Page 2 of My CEO Neighbor
"Which is exactly why you need to be sharp for today's meeting instead of running on fumes and desperation."
Ted's jaw tightened.Wes meant well, but advice about work-life balance sounded hollow coming from someone who'd chosen a startup equity package over a stable job at Google.They were all desperate.The only difference was how honestly they admitted it.
"I'm fine," Ted said.
"You're many things.Fine isn't one of them."
After Wes hung up, Ted stared at the presentation deck until the letters blurred together.Six hours until the meeting.Plenty of time to run the demo, rehearse answers to hostile questions, and consume enough caffeine to power a small aircraft.
His phone buzzed with a text from his ex, Gwynne:Saw the TechCrunch article about CloudSync.Proud of you.Try to eat something that isn't brown liquid or comes in a wrapper.
Ted deleted the message without responding.Gwynne had made her choice when she'd walked out eight months ago, citing his "pathological relationship with work" and his "inability to exist in the same room as another human being without checking email."Her words, documented in a breakup speech that had lasted longer than most of his board meetings.
She wasn't wrong, but that didn't make her right.
By the time his assistant arrived with fresh coffee and a stack of contracts that needed signatures, he'd fine-tuned the presentation.
"The car will be here at two-fifteen," Jennifer said."I've prepared backup slides for the revenue model, printed copies of the partnership agreements, and scheduled a post-meeting debrief for four-thirty."
"What would I do without you?"
"Probably starve to death in this office while composing love letters to your profit margins."
Ted's laugh sounded rusty from disuse.Jennifer had been with CloudSync since the beginning, back when their biggest worry was whether the vending machine would accept crumpled dollar bills.She'd earned the right to call him on his bullshit.
"Any messages I need to know about?"
"Your neighbor called the building manager again.Your conference calls are disrupting her morning meditation."
Monica.Ted felt an unexpected flutter of interest alongside his irritation.He thought of her on the fire escape that morning, all fluid grace and unconscious sensuality.What did she look like when she meditated?Did she wear those same fitted leggings that had made his coffee grow cold while he watched her move?
"What does she expect me to do, conduct business in sign language?"
"Have you considered moving your calls to seven?"
"Have you considered telling her to meditate somewhere that isn't adjacent to people who work for a living?"But even as Ted said it, he found himself wondering what Monica Tyson looked like when she was annoyed.Did she maintain that serene yoga instructor composure, or did she get fired up?The thought of her passionate about sent an unwelcome spike of desire through him.
Jennifer's expression suggested this wasn't the hill he should choose to die on, but Ted was beyond caring.He'd bought his apartment specifically for the corner location.If Monica wanted perfect silence, she could find a cave in Tibet.
Though the thought of her in a cave felt like a waste.A woman who moved like that belonged somewhere she could be appreciated.
Focus,Ted told himself sharply.He didn't have time to wonder about his neighbor's meditation habits or whether she looked as good out of workout clothes as she did in them.
The morning passed in a blur of final preparations.Ted ran his presentation twice more, fielding questions from his sales director and making last-minute adjustments to the financial projections.By noon, he felt ready to stare down Gavin Dexter's legendary skepticism and walk away with a signed term sheet.
His phone rang at half past noon.Unknown number.
"Theodore Corwin."
"Mr.Corwin, this is Janet from Dexter Capital.I'm calling about today's two-thirty meeting."
Ted's stomach dropped into his shoes."What about it?"
"Mr.Dexter had a family emergency and needs to reschedule.Would Thursday at the same time work?"
Thursday.Two days of additional anxiety, two days for competitors to make their own moves, two days for DataFlow to steal more clients and employees, two days for his momentum to dissolve completely.
"Of course," Ted heard himself say."Thursday works perfectly."
