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This time, Stacy had come with me from England, Sarai paying her for being my PA in the UK until we found someone in New York or near it who could take over the US side of things.
The investors would need to finish putting their money in to get any further, however. The land and materials needed buying and sorting. I wasn’t sure how planning to build went in the US, but everyone seemed to be fairly confident that it wouldn’t be difficult as long as we stuck to the model.
I had no idea how long it would take and when the building would actually start, but they’d pushed the last one through near Chicago in only a few months. I didn’t doubt they could do this one even faster.
They had also talked about buying an existing vacation rental business, leveling it and starting again. I didn’t know how difficult that would be, but again, it was off the cards as an option until we had an idea of how many investors were willing to go the whole way.
I tried not to fidget as Stacy handed me the list I had made and the cost estimate of the furniture as well as shipping to bring it to the US. Another big advantage of being involved this earlywas that I could order bulk goods from other places and have them shipped in a bit more cheaply.
The whole thing made me even happier that I would do a good job and be worth what I was being paid.
My final condition had been that I had a bit more say in the marketing efforts and business meetings that involved me. I didn’t want to be forced to go to events I didn’t want to. And I wanted to be able to say no to people I didn’t want present. Such as Peter.
Sarai had agreed to this although it was being kept off the books. It wouldn’t make any sense to the investors that I was being given such decision-making power in an area that wasn’t a direct expertise of mine, but I didn’t care either way. If Sarai told me I would get to decide, then I would.
The investors themselves were scary. It was clear many of them had a lot of money, all of them dressed well, and they arrived in large black cars or sleek, brightly colored ones. There were nine of them, and only two were women, but they barely looked different in attire. Skirt suits or trouser suits, and all of them carrying briefcases.
Most of the nine also had assistants, and that at least made me feel a bit more on their level.
Stacy and I were dressed in our best, but we’d both chosen professional-looking dresses, not quite as formal. And I’d been asked if it would be okay to have Lukas in this room.
I’d asked if it would be necessary at this point, and Sarai had once again reiterated that it was my call. I didn’t have to do anything with Lukas if I didn’t want to. Because so much of his work was being reused, and he hadn’t worked on the elements that would need his input, they felt confident they could do the meeting without him.
That had been enough for me to decide I didn’t want him there if it remained possible to exclude him. I didn’t need twosources of stress in one meeting. Not when I hadn’t seen him since the showcase day.
Still, part of me had hoped he would turn up anyway. I liked the idea of him being desperate enough to see me. But I also wanted his respect.
I was relieved to find the investors were eager to start the meeting as soon as they could, and I sat between Sarai and Daniel, all of our PAs off to the sides of us. Even Daniel had one, and it was funny to think there were over twenty people in a room that was technically a meeting between twelve.
To my surprise, Henry turned up as well, and I frowned, looking between Sarai and Daniel. He didn’t appear to be surprised but I thought I caught a glimpse of it on Sarai’s face. Technically it didn’t break the rules. He could represent Lukas, and I actually kicked myself for not thinking of him being present.
As he came in, I realized there weren’t any more seats at the table. Daniel leaned over to his PA, and the man automatically got up and offered Henry the seat. Given we were representing the four main people behind the project, it made sense for him to be so close, but I found I couldn’t look at him right away.
“Well, now that we’re all present, shall we begin?” Sarai asked. Again there were looks of surprise, many of the investors looking at Henry like they wanted to ask where Lukas was. None of them got a chance to comment on it as Sarai took it on herself to introduce everyone in the room swiftly.
She didn’t give titles or reasons why anyone was there, simply giving first names on the off chance people hadn’t met yet. I recognized about half of the investors from the showcase, and Daniel was clearly on good terms with a couple more. The final two, a lady named Kate and a guy named Merrik, had been the most surprised that Lukas wasn’t present.
Sarai spent the best part of the next hour going over the plans. In the two weeks I had been gone, a few pieces of land and a struggling vacation park near New York had all been found as potential sites. On top of that, some of the drawings from the previous project had been modified to give a rough idea of how all three could be adapted.
It was impressive but no one else appeared to be fazed by it at all. I looked around the table at the investors multiple times, and they were almost not paying attention at all. I wasn’t sure how Sarai continued to talk to people who weren’t engaged.
“This is all well and good, but we believed Lukas would be joining us and making his part in this project more clear,” one of them said when Sarai took a breath.
“I’m here to represent him,” Henry replied without missing a beat. “I assure you he will be involved and take an interest personally in your interests. Everything from today’s meeting will be passed on to him and he will be taking the entire process on from start to finish.”
This seemed to satisfy them for the moment, but I got the impression this was far from over. They wanted Lukas, and no doubt I was the only reason why he wasn’t present.
CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
Lukas
With Henry at the meeting with the investors and no one left to keep me calm, I couldn’t help but pace. I was in an office nearby, Sarai wanting me close. Partially in case Kit changed her mind and let me attend the meeting, and partially in case I was needed right after.
Sarai had been a little worried that the investors wouldn’t be happy without me, but I’d promised Kit I wouldn’t be anywhere she didn’t want me, and everyone had agreed not to tell Kit how much it mattered for me to be there. I knew it added pressure and stress, but I didn’t want this to fail.
I’d already considered what I would do on the small chance they would refuse to have the meeting without me, but I was fairly confident it wasn’t necessary. Not if the investors had any sense. I had given them my word that I would handle this project. This should just be a passing of information on what the investors could expect from their money.
None of that was what I was thinking about. I had learned Kit knew I was behind everything and hadn’t asked anything other than about Jennifer and my past. After all that, I had hoped she would understand and forgive me for everything.
