Capítulo 51: The Conference Room
A/N: Conference Room Meeting. Its necessary~
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As the door to the conference room opens and the last executive that they've been waiting for slips inside, Jaune reflects on the strangeness of this moment. Despite having been King of the Grimm and one of the most powerful people in the world for years now, he's never actually been in a situation like this before. A high-stakes, incredibly important board meeting between the CEO of a massive company and its top executives.
The conference room, located deep within the Schnee Dust Company's Headquarters, is completely closed off of course, save for the one set of double doors leading in and out. Meanwhile, the long table that dominates the center of the room is filled to the brim with men and women in suits and incredibly expensive-looking business attire.
Willow Schnee herself sits at the head of the long conference table, wearing a silver suit jacket and skirt combo, with a white blouse underneath. She sits with her back ramrod straight and her eyes flitting between the executives that line the table on either side of her. In comparison, they all don't know whether to look at her or avert her gaze.
Indeed… the impression Jaune gets from where he's stood behind her up against the wall is that most of the SDC execs aren't sure what to make of Willow. The fact that she's here and sober has clearly caught them all off guard. Meanwhile, Jaune just feels weird in the suit he's wearing. Sure, it's been made specifically for him and thus fits his body like a glove… but it's still strange to be dressed so damn fancy.
"Is that everyone then?"
As the final executive takes their seat, Willow's clipped voice rings out through the room. Everyone shifts in their seats, looking at one another… but she doesn't give them a chance to reply. When silence is the only answer she gets for about three seconds, Willow lifts her hand and gestures to him, at which point Jaune presses a button on the remote in his hand. There's an audible click as the double doors that lead into the conference room lock, securing them but also making it so that none of them can leave without her permission.
There's some tension at that, though no one looks overly concerned or anything. At least, not for their safety. Plenty look concerned over Willow's appointment as CEO, and one of them even goes so far as to speak his mind on the subject… in a roundabout way, of course.
"Mrs. Schnee… let me start by saying how sorry I am for your loss. Your husband was a visionary and we all know that we have a lot of work to do if we're going to keep the SDC growing without him. That said… you don't need to be here for something as routine as this, really. I'm sure that you'd rather be at home, with your son-!"
"No."
Willow's one word answer as she finally cuts the executive off stuns the man into silence. Jaune just watches, amused at how long the Schnee Matriarch allowed the exec to keep talking. She certainly gave him plenty of rope to hang himself with… and he'd gone and tied the noose around his neck. She'd only cut him off just before he would have pushed off the stool with his verbal faux pas.
Icy eyes pinning that man in particular to his seat, Willow speaks and her words are quite clearly for everyone in the room.
"In the wake of my husband's death, I am the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company. As our bylaws state, there must always be a Schnee behind the CEO's desk. I am here to fulfill that requirement. If any of you have a problem with that, you may tender your resignations now."
There's a brief pause at that as everyone shares a look. But nobody speaks up. Nobody moves to try and leave either. They might be more used to taking orders from her husband than they are from her, but one positive aspect of Jacques' strange desire to cosplay as a 'proper' Schnee at all times was that even though he'd married into the family, they were all still used to taking their marching orders from a Schnee above all else.
And Willow, for all her faults and all the rumors that were likely swirling around her even within the SDC, was still a Schnee. The only Schnee available as a matter of fact, given how Whitley wasn't quite yet of age.
Seeing nobody willing to backtalk her on it, Willow sharply nods and brings her hands together in front of her, steepling them as she leans forward.
"Good. Then let us begin."
Of course, that's when someone else decides to speak up.
"Begging your pardon, Mrs. Schnee… but exactly how sensitive is the information discussed in this meeting? Obviously, everyone sat at this table is a trusted and valued member of the SDC… but the young man standing behind you is an unknown to us."
Jaune stays where he is, not even cracking a smile. They'd discussed this ahead of time and his purpose was to stay quiet and vaguely menacing. Something that was especially easy to do because even though he had Salem's magic to disguise his inhumanity, he nevertheless gave off a slightly threatening vibe all the same. Humans felt an itch at the back of their mind in his presence, one they could never quite shake.
It was easy for Jaune to lean into that vibe. With his aura unlocked, he could even amplify it and generate a very low-grade killing intent that blankets the room and has the execs shifting in their seats without even realizing why.
"That young man, as you call him, is my new bodyguard. After my husband's death, I decided I needed more… personal protection. He comes highly recommended by people I trust more than I trust anyone sat at this table if I'm being honest. Of course, if any of you doubt his ability to protect me, I'd be happy to have him demonstrate. Right here, right now."
Well now, that was a bit more honest than Jaune would have suggested. But even still, the icy tone that Willow delivers her words with shuts down the man right on the spot. He throws Jaune a single glance and then averts his gaze entirely, staring down at the table like a child put in timeout rather than the company executive in an expensive suit that he's supposed to be.
Finally, one of the few women in the room speaks up. She's also older than most at the table as well… perhaps that's why she feels confident in speaking so… candidly.
"Well then, Willow. Why don't you tell us all why we're here, hm? For you to call a meeting like this, I can only imagine you have something important to talk to us about, young lady."
Jaune can't help but raise a single eyebrow when instead of getting irate, Willow actually smiles at the older woman and nods.
"Indeed I do. Namely, I noticed that my first order as CEO has yet to be carried out."
At this, Willow's smile rapidly drops as her gaze sweeps up and down both sides of the table. More than a few of the execs quail under that gaze, or avert their eyes altogether. Some keep their backs straight and their faces expressionless though. It's one of the latter group who answers Willow's words.
"There are… complications regarding that order, Mrs. Schnee."
Willow scoffs at that.
"Oh? Complications? Complications in pulling this company out of the war that got my husband killed, hm? Atlas has been the Schnee Dust Company's home since its founding at the end of the Great War. However, this does not mean we blindly follow them into ruin. This war against Mistral… what was the point of it? Why do Atlas and Vale wage a war of aggression against one of their fellow Kingdoms when in the Grimm's absence, we should have been focusing outward, not inward?!"
Rising to her feet, Willow slams a fist on the table.
"The SDC in particular has no place in war! We are a DUST company, not a military company! With the whole world open to us, we should be expanding to new mining opportunities. Instead, we've let ourselves be entangled in this inane and pointless conflict. And for what? So that men like General Ironwood can feel better about themselves?!"
Now, obviously Jaune knows full well that there's one key facet of Willow's rant that doesn't quite work. Namely, it was Mistral who started it. Sure, technically Vale and Atlas struck first and the war is very much a war of aggression on their part orchestrated against Mistral. But Jaune was fully aware that that was only because Mistral had been saber-rattling for months beforehand, getting ready to try and conquer its neighbors for seemingly no good reason.
Even he couldn't be sure that robbing them of their 'Queen of Victory' in the form of General Nikos would have actually made them fully back off. More likely it would only have been a matter of time before Mistral struck first all the same. But they hadn't… and with Jacques Schnee dead, no one at the table is willing to go to bat for the war in Atlas. Especially when…
"And now, thanks to this war… my husband is dead."
Sitting back down, Willow slides her icy glare up and down the table again, outright daring anyone to try and gainsay her words. No one does.
"… Because we focused our attention on Mistral and these lucrative contracts with the Atlesian Military, we let our guards down. We thought that the White Fang were gone, that we were safe. But we know now that was a lie. We know now that Mistral was nothing but a distraction. So then tell me, all of you. Give me one good reason why we shouldn't pull our company out of this wasteful and utterly ridiculous war. Tell me why my orders haven't already been carried out."
Silence falls. Nobody wants to be the one to have to tell Willow Schnee anything, that much is for sure. In fact… slowly but surely, everyone else at the table turns their eyes, subtly or not, to the older woman who spoke so freely to Willow before. Seeing this, the woman scoffs but rises from her chair, nodding respectfully to the CEO.
"Very well, I shall be the one to address the elephant in the room. The truth is, the contracts that Jacques signed are fairly ironclad. Disentangling ourselves from the Atlesian Military Apparatus is going to be very, very difficult Willow. Not impossible, I don't think… but it won't be easy. And it won't happen fast."
With her piece said, the older woman smooths our her jacket and sits back down. Willow, meanwhile, is quiet. Until finally, she nods.
"I see. Thank you for your honesty. If only I could trust everyone at this table to be so candid."
More squirming from all around her at those scathing words. But if anyone has any plans to take offense to them, Willow doesn't give them the chance.
"Very well then. If we can't pull out entirely, we'll at least dictate terms. Doctor Pietro Polendina. I've heard good things about the work that he's been doing for Atlas and the Atlesian Military. I want him for the SDC. Of course, headhunting him outright might make us more enemies than we need… so let's see if we can get him through the proper channels first, hm? Dangle his collaboration with our scientists as a way to potentially keep the SDC from finding ways to worm out of what remaining military contracts we have."
Looking to the older woman in particular, Willow tilts her head.
"Would that be possible?"
Giving the question proper consideration and proving herself to not be a simple 'yes woman', the executive eventually nods her head.
"Yes, Willow. It should be."
"A-Ahem… if you don't mind me asking, Mrs. Schnee… why him? What about Doctor Polendina is so special?"
Jaune has to hold back his smile as Willow's icy gaze sweeps over to the executive who dared to ask such an impertinent question. For a long moment, she just glares at him, making him squirm. She never speaks, never even gives him an answer… she shuts him down with just a look.
Finally, he averts his gaze and Willow turns her attention back to the room at large.
"Dismissed."
Jaune presses the button again and the double doors unlock as everyone gets up and files out of the conference room. The two of them watch the executives of the SDC leave in silence, until finally they're all gone and the doors close. Then, Jaune relocks them so that no one can disturb them or listen in on their conversation.
Only once they have full privacy does he step forward and place a hand on Willow's shoulder. She flinches at the contact, showing just how much of the meeting was an act on her part. Giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze, Jaune smiles when she looks up at him.
"You did well, Willow."
For a moment, she's silent… then, she rises to her feet in an instant and grabs him by his suit jacket, pulling him in to a tongue-filled kiss. Jaune wishes he could say he was surprised, but the smell of Willow's arousal had already hit his senses. She was turned on for some reason the entire time they were talking. The fact that she'd been able to hide her arousal from everyone in the room except for him was actually pretty impressive.
Finally having to pull away for air, Willow pants heavily, her face flushed and red with excitement. Jaune, meanwhile, just gives her a curious look. Sure he'd known she WAS aroused the entire time, but he hadn't known WHY she was aroused. Fortunately, she's all too ready to tell him.
"That entire time… I imagined standing up and bending over the conference table so you could fuck me silly in front of all of them. I envisioned all of their stupefied, outraged faces as they were forced to sit there and watch you rail me atop the conference table. None of them would have been able to do a single thing to stop you either… I certainly couldn't have, if you chose to take me."
Jaune blinks, even as Willow bites her lower lip.
"… It's the only way I made it through the meeting, truth be told."
Having confessed her filthy, filthy mind and her perverse tactic for making it through the meeting, Willow's hands begin to travel down his body, towards his crotch. Her intentions are obvious. Jaune, meanwhile, has to decide if it's a good idea or not for them to be doing this in the heart of the SDC, even if they are technically in a secured room…
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