Page 39 of Heal Me
Chapter Eleven
When Ric and Tyler entered the Denver boardroom, both were apprehensive about how the meeting would play out. Chase was consumed with guilt at causing such a stir in the financial press. They hadn’t talked much as they had been busy fighting the unsubstantiated rumors of impropriety. McKnight was still a client but it hadn’t stopped others talking that the ‘turn anything to gold’ golden boys were breaking up. The market was fascinated. It was the three of them together that made Horizon Enterprises so successful and their clients wondered what would happen if that partnership imploded.
All of the other staff included in the daily meetings filed in and started getting organized.
“Doreen, any luck getting Chase?” Tyler asked.
“No. Sorry. I miss him,” she said. “We sometimes cook on Sundays.”
Tyler raised his eyebrows. “You cook with him?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Over Skype. We try out bizarre recipes to see if they’re any good.”
Ric laughed. “Sounds like Chase, all right.”
The big screen on the far wall lit up and Chase appeared on it. It shocked Ric to see that he was wearing a casual blue suit.
“Morning, y’all,” he said, grinning.
Everyone greeted him and Doreen waved at him excitedly. “Hi, honey!” she said. “I missed you yesterday.”
“Well, hello, hot stuff. Text me what you made later on and I’ll play catch-up tonight, okay?” Chase responded.
“Okay.”
Ric got a kick out of the way Doreen giggled and smiled like a schoolgirl even though she was married and Chase was at least twenty years her junior. Tyler cleared his throat and gave her a pointed look, at which she sobered and fell silent.
“So, as you know, I’m an idiot and screwed up the tentative launch date for McKnight’s public offer,” Chase said. “I would like to formally apologize for all the inconvenience caused by my fuck-up. Villanova is completely lost to us.” He looked at Ric and Tyler in turn. “I tried everything to get them to stay. I even flew to sunny Florida and played a round of golf with Big Mike on Saturday to try to smooth things over.”
“You did?” Tyler asked. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Chase cocked his head. “I’m telling you now, Ty. This cluster-fuck is my fault, so I’ve been cleaning up after the mess I made.”
The meeting members laughed and even Tyler cracked a smile over that.
“Anyway, seems like Big Mike’s partner, his wife, has him by the balls. She doesn’t trust me with their business. Big Mike won’t go against her wishes, happy wife means happy life. He was very regretful and promised to swing clients our way if possible,” Chase said.
Ric chuckled. “Ty feels the same way about Emily. He does everything to keep her happy.”
Chase laughed. “Surprising, ain’t it? Now, while Big Mike isn’t sticking with us, his son, Little Mike, is another matter. He’s been wanting to do some investing of his own and he has a fairly impressive portfolio that he’d like to transfer over to us. Seems like he’s been trying to stand on his own and feels he can use us now that his father’s company isn’t.”
The room erupted in laughter. When things calmed down again, Tyler asked, “Did he say how soon he’s coming on board?”
“Oh, I’ll leave the specifics up to you guys. I’m just extending the introduction to make up for my mistake. What y’all do bores the hell out of me,” Chase said. “Ric, Little Mike said he’ll be in touch with you this week since he primarily lives in New York now. I gave him your number.”
“Okay,” Ric said.
“So what else were you up to while you were keeping us in the dark?” Tyler asked.
“Well, GQ, I just got back from a meeting with Miss Green Girl’s financial gurus. I happened to serenade her when I was drowning my sorrows at a bar the other night. Seems as though she was impressed by my talent and wants to invest with us.”
Doreen squealed. “I love her song, Pop Your Popper.”
“I know,” Chase agreed. “Catchy.”
“Who the hell is Miss Green Girl?” Tyler asked.
Doreen said, “She’s a new pop artist. Word is that Taylor Swift hates her because she’s getting so popular now.”
