Stheno Madoka wasn't a CEO just because he inherited the company. He definitely knew what he was doing and he knew how to talk to people.
Yet yesterday was a complete disaster. He could barely muster out more than a few sentences, and after a bad coffee incident, left like a flustered teenager.
But it wasn't unsalvageable. If Kaama was roughly Nova's age, maybe he knew the Lyena closer than some old fart did.
Maybe they were even friends! Stheno needed to capitalize on that possibility. If he could at least understand why William preferred Nova over him, that'd put his mind to rest a little bit.
Kaama was his only lead, but he needed to act fast, because his stay on Sturm wasn't forever, maybe a week or so, it depended on several factors that Stheno didn't feel like thinking about.
And so, it was another late evening, and he was waiting for Kaama to arrive at his hotel room door.
He had a bottle of wine set up. This time, there hopefully wouldn't be any spilling.
For a brief moment, the thought of this seeming a bit flirtatious crossed his mind, but he quickly flushed that idea down with a small sip of the wine.
Any moment now. A knock on the door.
Any moment.
…
Few minutes overtime? That's alright.
…
At this point, the wine was stinging him in the eyes, begging to be consumed.
"No! I can't drink wine. Alone. In the evening."
I'm not that sad. Stheno thought, but on a deeper level, he really was that sad.