Authors: Michael Malflic
She thought to herself that she now knew how to really get his attention, pasted an edible spread sheet on her inner thighs with the total next to a critical spot. So as the sales tax liability task force blithered on about California’s rogue state tax laws the IM’s continued.
Vincent “Talking about tax law”
Nadrea
“
Oooh
, I’m aroused!”
Nadrea
saw this as the perfect opportunity for a little more blatant cyber
Sex.
Vincent however declined stating that he had to pay attention to this part.
Vincent “Go pack your bag for bible camp”
Nadrea
“Can I pack my toys?”
she
asked one last attempt at distracting him.
Vincent “Yes, but chances are you’ll be playing with yourself”
Nadrea
shot back “Like now!”
Vincent did not respond.
Nadrea
then added “Maybe I can find a nice preachers daughter to play with.”
Vincent “Bye” and he was logged off and gone.
Late Sunday afternoon
Nadrea’s
cell phone rings. At the time she was late for drinks with friends. Most people’s idea of brunch on a Sunday is somewhere between ten and two thirty at the latest.
Nadrea
how ever believed in
Linner
a combination of lunch and dinner that consisted mostly of drinks and a little food somewhere in the time frame of 3:30 to 6:00. She was supposed to have been there between four and four fifteen, the time was in fact 4:46. She felt that this was more or less on time for the type of event so as she sat in the back of a cab in her heels and jeans, the cell phone was ringing away with the obscure ring tone she had selected for Vincent.
Nadrea
liked ring
tones,
she compartmentalized the people in her life with them. If you were a work related caller in her address book your ring tone was “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica. Various categories of friends from drinking buddies, whose tone consequently was the soon to be classic Black Eyed Peas “Get it started” to a simple ring
ring
sound for the acquaintances and of course her choice for lovers featured “Get Off” by Prince. Daddy’s numbers including his secretary and support staff all were set to “New York New York” and Mommy’s was set to Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” although she vacillated and struggled with the thought that perhaps the song would be better suited as a sub category for her male gay friends. Donna and a few others each had their own ring tone. Vincent had recently been added to this category with The Killers “Mr. Bright Eyes”, she sang the “it was only a kiss it was only a kiss” to her Armenian cab driver who wisely ignored her before answering. Greeting Vincent with a
bitchy “
Are you done?”
“No Nod, not yet.”
Exhaling heavily reminiscent of a frustrated twelve year old
who
was bound and determined to control her own little universe but was failing at it.
“Any time soon?”
Vincent was all business “
No ,I
decided to take the train up today.” He paused through the silence he could almost feel the disappointment
Nadrea
had. He continued on “I jumped on the 3:25 pm regional, the last
Acela
was at 2:00pm. We’re working the whole way up and will finish in the office after we get in.”
“So when are you coming back?” hoping since he had left early that he might be back early as well,
Nadrea
hadn’t planned on seeing him but if he was in town there was still hope.
“That’s why I called” No sooner than the words left his lips
Nadrea
hoped would be back on Wednesday instead of late Friday. Instead Vincent offered “I thought you could come up and spend the weekend in the City
” not
at all what she was hoping for at first. She asked “What day?”
“Friday for sure but I’m also open Thursday after work if you want to.”
Nadrea
paused “Ok, I’ll be there Thursday, have you booked your return train?”
“Not yet why?” Vincent asked.
“Just wondering” was her response, she was in fact wondering but she was contemplating whether or not to see her parents while in the city. So now
Nadrea
was going to the city for a few nights, she planned to take a 6:00am up Thursday morning and work from her firm’s NY office for two days. The cab pulled up and
Nadrea
wondered in her usually late self for drinks, no one was surprised by her arrival time.
Vincent in his nearly infamous style had for the week taken up residence at the “W” Time Square. Sure it was more of a midtown location, not at all convenient to the financial district that has more
that
adequate accommodations. Then again he could take the two or the three from the 50
th
street station down the red line to be where he needed. He liked the Midtown bustle, the shopping and tourists mixing in with an odd batch of locals and aspiring theater types. So as the rest of the team went out in the East Village and Chelsea, he spent the early part of his evening at a Bally’s on 55
th
and then dinner back across on 54
th
at Iguana. New York, Manhattan in particular had a
calming
effect on Vincent. Typically his idle mind wondered, in its boredom searching for distraction. The City was the ultimate distraction, the crowds, the cars, not that DC is small but comparatively it was boring, it had become comfortable and routine. New York unlike many places allowed Vincent to go with the ebb and the flow of his surroundings rather than frantically searching for some type of stimulation, Vincent went from erratic searching and his normal frantic mindset to his temper in check while finding something new to do at every turn.
The hotel choice was made for one reason, not because it was new and chic, not because the lobby was more of a bar than a lobby, resembling something out of a rap or pop music video. Granted the lobby and its crowd was a plus, littered with beautiful people, none of which looked like they had to work for a living, or ever in their lives. So while the rest of his entourage basked in the pretentious open spaces of larger hotels, he chose his not for the décor which is magnificent but for the entrance from the street. Door men who looked like they should be at a night club opening a path that was the real reason he chose the “W”, the water rushing overhead through colored lights and down the walls as he walked in off the street and waited for the elevator. Soon Vincent would be back in that lobby with a room full of model types
and millionaires not unlike him
self sipping mineral water and diet
soda. He didn’t have to work anymore either, but he hated golf so something had to fill his days.
Nadrea
boarded the
Acela
at Union Station that would put her at Penn Station a few minutes before nine, so a quick subway ride and a cab weather permitting should have put her in her firm’s New York office by 9:15. As she sat in her business class seat the train rumbled
it’s
way along to the Mecca of the American business world. Her
look a demure office look
consisting of slightly longer than knee length skirt, matching jacket. The only thing
showing that was quasi stylish were
her shoes. Then again what couldn’t be seen was her was he G string that boasted in burgundy silk screened letters “Use Any Entrance”
Nadrea
was a practical woman when it came to not burdening herself with mundane tasks, the only thing she had in tow was a brief case with a lap top, two documents to review while on the train and a small assortment of makeup and a small book sized reading light. The remainder of what she might need in New York had been over
nighted
two days earlier to her parent’s house, where the staff at her direction had unpacked her garment bags, pressed and re-hung a collection of dresses, both formal and casual, club wear and workout clothes for her Central Park runs. They left, as instructed, her two other “necessities” bags unopened, no one even dared to peek for a check of the contents. Most of the homes staff had been around for years and had a fairly good idea of the type of tyrant
Nadrea
was
, she was very much her mother’s daughter. If there was any inclination to her lifestyle choices they never spoke of them, it was for all they knew fairly normal for a privileged life to have peculiar needs.
The train arrived an excruciating three minutes
late,
at least it was three minutes late according to
Nadrea’s
watch. This was the type of simple thing that would send her into an absolute tirade about the inefficiencies of the American train system compared to the always runs like clockwork transportation systems of European nations.
Nadrea
continued her discourse rambling nearly incoherently out loud as she walked through Penn Station, on the subway and the station until she finally arrived above ground stepping out for the first time in recent history into the streets of
the City she grew up in. It was a nice day so she opted to walk rather than take the five block cab ride.
Nadrea
stormed into the office with all the grace and dignity of a conquering barbarian devastating another culture for fun and profit. She was instantly back in her New York bitch mode before the door to her office was even opened. This was a temperament that made her DC persona look like a Mother Teresa. Her Greeting to the receptionist was “Where am I?”
“Guest office D on 33.”
She responded in an all business manner before adding “Nice to have you here.”
“Thanks. It’s a nice change of scenery.”
Nadrea
stated in a tone that had a borderline civility to it and lacking
its
usually sarcasm drenched alliteration. The receptionist was stunned
Nadrea
had never been so polite before, polite of course being a relative term.
Vincent sat at a financial institution in Lower Manhattan weaving the same tale over and over again, impassioned explanations of the company’s history. A rousing rendition backed with detailed impeccable research on the market opportunity. He extolled the virtues of the board and the executive team. By that point in the week the deal was all but done it was as they say in golf a “
gimmie
.” That didn’t matter because Vincent was playing for
keeps,
any advantage negotiated, offered or won was well worth having.
His solid blue Hickey Freeman suit and custom tailored
Canali
shirt combined with the all business tone set the mood in a place where the home team always sets the tone. It was like an MBA vocabulary course and as the terms flew fast and furious the end of the meetings grew near. The credit terms were not for ongoing operations, a typical line of credit and debt financing, no it was not that well intentioned. Vincent was securing a war chest. He now had the backing of a larger and more powerful foreign army marching into battle with him and his soul crushing, company consuming,
competition decimating
funding level. Some people were made for certain
things,
it defined who they are and how they live. There are selfless parents, inspirational clergy, selfless miracle working doctors, but in addition to all the good there is also bad. The natural born killers, the tyrants, and thieves, somewhere in the middle were guys like Vincent. Deals made him
come
alive,
it was what made his heart race. Money was a motivator, but it had become the score card and too much was never enough because there was something else; winning. To the victor goes the spoils but there is also always a wake of destruction and defeat for both friend and foe along the way. It was what happened to those who walk in the wake of the mighty.
So while Vincent pitched and schmoozed
Nadrea
screamed abusively into the speaker phone in her guest office, she was not born to be at all maternal or caring, she was not soft or gentle and those were not attributes in others that she found alluring. In a moment of silence as she poured through emails New York New York’s muffled melody escaped from her brief case.
“Daddy” she answered.
“One second
Nadrea
, I’ll put you through” a pleasant female voice added and the phone rang
once .