Boss Gaia Comes to Visit
A few weeks later, which had been quite peaceful thanks to the absence of Solis's annoying relatives, the couple was surprised to see an unexpected visitor in their office.
Boss Gaia sat in the meeting room in a relaxed pose, as if she owned the place. Martis stood behind her, looking tired and surly.
"My apologies, Boss Gaia," Solis said politely. "I do not handle Chaos Demon matters in the Rosea office."
Boss Gaia laughed. "I'm not here for gang work," she replied. "My deputy begged me for a favour, so I brought him to see you – and I also have a business proposal for Rosea."
Solis frowned. "Rosea is not involved in any underworld work," he said. "I would be happy to work with you under the Chaos Demon banner, however. Shall we move to another venue?"
"You are rather eager to get me out of your office," Boss Gaia grumbled. "I'm not here on behalf of Dragon's Breath; I'm here on behalf of Nerium. Do you still want to drive me away?" She shot Solis a challenging look.
Nerium International was one of the largest multinational corporations in the world, at par with Rosea. In fact, it was even ranked higher than Rosea, and enjoyed more significance. Nerium was an old corporation, and its current CEO was easily the eighth or ninth generation heir.
"Nerium?" Solis murmured. "How are you connected with Nerium?"
Boss Gaia rolled her eyes. "The whole world knows that Nerium's CEO proposed to me last week – where on earth have you been living?" she shot Noir a speculative look. "Perhaps you've been enjoying your love life so much that you forgot about everything else…?" she teased.
Solis stepped in front of Noir protectively, making Boss Gaia burst into merry peals of laughter yet again.
"Ah, Boss Solis, I wish my man were half as protective of me as you are of young Noir…" she said lightly.
Solis didn't bother to reply. He simply sat down next to Noir and magnified his 'go away' vibes.
Amused, Boss Gaia watched the young couple curiously. It was out of everyone's expectations that Boss Solis could find a suitable partner…and fall head over heels in love with him. As for Noir, he was even more mysterious. Not only was he smart and talented, but his identity was completely unknown. Boss Gaia, too, had made her enquiries, and had come up with nothing. It simply seemed that this young man had appeared out of thin air and fallen into Boss Solis's lap, bringing him both luck and love!
Little did she know that it was the absolute truth!
"Does Nerium want to collaborate on the new resort in Red City?" Solis asked.
Boss Gaia was taken aback. Then she smiled. No wonder Boss Solis was hailed as a prodigy amongst businessmen!
"Indeed," she said. "Are you interested?"
To her surprise, Boss Solis turned to Noir. "What do you think?" he asked.
Noir frowned slightly. "It would be a great opportunity for us, but…" he looked up at Boss Gaia. "Nerium already has the, experience, funds, resources and manpower to complete the resort on its own. Why would they want to collaborate with Rosea?"
Boss Gaia was even more surprised. This mysterious young man…he knew about business matters as well?!
"It is an experiment," Boss Gaia replied.
Noir's brow cleared. "Ah, for the upcoming project in Azure City next year?" he asked.
Boss Gaia was completely floored now. "What's this? You're a business genius as well?!" she cried, pointing at Noir.
Noir laughed and Boss Solis chuckled.
"He is," Boss Solis said fondly, taking Noir's hand in his and bringing it to his lips.
"That's totally unfair!" Boss Gaia complained. "You two can't have everything! Think of the rest of us mortals, will you?"
Noir blinked innocently. "We're mortals like you, too," he said.
Boss Gaia couldn't help being won over by his adorable look. "Heavens, your parents must be so lucky to have a cute kid like you," she murmured. "I'm jealous of them!"
Noticing the uneasy expression on Noir's face and the thunderous one on Boss Solis's face, Boss Gaia was taken aback.
"Ah, sorry," she said quickly. "Never mind my ramblings."
Noir nodded generously and patted Solis's arm, calming him down as well.
"So…if our collaboration works out well in Red City, we'll work together in Azure City?" Solis asked.
Boss Gaia nodded. "That's the idea," she said. "Don't worry, Dragon's Breath won't be involved except for any legitimate business – just like Chaos Demon. I'm taking a leaf out of your notebook and planning to legitimise Dragon's Breath."
Solis nodded and Noir smiled.
"Nerium's CEO is a lucky man," Noir said to Boss Gaia.
Boss Gaia was once again surprised by his perception. Very few people knew that her plans to legitimise Dragon's Breath stemmed from her affection for her fiancé. After all, a prestigious corporation like Nerium couldn't associate with illegal or criminal enterprises!
She smiled slightly. "Then…shall we look forward to our cooperation?" she asked.
Solis and Noir exchanged a glance and nodded.
Boss Gaia clapped her hands in delight. "Excellent," she said. "Shall we have a kick-off meeting tomorrow?"
"Sure," Solis said. "Lunch?"
"Done," Boss Gaia said. "I'll go and give my man the good news." She stood up and patted Martis's shoulder. "If I may ask for a favour…just give my deputy a couple of minutes to speak with you privately."
And then, before Solis or Noir could object, she sauntered away.
Solis looked warily at his half-brother, wondering what he could possibly want.
Martis looked rather awkward as well. "I…" he began hesitantly, and then stopped. He bowed his head. "Jovis told us what happened," he said softly. "Mom…she's wronged you terribly…but you still saved her and Jovis from the poison…I…I just wanted to thank you."
Solis sighed. "No thanks needed," he said. "We synthesized the antidote for Noir and Jovis and your mother were simply test subjects."
Martis shook his head. "Jovis said you'd probably say something like that. He also told us that there were two parts of the antidote, and you gave them both even though you didn't need to." He bowed again. "So…thank you, big brother."
Then he turned and ran away before Solis could react.