Chapter 21 #3
“Come, sit down.” They were in Will’s corner office at Sterling Fund Managers, near Wall Street.
Twenty years ago, they’d both started there.
Jack had left after four years to start his own firm, and Will had stayed and worked his way up to VP.
They’d been friends for all that time, although occasionally it had veered into a not-always-friendly competition.
But Jack genuinely liked Will, had time for him, which was why he’d agreed, less than a week before Christmas, to head into the city to meet him for lunch.
Also because Will said he had something to talk to him about, and Jack was curious.
Jenna had been super busy with Miller’s Mercantile and her mom, and while he was very glad for her on both counts, it had left him, in the last few days, feeling like he was at more of a loose end than usual, and that was saying something.
Six months of cultivating hobbies had been good for his physical health, if not always his mental health.
The truth was, Jack wanted to feel busy again.
To have something in his life that wasn’t just a hobby or helping someone else.
If he didn’t develop something, Jack had mused morosely, he’d be old before his time, the highlights of his day making model airplanes and doing the crossword, maybe an episode of Jeopardy to round out the evening.
Truth be told, he was more than halfway there already.
He was only forty-two years old. He needed more in his life. He needed a purpose.
“So, I have a proposition for you,” Will stated without preamble once they were seated in leather armchairs in front of a picture window that overlooked the Freedom Tower.
“Hit me,” Jack replied easily. Already he felt like he was getting into his groove, and it felt good; he was wearing an expensively tailored suit, he’d had an espresso that morning, and the energy in the city had been like an IV straight into his veins, giving him a sense of purpose and focus.
“This is totally confidential,” Will told him with a serious look as he steepled his fingers in front of him.
“Of course,” Jack replied as he sat back into his chair. “That goes without saying.”
“Good.” Will paused, and Jack stayed both relaxed and alert, his hands resting on his thighs. What was his old friend about to say?
“You know I’ve been at Sterling for over twenty years,” Will began.
“Yes…”
He cocked his head. “I think it’s finally time for a change.”
Jack experienced a pulse of adrenaline-fueled excitement as Will gave him a significant look over his steepled fingers. “Fair enough,” he replied easily, keeping his tone casual. “What did you have in mind?”
Will leaned forward, dropping his voice, although no one was in the huge corner office but the two of them. “Starting over, doing it my way.” He paused. “ Our way.”
Again Jack felt that pulse, but he merely raised his eyebrows in inquiry.
“You’ve done it once already,” Will continued.
“I need your expertise, your energy , Jack. And this won’t be just another boom-or-bust startup.
I’m talking about something intentional , considered, focusing on ventures that are sustainable and innovative.
Cutting edge as well as responsible.” He leaned forward even more, his eyes alight.
“I don’t want to just be the new guy swaggering around the block.
I want to be the face of the future. Between the two of us, I think we can do it.
You were the first person I thought of, Jack, when I started considering this.
I don’t want to leap with anyone else but you.
” Will sat back, dropping his hands to his lap, his eyebrows raised. “Well?” he asked. “Initial thoughts?”
Still Jack did not reply. His mind was reeling, but in a good way.
He’d been waiting for something like this, he realized.
Waiting and hoping. No matter what he’d told himself—or others—there had been no way he was going to stay in Starr’s Fall for the rest of his life, pottering about and helping local businesses here and there.
The realization slammed into him, making him realize just how much he’d been fooling himself, thinking he could be happy working on a bunch of other people’s projects, staying in Starr’s Fall without any purpose of his own.
He was forty-two . He still had at least twenty years of career-defining work left in him. He was ready for this.
“I know you’ve been taking a break,” Will said into the silence, “for your health. But I hope you’re ready to get back into the saddle.”
“I am,” Jack replied carefully. The last thing he wanted to do right now was bang on about his health woes, but neither did he want to sign his death warrant.
“I like what you were saying about being sustainable,” he finally said.
“I’m not a twenty-two-year-old who can pull all-nighters three nights a week anymore, and I doubt you are, either. ”
“Absolutely not,” Will replied firmly. “It’s all about work-life balance, right?” His eyes glinted with humor. “Within reason, of course.”
Jack had a feeling that Will’s definition of “within reason” might be different from his.
Will had never left New York; whereas six months in Starr’s Fall had changed Jack, whether he’d wanted it to or not.
And, like he’d told Jenna, he had wanted it to, but he also wanted a little bit of the old him back.
The guy who had straddled the world, who had done deals in his sleep, who had felt important and purposeful.
Was there a way to have both of those things, to be both?
Surely there had to be.
“So can I get the ball rolling?” Will asked. “Talk to some investors, draw up some contracts? You know when I leave here, it will be cutting the cord. I need to know you’re with me.”
Jack hesitated. Could he really make this kind of decision on a whim? He knew how the investment world worked; if Will was thinking about going, rumors would already be starting to swirl, and he needed to jump before he was pushed. They would have to move fast.
He should talk to Jenna, he knew, and yet what would she say?
What would he ? He’d have to move back to New York, at least on a temporary or part-time basis.
The work, no matter what kind of balance Will suggested, would be all consuming, especially at the start.
There was a reason, a very good one, that Jack hadn’t had any serious romantic relationships in twenty years. There simply hadn’t been the time.
And would there be time now?
“What does your wife think about this?” Jack asked suddenly, and Will sat back, surprised.
“My wife ?” he repeated, somewhat incredulously. It wasn’t a question, Jack suspected, that he got very often.
“It’ll affect her, is all I mean.”
Will shrugged dismissively. “As long as the money’s flowing in, I think she’ll be okay.”
Jack nodded slowly. It was the kind of response he’d expected… and yet it wasn’t at all relevant to him and Jenna.
Him and Jenna . Just the thought of her—of them —caused his heart to give a little lurch.
He’d told her they should see where this goes.
He’d said there were variables. Would it be really such a surprise if he told her he was moving back to New York, at least on a part-time basis?
That he needed to work, to be himself again?
And he couldn’t see how that could happen if he stayed retired in Starr’s Fall…
Surely she could understand that.
And if she didn’t…?
They could still make it work somehow, right? On a part-time basis, long-distance for half of the week…
“Jack?” Will prompted, his smile only slightly tinged with good-natured exasperation. “I know this might feel kind of quick, but you know how these things work. Things have to move fast. Are you in, or at least interested?”
Jack felt his hands tighten into fists in his lap, and he deliberately smoothed them out again. Took a deep breath and smiled as a sense of purpose that he’d been missing for so long flooded through his body. “Yes,” he told Will. “I’m interested.” He paused and then added defiantly, “I’m in.”