Monday morning at RhyDin harbor was a rather chilly one. The air was cold, despite a brightly shining sun through sparse clouds. To Owen's rescue came Thomas carrying a lidded cup of coffee from a local shop.
"Good morning, sir. I thought you might like this to warm you up." The warm cup is thrust into Owen's hand. "Weather reports say the day should heat up to something more pleasant."
Both hands clasped around the cup to soak in all its glorious warmth. Being from a tropical climate Owen was not accustomed to this season. "That's a relief. You have everything prepared for my meeting with Bob?" Owen regarded his assistant after a sip of the coffee followed by a low satisfied moan.
"Everything is ready." Speaking about the proposals Thomas offered the plain manilla folder.
"Good man. I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Owen said jokingly as he took the folder. "Do me a favor and stay aboard the ship" I'll return once we're finished." Owen steeled himself with a deep breath and sip of coffee. Down the ramp from ship to dock he set off to find this building.
RhyDin harbor was a fury of energy even for the early hour. That should be no surprise to Owen. A city of this scale a harbor such as this one would never shut down because the sun has set. Stopping at one particularly fascinating ship he watched the stream of men working to offload their cargo in record time. All in step they went at an efficient pace. Never once bumping into another or losing focus. Yet, here Owen is losing focus himself. Wasting precious time. Forcing himself out of the stare Owen proceeded on.
Now just where was he going again? A look given to the label on the folder he was given. Back on track Owen turned his focus to the buildings at his right. Counting down the numbers until he arrived at the address that was provided.
Pushing his way through the door Owen was greeted by a well organized store. To his left were various samples of carved and smoothed stone slabs, most likely to be use used as flooring or countertops. On his right were shelves of concept books to help give customers ideas of what they wanted. Each place had a section. Flooring, kitchen, bath and near the counter are pictures of completed construction projects. Proud new homeowners posing with Bob and crew.
"Hey-o welcome!" A rather deep, powerful voice caught hold of Owen's attention. Brown eyes whipped toward the source and saw a rather large, broad shouldered, barrel chested man. Rather befitting of someone who raised houses and other buildings for a living.
Stepping up to the counter Owen gave the man a smile. Placing down his cup of coffee he sent out a hand. "Bob I presume?"
"You got that right, chief. What can I do for you?" One hell of a grin on Bob's face as a bear slayer of a hand met Owen's and rattled off a shake.
"I was told by Aja to speak with you about possibly working out an agreement for my countries marble."
"OH! Right right, I'd almost forgot she told me to be expectin' someone." Bob took the time to properly size up a rather well dressed Owen in suit, tie, slacks and overcoat. "Didn't tell me I'd be talkin' to a business man, or I'd dressed myself up fancy like you." Bob bellowed out a chuckle.
"I'm just kiddin', I don't own a suit. No need for one with what I do."
Owen dared not correct the larger man about his station. If it were to help the cause then a businessman he would be. "Is there a place we can discuss the details?" A brief motion of the folder he carried.
"Sure sure! Step into my office will ya?" Bob waved a hand and instructed Owen to follow him beyond the counter into the back room. Which didn't appear much like an office. It was akin to a storage area for more floor models and extra supplies. Bob kept going, though. Right on through another door back to the outside. Owen stalled briefly at returning to chill.
"This...is your office?" He asked.
"You betcha. I ain't got a need for an office. Can't get anything done sitting my arse." Bob chuckled again as he moved to a pallet of materials. "Give me a hand with this?" Bob started on the melon sized stones. Transferring them two at a time to a flatbed trailer attached to a pickup.
Not picturing this how the negotiation would be carried out Owen stood rather shocked.
"You just goin' to stand there?" Already on his third load of stones Bob glanced back.
Peeling his coat away despite protests from his body about the cold Owen joined in. Scooping up a stone under each arm. "May I ask is this for?" Lugging the rocks the few feet to Bob's trailer.
"Favor for a friend o' mine. Some drunken idiot plowed through his property fence. Tore it right up. It was a nice stone and mortar one too. Told him I'd fix up with a discount. It's a small project to get back into the swing after a vacation."
"I see. That's kind of you." Two by two he and Bob continued to move the stones from one place to another.
"That's what friends do, yanno?" Bob aimed a big grin at Owen. "So Aja told me you're lookin' for someone to buy your marble. Hate to break it to you, chief but I really don't sell much of the stuff. Being it's so expensive. I'll get a couple jobs here and there that request marble counter tops or if the customer is on the high end scale — a full flooring job. From the sounds of it nothing like what you're looking for."
Not breaking his concentration on the current burden he carried Owen waited until he offloaded. "That is unfortunate. That's what I had built my proposal around." Owen frowned.
Another arm load for Bob is carried to the trailer. "It's just not a common building material. It's more used for decoration, addin' flare that homeowners can show off during parties or get togethers." He certainly appreciated Owen's help getting all those stones loaded and Bob clapped a hand down on the man's shoulder. "C'mon. Get in we got some more talkin' to do."
"Get in..?" Owen arched a single brow.
"Yeah. Get in my truck. You helped me this much, I could use an extra pair of hands rebuilding this fence." Last but not least Bob ambled off to add a bag of powdered mortar mix and toolbox to the trailer. All set and ready to go. "You could say my truck is the closest thing I have to an office." At that he opened up the driver side and climbed in.
Owen couldn't explain it, either by Ajia or by Aja the Bird siblings always found way to introduce Owen to manual labor. Uttering not a word of debate Owen too climbed into the cab of the pickup.
((more coming!))
"Good morning, sir. I thought you might like this to warm you up." The warm cup is thrust into Owen's hand. "Weather reports say the day should heat up to something more pleasant."
Both hands clasped around the cup to soak in all its glorious warmth. Being from a tropical climate Owen was not accustomed to this season. "That's a relief. You have everything prepared for my meeting with Bob?" Owen regarded his assistant after a sip of the coffee followed by a low satisfied moan.
"Everything is ready." Speaking about the proposals Thomas offered the plain manilla folder.
"Good man. I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Owen said jokingly as he took the folder. "Do me a favor and stay aboard the ship" I'll return once we're finished." Owen steeled himself with a deep breath and sip of coffee. Down the ramp from ship to dock he set off to find this building.
RhyDin harbor was a fury of energy even for the early hour. That should be no surprise to Owen. A city of this scale a harbor such as this one would never shut down because the sun has set. Stopping at one particularly fascinating ship he watched the stream of men working to offload their cargo in record time. All in step they went at an efficient pace. Never once bumping into another or losing focus. Yet, here Owen is losing focus himself. Wasting precious time. Forcing himself out of the stare Owen proceeded on.
Now just where was he going again? A look given to the label on the folder he was given. Back on track Owen turned his focus to the buildings at his right. Counting down the numbers until he arrived at the address that was provided.
Pushing his way through the door Owen was greeted by a well organized store. To his left were various samples of carved and smoothed stone slabs, most likely to be use used as flooring or countertops. On his right were shelves of concept books to help give customers ideas of what they wanted. Each place had a section. Flooring, kitchen, bath and near the counter are pictures of completed construction projects. Proud new homeowners posing with Bob and crew.
"Hey-o welcome!" A rather deep, powerful voice caught hold of Owen's attention. Brown eyes whipped toward the source and saw a rather large, broad shouldered, barrel chested man. Rather befitting of someone who raised houses and other buildings for a living.
Stepping up to the counter Owen gave the man a smile. Placing down his cup of coffee he sent out a hand. "Bob I presume?"
"You got that right, chief. What can I do for you?" One hell of a grin on Bob's face as a bear slayer of a hand met Owen's and rattled off a shake.
"I was told by Aja to speak with you about possibly working out an agreement for my countries marble."
"OH! Right right, I'd almost forgot she told me to be expectin' someone." Bob took the time to properly size up a rather well dressed Owen in suit, tie, slacks and overcoat. "Didn't tell me I'd be talkin' to a business man, or I'd dressed myself up fancy like you." Bob bellowed out a chuckle.
"I'm just kiddin', I don't own a suit. No need for one with what I do."
Owen dared not correct the larger man about his station. If it were to help the cause then a businessman he would be. "Is there a place we can discuss the details?" A brief motion of the folder he carried.
"Sure sure! Step into my office will ya?" Bob waved a hand and instructed Owen to follow him beyond the counter into the back room. Which didn't appear much like an office. It was akin to a storage area for more floor models and extra supplies. Bob kept going, though. Right on through another door back to the outside. Owen stalled briefly at returning to chill.
"This...is your office?" He asked.
"You betcha. I ain't got a need for an office. Can't get anything done sitting my arse." Bob chuckled again as he moved to a pallet of materials. "Give me a hand with this?" Bob started on the melon sized stones. Transferring them two at a time to a flatbed trailer attached to a pickup.
Not picturing this how the negotiation would be carried out Owen stood rather shocked.
"You just goin' to stand there?" Already on his third load of stones Bob glanced back.
Peeling his coat away despite protests from his body about the cold Owen joined in. Scooping up a stone under each arm. "May I ask is this for?" Lugging the rocks the few feet to Bob's trailer.
"Favor for a friend o' mine. Some drunken idiot plowed through his property fence. Tore it right up. It was a nice stone and mortar one too. Told him I'd fix up with a discount. It's a small project to get back into the swing after a vacation."
"I see. That's kind of you." Two by two he and Bob continued to move the stones from one place to another.
"That's what friends do, yanno?" Bob aimed a big grin at Owen. "So Aja told me you're lookin' for someone to buy your marble. Hate to break it to you, chief but I really don't sell much of the stuff. Being it's so expensive. I'll get a couple jobs here and there that request marble counter tops or if the customer is on the high end scale — a full flooring job. From the sounds of it nothing like what you're looking for."
Not breaking his concentration on the current burden he carried Owen waited until he offloaded. "That is unfortunate. That's what I had built my proposal around." Owen frowned.
Another arm load for Bob is carried to the trailer. "It's just not a common building material. It's more used for decoration, addin' flare that homeowners can show off during parties or get togethers." He certainly appreciated Owen's help getting all those stones loaded and Bob clapped a hand down on the man's shoulder. "C'mon. Get in we got some more talkin' to do."
"Get in..?" Owen arched a single brow.
"Yeah. Get in my truck. You helped me this much, I could use an extra pair of hands rebuilding this fence." Last but not least Bob ambled off to add a bag of powdered mortar mix and toolbox to the trailer. All set and ready to go. "You could say my truck is the closest thing I have to an office." At that he opened up the driver side and climbed in.
Owen couldn't explain it, either by Ajia or by Aja the Bird siblings always found way to introduce Owen to manual labor. Uttering not a word of debate Owen too climbed into the cab of the pickup.
((more coming!))