I took a couple of bites of my burger, called my secretary to let her know that I was going to be taking an extended lunch, and drove to Chateau Prime. I thought I was going to have a quiet romantic lunch date with Hannah at Cafe Russe, but it seemed that the smoke-filled Chateau Prime was a better option after the date ended abruptly—along with the budding relationship that wasn’t going as well as I thought. Chateau Prime was a place for gentlemanly debauchery—expensive cigars, liquor that was one step above top shelf, and waitresses that filled out their uniforms quite nicely. The only thing that separated the place from a strip club was the fact that they didn’t have anyone dancing on a pole—although some of the waitresses had no problem going home with you for the right price. I wasn’t that desperate—yet.
“Whiskey and make it a double.” I sat down at the bar and motioned to the bartender.
“Anything in particular?” He walked over and picked up a glass. “We just got a bottle of Laphroaig Lore—it’s a single malt blend of three whiskeys, or if you want something with a little more spice, we have Bushmills Black Bush Whiskey.”
“I’ll go with the Laphroaig Lore.” I nodded and pointed at the bottle before he could reach for it.
I have a bottle of that at home I’ve been meaning to open—I might as well have a taste to make sure it’s as good as they say.
“Right away, sir.” He poured a glass—kept going until I gave him a nod—and put it down in front of me.
My date with Hannah had gone about as well as the rest of them. I probably started dating too soon after my divorce. It had been six months since we signed the paperwork, nine since Mary told me that she wanted one, and at least two years since I had been in a bed with someone that wanted me there. I loved Mary, but we got married when we were way too young, and we became different people over the years. We wouldn’t have made it ten years if it wasn’t for the kids—there were always problems—but at least we tried to make it work.
I would have kept trying too if she hadn’t called it quits.
The marriage went up in flames, and I almost lost my company too when Mary’s lawyer started tearing apart the life we made to make sure she got her fair share. My best friend, Bryant Benson, bought the company so that I wouldn’t lose it entirely—and he let me stay on as CEO. One of the reasons I asked Hannah to meet me for lunch was because I didn’t get to ask her to go to Bryant’s engagement party with me before our date was cut short by an issue at work—I was also kind of hoping that she would be my date to his wedding.
“Mr. Alcott, would you like another drink?” The bartender walked up when he noticed that my glass was getting low.
“Nah, I still have to go back to the office after this.” I held up my hand. “Thank you, though.”
I finished my drink, waited until the whiskey wore off some, and then drove back to the office. I had an afternoon meeting with the hiring team to go over some plans for the fourth quarter, so I stopped in the bathroom to make sure I didn’t smell like a distillery. I was drinking too much—but I didn’t have much else to do when I wasn’t working.
Mary moved to the city—she got custody of the girls in the divorce—and I only got to see them every other weekend. Both of them were in high school—my oldest was going to be starting college in less than a year—and neither of them particularly enjoyed giving up a whole weekend to spend time with their dad. As the school year started winding down, the girls asked if they could put a hold on their trips to Carson Cove until the summer. I reluctantly agreed but did ask for one more weekend so that I wouldn’t have to go so long without seeing them.
I’m sure I won’t see either of them very much in a few years.
“Alright, show me what you’ve got.” I faked a bit of energy as I walked into the conference room.
“We’ve narrowed it down to five…” Charles, the guy in charge of the hiring team, started laying files out in front of me as I sat down.
“Five?” I raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were planning to hire eight.”
“Ten would be better…” Joanna, our HR manager, shrugged. “Unfortunately, the options are pretty limited.”
“We should have hired some people during the last round,” I sighed and started looking through the applicants.
We just didn’t know what was going to happen to the company then, so we put a freeze on hiring. That was going to come back to bite us.
Bryant’s purchase of Alcott Inc. went about as well as it could. Unfortunately, he got caught up in a scandal right after the deal was made, and that impacted some of our distribution channels. We recovered, and business started to boom after things settle down, but we missed a lot of good applicants—and one that was fairly impressive if her resume wasn’t bullshit. The meeting with the hiring team didn’t take long. We needed eight—ten would be better, according to Joanna—so I decided to interview the five they recommended. I could have left that to someone else, but I didn’t like to hire anyone unless I could look them in the eyes.
“Hey, Jon! Welcome back!” My way-too-bubbly administrative assistant, Gina, smiled as I approached my office. “Mr. Benson is waiting in your office.”
“Bryant’s here?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Has he been waiting long?”
“No sir, only a few minutes.” She shook her head back and forth.
“Good.” I nodded.
He might be my best friend, but until I’m able to buy the company back from him—he’s technically my boss.
“Bryant, shouldn’t you be at home preparing for your party?” I walked into my office and closed the door.
“I can’t check up on my investment from time to time?” He looked up at me and smiled.
“Things are good.” I sat down behind my desk. “I can run you through some sales figures if you want.”
“I’m just fucking with you, man. This is your company.” He waved me off and leaned forward—then his smile faded. “This is actua