Patterns - An Academy Story

Back To The Matter At Hand

Sang's POV

We stood there, gazing into each other's eyes for what seemed like minutes, but was probably only a few seconds. His molten silver eyes were mesmerizing. I could feel my face flush. Forget that, I could feel my whole body flush. I took a slight step back, before I did something foolish like lean in to him, and cleared my throat.

"You mentioned a project?"

Owen shook his head, as if to clear it. It looked like I wasn't the only one, I thought to myself.

"Yes, back to the matter at hand. I briefly mentioned to Renji that we need someone to conduct an audit on Mr. Morgan's royalty statements. He said that you have provided assistance to him and to Loki in the past, and that you might be able to help."

He motioned towards Victor, who was seated at the long conference table, watching us. "Victor, if you could explain?"

Victor stood and pulled the chair next to him out.

"Hey there, Sang, it's nice to see you again," he said.

He smiled and held his hand out to me, motioning me to sit next to him. I walked over to him and sat down in the seat he indicated and rolled the chair in so that I was closer to the table. Victor sat back down in the chair on my right and moved his closer to mine and slid an opened folder over to me.

"Let me show you a few statements that I brought with me tonight," Victor said in his smooth baritone voice. He was close enough that I could smell his cologne. I inhaled softly. Mmmm. He smelled really good.

"... now if you take a look, this is the previous year's statement..."

Oops. I quickly focused on what Victor was saying. Hopefully I didn't miss anything while I was appreciating his cologne. I nodded to indicate that I was listening to him as he continued.

"There's a noticeable difference between the two years, but I don't think there should be. It just seems like something isn't right, but I don't know what it is or where to start. My father handled all aspects of my career until I turned 18, when I was able to, for lack of a better explanation, get out from under his influence."

I flipped through the papers in front of me, scanning the figures on the pages for several minutes, asking questions when I needed something clarified. Closing the folder, I turned to Victor. His amber eyes met mine.

"How far back do you want me to audit your accounts, and how many revenue sources are there?" I asked, looking at Victor.

"If we could go back at least five years that would be good. Six would take it back to when my father controlled everything. There are writer and publisher statements, and record company statements," he replied.

"Six years it is," I responded. "I'll need to get copies of all of the statements back to then, and anything else you think would be relevant. If you have any online royalty accounts, I'd like to be able to access them as well. Anything you can think of that will give me the most complete picture."

Victor smiled at me, and I could see the relief in his beautiful eyes.

I smiled back at him and put my hand over his, trying to not react to the fact that my hand was tingling where our two hands were touching. "Think of this as a big puzzle," I told him. "I'll find your missing pieces."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," he sighed, clasping my hand firmly in his for a brief moment.

"May I keep these statements, or do you need to make copies?" I asked him.