Page 37 of My CEO Neighbor
The Dexter Capital meeting went exactly as Ted had scripted it.Every slide landed perfectly, every projection impressed, every question met with the kind of sharp, confident response that made investors reach for their checkbooks.By ten-thirty a.m., Ted had secured the largest funding round in CloudSync's history, enough money to scale nationally, hire the team they needed, and transform his scrappy startup into a serious player.
He should have been euphoric.Instead, sitting in his Porsche outside the Dexter building, staring at the signed term sheet in his hands, Ted felt absolutely nothing.
Well, not nothing.He felt the hollow ache that had taken up residence in his body since yesterday, the one that intensified every time he thought about Monica's face when she'd closed her apartment door.He felt the phantom taste of her mouth, the memory of her hands fisted in his shirt, the way she'd looked at him.
Ted's phone buzzed with congratulatory texts from his team, from investors who'd heard the news, from business contacts who always materialized when success was announced.But the only number he wanted to see on his screen was Monica's, and that was the one call that would never come.
Because he'd fucked it up.Completely, irrevocably, like the emotionally unavailable asshole she'd probably always suspected him to be.
Ted drove home in a haze of should-be celebration and actual misery, his hands gripping the steering wheel while his mind replayed every moment of yesterday afternoon.The way Monica had guided him through his panic attack with such gentle competence.The way she'd kissed him.The way she'd screamed his name when he'd made her come, like he was the only man who'd ever touched her properly.
And then the way she'd looked at him in the hallway—hurt and confused and trying so hard to hide it behind politeness.
Ted parked in the garage and took the elevator to twelve, hyperaware of every inch of space where Monica had been pressed against him, her breath hot against his ear, the tight heat of her body accepting him completely.
His cock stirred despite his emotional turmoil, and Ted cursed under his breath.Even thinking about Monica made him hard, made him want to pound on her door and remind her exactly how good they'd been together.But that would only confirm what she probably already believed—that he was a selfish bastard who thought with his dick and treated women like stress relief.
The hallway was quiet as Ted approached his apartment, but as he slid his key into the lock, he heard Monica's voice through her door.Not her usual calm yoga instructor tone, but a sharp and strained tone that made him freeze.
"Thirty days?You're giving me thirty days to come up with fifty thousand dollars?"Monica's voice cracked slightly."Mrs.Arbuckle, I've been renting that space for three years.My students depend on those classes."
Ted's hand stilled on his doorknob.He shouldn’t be eavesdropping in on her conversation, but he couldn’t help himself.
"I understand it's business," Monica continued, her voice growing smaller."But I can't just...yes, I know the new owners want to renovate.Yes, I understand the market rate has increased."
There was a long pause.
"No, I don't have other options lined up.I thought...I thought I had more time."Monica's voice broke completely on the last words.
Monica was losing her studio.The space where she taught yoga, where she'd built something meaningful from nothing, where she helped people find the kind of peace that had eluded Ted his entire adult life.And she had thirty days to come up with more money than most people saw in a year.
Ted's mind immediately shifted into problem-solving mode, the way it always did when presented with a crisis that had quantifiable solutions.Fifty thousand dollars wasn't insurmountable.It was less than Ted spent on marketing in a quarter.The real challenge would be finding Monica a space she could afford long-term, somewhere that wouldn't price her out again in two years.
But even as Ted's business brain cataloged potential solutions, his heart was focused on the broken sound of Monica's voice.She was probably sitting in her apartment right now, surrounded by the crystals and plants that made her feel centered, trying to figure out how to rebuild her life from scratch.
Again.
Ted remembered Monica telling him about leaving her marketing career, how yoga had saved her during the dark period after college.This studio wasn't just her business, it was her sanctuary, her purpose, the thing that had pulled her back from the edge of panic attacks and corporate despair.
And now someone was taking it away from her.
Ted unlocked his apartment and immediately pulled out his laptop.If Monica needed a new space, Ted would find her one.If she needed connections, he had them.If she needed money, well, he'd just secured more than enough to solve her problem ten times over.
He spent the next four hours making calls.First to his commercial real estate contact, then to three developers who owed him favors, then to a property management company that specialized in affordable artist spaces.By midnight, he had a list of seven potential locations, three of which were available immediately at below-market rates.
The best option was a ground-floor space in Fremont, twice the size of Monica's current studio with natural light and parking.The owner was a tech entrepreneur who'd made his fortune and now focused on supporting local artists and wellness practitioners.Ted had helped the guy navigate a complex acquisition two years ago, and calling in that favor felt like the best decision he'd made all week.
First thing the next morning, he called him.
"Ted Corwin, you son of a bitch," Bill Armitage answered on the second ring."I heard about the Dexter deal.Congratulations."
"Thanks.Listen, I need a favor."
"Name it."
"You have that space in Fremont, the one you've been trying to rent to wellness practitioners.I have someone who'd be perfect for it.A yoga instructor getting priced out of her current space.She needs somewhere she can afford long-term, with room to grow her practice."
"And you're personally vouching for her?"
