Chapter 5 #2
“And then?”
Freddie shrugged. “And then nothing. I haven’t talked to her since.”
George winced, while Will let out a loaded sigh behind them.
“Be careful,” he murmured, his attention still on his phone.
“Of what?” Freddie asked.
“Getting back together with her. If it goes south, you can’t exactly pick up and move out of the country again.”
Freddie forced out a dry laugh. “Not going to happen.”
George turned around, frowning. “Then what are we doing here?”
“I just need something to do,” Freddie said, running a hand down his face. “Half my problem right now is that I have too much free time to think about all this shit.”
“And convince your friends to blow off work to listen to you work through it out loud,” Will murmured, sending him a wry grin before taking a sip of his beer.
“Let’s be honest. It didn’t take much convincing,” George said, lining up another shot.
Freddie let out a long breath as he shook his head. “What’s funny is I actually miss work.”
George paused. “I thought you were looking forward to some time off?”
Freddie scratched his jaw as his gaze wandered out to the far nets and the boats drifting by on the Hudson just beyond them.
That’s right, he had said that. He had meant it, too.
After spending almost a decade building Wentworth Hydroponics, and working so hard to use his technology to help people who needed it most, he had been almost relieved to sell and have some time to himself.
But now, the long stretch of idleness felt daunting, and he had no previous experience to help him through it.
“I was,” he finally replied. “But I think I suck at relaxing.”
Will scoffed. “I could have told you that.”
Freddie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Well, if you’re looking for something to do, Mark Segel over at AirSoil is still asking to talk to you,” George said.
Freddie paused. “Who?”
George frowned. “Do you read any of my emails?”
“No.”
Behind them, Will chuckled.
“Mark Segel,” George repeated. “He founded this green energy start-up last year, AirSoil. They’re one of our companies who just had their Series B funding round and look pretty solid. Mark wants to build out a sustainable farming division and was asking if you’d be up for a meeting.”
“Is this a job interview?” Will asked suspiciously.
“No,” George replied. “Just a meeting. But you never know what it could grow into.”
Freddie considered for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Let’s set something up.” Then he turned to notice Will’s dubious expression. “What?”
“Nothing,” Will said, bringing his attention to his phone again. “I just thought you weren’t interested in becoming a cog in corporate America.”
It was a line Freddie had used when he first met Will, when they were working out the details of selling his company and the possibility of Freddie staying on as CEO.
Freddie had dismissed it—he had always hated the idea of working for someone else.
Even worse if that work required him to wear a suit and go into an office every day.
But just a few months later, Freddie found himself doing just that, attending all the sales pitches and board meetings required for the sale.
It had been tedious, yes, but he could handle it.
And if this new company was investing in sustainable farming initiatives, the very thing he had once wanted to start a nonprofit to do, would it be so bad to talk?
“It’s just a meeting, Will,” he replied.
His friend didn’t look convinced.
“Okay, enough work talk.” George lined up another shot, then sent his driver slicing through the air. “Now, what about the housewarming party? Is that still on, or has it been canceled due to the current situation at home?”
Shit. The housewarming party. Freddie had almost forgotten about that. He had sent out a text inviting all his friends in the city before his run-in with Anne. Now the impending party felt more like an obligation. “It’s still on.”
“Good. I was worried I’d have to break the news to Emma that you canceled it. She would have never forgiven you,” George said, the corner of his mouth ticking up like it always did when he mentioned his girlfriend.
Will hummed behind them. “But if you need to cancel, we understand.”
Freddie’s brows creased together. “What?”
George laughed, sliding his club back in the stand. “What Will’s trying to say is please cancel the party, because Emma and Lizzy are using it as an excuse to take us to karaoke afterward.”
“No, you’re going to karaoke,” Will said, glaring at George from under his brow. “I’m going to observe.”
Freddie almost wanted to laugh. When he first met Will and George, the three of them had decidedly been bachelors.
It was a fact he had almost taken for granted, until George finally admitted to being in love with his neighbor and best friend Emma.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Will went and fell in love with a Hamptons local the following summer.
Freddie was the last man standing and, thanks to past experience, happy to stay that way.
“The party is happening.” Freddie said it like he was issuing an edict. “I’m back in New York and I want to celebrate. One ex-girlfriend isn’t going to derail that.”
He forced the words out, but they still felt sour on his tongue.
“Fine,” Will said with a disappointed sigh. He took his phone back out of his jacket and began typing, only to pause and shoot them both an expectant look. “Are you two playing golf or what?”