521/Late Luncheon

Late Luncheon
Date of Scene:	20 May 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Corusca, Star Sapphire

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Corusca has posed:
    Her people had contacted her people. It's an unusual thing in the world of big business where women CEOs are a distinct minority. So it was that a late lunch was arranged between the head of Madsen Mutual and Ferris Industries. What might be odd is that Madsen rarely gets involved in government expenditure and Ferris is largely financed by it so Wall St speculators are no doubt whispering in the winds. Or will be since such meetings are usually discrete affairs. The luncheon was set up for a private booth at Ruth Chris within Uptown with the adjacent booths reserved for guests... otherwise known as the advance team. Mirand herself arrives wearing a black off the shoulder cocktail dress with a simple silver necklace and lapis pendant to offset the rich hue of her skin and vibrant golden hair. She walks like a woman of power but grace as well. You'd never know she was wearing heels. Her personal charisma is as powerful as the glow of her skin which is odd for someone who never gives interviews.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Carol's eyes widen when she sees Miranda, two parts astonishment to three parts admiration. "Ms. Madsen!" she greets as she walks up to the table, one hand hooked lightly onto the strap of her afternoon purse. "I feel completely underdressed next to you!" And compared to Miranda, she definitely is. A crisp blouse of violet silk worn open at the neck, a long pair of black slacks the precise shade of her worn down hair that flare slightly at the ankle to conceal her high-heeled sandals some, and a somewhat daring choice of a thin golden sash around her waist are all fashionable and even chic, but next to Miranda's outfit? Goodness!
    For all that, Carol's confidence is unshakeable, and her smile is wide and glowing. She takes her hand off her purse strap to shake with the financier. "I was immediately interested when you called--your reputation speaks for itself--but now I'm not sure I want to discuss business at all! I think I just want you to take me under your wing and teach me fashion!" she jests, blue eyes drinking in that dress with naked appreciation of its boldness.

Corusca has posed:
    Miranda allows a faint smile of amusement.. or bemusement at Carol's exposition. As she nears the booth and Carol, she languidly extends a hand to shake with the otherwoman. Despite the casual offering, her grip is firm as one expects it must be in the man's world of business. "Oh come now. I did not come down here to show off or embarass you. Let alone talk fashion." There's a laugh and a small shake of her head. "Although my father did insist that I wear whatever the runway models were displaying that year." Her eyes roll slightly and her expression turns wry. "I suppose some of that took." She gestures then to the booth and moves to slide herself in. "So. Shall we talk business? If it goes well, I might even give you the name of the store I bought this." Ahh the tease. The waiter is prompt and waiting and she suggests to him. "I'll try the house red and the tartare appetizer."

    Once settled into the booth, she sets her clutch aside and looks across at Carol with a sort of studious eye. Her bright blue eyes almost seem to sparkle like aquamarine. Then she blinks. "I can't help but feel a sort of kinship with you, please call me Miranda." She profers. "We both seem to have inheritted our lot in life. Which.. begs the question. I hear you're a pilot?"

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Carol laughs as she shakes Miranda's hand. "WhatEVER the runway models wore? You'll have to show me the photos of you wearing the dress made of garbage bags and elastic cables," she banters back with good humor. Her smile makes her nose crinkle and her eyes sparkle. She slides into her booth across from the financier, shoulders shifting a bit as she crosses her legs even despite the table over her lap. Her own order is the mushroom-barley soup and some kind of dry, red wine flavored with green peppers. She smiles graciously across the table at Miranda and lightly touches her breastbone with her fingertips, as if honored. "Only if you'll call me Carol, Miranda," she barters, holding the other woman's gaze a moment, fearless and relaxed. "And yes, technically you could call me a pilot, though compared to the people we hire, I almost feel guilty being put in the same class as them. Why do you ask? Need a flight somewhere?" Her nose crinkles with her smile.

Corusca has posed:
    "No no." Miranda gives a small shake of her head. "I'm always curious about the people who run major corporations. I like to see if they're personally invested. Or even have a personal understanding of what they are leading. It's usually a good indicator as to whether I want to do business with them." Now, her smile broadens a little and she nods to the prompt service of their appetizers. "Congratulations, you passed." She casts a wink then looks to the waiter. "I'll have the filet, rare, and the mushroom rissoto."

    Returning her attention to Carol, she looks back at Carol and returns the offered fearless gaze with.. something a little less driving. "So. Carol." She at least accepted the barter. "You and I don't have a hell of a lot of time. So shall we dispense a few formalities. I want to fund a few endeavors. Politically and socially. Get more women into congress and into business. This usually starts with education, civil protections and the like. I recently engaged with a.. provider of those services. I am curious if you would be interested in joining this endeavor." She leaves Carol to muse on this while she sets into her food.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    That's an unsual amount of cow for a business lunch. Carol notes it without comment, just accepting her soup and her wine with a smile at the waiter before making her own order for the stuffed trout and a shamy to cleanse the palette. With that done, she lifts her spoon to Miranda in something like a salute and agrees, "Of course I'm interested. No doubt you figured that much out when you did your diligence on me. So, please, tell me what you're thinking of."

Corusca has posed:
    "Nothing overtly describable at the moment." Miranda demures on the specifics. "I'm trying to see what resources we'd be able to pull together before I know the scope of the effort. There are, in Metropolis alone, a great many organizations that do good work. I'd like to shore up their budgets. Then.. there's Gotham to consider." She takes a moment to let that sink in as she allows a sort of sigh. "They've placeed two insane people to major points of government and, naturally, both are men." Despite the fact that she's got an order of beef before her and another one coming, she eats the tartare with a negligent delicacy.

    "I feel that I should point out that while my father /insisted/ that I wear everything that walked.. I didn't always comply." To wit, she looks up from her meal to meet Carol's gaze. "I am something of a student of history and, despite my upbringing, I have experienced my share of.. at the risk of sounding feminist.. mysoginy." The fork is laid to rest on her plate with just enough of a clink as to make a point to the waiter discretely. "We must begin changing the perception that women are not powerful beings. Even if that means questioning the male ego. In that alone, we will find great resistance."

Star Sapphire has posed:
    When Miranda's fork is set down, Carol is ready for it, reaching across the table to briefly rest her palm on Miranda's knuckles. "Miranda, I'm a third-wave, intersectional radical feminist, and I'm unapologetic about it. I won't ever ask you to apologize for mentioning misogyny." She squeezes Miranda's hand in solidarity, then brings it back to her side of the table and, more interestingly (at least to herself), to her soup. They have the best chicken stock here.
    "So by all means, I'm interested. Is there a particular resource you wonder about me providing, that you didn't get from Ferris's and my tax returns?"

Corusca has posed:
    Miranda looks down at Carol as she touches her hand and squeezes. Her hands are quite warm despite her off the shoulder attire. "As you're probably aware, I don't do public appearances." Miranda notes somewhat unnecessarily. "I don't do public speaking. I don't give interviews. I need someone who can be a face for that sort of thing and, as a third-wave, intersectional radical feminist.." She cannot help but give a little smirk as she tries not to laugh. "You seem uniquely capable of fulfilling that role. Perhaps, we could start with battered women's shelters, the YWCA, and the like. I'd also like to fund a few hundred scholarships. Perhaps one for each high school in Metropolis. Then see where we go from there."

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Carol nods thoughtfully. Her own hand is warm and soft, with only gentle pressure applied to your own; it was a gesture of solidarity, not warning. "I can try to do that," she agrees, "but I have a few thoughts. The first is that I have no interest in funding the YWCA; I'm content to let Christians fund their own charities. I prefer secular ones. The second thought is, I've been speaking with Colonel Carol Danvers about recruiting her for charity work, and while those talks predate this conversation so I can't swear she'll take an interest, I think she might be a better poster girl than I am...unless you're specifically wanting a female leader of business, and even if you are, I think we'd have some optics problems when it comes to a CEO who inherited the job from her daddy. I'm not saying no; I'm just troubleshooting. What do you think?"

Corusca has posed:
    Miranda hmms thoughtfully. "You say Colonel.. then worry about optics?" She leans back into her seat a moment, folding her arms beneath her breasts and rubbing a hand along her arm as she muses. "Still. Being in the military would send the message that she's served and has attained rank and is as good as any man in that respect." Clucking her tongue lightly, she picks up her wine and sips. "I don't know much about her to be honest. Of course.. on that topic.. how do you feel about eventually taking this international?"

Star Sapphire has posed:
    "Absolutely I talk about optics," Carol confirms after a light sip of wine. Pepper wine and mushroom soup. Yum. "I don't have an exhaustive list on me, but so many female CEOs I can think of--myself; Emma Frost--specifically inherited the roles from family. It creates an appearance of being unworthy of the role, and it sends a message to girls that to achieve what we've achieved, they have to be born into the nobility. So if it's business leaders you're looking for, I think we need to either acknowledge that issue or steer into it, speaking from a position of acknowledging our privilege and promising to make that privilege less necessary for the next generation." Carol could expand on that even further, since she inherited the position of Queen of Zamaron as well, but that's a secret she can't share!
    "But as for taking the charity international, I'd say that's absolutely essential," she adds, not bantering but very serious. "America's problems are a lot less than the problems women face elsewhere in the world; I remember Malala Yousafzai. I won't ignore our little sisters in the rest of the world."

Corusca has posed:
    Miranda allows Carol her assertions. The empassioned exposition is watched with a sort of passive intact and a slight cant of her head. She doesn't even really notice when the food is brought and laid before them. "Well, here's the problem with the notion of women inheriting being the only way they've garnered their wealth. Men have passed on their fortunes to their sons for centuries and no one has ever said to them that they aren't worthy of it. They've come to expect it. To use that as an argument when it just so happens the only legal heir is a woman is specious." She sniffs once in a mild irritation then looks to her plate.

    "How do you feel about Themiscyra? They have a consulate here in Metropolis. Beautiful building. Princess Diana is a delight and a wise woman."

Star Sapphire has posed:
    "It is a specious argument, but I suppose it's only one that matters if you're wanting CEOs and business leaders to serve as the face of your initiative. We haven't been explicit about that yet," Carol points out, accurately enough. "But as for Themiscyra? I'm afraid I don't know it; I only know of it. Wonder Woman is...well, a bit outside my usual circles," Ferris concludes wryly.

Corusca has posed:
    "I don't think I have a circle." Miranda notes with a faint amusement then begins cutting into her steak. It is juicy and tender and she is cutting her pieces with a precise thickness. "So.. I guess we could start there. Bring you to meet her. See if we four could turn a hand at this thing. It would be a good start to be sure and would show that we are serious about taking this globally." She looks up with Carol then and tips her chin. I'm officially Canadian, after all." With a small bite taken, she seems to savor it with more chewing than is really necessary before continuing. "By the same token, I'd love to meet this Colonel friend of yours."

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Carol's knife is very sharp. It has to be; the fish isn't stuffed with mush, but with long slivers of steamed carrots and asparagus, tougher than the meat of the fish surrounding it, so the knife has to be sharp to not destroy the fish's flesh while cutting the vegetables. Carol appreciates the little touch. "Of course, I'd be happy to arrange contact with you. I'll pass your information along to Captain Marvel the next time I see her."

Corusca has posed:
There is an expansive ahhh as Carol reveals the Colonel of the Danvers of the Captain Marvel variety. Miranda doesn't live under a.. rock. She lives IN one. Ahem. But she seems aware of the newspapers at any rate. "/That/ Colonel Danvers. Well. I must say that I can't argue with your choice of public face." She chuckles brightly at her own gaffe of not making the immediate connection. "Do you have any other surprises up your sleeve?"

Star Sapphire has posed:
    "Several, but they wouldn't be surprises if I told you," Carol says comfortably, over her fish. She smiles, nose crinkling. "Why, are you looking to trade secrets?"

Corusca has posed:
    "Hah." Miranda laughs but in good humor as she wags her fork at Carol. "I don't know you that well yet. I mean, honestly, if I wouldn't tell a man my deepest darkest secrets on my first date.. why would you think you'd get the special treatment?" She pauses a moment then scrunches her face a little to squint at Carol. "Or were you hoping your little social excercises would have plied me into willingness?" There's a casual tut from her soft palate and she casually goes back to eating. "Of course, you'll have plenty of further opportunities to pluck secrets from my brain so I'm just going to have to be a tease." A soft and wistful sigh escapes her lips.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    "Because I'm scintillating and intruiging," is Carol's answer to your first question, offered easily and without hesitation or irony, but with enough self-awareness to make her eyes twinkle with amusement. "But I suppose if you want to keep your secrets, I can respect that." She lifts her fork in salute, then returns to her fish. She's found a pocket stuffed with lemon slices that deserves her full attention.