Undersold(7)

The two men left, and Janice came in to see me out.

“How’d it go?” she asked.

“It went perfect.”

“Oh yeah? Are you rich now?”

I laughed. What a weird question to ask someone. It felt unprofessional, but coming from her, completely comfortable and funny.

“Nope, not yet. But my student loans will get paid, and I’ll have a job,” I said.

“Well congratulations, Amy.”

We walked out, Janice in the lead. As we moved down the hall, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Normally I wouldn’t check it, but I was so elated and confused that I pulled it out without thinking. Meet me at McCullough’s around the corner in ten.

It was a message from him. Rex Blue or Shane Green, whoever he was, still wanted me to meet him. And he wanted me to do it now.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted. As I followed Janice, I looked around the office and tried to catch a glimpse of Shane slash Rex, but he was nowhere in sight. I had no clue if I should go, but maybe he had a good reason for the way he was acting, and for why he lied to me. At the very least, it might be good to air all of this out before I started working for him. I decided it would be a good idea to make nice with the new boss.

Janice took me to the front of the office, and held open the door to the lobby.

“Thanks Janice,” I said. She smiled warmly in return.

“I look forward to working with you.”

“Same to you,” I said.

We shook hands again, and I exited into the lobby. I was an emotional mess, I realized as I got onto the elevator. I was also going to meet with Shane Green, reclusive billionaire, my future boss, my sext partner, alone in a bar in the next few minutes, and I had no clue what was going to happen.





7.


I was late. After I left the lobby, I went into the building’s public bathroom and fixed myself up. I took off my glasses and unbuttoned the top two buttons on my blouse. Might as well let him see what he’s missing, I figured. I guessed this wasn’t just a business meeting since he invited me to a bar. I washed my hands, and gave myself a mental pep talk. I can do this. I can do this. The knot of doubt was there, but I ignored it, and went out to try and find McCullough’s.

The bar was in a basement under a hair salon around the corner form Adstringo’s office. There was a tiny sign at the top of the staircase, and it took me fifteen minutes to even find it. By the time I did, I was 20 minutes late. I hurried down the steps, hoping he’d still be there.

I pushed open the old, dirty door and walked into the dimly lit room. There was wood paneling on every wall half way to the top, with the top half mostly dominated by old fashioned advertising signs. The place smelled like cigarette smoke, although nobody was smoking. It was pretty empty, and the long bar took up most of the room, with just a few booths off to one side, and an old jukebox in the corner. It was the definition of a dive, the more I looked at it, and I couldn’t believe a guy like Shane Green would go into a place like this. I felt instantly at home.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but once they did I spotted him sitting alone at the bar, nursing a drink. As I got closer to him, he looked up at me, and gave me that same crooked grin from the picture he had sent me. I felt my stomach do flips, and suddenly the knot of self doubt loosened up just a bit.

“Hey there, Amy,” he said.

“Hey yourself, Mr. Green. Or should I say Rex?” I took the seat next to him and dropped my bag on the floor. I didn’t know where this confidence was coming from, but it felt good being near him.

His grin vanished, replaced with a look of deep intensity. He bowed his head slightly. “I have some explaining to do.”

“Yeah, you do. But first, buy me a drink. White wine.”

He looked up a little surprised, but the intensity didn’t go away. If anything, it deepened, and I felt something stir inside of me. He motioned for the bartender, and ordered my drink. It felt good to act demanding, even though we both knew who held the power in this situation. We waited in silence while the bartender poured it, and placed it in front of me. I could feel Shane brooding beside me, and I stole glances at him out of the corner of my eye. He was staring into the mirror behind the bar with a far away look on his face, obviously thinking deeply about something. He was drinking a half-empty whiskey, or scotch, or whatever is brown.

“Alright then, go ahead, Mr. Blue,” I said, taking a sip from my drink.

He leaned back in his chair. His body and his piercing gaze took control of the room instantly. “Where do I start?”

“Maybe the name, for one.” I was pretending to be brave, but I already felt completely at his mercy.