“Lucy, it’s good to see you. Come on in.” Nathan held the door open for her. He was glad he was dresse
d and the living room of the hotel suite was cleaned up.
Lucy looked around and sniffed. “This is where you’re staying?”
Nathan looked around. He’d gotten used to the small room. It wasn’t nearly as nice as his house or the Ritz, but it was comfortable for what he needed. Plus, Gregory said the staff was amazing and were doing everything he asked.
The entire town seemed to be full of helpful, welcoming people. The woman at the front desk always greeted him with a smile. The coffee-stand lady gave him extra coffee for free. He was beginning to feel like he belonged here.
“What are you doing here, Lucy?” Nathan asked. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed.
“I’m here to help,” she replied. “You said you’re thinking of canceling the move, so I came out to assist. Since I’ve been the one setting everything up, I’ll know what to do.”
Her words chafed him a little bit. He should have been the one setting everything up, but he’d handed it off to Lucy because it was the part of the job he didn’t like. It was his own fault that things were the way they were.
“Thanks for coming to help, Lucy,” Nathan said, softening his tone. Lucy wasn’t the enemy here. If anything, she would know what to do. She was an asset. That’s why he hired her in the first place.
“I’m here to make Paradigm money,” she said with a smile. “If that means I come out to middle of nowhere to do it, I do.”
“Are you staying at this hotel?” Nathan asked.
“God, no.” Lucy made a sour face. “I found a hotel downtown. There’s no way I would stay in a place like this. No offense, Nathan, but this is Podunk.”
Nathan looked at her very sleek and very expensive designer suit. It clashed with the carpet and walls of the hotel. This was a nice hotel by most people’s standards, but it wasn’t exactly billionaire level quality.
“I’ll tell Hal to get the car,” Nathan said. He punched the code into his phone and messaged Hal. Then, he put his jacket on as he left the room, heading across the hallway. He would meet Hal in the lobby.
The soft clink of silverware and soft breakfast chatter drifted in from the restaurant attached to the lobby. Nathan thought about picking up a cup of coffee, but the coffee at the Elements would be better. He could wait. Lucy followed him down and they headed out to the car.
Hal had the sleek SUV ready in the entrance. Nathan held the door open for Lucy to slide in across the leather seats. He followed her into the warm cabin of the car and Hal pulled the car away from the curb.
Lucy pulled out her tablet, put on her glasses, and began going over his schedule for the day. Nathan could feel his enthusiasm for the day fading away. There were so many meetings. There was no way for him to escape off to the R&D area and tinker with a computer again.
“You okay?” Lucy asked, peeking at him from over her stylish frames.
“I’m fine,” he lied. He felt irritable and grumpy. The past few days, he’d felt free. With Lucy here, he could feel his job trapping him again. He didn’t want to go to meetings. He had an idea on how to upgrade the laptop in the R&D department
Lucy frowned. She tapped on her tablet and her frown deepened.
“What?” Nathan asked her.
Lucy paused. “I thought telling you your money might cheer you up.” She twisted her mouth. “But you’re not going to like it today.”
“How bad is it?”
“Just a little,” she said. “And it’s just due to some stocks. Market fluctuation. It’ll be fine.”
“Which stocks?”
Lucy’s mouth thinned. “Paradigm’s. News of RentTech’s issues got out,” she explained. “Investors are wary, especially with the holidays and the recent of acquisitions of two more similar companies.”
“How much?”
Lucy wavered, checking the balance on the pad again. “Thirty mil.”
Outwardly, Nathan didn’t change his expression. Outwardly, he simply nodded, his face unreadable and expressionless.
Inwardly, he cringed. Could nothing go right with RentTech? It wasn't even his responsibility anymore and it still haunted him. And thirty million dollars down? He felt like he’d been slapped. Granted, he’d lost that much and more on bad stock market days, but it never felt good. It didn’t give him the thrill that seeing it up did. Losing money always put him in a bad mood.