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Gigi gave me a knowing smile as we headed back to the car. I knew she was worried about how thin I was spreading myself, but I was determined. I did have dreams and goals, and to realize them, I had to get more money. And to get that money, I had to work.
As it was, I had to hurry to get Gigi back to her condo so I could swing by my own place and change into something for work that night. I had to be at the restaurant in my apron in less than an hour.
Then it would be working straight through until eleven.
I definitely didn’t have the time for someone special in my life.
I had work to do.
Chapter Two
Alex
“Wait a second,” the college kid sitting across from me stared at me with wide eyes. “You’re Alex Osborne! I’d know you anywhere.”
“Yes, that’s me,” I said. I’d heard it all before.
I knew I should be flattered, and there was a time in my life when I would have been. I had been quite the rising star at the age of eighteen, capitalizing on being a risk-taking guru by selling videos of my crazy stunts and related merchandise. The niche had somehow taken root; sponsors shelled out millions for advertising, and by the time I was twenty-five years old, I was a billionaire.
I wasn’t the kind of famous that caused everyone on the street to know me, but if a person was into extreme living by any means, they knew who I was.
I’d loved the lifestyle for as long as it had lasted, making it through my twenties and thirties without any lasting effects. I had a scar here and there over my trim and muscular physique, but I’d never had anything severe happen to me.
When my daughter was born, I was grateful I’d not endured any lasting ill effects from my lifestyle, and when her mother proved to be little more than a money-hungry psycho, I was even more thankful.
“Wow,” the kid said. “So, how did I manage to catch your eye?”
“I invest now in the younger generation,” I informed him. “When I see someone who appears to have potential, I’m eager to step in and give them a hand.”
“I’m blown away with the fact you see my potential!” the kid said. “I’m honored, really.”
“Why don’t we get down to business?” I suggested. “So far, you’ve only used your online handle with me. What’s your real name?”
“Glenn Lewis,” the kid said. “But I want to build my brand, and I heard that to do that, you have to really drive home your handle.”
“Sure, but not at the expense of no one being able to know who you are,” I told him. “While it’s great to make sure you have your public image, there has to be more depth to it than that.”
“Okay, okay,” Glenn nodded eagerly as he wrote feverishly into his notebook. “I’ll keep that in mind. Can I ask you something?”
I held in the sigh that threatened to escape me. I understood the excitement this kid felt about meeting me. I had felt the same when I’d finally gotten enough recognition for the things I’d done that I was able to meet Shawn White and Tony Hawk in person – two of my own idols. But there was a time and a placefor everything, and I hadn’t come to this coffee shop to talk with this kid about my own achievements.
There was a reason I wanted to invest in others, and a large part of that reason was because of the fact I was over being in the spotlight myself. I was glad for the royalties I still received from my time in the limelight, but now that I was a father and a single father at that, I didn’t want the recognition all the time anymore.
I was ready to pass on the torch, so to speak.
“Sure,” I told him. It was another part of the conversation I’d grown used to. People who recognized me for what I had become famous for often had questions on how I had done it or how they could emulate it themselves.
I wasn’t quite ready for Glenn’s question, however, and it gave me pause.
“Why’d you stop?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” I replied. “I’m right here with you, right now, talking about how to invest in your vision and make you big. That’s not stopping to me.”
“Sure,” he argued. “But you’re investing in me now. I mean, I hope you are. What I want to know though is what made you step out of the limelight yourself. Why would you leave all that behind?”
“Priorities,” I shrugged. “Life takes twists and turns, right? I reached a point in my life where I didn’t want to be the one to be out there taking so many risks anymore. I’ve done that part of the business. Now I’m on this side.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “What makes you decide when you’re ready for being on the other end of things?”
