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“And we’ll never know,” Lance said, his smile becoming much more satisfied as he folded his arms. “Because you make the calls.”
“You want us to stake our professional judgment on a personal bet?”
Lance shrugged. “You make it ninety days committed to the same woman, a regular woman, who doesn’t know about your personal wealth, and we’ll never talk about it again.”
“If I don’t, you get the million investment.”
“And we find out who was right, you or me.”
The Summit Sponsorship always brought disagreements. He called the shots. So they’d never found out if the companies Lance and Ethan went to bat for without his support would’ve been a good investment or not. It was a bone of contention that could often lead to different companies coming up in conversation throughout the year.
They accepted pitches at any time if they could fit them into the schedule. Some they heard alone, but they made recordings to playback for each other too. It wasn’t often that he, Ethan, and Lance got to be in the same place at the same time. Once a year, they issued their decisions. At that time, it was necessary for them to get together.
Ninety days in one place would be impossible. “I’ll still need to travel.”
“Yeah,” Lance said. “We’ll tell her you’re a traveling salesman or something.” Ethan laughed; he wasn’t as impressed. “You’re a consultant… You know those guys pop in and out all over the place, doing as little as possible.”
“I consult,” he said, still not smiling.
“Yeah, but you’re a fucking billionaire. When you give people advice they piss in their pants.”
Their seated friend just enjoyed himself while he and Lance stared each other out.
If this was a challenge, he couldn’t back down. How tough could it be? He liked to be proved right.
He took a breath. “Ninety days?”
“Ninety days.”
“A random city?” Lance nodded, his smile growing. “The business won’t suffer?”
“You’re not that important,” Lance said, starting around the table. “We’ll cope. The place won’t fall down without your micromanaging.” If he could micromanage something as vast as Seven, he probably would. Still pondering, he turned as his friend approached, offering his hand. “Deal?”
He never shook hands on a deal without intending to give it his all. The personal wasn’t all that different from the professional in that regard. Could he do it? Ninety days as a regular Joe…
Slapping his hand onto Lance’s, they shook. “Deal.”
Ethan’s laugh rose again. “Never could refuse a challenge… Damn, this is going to be interesting.”
2
A random city.
Picking the city had been as simple as typing the request into a search engine. Yep, there really was a website for everything. The first metropolis that came up was Honolulu. He wouldn’t have minded spending some time in the sun. Except Lance ran it again, stating two thousand miles from the US mainland wasn’t ideal.
Seven had business hubs all over the world. Any of them might need his attention at any time. Most everything could be done online or by video from any corner of the globe.
Still, he suspected Lance wasn’t interested in their deal granting him a three-month vacation surrounded by women in bikinis. Hence why his friends settled on the Midwest choice.
He might say organizing an office and apartment was easy, except he hadn’t been the one to do it. Topher, his assistant, had traveled ahead, dealt with everything, and met him at the airport to hand over the essentials. It was odd for them both that Topher was the one taking the jet while he stayed put with nothing more than a set of keys and a roll of twenties.
Apparently, the apartment was kitted out with everything he’d need. Clothes, food, all necessities, and rent paid for six months; the landlord didn’t offer three-month leases.
From the airport, he caught a cab to his block. His block. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a block… or an apartment. Had he ever?
Before checking out his new home, he headed into the coffee place across the street. It wasn’t like he was a complete moron; he knew how to order coffee… Though he’d probably want something stronger after seeing the place Topher leased for him. With Lance calling the shots, it was smart to be wary. His friend never passed up an opportunity to have a little fun at someone else’s expense.
Inside, a dozen people lined up at the counter. He moseyed over to wait behind them and took his phone from his pocket to dial Lance.
