ALL NOVEL Chapter 26: Reflection
“I think this could be a rather fruitful venture.” Rayne set her cup of tea down. “Though as I said, I didn’t want to spring this on you out of the blue once Mr. Vestar arrives. I prefer letting people have ample time to think over my propositions before even officially offering them.” She gave her two guests a smile. Only one of her guests sitting across from her was smiling at her in return. The younger of the gentlemen was giving her a bit of a frown. It was a look Rayne had seen many times before. The look of someone doubting her proposals due to being a woman and not a man.
“Thank you, Lady Hayward,” Mr. Doyle. “It is a very interesting proposal. We have never had business with anyone from Casiden before, have we?” He looked to his younger brother sitting next to him.
“No, I can’t say we ever have.” The younger brother clearly wasn’t impressed.
Mr. Doyle turned back to Rayne, clearly trying to ignore the frown his brother was wearing. Clearly hoping to keep Rayne interested as well. “I do think this could be a very fun venture, and I certainly look forward to meeting Mr. Vestar in… When did you say he would be arriving again?”
“In just a little over a month. It could be sooner if winds are fair. But I assure you we need to not rush this as soon as he arrives. I am sure he will wish for a little rest after such a long journey.”
“Absolutely. I’ve never taken such a lengthy trip before and I can’t imagine how tiring it must be.”
“Nor have I,” Rayne continued to smile. “Though maybe if this new venture goes well, we will both have reason to take such a journey in the future.” Rayne had never really traveled out of the Empire. Maybe it was about time she traveled a little more. Of course she would take Hannah with her. She wondered how someone with fur would react to the heat of the desert. Would it be too much for her fox? Hannah had said that where she was originally was a lot colder than here, so there was a good chance it would be too hot for her. What if they took a trip north, would Hannah enjoy the cooler weather? Maybe they could visit the mountains of Treysia.
Mr. Doyle gave a light chuckle. “That we might.” The chuckle brought Rayne back from her little daydream of traveling with Hannah. “Would be quite the experience, wouldn’t you say Henry.” He turned to his brother.
“I would assume so.” The brother, Henry, was still clearly not amused. “Though maybe we won’t have a need to anyway.”
Mr. Doyle looked away from his brother, now with a little frown of his own. “I’m sorry, I must apologize for my brother’s attitude. He’s rather new to the family business and doesn’t fully know how things work just yet.”
“I do know how this all works,” Henry shot back. “And I know a bad deal when I see one.”
“Henry, this is not a bad de—”
“It’s alright,” Rayne said, cutting him off. “A younger and newer perspective is never a bad thing. Either the ideas are helpful or it provides an opportunity to learn. So, why do you believe this is a bad deal, Henry?” Calling him by his first name upon just meeting the man wasn’t the proper thing to do, especially for a lady such as herself, but Rayne couldn’t help herself. She could see the little anger flare up inside of him and it pleased her. It was also a pleasure to see his mouth open but see himself hold back what he clearly wanted to say. So many men had doubted Rayne in the past but never wanted to actually admit why they did.
“Making agreements on behalf of other people whilst they aren’t even in the country, nor even part of your brother’s company is predatory. You can ask us for our end of the deal whilst unsure if the other side can even provide, then you take your cut and we get stiffed if Vestar doesn’t deliver.”
“But, as I said, we have made no agreement. I am not speaking on behalf of anyone. I am simply putting out an idea into the world with hopes that it might be thought about again at a later date.”
“Weren’t you even listening?” Mr. Boyle whispered to his brother.
“You are still talking for someone else when it’s not your place.”
“Henry.”
“And who would that be?” Rayne already knew where this was going. This was always how it went. For a society that worshiped a goddess it was strange that men still got so full of themselves.
“This is your brother’s business, isn’t it?”
“And we get to the heart of the matter.” Rayne sighed and picked up her cup of tea, acting uninterested. “Believe it or not, there is a difference between ownership and running a company. You are rather new to all of this, so I understand if this is a difficult concept to understand.” That clearly made him more angry and Rayne just happily took a sip of her tea. He went to retort after a second's thought, but Rayne cut him off. “My brother has very little interest in the family business. He’s also not a very good businessman. Not to offend him but he couldn’t sell water to a thirsty man. Now, I am not going to sit here and praise myself and the work I have done for the family business, but I will say ‘Hayward Tea’ is now a household name. I’d wager a good amount of money that our tea is the same one you drink at home.
Again Henry went to open his mouth, but found no retort coming out. Luckily for all those involved, Mr. Boyle spoke up first. “Thank you again, Lady Hayward. We will happily keep this idea in the forefront of our minds in the next coming months. Maybe it would be beneficial if we were to meet again under more…” He gave a quick glance to his younger brother. “…private circumstances.”
Rayne gave a gentle smile. “Yes, I think that would be a wonderful idea.” The lady set down her tea before standing up from her seat, causing both of the men before her to follow suit. With a gentle hand she reached forward towards Mr. Boyle. He gently took her hand and shook it. “It was very nice to meet you Mr. Boyle. I hope our future together will be fruitful.”
“I hope so too, my lady. And again, thank you for choosing us for this idea of yours.”
“No need to thank you. You were the only name that came to mind when I had this idea.” She took her hand back and gave a halfhearted smile towards Henry. “I hope our understanding of each other will only grow as our companies move forward.”
Henry pursed his lips before quietly saying. “Thank you for this opportunity, my lady.” The younger brother gave a small bow to her before standing up and looking over to his brother.
“Mr. Williams,” Rayne called out. Not a moment later the door to the room was open and the butler stood there, patiently waiting. “Would you kindly escort these gentlemen back to their carriage?” He gave a bow before standing to the side to let the gentlemen out of the room.
Once they had all left, Rayne sat back down and let out a sigh. It was the same story every time she tried to do business with a new partner. “By the Goddess, can men just treat us with the same regard as they would other men?” There was a strange feeling at the knowledge that if she had never spoken up to her parents at seven she would never have had to deal with this sort of thing. It was worth it. Being the woman she truly was was more important than the implicit respect given by men to men.
The clock sitting on top of the fireplace chimed, drawing Rayne’s attention. It was time for Kaden’s lessons. Anxiety grew tight in Rayne’s chest and she didn’t know what to do about it. Hovering over Hannah anytime Kaden was close was not the answer to her problems. Oddly enough, to Rayne, it felt like doing that just might make things worse. If she never showed Kaden any trust around Hannah her brother might never grow past these feelings he had. Even knowing that, it still took a lot of effort to not get up and go to her fox.
The lady’s mind continued to linger on Hannah, as if so often did. Love was such a strange and new feeling. Romantic love at least, Rayne was used to familial love. It was unsettling how little control the lady had over her feelings and actions towards Hannah. Was this what it felt like for other people? To have nearly every waking thought occupied by the same person. To want nothing more in a day than to be close to them. To want to touch their fluffy ears and tail. To run her fingers through the unfelt fur on Hannah’s back.
“For fuck’s sake,” Rayne muttered to herself before picking up her tea again. “Get a hold of yourself, Rayne.” It was far too easy for Rayne to get lost in fantasy now and the lady hoped it wasn’t going to prove to be a problem. Rayne had always been a person to live in the moment, aware of what was going on around her, and starting to lose that was an upsetting feeling. The fantasies were very enticing though. Especially the one she had last night in her bed. She already knew that fantasy was going to rear its head for years to come.
Thinking back to it now though made Rayne feel guilty. It wasn’t right of her to think of Hannah in that way. Hannah wouldn’t consent to that, and continuing to think of her fox that way was just asking for more trouble. Maybe it would only make her feelings even stronger, taking away more of the control Rayne fought to keep around Hannah. Maybe it would prevent Rayne from ever letting Hannah rest her head in her lap. If Hannah ever allowed her to do something like that again. Rayne hoped Hannah would. She didn’t want to stop playing with those soft ears. She didn’t want to lose that physical intimacy she shared with the person she cared for so deeply.
The tea was still warm as she took a sip from it. It helped Rayne’s cluttered mind calm down just a little bit as she leaned back in the seat. Life was never going to be the same for Rayne now that she met Hannah and that was hard to come to terms with. She had been so sure of herself before. Everything felt figured out and she knew her place in the world. She was happy with her life, not that she wasn’t happy now. In fact she probably felt happier and more driven now, but there were so many new and unanswered questions. Would she have chosen this road if she had a choice? Would she have chosen to fall in love with Hannah if she had known how confused it would have made her? How uncertain of where her life was heading?
Rayne looked down at the tea now sitting in her lap. The dark surface of the tea reflected Rayne’s own image back at her.
“I wouldn’t trade this love for the world.”
