“Good morning, Shane. How are you?” I smirked as I sat back and folded my hands over my stomach.
He looked up from the tablet to roll his eyes at me. “I’ve spoken to you twice this morning. You know how I am.”
“But I haven’t seen you.” I opened my arms and motioned to him. “Don’t I get a hug?”
“Nope.” He grinned and dropped into the seat across from me. “I’m not in the mood for your pranks this morning. I don’t know what you had planned, but I’m not falling for it.”
“No prank,” I promised. “But I was just messing with you. Is Ted still out then?”
“Well, I’m not in here playing assistant for the fun of it,” he joked before his expression grew somber. “I’m not sure when he’s going to be back. A few more days at least.”
I frowned. “I thought the doctor said they’d fixed his arm right up?”
“They did, but it was a bad break. There are some complications. He’ll be fine, but until then, you’re stuck with me for the daily schedule run-through.”
“I could just check it out by myself on my calendar,” I said, not for the first time.
Shane shook his head. “Without someone keeping you in the present, you’ll fall into a virtual rabbit hole until you’re done with whatever you’re busy with.”
“Yeah, okay.” I closed my laptop so I wouldn’t be distracted by it, then folded my hands on top of my desk. “What’ve we got for today?”
He pulled his glasses down to the tip of his nose, peering over them at the sleek computer in his hands. His brown curls were as unruly as ever, but he was dressed in a sharp suit I’d had my tailor design for him.
Contrary to what most people who read those god-awful rags called tabloids believed, Shane was not my partner in crime. He was the partner trying to keep me out of it.
The man was like a brother to me. The older, bigger brother without whom I’d probably have been ruined by now.
To the outside world, I was a level of asshole unattainable by most others who lived on this planet. But Shane was family, and family stuck together.
The tapping sound of the stylus stopped, and he cleared his throat. “At eight, you’ve got a meeting to fill investors in on the advancements we’ve made with Ride the Wave.”
A genuine grin spread on my lips as my pulse spiked. “That’s going to change our fucking lives when it’s done.”
“Why?” He frowned, scratching his temple as he wrinkled his nose. “Which one is Ride the Wave again?”
“Which one is Ride the Wave again?” I clasped my hands over my heart and pretended like he’d shot me. “How could you even ask me that question?”
“How could I not?” He hooked his ankle over his knees. “You’re always busy with a million different projects. They’re all in different industries, but they all have similar names. I learn what I need to about the ones we’re ready to launch. Then I move on.”
“Ride the Wave is the surfing software,” I said, turning around in my rolling chair to face the wall of windows behind me.
The view from up here was incredible. Even though I saw it every day, I never stopped being impressed by it. I could see it all, the gleaming deep blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, the iconic Sydney opera house, Harbor Bridge.
The view didn’t come cheap, but it was worth every cent I’d paid for it.
Two years ago when the two dating apps I’d developed turned me into a billionaire in the space of a few months, one of the first things I’d done was secure this space. My apps were based on a simple concept. You wanted what you wanted and nothing else.
All I’d done was to give people what they wanted. I’d read about entire galleries the world over which had been filled with exhibits consisting of unsolicited inappropriate content that had been sent to recipients. The problem had been glaring and obvious, so I figured I’d try to fix it.
My apps weren’t only dating apps. They also operated a bit like social media and a little like old-school chat sites. They were a mash-up of old and new, and it worked.
It had taken a long time for us to gain traction and users, but once it started happening, we never looked back. I’d launched both sites on the same day. Then I’d watched as each made its way into its designated target market.
It’d been really cool watching the bubbles on both sides of the spectrum grow in terms of user numbers and then to observe the jumps between the two as people’s desires changed. Although the concept was deceptively simple, there had been a lot of glitches, perception issues, and reputational risk to be dealt with.
As the user numbers and public attention had grown, so had the size of my workforce. Little by little, I’d appointed people in positions I needed help with.
My people had started out working from home, and I was pretty flexible about their working hours to this day. Workers didn’t need an office to get their work done. They just needed the dedication to do it without having someone looking over their shoulders or feeling like they needed to be micromanaged.
Luckily for them, I hated micromanaging. I never had the fucking time.
However, for those who preferred a structured working environment—like myself—I wanted them to have a place we could all enjoy going to. When people had a view like this from their offices, they were bound to enjoy being in the building.
Today, I ignored everything about the spectacular view except for the sparkling blue water and the swells in the distance. “We’re making Ride the Wave with our machine-learning tech. It’s specialized new software that will predict ideal weather conditions for surfing off the Australian coast.”
Shane sat up straighter, recognition lighting up his eyes. “Oh yeah. I remember you told me about that one. How are we doing with it? Anything to report to the investors? I’m told they’re expecting some big news today.”
“We’ve made leaps and bounds of progress.” I smirked, opening my arms up wide and holding them out to my sides. “I’m ready for those guys. They’re all like us, man. They grew up alternating between surfing and tackling each other on the field. I’ve got this.”
“Great, because you don’t have a lot of time before it’s scheduled to start.” His gaze darted down to his watch, then back up to mine. “After that, we have an interview with the people at EsTech. Once we’re done with them, you’re giving a talk at the Thinkers of Tomorrow conference.”
“Thinkers of Tomorrow?” I massaged my temples. “Fuck, I thought that was only happening later this week. You’ll have to get me out of there before the director tries to sink those red talons of hers into my ass again.”
Shane shot me a grin. “I’ve got your back. Directly after your speech, we have a lunch meeting with Johnny about the updates to All for Love.”
“Excellent.” I sat back in my chair and opened my laptop up so I’d be ready to get a few more minutes of work done before I had to get going. “Good thinking to schedule a meeting just after the talking slot. What’s after lunch?”
“A few more conference calls,” he said. “I’ve also set aside two hours for you to work on the code for whatever new idea you’re playing with. Last but not least, you have a video call with the head of the Business Department at Oxford University.”