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We all look away, as Josh and Kat’s kiss deepens.
Jonas clears his throat. “I want to salute Sarah for making it through her first year of law school.”
“Well, jeez, don’t jinx me,” Sarah says. “I’ve got to get through my exams before I’m toast-worthy.”
“But you finished your classes yesterday,” Jonas replies. “There’s no reason not to celebrate that.”
Sarah bats her eyelashes at Jonas. “Thank you.” She addresses the table, to which Josh and Kat have returned their attention. “Can I add an item to the toast-list, too?” Sarah asks. “I want to toast Henn and Kat for officially becoming mill-i-on-aires this week. Congrats, guys.”
My mouth hangs open. What?
My head swivels toward Henn, but he’s not looking at me. Neither is Kat. Both are looking at Sarah.
Speaking to Sarah, Henn asks, “Didn’t you get your finder’s fee money this week, too?”
Finder’s fee money . . . too? What the fuckity are they talking about? Kat hasn’t said a word about this, not even during our lunch today—and that’s totally out of character for her. Is this finder’s fee thing the reason Kat quit her job today without notice and now feels confident enough to start her own business? That’s got to be it. So, why wouldn’t Kat tell me that? Henn being mum about the money isn’t as weird to me. He can be pretty tight lipped about work stuff. Plus, his finances are none of my business. But Kat tells me everything.
Although . . . Back to Henn. He always makes it seem like he’s a normal, paycheck-to-paycheck kind of guy. A humble dude who lives in a “crappy-ass apartment” and only travels when he finds a great deal online. He’s certainly never contradicted me when I’ve made comments about both of us needing to hustle because we’re not rich. But is that the reality? Is Henn a normal person when it comes to money, like me, or is he wealthy beyond anything he’s been letting on?
“Congrats to all three of you,” Josh says. “Oh, that reminds me of a biggie.” He raises his drink. “To Kat. She officially took a leap of faith today and quit her job to start her own PR firm. Congrats, babe. The sky’s the limit.”
Josh’s toast makes me realize I should congratulate Kat, too. Raising my drink to her, I say, “I’m so excited for you, even though I’ll miss you terribly. Working with you has been the best part of my job.”
“Well, like I said at lunch,” Kat replies, “the master plan is to bring you on as soon as humanly possible, Hannah Banana Montana Milliken. As soon as I know what I’m doing, you’ll be my right-hand woman.”
“Cheers to that. Just call me and I’ll come running, girl. Whatever you touch turns to gold, Kitty Kat—I have no doubt your new company will be golden, too.”
“Thank you, honey.”
The waitress returns with a new round of drinks, plus the shots and bottles of champagne the Faraday brothers ordered for us, and conversation about Kat’s new PR company and what to call it consumes the table.
I can’t focus on the group’s discussion. I’m still too blown away—and, frankly, confused—by the revelation that Sarah, Kat, and Henn have all received a million bucks this week as some kind of finder’s fee. And yet, this is the first I’m hearing about it.
What did those three find and for whom? Did the trio stumble upon some new, exciting company in Las Vegas for the Faraday brothers to invest in or purchase, so the brothers gave the trio a commission on the deal? Or did the finder’s fee have something to do with whatever this group did to take down Sarah’s nefarious ex-employer?
Either way, I don’t understand why Henn didn’t tell me he came into some big money this week. I don’t need details because Henn’s finances aren’t my business, but it’s weird I’ve been living with him this whole week and he didn’t bother to mention a really big thing that happened to him.
Unless . . . Maybe it wasn’t a big thing for him. Maybe Henn is secretly a multi-millionaire, and a million bucks is chump change to him. No, that can’t be it, because Sarah specifically said Kat and Henn “became” millionaires this week. Santa Maria. My head is spinning.
“Okay, everyone, get ’em up,” Josh commands, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts. He’s referring to the glasses of champagne that have now been poured. When we all raise our flutes, Josh says, “To Hannah and Henn, and to Sarah for finishing her first year of law school, and to three newly minted mill-i-on-aires.”
Okay, there it is again. Henn definitely became a millionaire this very week, along with Sarah and Kat . . . but he didn’t even hint at that astonishing fact to me. If the situation were reversed, I can’t imagine I wouldn’t have blabbed something about my amazing windfall to Henn. Am I the weird one? Are people normally far more discreet than that in the face of financial windfalls? Henn did tell me during dinner at the Thai place that the last-minute job he’s taken could be the biggest payday of his career, so he’s not immune to talking about money with me, at least in general. But why tell me about a possible payday today and not about an actual one he got this week?
