Chapter 24 Matt
Matt
I’m hobnobbing at Penny’s Family’s Christmas party, and I have one thing to say.
Hanging with rich people is… interesting.
I used to think money made people bad. But I’m learning that it just makes you more of who you already are.
If you’re a douche, it’s likely that having millions of dollars will contribute to you being an even bigger douche.
But if you’re kind and generous? Well then, having some serious financial flow could be a beautiful thing.
Money is a magnifier.
Take Stella, for example, the lovely older lady I’m chatting with.
If the enormous rock on Stella’s left ring finger didn’t alert me to the fact that she’s loaded, then the Amex black card I saw in her wallet when she showed me her granddaughter’s kindergarten photo would have.
But here’s the thing. Stella is a sweetheart and does incredible things with her money.
She’s on the board of like three different charities.
She runs this massive coat and warm clothing drive for people in need.
She even sponsors five families each year and buys their entire Christmas wish lists for their children.
She wasn’t bragging or looking for kudos. I had to pull this information out of her. Side note: if I’m good at anything, it’s getting people to talk.
I had an excellent chat with this Connecticut dude-bro named Brad, too.
He’s wearing a blazer and boat shoes without socks.
In winter. His dyed blond hair is shellacked into a questionable wave on his forehead.
Younger me would have instantly dismissed this guy as someone I didn’t want to connect with.
But I’m so glad I struck up a conversation with him.
Brad has a yacht rental company. Sure, he does plenty of business with equally wealthy people.
However, he also donates his boats for “Evenings on the Sound,” an initiative for nonprofits that need luxurious locations to hold fundraiser parties but otherwise couldn’t afford the rental fees.
He also offers free navigation lessons to teens and young adults looking for boating employment.
This guy thinks outside the box, does good in his community, and get this…
he has a hell of a lot of fun while doing it.
For a long time, I thought you could only make money if you were killing yourself for it.
Literally.
Like my dad.
But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.
Maybe I can steer my business to financial success and still have some good, honest fun along the way.
“Thanks for the chat, Brad.” I shake his hand. “This has been inspiring.”
I excuse myself to a corner of the party and peek out the front window. Penny and her sister are hugging and clearly still deep in conversation.
I pull out my phone and dial.
“Have you kissed her yet?” Eugene answers on the first ring.
“I told you. We already kissed. Big time.”
As soon as those words come out of my mouth, I want to take them back. I love Eugene, but I sort of wish I’d kept the details of my “incident” with Penny private. The more I get to know her, the more sacred my time with her feels. Like the details are just for her and me, and no one else.
“Yeah, but I mean tonight. What’s going on tonight?”
“Dude,” I say, all giddy-like. “She bought me a tree!”
“A tree? Who buys someone a tree?”
“A Christmas tree,” I explain. “I think we’re gonna decorate it later.”
“Okay, that makes more sense. Cool. Have you met the parents yet? People liking the ham?”
I crane my neck to see the food table, where people are unsurprisingly devouring my ham. “Ham’s a hit,” I say. “Haven’t met the parents yet.” I scan the packed room again, trying to gauge who her parents might be. “But hey, I didn’t call to talk about Penny or the party.”
“Okay. What did you call to talk about?”
“I’ve spent so much time subconsciously resisting money over the years, thinking that if I always stayed on the verge of financial ruin, that it somehow made me virtuous, or at the very least, it kept me from being an asshole,” I blurt out in one breath.
“Hey there, Self-Reflection Man.” Eugene jokes. “Look at you!”
“To be fair, I didn’t come to that conclusion completely on my own.”
“Didn’t think so.” He snorts.
“Whatever. Yes, my therapist’s brought it up a time or ten, but it never truly sank in until recently.
” I peek out the window again. Two little kids have joined Penny and her sister.
Penny’s beaming at them and listening to some story they’re excitedly telling her.
“I mean, look, I’ve had this magical day with Penny, right?
A magical week, if I’m being honest. And I was just thinking, I almost missed out on her entirely.
I was so quick to write her off as rich and snobby, neither of which turned out to be true. ”
“I believe you had a friend who tried to tell you that, too,” Gene says.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, knowing he’s right. I catch Stella’s eye across the room and give her a wave. “And there are all these people tonight with their Rolex watches and their designer bags and shoes. I used to avoid those people like the plague. But I’m diving into conversations with them now…”
“And?”
“Some of them are dreamboats. Some of them are dicks. Turns out their wealth has no bearing on whether they’re kind.”
“Dreamboats and Dicks,” Gene muses. “Perhaps the name of your next business?”
“Ha! What would Dreamboats and Dicks possibly sell?
“Sleep aids and sporting goods?” he suggests.
“Damn, you’re good at business,” I say.
Eugene laughs.
“I’m serious, man. You really are.” I pause for a breath. “And I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For all the times I’ve held you back.”
He laughs again. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re always looking at ways we can bring in more revenue for the gym, and I’m always shooting the ideas down.” I sigh. “I’ve been keeping us small because of my own shit. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t really know what to say to—”
“Nothing you need to say, just know that I’m turning over a new branch.”
“Leaf,” he corrects.
“Right.” I spot Penny finally coming in the front door. “Hey, I gotta go, but I’m circling around a Bossfit business idea that I think could be really special. Can we set aside some time tomorrow to hammer it out?”
“Yeah, sure, man. I’m suuuuper excited to hear your suuuuper special idea.”
“Alright, ya jerk. Have a good night.”
I’m just about to hang up when Gene says, “Hey Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“This whole Penny thing? I’m happy for you. For real.”
This whole Penny thing is by no means a done deal.
Or anything official at all.
But I want it to be.
So I simply say, “Thank you.”
“Don’t fuck it up, kay?” he jokes.
“I will do my very best.”
Penny spots me in the corner and rushes over to me as soon as I hang up. “Sorry that took so long. You okay?” She casts a worried look around the crowded room.
“Yeah, I’m great. Had a lot of nice conversations so far.”
I stroke her hair.
She leans into my touch.
“How bout you?” I ask. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She nods. “I am. Banks and I are good.” Then she half smiles, half cringes and lowers her voice. “She wants me to be in the room with her when she has this baby.”
“Whoa. Is that something you want to do?”
“I think so, yeah.” She sounds surprised at herself.
“I’ve always wanted to be closer to her and the kids.
I think I’ve been letting all my parental bullshit stand in the way of that.
But… no more. Anyway, she’ll be induced at the end of the month, which is perfect since it’s my winter break from Herald’s, so I’m going to spend a few days with her. ”
“Sounds awesome,” I say. “Happy for you.”
Who knew this party would be such an eye-opener for both of us?
“Speaking of parental bullshit,” I say. “I haven’t seen them yet, but—”
“I don’t want to talk about them right now,” she says in that breathy voice I love so much.
Penny wraps her arms around my neck.
I circle mine around her waist.
She’s so close now, all it would take is leaning down an inch, and I could finally kiss her again.
“What, um, what do you want to talk about?” I rumble.
“MISSLE HO!” a small child’s voice screams beside us.
“Whoa! Hey!” I startle. “You must be one of Penny’s niblings, huh?”
A little girl with curly red hair and a shiny green Christmas dress looks up at me. “Yes. My name is Maya, and you’re standing under the Missile Ho.”
She points at the little sprig of mistletoe, which is in fact hanging right above us.
“If you stand under the Missile Ho, you gotta kiss.” She puts her little hands on her hips. “That’s the rule.”
I chuckle and look at Penny, not sure where she wants to go with this.
Keeping her arms around my neck, she shrugs. “Well, we can’t defy the Missile Ho, can we?”
I smile and place a hand on her cheek. “The rules are the rules.”
With that, we close that inch of space between us, and finally… we kiss.