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“Quite a greeting,” I commented, and she laughed.
“What can I say? I missed you. I got spoiled staying with you all week,” she said. “But I had to get back to real life at some point.”
“I mean, sure, but I don’t see why your real life means you have to come back to your own place. I have internet at my house, you know,” I said.
“I know,” she replied, moving her things off the table so we could sit down and eat the sandwiches I’d brought. “But I do have my own place, and if I’m going to pay rent here, I guess it only makes sense that I spend time here, too.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
I knew the question seemed off-topic, but there was something about her tone that made me think she was stressing about something and I suspected it was business related. I wasn’t the kind of person to beat around the bush, and if there was a way I could help her, I wanted to do it.
It didn’t help that I knew she was stubborn and had a high level of pride. She wasn’t going to ask me for money. I knew that already. I would have to get the information out of her by catching her off guard.
“I don’t know what to do about the business,” she said around bites of her lunch. “The simple fact is that I’m not going to have the money to keep going to school and keep the business. We don’t make enough. But I feel there are great things coming out of going to school, and I guess I just feel lost.”
She wasn’t looking at me as she spoke, and my heart went out to her. I knew her business was struggling, and up until that point, I had tried to be respectful of her and her decisions. I didn’t want to just offer her the money as a bail out. I knew there was no way she would take it from me if I did.
“Why don’t you let me invest in your company?” I suggested.
It was an idea I had a couple of days before. While I knew it was unlikely she would want to take me up on the offer, I felt it was the most likely scenario in which I would be able to help her out without her feeling like it was a charity case.
“Invest?” she asked me.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not? You know I do a lot of investments with a lot of different people these days, it would make sense for me to invest in your business, too, right?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “You invest in influencers. People who do the same sort of thing that you used to do when you were living that life. I’m not sure it’s the same thing.”
“Come on,” I said. “At least tell me you’ll think about it. I know you don’t want me to just step in and take care of this for you, but I’m telling you right now that’s not what this is. You are going to business school; you’ve already done a lot with this career. It’s only smart on my end to want to invest in something like this, especially since you’re planning on growing.”
“I know,” she replied thoughtfully. “But at the same time, you’re right. It feels like you’re my rich boyfriend and you’re just coming in here and saving the day. While I love the heroics, I don’t want to be saved in this.”
“I know,” I said quickly. “And I don’t at all want you to feel like you can’t do this on your own. What I’m trying to do here is offer you an option, no different than if I were some stranger on the street who was looking for a way to invest in something that’s growing.”
“But you’re not a stranger,” she said with a giggle. “So, I’m going to factor that in.”
“Just think about it,” I said. “For me?”
“Okay, okay,” she said at last. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I want,” I said with a grin.
“So have you heard any word on your ex?” Cassie asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, and I’m not too happy about it,” I said.
“Uh-oh, that’s not good,” she replied. “What’s going on?”
“Considering the amount of money I give her in alimony, she was able to get herself a pretty good lawyer who is moving things along quickly.”
“Isn’t moving things quickly a good thing?” Cassie asked.
“Normally, I would say so,” I said. “But I would have preferred she sat in jail a while longer.”
“She’s already out?” Cassie gasped.
“And as it turns out, she’s going to be taking a plea deal,” I said through gritted teeth. “One that only is going to lock her up for a couple months at the most.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Cassie said. “But she put weed in those cookies and didn’t tell you! She was going to run away with Lucy! How did she manage to get away with only going to jail for a couple of months?”
