They would listen. He always got what he wanted. He knew of his aura. When he was younger, he tried to shy away from it, but he had since embraced it. It was essential for his position. He was strong, and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
“The core resource we’re getting from Sweden is technical expertise, and its proximity to other giants in technical expertise is exponentially beneficial to…” The man with the mustache droned on, and though Gordon heard the words, he wasn’t listening anymore.
So what you’re saying, whoever you are, Gordon thought, is that I’m completely right. Which is to say that you are sucking up to me. He smiled internally but kept a straight face.
“The wisest possible measure…”
Did he even remember her name? What was her name? The girl from last night. It was hours and hours ago. Erikka? Elsa? No, she wasn’t so stereotypical.
“…create an exponential strengthening of marketing ties with local…”
Why was he so obsessed with that particular woman? He had slept with innumerable women, and that one stuck out. He couldn’t even remember her name.
“…improve networking efforts in order to enhance a positive upswing of investment…”
There was something spectacular about her face. She had one of those faces that are hard to place. Yes, it was her face. But what was it about her face?
“…bringing forward actionable investment opportunities…”
Dave had definitely trained this one. The mustache man was literally making up words. And was he still on the same sentence? Dave never complains, though.
I like Dave. But come on, Dave, this guy?
“Okay, thanks, Dave. Thanks for coming in today.”
“Actually, my name is Francis, Mr. Phillips.”
“Wonderful, Mr. Francis. Please write down anything you don’t think we’ve covered today and send it to Dave.”
Gordon gestured him out of the office, and finally, Francis was gone.
Now, where was he? He tried to remember the woman’s face, but someone else was taking shape in his memory. It was a distant memory, like from another existence.
Straighten the hair, make the eyes green. Her sense of humor. She was really funny. That’s why he had slept with her. There had been a girl back in his days at Harvard. That seemed like a lifetime ago, but it has probably been about eight years past now.
What was her damn name? If the hair was straightened. That laugh—he remembered the laugh. She had been a funny girl, that he remembered. He should have gotten her a ring instead of just hooking up with her. She was something special.
If only I knew where she was, he thought. Fuck me! I can’t even remember her name.
He gave up, deciding he would sleep on it. Sleep would clear his head, and maybe then he would put a name to the face that had materialized in his mind like magic, a face from the past that brought his feeling for her back to the surface. Yes, he would sleep on it. At least tonight, he would be able to sleep in his own bed. He always slept better in his own bed.
Chapter 2
“There’s an early bird discount on fresh fruit and vegetables.”
“A what?” Samantha Parker was understandably confused. Why was a daycare center offering her discounts? And since when did fruit and vegetables become so damned expensive that they’d need a discount?
“Little Ella is now old enough to be eating fresh fruit and vegetables. We’ve moved beyond the simple food groups.”
“Right. Sure. She’s a four-year-old. Haven’t I paid my monthly dues?”
“Yes, Ms. Parker. But next month’s dues will be cheaper if you take the early bird discount for fruits and vegetables.”
The relentless grin on this frumpy woman at the desk was beginning to grate on Samantha. It wasn’t as if she had any choice about what Ella ate. Not eating fruit and vegetables was obviously out of the question. She just wished they could have held off trying to get in her wallet for a few more weeks. She needed new work pants because she’d put on a couple of pounds. The frumpy woman kept smiling at her; she may as well have been holding out an empty hand for Samantha to fill.
Samantha put on her best smile, dug her wallet out of her purse, and handed over the cash. Before she put it back in her purse, she looked forlornly where her money had been and imagined a half-sketched cartoon moth skittering out. That was her week’s cash taken away. But not paying for the discount seemed silly, so the wallet was duly emptied. Literally emptied.
Samantha walked out of the daycare center in a foul mood. When she reached the nearest metro station, she found that her metro card was also empty. Screaming a string of profanities, she tore it up and threw it in the face of the man in the queue behind her. The man, who was probably used to random acts of commuter anger and guilty of them himself at times, maintained a diplomatic smile. She considered apologizing, then didn’t.
Samantha had to yank the large, blue sports bag back on her shoulder, as it was beginning to slip. Zipping up her patterned, pink cardigan and accepting the bite of the outside wind whistling through her yoga pants, Samantha determined to walk all the way to the monstrous, seemingly infinite tower of the Phillips Corp building. This was a company big enough that, if she was late and pissed off the clientele, she would likely lose her job at Blue Bank Inc., the massage company she worked for.
There were times when Samantha missed her husband. Right now, she mostly missed his car and his willingness to drive her around. Ted’s restaurant business had meant he’d had a more flexible work schedule than she. Samantha had not left Ted; Ted had always been as faithful as a little dog. She had never had a reason to. After six years of a steady if stale marriage, Samantha lost both Ted and the car.
Following the news of his car accident, Samantha discovered that Ted had been in a mountain of debt. Samantha was forced to declare bankruptcy, which meant that the restaurant business was given to creditors along with the apartment Samantha spent years gradually improving to make her perfect home. Samantha had to move back in with her parents then, in her mid-thirties of all times, when that ship was supposed to have sailed a long time ago. Samantha had always hated her father, which made it all worse. He provided food and shelter and had never been physically abusive in any way, but he was fond of adding a healthy portion of meanness and aggression to the list of things he provided.
“Well, you shouldn’t have married that idiot in the first place,” was his favorite phrase, which took him about two months after Ted’s death to start saying. Samantha had to put up with the man until the seemingly-ever-receding finish line of I have enough money was reached, though, regardless of how she felt about him.
Most people said their parents were a perfect balance; like yin and yang, they complemented each other perfectly. Samantha just knew her mom was an exact contrast to her dad. She never complained and was always sweet.
“Take your time Samantha. You know our home is yours. You can stay as long as you want,” her mom always said, always accompanied by a hug. Sometimes, the hug would last a few seconds, though it could extend to several minutes on occasions when Samantha would burst into tears. Her mom would hold her comforting her when that happened, as long as she needed it.
There was Ella, too. Ella was Samantha’s lodestar, the most important thing in the universe, and was the single reason Samantha kept getting out of bed every morning. Ella was full of energy and imagination. Ella had a great relationship with Samantha’s mom and dad, too. They loved her and absolutely doted on her, including her grumpy dad, which she found a bit odd. Ella called him gramps, and he didn’t mind at all.