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Dante Poole:We’re at the Irish pub because we want to get a little wild. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.
Well shit. This isn’t something I expected, but at least it’ll take my mind off Madison leaving. What company could he have bought? And why didn’t he tell us he was in the process?
Truthfully, he’s been keeping more and more to himself. I guess I shouldn’t be one to talk, since I’ve kept Madison a secret, too.
Something’s changing, and I don’t know what it is. But if there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I don’t do well with changes within the stable parts of my life.
Then I remember to send a quick text to Madison. I know she didn’t mean telling her every little thing I do normally, but it’s such a little thing, and I know it will make her happy.
Chapter 42
Emery
I walk into the pub, which is about as glamorous as you’d expect. It stinks of stale beer even at noon, and there are strangely sticky spots on the ground. It’s a dive, but it’s a dive all three of us have come to enjoy for the simple fact that no one knows us here. We get to act like we’re back in college.
The normal patrons haven’t even gotten out of church yet. The only people in the place are Dante and Noah, who are standing next to a pool table. I stop by the bar and get a beer before walking to the pool table.
“And dear Porthos has finally arrived,” Dante says as he hits the cue ball across the table to tap the seven into a pocket.
“Porthos? The drunk? I think you’re confusing me with Aramis, the charmer and seducer of women.”
The Three Musketeers fit us well enough, especially in college. Noah was always Athos, the serious one. Dante and I always argued about who was Porthos, the drunk, and who was Aramis, the charmer.
Noah chuckles, but Dante grins at me. “If you think you’re the charmer, you’re obviously drunk again. These days, I think I’m the only one that’s interesting. Noah’s been ‘busy’, and you’ve been shacked up with the intern. Kind of surprised you even showed up since you’ve missed nearly every other get together.”
I know my jaw’s tight, but there’s no way to let the tension out. Dante’s right to some degree. I have been spending less and less time with them or in public. Dante stands up, still grinning.
“Don’t worry about it, Porthos. I’m only playing. Both of us are happy that you’ve found a girl that can stand to be around you for more than an evening. Or that you can stand to be around, for that matter. You are a drunken buffoon, after all.”
I plop down on a barstool. “Why’d you keep the new company a secret, Dante?”
He leans over to line up his next shot. “You were busy. Noah was busy. I wasn’t sure if it’d go through since the guy was really concerned about how pissed his daughter would be.” He shrugs and hits the cue ball again, giving it a bit of English so when it hits the four, it slides across the table into the pocket.
When he stands up, he says, “It all kind of came together this morning. I’m now the proud owner of a luxury resort. It’s not like it was a secret I was looking. I only stuck around because I didn’t have anything else to do, and Noah hates dealing with the books.”
I frown. A resort? What does Dante know about resorts other than that there are free drinks?
“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” I say.
Noah finally chimes in. “He doesn’t. But I’m still not convinced he knows anything about advertising, either.”
Dante chuckles as he leans over to line the cue ball up with the eight to win the game.
“The key to all businesses is to hire the best and let them do their thing. I’m just going to make sure that they don’t do stupid things.”
I take a sip of my beer and wish it was vodka. “It’s going to be strange running Aspire without you there.”
“You’ll get over it. Maybe you can find a sexy girl that likes numbers to replace me. Then our serious Athos can finally find a woman to fall in love with.”
Noah even laughs at that. The thought of Noah falling in love with an employee is even more ridiculous than me hooking up with the intern. Everyone respects him, but no one at the office particularly likes him, and that suits Noah just fine.
Dante takes his shot, the cue ball flying across the table to hit the eight. It stops immediately while the eight hits the pocket hard and falls in. He stands up with a grin on his face.
“The hardest part of running a resort will probably be working with someone that grew up thinking it was all going to be hers when Daddy retired. That was the only part I couldn’t get the old man to back out of. In the contract, he stated I couldn’t fire her.”
I frown. “What if she fucks everything up? She could do a lot of damage if she wanted to.”
He nods and sits down on a barstool, his pool cue still in his hand. “I know. It’s risky, but she wants the place to succeed, so I doubt she’ll do anything to damage the reputation of the business. Just mine. And let’s face it, I play a little fast and loose with my reputation. That’s why you’re so important to Aspire. The last thing any of us needed was grumpy Noah or me getting put in front of the spotlight.”
