Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Jul 21, 2020 13:29:27 GMT -7
He walked with purpose down the hallway to the main conference room. Short strides at an increased pace. Shoulders extend and flex at a larger degree with each motion. The board had called an emergency meeting. It was a 2PM on a dreaded Friday afternoon. The sky was cloudy and a thunderstorm was on the horizon.
His helmet shaped brown hair remained unmoved even as he stormed down the hallway, already 15 minutes late to the meeting. It had become a routine for Roman to arrive late to meetings over the past month. There was a slow decline in his professionalism as president of a major company; walking around the office with Circe in tow, not responding to calls within an acceptable time frame, use of profanity, and working half days were other examples, but the tardiness to meetings was considered the worst by the other executives.
No doubt the board had met before hand without him, probably having multiple ‘secret’ meetings prior to this one. He had decided to dress in tradition corporate attire, or at least as traditional as Roman Sionis went. A tan colored two-piece suit with matching pants and black pinstripes. Underneath the suit jacket was a traditional white dress shirt and a cheetah spotted tie.
Walking right past the secretary, Roman burst through the double glassed door in order to enter into the main conference room. The windows to the glass door entrance were tinted so he was unable to see the faces inside.
The conference room table was a large oval shape made of wood that matched the color of his hair. A large banner that said “Janus Cosmetics” hung against the wall. At the head of the desk was a large green executive chair, an odd color and a new addition. There were 7-8 board members, representing a wide range of diversity from across the table. Women, men, black, white, Asian, Hispanic. All eyes focused on Roman when he entered into the room.
“Mr. Sionis,” one board member, began “Thank you for meeting with us on short…”
“Cut the BS,” Roman sharply interrupted, “What is heck is this about?”
The board members all looked around the room, looking for someone to follow up to Sionis’s question. They all wanted to say something, but this generation’s passive aggressive culture had caused some type of hesitation. It was the Asian board member, a gentleman who started.
“The Face-Paint line was a financial disaster. Our consumers shifted to the other brands. Revlon, Dior, Estee Lauder…”
“And they never came back! The damage was irrrreplaceable!” Spoke a female board member.
Roman Sionis bit his bottom lip, and started to grind his teeth. “I need more time…”
“We cannot continue the company as is. We are taking to many financial hits. Your over spending, your business decisions, the product lines, the lack of professional behavior,” The name of the Asian board director is Bromptom Wong, a holdout from his father’s old regime. Graduate of George Washington University in Washington DC. He interrupted Roman, finally the board was showing their true feelings. They were finally peeling off the mask.
Roman responded, “I need more time!”
“Setback? Time? Roman, we were willing to give you more time In order for waterproof to hit the market, but the incident at the coffee ship has led to negative news articles, telephone calls from feminist groups, boycotts of the company all across social media, and the list goes on,” spoke the female board member. Her name is Cayla Lyons, a new graduate from Vanderbilt. She is young. She is southern. Roman had hired Cayla in hopes of bedding her, but he had underestimated her integrity and strength.
The list seemed to be going on and on to the point where Roman felt sick to his stomach and a bounding headache began to resonate. The best way to alleviate the headache was to go on the offensive.
“But, water proof is already in pre-production!” Roman raised his voice, offering his hands out trying to compromise.
“Yes, and our product testers discovered that waterproof causes skin rashes and 1st degree burns! You did not test it properly! It could have led to thousands of lawsuits against us!” Cayla snapped back.
“Roman, what we are trying to say is that the banks are refusing to bail us out. We have no choice, Janus Cosmetics had to be sold while there was still something to sell. The vote was unanimous.” Brompton sternly said.
“WAS?” Roman growled. “What the heck do you mean Brompton?!”
Cayla hit the intercom button, a silent signal. She then responded for her co-worker, “There was only one potential purchaser…may I introduce the new owner of Janus Cosmetics…”
Cayla, Brompton, and the rest of the board members focused their attention on the main doorway leading into the conference room.
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Avalikia
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Joined May 2020
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Post by Pamela Isley on Jul 22, 2020 12:40:01 GMT -7
"...Thank you, darling, I'll be in touch soon," Pamela said into her cellphone as she walked in the door. Tucking her cellphone into the inner pocket of her blazer, she smiled at Roman as she walked past him.
Though it normally wasn't her style to repeat an outfit, she was very intentionally wearing the exact same ensemble that she'd been wearing when he'd hired her not actually that long ago. She hoped that he'd notice and that the reminder of just how far the tables have turned would be salt in an open wound for him. Besides, she looked fabulous in it and it was plenty fashionable for her new position as owner of a failing cosmetics company.
So great was her sense of self-satisfaction in this moment that she practically floated her way into her seat at the head of the table as she said, "Janus Cosmetics has indeed fallen into hard times - fallen right into my price range, as it happens. Which is really quite fortunate for all of you because that means I have the luxury of saving most of you from financial ruin."
Of course, she had no intention of saving Roman, but she was waiting until the perfect moment to inform him of that. She'd save the board members though - not out of any sense of altruism, but because taking all of them down too would actually cost her a lot of money and she had no vendetta against them to make it worth it to her. Besides, she was sure that none of them would have any problem seeing him take the fall - the man was so good at making all who knew him hate him - and it would only add to his misery to be the only one to go down with the ship. If she played her cards right she might even manage to turn a slight profit from this mess, personally, but if not then the hit to her own finances would be minor and she honestly didn't mind spending the money to take Roman down personally.
"If you would kindly take your jaw off the floor and have a seat, Mr. Sionis, we have much to discuss about the future of my company - we have to act quickly if we're going to protect my investment. Fortunately, your delay in getting here gave me some time to make a few calls - you wouldn't believe how many friends of my friends are willing and able to help us out," she said, absolutely enjoying this moment, which was reflected in her smile if nothing else. She was much too graceful and dignified to openly gloat about this more than she already was, but the emotion was certainly there and she wasn't hidden very deeply.
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Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Jul 23, 2020 11:41:59 GMT -7
Pamela bleeping Isley. Out of all the people it had to be her. She walked in with 100% pure class. She smelled intoxicating. Her hair was perfection. Skin fair and smooth. Legs long and seductive. Waist thin and gorgeous. Roman Sionis was born with average looks and with an average height. Brown bowl shaped hair. Dull brown eyes. Flat face. He often wondered what it would have been like to be born and gifted with a natural beauty. To be naturally handsome. Like Pamela Isley. Like Bruce Wayne.
She had walked in and pulled the carpet out from right underneath him. No doubt Pamela Isley was enjoying this. No doubt that she was wearing the exact same outfit she wore the day he hired her on purpose. He might as well have literally fallen flat on his face in front of everyone.
Even though she looked fabulous. Even though part of him lusted after her. Roman Sionis hated her guts. He HATED Pamela Isley.
"YOU!" Roman sneered, "I fired your ass. I thought you were buried. I thought your career as a player in Gotham would be over! After all I kicked you to the curbside. There is no way in hell that this is your company! Janus Cosmetics will never be YOUR organization. Not while I still act as president and CEO."
An image of Pamela Isley being thrown out of the Janus Cosmetics corporate building with his hand on her belt buckle and the other hand on the back of her collar shirt brought him amusement. One, two, three heave ho! The thought of her splashing face first in Gotham City sewage water brought him even greater delight. Another image that popped into his head was one where he circled around to her executive chair, grabbed her by the hair, and smashed her head over and over again against the conference table until her eyes rolled into the back of her head or she yelled uncle.
"Don't be taken in by her promises. She is a parasite. She is a insignificant chess piece in this city. She doesn't have the connections. She is a loner with no friends. She can't save you. Only I can." Roman spoke, pointing to himself with pride. He turned to his two outspoken board members. "Brompton! Cayla! Call security on the double, and ask them to escort Ms. Isley out of this conference room, out of this building, and out of Gotham. Her presence disgusts me. Last time we spoke, I fired her. Therefore she is beneath ME. Roman Sionis!"
Roman smiled at the entire board. He noticed Cayla was looking at Brompton with a twinkle in her eye. A man who could be her father. They were probably sleeping together. Or at the least, allied politically. If they were smart, Brompton or Cayla would know what to do.
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Avalikia
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Post by Pamela Isley on Jul 24, 2020 5:20:30 GMT -7
As Roman vented his objections, Pamela's smile was not diminished one iota. She was, indeed, enjoying this. And she felt no need to rub in just how little it mattered that he'd fired her - it hadn't really mattered to her that he'd hired her either. She wasn't some wannabe socialite who needed the money or prestige in order to get ahead - she was already ahead. Someone like Roman, who had been burning bridges with everyone right and left lately, could hardly touch her socially.
Though when Roman attempted to throw his position in her face, even though she didn't seem bothered that caused Brompton to speak up and start to say, "You are President and CEO at the discretion of the board, and in light of recent events..."
"Now, let's not be hasty and get ahead of ourselves," Pamela interrupted, "I have many plans for Janus Cosmetics but running it personally is not one of them." This caused Brompton to blink once in surprise, but he nodded deferentially to her and went silent.
But Cayla was quick to speak up and fill that silence. "Either way, it isn't up to you. We had to sell, and like I said she was the only one willing to pay what we were asking for. It would have been foolish for us to not take her up on it. And it's already been done - the agreements have been made, the paperwork is signed. She is the owner," the woman said firmly.
"The counter-offers were terrible..." Brompton added somewhat gravely, trying to impress upon Roman the fact that what Ms. Isley offered was far more than they were likely to get from someone else.
So much so that even the board members who might have been inclined to listen to Roman's opinion in the past had been on board with the deal, and they weren't listening to him now. Especially since it wasn't as if the board hadn't thoroughly vetted Pamela before they accepted her offer, ensuring such basics as making sure that she actually had the money she was offering and seemed to be someone that could fulfill her other promises. The people in this room had a lot of money on the line, after all.
And what he was saying was blatantly untrue, anyways. So much so that even she couldn't let him get away with saying she didn't have connections and friends. She leaned back slightly in her chair and pulled her phone out of her pocket again. "I just got off the phone with a Miss Veronica Vreeland - a close friend of mine, but let's see who else is on my contacts list..." she said, starting to scroll through it and naming off just a few select names - carefully avoiding both the more insignificant names as well as her more criminal contacts, "Dr. Thomas Elliot... Mayor Hill, of course... Salvatore Maroni... Finbar O'Neill... Bruce Wayne..." She paused and looked over at Mr. Sionis, "I'd go on, but I think my point is proved. I get invited to everyone's parties so, of course, I know everyone. Or if not them, then their wife or daughter."
"Now, are you going to sit down and listen to my plans for my company, or do I need to call up my security team and have you escorted out of my building? Your presence is not required and I'd be happy to email you a summary later," she said, still quite calm and very amused. She actually wasn't sure which she would prefer - to see him dragged kicking and screaming from the meeting or to be able to see the look on his face when he heard about her plans. Either way, it would be quite entertaining.
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Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Jul 24, 2020 11:53:57 GMT -7
The laryngeal prominence on Roman's neck triangle moved vertically when Pamela mentioned the names off her roladex. It had been awhile since his thyroid cartilage had that much of a workout in one motion. All of the people she did list were indeed prominent figures in Gotham Cities culture, and each would greatly benefit the company in their own way. Veronica Vreeland represented high society. She is the best individual marketing tool that Janus Cosmetics could have. The amount of parties she hosted, the influence she had over women of all demographics, if Vreeland was wearing their product she could easily make a million for the company within a month. She would also be able to help lessen the public relations blow that the organization suffered after the 'coffee shop' incident. Dr. Thomas Elliot's endorsement of Janus Cosmetic products would give them credibility within the medical community. Mayor Hill could give help them offset rules, regulations, and taxes. In addition to establishing laws that would help the cosmetic and makeup industry as a whole. Salvatore Marconi gave them an edge in the underworld and would greatly assist with shipping, logistics, and coercion tactics against their competitors. As the head of a pharmaceutical agency, Finbar O'Neill would also boost their reputation within the medical community. More importantly, O'Neill could greatly help with minimizing production costs. And then there was Bruce 'freaking' Wayne. The entire city held a breath whenever he sneezes. He is the male equivalent of Veronica Vreeland in terms of marketing. Bruce Wayne using a Janus Cosmetic cologne? Men would clamor for it. Wives will beg their husbands to run to the department store to pick up a bottle. But what made Bruce Wayne even more of an asset was access to Lucius Fox, only the greatest business mind Gotham City has to offer.
She's probably masquerading. I doubt she has strong relationships with all of them. Maybe a passing knowledge or acquaintance like interactions. But it is to risky to call her out on it. If she is able to come through with even one of them, she'll gain another leg up. I don't want to risk it. We'll continue to play this game for now.
Ruminating on all of these things in his mind, Roman did have a seat at the opposite head of the conference room table, so that he was directly facing Isley. It was the signed paperwork that put her in the position of power, at least in his mind. A signed contract is resolute in any court of law.
"You're bluffing," Roman muttered to himself as he sat down. Roman placed his elbows on the table, intertwined his fingers, and scotted to the edge of his chair. "Okay Pamela. I'll humor you for a moment and listen to your plans." Roman quoted 'plans' with his fingers before re-intertwining them. "But frankly, you have no idea how to run a successful company. You're just a low life botanist. I mean really, who takes botany seriously? Botanists are failed chemists, and a very poor man's ecologist. Botany can't even hold the jock strap of zoology. Heeeeeeee! You're not even a good botanist. After all it was YOUR early formulas for WATERPROOF that resulted in the 1st degree burning and rashes, " Roman grinned and scoffed in between words. "Yep. You're just a botanist with no real experience in the corporate world."
Heh. Good job applying pressure Roman. Whatever ideas she has will already sink her. Sharing them while triggered? She'll bury herself even more. It will show these idiot board members that they made a huge mistake by accepting her offer. They'll be begging for me to take the company from her.
Indeed. He could not wait to here what type of propositions she had for Janus Cosmetics. It will be all fantasy and fan-fiction. The trash trade paperback novels that were only good for kindling.
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Avalikia
85 Posts
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Post by Pamela Isley on Jul 24, 2020 21:38:16 GMT -7
When he sat down, Pamela was almost disappointed. She very much would have enjoyed watching him be dragged out by security. Then again, perhaps that would still happen - the day was still young, after all.
Especially since he was still giving her an attitude as if refusing to accept that she was putting him in his place. This genuinely didn't bother her, however - she didn't need to pretend that she was calm, she actually was calm. Mostly because she knew exactly what she was about to do to him - let him showboat and rant all he wanted, it would do nothing to save him. It was almost adorable to see him strut around like he was still important.
This was why she wasn't necessarily in a hurry to actually begin to present her plans - she had the luxury of being able to string this whole thing out as long as she wanted. So even though she wasn't bothered by his absolutely ridiculous statements about her profession, she saw no reason why she shouldn't address it anyway. "I have a double major doctorate, darling. Botany and toxicology - two doctorate degrees, in the hard sciences. Tell me, because I'm curious, did you actually go to business school or did you ride your father's coattails your entire life?" she asked smiling at him from across the table.
"Either way, you were obviously ill-prepared to take the reins of the company - exactly how long has it been again since you were put in charge? And Janus has been doing a rather graceless belly flop in the stock market ever since. I couldn't very well do worse than you have, could I?" she added, the smirk on her face simply refusing to go away.
And she wasn't the only one looking entertained by this - Brompton and several of the other board members considered themselves to be too professional to show any pleasure in this, regardless of their personal feelings, but Cayla was among the others who were smirking and otherwise showing some restrained signs of pleasure at seeing this man who had been a thorn in their side being put in his place.
"As for your accusation, it's obviously groundless - among the notes I faxed in when you fired me, and I still retain the original, I quite clearly indicated that the formula needed further testing. And yet I understand that it had already been under production when the problem I predicted was found? You should be more careful with your accusations, Mr. Sionis, I could quite easily win the lawsuit for slander," she added, not that he'd have anything left for her to sue him for very soon, but it was fun to imagine it.
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Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Jul 25, 2020 21:15:22 GMT -7
Ouch..that hurt....
Ever since he murdered his parents, Roman Sionis had vowed never to wear a social mask again. Instead he embraced his DSM V Axis two personality disorder. Wear your emotions on your sleeve. Be outspoken in every situation. That is why Roman could not help but have a sullen expression on every feature of his face, with the exception being his eyes, when Pamela compared their educational backgrounds. His lips formed an umbrella shape, cheeks sagged, a drooped nose, the forehead relaxed, and his breaths became heavy yet still paced at about 14 breaths per minute.
Roman was not sure if this was public knowledge, but he did attend Gotham State University for a period of time. At best he was an average to below average student who attempted to major in economics with a specialization in economic history. As an infant, Roman was dropped on his head by the delivery doctor. In order to keep the news out of the press and to prevent 'stain' upon the Sionis family name, Charles Sionis and Mrs. Sionis refused to file a lawsuit against the responsible physician. Roman Sionis possess excellent eye sight, decent hearing, and above average responses in gustatory and tactile sensations. These factors rule out damage to the occipital, parietal, temporal lobes of the brain, leaving only the frontal lobe as the area of the encephalon to be heavily damaged during the incident.
Because of this, Roman struggled in school. He passed macroeconomics with a B minus and barely passed microeconomics with a C minus. It helped that he paid one student for all of the answers to the final exam study guide, and greased the palm of another classmate to have a final paper written for him. By the time the advanced courses came into affect, Roman crumbled, and eventually flunked out of school. Damage to the frontal lobe of the brain during the infant drop fiasco, specifically trauma to the Roman's prefrontal cortex, caused an inability to stay focused on task. Roman also has a very short attention span and difficulties with concentration. All of these symptoms led to a very poor result in university.
He let everyone snicker and chuckle before snapping back, "For the record. Charles Sionis gave his son an opportunity and that was it. The son of Charles Sionis started at the very bottom of Janus Cosmetics and slowly worked his way up the corporate ladder. It took over half a decade, but that son made it. AND I LIKE TO SEE ANY OF YOU DO BETTER! HISSSSSS." Roman spat with venom at every single board member and then slithered his tongue at Ivy. "Make all of the 'Haha and Hehe' comments you want, PAMELA! But I helped build this company while you were still studying to be a tree hugger. You can cover your tracks with paperwork, but I know you were responsible for the negative side affects of Waterproof. Now, are you going to share your GRAND idea? Hopefully it won't be converting most of our assets to rain forest conservation. Either way, as CEO and President of Janus Cosmetics, I'll probably have to inspire us out of any lackluster vision you present."
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Avalikia
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Post by Pamela Isley on Jul 26, 2020 2:14:17 GMT -7
Though Pamela, like Roman, had grown up in a wealthy family, in many ways they were very much the opposite. The subjects that she truly excelled in were some of the sciences, but she wasn't a terrible student in any of the other subjects either. Not that she didn't have any struggles in her youth, but her struggles were social and not academic - she was painfully shy and friendless all the way from childhood to university.
But she'd put that past behind her. She didn't need any friends besides her plants - people, especially men, were duplicitous, uncaring monsters, and only useful as potential tools. Those who weren't useful tools were either threats or they didn't matter. And Roman was rapidly becoming the latter for her.
When he attempted to emphasize the fact to the board members that he'd apparently worked long and hard to get his position, she looked fully unmoved by his words. In fact, she only reacted to them with a dismissive, "Nobody in this room is poor, Roman, and not all were born rich." Just pointing out to him that this wasn't a group that was likely to be impressed by his story about how he worked hard for what he had. One didn't become a board member of a company like Janus Cosmetics without having some money to throw around, after all, and they'd either earned it themselves or they'd inherited some wealth - and those that inherited it weren't the type to squander it. And just to emphasize that he wasn't above anyone here, she proved for the first time that she knew his first name.
"And you can think what you want about what happened - I'm the one with proof," she added dismissively, so confident in it that she didn't see any need to debate with him further on it. She'd long since come to the conclusion that there was something unhinged about him, and you couldn't argue with crazy - even if she had to admit that it was somewhat fun to do so now that she held all the cards.
But especially when he directly encouraged her to show her hand, she supposed that she'd delayed long enough. She wasn't going to lay it all down at once, however - no, she would do it card by card until he finally saw the full picture. "Janus Cosmetics has indeed hit dire times - not only is it out of funding but it's in so much debt already that there isn't anyone left who is stupid enough to grant another loan. So the only solution is to make some very severe cuts - we must get rid of all the dead weight," she stated, prompting several very serious nods from the board members.
That much of her plan would sound actually fairly standard for companies in dire circumstances. It was possible for a failing company to close and sell off whole pieces of itself, shrinking in size but allowing the rest of it to continue on. In fact, there were some companies that managed to bounce back from that quite well, ending up even stronger than they were before. That wasn't what Pamela had in mind for Janus, but she'd let Roman think it was for the moment - he'd realize that she considered the entire company to be dead weight soon enough.
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Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Jul 26, 2020 10:52:16 GMT -7
In 1896 Sir Francis Galton coined the psychological behavior therapy of 'nature vs nurture.' Roman Sionis would be an interesting case study to delve deeper in that theory. For as long as he could remember. Roman Sionis always knew that his parents wore social masks wherever they went. He was indoctrinated with this type of conduct. Naturally, Roman unconsciously adapted this thought and action process. Instead of parties, balls, and social gatherings, Roman's main setting was at school. Roman was a bully. A malicious manipulator. He wasn't the type to throw food at the cafeteria table, or heckle in the classroom. No, he was worse. He would befriend someone. Court them. Earn their trust. Only to leave and abandon them in their greatest time of need. Roman would find out the dirtiest, darkest secrets a child was holding inside, and then unleash them in Iago type whispers among the student body. Yes. That is the way he was. If Isley's struggles were her shyness and lack of friends during her youth, Roman would have found a way to exploit that with pleasure. Was Roman a natural instigator? Was he born to be that evil? Or was he more of a product of the monstrosities that his parents represented? Time will tell. But one thing seemed for sure, Roman was born to antagonize Pamela Isley. That is why he was attempting to shift his demeanor. Throwing spitballs and flinging rubber bands was not working. He had to earn Isley's confidence before pulling off a successful coup. She had to fully believe in him as a friend, co-workers, and right hand man before reclaiming HIS empire.
Roman knew Isley was crazy and foolish. Only an insane person would deny him entrance into her home. Only an crazy person would say they could quit a fantastic company like Janus Cosmetics whenever they wanted. Isley had done and said those things of course. Now, Roman had an inkling that she would be foolish enough to consider him dead weight. A foolish person could not be reasoned with. They could only be manipulated and have their ego stroked.
"Pamela, please," Roman said with a shift in tone, and a gentle smile "One of the reasons this wonderful company got off to such a slow start under my regime is because I did not fully become Janus Cosmetics. I was still trying to be Roman Sionis, the son of Charles Sionis. So from now on, simply call me Janus, and that goes for all of you. I shall go by the name of Janus Sioinis from now on." He opened his arms up to his rival in a peace offering. "Pam, I know we got off to a very rocky start in our relationship. You had some innovative ideas for the waterproof line, even though your formulas might have caused potential side affects. I forgive you. Thank you for loaning us the money in order so this sublime property can continue to operate as the top cosmetic empire in Gotham. I promise as CEO and President that your investment will be repaid with interest. I have a wonderful new idea so you won't have to go through the trouble of extinguishing any dead weight. When my parents died in that unfortunate fire, I realized that Charles Sionis never tapped into the lucrative market of MORTICIAN'S COSMETICS. If we can somehow harness that clientele, we would get back on track in a manner of weeks! I mean, people die everyday right? And Pamela, I know your established relationships with Elliott, Marconi, Hill, and crazy old Finbar can help us tap right into corpses. Not bad proposal huh? It is brilliant actually."
Roman was pleased with himself. The thought had indeed come up right on the spot. If Pamela cut off the dead weight of the company like she was planning to do, then all of Roman's hard work of placing the chess pieces on the board exactly the way he liked it would all go down the proverbial drain. In fact, when Roman first became the President of the organization, he had already trimmed the fat of the company. He had only left those who could kiss his ass properly, those he could torment, and those he wanted to sleep with around the office. Also, his idead forced Pamela to tap into those resources she named dropped in order to impress the board. If she truly knew those people, then great! He made money. If she didn't? Then a huge egg would splatter all over her pretty face. Either way, Roman Sionis could not lose.
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Avalikia
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Post by Pamela Isley on Jul 27, 2020 16:36:15 GMT -7
Though it was often the case that a personal weakness from youth became a weak point to a person as an adult, that wasn't always true. Sometimes, with a great deal of effort, that person turns what was once a weakness into their greatest strength. Such was the case with Pamela. It probably wasn't the mentally healthiest thing for her to have reached a point where she simply didn't care about other people anymore, and the way she manipulated others was certainly unethical, but that meant she now had a certain unwavering confidence and felt no strong need for the companionship of other people.
What that meant is that someone wishing to torment her could learn all about her past history but that wouldn't really help them with their cause. Her shyness was simply gone - she wasn't that person anymore. it wasn't that she'd learned how to pretend to have confidence while still secretly harboring some lingering personal doubt, it was that she was now a genuinely confident person, so trying to bring out that emotion of her youth simply wouldn't work. And any attempt to tap into her old feelings about being friendless wouldn't work either - if everyone who called themselves her friend simply abandoned her one day, she would see it as an inconvenience and nothing more. She had become a tough and hardened woman, difficult to injure.
And one of the reasons why she was difficult to injure is that she was suspicious to a fault. When Roman changed tactics so suddenly it wasn't difficult for her to see what he was trying to do, but even if he'd managed the transition with more finesse or even had attempted to strike a more conciliatory tone in the first place it wouldn't have helped. The reason was that he could have genuinely changed his mind and decided to attempt to make amends and she wouldn't have believed it - in truth, she believed that everyone in the world was secretly exactly like him. Or, at the very least, they could be so it was safest to assume as much.
His statement that he wished to go by a different name only caused Pamela to lift her eyebrow at the oddity of it, and many of the board members looked confused by it. While they were somewhat accustomed to his... eccentricities, it was easy to wonder if he was being serious or not. But since he was addressing Pamela directly, they were less inclined to interrupt. For her part, she still seemed to be simply amused by his words more than anything else - so she let him ramble on. It only played into her point anyways.
Because it was all too easy for her to dismiss the entirety of it. "I don't need or want your forgiveness, Roman - I did nothing wrong," she stated, because no she wasn't going to be ridiculous and call him Janus, "And it wasn't a loan, it was a purchase - which means that you have no authority to decide anything without my go-ahead. And the last thing that I'd ever agree to is an expansion of any kind, least of all into a product line that nobody would ever buy. I would have thought that you'd know by now that digging downward only makes the hole deeper by now, but apparently not." Once again her words prompted amusement from several of the board members, but they otherwise held their peace.
"Now, do you have any more obviously faulty proposals to present, or shall I continue?" she asked with obviously false politeness. She could play this game all day, but she assumed that the others would want it to be over at some point.
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Post by Roman Sionis on Aug 2, 2020 18:48:27 GMT -7
Wow. What blatant disrespect, the fact that she referred to him as Roman when he had asked to be called Janus. Then, she had completely trampled upon his idea to tap into the funeral home market without even considering it! What nerve!
Bromtpon was the one who stepped in between the two, "Both of you have your points. In order to grow we'll need to expand. But now is not that time. Even if we develop the anti-body for the next strain of SARS and MERS, no one will purchase it from us because of the damage the company's reputation has taken with EXTREME and Roman's coffee shop debacle. For now, I agree with Ms. Isley. Janus Cosmetics needs to cut expenses, downsize, re-build, and re-brand. Roman's idea of entering into the mortician market is not a bad idea. However, in my experience, it will take multiple things to get us back on track. Not just one idea, but a series of good decisions, and I trust the company in the hands of Ms. Isley to make a series of good decisions...with some guidance from this board of directors."
Back in his twenties, thirties, and forties, Brompton Wong was an incredibly good looking man, especially for being an Asian male. He had entered the cosmetic industry after being a model for various clothing catalogs. He had also participated in numerous acting roles before becoming an executive. Whatever happened to Janus Cosmetics, he would be okay. He had enough connections in the city and a level head that he would land on his feet. Not at a board level, but he would be able to find work fairly quickly. In fact, he already had a few offers on the table from other companies. In reality, he did not prefer Isley over Roman or Roman over Isley. Both had their strengths and weaknesses.
Roman turned back to his nemesis, "Okay Pamela, before you continue, I want to know why you decided to purchase Janus Cosmetics? From our interview, you never came across as someone who would like to be an owner of a cosmetic company. Research and development seemed more of your passion. So why? Why did you decide to pump your money into my property?"
Outside it began to drizzle. The clouds continued to darken and grey over the downtown area of Gotham. The people on the streets were beginning to seek cover from the rain or put up their umbrellas in order to keep dry. A thunder and lightning show seemed inevitable. Both inside and outside of this board room.
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Avalikia
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Post by Pamela Isley on Aug 3, 2020 19:04:31 GMT -7
When Brompton spoke up again, Pamela looked over at him with a rather neutral demeanor, aside from the omnipresent smile that indicated that she was enjoying this entire situation. Internally she thought his words strange - was he someone who simply couldn't stand conflict or was he somewhat touched himself? Since when is entering into the mortician market not a terrible idea, obvious to anyone?
She wasn't worried, though, because if Brompton or any of the other members of the board disagreed with her plans then she could quite easily change their mind by simply having a private word with them. She could do the same to Roman, actually, but she was having far too much fun by not doing so. Making people compliant was far too easy sometimes, and she didn't want to spoil her own fun.
Speaking of which, she turned her gaze back to Roman when he spoke up yet again, and her smile turned amused at his question. "I think that we've firmly established that you learned nothing about me during that interview, darling," she replied first before answering, "But I have several reasons. One is that I was an employee at a company named GothCorp when it started to fail about a year ago - for very similar reasons, actually - so I was able to witness what it was like to be in that position from the inside. Of course, that company was much more expensive to bail out, so there had been nothing I could do about it. But I saw what could be done if one had the money so of course when I saw Janus's present difficulties - which are, as I said, quite similar - I saw that it was within my power to do something about it this time. Like I said, I believe that I can save almost everyone here from financial ruin, and quite possibly make a little money myself while I'm at it, so why shouldn't I do so? It may" She turned her gaze to smile at the board generally.
But then her attention became more focused or Roman specifically as she added, "And then, of course, there was the fact that I was very recently told that I would have difficulty working in this town again, perhaps being relegated to serving coffee - obviously by someone who had no idea what they were talking about - so I get a rather intense feeling of satisfaction about making that person financially dependent upon me." Her smile got big enough to reach her eyes as she added, "I'm only human, after all."
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Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Aug 5, 2020 12:15:55 GMT -7
What blatant disrespect...
"Pamela, please. Roman no longer exists within the confines of these walls. It is Janus." Roman said politely. For the majority of their adult lives, Charles and Mrs. Sionis wore social masks. Even Carl Jung would bang his head against the wall in attempts to figure out why they did so. This meeting was beginning to help Roman understand why they did so. To quote Gordon Gecko, it is about the social interaction. It is about the game within, and Roman's main goal in this competitive interaction was trying to figure out a way to wipe that smile off Pamela Isley's face.
Her opening response to his question of why she decided to invest in Janus Cosmetics had a small underlying of altruism to it. To save jobs. To save everyone from financial ruin. Who does she think she is, Lex Luthor? But Lex Luthor, behind the nobility of each action, there is something more devious. It only took a mere second for Isley to admit that her main reason for purchasing, was to spite Roman Sionis.
The future mob boss began to grind his teeth. The future mob boss began to inhale and exhale heavily through his nostrils, like a volcano on the verge of explosion. Roman continued to do this for over 30 seconds after Pamela admitted her desire to get back at him. During those 30 seconds, Roman's heavy breathing along with the rain drops smattering against the window were the only sounds that could be heard within the conference room.
Unlike the coffee shop incident, and unlike other recent situations, Roman managed to hold in his temper. It was a good move to be less aggressive.
"Okay Pamela. Thank you for being honest..." Roman muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "Brompton's statement has given me an enlightened thought. Between my innovative ideas and your more conservative nature in the realm of business, I believe we have the potential to make a good team. If you're professional enough to set aside our differences and previous interactions, then together we can rule Gotham City, and form a dynasty in the cosmetic industry. Think about it, the name Janus can be synonyms with class, beauty, refinement, and dignity. We can transform the world. We can give the world new identifies, we can alter culture by giving everyone a new mask to wear!! Yes! I can see it now! Please share your vision for the company. I think whatever you propose will benefit Janus Cosmetics."
Roman's heaving turned into a smile. A smile that matched Pamela's, lips to eyes. Behind the veneer, Roman was still trying to wipe the smile off her face, and the best way to do that was to show that her words had no affect on him.
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Post by Pamela Isley on Aug 7, 2020 2:01:04 GMT -7
The thing about wearing a social mask is that there was little point in wearing one if one could not wear it well. It didn't matter how genuine or not the smile Roman attempted to plaster onto his face appeared to be so soon after huffing like an enraged bull for the better part of a minute - it was clear that he was furious, regardless of whatever else he pretended to be.
And this was in stark contrast to Pamela, whose expressions had demonstrated little besides the fact that she was excessively pleased with herself and found Roman's antics to be either weird or amusing - sometimes both. That consistency granted at least the illusion that she was being honest in her emotions, whether or not she was, whereas Roman only succeeded to appearing to be erratic even as he now attempted to put a better face on the situation.
She didn't respond directly to his words, reacting to his smile only by turning her attention back to the board as if prompted to continue what she'd been saying before. "Like I said, we need to get rid of all of the dead weight. It will take some rather severe cuts, and they must be made quickly - Janus is in over its head in debt, and the stock price will only fall further unless that is corrected immediately," she stated, still looking far too pleased with herself given the subject matter.
"To start with, there's the customer service department. Which is quite easily sold off, actually - they're not a bad team, but they do little for Janus at the moment besides attempting to talk unhappy customers into not demanding a refund. This actually means that they're quite experienced and any currently growing company would be happy to take the whole department off of our hands - both the people and their equipment. Which both gives us a bit of funds to work with and also relieves us of the expense of their paychecks," she stated, her tone becoming light because - while she was pleased with her plans, it was also admittedly a bit boring to talk about.
And this wasn't necessarily an unusual move either - large companies tended to like to do everything 'in house', giving them the ability to be very particular about how each part of their processes was handled. But not all of them did, and they would instead contract with another company to do some aspect for them. This usually meant that the quality would be poorer, but how important was it for a cosmetics company to actually provide good customer service? Though Pamela didn't mention outsourcing it to India or reducing it down to one employee with an email address so that the company could still pretend that it cared about customer complaints, it was easy to imagine that was what she intended to do.
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Alive and Angry
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Post by Roman Sionis on Sept 21, 2020 6:44:51 GMT -7
The board member who is in charge of the customer service department was present and accounted for. His name was Jamal Pearson. Mr. Pearson was a member of the 'old guard' who Roman was desperately trying to get rid of. Being black, Mr. Pearson had entered the company right out of high school. Keeping his head low, and trying his best to stay out of politics, Mr. Pearson had climbed up the corporate ladder slowly but surely. He had a knack for getting along with people. He had a knack for understanding others. He had a natural empathy to him.
The best two months had been hell. Roman's pubic outbursts had led to lawsuits, complaints, and negative reviews. If it were not for Mr. Pearson and his team, Janus Cosmetics would probably be out of business as of today.
Mr. Pearson was tired. He had slept well over the past 60 days. Janus Cosmetics was what he knew. He and his team were good at their job. When Pamela Isley mentioned that the customer service department was being sold off to another company, he wasn't sure whether to smile or cry. His response was to take of his glasses, clean them, and let off a deep sigh.
He was a soldier. A solider if told to die on a hill, would gladly do it. Isley said nice things about his team. Everyday his loyalty began to slip away from Janus Cosmetics as a whole and began to grow towards his team. His team meant everything to him. His team were apart of his regiment. He would thrive with them.
"Ms. Isley, if you do not mind me speaking." The old man started. "I thank you for the kind words. I can spearhead this project of yours. In wanting to sell off the customer service department to another company. I have friends in high places. May I suggest and recommend that we be bartered off to Lucius Fox and Wayne Enterprises?"
Roman rolled his eyes. "Listen old man, how many times have I told you NOT to speak at these board meetings? You and your kind are the plagues of society. You're simply here to make sure we don't suffer from any discrimination lawsuits! Heeee."
Roman fixed his tie and then turned his attention back to Pamela, "Not a bad idea Isley. Helps us get rid of Pearson and the bunch of losers who work underneath him. I've been meaning to do that myself. What else do you have in mind hawt stuff?"
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