The application was basic. I finished it within a few minutes. When she came out, I hopped up and handed it to her. She took the paper, typed something into her computer, then looked up at me. “So far, everything looks good. You’ve got the internship unless your background check comes back and we find something we don’t like. But I suspect that won’t happen.”
“Internship?” I asked.
“We’ll just call it a trial period.”
“What does that mean?” I was furious. I thought I had a job, not half of one.
“It just means that I’ll get a tax credit for taking you on and paying you.”
“Oh,” I said. relieved. “Is that it?”
“Yeah, it’s simple stuff. Stare at the screen all day, play every game imaginable. I don’t care, but keep an eye on the kids when the parents are in their appointments. They run everywhere, and they draw on every surface imaginable.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“It’s a zoo, but I love it. Keeps me on my toes.”
“I am definitely going to like it here,” I said.
“I think it’ll be fun.”
There wasn’t much to go over. Most of my time would be spent filing papers and filling out a spreadsheet with her scheduling information. The place mostly ran itself. I wasn’t sure if this was progress or a waste of my time, but I was glad to have a real job.
Chapter 27
Jake
That morning, two men in slick suits waited for me in the lobby. They both stood up and walked into my office when I opened the door. Mr. Hansen sat down in the left chair. He was a small man with slicked-back hair and thick, black-rimmed glasses. The other man was Mr. Patrick. He was tall and wire-thin. I’d been seeing them both so long that there was no need for pleasantries.
“Tell me something wonderful, boys,” I said.
Hansen set his briefcase on the table and opened it. “These are your personal balance sheets.” He slid the paper over to me, and I nodded.
“This a summary of your stock portfolio.” Patrick reached into Hansen’s briefcase and handed me a packet.
“You’re making a significant amount of profit from your shares in the company, as well as your individually held businesses,” Hansen said.
“We can decrease your tax burden by sending funds offshore.” Patrick reached into his briefcase and handed me a paper and a pen. “If you’ll just sign here.”
“I’m not sending my money overseas. I’m paying taxes.”
“Sir.” Hansen straightened his tie. “I’d highly advise against it.”
“I concur,” Patrick said.
“Neither of you are here to tell me what to do with my money. You’re here to brief me. Thank you for the information. That’ll be all.”
I showed them out.
Money had become nothing more than a random number that kept fluctuating. I could never understand the advisers. The second they saw a minus sign on one of their papers, they started losing their minds. Loss was a sin to these people. They were acting as if my financial decisions had a bearing on my well-being. But I never had to worry about whether or not I’d have a place to stay or if I could keep the lights on.
I would always have the things I needed to survive. Unlike Mercedes. Her life was fragile. She could lose the house or find herself facing a medical bill she couldn’t pay. There were so many things that could destroy her life and the lives of her mother and father. I needed to protect Mercedes from all of that.
It didn’t matter what she said. She had no idea what she was turning down. It could take millions to pay for intensive cancer treatment. And if it spread, the disease could eat away at every part of the body: the liver, the heart, the brain. Mercedes’s father needed a team of physicians to meet his specific demands.
He couldn’t stay in public hospitals. They wouldn’t give him what he needed. The doctors would take a quick look at his chart, mutter something, and walk away. It sickened me to know that her father was in the hands of those butchers.
Halfway through the day, I had six cups of coffee in my system. My hands shook, and I was trying to go over financial reports, but all I could do was look down at the phone sitting on my desk. I had three summaries to write, and I was starting to go over the numbers for the Kyoto chains.