Chapter 269: Meeting-2
Mina would have normally been afraid to accompany an unfamiliar man anywhere, but Oric was a lot like Mr. Zane or Dom. He acknowledged that he was attracted to her, but it was something he could overlook.
Like the other two men, Oric was in no way starved for female attention. He had a terrible reputation as being a loose man, and Mr. Lamar planned to use that to their advantage by introducing Mina as his son's 'personal assistant.'
According to Oric's father and, oddly enough, to Oric himself, the Sclevanian's would absolutely believe that Oric invited Mina as eye candy. Mr. Lamar did not mince his words regarding their plan. He told Mina that her physical appearance would only help her with feigning ignorance. He was brutally honest, but his words were not something Mina had not heard before.
Since Mina was already aware of how her physical characteristics made her appear to others, she knew the Sclevanian's would not think twice about her being an assistant. She was clearly not of Sclevanian origin or descent, and Scleva was known to be a difficult language to learn. Mina only did so because the man who had given her the books to study the dialect, promised her that it would help her in the future.
At the time, the man wanted to see how many foreign languages Mina could learn, and how long it took her to learn each language. Unfortunately, the funding for the man's study was pulled, and as a result he had to stop interacting with Mina. That was the same man who had tested Mina's IQ for the first time.
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As Oric had predicted the men they were meeting with switched back and forth between Panglish and Scleva at random intervals. At times, the men were discussing business strategies, but at others they were mocking the father son pair for one thing or another.
Mr. Lamar was from a country where education was not prioritized. Thus, there were many negative stereotypes about the people from that land.
Pan was not an ethnically diverse country and people like Oric, and his father stood out in a crowd; the same went for Connor. Even Mina was considered a rarity among her own people.
Less than five percent of the population possessed Mina's eye color, which was considered a genetic mutation of the common brown irises. She had inherited the gene from her father, but even her mother's eyes were lighter in color. Meaning that somewhere along the line, Mina's mother had a relative with the same Amber eyes.
In the time of Kings, Amber eyes were more common, but as the country's influence spread, and the land 'acquired' new people, pure brown became the dominant eye color, with black/brown being a close second, light brown coming in at third, hazel or amber at fourth, and green and blue tied for dead last.
During the meeting, the Sclevanian's kept mentioning Mina's eye color in their native tongue. Both the men had blue eyes, and both were trying to guess what color eyes their children with Mina would have. Mina was not dense enough to not know what that implied, but she kept a straight face, and only bothered Oric when the men deviated from the original agreement being mediated.
Mina was fixing a cup of tea for Mr. Lamar when she accidentally caught sight of the contract the men were discussing. The figures on the contract did not match the ones being discussed by the two men, and Mina knew that was a bad sign. She tapped Oric's foot with her own, signaling to the father and son duo to pull out of the deal.
The men were at first apprehensive in trusting Mina, but Oric voiced his opposition without his father's consent.
"Gentleman, I believe there is nothing left to discuss. Shall we end this meeting and go our separate ways?" Oric asked.
"What, why?" Asked the Sclevanian, who pronounced 'W' with the 'V' sound. He had accidentally let the worry show on his face, and that was all Oric's father needed to call the meeting to and end himself.
The Sclevanian's although loud at first, had begun to panic, but neither person paid them any mind as they exited the meeting room.
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Back in Oric's office, Mr. Lamar asked Mina exactly why she had tapped Oric's foot which was the 'leave now' sign they had agreed upon. Mina told the men that the numbers the Sclevanian's mentioned in speech did not even add up to half of what the contract stated. That meant that they had inflated the value of their company and were likely swindling the Lamar's out of their hard-earned resources.
Although Sclevania practiced democracy, it was no secret that the government was corrupt. The 'President' was more like a mob boss, and those within his political camp controlled the country's wealth.
Unfortunately, the country had been on the decline due to political unrest, and it looked as though desperate politicians and businessmen who had been on the receiving end of the benefits when they were plenty, were now trying to pull in cash from outside sources.
"Mr. Lamar, if I didn't study this subject extensively, I wouldn't have said anything, but I know those men have ulterior motives," Mina said.
"I trust her dad," Oric said, but in his head, he was planning on where to dump Mina's body if she were wrong.
As Mr. Lamar massaged his temples, a male secretary knocked at the door, and told the men that the Sclevanian's wanted to rehash the contract details. The secretary was dismissed, and Mr. Lamar looked at Mina approvingly.
"Let's see what they have to offer shall we?" The man said, and Mina excitedly agreed. In her entire life, this was all she wanted; to be acknowledged and taken seriously. Not because she was pretty, but because she was good at what she did.
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Mina practically skipped toward James, who was nervously waiting for her in a visitors' parking space. The man's lips were slightly blue, and the skin of his hands looked dried out.
"Have you been waiting outside the car?" Mina asked in disbelief.
"Just get in," James said. He was cold, hungry, and angry.
Mina did not argue, she quickly got into the car, and James peeled off at a speed that made her nervous. She knew something was wrong, but she was too preoccupied with bracing herself to ask about it. She also did not want to distract the man who was clearly trying to kill them both.
"Please James. I'm scared," Mina finally managed to say, and the speed demon in James calmed.
"What you feel right now is exactly how I felt when you ran away from me without telling me what you were doing. Mina do you have any idea who I work for?" James asked.
"I wasn't planning on running. I have promised Jessica already, but James; I need to breathe too." Mina said, trying to appeal to the man's kindness.
"Then open a window," James retorted, and Mina stifled a chuckle. She knew she should not laugh, but the man's rebuttal did not make sense. "Are you laughing at me?" James asked. He had gone back to being upset and started to speed again.
"Okay, okay," Mina said while clutching her seatbelt. "I'll make it up to you. I am off for the rest of the day; I can treat you to a meal or cook dinner for you; your choice." James considered for a moment before opting to have Mina cook for him. Dom had bragged about the woman's skills, and he wanted to be able to do the same.