Mr. Big Deal (Mr. Big 4)

CHAPTER11

Luke

* * *

The four ofus met at the restaurant down the street from the Astra offices, and when we arrived, the place was packed with diners. Elena and Jack were already there and had a prime booth for us along the wall by the rear windows looking out over the patio.

“Hello,” Jack said when we arrived at the table. He stood and extended his hand for a shake. We shook all around and then sat down. Immediately, a cocktail waitress came by and took our drink orders. I asked for a non-alcoholic beverage while everyone else had something stronger. I wanted to be able to help Alexa when I got home in case she’d had a hard day and wanted me to take Leif.

“You’re not having a drink?” Elena asked, pointing to my bottle of seltzer when it came.

“No, I have to be a good papa when I go home,” I said. “No drinking until Leif is in bed for the night.”

She pouted and glanced at Jack. “Glad I’m not a parent,” she said and then picked up her glass of wine, holding it up. “To all the single girls.”

“To the single girls,” Jack said and held up his martini. John laughed and held up his beer. A glance passed between Jack and Elena that looked surprisingly like it was meaningful in a way that suggested they were lovers rather than just business partners.

If so, it didn’t surprised me. It was common for people to get together when they worked together closely. It was something I’d seen quite a lot — secretaries sleeping with their bosses, and other combinations. I didn’t plan on partaking in anything like that, but it didn’t surprise me that Jack might be sleeping with Elena.

It wouldn’t be the first time and it wouldn’t be the last that co-workers slept together.

I took a sip of my seltzer and turned to Jack.

“Elena said there were some exciting developments you wanted to fill us in on?”

Jack smiled and took another sip of his martini, then swirled the olive around before popping it in his mouth.

“I do, in fact. We just got another buy-in on the deal, so we’re able to offer another fifty percent over what we originally came with. That should help in development for the next few years.”

I glanced at John, who was as surprised as I was. Another fifty percent on top of what was already on offer was amazing. We could really do something with that. It would mean we would have almost double what we initially targeted for the start-up funding we would be searching for.

“That’s great,” I said and held up my bottle of seltzer. “Who is the new investment partner?”

“That’s still under wraps, but rest assured that they are a big big player in the aerospace industry and are really excited about partnering with us.”

“Great!” John said and smiled. He turned to me and smiled. “Don’t you think it’s great?”

I smiled back. “I’d like to know who this mystery investor is.”

“You’ll find out soon enough. Rest assured you’ll be happy. He’s one of the biggest investors in the industry. His only catch is that the head office be relocated to Austin, Texas. It’s a tax-free state and is really trying to promote business, so it’s totally business friendly.”

I made a face. “We can have a subsidiary office there, but head office? I don’t think so. My home is New York.”

“Come on, Luke,” John said. “Texas would be great. Think about the weather. Houston is a great city. Besides, Campbell wants us to move operations there, too.”

I shrugged and took a sip of my seltzer. I didn’t like the idea at all. Not when John mentioned that Campbell wanted it. Not now that some other big investor wanted it.

Texas was a wasteland as far as jobs for Alexa. She wasn’t ready yet to start working but hoped to soon. All she had to do was finish her PhD and then I knew she’d either get a job at a university teaching international relations, or work with some Non-Governmental Organization or with the UN or some other international body.

“We’ll consider,” I said, not willing to commit to anything yet. “I’d like to know more about the investor. That’s important.”

“He has a great reputation. I’m sure you’ll be pleased.”

“Why can’t we know now?” I turned to Jack. “What is he waiting for?”

Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “Just getting the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed on the financing before making the offer so there’s no doubt. Plus, he doesn’t want any bad publicity in case the deal doesn’t go through.”

“Okay,” I said hesitantly. “I’ll wait to see the offer and the name of this mystery investor, and we’ll decide at that point. As to Houston? I can always commute, I guess. I don’t think Alexa will be interested in moving to Texas. Not with her career interests.”