“The property that was acquired in Prague has not enticed any of the locals to apply. We’re sending our people over there at three times the cost.”
“The new legislation pushed through at the eleventh hour by that S.O.B. in the White House is going to cost our southern branches to reconsider the their distribution procedures.”
Waa. Waa. Waa. A bunch of babies.
I sat back at the opposite end of the conference table, swiveling in my chair watching them all. Some of the directors were cool customers. They listened pensively, every once in a while smoothing out their ties or nodding their heads in agreement with something my brother said.
Then there were the worriers. The cry-babies, no matter how golden their parachute was, it just wasn’t enough. They freaked out if even the slightest setback caused them to only reap about 1.7 return instead of the 1.8 return they had gotten last year on their billion dollar investments.
And then, there were the sweaters. The fat old farts who had known our father, who were as old as they were overweight and sweated non-stop just because breathing was an extreme cardio workout for them.
How did this group of misfits become our Board of Directors? Once again The Universe provides the answer. Surround yourself with people less competent and you’ve got job security. Thankfully the major decisions were left up to Marty and me although, my brother rarely consulted me on anything. He was a work-a-holic to the bone. His whole life was this place and well, dear old dad would be proud of him. When wasn’t he?
I looked at my watch wondering when the hell this snooze-fest was going to end. These meetings were so boring.
Thankfully I had my memories of the previous night to dwell on while I pretended to pay attention to the prospectus in front of me and the charts and spreadsheets in between.
What was that girl’s name? Well, she wasn’t really a girl. She was just some meth-head looking to make enough to get her through another day in her meager existence.
I knew when Natasha said she was tired that the Universe would send me something to play with in the meantime.
Not that I would do to Natasha what I did to the meth-head. What was her name? It’s going to bother me until I think of it.
She wasn’t as eaten up as some of them I’d picked up, being a newbie to the streets. I could tell because she hopped in my car and thought that I was her big break. It was going to be like that piece of shit movie with the rich billionaire who fell in love with a hooker. It can happen. Really.
Velvet! That was her name. Like the cake she had said, soft and moist on the inside. I nearly gagged and had to choke back the laughter that was creeping up my throat.
“Is this your car?” she asked, running her hand along the seats and up my thigh.
“Yes it is.”
“Wow. You rich?”
“Yes I am.” Her eyes lit up. Yeah, Velvet thought if she let me do whatever I wanted she’d have some sugar-daddy set up.
Note to my future protégé. When you hire someone to do a job expect them to do the job and then pay them. If they don’t do they job, they don’t get paid.
“What are we doing here?” she asked when I pulled into the warehouse I had owned for the past decade. I liked to bring my new friends there.
“Don’t worry. I’m not some serial killer. There’s no plastic restraints or tarp in the back seat. “I just like to be alone. I like my privacy.”
Of course the girl looked in the back seat when she thought I wasn’t looking. There were the tell-tale signs that she was in bad need of some kind of fix.
Personally I hated drugs. Couldn’t stand them or the people that used them. They were weak, pathetic individuals who wanted to be victims. They wanted to live this way.
“So.” I said as I walked into the warehouse in front of Velvet. When I flipped on the light she instantly saw the lounge area I had set up in the nearest corner. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Walking over to the couch she sat down on the edge of the couch. The lighting wasn’t the best and it highlighted her bruises and scratches and weeping sores that were crusted over with make-up. In a dark alley she might have looked pretty. But under even the faintest fluorescent lighting she looked like someone had sewn together various human parts collected from a leper colony.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“Sure.”
“What would you like?”
“Anything is fine.” Her voice was nervous. She was itching to make an exchange so she could be on her way to her dealer.
“Anything…coming right up.”