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There was an email from Kimberly Melbourne giving me a status update on the Turning Stone office remodel. According to her projections, the remodel would be completed as scheduled.

Good.

There was an email from Bryan stating the groundbreaking ceremony had finally been scheduled for Stone Arena.

It’s about damn time.

Obtaining all the required building permits had been a considerable holdup. The delay had cost Stone Enterprise a pretty penny, which had skyrocketed my accountant’s blood pressure. He was not happy about my endeavor with the soccer complex or the price tag for the naming rights. But despite his reservations, Bryan had practically moved mountains to cut through all the red tape. I owed him and a few other key staff members a thank you at the very least.

TO: Bryan Davenport

CC: Stephen Kinsley, Laura Kaufman, Hale Fulton

FROM: Alexander Stone

SUBJECT: Re: Stone Arena

As you know, this venture is personal to me, and I appreciate all of your efforts on the project. Stephen will work out the remaining legalities with the arena board members. However, I will break the mold with this and not hire out the usual planning firm for the groundbreaking. Hale will be heading up security, and I want Laura to act as lead coordinator on the event details and PR. Every board member for the arena must be present when we break ground—this is not negotiable. We’ve received a lot of pushback on this deal, and I’m sure the press will swarm us. I want a united front.

Keep me apprised of the planning process.

Alexander Stone

CEO, Stone Enterprise

I sent the email and moved on to the next. I was surprised to see a message from an old friend from college. I hadn’t spoken to him in a few months, but the title of the email had me arching my eyebrows in curiosity.

TO: Alexander Stone

FROM: Burke Dalton

SUBJECT: Desperate

Alex,

I’m in charge of a convention for Boston Lifestyle and Investments. Our keynote speaker canceled on me at the last minute, and I’m in a bind. You would be a perfect fill-in. It’s a two-day event, this week Thursday and Friday. I know this is last minute, but I’ll owe you big if you can make it happen. See what you can do. Your help is much appreciated.

Regards,

Burke

The last thing I wanted to do was go to Boston this week, and I wasn’t sure if I could squeeze it in. I quickly forwarded the email to Laura to see if she could make it work. The woman had the ability to make miracles happen, but I didn’t want to confirm anything with Burke until I got with her on it.

Once that was sent, I read Laura’s daily briefing, the one summarizing my schedule for the day. I smiled when I saw I had a fairly light agenda planned. All in all, the day was already shaping up to be a successful one, even if I did have a potential monkey wrench for later in the week.

I glanced down at Krystina, who was still sound asleep beside me.

When was the last time I took a morning off?

Today’s schedule would allow me to go into the office a little later than usual, and the idea of spending the morning with Krystina was appealing. On impulse, I sent Laura a very uncharacteristic message.

TO: Laura Kaufman

FROM: Alexander Stone

SUBJECT: Re: Today’s Schedule

Laura,