Warnings: Implied violence. Please let me know if I missed any!
A/N: Holy shnikes, I've been writing Tech Tuesday for an entire year without skipping a week! Sure, I've had to fudge a few things, but I've been consistent! I'm kinda proud of myself for that!
Tech Tuesdays Masterlist
Ari Levinson (CEO)
"So it's a deal?" Ari smirks across the table at Tony Stark.
"It was a deal three days ago," Tony huffs.
"No, that was still negotiation," Ari counters. "Your 'deal' wouldn't have been enough compensation for the prioritization."
"You're lucky your company provides the best of the best when it comes to user friendly design," Tony grumbles, taking a sip of bourbon. "If people were smarter, I wouldn't need so much help translating my genius."
"Nor would you need to pay so much for us to prioritize your work over that of others," Ari purrs.
"I'm certain the money will be put to good use getting you a second house or something."
"Not a chance," Ari scoffs. Tony's eyebrows raise in surprise so he explains, "you know why my company is the best at what it does? It's because I make sure my employees are happy. Happy employees are loyal employees. Dedicated employees. With the money we're getting from this deal? We're either hiring some new people to ease workloads or giving everyone a nice bonus. Maybe a combination."
"Huh," Tony replies, stunned at the other man's response. "My dad coulda learned a thing or two from you."
Ari laughs at that before raising his glass. "To learning from mistakes."
"I can't raise my glass to that," Tony shakes his head. "I never actually learn."
Natasha Romanov (Head of HR) & Nick Fowler (Private Investigator)
Nick feels the air knocked out of his lungs as he hits the mat. While the life of a PI wasn't as exciting as the movies often make it out to be, regular sparring sessions were good for keeping his skills sharp.
Or they would be if his sparring partner wasn't also former CIA and in much better shape.
"C'mon Fowler. You've gone soft on me," Nat smirks.
"Yeah," he wheezes.
"Must be that new girlfriend of yours. She's keeping you so well fed you're becoming docile."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," he blushes.
She shrugs before helping him up.
"So what's the job?" Nick grunts.
"What makes you think this isn't just a workout?"
"You're being extra nice," he replies. "If it was 'just a workout' you wouldn't have helped me up."
"Maybe I feel bad for you." Nick raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "Okay, okay. I've gotten a couple of weird phone calls asking after one of our employees, Johnny Storm, and I'm worried he's in really big trouble."
"Can you define 'weird'?"
"I recognized one of the phone numbers from my CIA days."
"That is weird," he concedes. "Give me the number and I'll look into it after my date tonight."
"No, you'll look into it tomorrow," Nat smirks. "I'm not keeping your girl from getting some action."
Nick blushes as he heads to the locker-room to clean up.
Sam Wilson (CFO)
As Sam waits for his date to come back from the ladies' room, his meal is interrupted by a woman he wishes he didn't recognize.
"Linda Drysdale," he snorts.
"Well I should hope you know me," she snaps back. "I've been sending you a very high number of offers to buy your company."
"You've sent so many we're having legal look into harassment charges," he shoots back. "The company ain't for sale. You need to get that through your thick skull."
"Oh come on," Linda rolls her eyes. "Everyone has a price. I just haven't found the right one for you and Levinson."
"And you never will."
"Your company isn't making a lot of profit. I've seen the receipts."
Sam smirks and raises an eyebrow. If she's fishing for information on the rumors of the Stark deal, she'll have to look elsewhere. And the fact that she conflates "profit" with "revenue" is very revealing.
"Alright fine," she sighs, shoulders dropping. "In truth...The truth is..." she sniffles, but Sam doesn't react. "I just miss my son so much," she cries. "I've tried to get guest passes into the building, but they've all been declined. I don't know where he lives because he takes the bus! And I just..." Linda sobs into a napkin she took from Sam's table.
"Really Linda? You're trying to use crocodile tears on me?" he gibes.
Linda's shoulders stop shaking and she angrily throws the napkin back on the table.
"Well excuse me for being a concerned mother!"
"If you were actually concerned about your son, you'd accept that he's alive and leave him be until he's ready to talk," Sam argues. "As it is, if I see you again, I will be filing charges and you will be banned from the premises."
Linda glares at him, but Sam doesn't back down.
"Now, if you don't leave and let me get back to my meal, I will have the maître d' escort you outta here."
As Linda storms out, Sam's date returns to the table and he stands to greet her and pull her chair out for her.
Warnings: Implied violence. Please let me know if I missed any!
A/N: Holy shnikes, I've been writing Tech Tuesday for an entire year without skipping a week! Sure, I've had to fudge a few things, but I've been consistent! I'm kinda proud of myself for that!
Tech Tuesdays Masterlist
CEO Ari Levinson looks over the controlled chaos that is the company picnic. He's been told, time and again, by CFO Wilson that letting everyone bring their families made these events significantly more expensive but, for Ari, it's worth it. He lost his family through his workaholic tendencies and maybe, just maybe, these kinds of events can help prevent another workaholic from losing their connections. If it weren't for the potential allergy complications, he'd even let people bring their pets to these things. You never know what someone close to burnout needs.
As if he knew Ari was thinking about him, Sam approaches, looking ready to talk business.
"You looked over the offer?" Ari raises an eyebrow.
"Sure did. Not every day we get an offer to be bought," Sam shakes his head.
"Especially not by someone so random as the Thrombey Estate," Ari agrees. "So what are they offering?"
Sam takes a sharp breath as he grimaces. "They're definitely aimed at making a deal with the Executives and only the Execs. The offer is full of benefits for us. There's a couple lines about 'preserving employee counts' but it's very clear they don't give a shit."
Ari shakes his head and looks at the people around him again. That's another reason he never wants families cut from getting to attend this event. He needs the reminder of what's at stake every time he makes a decision. It isn't just numbers, just profit. There are people who rely on him for their well-being. Whether they're single, with someone, married with kids, they're all the happier for the reliable paycheck. His heart clenches as he sees the kids area, thinking of the last time he saw his daughter before losing her in the divorce.
"So it's definitely a 'no' from us," Ari confirms. "Ray, would you please ask Romanov to join us?"
Raymond nods and quickly goes to find the Head of HR.
"What's she got to do with this?" Sam questions.
Ari lowers his voice, making sure the conversation can't be heard outside of the two of them. "We got a random offer from an estate that has no experience in our field. There's no indicators that anyone in the Thrombey family is interested in expanding or diversifying their portfolio. I think they're after someone. Someone who's linked to them in some way."
"You had her look into it. Smart."
As they wait, Ari keeps his eyes on the crowd. "Are you going to participate in any of the games?"
Sam scoffs. "Only if the IT crew doesn't compete. They're single-handedly dismantling the meme of computer guys being weak, sports-averse, dweebs."
Ari throws his head back as he laughs at that. "You're not wrong. Pretty sure the only competition they've ever really had was Hansen's department but that's only because of Hansen himself." Sam rolls his eyes at the mention of Lloyd. "You're still upset he stole the cute girl from IT?"
"Sort of. She's damn cute and I was really interested. But since they've gotten together, Hansen has been easier to work with. Low bar, but still. How long do you think it'll last? Hansen ain't known for relationships."
Ari winces. "Call me a romantic, but I'm kinda rooting for them."
Sam's response is cut off by a polite cough from Raymond. Romanov smiles as she joins the conversation, "Raymond says you wanted to see me?" Her tone is professional polite, she's very good about making sure no one hears the wrong things.
"Sam's been informed of your 'mission'," Ari tells her and she goes from polite to serious.
"Managed to find a connection, just as you suspected," she reports. "Hugh Drysdale, grandson to Harlan Thrombey. He was hired almost two years ago under the name Ransom Drysdale, his middle name as his first. He didn't have much for references and I was certain he wouldn't get hired but Syverson and Pine decided to give him a chance."
Ari nods at the information. "Any idea why he came to us?"
"Got in touch with a PI friend of mine who laughed when he heard the name. Apparently Linda Drysdale, daughter of Harlan Thrombey, had hired him to find her son who had gone 'no contact'."
"A PI?" Sam interjects. "Did you have to pay for that information?"
Romanov smirks, "he's pretty amenable when it comes to getting me to not kick his ass." Sam laughs and Ari chuckles. Her strength doesn't just extend to office work.
"So we've got her son in our employ," Ari thinks aloud. "That explains a few things."
Sam nods in agreement. "I'll make sure to send the politest 'fuck off' message I can."
"Thank you," Ari smirks.
"She's not likely to stop at just the one offer and rejection," Romanov warns.
"True," Ari nods. "But we have no reason to give her the time of day. Sam, every future offer from Thrombey or Drysdale companies get pushed to the bottom of the pile."
"Understood," Sam smirks.
"And Ray, make sure any and all phone calls or emails from those same people are given low priority."
"Yes, Mr. Levinson," Raymond assures, phone already out. "And I believe it's a good time for you to make the rounds again."
"Right," Ari nods. He tries to make a point of meeting everyone. He doesn't remember everyone, but he still wants to try. It's good for him. Especially to remind him of why it's important he turns down offers like Thrombey's.
