One #2
“A run for their money?” Theo chimes in. “We have taken their money, pushed them out of multiple markets, all without selling our souls to the devil the way they had to.”
I tilt my head. “Are you implying you’ve gained and maintained your success without a hint of red in your ledger?”
Alexander has a small smirk as he sips his coffee but doesn’t try to answer for his partner.
“Are you implying that the only way to have success is to slit the throats of anyone that stands in your way?” Theo asks me.
“That’s not what I’m implying at all.”
“Your question tells me otherwise.”
Alexander finally steps in. “What my friend is trying to say here is that along the way, we’ve been trampled over by others that would happily throw us to the wolves to succeed, while we struggled to get where we are without taking shortcuts.
We’ve been told many times over the years that we were fools for that, but when your money is clean, it can’t be taken away. ”
“I understand that sentiment completely. I’ve heard horror stories over my years doing research on this industry. I wanted to interview you both today because a fresh, positive take is desperately needed.” I make a few notes and then ask my next question. “How long have you two known each other?”
Alexander answers this time. “Since we were boys, grade school, six or seven years old.”
“You grew up in the same area?”
Theo responds now. “Yes, in a small city in Texas, near the Mexican border. My family moved to America from Italy when I was five.”
“And mine moved from Guatemala when I was four. His family moved in next door to mine.” Alexander adds in.
I nod. “Do you think being the children of immigrants helped or hurt your journey to get to where you are now?”
“There’s always a stigma placed atop the head of immigrants, especially when you’re trying to make your life in the Southern United States,” Alexander says. “If anything, I think seeing our parents struggle made us even more steadfast in our resolve.”
“We weren’t going to give up,” Theo says. “I wanted to make a life for my mother and father. One they didn’t have to worry about, and that’s what I’ve done. What we’ve done.”
God, these men are so… inspiring.
The rest of the interview goes on about as you’d expect.
Standard business related questions, things that casual readers would want to know, as well as little quirks about each of them I’ve gleaned from watching their body language as the conversation moves.
By the time I’ve reached my final question, I can tell Theo, at least, is ready to move on with his day.
So color me shocked as hell when the next sentence leaves his mouth.
“Now, Ms. Thomas, you’ve spent ample time asking about us. I think it's only fair that we get to ask about you, don’t you agree?”
I freeze in my seat and my eyes dart between Theo and Alexander. Over and over.
“Um… what? I don’t understand.”
Alexander speaks this time. “You’ve taken such care to listen to us and take interest in our process and lives. We’d like to do the same for you.”
My heart begins to race. “Right, but you have a story to tell. You have all of this.” I motion around the office. “I am not quite as interesting as you are.”
“We beg to differ.” Theo says.
I close my notebook and slide it down into my bag slowly, trying to form some kind of coherent thought. “What did you want to know?”
“Where are you from?” Theo replies. His arm is outstretched over the back of the chair he’s in and his leg is crossed over with his ankle resting on his knee. I can see now that he has tattoos on his hand but I’m not able to quite make out what they are from here.
“Uh, well, I was born in South Carolina. I lived there my whole life then moved here to the city for college. I’ve been here ever since.”
Theo rubs his hand over his facial hair again and glances over to Alexander who asks the next question.
“And you studied journalism in school?”
“Not at first. I didn’t have a clear understanding of what I wanted when I went to school. I was a psychology major first, then I got a part time job with the school blog and paper. That ignited my love for journalism, so I switched my major. The rest is history.”
“And outside of the work you’re doing for this publication, what do your days consist of?” Theo asks me.
I wasn’t expecting personal questions whatsoever, but I answer them because I find myself wanting to tell them anything they want to know.
“I’ve dabbled in writing fiction and poetry. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. Yoga and reading are important to me as well. I like to travel sometimes when I’m able.” I shrug. “I guess my life is relatively boring, isn’t it?”
“Boring is subjective. Your life, at least from what you’ve told us, is normal.” Theo responds. “For that, you should be thankful. We haven’t known normalcy in years.”
“I find that fascinating. Do you think your young age and social status in the day and age of social media has opened you up to undo and unjust criticism?”
They both smile and Alexander speaks. “This is our portion of the interview, Mrs. Thomas.”
“It’s Ms.” I say, clearing my throat. “Ms. Thomas.”
There’s something that passes between them. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s a blink and you’d miss it moment.
“Ms. Thomas,” Alexander says, putting emphasis on Ms. “We lose a lot of genuine conversation with others, given certain circumstances.” He motions around their large office. “When we find individuals we may find like minded, we want to explore that, even if only for a moment.”
“I see,” I fold my hands in my lap. “So that means the answer to my question is yes. You do find that you're too open to criticism, so you simply shut down any opportunity someone may have to tarnish you or your brand in any way by only holding conversations with those sitting in front of you.”
“They’d have to have a reason to tarnish things,” Theo says. “We’d rather strip anyone of the chance. We’ve worked too hard to let someone with a large social media following misconstrue anything we say. We are particular about interviews.”
“I know. I jumped through many hoops to sit here today.” I smile so they know I’m not being an asshole about that fact.
“I understand it. If I was at your stature, I’d feel the same way.
I’m only barely known amongst the journalism community here in the city and I’m fiercely protective of my privacy. ”
Theo leans over and whispers something to his partner and a smile crests his lips before he speaks again. “I appreciate your time and honesty, Ms. Thomas. We do have a few meetings to attend that we are currently late for.”
“Oh!” I stand quickly, scrambling to grab my things. “I didn’t mean to keep you. I’m so sorry.”
“You didn’t. We stayed on our own. You don’t have to apologize.” Alexander tells me as he rises to his feet, followed by Theo.
“Never apologize for things that aren’t your fault.” Theo tells me. “Ever.”
I furrow my brow. His tone was deep… demanding… maybe even protective. I don’t hate it.
“I won’t.” I pull my bag over my shoulder. “I’ll send the article to your PR team for approval?” I ask and Alexander shakes his head in response.
“No,” he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. “You can send it directly to us.”
I take the card and slide my fingers along the edges. It feels expensive.
“Okay,” I nod, and place the card down in my bag. “Thank you for your time and kindness.”
They walk with me to the door and Theo opens it for me, ushering me by him. “Did you take a cab? Uber?” He asks me and I stop to answer.
“Cab.”
And just like that, he pulls out his phone and demands a car be waiting for me downstairs.
I try to object but it falls on deaf ears. They won’t accept no for an answer.
That’s how I ended up in the back of a Mercedes SUV, being chauffeured home while my stomach does somersaults over the fact that I think I was just flirted with by the two hottest, most powerful men I’ve ever seen in my life.
If I only knew then that it wasn’t going to stop there and there were many more stomach somersaults in my future at the hands of Alexander Rivas and Theo Moretti.