The Deal Read Free Page A

wealthy because I was wealthy. I had more money by far than any of my friends, guys who were doing pretty fucking well. In year two I made almost $2.3 million. I gambled in Monte Carlo for vacation and had a VIP table at any club in
Manhattan. Life was good. My thirst for success was insatiable.
    Like I said, I was terribly wealthy. I understand now I was far from rich.
     

Chapter 4
    By 6:20 a.m . I had settled into my office, a mix of a sophistication and technological advancement. PCBL is not one for being stingy so our headquarters are state of the art. All of the molding, as well as the doors and furniture, are mahogany. There is a lot of glass and the floors are lined with plush, hunter green carpeting. The walls are a light shade of cream and are accented with black-and-white stills of the Manhattan skyline as seen through the lenses of award-winning photographers. Color in the space is primarily supplied through fresh, strategically placed eclectic floral arrangements that are changed out every third day. It is the kind of space that could be confused for a prestigious law firm.
    The office is completely wireless, aside from the actual telephone on each desk being plugged into the wall. Everything is heat sensor activated from the light switches to the climate control; rooms actually adjust their temperature based on occupancy. Flat-panel monitors are the norm, and each office is furnished with a desktop as well as a compatible laptop, God forbid someone should be caught without access to the e-world.
    “Awesome party, man.”
    Jake, always in early like me, had walked into my office. He’d been in D.C. the previous day, and we hadn’t yet recapped. I was sitting at my desk looking at my morning schedule. I looked up.
    “You think?”
    “Don’t be an idiot. You know it was tremendous.”
    He sat down in one of the chairs facing my desk. He started
flipping a quarter in his hand as he spoke to me. Jake always had
a quarter with him. When he was fifteen on some ski trip in Vermont, he got separated from his group or something. I don’t really know the details, but he insists having a quarter to make a phone call saved his life. Anyway, now he always has one with him.
    “And I must say kudos on having Carolyn invite Alan Lansing. How the fuck did you know he’d be in town?”
    Carolyn is my assistant and she’s second to none. She’s a native New Yorker, a hard worker, and a woman who, as much as she hates to admit it, always wanted more. She’ll tell you she’s content as she goes about her business, but there’s a reason she plays every New York State Lottery under the sun whether it’s daily, weekly, one of those scratch offs, whatever. As for Alan Lansing, he’s the CEO of ARAMAX Pharmaceutical, and a potential client. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York.
    “I have my sources.”
    “You fucking devil. Hey, how about that girl who showed up with Brian? I’ve seen her in all these ads lately. What’s her name? Ellen...Eileen...”
    “Elena.”
    “Eeellleennnnaa,” he repeated, letting the name roll from his tongue slowly. “Definitely Scandinavian or Czech. Is he fucking her?”
    “Uh-uh.”
    “Why not?”
    “You’d have to ask him.”
    “How are you so sure?”
    “Because after the party she spent the night at my place.”
    We both laughed. Jake grabbed his love handles.
    “Maybe if I lost some of this weight I could have some sort of a sex life too. I mean face it, I may not have your body, but I definitely have a better personality than you.”
    “Let me guess, all the girls want to be your best friend.”
    “Fuck you. Hey, let’s talk LANG and SKILES.”
    Just like that, as was the case most mornings, we went through each of the deals we were working on together. At 6:45 a.m. we called down to the deli for coffee and bagels. It was a normal morning. Normal, that is, until 7:10 a.m . when the phone rang. This was the phone call that would eventually turn my life