Bread, Love and Promises (On going)

Chapter 11 Do We Have a Deal?

Liam Price

"Is this some sort of damn mockery?!" Elijah O'Connor bellowed and tossed the file back on the table. A few grey strands fell over his forehead exposing the boldness on top of his head. His long, bushy eyebrows pinched tightly deepening the lines between them.

O'Connor's Vice president, who was excessively perspiring, tried to whisper to him to calm down but Elijah wasn't done yet.

"If you think that I'll conduct any business with you then you're out of your mind!" Elijah pounded the table with his fist furiously. His spotted brown tie hung loosely around his neck and the top buttons of his khaki shirt were unfastened. His eyes were shooting daggers towards Noah and his lawyer.

"I know very well of your reputation and the sort of side businesses you run! I will not drag that to my own house!" Elijah's lips curled back as his index finger thumped the table repeatedly with every word he spat, "My company is not a place for laundering your god damn money! I'd rather lose everything before allowing that to happen!" His chest rose and fell rapidly.

There was a silent exchange between the Vise-President, the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer. Multiple worried gazes turned in Noah's direction to see if he was about to wipe out the company after O'Connor's outburst. After all, Noah's reputation proceeded him one way or the other.

"The offe..." Mr. Brummett started to respond to Elijah's claims, only to be halted into silence with a Noah's raised hand.

The blast that exploded out of Elijah's mouth didn't bother Noah in the least. In fact, he even welcomed it. This was an educational moment and he was more interested in seeing how Liam will handle the situation. Elijah O'Connor was one hell of a tough nut to crack and that was a golden opportunity to watch the young man in action. Liam did not disappoint. The calm, collected young man never flinched or bat an eye, he was running the show and turning the conversation smoothly in his direction. Relaxing further into his seat - Noah kept watching quietly.

"I assure you, Mr. O'Connor, no mockery intended nor was it implied." Liam staidly countered training all eyes on him. "As for business- your partnership, as stated in the proposal, is going to be with me."

Papers rustled rapidly around the table as O'Connor's staff went through their copies again. The scratches of pen on paper could be heard as some were writing down their notes while everyone's attention zeroed on Liam.

"Regarding the funds that will be invested into this company they are legal and purely from the net profits of the Houghton's companies and hotels as provided." Liam motioned to the file on the table and continued, but this time his conversation was directed to Noah, "Of which I consider a loan that I intend to pay back with interest."

The air remarkably stilled in the room. Eli Brummett wasn't a man who would surprise easily, yet Liam had ways to throw him off and make him sweat. He didn't recall any mentioning of loan or interest and O'Connor was no fool to miss that shift in the atmosphere. There were two things he learnt from working for Noah Houghton, and those two things he took immensely serious: Never go against him, and Never-ever cross him. For you are sure to lose, in some ways more than others. Brummett's eyes alternated between Liam and Noah. All those years in the business shaped Brummett's passive expressions, however, his newly formed stomach ulcer had a different say.

Noah was eye to eye with the young man. It wasn't a joke when he told Liam that he bought his first company a few days ago. It was solely his to keep and -in the future- to run. This wasn't some sort of a front to any of Noah's side businesses, neither was it an expansion to his companies. He would never do that to any of his kids. On the contrary, this was a clean investment, free of any sort entanglement. But it didn't surprise him, Liam never took anything for free, and Noah knew that he wasn't the only one who caught on that quility.