remembers she was supposed to be in hiding. He was just trying to protect his people. "Fine, but you promise tomorrow I can go?"
"If your therapist today says you are good to go, then yes. I will make it happen." He smiled and headed to the elevators.
She frowned at his retreating figure. Therapy. Gah, she had forgotten she had begged Mr. Nuri and Conor to get her a therapist.