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"I don’t know if you’re familiar with our results in the last fiscal year," Clarise starts, walking up to my side and leaning over, taking one hand to my folder and flipping the pages. She’s so close to me right now that I can feel the warmth of her body, the scent of her perfume making me feel almost too drunk with … desire?
"Sit down, Clarise," Earl tells her with a bored tone of voice. "Connor’s here because we need him to be up to speed. You’ll just end up confusing him even more."
"I know as much about the company as you do," Clarise shoots back in a fraction of a second, and there’s a boiling anger brimming in her words. These two definitely don’t get along. I remember that they used to butt heads when they were younger, but it was never this bad. How did my father deal with these two?
"Earl, give your sister some credit. She’s been studying hard and --"
"Oh, please," Earl cuts his father short, waving one hand in front of his face. "Clarise isn’t ready, father, and that’s that."
Now he’s even butting heads with his father? It seems that more than get up to speed with how their companies work, I must first understand how their family dynamic works.
We spend the next two hours poring over a mountain of paperwork, and we keep at it until Jonathan is satisfied. To be honest, it’s not that difficult to comprehend the Donovans’ operations. The bulk of it is tied to large Wall Street investments, and that’s what I’ve been working on these past few years.
Throughout the meeting, Earl and Clarise keep on bickering endlessly, and they only stop when admonished by Jonathan. Their mother remains silent through the whole thing, though, just shooting disapproving looks at both Earl and Clarise as their arguments start getting heated.
As for me, even though I did my best to focus on the business at hand … it wasn’t easy. My eyes seemed to be drawn toward Clarise over and over again, the scent of her perfect body crawling up my nostrils and making my mind feel lighter and lighter.
Working with the Donovans is going to be a challenge, and that’s in a lot of different ways.
Connor
"You can leave."
"But, sir, we’re here to --"
"No, there’s no need," I cut the young servant off, offering him a smile and being stern at the same time. Jonathan sent a small army of servants to help me unpack but, aside from the two briefcases I brought with me, I didn’t bring much else from Rome. Still, the servants insisted on carrying everything all the way up to my doorstep and, if I hadn’t stopped them, they’d be unpacking my boxer briefs and tucking them into drawers.
I never cared for stuff like that. I’m a simple man and I think I still know how to unpack my underwear, thank you very much.
"Very well, sir," the young man says with a nod, and then he snaps his heels together and marches off, walking along the small road that snakes up the hill and toward the Donovan mansion. I watch him go up the hill for a while, the sun setting in the horizon and spilling its orange glow over the world, and then I turn toward the door of what’s going to be my home for the foreseeable future.
It’s small and cozy but, despite that, it’s as luxurious as anything I’ve ever seen. Even though Jonathan called it a glorified guest-house during our meeting, I don’t th
ink he was doing it justice. Sure, it’s a one bedroom house, but there’s a jacuzzi in the bathroom, and I even have my own private pool in the back. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind more basic quarters, but Jonathan was having none of that. And I really don’t want to start my relationship with the Donovans by making demands.
Placing my briefcases on top of the bed, I start unpacking them when I hear someone knocking at my door. Sighing, I ready myself to meet the servants once more, but they’re not the ones knocking at my door.
It’s Clarise.
In her hands there’s a small vase with an orchid, its petals of a bright pink. Without saying a word, she smiles at me and pushes the vase into my hands.
"It’s a housewarming gift. I know it’s not much, but…"
"Thank you, Clarise," I tell her, looking down at the orchid. "You didn’t have to walk all the way down here to bring it, though."
"I wanted to," she shrugs, and I can tell that the flowers were nothing more than an excuse for her to come down and see me.
"So, how do you like your new house?" she continues, walking past me and inside the guest-house. She looks around, her eyes scanning the empty walls, and I can almost see the gears turning inside her head as she mentally decorates everything.
"It’s perfect. A bit too much, perhaps… I didn’t need something so luxurious."
"It’s just a guest-house, Connor," she replies off-handedly, and then turns on her heels to face me. "I’m sorry for my brother. He’s a complete asshole," she tells me straight away, and I have to ponder on my words for a second.
"He’s just having a hard time working under your father, I think. Being a Donovan isn’t easy, after all."
"No, it isn’t … but being a member of your Order mustn’t be easy as well. I’ve heard you … have to make vows?" she asks me, and I realize immediately what she’s getting at.
"No," I laugh, "we don’t have to make any kind of vows. We’re just regular people, Clarise."
