The corperate underworld, A beauty to be tamed (open)

[DeathsKnight]

He smiled at her,

"I don't offer it lightly, I offer it as your reason to be truly free from the ties that bond you from the world I have gotten you out of. You will have no need to live in servitude to the whims of others."

He ran a hand through his hair,

"A business deal is starting to cost me more than it will bring me, I had to sit through several meetings to hear just that. I mean spending half of your day listening to numbers upon numbers instead of just having one man stand up and say: This is costing much more than it will bring in. I mean that's just straight and simple, but now I have to write down numbers, make calculations, project angles, future stock and habits. In the end I am doing the work I pay my advisers for."

He chuckled,

"Yeah, had a rough one."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy watched Allen speak listening intently and frowned, "I am sorry for that, I would imagine that your work is quite stressful. I wish I could do something to help" She smiled faintly "I know enough to know that some of those you work with can be sharks who do not take failure well and place great value on money." She let the words tumble out but furrowed her brows afterwards thinking she may have spoken out of line.

 

[DeathsKnight]

He nodded,

"Indeed they do, that is why I have to make certain that the deal I make legitimately can incorporate the shadier deals. That way profit margins can be adjusted and everybody walk away richer and happy. Of course this just increases your standing with the sharks, but if you keep it up, you actually tend to learn more about life in general and how to survive the beast that you live in."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy nodded but chewed her lip thoughtfully her expression changing a little.
"I do not know that I am built to adapt to such an ugly place as the world outside of my home has turned out to be" she said seeming to study Allan's face for along moment.
"I see that it must take a toll on you....swimming in such traitorous waters I mean. Does it not wear on your soul ?....." She thought of stopping herself, then decided that she may as well be out with it. "It must wear on you in other places i mean not only in your eyes?..."
The stronger woman full of fire returned in her expression for a moment, the one who had fought against him at the party of sharks.

I see things....You could not swim so well with those vile creatures, you could not twist my arm to nearly break,...send fear through my being if you had not the bite of a shark yourself...." She stood up feeling a bit more bold "When you told Dominique she would know when to run, you meant this how?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

He looked up at her as she stood,

"This kind of life I'm living wears on anybody, that is why the old sharks are so cold and calculating, won't bother to sell a twelve year old girl into prostitution, will not worry about where their drugs get sold, as long as they make money."

He brushed over the arm rest of the chair,

"When things go wrong, she is smart, she will know when to run."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy nodded and seemed to ponder his words for a moment before saying anything else. She walked to the other side of the room and then back again quietly. The silence didn't seem problematic to Allan, and she had been taught long ago to appreciate a lack of screaming or being screamed at. Quiet could be beautiful, she finally finished her thought, and though her voice was strong and steady,...it took a lot of nerve to form the words to ask him "and what of me? what will happen to me..when the time comes that you speak of and Nique knows to run...and you will be..where?" She dropped her gaze to her lap again counter acting the willfull voice she had managed.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"'Nigue will take you with her, or if by then you have grown to know the danger signs, you will flee on your own way."

He looked from her to outside of the window,

"I will most likely be otherwise occupied or dead."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy gasped at his statement, that had been the last thing she was expecting self sacrifice was not common amongst the shark she had witnessed within him and around him. "I don't understand" She batted her hair away from her face when it fell over her eyes hiding her face.
"Why you are doing this then? If you see the ending to be so...so morbid...and why have you brought me here if only to speak of such darkness in the future."
She spoke resentfully as she walked out of the room casting a cool glare in his direction.

 

[DeathsKnight]

"Because if you hear the worst now, it will not come as a surprise later."

He watched her leave, he knew that in time she will come back, she will understand him perhaps a little better. He suddenly felt so tired, so alone. Of course he had people surrounding him, he could call and they will all come to him, yet he could not speak to anybody as he truly was, the person inside of the shell and image he had created. He sat there, looking at the carpet, for the first time in years he felt hopeless and lost.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

She stopped in the hallway and sighed balling up her fist for a moment and looked back. "I just don't understand why you are committed to such a course o action" she said much more calmly before going back to the room she had been assigned.
As soon as she was in the room she turned on music to calm her nerves swaying lazily about the room, pausing often to look out the window. She still was not sure how to accept what lied ahead. The concept of running later did not appeal to her at all. She would rather run now if there was running to do.

 

[DeathsKnight]

After a while he got up and went to his study, switching on his computer, he sat down to start working on the portfolios of some prospective partners. He had cleared time to spend time with Ivy, but she was clearly not going to spend any time now, so he worked. Later Domonique brought him coffee, he thanked her and watched as she left, then returned to his work

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy danced around the room for awhile before she found that she was reprimanding herself for her behavior. She had spoken out of turn again and was amazed that she was still on the receiving end of kindness. When the hour had become so late that she was sure it was time for dinner, she crept from the room again turning off the music when she did.

She made her way down the hallway and passing Nique as she went moved towards where Allan worked.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique stopped Ivy before she went on,

"Dinner will be in ten minutes, be sure not to go too far."

She favored Ivy with a smile and then she moved on, heading for the kitchen

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy crept quietly into the room and stood in the doorway. "are you very busy Allan?" she asked for the first time feeling confident enough to use his name.

"Nique said dinner was nearly finished....I wanted to apologize. You see, I am trying very hard to make peace with the way things are. It is not the easiest adjustment...never knowing where you will be in a day...week or month." a bitter laugh caught in her throat "and that is considering if you know when a day or week has even passed...I am sure you have reasons for the course of action you are choosing.. <d

 

[DeathsKnight]

He looked up from his computer screen as she spoke, he watched her in silence as she explained herself.

"It's not a problem Ivy, everybody has to deal what they are dealt in their own manner, you have been dealt a rotten card and have to look out for your own well-being."

He leaned back in the chair,

"It will be some time before I make my move and if all goes well you will not have to do anything, just pack if you wish to return home. But that is also yet to come, until then allow us to help you see the better side of life."

He smiled,

"Che sara sara."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy ventured further into the room and wandered around aimlessly looking at pictures on the wall, trinkets on the desk.

"You are a very puzzling man" she said not facing him, "a mystery and so few men are you know. I think it is why you make me nervous, men who are not readable at face value are often the most dangerous"

She seated herself gracelessly on the edge of Allan's desk and gazed out the window at the now darkening sky.

"There was a man in my clan when I was younger...maybe 13 or so he wouldn't marry you know?, wasn't much of a social creature either. Most of the young ones of our clan didn't care for him a bit, he wanted too much privacy, its not a valued thing where I come from. Privacy...he was judged very harshly by most of our people for being such a recluse and unknowable"
She couldn't think of why the man came to mind, except that she had learned so many things from the old man in her Clan.

"A sickness came to our people one day all of us, no one could keep down their food or water. He saved so many people, people who had threatened him, cursed him, attacked him. I became his student when I was 16. He was so very wise. Impossible to read though...much like you. I hope to find grace with what card I have been dealt. He told me that we learn the most from what we cannot yet understand."

She smiled remembering the old man and turned back to look at Allan.
"Perhaps I am meant to learn from you"

 

[DeathsKnight]

He listened to her story, it was an interesting one, one he would not have heard if it didn't come from her on her own. He chuckled from her last statement,

"If you are to learn from me, all I can teach you is how to fire a weapon, swim with sharks and enjoy the good things in life."

He got to his feet,

"Let's go have something to eat, I am quite hungry tonight."

He paused and looked back at her,

"I am not totally unreadable once you get passed the mask."

He gave her a smile and proceeded out of the room.

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy let her gaze fall to the ground when he explained the things she may learn. She guarded her tone when she responded,
"my lord if you are to leave leave me to myself in this world perhaps I will need to learn those things....l have learned skill with knives...my own body, but I never laid hands on a firearm."

She rose instinctively when he got to his feet and moved to follow him out of the room. She was pondering his words when he turned back causing her to stop short. What he said put on a small smile on her face as she trailed behind him. "I'll keep that in mind" she whispered.

 

[DeathsKnight]

He looked at her,

"Call me Allan, the skills you will need you will learn from 'Nique, the skills to survive and adapt she will learn you as well."

They entered the dining room, just as Dominique entered from on of the side doors,

"Ah 'Nique, my rock, my four leaf clover. Did you find the ledger on the Dennings, please say yes."

Dominique smiled and produced a folder,

"But not at table Allan."

He nodded,

"Of course."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy sat quietly observing the table discussion and the way the pair interacted. The normalcy struck her in a surprising way and she found herself smiling.
She hoped the moment would last, there was a strange light at the end of what seemed like a very very long and very dark tunnel.

She reluctantly allowed herself to enjoy it, while it lasted... She was not ready to address the choice of loyalty she would soon have to make...
The light , Ivy feared may not stay visible all that long

 

[DeathsKnight]

The meal was a pleasant one, Allan could see that Ivy was bothered by something, but she talked along with them and she seemed to enjoy the company as much as they enjoyed the new addition to their discussions. Dominique handed the folder over to him after the meal and he took it to his study, Dominique looking after him and smiled as she shook her head.

"Like a boy with a Christmas present, you have to forgive him Ivy, sometimes he gets so focused on a problem that he becomes scary."

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy nodded "I understand of course" she said, smiling fondly at the beautiful woman across the table. "He is the first man of his...status I have seen that has seen fit to truly speak to to me. " She sipped from her cool glass using her fingers she created lines in the condensation.
"Before when he took me from that place, He was the first man in months that asked my name. I was beginning to lose hope, Whatever problem he obsesses over...if I can do anything to help, I hope he will ask"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique shrugged,

"I am sure he has his reasons and he does ask for help when things seem to go beyond his rather imprssice skill set. At times I wonder if any woman will ever fit with him."

She took a sip of her wine,

"Ivy, what did he do when you first met? Do you have a recollection of exactly what happened?"

 

[WhatsBroknAlice]

Ivy inhaled slow and long, her eyes cast downward to her plate. "it was...well I remember most of it yes." A shamed red flushed over her cheeks and chest as she let her mind drift back to that night not so long ago.

"He was terrifying....The first time I had been truly afraid for myself since being taken. I was dancing and he caught me in such a way that I felt like a bird in a cats claws." She reached for her drink and downed the last of it as she recalled their first conversation sitting in his lap.
Without realizing it her fingers found their way to her throat when she mentioned her failed attempts at escape from his grip. "I did not at that moment dream that there was such kindness within him" she said .

 

[DeathsKnight]

Dominique looked grimly at Ivy,

"Surely he didn't hurt you did he?"

She knew that at times things were required during certain meetings, but most times Allan seemed to have a work emergency pop up almost as if by magic and he had to leave instead of stay and partake.