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Runningaround the playground with my toy plane, I look back to the house to see if my mommy is finished or not. Mommy always told me that I should never step foot in the house when she is working. If I do, then I will have to learn my lesson the hard way. The hard way hurts; I still have the mark on my collarbone from last time.
“Hello, are you out here alone?” Turning, I see a man standing behind me. As I look up at him, his beard looks like it needs a shave. He doesn’t look like the men I normally see around here.
My eyes move to the house then back to him. “My teacher said never talk to strangers,” I tell him, getting back to my toy plane.
“Your teacher is very smart, my name is Jack. Is your mommy here?”
“She said to never go in the house when she’s working.”
"Well, I'd like to talk to her now. I've been watching you for a few days." The man takes my hand, and I try to fight him, but he's too strong,as he drags me into the house.
I begin shouting at him to let me go, but he kicks the door open, making my mommy yell at me. "I told you never to come in the fucking house when I'm working." She slaps my face, and the man pushes her to the floor.
“Now, now, that’s no way to treat your child.” He turns to the man that’s lying on the bed. “Get your shit and get out.”
The man still has a grip on my arm; I watch the other man leaving, and my mommy walks up to the man who is holding me. "I'm sorry if my son did something to you, but I can make it right." I watch my mommy put her hand in his pants.
The man gets angry and pushes her away. "You're really not my type. But I do have something you want, and I'm willing to make you an excellent offer."
My mommy looks at me and smiles. “What’s the offer?”
"Half a million dollars."
“For?”
The man turns to me. "I think you should go to the park and play again; your mommy and I have to talk now." He hands me my plane again and softly pushes me out the door.
* * *
I shake my head, to get rid of the thoughts of a time that I never want to relive. Watching the women standing in front of me, they think I'm listening, but I don't give a shit about what they're saying. Giving me some fucked up reason why I should be investing in their idea, they want my money, but I won't give it to them. They have to work hard for my money; I didn't make this billion-dollar business, my father did. And I'm not about to throw his money away to some second-class company that thinks they know what they're doing.
My father worked hard for his company; he worked hard to make sure his name means something. Eric Masters means power in this business, but my name, Leo Masters, means power andfear.
I see people walk into this room confidently, but the moment they see me that all goes away. They say I'm the man with no heart, no soul. That the black in my eyes brings out the fear in them.
I know what I did to get here, what I went through. I will never forget what it took to get to where I am, so if you want my money, you better show me what the fuck you have planned for it.
E.H. Masters & Co Investment is the business; you need financial help, you come here. I don't need to be in the room, we have workers for this, but I don't trust them. There are only three people in this world I trust; my father and mother and my best friend, Jackson. We have been friends since we were little, and since then we have been inseparable. He is even my lawyer now. If he needed money, I wouldn't even ask why. But these people walking into this room, coming up with some fucked up company, project or new app and wanting my money can fuck off. My father didn't make this company into a billion-dollar business by just giving money freely to someone, he was smart, and I plan on being smarter.
I can't believe that I'm sitting here listening to this garbage. I mean I don't even really know what this woman is talking about, so I stand up to leave.
“Mr...Mr. Masters, what do you—?”
“No,” I cut her off, the fact I lost interest within five minutes tells me a lot.
“If you could—”
“I’m not here to hold your hand and tell you what you need to change or do; this is your work.Youfix it." I watch her nervously moving from one foot to the other. "Here is a tip; I lost interest very quickly, and I didn't even listen to most of it," I tell her as I leave the room and as the door closes I can hear her crying. I've just crushed that woman's dream in less than five seconds, but I know it's a dream that won't work.
Walking back to my office, I look over at the workers as they juggle some of the investments we are linked with. Everyone knows that if they don't work hard, they're out. They aren't here to make friends or talk. They're here to work and make money.
“Mr. Masters, your mom called to remind you about dinner tonight. Also, Jackson called asking for you to call him. And your dad called to say tak—” I shut the door on Katie, my secretary, and as I walk into my office, I dial Jackson’s number. If he calls and wants me to call him back, it’s because he has something for me.
As the phone begins to ring, I click it onto speaker. Placing my jacket on my chair, I grab the handset and make my way to the balcony. I place a cigarette between my lips, flick the lighter and inhale as the end catches. As it lights Jackson answers the phone.
“Whose future did you destroy this morning?" I hear the humor in his tone. He's a dick, and if he wasn't my friend I wouldn't give him five minutes of my time, but our friendship is different. We both went through shit, we both know what hell looks like, and we don't plan to go back there.
I sigh heavily. “She thought that I’d be interested in some app that has been out a hundred times already,” I tell him, blowing out the smoke as I speak. As I sit down on one of the balcony chairs, I lean back and inhale again letting the smoke settle in my lungs for a moment, before I let the cloud go free. “Have you got something?” I ask. We both have one thing in common; we fight for what we believe in.
