Gideon arrived at Mr. Sanada's door at 8:25am. Knocking, he asked her to enter.

"Mr. Sanada, Good Morning." Gideon bowed politely as was the custom and approached his desk.

"Ms. Okada, please have a seat." Gideon made herself comfortable. This was work so she wasn't nervous about anything. "So what did you want to discuss?"

"The Satori deal, before I say anything, will you tell me your thoughts on it?" 

Sanada looked at her as she held his gaze. He filled her in on the possibility of turning part of it into high end apartments with the lower half used as office space.

"I understand. I'm sorry to inform you Mr. Sanada, but the Satori building is not structurally sound. May I use your projector for a moment?" Sanada nodded as he focused on what she as going to say.

"The Satori building had several issues during construction. They went through 3 site developers as the firm didn't want to follow the safety suggestions because doing so was costly. You see Mr. Sanada, the Satori high rise is 36 floors, the structural footings are not deep enough to safely support a building of that size. With t-" Just then another Senior Member entered the office. Sanada turned to him, as Gideon paused.

"Anno-san, please have a seat. You will find this interesting. Please continue." 

Gideon bowed to the other gentleman.  "With the current footings, this building shouldn't have been built past the 8th floor. Three years ago, there was a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. It caused substantial cracks to not only the basement level but the first 3 floors and 2 of the middle floors." Gideon brought up side-by-side images. "The current developers poured an extra 3 inches of cement on the basement floor and set in rebar to strengthen it and patched over the cracks on the other floors. Gentleman, this building is not safe, one good sized earthquake and you will have major issues not only with safety but structural integrity." Gideon handed the two men safety reports.

"Those are the recommendations and safety reports from the three engineering/building groups that refused the contract along with their reasons. The last four pages are the building documents that shows the proposed plans with correct depths for the footings and the actual plan that they signed off on." Gideon stopped and waited for a response from the two men. She felt she had conveyed her concerns and that they were valid and backed up with proven facts.

Sanada looked at Mr. Anno, neither of them said anything. Mr. Anno stood up and walked towards Gideon. He held out his hand and shook hers. "Congratulations Ms. Okada, you just saved this firm over $30 million dollars. Sanada, you've got a keeper." With that he left and Sanada stood. 

"Time for our meeting Ms. Okada. I will let you take the lead." Gideon bowed and followed Sanada to the conference room where the Americans were already seated and enjoying the refreshments.

As the two entered the men all stood as Mr. Sanada walked towards a seat without acknowledging any of them.

"Please gentleman, have a seat." Gideon motioned for them to sit. She knew what Sanada was doing. He wanted to see if she would sink or swim and was going to sit there and not say anything. She'd seen it before so she wasn't worried. She had no problem taking control of the meeting, in fact she preferred it. From Sanada's office to the conference room he handed Gideon a briefing of the deal, giving her only 5 minutes to digest everything.

"Are you gentleman comfortable? Do you need anything before we start?" Gideon spoke in English first then translated to Japanese for Sanada.

"No, thank you so much for the refreshments. We really appreciate it, we don't get that too often over here." Gideon smiled and introduced herself and asked each of the men their names.

"Gentleman, I know you are all here to discuss the purchase of the Satori high rise, but I'm afraid that will not be happening today, at least not with the Sanada Corporation."  This time Gideon spoke in Japanese then english.  The men all whispered as Gideon kept a beautifully cold poker face as she stood; poised and confident.

"And why is that Ms...." One of the Americans, an Alpha tried to intimidate her. Wrong move. Gideon took a few steps towards him.

"Okada. Because Mr. Turner, the Satori high rise is not only a money pit, but it's structurally unsound and you know it. That's why your firm reduced the price of the building by $20 million. You want to unload it as quickly as you can."

"And what facts do you have to base this on young lady?" One of the older men addressed her.

"It's Ms. Okada, not young lady. Those folders in front of you contain all the facts you need gentleman. Your firm thought no one would do their research into the construction of the building and would merely jump at the fantastic price. Not so. After a substantial seismic event, the amount of damage to the structure and any claims that would come from that have the potential to severely cripple the Sanada Corporation."

Sanada could tell the men knew their deal was dead. He merely sat and looked at Gideon. The Americans were furious now and Sanada picked up on the Alpha pheromones, which seemed ineffective on the woman.

"And what makes you such an expert on anything thing structural?" The older man from earlier was pretty much yelling at her.

"First off, don't pull your dominate Alpha bullshit in this office, ever! Second, my Masters' degree in Structural Engineering from Steadman University, is what makes me the expert. Now, if you gentleman have nothing further to discuss, this meeting is over." Gideon stood her ground as she glared at the Alpha that yelled at her. If she had overstepped her bounds, she would deal with it later. She was over the arrogance from the Americans and they all felt it.

Gideon confidently walked towards the door and held it open for them. "Gentleman, Please enjoy the rest of your stay in Japan. The meeting is now over, thank you for your time and have a safe trip back."

The men looked at each other, then at Sanada as he remained emotionless and silent. They stood and bowed to Sanada.

"I'll show you to the elevators." Gideon remained poised and professional. She walked the men to the elevator, after they had entered she bowed as the door closed.

'Fucking Alphas'

She murmured under her breath as she turned to leave. Just as she was about to relax her shoulders a name was called out through the entire office.

"Okada!"

"Shit!" Gideon swore under her breath as she walked back towards Sanada's office. She heard whispers from the others as she walked past. She didn't knock and walked in closing the door behind her.

"Yes, Sir." Sanada was standing at his desk with his back to the door. He turned with the same cold, expressionless face he had throughout the meeting.

"Thank you, Ms. Okada."

Gideon was dumbstruck.. "I-I'm sorry Sir?"

"I said Thank you. You did a good job, you handled yourself well, even against Alphas. Impressive."

"Thank you, Sir" Gideon bowed, not sure what else to say. She was sure he would unleash on her for how she handled the Americans.

"I liked the 'dominate Alpha bullshit' part." Sanada spoke in English causing Gideon to snap her head up to look at him.

"You understood everything they were saying?"

Sanada smirked at her, as she rolled her eyes.

"You are unbelievable." Gideon mumbled, the gloves were off as far she was concerned. Boss or no Boss.

"I heard that!" Sanada was trying not to laugh and she could tell.

"I know...Alpha." Now it was Gideon's turn to smirk.

Sanada finally burst out laughing. It shocked others in the office as they had never heard him laugh. Ever.

"So you know, huh? Did your dad tell you?"

"No. I knew when we met again in the elevator."

"Thank you also for setting up the conference room, I appreciate that you did that. Who paid for the pastries?"

"I did Sir."

"I see, fill out an expense report so we can repay you. Now, Ms. Okada. Where are you taking me for dinner?"

Gideon couldn't help but laugh, she had hoped he wasn't going to mention it and let it go. After she cleared her throat, she immediately thought of a place.

"Irezumi House."

Irezumi House was not well known, especially by foreigners. Most locals even stayed away from it, but Gideon and dad loved the place. It was one of their favorites and they knew the owner who was an ex-Yakuza member. That was part of the reason most stayed away from it, but it was one of the few places that Gideon felt comfortable in surprisingly.

Sanada gave her a weird look.

"The food is fantastic. My dad and I go there often." Gideon tried to calm her boss.

"Fine. We'll leave in an hour."

"An hour!" Gideon was shocked that he wanted to go so soon.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"No sir, is there anything else sir?"

"No, that's all."

Gideon bowed and quietly left the office.