The next email was titled Casino Big Win. We had been thinking about opening a casino in Colorado a couple of months ago. It was only in the beginning stages. We were looking for investors. A casino was a huge money maker, but it was also very hard to get one opened because of all the red tape involved. We had been working on it for months and hadn’t really gotten anywhere. Hopefully, this was good news. I clicked on the email and sighed. It was not what I was hoping for. The potential investor I had tried to get a couple weeks ago decided against it. I wasn’t comfortable fronting all the money for the project since we were talking billions of dollars. That was just too big of a risk. I’d lose everything if it went south; although if we did get that far, I doubted it would go that way.
I texted Ella.
Me: Good morning, you should be up for work by now. I hope you have a good day.
Ella: Yup. Unfortunately. Won’t be a good day since I don’t get to see you. =(
She already missed me, and I had only been gone for two hours. She was too cute.
Me: Hopefully this meeting goes well, and I can be back tomorrow. Cross your fingers. You’re my good luck charm. =)
Ella: Fingers crossed on both hands. Do your thing.
Ella was supportive, and I loved that. She didn’t know about all the aspects of my businesses but most of them. Some she didn’t need to know about just yet. It would only complicate things between us and could possibly hurt me in the process. I planned to keep my mouth shut for now.
The plane finally touched down, and I was able to get straight off the plane and take a car to the office. Hopefully he wasn’t there just yet.
Me: Made it to the office. Text ya later.
As I opened my office door, after being greeted by my secretary, I saw Mr. Klietz sitting across from my desk.
“Good morning! How was the drive?”
“Fine enough. I got here a little earlier than expected.”
“I can see that. I’m sorry for my tardiness. Shall we begin?”
The meeting took forever, and he wanted to talk about the casino. If Mr. Klietz invested enough, we would finally be complete with the investors we needed. We could move forward with the project.
“So, have you made a decision on the casino project? We are only looking for one more investor. No pressure, of course,” I said with metaphorical sweat dripping off my forehead.
He wrinkled his nose, raised an eyebrow, and replied, “My answer is yes. You’ve done miraculously with all the other projects, and I trust you will do just as great with this one. Where’s the paperwork for me to sign?”
A weight lifted off my shoulders as I pulled the contracts from my top drawer and handed it to him.
“I’ll have my lawyer look these over and courier them over to you this afternoon. How’s the hotel chain going?”
“It’s going good. It’s not what I’m used to, but we have a big corporate visit coming up to see how the staff is holding up their end. Its profits are great, especially with it just opening a couple of months ago. Customers seem pleased.”
“That’s what I like to hear, boy,” he said, tapping me on the shoulder and leaving my office.
It wasn’t even five minutes later, and Shawn was rushing in.
“How’d it go? Did he sign?”
He was bursting at the seams to get an answer. I wanted to make him wait for it. “Well, we talked about it a lot. He said we’ve been doing good with our other projects and asked specifically about the hotel chain. I told him it was going well, and we have a visit scheduled after a while to check in with the employees and managers.”
“No, I mean with the casino. Did he sign?” he asked again eagerly.
I dropped the smile off my face, tried to look let down, paused, and then said, “We will have his signature by the end of the day.”
“God, you scared me. Why you gotta play me like that? My heart nearly stopped,” he said, grabbing his chest and breathing heavily.
I laughed and pulled two cigars out of a pinewood box. “Time to celebrate this win.” I handed one to Shawn. “This is going to put us over the top. Our lives will never be the same once this is approved. Are you ready?”
“So ready.”
We laughed, smiled, and smoked our cigars. When I first started this company, my expectations were never this big. When Shawn graduated and I brought him on board, things got better faster. Within two years, we were making more money than we knew what to do with and kept investing it back into things. So far, so good.