Being in a strange and interesting culture was not an easy thing for either one of us to do. I had read a lot about the Chinese way, but it still didn’t prepare me for what I was about to face. They were stuck in their ways and that old tradition had never been stronger than in the business world. If I thought that I had problems with those from the western side of the world then I was in for a shock on how close-minded these people could be.
Our first meeting with the Chinese didn’t go exactly as planned. I was shunned and ignored from the moment that I entered the room. They didn’t even acknowledge my existence. They referred all questions to August who seemed a little awkward and kept looking at me to understand what was going on. I thought that they had gotten past their antiquated thinking about where women were supposed to be in the business world. It became painfully obvious that the only reason why they brought me along was because August had made it a part of the deal.
“I understand that you have a lot of ideas, but we would really like you to reconsider your position. Mr. Nakamura has always been about traditional values and morals when it comes to creating something that is going to leave a lasting impression. I don’t want to tell him something that he’s going to refuse to even look at. I was hoping that you would be reasonable and maybe a couple of days thinking on it will help you to come to the right decision.” Michael was the son of a prominent businessman and he was
tasked to keep things cordial and moving along at a steady pace.
“I don’t understand any of this. You called us here specifically to give you something that nobody else has. Yet you still want to hold onto the old ways with an iron fist. You haven’t even given my partner the respect that she deserves. I am this close to cutting ties and going back to America. I don’t see any reason why we have to contend with being made into puppets for this administration.” I could see that August was getting hot under the collar and he had a tendency to show it without even meaning to.
“It galls me that you think that you have a choice. The contract that you signed is ironclad. There is no way around it. You can have your lawyers look it over, but I think that they’ll agree that you are now our property. Whatever you do for the next five years is considered the intellectual property of the Nakamura industry. Like I said, I think that you need some time to think about it before you make any rash decisions. My father and I have to go out of the country for a couple of days, but when we return, we would really like to get started as soon as possible. Follow the rules and there will be no problems.” Michael was only following his father’s orders. I could tell that he did not want to get on the bad side of a man that could make his life miserable.
“This is not the last that you’re going to hear about this. I was given some assurances that we were going to have a license to create. We are artists and what we do is something that not many people can. We work well together and you haven’t even made the effort to look her in the eye. Amanda is an integral part of all of this and for you to dismiss her out of hand isn’t something that I’ll tolerate.” It was nice that he was sticking up for me, but I wasn’t sure that this was the place or the time for something like that.
The chairs were supposed to be comfortable, but my back was hurting something fierce. They were designed to be ergonomic and made for a productive workforce. I shifted in my seat continuously trying to find a comfortable position. I was aware of the way that he was looking at my body. I felt self-conscious around this man.
“I am very disappointed that this meeting didn’t go the way that I had hoped it was going to. My father is not going to be very pleased when he hears about how stubborn you can be. I thought mistakenly when we had our in-depth discussions that you were on board. Be careful what kind of waves you want to make. I can tell you from personal experience that those that go against my father don’t last very long in whatever business we are conducting with them. He has a long reach and a power base that exceeds even yours Mr. Rivers.” Michael was being formal, but this was the way that they were raised to show respect to those that they worked for. That is if they were men. Women were pretty much left to sit on the sidelines.
August went over to him wearing his emotion on his sleeve and grabbed him by the collar of his starched shirt. He rumpled the blue fabric and the tie was askew on Michael’s frame. It didn’t look like Michael was at all concerned about the way that August was behaving. He never lost his composure and very gently removed August’s fingers from around his metaphorical throat.
“I believe that you need to keep control of your anger, Mr. Rivers. It will do us no good to be at cross purposes. You can fight it all you want, but I think that you’ll find that it will be futile. My father is a man of honor, but he knows how to conduct business with a forceful and demanding way. He does not speak your language and he considers westerners to be a waste of skin. It took a lot for me to even get him to agree to work with you. He was the one that made the contract. That is the very same contract that you signed and sent back to me digitally.” Michael with his coifed black hair and almond colored eyes momentarily looked in my direction and gave me a sideways glance that made me feel like he was trying to make me burst into flames.
“This is a lot to process. I apologize for grabbing you like that, but you have to admit that you laid a bomb in our lap. We had no idea that you were going to be so strict that you wouldn’t allow us the freedom to show you what we can do. I’m going to have to give this some thought and weigh my options.” August was trying to remain calm, but it was difficult with this man trying to run roughshod over us.
“I will forgive this trespass one time and one time only. Don’t presume that you can put your hands on me for any reason. I know that emotions are running high, but that’s no excuse for this kind of unprofessionalism. Ignorance is not an excuse and one that is not going to be tolerated. Your day begins at 8:00 AM our time and ends 5:00 PM unless otherwise stated. You have two days to make peace with your situation or we will see you in court. I think that you’ll agree that you want to avoid that at all costs.” Michael was wearing a red power tie and the glasses were mostly for show.
I was terrified of saying anything in case that it would be subjected to scrutiny. I thought that I was independent and had a mind of my own, but here it felt like I was a second-class citizen. There were women in business, but they really didn’t raise the bar for the rest of them. They followed along with the owners’ wishes. It was only if they were able to break free and become their own boss that they were given a bit more than a casual glance.
Michael closed the door gently like he was trying to make a point. August immediately slammed down his hands on the table so hard that it actually made me jump to my feet. I was shivering in place.
“I don’t even know what to say. I have more than enough money to fight them, but it would be a never ending battle for years to come. I would lose my reputation. You haven’t said much. I know that he can be intimidating, but you have to stand up for yourself in order to be recognized. I didn’t like doing all the talking for us. We are a team and I would hope that you would act like one.” His anger towards Michael and his father was now spilling over. He saw me as a target and he was using me to get rid of some of that pent up frustration that he felt.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to say and everything that Michael said was in the face of what we believed. He came in here shaking your hand and I knew that something was wrong when he didn’t even look at me. I didn’t feel that it was necessary to say anything. He had a script before coming in here and he was following it to the letter. Nothing was going to make him deviate from what he was going to say.” I was just as angry and I wanted to scream, but to do so would only feed into their perception of us.
“I came here in good faith and they slapped that in my face. I thought that I had a good standing with Michael over the phone, but I see now that he was only putting on a face. Telling me what I wanted to hear and then slipping a contract through the cracks. I did take him lightly and he made me feel like we were on the same page.” August had turned a crimson red and I thought for sure that steam was going to come out of the top of his head.
I placed my hands on his shoulders in a gesture of good faith. I could feel the tension in his muscles and there had to be a way to relieve him of what he was feeling. I could think of one way, but to use my body in that fashion would be the wrong way to start this relationship.
“We have two days to think about what we’re going to do. It’s really not a long time, but we don’t have to think about it right now. Let’s get out of our head and do something fun. We’re here in a city that we don’t really know. I say that we embrace it.” I turned his head towards me and I saw the look of defeat in his eyes.
I could smell the Chinese Food cooking on the industrial sized Wok in the back of the restaurant. There was nothing like authentic Chinese Food. There was one place back home that had taken their recipe from their homeland and brought it to my table.
August looked anxious, but at least he had discarded that tie for a more casual approach. He had the first couple of buttons undone as if those buttons were choking off the air supply. He kept looking around and drumming his fingers on the table with that excess energy running through his veins.
“I know that it’s going to be difficult, but you need to calm down. There’s very little that we can do at this time of night. You’ve already put in calls to your lawyers and they said that they would get back to you in the morning. I heard their sigh of exasperation when you told them that you signed on the dotted line without them present. It almost seemed like they were laughing in your face. I’ve taken the liberty of ordering some of their favorites and I do hope that you will find it to your liking.” It felt like a lifetime ago when I had to deal with my ex-boyfriend that had come calling when I was just about to admit my feelings for August physically.
All those problems were thousands of miles away and there was something liberating about being here where nobody knew us. We could show affection but still got some strange looks from those that didn’t feel that it was appropriate.
“I just feel like such a fool for getting you involved. It was supposed to be an adventure and not some kind of purgatory where we are sentenced to five years of hard labor.” He had nothing to apologize for. He had always been straight with me. The only thing that we seemed to dance around was our feelings for one another. We were both to blame for that.
“It’s not your fault and they tricked you into thinking one thing and doing another. There’s always going to be those that believe that they are the only voice that matters. I should have said something in my own defense with Michael. There was this tension in the air that you could cut with a knife.” The girl that waited on us was mild. She never said much of anything and went back to the kitchen after she had taken our order.
“I should know better than to negotiate in good faith. I’ve been known in the past to play these same games. I should have known that it was going to come back and bite me in some way. They say that karma is a bitch and that has never been more evident than the way that Michael has treated us. I have never been spok
en to like that before and I don’t ever want to be subjected to that again.” August had power, but it appeared that Mr. Nakamura had a lot more clout in a city that had his hand prints all over it.
“This falls on my shoulders as well. I should’ve been more diligent and done a detailed search on the Internet about their business practices. I went on the premise that everything was taken care of. I allowed you to take the lead on this one and I never even questioned how this was going to work. I know from my research of their culture that they can be stickler for details. Their laws are not up for interpretation. You do something wrong and you pay for it. Do you know that when they kill somebody here for a crime that they actually send the bill for the bullet to their loved ones? Like in business ignorance is not tolerated or accepted as an excuse or defense in a court of law.” I had already polished off the rice wine that they had brought over to the table for dinner.
“I was actually looking forward to learning about this city through your eyes. I’ve been here a time or two, but I never really took the time to look around. It was always about business. Being an architect is not the only thing that I have my hand into. I have the kind of money that allows me to invest in various ventures. I have lost my shirt, but that is par for the course.” August was ashamed of himself for letting his guard down. I imagined in some small way that he would blame me for that and rightfully so. I did take him off his game and made him vulnerable to the manipulation of others.