Lois, thank you for the beta...you are the greatest!
Author's Comments: To refresh you memory of Brian and Justin's previous dealings with the Silvestri family, please take a look at Chapters 19 and 20+ of Talisman Of Time.
Chapter 28 – What Now?
Later that Afternoon…(Day 43)
Brian walked into the Belluss Occhiali Offices in New York and was greeted by the receptionist.
Before he could receive further directions, Brian heard his name being quietly called.
“Brian,” the familiar voice repeated, “It’s so good to see you.”
Brian immediately felt the little hairs on the back of his neck react. He knew this could only mean trouble.
“You don’t mean that,” Brian responded with a smile, “And why aren’t you in Milan?”
“I have work to do here,” Cristina Silvestri said and returned his smile, “Where’s Justin?”
“In his studio, as far away from you as possible…”
“Now Brian, I’ve been hearing rumors. I just thought I would check them out for myself. That’s why I’m here.”
“What rumors?”
“I heard that Justin was in New York.”
“You must have spies everywhere. That rumor is true, but I want you to stay away from him, he trying to get ready for several shows, and Collezione Fiero has already pushed him far enough behind schedule.”
“Don’t get so defensive…I only asked if he was here.”
“I also heard that Kinnetik is opening an office here in the city. Congratulations!”
“So when there are no rumors on the horizons, you’re content to start them yourself. You definitely are your father’s daughter.”
“And so much more,” Cristina confirmed gleefully.
“Now what is that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll see. C’mon Brian, can’t we be friends,” Cristina teased, “Maria and I have gotten over the fact that Justin chose you instead of one of us…and we’re trying to heal our broken hearts. Anyway, we’re like family now…we all have to work together.”
“You’re supposed to be in Milan!” Brian took pleasure in reminding her again, “By the way, what have you done with Kellie and Susan? Don’t tell me you’re here doing a take-over?”
“Don’t tempt me,” Cristina said with a laugh, “No, everyone is waiting for me to escort you to our offices. I personally asked for this honor. I wanted us to have this moment to try the bury the stiletto between us.”
“Just out of curiosity, where were you planning on burying that stiletto? And just so you know, in English that’s a hatchet that we should be burying. Of course, now that I think about it, you and I should probably stick to stilettos,” Brian teased.
Cristina couldn’t resist laughing at his imagery.
“Brian, will you at least try to smile, the others will wonder what I tried to do you. Your attitude isn’t helping things.”
As they were walking, a second familiar figure approached.
“Well there you two are. You were taking so long, I thought I was going to have to follow a trail of blood,” Maria Silvestri commented with a laugh. “How are you Brian? We’ve missed you. And how’s Justin?”
“Justin is fine. Both of you are here?” Brian mumbled, trying to process the turn of events. “So, who’s minding things in Milan?” he finally asked.
“Brian!” Maria remarked with a smile. “Stop worrying. Things with the collection are fine…better than fine actually.”
“But I thought you talked to father. Didn’t he tell you?” Cristina asked.
“Rudolpho was as obscure as always. He simply said it was a surprise. Kellie and Susan asked for this meeting. That’s why I’m here. No one said anything about you two being here to torment me.”
“Probably because everyone knew that you would react like this,” Cristina smirked.
“Well everything will make sense soon enough,” Maria said, linking one on her arms with Brian’s and gently nudging him along. “Come with me. Kellie and Susan are waiting for us.”
“I was planning to take the other arm, but I think I’ll keep a safe distance,” Cristina suggested with a laugh.
“Good idea,” Brian confirmed, “If you touch me it would probably fall in the realm of harassment. But Maria…now that’s another story,” he teased.
“Thank you, Brian,” Maria teased.
Cristina couldn’t resist playfully hitting him gently on the arm. “I do so wish that Justin were here,” she said, unable to resist getting in one more taunt. “He is sooooooo much easier to deal with.”
“You know, I’ve heard that before,” Brian quipped.
They finally arrived at a spacious office, where Kellie and Susan were patiently waiting.
“Brian, it’s really good to see you,” Kellie began, “Thanks for making a trip to New York to see us. How’s Justin? There are rumors that he’s painting in his studio here in the city.”
“I must admit that I’m fascinated by your keen interest in my partner’s whereabouts. I’m still waiting for someone to tell me why I was summoned here to this all female board of inquiry,” Brian teased, looking around at the occupants in the room.
“Now Brian!” Susan protested.
“First, of all we wanted to let you know that the first ads targeted to our distributors for Collezione Fiero are doing quite well. The pre-announcement orders and the initial buzz may exceed our projections, even at this early stage of the campaign. We just thought that you would like to know. I flew here to share the news with you personally,” Maria began. “Aren’t you pleased?” she asked finally releasing his arm.
“Thrilled,” Brian retorted sarcastically, “But a simple email would have given me that news. So what else is up your collective couture sleeves?”
“Stop being so suspicious! And your sarcasm isn’t necessary either,” Susan remarked. “Now can I get you anything…water, coffee, tea?”
“Brian, please have a seat. You know that we did have a reason for bringing you all the way to New York,” Kellie added, “Otherwise we could have met in Pittsburgh.”
Brian motioned for a bottle of water. “This better be good,” Brian grumbled, as he began to make himself comfortable in the offered chair and accepting the offered bottle of water.
“I’m afraid, Mr. Kinney, I am that reason,” a female voice laced with faint hints of French and Italian accents said from the open doorway to the office.
Brian turned to come face to face with a stunning woman, immaculately dressed and standing by the partly opened door. The rest of the room fell silent.
Brian immediately stood up.
She walked toward Brian with her hand extended, “Mr. Kinney, I am Perin Silvestri,” she said, “And I’ve wanted to meet you for some time. I apologize for all the intrigue.”
Brian was speechless, but he did manage to shake the offered hand.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Perin continued with a genuine smile, “I see that all the rumors are true. They say that you’re also the best at what you do. Based on the preliminary figures for Collezione Fiero, I can see that everyone was right about you. By the way, I love the name Collezione Fiero. The choice of a name is brilliant and works so well internationally.”
“Why thank you,” Brian said confidently. “We thought so too.”
“Brian,” Maria said softly, “I’d like you to meet my mother.”
“You see Brian,” Cristina began, “My mother started Belluss Occhiali, and she watches over it like it was a third child. And in spite of appearances, it was my mother, who worked out our joint venture with Eyeconics.”
“Your mother?” Brian whispered.
“My husband is especially fond of you and Justin,” Perin continued. “He’s changed since his encounter with the two of you. I wanted to see why,” she said with a laugh, “That’s why I’m here.”
“I’m happy to meet you Signora Silvestri,” Brian could finally say.
“When you were at Vanguard, Darcy…the then Mrs. Vance…said you were a feast for the eyes. She was right. She also said that you were the bane of Gardner’s existence until he found a way to force you out of the company. I never understood what she saw in Gardner to begin with. Impossible man! Anyway, it was said even back then that you were the best at what you did. Then I heard that you started your own firm. That’s very impressive for one so young, and you’ve been very successful. Based on all that I’ve heard, we were very lucky that you agreed to create the campaign for our joint collection. I just wanted to say how very glad I am about that too,” Signora Silvestri added with a knowing smile.
“I’m flattered,” Brian said with a smile.
“Well, now that the introductions are all out of the way, let’s get down to the other reason that we asked Brian to come here,” Kellie began, “Although meeting Perin would have been reason enough.”
“Brian, you know what difficulty we had finding the right ad agency to handle the new collection, so we passed on several international showcases that we would have ordinarily participated in, deciding instead to use your strong ad campaign for our collection.”
“That would make sense.”
“Through an unusual set of circumstances, we have been asked to participate in one of those previously passed on showcases on very short notice. So we need to your help.”
“Why do you need my help? Belluss Occhiali has a reputation for making an outstanding blitz at these showcases, so you obviously have significant in house expertise in this kind of thing. So what exactly do you want me to do?”
“We know that Belluss Occhiali could effectively showcase the collections, but Eyeconics wants to have an impact too. Since this is a joint venture between our two companies, we just need you to oversee the preparations. We want things to have a different look than Belluss Occhiali would normally produce alone. You and Justin understand our companies so well…both individually and together. So we just need your help to make a spectacular showing at the showcase. This is very important to all of us.”
“Schedules are already a really tight these days with the Collezione Fiero rollout. Have you forgotten? Due to all the delays, you asked for an accelerated roll out of everything. I can’t believe that you want to add something else to the mix,” Brian said shaking his head incredulously. “Just out of curiosity, when were you planning on all this happening?”
“We were hoping that you and your team would leave for Milan immediately. It’s only for a few days. We really wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary. We have less than two weeks to get everything ready,” Kellie pointed out.
“You know that I would do anything within reason the make the Collection a success. But what you’re asking is out of the question,” Brian patiently insisted.
“Brian you can’t turn us down on this,” Susan protested strongly. “We can’t get this done without your help.”
“The creative team of Belluss Occhiali will be at your disposal,” Cristina insisted.
“As well the creative team of Eyeconics,” Kellie added, “We just need a little guidance and direction to pull things off. You can’t say no to us.”
“Sure I can,” Brian said easily.
“This showcase is really important to us,” Maria added. “Even Father understands that. He’s willing to spare no expense to makes sure everything is perfect. But we really need your help to pull this off on such short notice. We don’t have any time to lose.”
“So all of you have ganged up on Rudolpho. No wonder he escaped to Switzerland,” Brian teased.
“No, Rudolpho is here is New York. I suggested that he remain at the hotel. But if his presence is necessary so that you would help us, then I’m sure we could get him here quickly,” Perin insisted.
Before Brian could answer, Susan chimed in with a question.
“Where is Justin?” Susan asked, “I see that Rudolpho was right. He said that we should have approached Justin first with our problem. Justin being the artist would be more sensitive to our needs. He warned us that Justin would be more understanding of our plight,” Susan added said with some frustration. “But I felt that you could be reasonable about this, Brian.”
“I assure you, suggesting that Justin would be more reasonable about this is definitely not the way to garner my cooperation,” Brian suggested sternly. “Besides, you’ve obviously forgotten how much trouble Justin can be. So I wouldn’t take his cooperation for granted on this if I were you,” he added with a smile.
“I know that you’ll eventually be reasonable about this. Once Justin understands things, he’ll have a chance to make you see our predicament,” Perin added, “My husband indicated that he was very involved in our campaign, so it would probably be helpful if he were on our side. It may help to convince you to find a solution to our problem.”
“And you did say that he was in his studio here in New York…” Cristina added.
“So he could easily meet with us,” Maria added.
“And I would so love to meet Justin,” Perin added, gently touching Brian’s shoulder. “And if we meet tomorrow, Rudolpho can join us for our meeting too.”
“Then we would all be together to plot out our strategy for the showcase,” Kellie added.
Brian listened to the plotting among the five women in the room with him. He now understood why Rudolpho Silvestri was the way that he was. To spend almost a lifetime trying to win arguments Perin and Cristina and Maria on anything must have been daunting…especially when they joined forces. Brian was sure that taking over international companies and starting new companies both must have been far easier endeavors for Rudolpho to pursue than trying to rule his own household. No wonder he built such an expansive empire. And now the Silvestri women were pulling Kellie and Susan into their schemes.
Brian continued to listen to them making their case that they needed Justin to intercede for them. As he listened, Brian became amused by three turns of events: First, evidently since Rudolpho was out of intermediaries…Justin was now being pressed into service in that role. Second, it was clear that the Silvestri family had missed Justin, and each of them was trying to invent a reason to see him. Third, in spite of their problems in the past with the Silvestris, Kellie and Susan had somehow joined them now in whatever they were up to.
Brian shook his head and tried to figure out whether to simply remind this group that he, not Justin, was in control at Kinnetik, and that sooner or later, everyone in this room would have to learn to live with his decisions. Or, he could let everyone think that they’d won and simply ask Justin to get involved one more time.
Finally the talking among the women stopped.
“Brian, you’re awfully quiet. Say something.” Susan insisted. “Are you going to let us talk to Justin?”
“All right. You realize that Justin has a meeting schedule of his own so I can’t promise that he’ll be able to meet with you …” Brian said, and everyone in the room began complaining at once. Brian held up his hands to silence them all. “But…but I will talk to him to see if he’s available and willing to meet with you. That’s the best that I can offer.”
Once again, the women in the room started talking among themselves. Finally they stopped talking and agreed that Brian’s offer was fair. They agreed to meet tomorrow morning at the same time…and hopefully Justin would be there and able to help them.
Brian just shook his head.
“I wanted to come along on this trip so that I could finally meet you, Mr. Kinney,” Perin reminded him again.
“Please make that Brian….”
“Brian. I like that. And I’m Perin. Rudolpho and I are planning to have dinner with Darcy tonight. I’ll have so much to tell her. Especially when I tell her that I finally met you. She will be so jealous. You made quite an impression on her when you were working at Vanguard.”
“Please give her my regards,” Brian said sweetly.
“Of course, maybe if I had insisted that my husband bring me with him on his trips to the States years ago, I could have succeeded in securing Justin as a son in law,” Perin now teased. “Instead, I’ve had to nurse my daughters through their broken hearts in this matter.”
“I know that your daughters are fond of Justin, but I doubt that either Cristina or Maria are too broken hearted…in spite of what they may tell you. And I’m sure that by now everyone has filled you in on the fact that Justin and I are partners.”
“I was aware of that,” Perin confirmed with a smile. “Things do seem to have worked out I guess. I like you Brian. I feel that both Belluss Occhiali and Collezione Fiero are in good hands. We’re just a small family run company so it’s important that everyone work well together. And just between you and me, both my partners and my daughters adore you. What more could I ask for?”
“Indeed.”
“I feel better knowing that we’re all meeting tomorrow,” Perin said confidently. “I guess I can now release Rudolpho from the hotel. I’m sure he’ll be glad about that.”
“Knowing Rudolpho, he’s probably taken over another company during his confinement,” Brian said with a laugh.
“He did mention something about making a few phone calls this morning,” Cristina said slyly.
“It has been said that the mind of Rudolpho Silvestri never sleeps,” Brian quipped.
“Never,” Perin added, “I can attest to that.”
Everybody laughed. “I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Brian said, as he was gathering his things to leave.
“And we can hardly wait to see Justin...” Cristina added with a smirk.