“Mr. Davion,” the chairman of the Equinox Tower committee starts, clearing his throat and glancing across the room with a bored look on his face. I bet the poor bastard would rather be playing golf right now, instead of sitting here and being hammered from all sides. Not that I give a fuck - I know that it was Laurel who set him up to chair the committee, hoping to tilt the scales in her favor. No such luck. Joyce has been spearheading this effort, and she really brought the whole thing home, devising a bullet proof project that no sane mind would ever vote down. We backed the committee against the wall, and they can’t vote down our bid for the Equinox project without losing face.
“I think there isn’t much to be debated in here. It’s pretty clear to the committee that you’re putting some real effort into bringing the Equinox Tower project into fruition and, as such, it’s my duty to inform you that the New York City has, after carefully deliberating upon the subject, decided to give you the green light.” Then, after a moment’s pause, he pushes the final sentence out. “The contract is yours. Congratulations.”
I don’t mean to gloat, swear to God, but it’s stronger than me. I glance around the conference table and, meeting Laurel’s eyes, I open up into a grin and fucking wink at her. Her face grows red as she holds her breath, her shark eyes spelling out murder, and I wink once more for good measure. Hey, it’s not my fucking fault she’s a sore loser - besides, she was the one trying to cheat me out of this contract. Let her be angry if she wants. I don’t give a fuck.
Feeling pretty happy about the way things turned out, I get up from my seat nonchalantly and head out of the conference room, making my way out of the room. A few hundred reporters are lining the City Hall’s outer steps, and they all stand up to attention as they see me walking out of the door.
“Mr. Davion, Mr. Davion,” they call after me, shoving a few dozen mics in front of my face, “did you get the deal?”
“My friends, this is a good day for New York,” I smile at them and then, opening my hands wide, continue. “New York City is going to be the home for the tallest building in the world, Equinox Tower!”
I’m not even going to lie - it feels fucking glorious to be able to say it. Building the tallest tower in the world has been a dream of mine for God knows how fucking long, and now I’m really going to be able to do it. Soon enough, right between Central Park and Madison Avenue, Equinox Tower is going to reach into the skies.
Besides, this also translates as a few hundred millions in profit which, as you can guess, also feels fucking glorious.
I look around the crowd of reporters, looking for a special someone, and there she is, right in the middle of the fray. With a notepad in her hand, a pencil between her thumb and index finger, Penny’s scribbling away as I speak.
“How does it feel, Mr. Davion? It’s been an uphill struggle to get the city to award you this contract,” one of the journalists closest to me asks, and I turn my eyes toward him and grin.
“It feels amazing, Michael,” I reply, reading the badge hanging from his breast pocket. “This whole deal took tremendous effort to put together, and I owe it all to a special someone.” The journalists start buzzing their questions faster now, just like a swarm of angry bees, and I find myself trying to wave them down. Chill the fuck out everyone.
“Who?” I hear that question repeated ad nauseam, but I keep the answer to myself. I just push my way through the crowd of journalists and walk straight toward Penny. The journalists part before me as they see where I’m heading, and I feel like fucking Moses parting the Red Sea.
Penny’s eyes widen so much it almost seems like they’re going to pop out of their sockets, but I just smile at her and drape one arm over my shoulders.
“Penny Wright, my stepdaughter,” I proclaim, “has been instrumental in all this this. If it weren’t for her advice, I doubt we’d have such a happy conclusion.” She turns to me, slightly flushed, and then smiles. She opens her arms and hugs me tight, her perfume making me feel slightly lightheaded. Fuck, I can’t wait to get home and rip her dress off of her body. I want to fucking celebrate.
Maybe I shouldn’t be this vocal about Penny, allowing the world to shine a spotlight on her, but I just can’t fucking help myself right now. I really feel thankful for having her in my life and, besides, her advice really helped secure this deal. I thought long and hard about what she told me, how people wanted their vision of the world reflected back at them, and that went a long way when it came to my meetings with the board. She was right: once your mirror what’s in people’s hearts and minds, they can’t attack you… Or else they’d be attacking themselves. I know I really sound like a fucking Zen master right now, but I’m not trying to bullshit you.