But with three years gone by it was definitely safe to say that my wife was out of my life for good.
And I couldn’t have been happier.
I flirted with the secretary when I arrived and she flirted back. It was almost second nature. I’m not sure if it was just the happiness I radiated or my newfound wealth, but it seemed that lately every woman I hit on was very receptive to me. Of course, the secretary probably knew why I was there. And the fact that she was turned on by money told me pretty much everything I needed to know about her.
It was kind of annoying, but I’d jump her bones anyway if she was interested.
“So, let’s talk some numbers,” I said sitting down in Jay’s office.
“What were you thinking?” Jay asked.
I laughed. “Come on. We’ve been through this. I’ve told you what I was prepared to offer and now you need to come up with a better offer than what you countered with earlier. My price isn’t changing. It’s a fair deal and you know it.”
Jay sighed. “OK. I can go five billion more and not a penny above that.”
I leaned back in the chair and thought for a moment. Then I got up and walked over to the mini bar in his office. I poured myself a bourbon without asking and stood there sipping it. He liked the good stuff. I could relate to this.
“I think we can do business with that,” I said.
Jay strode over to me and shook my hand then. “Pleasure doing business with you. I think you just bought yourself a baseball team.”
As I drove home on my motorcycle I could hardly believe what had just happened. I’d done it. Holy shit. I was the proud owner of a baseball team.
As I rode along ignoring the speed limit and the traffic laws I couldn’t believe the luck. No… that was wrong. It wasn’t luck. I’d worked hard for everything and I deserved every little bit of it. I didn’t care what anyone would say about it.
Including Leia, if she were alive. Of course, if she were alive she would have freaked out about buying something such as this. I hadn’t even bought a winning team, but it was the principle of the thing. Besides if I stayed in control long enough the team would start to win eventually. I would see to that. I already had it in my mind what kind of a staff I was going to put together to build that perfect team.
When I arrived home I poured myself a drink and went into the billiard room to shoot some pool. The twins were in pre-school for a few more hours and then I’d have the butler go and pick them up.
But then I’d have to hear them whining and screaming about one thing or another. They were really more trouble than they were worth, but sometimes they were mildly amusing. Besides the older they got the more they looked like me and that was always a joy. They were my kids.
I just hoped I could get the Leia out of them. Luckily they were so young when she died that they would never actually remember her.
I played a few games of pool and then closed the door, locking it when I heard the twins arrive. The first thing they always wanted was to spend time with me for some reason.
Well, I had things to celebrate today and I sure as hell didn’t want to celebrate it with them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Leia
“There you are.”
I kept my eyes closed a few moments longer. Taylor had spoken the words I’d been longing to hear for the past three years. And now it was finally here. The day had arrived when I would be free of surgeries and of my bandages. I was finally going to see my new self.
This had been my tenth surgery I’d had in the past three years. Each one required a few months of rehab and recovery before I could really move on to the next one. Each surgery was painful for days afterwards and I still looked the same wrapped up in bandages.
Luckily, I had plenty of money and I was able to live anonymously in a house I’d purchased about an hour outside of Orlando, Florida. This was where Patrick Stalwart, the surgeon friend of Taylor’s who was helping me rebuild myself, lived and worked. I could never possibly thank him enough. He would never understand that he’d actually given me my life back and I was forever in his debt. It had been such a long and painful road, but I knew that one day it would be all worth it. And now I was about to achieve the glory that I craved.
“Well, are you going to open your eyes or not?” Taylor teased.