His hands lay flat on the shining black wood of the desk before him. A long oak plank with bowls etched in a row of 10 lay before him. Each divvet in the board was filled with a small pyramid of granular material ranging from the purest white to a deep charcoal black.
Rui furrowed his brows. He reached out and carefully picked up the delicate silver sampling spoon in one of his thick hands. He offered a comical quirk of one eyebrow to the lovely brunette across the table from him.
"Next time you should bring a real spoon, Audrey. One sneeze and I'll break this thing."
The woman offered a honey sweet smile, her deep red lips exposing just a hint of glowing white teeth.
It'd be a cute smile if it wasn't so damn fake. Rui mused as he noted the smile did nothing to warm her vacant brown eyes.
"Rui, darling." Her voice was a purr as she spoke, her sweet smile never fading.
"All of your distributors will offer you samplings with a demitasse. But you do make the most adorable imbecile." She lowered her eyes and batted her lashes at him with a tilt of her chin. Rui bit back his disgust as she continued.
"Honestly I don't even know why you're requiring a sampling from us. Perhaps your other distributors are less...well acquainted?" She raised her perfectly penciled brows.
"But I know that Lot only buys the highest quality salts. For generations your family has built an empire on excellence, and for just as long my family has supplied only the best."
Rui offered a slight shrug to the woman before him as he sifted a small bit of the darkest salt on the table before him into the spoon. Pressing his finger to what he collected he opened his mouth and brushed the few grains that had stuck onto his tongue.
He sat in thought for a second as he contemplated the flavor profile, not bothering to respond to Audrey."The smoked salt is bitter. Not sweet and smokey like it usually is." His green eyes raised to meet Audrey's and he quirked a smile."Then again I suppose that's true for most things that age too quickly." Her eyes flared at his words and she stood.
"Rui DeMarc I have never been so…" a wave of his large rough hand silenced her.
"The reason you are all required to submit samples to the company is dual edged. I want to know that the quality stands up to the name it carries as a LOT product. I also…" he paused for a second as he brushed a finger over the whitest of the salts.
"I also want to be sure that our distributors are able to reflect those same standards of quality. You may leave, Audrey. But please.." His eyes looked over her skin tight nude colored dress which showed far too much leg, and far too much of her bust.
"Let your father know that when he cannot attend our meetings himself he does his company a great disservice sending you in his stead. You do yourself and your father a greater disservice by dressing up like a want to be lady of the night."
Her tanned skin flushed such a dark red it made her look purple and she slammed her hands on the desk, leaning across it until she was inches from Rui's face.
"Fuck you, Rui." She spat at him before leaving the room and doing her best to wrest the door handle from the guard and slam it.
"I suppose she would have run if her heels weren't so tall." He chuckled and leaned back with a sigh, folding his hands behind his head.
She stared up at the massive sprawl of buildings before her. Months had passed since she had been released but Enora was still adjusting to the faster, larger age she had come into.
"LOT Inc." She grinned, though her nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Enoch always had a penchant for misguided humor." She adjusted her black pants suit and blazer, making sure the red camisole under it peeked out only slightly from the blazer. Then she lifted the long black bag from the taxi that had dropped her off and made her way to the building.
It hadn't taken long to find Enoch's kin. He had not traveled far from their last meeting place to establish himself. Nor did he make it any more difficult when he decided to name the company after the prophet LOT whose wife had been turned into salt in the biblical texts. After that it was merely a game of catch up while she oriented herself in the 21st century. Maybe a little bit of manipulation here, or some charming of the mortals there. But it wasn't difficult for her to come by enough means to make her comfortable; nor to get into the position of company representative to Blanchard Co. a small company out of Africa which was only just recognized officially as a LOT distributor.
What had been more difficult was avoiding notice. Enora was still fragile in appearance. Her small stature made her look childish next to the women of the age, and her uncertainty had at first made her seem so much younger. So she found herself regularly garnering attention from the mortals. While that meant easy feeding it also meant that she had to be careful with discarding the remains of her supper.
Aside from the mortals she was constantly avoiding and skirting her brethren. From the shifters and fae to her fang toothed ilk Enora was never not on her guard.
"No one must find I have risen. Not until the fires have started." She breathed the words to herself as she reflected on the past few months. There had only been one close call, when another vampire had smelled her out. The girl was drawn to Enora. Most of the moon races could not help themselves. Once, she had been their queen. Even now that power lingered in her scent.
When the girl no more than a fledgling had found her, Enora had attempted to be evasive. But the child would not let up. She shadowed her through the towns and across the country toward Enora's goal. She had ignored the warnings left to her by her query. Once Enora had even trapped the poor thing in a sunlit Grove. But she had escaped and continued her pursuit.
They were her kin. Her blood. Her people. But her revenge was too sweet and long in coming to be derailed by a child. So one day as the young vampiress had slept, Enora stalked into her hotel.
She shook her head to dismiss the memory, but the girl's face still reared in her mind as Enora lit the bedsheets which had been doused in gasoline aflame.
"They were my people. But they too chose to betray me. To betray their QUEEN." Shaking off the shadow of remorse Enora straightened her shoulders as she approached the guard and handed him her ID badge and distributor paperwork.
When the guard ushered her to the lift Enora's eyes grew wide and she paused.
"Miss?" She looked to the young man who had a concerned appearance.
"Are there stairs, sir? I'm awful with heights." She let a small laugh accent her words.
"Oh...well...it will be a long walk. But there are stairs in the emergency exit. I'll take you to them, but I will have to call to have someone relieve me."
"No, please don't burden yourself." She lowered her head to peer up at him through her thick lashes, her silver eyes locking to his gaze.
"Simply give me directions and I can guide myself."
The guard stared at her in confusion for a long second before speaking almost dreamily, "Yessm. Just through the east doors, then straight up. Mr. DeMarc's office is on the southern side of the suite."
"And the other offices up there?" She questioned him with her unblinking gaze.
"Vacant currently. The young DeMarc has taken the liberty of...eh...excusing...the employees those offices belonged to, miss." She offered a curt nod before breaking her gaze and walking toward the doors he had indicated, leaving the dazed guard standing in the welcome area.