April 2nd, 2006
Meeting with Franklin Ger, the COO of a Houzuki subsidiary
"Sir, you have to understand, this quarter is an outlier!" Ger explained. Despite the formal, businesslike tone, it was clear this was a man begging for his life. "The market isn't as invested in the—""Mister Ger, please." Father was like a wall, completely stoic, unmoving, unfeeling. "The market's captivity isn't the problem." He pulled a hefty stack of papers up from under his desk, big enough to make an ominous thump sound as he set it down.
Pearl had actually reviewed those same records just a few hours prior, as an informal test. Father didn't explain what he wanted her to find beyond saying "we are losing money." If she had come to the right conclusion, this poor man was not in for good news today.
The first thing she'd found was the company's growth charts. New and returning clients were up, and profits were seeing a steady, if a bit paltry, increase. By all accounts the profits should be much higher with what she was seeing.
The next page held a chart comparing this company's revenue compared to the other subsidiaries in similar markets, and again, things seemed to be better. It had overtaken one of the previous companies even.
She started to grow suspicious when she looked at the company's new and ongoing initiatives. Nestled in amongst standard things like new cybersecurity awareness training and R&D projects was a freshly started environmental sustainability partnership. It was innocuous at first: a simple partnership with a random charity paired with a marketing campaign about sustainability. The performative gesture picked at Pearl the wrong way, but there wasn't anything really wrong with it, in that regard at least.
On a whim, she carried the papers to the nearest computer to find what all she could about the group. She worked her fingers over the keyboard, still somewhat unused to the precision that fingers needed, until she found exactly what she was looking for. That was when the pieces started to click together. It was a simple group, touting intent to help several species of birds that had been dwindling in numbers in recent years. There were two major caveats to that: It was a for-profit charity, with one Mr. Franklin Ger serving as the chairman of the board.
With this new information in mind, it wasn't hard to find the discrepancies. The budget for this campaign was surprisingly hefty, for the comparatively small amount of advertising it was planned to receive. It wasn't hard to conclude that Ger was attempting to siphon the budget's bloat, and likely a good portion of what the campaign would raise into his own pocket with the deal.
Explaining her findings to her father got mixed reactions. On one hand, he was very proud of her and her deduction skills, and impressed with her ingenuity in using the computer. On the other hand, he was extraordinarily angry at Ger for the underhanded move. The profit loss wasn't insubstantial, the reputation damage was steep, but it was the audacity of using the good will of a charity to do this that had her father the most angry.
Now, back in the present, Ger was going to answer for exactly what it was he had done. Of course, he expressly didn't want to do that, which would lead into a depressing, familiar spiel.
First was the deflection.
"Then surely you've seen the growth!" Ger grasped the same line of logic she had. "Even with our metrics falling a bit short, our numbers are still growing!"
"It's not the growth that's the problem." Father emotionlessly shot back.
Then, the indignation.
"If I may ask, sir, why you are focusing on us while other companies are flagging much more severely than we are." Pearl could still picture the exact chart he was talking about. "Our market is still growing, it only makes sense there'd be some bumps in the road, if you will."
"I review all of the subsidiaries, Mr. Gir." There was ice in Father's voice now. He was not amused by the man's desperate attempts at deflection. "What I discuss with them has no bearing on our conversation.
Seeing his red hearings fail, he'd try to buy himself time with an alternative pitch.
"The numbers picked up at the tail end of the quarter, the next one should more than make up for things! We have a new campaign in the works that will surely help get things where they're supposed to be."
Pearl had to hide a wince. Big mistake bringing up the campaign. He was too nervous.
"Oh, yes. The environmental campaign."
The realization that they weren't going to make it always came next. It was the hardest part to watch.
"Yes!" Gir cried. "A partnership with—"
"Save it."
It always ended the same way.
"Sir, there's no need to be so hasty. The campaign is designed to—"
"You're fired."
No, watching them leave had to be the hardest part. She hated it. Logically, Pearl knew this man deserved it. He was trying to line his pockets by hijacking a charity campaign. But seeing them leave, the fear in their bodies, the almost relief in their eyes after they're fired, and the slow, measured walk out of the room, it always felt so dirty to her.
Father sighed and shook his head slowly side to side the same way he did after every hard decision. "Pearl."
"Father?"
"You did a good job with the report analysis. Do you agree with my decision?"
That was a tough question. He wasn't asking if he made the correct decision, that much was obvious. Gir was a detriment to the company and removing him was the only option. No, he was asking if she could have done the same thing. Could she have confronted him, stayed stone-faced, and fired him after the meeting was finished? It wasn't a question she could answer right now.
July 12th, 2007
A side room, during a meeting with Kensaki Co.'s Chief Ambassador
"Miss Kensaki is waiting for you in there, Pearl." Father gestured towards the side room they typically used for these meetings. "Remember to keep things respectful and cordial. You and her will be negotiating deals for decades at least, so it's important to forge a strong relationship now. If you need me, I'll be down the hall with Mr. Kensaki, working on a new deal.""Yes, Father." Pearl politely answered as she walked towards the room. She paused at the door long enough to watch her father slip out of the floor's break lounge with two cans of beer in hand a few moments later. A small smirk played over her face as she turned back to the door. Truth was, she was always a little excited for these meetings. They were good brakes from the usual droll of the business day, and a chance for her to let some of the 24/7 perfection act down a little.
Inside, she saw 'Miss Kensaki' sitting at the meeting table with her head in her hands, staring down at the black painted wood like it held the secrets of the universe. On the table in front of her was a small plastic binder with several scenarios they were supposed to discuss, essentially their own 'mock' business meetings they were supposed to conduct while the adults did the real thing a room over. It had been months since they'd actually done one, they were solved problems after all, so they usually just spent the time talking, and then the last 5 or so minutes reviewing the case before presenting it to their parents afterwards.
Pearl opened her mouth to announce her presence, but hesitated. If Father's going to treat this more like a hangout than a meeting, then I am too. Instead, she quietly closed the door behind her, and walked up next to the stressed looking girl. Again, she opened her mouth and closed it, biting back the formal greeting she'd been trained to give. It was a good skill to have, and very important for maintaining decorum with strangers, but this girl wasn't a stranger, and frankly, Pearl was getting really tired of keeping the act up all the time.
"Hey Marie!" She didn't yell the greeting, but she wasn't exactly quiet about it either.
The poor girl nearly launched out of her seat. She was a bit younger than Pearl, but she'd finished growing into her adult form like her all the same. Her mantle was a light gray, with two tentacles that fell to around her shoulders tipped in Marie's natural lime green color, which Pearl knew she was only holding out of practice. Red colored the pale skin around her mouth and ears, a clear sign of the agitation she was hiding in her ink coloration.
"Oh, Pearl!" A practiced, polite look covered her face in an instant. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I bet! You were so focused on studying that table there, I don't think you'd hear a splat bomb land next to you!"
"Ahaha... yeah..." Marie laughed awkwardly, but it was clear she was already falling back into her thoughts.
Pearl sighed and rolled her chair next to Marie before sitting down. "Something's got you bothered, and I don't need to stare at you for 5 minutes to figure that out this time."
"It's nothing." Marie was quick to deflect.
"That's not true, if it's bad enough to make you break face, it'd be enough to make anyone else cry."
"Don't worry about it." Marie turned her body away slightly, as if it'd be enough to deter Pearl.
It wasn't. "Aww, c'mon. I wanna know!" Pearl gave her a pleading look, but Marie never turned around to see it. She scoffed at the lack of response. "Yeah, alright." She reached for the plastic binder on the table. There was no intention of actually doing any of the work in it, but she needed to look like the responsible one for a moment. "You KNOW," she started while mindlessly flicking through the papers. "Father says that when something is really—" she pauses for a moment before doing a rather poor imitation of her father's angry voice— " 'makin you pissed off,' you have two options. Talk about it, or deal with it. Otherwise, it's going to compromise your thinking."
Marie finally turned back to glare at her. It wasn't what Pearl wanted, but it was a start. Pearl tried to encourage her by making a face, but Marie just slowly turned her head back.
Well, she'd have to actually go through with the act then. "Fine! We'll just sit here and talk about business then, like every other hour of the day." She leaned back in her chair and grabbed one of the pages at random, before lacing her next words with as much disinterest and sarcasm as she could manage. "Tell me about the steel market then. That's where we need to start out."
It took a few agonizing seconds, but Marie finally raised her head and turned to Pearl. She deliberately avoided meeting Pearl's eyes, but that was fine, as long as she— "Steel prices are up, thanks to the new plant opening up nearby."
Pearl deflated into her chair. "Oh my cod, you're actually just going to pretend like everything is fine."
"That's because it is." Marie reached for the page to read her role in the scenario they were supposed to act out.
"No, Marie, it isn't." Pearl slapped the page back into the binder before Marie could grab it, slamming the plastic lid down on top of it. "You and I don't need this work, and we haven't for months! It's all baby stuff now, who cares!" With a dismissive push, she shoved the binder closer to the center of the table.
Marie's jaw snapped shut. She stared for a few moments, her face blank, before reaching out to grab the binder.
Pearl scoffed again. This is actually starting to get frustrating. "Alright 'Mama's perfect little squid' you're the captain now. Tell me what to do and I'll sit here, silent and obedient."
There was a tense moment while Marie stared her down. "Pearl..."
"Nooooooo!" Pearl brushed the gaze off with a sweep of her hand and a turn of her head. "What are you complaining about? We're here on business, right?" She kept her face level, but the frustration seeped into her voice regardless.
She didn't miss the way Marie's hands curled into fists. "Pearl, look. I don't want to talk about it, ok? Can we just move on?"
No, no we can't Marie. This is supposed to be our break from this crap! I don't want to do MORE of it if I don't have to. She pushed away from the table, throwing her hands into the air. "Yes! It's business time! No more distractions, preamble, or banter! No breaks or breathers! No. Fun."
Marie remained locked at the table, her body rigid in an impressive display of discipline.
Unfortunately for her, Pearl was still more persistent than that. She waited until her chair stopped spinning from the kick off, before locking eyes. "Just like the obedient little squids we're supposed to be, yeah?"
A loud bang echoed through the room as Marie's fist slammed down on the table. "Cod!" Marie's chair shot backwards, crashing into the wall from the force she kicked it back with as she stood. "I want to quit! I don't want to do any of this anymore! Is that what you wanted to hear?!"
Pearl fixed her posture and wiped most of the smug look off of her face. "Yeah, actually, it is. Why though?"
Fists clenched and unclenched as Marie sucked down gulps of air. "It's everything! The work, the contests, the seminars—" Marie suddenly wheeled towards Pearl, throwing her hands into the air as she did so— "I hate all of it! It's boring and it takes so long and I don't get to do anything else! Ever! I don't want to do any of it!"
That had to be the most emotion Pearl had ever seen from the girl. I guess it's true that Marie has always hated the scenarios, but for the aversion to run so deep... but I think there's more. "So... why now?"
Marie visibly hesitated, before slumping into her chair in defeat. "It's Callie... she wanted us to do the folk singing contest tomorrow. She even signed us up a spot and everything, but Mama has another seminar she wants me to attend that day instead."
"That was the coral that snapped the crab's claw then." Pearl finished. "It's finally too much."
She got a nod in response. That really explained why this blowup was so out of nowhere. Beyond a few moments of minor annoyance, Pearl had seen no indication that Marie felt this sour. If she'd been shoving it down, and trying to ignore it, it was only a matter of time until that would blow up.
"Why not just... go anyway?" Pearl asked. "It's just one seminar, I'm sure it'd be fine to skip it."
Marie just shook her head morosely, and looked back towards the table.
The Kensaki family was much more strict than the Houzuki family. That much was obvious from their dress alone. Pearl still wore her crown at any chance she got, where Marie was always dressed up like she was a minute from a photoshoot. And with the seminars, Pearl had been to a good share of her own, but she didn't attend every single one on the calendar.
Regardless, if there was one thing Pearl knew how to do, it was read people. Marie's act was tight, it took Pearl an intense amount of study to realize that something was off on the good days, and she'd ever have guess Marie felt like that. Knowing what she did now, there was no way Marie lasted through another year of this, let along another decade.
"So you're just going to shut up and deal with this for the rest of your life?"
Marie didn't answer verbally. They locked eyes for a moment, and Pearl could see the conflict behind them.
The rest of the meeting passed mostly in silence. Surface level pleasantries, and the usual speed review of their scenario right before the end. Pearl thought that was where things would end, but was surprised by Marie suddenly pulling her into a quick hug, before following her dad out. The whole exchange left a strange flavor in her mouth, and a lot more of her own thoughts to dwell on.
July 12th, 2008
The 2nd annual Inkopolis Folk Singing Contest
"Don't count her out yet, she's small, but brings a big sound! It's Pearl!" The announcer happily cried to the crowd, sweeping his arm backwards to highlight her before ducking off stage.Pearl bounded forward, completely unfazed by the gaze of the crowd. She'd been waiting for months to get here, and she didn't intend to waste the chance. She happily scanned over the crowd as the music for her song started, hoping to spot Marie somewhere among them.
That day, a year ago, was the last time Pearl had seen her friend. From what she knew, the day after that meeting, she ran from her parents, performed at the contest, and then went off with her aunt. Pearl had been hoping to see her here, but it didn't look like she was, which made her hearts fall.
At least, that wasn't the only reason she was here. As the music kicked up, she launched into the verse with gusto, excitedly singing along and getting the crowd into the spirit. She sailed through the chorus and the second verse, building the energy all the while. People cheered and shouted as she blasted into the second chorus, and Pearl felt herself come alive. The singing, the crowd, the energy of the entire thing, she'd never felt anything like it before, and she loved it.
The chorus wound down into the bridge, the music fell away, save for a steady, thumping beat. Pearl mimed clapping, and the crowd eagerly followed, clapping sort-of-kind-of in time with the music as Pearl wound through lyrics. As the other instruments came in, Pearl added shouts of encouragement.
"Yes!!" As the people started clapping along
"That's it!" As the bassline came back.
"Come on!" As the guitars came back.
"BOOYAH!!" As the music hit the crescendo, leading to the final chorus.
Through the ringing in her ears she could distantly hear the announcer shouting "is anyone hurt?" as he ran past the stage with a first aid kit in hand.
Frantically, Pearl looked left and right. The speakers on either side of the stage were completely blown. Wires visibly dangled out of the hole where the cone was supposed to sit, the cone itself barely hanging by the end. Her breaths came ragged as she tried to get her bearings. Someone appeared behind her a few moments later, asking of she was hurt, which she only shook her head to.
She'd lost control of her voice, something she hadn't done in multiple years at this point. The only thing she could do for the rest of the day was bury her face in shame as the event staggered its way forward.
She didn't win.
March 3rd, 2009
Before a meeting with Eclectic Inking™
"We are going to decline this deal." Father announced, minutes before another meeting."What? Why?" Pearl asked from his side. At this point, she was capable enough that she often handled smaller contract meetings herself, or like today, joined her father as an equal representative of the company.
"Eclectic Inking is a failing company, they'll be bankrupt within a year."
"But this contract could save them! That's—"
"A risk." Father firmly shut her down. "And one that we're not going to take."
Pearl bristled at the words, but kept her mouth shut. She continued to keep her mouth shut through the meeting, only speaking when appropriate. As expected, the representatives were crestfallen at the denial, unfortunately, as expected, father refused to yield.
Had she been on her own, Pearl would have reworked the deal as best she could to minimize the risk while still giving the representatives a chance to save things. But she wasn't, so she had to keep her mouth shut and watch the pair dejectedly walk from the room.
The day proceeded as normal, but the gross taste in her mouth stayed with her the entire time.
August 22nd, 2010
The Houzuki Manor
The Houzuki manor was capable of hosting the entire extended family, their guests, and any guests those guests might think about bringing. This possible mix of people always made dinners an interesting time, as there was no guarantee who would or wouldn't be present. Unfortunately, there wasn't any visiting extended family today, so it was just the immediate family at the table."Well, how is everyone doing today?" Father asked, sending a pleasant smile to everyone. "I'll start. I managed to get 45 minutes on my exercise bike today!"
"That's lovely dear." Mother smiled at him from across the table. "I finished a book, third in it's series, and spent some time preparing the plans for the new library in the west wing."
Conversation paused for a moment as everyone worked on their meals.
Alex, Pearl's oldest sibling was the next to speak up. "I managed to secure a meeting with several large companies in prawn lands." They said, as they nonchalantly cut into the pigeon on their plate.
Father gasped. "Really?! They've been so resistant to our calls!"
"No business during dinner." Mother politely, but firmly, shut them down.
"But—"
"Henry, love, it's your own rule."
Father relented and put his hands in the air. "You're right. We'll talk after dinner, Alex."
"That took most of my day, which is why I mentioned it, I didn't really do anything else." Alex explained. "Sorry, for breaking the rule."
"Well," Pearl threw herself into the conversation. "I spent my time practicing some new songs!"
"Didja blow out another speaker?" Irving, the youngest of Pearl's siblings, snarked at her with a shit-eating grin.
"No, I didn't." Pearl indignantly shot back. "I haven't done that in months, I don't know why you're so stuck on it!"
He just stuck his tongue out in turn.
"Pt—" Pearl sputtered. "What did you do today then!?"
"I went outside and caught some bugs!"
"Of course you would, you—"
"Alright dears," Mother interjected. "Leigh, how about you? Anything fun?"
"Uh... not really." Leigh was Pearl's other younger sibling by about three years. She was much more soft spoken than the rest of the family, making her a bit hard to hear. "I spent some time with Anthony, while Father was... oh, that's business stuff."
"Do I know Anthony?" Alex asked, giving her a curious look.
"Ah, he's one of the Kensaki people... but he's kind of annoying..."
"Oh! That's like Pearl's friend, right?" They snapped their fingers, "Ma? Mar? Help me out here."
"Marie?" Pearl flatly supplied.
"Yeah her! What's that make Anthony, her brother?"
"He's uh, her cousin I think." Leigh quietly clarified.
"That'd make sense, since...uh. Yeah." Alex trailed off as Pearl sent them a death glare.
It rubbed Pearl the wrong way, how dismissive everyone was of Marie running away. On one hand, not their family, not their problem, and she understood that, but on the other, Marie was her friend. Kind of her only friend, really, and she didn't run for no reason.
It made her a little nervous honestly. What would her family do if she ran away? Not that she was going to, tides know she wouldn't, but... would they care? Would they try to find her, or just leave her be? I mean, we still talk to David, and he's kicked out right now, but that's different.
The feeling had been gnawing at her for a few months now, but she knew better than to bring something like that up, especially at dinner. The Houzuki family doesn't have a weak link, so she pushed the thought to the side, and rejoined the conversation.
"Has anyone checked in with David recently?" She asked. "He's been pretty quiet."
"Your brother is a crafty squid, if he's gone quiet it means he's found his thread." Mother not-so-subtly bragged on him, even in his absence. She did that for all of them, at least Pearl assumed.
"You might want to reach out to him yourself," Father suggested, between bites of food. "You've not got too much longer until it's your turn. If he's found a path he thinks he can take to the top, well, it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to take notes."
"Bleguh." Pearl rolled her head, and her eyes, at the response. "He's so hard to get a hold of!"
"Just a suggestion."
Conversation continued, pleasant and light. It was almost enough for Pearl to ignore the pit growing slowly in her stomach, just like it had been for months now.