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Joseph reclined back a bit as Erik waved his hand a bit as if to dismiss what he'd said and listened to him as he spoke. The CEO nodded his head and let out a soft 'ah' as he explained that Joseph had overthought it. It certainly did make sense why he said that now "I see.." he causally commented as he thought on it for a moment before nodding his head softly "I suppose I count myself lucky, when I came out to my....former friends as Bisexual my one of them instantly joked that finding a partner would be that much more difficult. Other than that I've never had to deal with jokes of that nature" honestly he assumed that it was only because he had the look of a strictly straight man. He knew his look, square jawed, sharply dressed, it wasn't surprising that he was not the butt of any jokes himself. That being said he knew that such a thing could possibly cast his company in a bad light as many people still were terribly homophobic and accusations would rise up constantly. Not that Joseph cared at all mind you, hence why he was so open about his own sexuality with someone he just met. He had nothing to hide. This time however an audible and true laugh came from his throat as he shook his head "I will take your word for it then" that was actually rather funny "Sympa que les Français soient des serviettes....?" his tone was heavily unsure as he tried his hand at speaking French despite still just starting to learn the language, figuring that it would be just fine to test it out on his newest French employee.


(Translation:
Sympa que les Français soient des serviettes = Nice to horn that the French are towels )

Joseph nodded his head though he had a pretty good idea that he'd botched his French pretty badly if the other man snickered like that. Granted if it wasn't the worst he heard then that must have been a good thing, right? Still though Joseph did feel just a tinge of embarrassment, if he didn't properly speak then what had he actually said? He was suddenly desperate to know but he wouldn't ask just to not let the other know it was bothering him as much as it was. The CEO would just have to resume his practice later tonight before bed, he did need to perfect this after all. He then paused in his drinking to look into the glass for a moment "¿De verdad tengo que decírtelo?" he began to speak "Bìjìng wǒ shì nǐ de lǎobǎn, suǒyǐ wǒ méiyǒu" he then shrugged his shoulders a little bit as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand "Shikashi, watashi wa itsumo anata o yūmoa ni suru koto ga dekiru to omoimasu" finally the tiniest of amused smirks played at his lips "I apologize, is that called showing off?" honestly he was admittingly enough a bit proud of himself, it hadn't been easy but he was able to now grasp several languages and was currently working on his fourth.


(Translation:

Spanish: ¿De verdad tengo que decírtelo? = Do I really have to tell you though?

Chinese: Bìjìng wǒ shì nǐ de lǎobǎn, suǒyǐ wǒ méiyǒu = I'm your boss after all so I don't have too

Japanese: Shikashi, watashi wa itsumo anata o yūmoa ni suru koto ga dekiru to omoimasu = But I suppose I could always humor you)

Joseph would find it rather amusing to say the least at the other man's honesty. He could think of a couple sycophant's who would deny the blatant exhibition of skill as showing off. Those were the people he didn't particularly care for but kept anyway for their skills at the job they had in the company. Joseph then would nod his head a bit before taking a long sip of his wine "I see, I'd considered learning Italian but I received a suggestion from my old secretary to learn French. Granted she was the hopeless romantic type so she just loved the language I assume" to be rather frank the language of love as so many people called it was utterly useless for him. But if anything once he branched out into the food industry he'd be able to get some good french chefs to join his company soon enough hopefully. Joseph would then listen to Erik explain how he'd tried to learn Spanish when he was younger and the CEO would nod his head in understanding. He could only imagine how difficult it might be if you had a harsh accent "If you want I could teach you in my spare time?" he would offer "We have several clients from Spain whose English is very poor. Having you be able to speak Spanish with them would be most beneficial" Joseph would explain to his Secretary. No doubt it would come up and expanding the languages he knew would help the other man quite a bit in the long run of things.


(Translation: )

Joseph gave the other man a small smirk as he spoke about his understanding of the Italian language. It was a rather amusing to hear the other man admit that it was mostly cuss words and bedroom talk. This was not quite what he was expecting to say the least. The other man seemed rather proper and very professional, but it seemed that Erik had his work face and his casual face. Or maybe it was the wine that was relaxing him? He didn't really know. Either way Joseph would nod his head a little bit in agreement "I could imagine that a language stops being so fascinating when you're raised around it" he spoke in an even tone as he continued to sip his wine casually, thankful that he was a man with a high alcohol tolerance even after so long not drinking. Once Joseph made his offer he nodded his head when the other man explained that he was impatient and easily frustrated "I'm a patient man, besides I can admire someone who acknowledges their faults" some employers disliked such qualities coming to light but Joseph was quite the opposite really. When someone was able to admit their weaknesses and faults it spoke of a certain amount of maturity in his opinion. At that moment the waitress would arrive with both their pizza pies, already cut and piping hot out of the oven. Joseph would nod his head to the waitress and grabbed his plate before placing a slice of the gooey pizza on his plate "Well tomarrow after work you could stop by my home and we can begin the lesson then if you'd like?"


(Translation: )

Joseph would admit that it may not have been the best idea to offer to teach someone who claimed to be an awful student Spanish. However the CEO have dealt with people worse than someone who's impatient and easily frustrated, Erik hasn't met any of the older gentlemen of other companies yet. Those men for their advanced age seem to always act like toddlers, speaking down on anyone younger and throwing a tantrum when proven wrong. It was amusing honestly. Joseph would lift up his slice of pizza and unlike his companion who went right for it the CEO would blow on it to cool the slice down just a bit before taking his first bite. The chicken was nice and the peppers offered just the right amount of spice to it and this was basically his perfect pizza. He would glance up and swallowed before nodding his head "Excellent, I'll give you the details at work tomorrow and what time. If you have prior engagements that you know of please let me know now" he explained in his usual official tone before taking another bite of his pizza before then taking a sip of his wine. It was a bit amusing to say the least, sipping a nice wine while eating a slice of pizza.


(Translation: )

With everything set in stone and their plans made Joseph would take a sip of his wine to wash the pizza down. It was rather nice actually going out with someone and just having casual conversation, it was something that the CEO was quickly realizing that he'd missed such things as simple as this. He had no 'friends' or people he even associated himself with outside of work, by all means Joseph was pretty much alone which wasn't a problem really. He always considered himself somewhat of a 'lone wolf' so to speak but even then wolves were social animals and even Joseph would succumb to the desire to interact with another person casually. As Joseph went to take another bite of his pizza he'd pause for a moment when Erik asked about his youth and how he was as a teenager. It was a question he hadn't expected, even more so now that he began to explain about himself as a teen. To say the least it was rather unexpected that the man before him was a wild child who went out of his way to rebel. However the CEO raised his other hand and coughed into his fist a bit as he spoke about his encounters with the Fathers business partners, that bit he could have done without knowing but to save face he didn't say anything and instead simply nodded his head in acknowledgement "I...see. Indeed I suppose that you're living proof that people can change and improve who you are as a person" of course Joseph eyed Erik with a hard stare for a moment as he contemplated the others question "I'm sorry to say but my teenage years are not nearly as exciting as yours" he began before pausing to take a bite of his pizza and once he swallowed Joseph would glance up at him once more "I was a child prodigy and advanced through school faster than all my peers, by the time I was thirteen I passed my older siblings in high school. They were sophomores and I was a senior" he then shrugged his shoulders "After that I went on to college and got my masters in business right around when I turned fifteen. After that I made some smart investments in the stock market and got enough money to open Measly Myers" it was rather funny honestly. Many people he knew mocked him for being a fifteen year old who wanted to open up his own toy company. It had taken a lot of hard work and Joseph had pretty much no childhood so to speak, most of his time was spent on school and working hard. When other kids were out playing and enjoying their youth Joseph was in his room studying for a calculus exam "So compared to you, I didn't have nearly as much fun when I was a teenager" the CEO was only a bit ashamed that he didn't get to have any of the fun that teenagers could have. Parties, hanging out with friends, just generally goofing off, he didn't get any of that, but it made him into the man he was today and he certainly wouldn't want to change anything.


(Translation: )

Joseph would admit that the whole topic of intimate affairs and sex made him a bit uncomfortable. However he would partially attribute this to the fact that he was still Erik's boss and they weren't even close to casual friends yet, at least that's what he thought. Either way though Joseph made sure to pay close attention to Erik as he began to speak and explained that his youth wasn't fun. The CEO would be taken aback a bit by just how open and willing Erik was to speak about his youth and his desire to lash out at everyone around him. However he nodded his head a little bit at what everything he said. Even if he had an unhappy youth he still managed to make something of himself and even if he didn't see it as fun he still was able to make himself into a better man. Experience is life's best teacher and he felt like it helped Erik mature into the man he is now. Then his companion would begin to comment about Joseph's own life and the CEO chuckled a little bit at his comment, it was funny how accurate it was "You have no idea. I'll admit I was scared, I couldn't turn to my parents and older siblings for advice as it was out of their realm of knowledge. It was like I was living in a completely different world than them" he admitted to the claim. He remembered how it was shortly after he got his masters that he began to panic a little bit "At Sixteen I nearly had a nervous breakdown..." so much had been expected of him at such a young age and it was definitely around that time that his family began seeing him as less of a person and more of a way to get rich. They kept it well hidden though as now looking back on it they weren't much help during this time of need for him. Still though just like Erik it made Joseph into the man he was today and taught him how to control, manage, and hide his emotions behind stoicism that soon became a part of who he was. He would then finish off his first slice of pizza and placed the crust aside before taking a sip of his wine and grabbing another slice before pouring himself and Erik more wine as their glasses seemed a bit light "I will admit Erik, I'm glad to have treated you to dinner. You're excellent company" at least the other man was interesting and pleasant to talk too, most employees tended to speak to him rather formally and not like a person. Erik at the very least seemed to be completely at ease around the CEO from the very beginning, it was refreshing to say the least.


(Translation: )

Joseph had learnt that he had to grow up faster than others if he needed to survive. Having nobody he could truly turn to for comfort or even basic help was something that he knew would be the case for the rest of his life. If he couldn't rely on his own family to help him then who else could he count on? In retrospect with how little help they were when he was younger Joseph should have known that they would never be there for him when he hired them. Honestly Joseph had no idea how he made it through his nervous breakdown, if anything he probably didn't make it through. All he did was bottle it up until it went away, certainly not healthy in any regard and in stressful times he could feel it bubble in the bottle it was sealed away into. But those times were so rare that the moon might as well have been blue those times. Joseph would then chuckle a little bit as a ghost of a smile appeared on his face "Hmm I'm sure I could, continue to do good work for me and more will come" he then nodded his head at the compliment the other man paid him "The first one to say that to me, thank you" honestly nobody ever saw CEO Joseph Myers as "Good company", many had said directly to his face that they thought he was a living block of ice. He knew that he could be a bit inexpressive at times but that insult did catch him off guard slightly. He'd shake the thought off as he figured that some snooping would be in order "So...about your old boss...how was his company ran? The positives and negatives?"


(Translation: )