Rick Cooper looked every bit like the accountant Lia expected him to be. Clean-cut, bespectacled and wearing nothing remotely close to colorful. All in all, boring. Honestly, she shouldn't have been judging. Here she was dressed in a dark maroon pantsuit with black, no-nonsense pumps and barely any accessories save for the pearl earrings. She envied some of the women who worked in her company who could gallivant through the office halls in a skirt or frilly blouse, not caring if they were seen as women. Maybe Lia wanted to dress pretty too, but no she had to keep up some kind of masculinity to stay above the rest of her male cohorts. She couldn't let Renzo deal with everything.
Lia shook those selfish thoughts from her mind immediately after Rick began to speak, trying his best to hide his Southern accent. Lia placed a hand on her face to feign interest in what he was saying to cover a smile. It was kind of cute, in a way. However, she soon became very interested in what the accountant had to say about the company's overall bookkeeping, especially when she found out it wasn't as intact as she would have liked. At the end of his explanation, he apologized for giving her such grave news already but she just shook her head.
"No, it's fine. I'd rather we get down to business than have to go through some awkward, introductory chit chat." She replied, "I'm impressed with what you've accomplished so far in the last few hours since you've arrived in Chicago.." Lia walked further inside the barren office, looking around to see if he had decorated the place yet. He had just arrived so probably not.
"I've heard good things about you Mr. Cooper, and the work you've done with our satellite companies," She continued, even though she was bluffing this time around, "And it gives me hope that you will become an excellent member of our staff during your time here. Seeing as you've already discovered a lot in our books, I think it would only be necessary to give you a position that gives you as much access to it as possible. I can't make it official yet without my brother giving his consent, but consider it an pre-promotion. Now then, I suppose I should show you around before going over your duties here at Barriello Inc. Follow me." She walked out of his office and down the hall, knowing he would be following close by.
She began the tour on his floor, which was one of the many accounting areas in their building. Lia introduced Rick to several accounting managers, including the head accountant who profusely apologized for the sloppy bookkeeping when she pointed it out. Then, she took Rick down the floors to tour the other departments, like human resources and advertisement. She even went out of her way to give him the tour of their cafeteria, though she listed off several great restaurants in walking distance of the building.
"So, any questions?" Lia finally asked him as they headed back to the elevators. However, before Rick could answer, one of the elevator doors opened to reveal Renzo Barriello and several members of the Yakuza. Lia wasn't too worried about who saw them though; to any normal person they just looked like Japanese businessmen. Renzo was laughing it up with an older member of the group as they stepped off the elevator when her twin finally noticed her and Rick.
"Hey Lia! I was just telling Mr. Kawashima about our last trip to Las Vegas. He's thinking of stopping by before going back home!" He exclaimed.
"Right," Lia replied, giving the Japanese group a steady smile, "I hope my brother wasn't too much of a hastle, Kawashima-san."
"No, he was an excellent host." The older man replied with a grin of his own, "I look forward to doing business with you Ms. Barriello. Good day." He and the rest of his entourage bowed at the Barriello twins before heading out the front doors and to their awaiting town cars. It wasn't until they were gone when Renzo finally noticed the newcomer.
"You must be the new accountant we got from North Carolina." He announced, his voice dripping with fake hospitality, "What was your name again? Looper? Scooper?"
"It's Rick Cooper, Renzo." Lia corrected.
"Right, right. How's your first day been Ricky?" Renzo asked, feigning innocence in the presence of his sister.