Chrono Crusade Fan Fiction ❯ Corporations, Money and Love ❯ Sleeping Feelings and Business Receipts? ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One: Sleeping Feelings and Business Receipts?

 

`New York City, the lively bustling town on the east coast of the continental United States. The home of the Yankees and her majesty, the Statue of Liberty. Who wouldn't want to live in the business capital of the world? Pah! Not me, that's for sure.' Thought the blonde girl as she sat down on the warm cement and watched the boats sail past her dry cleaners shop. She glanced down the road and watched one of the few cars that ever passed by approach the little out-dated strip mall. The screeches of the sea gulls annoyed the girl even more the usual, since it was so damn hot that day.

 

`I swear it's like our own little Penisula out here, I wish I could just separate us from the mainland and be a true deserted island', the girl grumbled in her mind, she was brought back to realty when the door to the dry cleaners swung opened. The girl slowly brought her attention to the figure that stepped out of the shop with a broom in hand. The short woman, no younger then 60, wiped the sweat of her forehead and took in a deep breath.

 

“Such a nice day today, isn't it Rosette?” The old lady said in a sweet tone of voice. The girl who sat on the sidewalk nodded her head lightly as the gentle sea breeze blew through her golden locks. She stood up, stretched her arms out and sighed a breath of relief. The girl's sky blue eyes glittered beautifully against the oceans deep blue waves. Her navy blue skirt blew against the wind as a giant cruise ship approached the harbor. She heard the giggling and laughing aboard the giant ship as it slowly passed her shop. Her eyes gazed at the talkative corporation CEOs and the many celebrities scattered about the deck as it approached the landing area in the harbor. Crowds of cheering people and journalists surrounded the landing area with their cameras to the ready. Rosette shook her head in disgust.

 

“They're just wannabes, sucking up to the rich and famous, like a pack of starving dogs”, she strongly remarked as she turned around and stomped back into the dry cleaners. She walked across the old junked up carpet and lifted up a board at the counter to get through. She grabbed a chair that sat behind the counter and brushed past the drying clothing to get to her favorite window. She placed it down on the ground gently and opened the window to the other side of the ocean. Rosette placed her hands arms on the base of the window frame and rested her head. She continued to glance out at the ocean and wondered if she would ever be able to go out on a boat, to try to sail out into the unknown.

 

Outside, the old lady slowly began to brush the sidewalk of dust or anything else that could possibly be hidden on its surface. She glanced over to an approaching car, a nice looking one on top of that, a black Mercedes. “Right on time, as usual.” She said with a satisfactory look on her face. She turned and walked into the dry cleaners with ease. “Rosette, a customer is here,” she stated with her calm tone of voice. “Come up here and greet him for me, will you?”

 

Rosette slowly removed her gaze from the ocean to the door. She rubbed her eyes and made her way to the counter. She lifted the board and walked over to the doorframe to witness a man with black sunglasses close the door to a black Mercedes. `Yes, it's him all right,” she thought with an unsurprised look on her face. The man walked over to Rosette and casually dropped his clothing into her arm. Rosette was surprised by his sudden actions and was eager to kick his rude little ass all the way to Cleveland. She snarled at him and made an effort to tell him off, when he walked right past her. He entered the dry cleaners shop and stood in front of the counter. He turned his head to Rosette and tapped his foot eagerly.

 

“Are you going to do your job or not?” he asked in an inpatient tone of voice. Rosette stomped over and went behind the counter, over to the cash register. She was still pissed off at him, but knew that her job came before her own feelings and she had to grudgingly accept that. She began to work her magic on the little keys of her register and was rewarded with a little bell being sounded after she reached the total price.

 

“That will be $80 total,” she stated in a nonchalant voice, while holding her hand out. The man pulled a $100 bill out of his pocket and handed it to Rosette. Rosette put the $100 on the side of the register and removed a $20 bill from within its contents. When she handed him the $20, he smirked and shook his head.

 

“You can keep that and buy yourself a new wardrobe at the thrift store down the street,” he teased lightly. “I heard that there is a sale going on for the poor people in the city”. Rosette slammed her hands down on the counter and gave him a death glare that was sure to send any man running home screaming like a little grade school girl. She came around from the counter, handed him his receipt and pointed towards the door.

 

“There's your receipt, sir. Please come pick up your clothes on the date that is specified on the paper. Thank you for doing service with us.” She stated in a harsh tone of voice, controlling her urge to dismember his body and throw it into the harbor. He glanced at her as he walked through the door to his car and shook his head. The man entered his car and a started up the engine to the Mercedes. Rosette slammed the glass door shut and walked past the counter to her chair by the window. She sat down in it and glanced out into the sunset. “Someday… someday… I will be free…”

 

The Black Mercedes drove through the back roads of New York, regardless that it was rush hour. He parked his car in front of a huge skyscraper and was greeted by a chauffeur. The man was escorted out of his car by the chauffeur and entered the building. He was greeted by his secretary and was quickly pushed towards the grand elevator. His secretary has long ruby red hair and had the form of a professional model. Her chocolate brown eyes complimented her long yellow dress that fit around her body beautifully. “Sir, you know how Aion gets when your not on time for scheduled meetings. For heavens sakes why don't you go to a dry cleaners that nearby, better yet, why don't you have an errand boy do it for you?!” the secretary nagged to the man loudly. They entered the elevator and the secretary pushed the button to the 11th floor. The man sighed and scratched his head lightly.

 

“Satella, the dry cleaner that I chose to go to, on my own time, is my business,” he said in a calm, understanding voice. “Besides that is the cheapest place I can go to without having the media over-run me like a stampede. I hope you understand.” Satella nodded her head gently and glanced her eyes over to the doors. They reached the 11th floor and a little bell sounded when the little overhead light blinked to 11. The door opened and the elevator was instantly filled with flashes of light. The man sighed and exited the elevator with his secretary. Security was keeping the mobs of reporters and screaming fans back with poles in order to give the man a safe passage to the boardroom. One of the guards opened the door to the boardroom and secured it after they both entered the room.

 

“Chrono? It's been a while, how have you been?” a man with tanned skin and white hair asked in a casual fashion to the man entering the room. He wore a white signature named business suit with white shoes to compliment his attire. He was a very dashing young man, in the eyes of the public. Chrono moved to over to the desk in front of his guest and sat down in his comfortable black chair. On the desk was a bunch of organized papers that need to be looked through, he sighed, and knew that it was going to be a very long business meeting.

 

Satella left the boardroom as soon as Chrono engaged in conversation with Aion. She tightened her grip on the folders she was carrying to her desk on the 10th floor. `Aion has his influence wrapped around Chrono, like a puppet master controlling its marionette.' She thought in rage as she walked down the private staircase reserved for her and any other high-ranking employee in the corporation. “It's always been this way, Chrono can't tell Aion “no”, this isn't a partnership at all. Pretty soon Aion will do something to send our company under and he'll have the monopoly he always dreamed of…” Satella slowed her footsteps down to a slow walk, and then paused for a moment on the staircase. She stared at the folders in her hand and then continued to walk down the steps.

 

It was 8 at night in New York and Rosette felt completely relieved when she entered her apartment complex. She looked at the food in her shopping bags and smiled. She thought it was so funny how she could actually fill her grocery bags to the top with food, much less two of them. `So, this is what it feels like to make more then the minimum wage,” she giggled to herself while setting the bags on the small table. “And it was all because that idiot gave me his money. What kind of person just pulls $100 bills causally out of his pocket anyways?” she asked herself out loud. She glanced at her right hand and smiled at the nice ring she had wanted to buy for weeks. She wore it proudly on her middle finger and gazed at it lovingly. It was a normal white glazed ceramic ring, but it reminded her of a pearl that she received from her father when he was a sailor in the navy. Her eyes closed slowly and she felt her heart sink fast. She pulled out a chair from the table and rested her head on the table. “Father…”

 

“So you understand what I am proposing to you, right Chrono?” Aion asked in a business like manner. He moved a small chart of New York harbor towards Chrono and pointed out several areas out on the map. “If we buy this property right here, we can build a nice five-star restaurant and it will have a nice view of the sunset at night. But, this area here could be a problem.” He stated while pointing out a small Penisula area roughly big enough to hold small-sized businesses. “This will intervene with our guests' view of the sunset and the Atlantic Ocean. We may need to terminate it, but it's not particularly necessary at this point of time.” Aion explained as he went detail upon detail to the man sitting patiently in the big chair in front of him. Chrono rubbed his eyes slightly under his sunglasses and tried his best to look professionally bored, while still not trying to provoke his business partner.

 

“So what are the businesses like on the Penisula, any of our competitors?” Chrono asked Aion, he didn't like the idea of narrowing the competition any further then it was in this business. He wanted to keep Aion away from a potential monopolistic competition situation between their two companies. But, what concerned Chrono the most was that he couldn't trust Aion as far as he could throw him, as Aion already bought out small fry competitors already. He didn't want to give way and let Aion run all over his corporation.

 

“No, the only business making any sort of profit there would be a dry cleaning business ran by a sole proprietor and one worker. That's what my informative told me, anyways. Why do you wish to know?” Aion asked while taking a slight interest in his friend's odd question. Chrono rubbed his eyes again and got up from his chair. He stretched out his arm and yawned slightly.

 

“Well, lets end this business meeting, Aion. I am pretty tired from a long day's work, don't worry I'll look into your proposal and get back to you in a few months. Okay?” Chrono asked in a professional manner while walking over to the door and opening it for Aion. Aion shrugged his shoulders and got up from his seat. He put his hand on Chrono's shoulder and patted him on the back.

 

“Sure thing, I'll be expecting a call from you in a few months, with your answer, of course. Well, see you later, Chrono.” Aion said as he left the room and headed towards the elevator. Chrono slowly closed the door and placed his forehead on its wooden finishing. He sighed heavily and turned his head towards the window. The moon's glow reflected softly off his sunglasses and he ran his hands through his violet hair. He looked at the window to see a reflection of himself. He was muscular, tall, and he was remarkably handsome. His net worth was more the Bill Gates could ever dream of, he even had enough money to buy a small country. So, why was he so sad, so empty? He looked down through the large glass window, at the small little lights moving around from the cars commuting home.

 

“Home, family, what are those things? They are things that cannot be obtained with money, so what currency does “love” take?” He asked himself quietly. He shook his head and scolded himself. He had some many other things to worry about in his life, why should something like “love” register on his list anyways? “Register?” he spoke softly to himself. Chrono searched his pockets for something that the word reminded him of and pulled out a piece of paper. A simple receipt, from the dry cleaner's he was at this morning. He devoured the contents of the small piece of parchment for something that he subconsciously desired. But, what was it? Where was it? Why did he feel like he would gain something by wasting his time look at a receipt? He scrolled down the piece of paper and he found something on it that struck him like lighting to a lightning rod.

 

“I am Rosette Christopher and I was glad to have served you today. Please return in two business days to pick up the items you have left in our care. I thank you for having to do business with us.” He read to himself, thinking of her voice saying it to him personally. He smiled and tucked the piece of paper away into the context of his black jacket. He turned off the lights in the boardroom and headed towards the elevator. He went to the 10th floor to speak with Satella about the transactions that went on in the meeting with Aion. `I guess today wasn't as bad of a day as I thought.' He told himself with a smile on his face, still clutching the silly little receipt from the girl at the dry cleaners.