Chapter Text
Skye was, to put it lightly, not thrilled with having to go to this meeting. The Tridents made her blood boil, and the fact that she was the one who had to deal with them was very unfortunate in her mind.
After a quick pep-talk in her car to herself, she stepped out into the parking garage that led to the front door.
The Tridents HQ was in an impressive condition, considering the fact that part of it had been blown up in an explosion a week prior. She brushed the thought of the explosions off and quickly walked up to the entrance and opened the door with mild aggression. Stepping inside, she noticed the secretary and walked up to the desk.
“Hello, how may I help you today?” The secretary said, looking up from their computer.
“Ah, hello, I have a scheduled meeting here in about ten minutes” she replied, adjusting her coat.
“Skye Lawson?” They asked, followed by a nod of approval from Skye. The secretary smiled and handed her a keycard with the words VISITOR written in big bold letters.
“The only office with a scheduled meeting is down that hallway and up the stairs. Just scan your card on the scanner right there, and you will be let in. Have a nice day.” The secretary said with a smile. Skye smiled back and walked off to the hallway she had been directed to.
She tapped her card on the scanner, and started walking again. Every part of this organization seemed so professional, which made sense, the Tridents were a well respected team.
Eventually, she came to the door of the office. Just like every other office, it had the person’s name and photo on the wall next to it. She was a bit surprised when she saw James Phoenix’s name on the door, but simply ignored it.
James had been one of the main three recognizable faces from the Tridents. She had only seen him in person once before, when her father had brought her to his office when she had become an official employee of her dad’s company. He seemed like a nice guy, sometimes even cracking a few jokes from time to time, but he still had a quite calculated demeanor to him, almost like he noted down every word that was said- or unsaid in the conversation.
While the Tridents had a good reputation, they definitely seemed more serious than the Lawson Corporation, especially with the new director, Breelyn Marshals. God I hope I get to talk to someone respectable here, she thought to herself. Sighing, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.
After a moment, she heard a voice come through the door. She didn’t expect it to be Phoenix, since he and another man had been lost during the explosion and presumed dead. This incident was kept out of the public eye, but she had her sources.
Once a few seconds had passed, the door opened, startling her slightly.
“Ah, Skye! Nice of you to take the time to meet me here.” The man said with a smile.
It was James, wearing his iconic cobalt blue suit. Lawson was a bit stunned at first, taking in his appearance and demeanor. He didn’t seem like he had just been caught in an explosion, she thought. But looking at him more closely told a different tale, he stood with a slight limp, and she could see the edge of a burn scar peaking out behind his sleeve. His red glasses almost completely made his eyes not visible, but if she looked closer, she could almost make out a lighter grey in one eye compared to the dark hazel in the other. After a moment she forced a smile and replied,
“Pleased to be here.” in a careful voice
“Don’t seem as pleased as you say are to be here, Skye”
“It’s Lawson to you. Now may we start with this meeting?” Skye replied. Phoenix smiled and let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Sure thing, Lawson. Come right on in.” He said, moving back into his office so Skye could enter. As she followed him into the office, she took a closer look at how he walked. He was definitely putting less pressure on his left leg, and seemed to lightly brush his hand over any surface he crossed. Was the explosion just exaggerated? She thought to herself, as she sat down in the chair James had motioned for her to sit in. Once they had both taken a seat, James started talking.
“So- after your father—-“ he cut himself off, looking at Skye with calculated eyes
“You can say he died,” Skye replied, trying to not let her voice crack.
“Mhm,” Phoenix continued “after your father passed, he left you in charge of the corporation. Now us Tridents have been looking for more business associates such as yourselves.” He finished and looked up at Skye, waiting for her response.
“Yes, I am in charge at the company as of now. However, we currently do not need anyone else. Moreover, this meeting will most likely go nowhere, and will be a waste of both of our times.” She said, eyeing him coldly.
”Ah, you don’t seem too pleased to be here, do you, Lawson. However, I have an offer that may change your mind.” He smiled.
“And that deal issss-?”
“The Tridents want to take the Lawson Corporation under our wing, so if our organization shall ever be removed from power, you can take our place,” pushing a manila folder towards Skye. She tapped on the table for a moment, thinking about what she should do.
At that moment she wished that she wasn’t the one who had to make the decisions, but she was, and had to come up with something to say.
She had hated the Tridents before, simply because her father had been associated with them before he passed. But now, she was the one in charge, and couldn’t let her feelings get in the way of a good business opportunity such as this.
“These are all of the paperwork that would make this deal official. You have until tomorrow evening to sign and return it.” He continued after Skye hadn’t responded “and- if you do decide to accept this offer- return this to me personally. You can come in after hours from the back entrance, and use this-“ he grabbed a key out of a drawer in his desk and placed it on top of the folder of files. “-key in the door to get in. My office door will be open, and you can place the signed papers on my desk along with the key I have just given you.”
Lawson nodded and slowly grabbed the key off the desk and slid it into her pocket. The whole thing about coming in through the back door part was a bit sketchy, but what did she know? She had only been at this for a couple weeks.
She had only been at this for a short amount of time, and this could be completely normal for all she knew. Phoenix carefully stood up as Skye grabbed the folder and carefully flipped through the papers inside.
“I’ll leave you here. I have some business I need to attend to now.” Phoenix said with an unsettling tone. This threw Skye off a bit, from the short conversation she had had with him, he didn’t seem the type to be this serious with something. But as long as he kept his normal attitude up around Skye, she could learn to tolerate him.
She watched him walk out of the office, until he was out of sight. Then she grabbed the folder and walked back out of the office, turning the lights off, and closing the door as she left. As she walked out of the hallway, the secretary smiled as a goodbye and Skye smiled back.
Maybe this meeting wasn’t as useless as she thought.