KENT
I had a rough start in life, but I think it turned out all right. Growing up, I never saw my dad. He left my mom after she popped out the last of three kids, deciding to take up with a flight attendant and move to Switzerland.
He sent a few post cards, some money sometimes on my birthday. Not all the time, not every birthday so that I could count on it, Dad’s money came on random years when he remembered. I hated Mom’s new boyfriend and spent as much time out of the house as possible after they got married.
It was really a coach in high school that kept me sane. He invited me over to have dinner with his family, and I got to see how a regular family operated. His wife and his children were so compassionate I felt like I fit right in. When Coach said to do something, I did it. He encouraged me to practice every day, sometimes three or four hours a day. I got good.
In my senior year of high school, I was offered a scholarship to the university and never looked back. Once I realized I could pay my own way, I was liberated. I played four years on the college team, taking championship after championship. In the NFL draft, I was seventh overall, signing with the Michigan team. I played three seasons for them before I was traded to Florida. Three seasons later, I was traded again, but that was the last time.
In the third quarter of a playoff game, I was injured and had to be carried off the field. It took two surgeries before I could use the knee again, and the doctors told me I was lucky to be able to walk. That was the end of my professional football career.
Luckily, I was frugal with my money, so I had a couple million stashed away. It was enough to live on for a while until I figured out where to go next. I knew I wasn’t ready to hang up the towel just yet. I didn’t want to put all the money into government bonds and spend my days playing shuffleboard. I wanted action, and if I couldn’t get it through contact sports, maybe I could get it intellectually.
One visit with my financial advisor changed the direction of my second act. He was going over my portfolio and explaining what each investment was. I wanted to know more about the companies he was picking. How did he choose? What factors did he look at? What made for a good investment?
He laughed and said, “You should be an investment banker.”
I accepted the challenge. Enrolling in the university again, I took a couple basic classes, then transferred to the much more lucrative and fast-paced space of executive seminars. I learned from the masters how to make the most money, what to look for in an investment, and why a long shot was better and worse than keeping your money in a mutual fund.
I met Sean and Damien through Vlad. He was one of the professors I studied under and a great businessman. He heard Damien and me talking about similar things and put us together. He gave me Damien’s contact information in one phone call, saying that he thought we should discuss taking our vision to the next level.
Sean was Damien’s friend, and he came on a bit later. I liked both of them. Not only were my partners real go-getters, but they were in a similar place in life. I was the only one with an athletic background, but both Sean and Damien were switching gears after other ventures. Damien came from Russia, so he was leaving behind an entire country. Sean had a wild streak that he hadn’t exactly put down. A couple run-ins with the law and a few tattoos proved that Sean knew how to get into trouble. He kept that close to the vest, though. Some investors were looking for someone with a wild streak. They weren’t averse to a little hard drinking so long as their portfolios made money. Some people were looking for a straight-edged business partner, and you never could tell until you met with a perspective client.
We were wizards at juggling people. If someone came into the office who was clearly sleeping with his secretary, who wanted to buy a yacht and get a little rowdy on the weekends, we handed him to Sean. If someone was health conscious and wanted to invest for the long term, maybe set up a trust fund for their kids, that was my job. If someone was risk-averse and needed a lot of hand holding, that went to Damien. We all had our strengths.
There was something about getting up every morning and coming into the office that was weirdly satisfying. All through my football career, I was accustomed to late nights, hard practices, and serious downtime. I never imagined myself a 9-5 guy. But after a few months, I got into the rhythm.
It was a lot like pro sports in that you had to show up and put in your all, but when the lights went out and the crowd went home, you were free to do whatever you wanted. I checked the market obsessively for a long time until it was getting in the way of my lifestyle. I made a pact with myself that I would only stalk the NASDAQ while I was at work. That opened up all my off time for working out and dating.
Thursday morning started out exactly as it did every week. I got into the office early, said hello to Damien and Sean who were already there, and settled into my routine. I had a couple clients on the schedule, and I had a meeting with a new hedge fund manager. The investment game was all about contacts, and I had been hearing a lot about this particular guy. I wanted to cement a connection, if possible, whatever would be mutually beneficial.
Late in the morning, I was standing at the reception desk, talking to our receptionist about one of our clients. I needed her to send the call directly to me. The man was off on a yacht, cruising through the Mediterranean, and I wanted to make sure the call went through. The receptionist was polite as always and didn’t give me any of that don’t tell me how to do my job crap.
“What should I do about Mr. Nightingale?” she asked. “He’s called twice today already.”
“Where is Sean?” I countered.
“He took a personal day,” she said.
The elevator opened, and Damien stepped out, leading a beautiful young woman with chestnut hair. I thought I recognized her from somewhere, and it took me a moment to realize that it was the same woman I’d seen at Vlad’s party. She changed her hair, dyed it back to a natural color, but it was her.
She looked even more attractive than I remembered. At the time, I thought I had a chance, but watching her with Damien made me rethink my evaluation. She looked so comfortable with him, as if they had known each other for ages. Laughing at something he said in the elevator, she barely paused to smile at me.
I couldn’t shake my annoyance over the slight. I wasn’t exactly using our firm as a dating service, but I did think that she would be a little bit more friendly considering I’d basically handed her a job. It took me a long moment to put two and two together and realize that she was Damien’s ex.
It all made sense. She’d asked whether I knew Damien at the party. When I told her he was my business partner, she seemed intrigued more than anything else. I almost considered not passing on my business card but thought better of it. She was cute, and we needed some female influence in our office. The investment banking world was almost ninety percent men. It wasn’t the worst thing to invite an attractive woman into our midst.
I should have known. Nothing was ever that easy. I couldn’t ease my way into her love life by encouraging her to apply for an internship. The world didn’t work that way. She probably thought my interest was purely professional. It was a pity. I wouldn’t mind getting to know her a little bit better.
It seemed that Damien had that market cornered. I didn’t miss the hand on the small of her back or the easy body language between them. All I had done was fix Damien up with the one who got away. It was an act of charity I wish I hadn’t performed. Damien was my friend, but I had myself and my needs to think about. Despite the polite smile on my lips, jealousy burned within my chest.
“This is Meara Jackson,” Damien introduced, finally removing his hand from her waist.
“We’ve met,” I said stiffly.
“Thank you for letting me know about the position,” Meara said. I could think of more than one position I wanted to see her in, and none of them were in a cubicle in the shared office. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
“I talked you up,” Damien said conspiratorially. “And I told them that we used to date.”