AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With any luck, the board will approve everything in the next twenty minutes, which would be just in time for the shareholders meeting. This all has to happen at lightning speed or the shareholders will get nervous, and that’s the last thing we want. Nervous shareholders equal mass sell-offs equal my personal fortune being cut, possibly in half (or worse). I don’t even want to think about that, and I really don’t have to, because I won’t allow that to happen. To say I’m tired would be a gross understatement. But such is life. You can’t expect to run a billion-dollar corporation and have lots of ‘me time.’ That’s not a thing. No matter what billionaires in romance books are doing these days. “And you? Did your head even hit the pillow?”
“I got in a solid twenty.”
“Minutes?”
“Yup.”
“Ouch. Please make sure I buy you something extra terrific for Christmas this year.”
“A Tesla X ought to cover it.”
“Is that all?” I ask as we round the corner.
Giving me a wry smile, she says, “Should I have gone for a Gulfstream?”
“For one night of lost sleep? That might be pushing it.”
“That’s why I went with a Tesla.”
“Smart. We should be promoting you to COO.”
“I wouldn’t say no.”
She opens the outer door to my office, where her desk sits, and I drop my briefcase on it. Her assistant, Willow, hands me a freshly brewed espresso and I suck it back in one gulp. “Thank you, Willow. Make one for Donna while you’re at it.”
Willow’s eyes grow wide. “Another one?” she asks Donna.
“He’s just joking,” she says, handing me the agenda for the meeting. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about this trip to Peru. What if you just meet them there in a day or two? The timing couldn’t be worse to have you go A.W.O.L. Besides, it’s going to be god-awful. You stuck out in the jungle surrounded by who knows how many people with their hands out for cash.”
My gut tightens. She’s right. This is literally the worst day possible for me to disappear into the jungle or up a mountain where there is likely no cell reception. And almost everyone on this trip will definitely be trying to ‘get on my good side’ in an effort to change my mind about the foundation. It’ll be my job to steer them in the right direction—directly at Richard’s nephew, Skip, because there’s no way I’m going to hand over another ten years’ worth of funding for projects I consider absolutely useless. I mean, come on, telekinesis? I don’t know what Richard was thinking.
But I can’t be a no-show for the trip, no matter how badly I want to right now. Shaking my head, I say, “I owe it to Richard to be there.”
Donna nods. “Yeah, I suppose it would also look bad if you didn’t go.”
“Honestly, I couldn’t care less about what it looks like. Richard and I were partners. He’s asked for one last thing and I’m going to do it. Speaking of which, did Rohan give you any idea as to what’s in store for me?”
“Not even the smallest hint,” Donna says. “But he did say that the attendance would have been heartbreakingly low for Dr. Napper. He wanted a little over two-hundred people, but apparently he didn’t take into account the fact that the majority of people wouldn’t have the proper travel vaccines.”
“How many are coming?”
“Apparently, it’ll be under thirty. Rohan is gutted.”
As bad as I feel for Richard, this is very good news for me. It’ll be awful enough being chased around by a couple dozen of these wackos while I smack mosquitoes in the discomforts of the Amazon jungle, or try to think straight at the oxygen-depleted altitude of Machu Pichu. Two hundred would’ve been unbearable. “I’ll talk to Rohan. We should plan a memorial for him here when we get back. Something ridiculously big. Over-the-top. Star-studded.”
She gives me a dirty look from the top rim of her glasses. “Sounds like a Gulfstream-sized amount of work for me.”
I shake my head. “Find a planner and we’ll let Rohan be the point person on it. It’ll give him something to do when we get back.”
Donna nods, then taps her watch. “Go give ‘em hell at that board meeting. You’ve got eighteen minutes until the shareholders call.”
“Will do,” I say, saluting her, then turning to leave. I call over my shoulder, “We’re just joking about the Tesla, right?”
“Of course we are.”
“And you won’t hate me for it?”
“Only a little,” Donna says. “Besides, I’m planning to sleep for twenty-four hours straight as soon as I get you on the plane. But don’t tell my boss. He’s a bit of an asshole.”
