Chapter 28 – Anna
TWENTY-EIGHT
ANNA
What did she get the man who had everything? And nothing.
The Week Before Christmas
I was standing behind E.G.’s desk while he was pointing at various graphs on one of his monitors. “See that spike, Flowers? What does that tell you?”
“That there is interest in the technology, but that’s it.”
“Exactly right. Spikes over a rolling seven day forecast show interest, not necessarily sustained growth, but it’s a signal to do more research.”
“Got it.”
“I want you to find out everything you can about this company and prepare a report for me.”
“Got it,” I said, as I made a note in my phone.
“So, it’s this Saturday?” he asked, his face still turned to the monitors on his desk.
I knew what he meant. On Saturday, I was taking my driver’s test, both written and driving. If all went well, I’d have an official driver’s license by this weekend.
“Yep.”
“You prepared?”
“I am,” I said, as I came around from behind his desk.
“Maybe we should discuss next steps then.”
“What next steps?” I asked, truly not understanding what he meant.
He wanted me to get a license. I was going to have a license. What else was there?
When he’d initially taken me down to the DMV for my permit, he thought I had to wait six months, but that was only for people under eighteen. The reality was, once I had the permit, and felt prepared to pass my tests, I could take them at any time.
Tanner had been a great driving teacher.
Nothing but the best for E.G.
Now I was ready.
“Are you going to be, in a word, weird about this, Flowers?”
“I might be if I had any clue what we were talking about, E.G.”
“The Volvo.”
“What about it?”
“I’m turning the title over to you. You’ll need to get it registered, but then you’ll have one of the safest cars on the road.”
I laughed.
“What?”
“E.G., you can’t give me a car. And don’t start with benefits of the job. I’m pretty sure you weren’t handing out cars to employees previously.”
“There were company cars,” he said, defensively.
“Then register it as a company car, but I’m not just taking it. Are you insane?”
He huffed. “Is it really that big of a deal?”
“Yes! It’s that big of a deal. You can’t give me a car.”
“Why not? Oprah gives them out like jellybeans, why can’t I?”
“Because you’re not Oprah,” I pointed out.
“You would take one from her? I have her number you know; I could arrange that.”
I scowled at him.
He scowled back. “Flowers, you get how much money I have, right?”
I took a seat in his guest chair. “Actually, now that you mention it, I don’t think I really do. I mean billionaire seems like a word that just keeps getting tossed around these days. Like you can’t swing a skunk by the tail without hitting one.”
“I have absolutely no idea what that means.”
“Explain it to me. Like, how many houses do you have?”
“Only three.”
“Only three,” I muttered.
“One on a private island, the Houston home, and a pied-a-terre in Paris. The rest I sold after Allison died. I bought my parents a home, obviously.”
“Obviously,” I repeated.
“And Rebecca too, over a lot of silly fuss. Like you’re giving me over the Volvo. The point of having money is to do good with it.”
“Do you?” I asked him. “Do you do good with it too? I mean, you’re not going to be one of those assholes who goes to space when there is all this stuff to do on earth?”
“I have a charitable foundation dedicated to putting my money in the right hands. And then, I have this.”
“This?”
“This company. The investments I’m making in these startups, it’s all my money.”
“Yes, but you expect to get paid back. You’re not giving it away.”
“Not if I’m smart, no. But in the year or so I’ve been doing this, I’ve pretty much just broken even. I have hopes that will change as these businesses have a chance to grow, but the harsh reality is that a lot of them will fail.”
I knew that. He’d told me that from the very start. Not to get too sad if things didn’t work out for a potential client. That it was the nature of capital investment firms.
I shrugged. “For a billionaire, you’re not that exciting.”
He chuckled at that. “Sorry to disappoint you. It was never about the money for me. Don’t get me wrong. Money is…fun. It’s representative of what I’ve accomplished. It’s safety and security for everyone I care about. But it’s not a cure-all. I couldn’t buy back Allison’s life.”
No. He couldn’t.
“Look, Flowers. Obviously, you must know I have a…thing when it comes to driving. Very predictable after the car accident, I’m afraid. It would help if I knew you were in that Volvo. It would alleviate some of my anxiety about you driving.”
My jaw dropped. “You were the one who made me learn how in the first place!”
His jaw flexed. “Yes. It’s an important life skill. I stand by that. Just take the car. It’s used, for God’s sake.”
He wouldn’t drop it. He was too stubborn. Alleviating his anxiety was something I could do for him. And I suppose I still wanted to do things for him.
Which, given the way he behaved at Thanksgiving, probably called into question my sanity.
“On one condition,” I said.
“Name it.”
“I get to buy you a Christmas present in return. We’ll call the Volvo my present, but I want to reciprocate. Obviously, it won’t be on the scale of a car, but I want to be able to do this without it being…”
“Weird?”
“I was going to say awkward. Deal?”
He pursed his lips but then nodded. “Deal. What are you going to get me?”
I shook my head. “You are the worst.”
“What?”
“You don’t ask someone that. You wait until Christmas. Then you open the present and act surprised and happy. Or I’ve been told.”
“I’m not a very good actor,” he warned me. “If I don’t like it, I’m not going to pretend.”
I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes. “Then I guess I’ll have to get you something you like.”
The Next Day
“You do understand that anything I want, I just buy myself,” he announced.
I glanced up at E.G. I was giving him a breakdown of the first quarter profit projections on four of his new investments, when he went off on his tangent.
“Are we back to you being a billionaire?” I asked him.
He was sitting behind his desk, ignoring his computer monitors, which was very much not like him, and looking at me with some sort of odd expression.
“I’m only pointing it out because there really isn’t anything I want that I don’t already have. Which means anything you give me…I don’t really want.”
“Hmm. That is a challenge.”
“Seriously, Flowers. What did you get me?”
“Wow, you are really bad at this, aren’t you?”
He stood, obviously agitated. “I’m just worried you’ll be disappointed. You’re hoping for this Christmas moment that’s just not going to happen. I’m also worried you might do something incredibly stupid like get me a puppy, which you think will thaw my cold, dark heart.”
“Would it?”
He scowled at me. “No. Did you get me a puppy?”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do anything so ridiculous as to give a puppy to someone who didn’t want one. Puppies are a lot of work and a huge commitment, so I’m told. My neighbor has one. Trust me, I know the drill.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Now a parrot…”
“Flowers,” he growled. “What did you get me?”
“E.G.,” I growled back. “Not going to tell you.”
He paused for a beat, then looked out the window away from me.
“My parents want you to come to Florida for Christmas.”
I blinked at another sudden change in topic. “What?”
“Florida,” he repeated, turning back to me. “Naples, to be precise. My parents think you should come with me on Thursday when I head down there to see them.”
I laughed. Then I really laughed. I laughed so hard I snorted, which only made me laugh harder.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” he grumbled.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, catching my breath. “Let me see if I can find the video replay of Thanksgiving.”
“I apologized for that,” he said defensively.
“You did. And it’s forgotten. But if you think I’m signing up for part two, when I wouldn’t even be able to escape-”
“Fine,” he snapped. “Then when are you giving me this gift?”
“Well, our last day in the office is Wednesday. How about then?”
“I won’t like it,” he reminded me.
“Okay.”
“I’ll disappoint you and ruin your day, if not Christmas entirely.”
“Seems a little extreme, but I’m willing to take the risk.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And here, all this time, I thought I was charming.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and he harumphed predictably as we got back to work.
It occurred to me then, I might have a bit of a problem though.
Because I had absolutely no idea what I was getting E.G. for Christmas.