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ial documents. He had circled a few things he knew he wanted and highlighted some things he was still on the fence about. I was getting excited. This was a huge step for my company, and we were so close I could taste it.
I walked back into the house and was promptly greeted with a finger-painting mess. The kitchen table was covered in the children’s artwork, and they were running around trying to paint one another. Brooke’s face was covered in different colors and Sydney looked like she had spilled all the yellow on her lap. The kids were laughing, and Brooke was smiling, but the moment she saw me the smile slipped from her face.
“Don’t let me stop the fun,” I said.
“I’m sorry for the mess. I’ll get it—and them—cleaned up. We’re almost done.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad they’re having fun.”
“I’m gonna get you, Daddy!”
“No, you’re not!”
I took off running from Sydney as she came at me with her red fingers. I knew the paint would easily come out of my suit but chasing me around made my daughter happy. Daniel was running after Brooke and I could hear her squealing halfway across the house. We all met back in the kitchen and I found Brooke’s shirt covered in the green handprints.
“Looks like I need to do laundry,” I said.
“Oh, I can get that. But they need to have a bath,” she said.
We stripped the kids down and I went to go get them into a bath. I heard the laundry being started downstairs before Brooke came running up the steps, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. I had just enough time to change my shirt and take a quick video conference call with Owen and some investors before dinner time.
“So, Kevin! Talk to me about what's going on with Gianni.”
“The investors there?” I asked. “Their screen is still black.”
“We’re here,” I heard someone say. “Just get going.”
“Well, the meeting with Gianni went well. He was concerned about a few bullet points in the contract. You know how lawyer-speak goes. But besides him wanting his lawyer to take a look at it to make sure it’s a good deal for him, he’s already got an order he wants to place.”
“That’s a good thing,” Owen said. “One step closer.”
“You got another meeting on the books?” one of the investors said.
“I do. The next time we get together, he’ll have his determination on the contract, any adjustments he might want to make, as well as his finalized order,” I said.
“Any estimates on what we’re looking at?” Owen asked.
“From what he’s talking about, it’s seven million with potential for more.”
I could hear the investors clapping and cheering as Owen smiled at me.
“This is going to be great,” he said.
“We want you to keep us updated every step of the way,” one of the investors said. “If you can nail Russo with this contract, we see a lot of money in your future.”
“Don’t worry. I feel confident about this. Thank you for sticking this out with me as far as you have, gentleman. You’ve been much appreciated. That’s the only update I have for now, but it was a big one so I wanted to talk to you all at once. After my next meeting with Gianni, we’ll have another sit down like this,” I said.
“We’ll be here,” an investor said.
“Just let me know if you need me out there. I’m still on standby. But we’re getting things up and running on our end to begin production the moment he signs,” Owen said. “And tell him to expect a call from me soon, given the payment plan he’s interested in.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it on both ends. And I’ll let him know.”
I cut the call just as my chef was walking by my office. He knocked on the door and asked if I had any preferences for dinner. I shook my head. I could hear him striking up the stove and pulling out pots and pans, then a light voice wafted down the hallway.
Brooke.
She was in the kitchen talking with the chef.
