Fifteen years later
James
“I spoke to Thompson and he’s on board with it,” Amanda said. “He’s putting it in writing for us, too, for the record.”
She sat behind her mahogany desk, a queen on her throne. Her blonde hair was combed to the side and sprayed to stay in place, making her look like a model. Her skin was tan, her jewelry expensive. The world was her oyster. The desk was immaculate, shiny wood with only what she needed on the surface.
I nodded and made a note, underlining it twice.
Amanda watched me do it. When I looked up again, her blue eyes were on mine. Her face was unreadable.
I had known her for almost ten years now and she had always been this cool and calculated. Her office represented her qualities – classy and emotionless with no proof that she had a personal life away from the office. Not like mine, with photos and ornaments and plants. I was a reckless and wild, a dreamer. We complimented each other as business partners.
“How are we going to deal with the workers’ request?” I asked.
Amanda shook her head, irritated. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulder.
“I think we should ignore them. If we give them what they want every time they have a little fit they’re never going to settle down and do what they’re told. They’re like children, James. If you indulge them they’re never going to listen to you.”
I looked out the window. The sky was cloudless, the other buildings surrounding mine shimmering in the afternoon light.
“I don’t know. They work hard enough and they’re due for a raise of some kind.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “How do you plan to make money this way?”
I shrugged. “We have enough money. This business is doing well. Giving them a raise won’t cripple us.”
Amanda sighed. “You’re too soft,” she said. “But we can’t make a call if we disagree. I’ll workout the numbers and let you know how much I’ll be happy with. If we don’t compromise we’ll get nowhere.”
I smiled. “I knew you weren’t made of stone,” I said.
Amanda’s face showed nothing.
“This isn’t about kindness, James. It’s business.”
I chuckled. Amanda was straightforward about business. Her work was meticulous, she was punctual and she followed everything we decided on to the letter. She could be cold and unapproachable sometimes but she complimented my relaxed approach to things and we worked well together.
“Let’s talk about expanding,” she said.
I nodded. We’d been talking about expanding for a while, now, and the business was making enough money to add our final division.
“I ran the numbers by Thompson and he thinks it’s viable. Of course, it will take a year or so before it really takes off, but we can afford that.”
I nodded. Amanda and I had started Quad Corp together. We had started off with a simple logistics company. We had expanded into ocean, and railroad as well and we were branching into air freight now. Quad Corp was going to be the biggest logistics company in the States.
“We need to get Derek in and revise the contract with Dragon Net,” I said. Amanda nodded.
“I’ll speak to him. I’m seeing him tomorrow as it is and we’ll set it a date.”
I looked at my notes before closing the book.
“I think that’s everything.”
Amanda closed her books, too, and started packing them into her bag. It was a leather designer bag with embellishments that would only be real gold. Amanda wanted the best of everything. It was superficial when it came to her personal life but in the business, it translated into excellence and it worked.
“Let me know how it goes with Derek,” I said and left Amanda’s office.
In my own office, I packed my briefcase before leaving for home. I worked six days a week most weeks and I wanted to get away and relax. Work consumed my world for the most part and even though my empire was one to be proud of it wasn’t my whole life.
I wasn’t like my late father. Charles Weber Sr. had been a shark in the business world. I’d come from a line of business minds. I had started off rich thanks to inherited money but I had brought Quad Corp up from the ground without my dad’s help.
My brother Charlie had taken over my dad’s string of hotels.
I drove home and parked in my spot underneath The Alagon. I rode the elevator up to the fourteenth floor and unlocked my front door. My apartment was neat and tidy, smelling like Lemon detergent and air freshener. The cleaning service must have just left.
I put my briefcase and blazer on the dining room table and walked to the wet bar in the corner. I poured two fingers of Whiskey and threw it back, breathing in through my nose as the amber liquid burned down my throat.
My phone rang. Sidney’s name flashed on the screen and I hesitated before answering. I plastered a smile on my face before speaking so it sounded like I was happy to see her.
“I haven’t heard from you in a while,” I said.
“That’s because you never call me,” she said on the other side of the line. I imagined her pouting.
“It’s been so busy – you know how it goes.”
It was convenient that I could use work as an excuse.
“That’s why I’m calling, darling. I miss seeing your face in person. Come over, tonight?”
I looked up at the ceiling. “I’m not in town, baby. I’ll contact you when I get back.”
She pouted a little more, complaining about being neglected before I ended the conversation. I had told two women now that I was out of town. They wouldn’t find out otherwise. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to sleep with Sidney. She was beautiful and sexy and a dream in bed. She was clingy, though. She wanted more. I didn’t want more. Commitment was never part of the plan.
I put my phone down on the bar and poured myself another two fingers of Whiskey.
After a moment of thought, I picked up the phone again and dialed Caleb Thompson’s number.
“Are you at the club?” I asked.
“You know it. Join me?”
I confirmed and hung up again. It was easier to go to a club where women were willing to give me as much as they were able without any strings attached. They gave me what I paid for and no more. Dirty? Yes. But it was it was simple and unemotional.
I put the empty glass on the counter and shrugged into my jacket, leaving the apartment this time without my briefcase.
I drove the short distance to Hush and let a valet take my car. The gentlemen’s club was one of the best strip clubs in town. Decorated with brown tables and chairs, a red carpet and red drapes on the various stages I felt like I walked into a womb when I entered.
How apt.
A waitress led me to the VIP area where Caleb sat at one of the tables. His semi-formal look fit right in with the red and dark wood surrounding. His dark hair was back like he’d run his fingers through it a couple of times and his tie hung low, the top button of his shirt undone. His eyes were glued to a woman in lingerie on stage. She wore so little it left nothing to the imagination.
“Jimmy,” he said when he saw me and smiled. “You’re just in time.”
Caleb was the only person that still called me Jimmy. I glanced at the woman on stage. “So, I see.” She was about to unhook her bra. I sat down next to Caleb and ordered a Whiskey from the waitress.
“Did you talk to Amanda?” Caleb asked his eyes on the woman on the stage again. He lit a cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke toward her, making her look like she was shrouded in fog for a moment. How did women get into this kind of work? I wasn’t sure, but I was glad that someone did it. The women at Hush were all the model kind, with slim figures and long legs.
“I did. We had our meeting earlier. It looks like we’re going to go through with it.”
Caleb nodded, sipping his drink, cigarette clamped between two fingers. It was something dark, Hennessey or Remy Martin if I knew him well enough.
I’d known Caleb since I was a kid. He’d grown up just outside of Apalachicola, his father a man my father had often done business with. We used to spend our summers together whenever I was dragged along. Now that we were both running our own businesses it was only natural that we shared our resources and worked together from time to time. Caleb had gone into finances and he served as our advisor when we needed it.
“You should watch out for her,” Caleb said before taking another pull on his cigarette. “She’s cunning and she’ll take you for a ride before you know what’s happening.” His words were laced with smoke.
I shook my head. “Just because you don’t like her doesn’t make her a bad person. She’s got an excellent business mind. We wouldn’t be where we are without her.”
Caleb shrugged. “I’m just saying, someone that cold…”
I laughed. “Not every woman is as… warm as these.”
The girl on the stage was naked save for a tiny triangle covering the most important parts of her body. It wouldn’t take long before that was gone, too. We sat together in silence for a while. My eyes were glued to the writhing body on the stage. The dancer moved her body to the music as if she was making love to it, showing off her assets in such a way that I could imagine I was there with her. I shifted to rearrange my pants around my lust.
I glanced at my watch. Eight. It was going to be a long night.
A woman in red lace showing an awful lot of skin walked over to us, rolling hips and plastic breasts, a smile plastered on her face. Her hair was a bottle blonde, done well enough that I couldn’t see what her natural color was and her lips were plump and pouty.
“You boys look like you need a private dancer,” she said.
Caleb glanced at me. I waved a hand at him. Not this one. He smiled and stubbed out the butt of his cigarette before he stood up, leaving to a private booth with her. I watched her draw the curtain to close them in.
My eyes traveled back to the woman on stage. She was naked now and on the floor with her legs up in the air.
“You look like you’re lonely,” a woman said next to me. I looked her up and down.
Black lingerie, dark hair piled on her head, dark liquid eyes. She was skinnier than I liked it but her eyes stayed on mine and I liked them. When I stood up she smiled and turned toward the private booths. I followed her, watching her ass move side to side.
She closed the curtains when I took a seat. She turned around and smiled at me before she reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall to the ground.