Feeding Genius

Grudgingly it was that I marched into the middle of the room with Jeremy


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2003-06-26T10:38:00Z
2003-06-26T10:38:00Z
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Feeding Genius

 

Chapter Four

 

Blackmail
Deception and Decimation

 

Disclaimer: I do not
own DBZ or any of its characters. -_-;;

 

***********

 

 

Grudgingly it was
that I marched into the middle of the room with Jeremy. My heart felt heavy and
as we moved to the music I felt sure there was no way of getting out of this
situation with any credibility left intact. I was stuck between the proverbial
rock and a hard place. I couldn’t tell him to get lost and risk financially
damaging my father’s business, but to go along with what appeared to be little
more than blackmail was as equally unthinkable. Capsule Corp. was my business,
and by Kami I would not let some little stuck up in the ass, perverted
multi-billionaire piece of shit hold me to ransom over it!

The music seemed to fit the raging of my
mind, rising and falling in scales of fast paced fury. Then all of a sudden the
orchestra tamed to a single violin and flute. They eased over the company,
relaxing the fervour with an enchanting melody. I think the simple chords that
encompassed the whole room must have cast some spell over me because at
pr
precise second everything seemed to be clearer than it had been the whole
evening. The relaxing tune quieted the turpitude of my thoughts and offered me
a solution.

At first it was
little more than a fleeting idea, but the more I worked it over in my mind, the
more and more solid it sounded. My means of escape were so glaringly obvious it
made me wonder how I had missed it in the first place. It was risky of course,
but there was an element of risk in any manoeuvre with a company so well noted
as Capsule Corporation and Bulma Briefs isn’t one to back down from a
challenge. The battle-lines had been drawn and my mind was made up once and for
all. Up until Jeremy had forced me to dance with him I had been content that
his perverseness, although creepy, was harmless enough – but now things had
gone beyond that boundary and there was no way I was going to let him abuse me
so totally.

So he wanted to
play dirty did he? Well two could play at his game. What was it he had said to
me? More bite and less emotion, well how about combining both of them to make
one big unstoppable and seriously pissed off CEO? I was decided. I wanted Jeremy out of my business affairs for
good. Nothing was going to profit for me by having such a job lot of sleaze
involved and so as we danced and he groped - I plotted.

So here it is that
I will relate to you the plan that I constructed there and then on the dance
floor that night. To my relief and good fortune I remembered that there was
still one week left before all those parties interested in backing Capsule Corp
would meet again to sign. That gave me some time, not as much as I would like,
but enough if I applied myself well. Pulling a few all-nighters wouldn’t be
anything new to me.

In total I had
five other investors who were interested in signing a deal with us. Two were in
a similar position to Jorsindan LTD and had many years of financial dealings
with us, but the other three were fairly new. If it was known that Jorsindan
LTD were not going to be involved then I might be hard pressed to get them to
sign. That was my main concern, but if things went ahead as I planned then it
shouldn’t matter one way or the other.

Keeping Mr.
Simmons on side wouldn’t be hard. Pulling the wool over his eyes would be even
easier. I had his week spot in the palm of my hand or should I say the curves
of my backside. For so long as he had an evident desire for me then I could
manipulate him just as much as he was trying to manipulate me.

All my hopes,
however, rested on one man. Mr Tajoma. I promised myself that the next chance I
would sit down and talk to him, offering him a proposition that would benefit
us both. He needed more scientists and I needed more funding. It was so
perfect! This would show Jeremy just how much better it is to run a business
based on friendship rather than blackmail!

I was prepared to
offer Mr Tajoma a compromise. I needed Jorsindan’s money primarily to finance
my research labs. The fact that they were non-profitable was something of a
stumbling point in my business affairs. Those factories were a great strain on
my resources, but I would sooner live a life of celibacy than drop the project.
The expense of them was large, but what would happen if I could subsidise it
somehow?

Really it was a
win, win situation. I would lease half of the dozen or so factories in the
complex to him for the next financial year, along with the same amount of
scientists that worked in them at the moment. He would have everything he
needed right from the word go. The labs would be fully equipped for his needs.
The scientists (about seventy or so) would be fully trained and reliable, plus
if he had any substantial doubts after that then I always had a couple of ensiensive patents he might be interested in purchasing ver very reduced price
to complete the deal.

As to my benefits
then the lease money he would pay to me would easily cover the cost of running
the buildings, plus possibly the council rates and other large dues to
factories of that size. The subsidy that I would get on the scientists wages,
acting as their agent and whom would still in theory be working for me, would
pay for the scientists I would retain. All that would be left was funding for
the equipment and raw materials, which could just about be met by selling a few
patents. I was loathed to part with them, but desperate times call for
desperate measures, and even if Mr Tajoma could not afford to buy them, then
there would be others who would.

It was in fact a
plan that I was almost ninety-nine percent sure that Mr Tajoma would agree to,
as the idea had been primarily his. He had come to me with the whole deal
worked out and begged from me to consider it during our first consultation of
his problems a few months back. I did consider it long and hard, but there
wasn’t enough in it for Capsule Corp, for me to be happy with. At the time I
had no clue as to Jeremy’s true personality and all I could see was that my
research would take twice as long to produce results with only half a team of
scientists working on it.

This concern
doesn’t affect me now though. I just want to keep Jorsindan LTD from forming
any more ties with my company. It shouldn’t take Mr Tajoma more than six months
to find a permanent solution to his problems and that should buy me plenty
enough time to find an investor to replace Jeremy.

The only problem I
could see arising in the plan was Vegeta. I needed to keep Jeremy on side for
as long as possible so as not to cause panic in my other investors. Keeping the
charade up was more important than anything else. It all hinged on complete
secrecy.

 

Five minutes or
thereabouts had past as I silently plotted and I was strangely grateful that
Jeremy seemed content with hidden groping rather than conversation. Now my plan
had been formulated I was willing for my time of release with more and more
desperation with every passing second. I knew it wouldn’t take Vegeta long to
apprehend the photographers and retrieve the film. The last thing I wanted was
for him to find me with the old man, because neither his honour nor pride would
allow for it to go unpunished.

Vegeta knew how I
felt about the situation, our cards had been laid on the table, but I had little
hope of controlling his anger. Vegeta’s damnable ego would have to be satiated
one way or the other, and I feared that outlet would be Jeremy irrespective of
any repercussions. I desperately needed to talk to him and let him know my
plan. I doubted he would interfere anymore if he knew what I planned.

At length the
violin strings were left to rest and the last sound of their beautiful melodies
melted into nothing more than a memory, foretelling the end of the dance.
Automatically I let out a sigh of relief, but I was not left to celebrate long.
The musicians left the stage for the sake of refreshments, but I wasn’t given
the luxury of relief as they were.

Mr Simmons held me
even closer after the spell of the music was lost, walking me to the side. In
desperation I tried to remove his hands from around my waist, as the other
couples left one by one.

“Thank you B!” he
whispered into my ear.

“Yeah! Like you
left me much choice.” I thought bitterly, but catching myself in time I turned
my grimace into a forced smile, “You’re welcome.”

“You know its such
a shame you’re married,” he pouted, “but just in case you feel like a change of
scenery, here!” He passed me an oblong card. Flashings of red ink sprawled
elegantly across it in a neat and regular hand. “Now you know where to find
me.” He winked once and turned away to speak with my father.

I remained by the
dance floor for several minutes afterwards trying to see if I could find either
Mr Tajoma or Vegeta, as it was now a matter of priority to speak with them
both. Neither of them were anywhere to be seen, so it was out of sheer
frustration that I looked down at the card in my hands.

 

B

Feel free to join
me in the penthouse suit of The hotel Varsity on West Capital Parade at any
time during my visit.

I will be there
until the end of the week. If you need me after that time then my cell number
is 0798654312.

Call me and I
promise we’ll have fun.

Love

Jeremy Simmons

 

I could feel the
heat rising to my cheeks! “Bastard!” I swore under my breath and scrunching up
the card, threw it to the floor. Free from burden my fingers curled and the
nails dug into the palm of my hand, the moon like crescents left on my skin,
the only outward manifestation of restraint. It took me several minutes and a large
shot of vodka (swiped surreptitiously from a waitress on her way to the other
end of the room) before I felt calm enough to breath normally.

To be honest I was
way over my allotted alcohol consumption by this time, but it wasn’t affecting
my control as much as I thought it would be. I was ‘nicely drunk.’ The edges of
feeling were starting to numb, but nothing more than the pre-glow of
intoxication clouded my judgement.

In this state,
however, I missed the sound of footsteps as they approached deliberately (as
always) from behind. The squeak of a flat sole on wood was what finally
attracted my attention and I turned just in time to see Vegeta crouched to the
floor. His hands were skimming over the polished boards, the fingertips
hovering above the card I had just relinquished.

He looked up at me
just as I looked down. His eyes drilled at mine and his mouth was set in a grim
line. “You dropped something.” He snarled, but made no move to hand it to me.
Instead he carefully pulled the creases from it and read. The corners of his
mouth turned menacingly, opening just enough to flash the white of his teeth as
he growled deep in the throat.

“Vegeta, please
don’t get mad!” I whispered, turning to look at Mr Simmons, who hadn’t seemed
to notice his impending doom. He was happily sipping on a glass of champagne
and talking to my father.

My eyes wandered
back to Vegeta, and I forced as much meaning into the look I gave, silently
pleading with him to let it slide. Standing back up his fists clenched violently,
burning with power. It was obvious that he had seen my plea, and it was equally
obvious he was going to completely ignore it. In desperation I put a hand on
his chest and shook my head.

He scowled at me,
“This has gone too far.” He ground out, “I know what he is trying to do and I
won’t let him get away with it. It was bad enough that he had his arm around
you before, but now he’s freely inviting you to his hotel room. I can’t let it
go, not any more.”

“Vegeta please!”

“It’s too late for
diplomacy Bulma, right now I’m baying for blood and I will not be satisfied
until it is shed!”

“Think of Capsule
Corp. Vegeta, please you have to listen to me!”

There was a flash
of something in his eye; maybe it was akin to regret, but one thing was for
certain, Vegeta made no attempt to answer my plea. I watched those dark orbs
glazing over, leaving any impression of feeling infuriatingly vacant. Even the
reflection of light, (which usually gave hint to life in the blackness,) was
now swallowed by their depth. Not sparing me the honour of recognition he
brushed nonchalantly past. “Vegeta!” I yelled, earning the attention of the
whole room, “Vegeta stop!”

He didn’t listen.
If anything his shoulders pulled further back into authoritative pride and I
watched in absolute horror as he approached Mr Simmons. In that moment of
dismay I was motionless. All I could feel was the blood draining from my face.
Vegeta was going to fuck up everything I’d planned and there was absolutely
shit all I could do about it!

Finally my body
seemed to relent from shock and I dashed forward trying to stop him, but I was
too late. Even as I watched Jeremy had turned towards Vegeta and was welcoming
him. As testimony to my father’s superior mind, he took a well-advised step
back on Vegeta’s arrival. It was highly evident that the dars, ws, which seemed
to hang around the Saiyan like the veil of a storm cloud, was now about ready
to break and let loose in spectacular style.

The lack of
realization surrounding Jeremy seemed to fuel Vegeta’s anger, and grabbing him
fiercely by the arm, my Saiyan Prince pushed him none too elegantly onto the
deserted dance floor. “Tell me the meaning of this old man!” he thundered,
pushing the card into Jeremy’s face with a violence that almost made him fall.
In fact iobabobably would have if Vegeta’s vice like grip still hadn’t held him
firm.

Completely shocked
by the hostility Jeremy couldn’t reply. The card fell disregarded to the floor.

“You will answer
me!” roared Vegeta, “No one fucks with me, or tries to fuck my wife behind my
back and gets away with it. Is that understood?”

Righting himself
and tentatively putting a hand to his nose where the card had been forced
Jeremy’s look turned from shock to a calculated smile of derision. He met
Vegeta’s glare head on (not an easy thing to do) “I don’t know why you are so
possessive young man. After all we all know you’re only with Miss Briefs for
her money, and without my backing that fortune will be void. I think it will be
better for all concerned if you were not to touch me again, not if you know
your own or your wife’s interest.”

“That,” replied
Vegeta, his ki almost visible now, “Just goes how to prove how ignorant you
really are.”

The next series of
events happened so quickly that I confess I couldn’t keep up. All I can recount
to you is that one minute Mr Simmons was standing upright, looking as
unperturbed by Vegeta’s threats as possible and the next there was a loud crash
as he flew across the room and into the array of instruments on the stage.

Irrespective of my
feelings for either party I knew I had to act. There was a tragedy being played
out in front of my eyes, and if I wasn’t careful it could mean the loss of much
more than just the Capsule Corporation. Not giving a second thought to the
shocked whispers, and beginning’s of chatter floating though the air around me
I strode away from the gossip with resolution tipping the scales to sheer
idiocy by all appearances.

This had grown,
for Vegeta, into something more encompassing than protecting me. He had
admitted it not ten minutes ago. For him this was territorial. This had gone
beyond the financing of Capsule Corp, beyond even the boundaries of etiquette,
transforming into little more than possessive, macho bullshit!

I had told him
plainly how things stood. This was my problem to deal with not his, and I was
dealing with it. I had managed to formulate a plan that would secure my
companies future without the perverted old mans backing, and despite my obvious
distaste for his opinions, would gladly put up with the smut for a few more
days if it meant the end of any future involvement with him, and here was
Vegeta, sticking his damn gargantuan ego in and ruining everything I had
achieved!

I wasn’t the only
one to have moved. Vegeta was walking towards the stage with equal
determination, but fortunately for all concerned, less speed. It appeared that
for the moment at least he was happy toying with his prey. It gave me the
chance I needed to position myself between the two men, cutting off Vegeta’s
approach.

This time I put
two hands on his chest, my legs splayed, as I tried to stamp some authority
onto the situation.

“Get the fuck out
of my way!”

I had expected
this as a possible reaction and was ready with my reply. Seeing the prying eyes
on us I lowered my voice. “You’ve proved your point Vegeta. He’s only human and
not even a fighter at that. The chances are he’s out cold for the rest of the
evening.”

His eyebrows were
level not giving a trace of emotion one way or the other.

“I can’t believe
you have done this to me Vegeta. I am going to the den and I expect you to
follow me there. Is that understood, because then I will let you know just how
totally you have just fucked up my life!”

He growled
menacingly at me, “Do as you wish, but no one tells the Saiyan no Ouji what to
do. I have some unfinished business with you precious investor!”

I wasn’t going to
be put off that easily I stood firm, staring him down, “If you do anymore then
you’ll end up killing him, do you really want that?”

“I couldn’t say I
give a shit either way.” He snarled.

“Yeah right! So
you didn’t care earlier when those journalists took our pictures. Take a
reality check! If you attack him anymore it will be cold-blooded murder! How
long has it been since you last killed an innocent?”

“That lecher is
not an inno…!”

“How long!” I
interrupted.

“Eight years.” He
confessed, “On Namek.”

“Do you want to go
back to the way you were then?”

“That’s not a fair
question onna.” He growled, “We agreed a long time ago that you wouldn’t test
my loyalties. It is an area that would do no good for either of us to explore.”

My heart secretly
clenched at his words, “I know, but please, we need to talk about this. This
isn’t the time or the place for your ego Vegeta.”

He closed his
eyes, the tension breaking as he did so. “You are right” he relented. Those
orbs flashed open and once again I could see feeling in them. They could almost
be described as apologetic, and my whole body sagged in relief as he turned
silently away. He stalked predatorily towards the den as I had asked,
completely unperturbed by the assortment of gazes that drilled into his back as
he left.

My relief,
however, was very quickly overtaken by other emotions. I saw a group of my
guests rushing over to where Jeremy had landed, but I didn’t do the same. All I
could think of was my business. In little more than five minutes I had gone
from plotting my release from Jeremy, to the very worst possible scenario of
having his interest ripped from my grasp.


It appeared that
Vegeta had more restraint than I had given him credit for, because at that
minute a ruckus could be heard from the direction of the stage as Mr Simmons
came to. It appeared that a rapid swelling of his left eye was the only damage
inflicted on him. Before long he was up on his feet and cursing with a slur
that might be attributed to a mild concussion. I was divided, did I go and
apologise to Mr Simmons, and try to placate him, or did I follow Vegeta.

As it was I didn’t
get the chance to decide. Scattering the broken instruments Jeremy stood tall
on the stage his eyes cold and hard as they held me to the spot. His face said
it all as he stared at me, but his voice spoke to confirm their illusion. “I
would like for all those present here to know that from this day forward
Jorsindan LTD will no longer be offering financial support for the Capsule
Corporation.” With nothing more to say he left, and one by one the few
remaining guests followed him.

Only my parents
remained. My father looked at me in absolute disbelief and I returned the look.
Sighing and shaking his head, he turned away and taking my mums arm, led her
calmly out of the patio doors. I was left in the middle of the dance floor with
the lights flittering unnoticed over my skin and the longer I remained the more
I could feel myself shaking. All at once my anger took firm direction. It was
as though my feet moved of their own accord and their unwavering direction was
carved into the floor as they escorted me to the den. I could feel all vestiges
of control leaving my body as my mind was bent on one course of action and one
alone - to let all my frustrations out unreservedly on the Saiyan no Ouji! Oh
Kami would I make him pay!



************************