Who: Renard and Thomas What: Doing the business dance When: Before the Feelings!, Afternoon Where: Fancy restaurant Warnings: None
Renard was quite impressed with Thomas Brandon. He was handling the company quite well given that he was doing it without Alfie's guiding hand. It was clear though, that Mr. Brandon needed some help. Renard wasn't the type of man to insert himself into someone's life unnecessarily, but subtly was one of his best qualities. Throughout their meeting, he had made various observations with underlying suggestions.
As they walked into the restaurant, Renard felt it was appropriate to start discussing their mutual friend. The hostess sat them at a quiet table out of the way where they wouldn't be disturbed and handed them menus. As he scanned the various items, he said conversationally, "That's quite a business you have there Mr. Brandon. Alfie did a wonderful job." Thomas had done his share of observation and research on Renard Todd. With his usual obsessive (paranoid) attention to detail, he had found what he could about the older man's business facility, and afterward he had sat back (quietly, because Amanda and Max were sleeping and the cheap rocker she had made a lot of racket if you so much as twitched on it) and been quite impressed. A lesser man would have marveled.
Thomas had withheld final impressions for the following day, and Renard's observations and curious smiles made Thomas think he saw all the holes that Thomas had hastily tried to patch. Thomas glanced at the menu but didn't pay much attention to it. "She did. She is responsible for it's success both here and in Musings." It was Thomas' first reference to the other side of the portal outside of the forums. Renard wasn't surprised that Alfie was a large part of why his company was so successful. He was quite impressed that things had held together thus far without Alfie. No doubt she had left some sort of plan behind in the event of her absence, but he could hardly believe her passing had been expected.
"She certainly has a way with business. Her reputation has become something of a goal for anyone entering the business. It's always an interesting experience when interviewees come in saying they could be the next Penelope Worth," Renard replied, filing away his observation that Thomas wasn't as involved in the company as many might guess. "Will your son be taking over the company eventually?" he asked instead, mentioning Luke casually. Thomas had no hesitation giving credit where credit was due; Alfie was the only reason his fortune was not a dwindling pile in a bank somewhere, and Thomas knew it. He nodded with his grave eyes solid on Renard’s. “No one can ever be Penelope Worth,” he said. “She was in a class of her own.” For some reason it didn’t sound trite when Thomas said it; perhaps because he meant it. He didn’t have the words for what Alfie meant to him as a person, but naively he didn’t think that made a different in this particular conversation.
“Luke is focusing on his studies, and I don’t know if he’s interested in business as a career,” Thomas said, without any casualness at all, but rather a certain papa bear defensiveness that melted some of the distant demeanor. “I’m trying not to push him in a direction he doesn’t want to go.” At Thomas's response, Renard knew he quite liked the man. It was easy to see that he was a private man, but Alfie's friendship spoke volumes, as did the man's own words concerning her. The fact that Luke wasn't necessarily being groomed to take over the business worried him just a bit, but he wouldn't press the subject. Instead he replied, "I'm glad you're encouraging him to decide for himself. Many of your colleagues would react quite differently." There was an underlying observation there, one that said Renard was pleased with the situation.
"Have you taken over Alfie's responsibilities yourself?" Renard asked, only mildly curious as the waitress came to take their order. She only took a few moments of their time, and he waited for Thomas's answer once she disappeared into the kitchens. Thomas didn’t quite know what to make of Renard’s approval. He wasn’t used to people approving of anything he did. It was disorienting.
They offered wine, but Thomas stuck with the lemon water and kept his attention sharp. He took a piece of bread apart into two neat halves and said, a little tiredly, “To the extent that I am able. A lot of her projects were simply shelved for the time being. I am in the process of searching for a replacement, but short of kidnapping Anton Sparke’s assistant, I haven’t found anyone remotely qualified.” He seemed halfway serious about Preston Rawlings, who had more dedication than anyone Thomas had ever seen. He hadn’t the slightest idea what Sparke did to deserve it. Couldn’t be the salary. Foregoing the butter, too, Thomas added, “If you would like to refer anyone, Todd, I’d much appreciate it.” He wasn’t even joking. Renard declined the wine as well, instead asking for unsweetened iced tea. He nodded at the other man's answer, understanding that it took a special sort of person to follow Alfie's projects. He recalled one of the first times he had visited her office and, after poking around some of her papers, had been quite confused by some of her ideas. Once she explained her thought process, it all made much more sense. He had adopted a similar style as well, and was probably one of the few people that could follow it.
Renard chuckled at the mention of Preston Rawlings. He had done his homework on the other big corporations in the area, and knew quite a bit about them, particularly the R&D side. "It'd be much more worthwhile to kidnap his intern, Jackson Bly, I believe his name is." He paused thoughtfully. "I can see about importing someone from my New York office for you, Mr. Brandon. They'd be familiar with my way of doing things, but my way isn't all that different from Alfie's. I'm sure they'd work out well," he replied, but there was an innocent smile on his face as he continued, "In the meantime, I could take a look at things and get them in order." “I’m up to my neck in interns,” Thomas said, smooth as butter, as if he didn’t know exactly who Bly was and what he did.
Thomas wasn’t fooled by that smile, not by a long shot. He gave Renard a piercing look. “And what about your own company?” He wasn’t about to just hand over Thomas, Inc. to the lead of some other company that might then wander off and become the textbook definition for corporate espionage. He took a bite of his bread and chewed thoughtfully. Renard took a sip of his iced tea, hiding the twitch of his lips as Thomas called him out on the question. It was true he had his own company to contend with, but if truth be told, FoxTech needed to expand, and it was quite possible a joining of sorts would benefit both of them. “I’m sure you are, Mr. Brandon,” he replied, setting his glass back on the floor.
“FoxTech is doing quite well, if not becoming outright autonomous without me. I could hardly take a six month vacation if that wasn’t the case,” Renard replied carefully. He folded his hands on the table and leaned back in his chair. “An arrangement could be made of course, if necessary.” Renard would quite happily bring FoxTech R&D under the umbrella of Thomas, Inc, if Mr. Brandon made the offer. Thomas had, of course, done his homework on FoxTech. “Well, but small,” Thomas said, shrewd enough to know that expression. He watched Renard very closely. “What kind of arrangement? Are you looking to expand? I notice no new models have been introduced by FoxTech in the last year.” Though Thomas certainly wouldn’t have minded some of the tech they did have. His R&D department was good, very good, but it couldn’t compare to Sparke Industries. Well, nobody could. “Small indeed, Mr. Brandon, but we specialize in specific requests. FoxTech has a reputation for finding uses for projects that seem rather harmless to others,” Renard replied, a teasing smile playing on his lips. To a casual glance, it seemed as though his company specialized in discarded government projects that many other would consider a waste of time. To Renard though, that discarded technology was priceless. He did well enough to report profit after every quarter, despite the downturn in the economy. “It would be beneficial to have more direct uses for our technology,” came his businesslike reply. “We aren’t quite Sparke, of course, but that man is a league all his own I’m afraid.” Renard’s tone indicated that Thomas, Inc would be a very close second, however. Specialization was a nice way of saying small, customized jobs for specific clientele. Thomas was familiar enough with the business phrasing to recognize what Renard was claiming, and also keen enough to know that he was probably telling the truth. “Various partnerships with Monarch keep us competitive. It’s hard to go up against Sparke, but fortunately, he’s just one man--with a really good business manager.” Everyone in the business knew that it was Preston that dragged Anton to board meetings, if the man even went. Thomas was sometimes of the opinion that such reports must be exaggerated, but he took his business responsibilities very seriously. Renard set his glass of iced tea off to the side and sat up a bit straighter, looking at Thomas with a perfectly serious expression. “Mr. Brandon, I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. My company is good at what it does. Mr. Sparke is good but, like you said, he’s just one man. Mr. Monarch will certainly provide good competition, and with FoxTech R&D working under an exclusive contract with Thomas, Inc, you’ll have the edge,” Renard pointed out, honesty clear in his tone. The idea of working exclusively with Thomas, Inc could only bring good things for FoxTech, and there were a number of benefits for Thomas as well, including the possibility that he wouldn’t need to handle the day to day business aspect of things. Thomas’ eyes lit up. So that was what this was about. This meeting had an air to it like the business equivalent of a slow dance, circling around and measuring, and this explained why. Though Thomas, Inc. was the bigger corporation, Thomas wasn’t fool enough to think that Renard Todd would go trotting about offering FoxTech to just anyone. He thought the connection to Alfie had a strong effect on the matter, and that only made him more pleased, less concerned about his secrets and more interested in FoxTech’s. “Ah ha,” he said, smiling now, something he didn’t do very often. “I’m glad to hear it’s something like that. I’ll be honest, Mr. Todd” he sat back for the soup to be delivered in front of him, “--I am very interested, but I am not sure how autonomous your brand could continue to be if it was part of Thomas, Inc. It depends upon how you wanted to construct the contract.” Renard would never part with his company, except to the very best, and if things turned out the way he envisioned, he wouldn’t technically part with his company. He sat back as well and laid his napkin across his lap before tasting his soup. Delicious, but not nearly as interesting as the man sitting across from him. “You said yourself that R&D isn’t Thomas, Inc’s strong suit. With FoxTech, you’d be far closer to Sparke’s end of the spectrum, instead of just barely staying a step ahead of Orin Monarch,” Renard pointed out, glancing up from his soup. “I’d be willing to commit FoxTech to working solely for Thomas, Inc.” The ‘for’ was a strategic move, considering Thomas, Inc was the bigger of the two companies. ‘With’ would have implied that FoxTech was competition, and it wasn’t quite that just yet. Thomas’ eyebrows shot up. “‘For’?” he asked, surprised. “On commission? I am not sure I could convince my board that’s a wise expenditure , regardless of your company’s exceptional merits. Now, a more permanent option, perhaps...?” Thomas stirred his soup (cream of mushroom), and paid very little attention to it otherwise. It was Renard’s turn to arch an eyebrow. “I’d hardly consider on commission. My employees deserve something a bit more permanent, as you say.” He actually took the time to enjoy his chicken noodle soup, contemplating his next move. “An exclusivity contract seems much more time consuming than an outright acquisition,” he commented, glancing up at Thomas as he brought a spoonful of soup to his lips. “Acquisition!” Thomas was satisfied by that suggestion indeed, but he’d be a bad bargain if he showed it so easily. He was pleased, though, and that was clear, and though he didn’t mention it again through the next courses, he was making mental notes about what would be a good offer, and a good counter, and then a good final offer. Renard was quite pleased with how their meeting had turned out, and now lunch was going swimmingly. He was fairly certain they would have something worked out by the end of the month, and he knew Mr. Brandon would provide an excellent offer. He certainly hadn't come to Seattle with the intention of doing business, but everything fell into place just so, and Renard was hardly a man to question fate.
The meal itself went by quite comfortably, and when the waitress handed over the bill, Renard handed her his credit card without looking at it. She hustled off and Renard offered Thomas a smile. "I appreciate the time you've taken out of you day for me, Mr. Brandon," he offered sincerely, though he managed to make it sound less sappy and formal as it could have been. Thomas, having taken several classes in this kind of thing, would have made quite a fuss about the check, but all he got out was a, “Really I should--” before it was gone. He was able to earnestly return Renard’s good will once they stood up, and it didn’t have anything to do with the check. He offered a hand across the table and his shake was cool, if a little more solid than normal. “Likewise, Mr. Todd. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing quite a lot of each other in the future.”