Chapter 15 Elio
Isat numb-minded in the conference room as the Swedes discussed amongst themselves, my translator not helping me out at all with what they were saying.
My friends and I all sat on our side, and the potential buyers sat on theirs.
This time it was different. There was no big party, no pomp and circumstance.
These were billionaires in their middle ages. They didn’t want lavish parties.
And yet, as critical as this sale was, I could not help but feel extremely numb, almost as if my head was wrapped in hydrophobic wool and I was pulled underwater.
It was my father.
He’d been there, standing in the airport, waiting for me. He’d demanded to know where I was going. I told him it was none of his business.
“You’re going to fail,” he’d said. It had been embarrassing enough to meet with him like this, but it was more embarrassing to meet him with my eleven friends standing right there next to me.
“And when you fail, you come back to me. This is your last chance. You break up with that foolish girl, you hang your ambitions at the door, and you come home.”
“What makes you think he’s going to fail?” James Harrow had asked. “He’s the best salesman I’ve ever met.”
“You’re children playing at a table meant for adults. You think those Miami clients fell out of the sky. I sent them. The game was rigged, you idiots. I wanted to see how he’d take success, and clearly it has gone to his head. He thinks he’s not accountable to me.”
“You’re lying,” Bernard Mercetti had said, but there had been panic in his voice.
The deal had been too good to be true. How could I not have seen that?
And now he’d set me up to fail.
We’d already purchased those yachts with our money. If the Swedes didn’t buy those yachts, we’d lose millions of dollars and all traction.
“This is just another game he’s playing,” James whispered in my ear. “Ignore him.”
“I am his destiny. His father. He cannot ignore me even if he tried. And when he fails, he will have nowhere to turn but me.”
“Respectfully, sir, he’s still got us,” Bernard said.
“Yeah. We rejects stick with each other,” Ethan had said. “We’re not losing him to you.”
“That remains outside of your control. If he’s not able to make this sale, I shall demand him back. And if you refuse, all of you, then I will show you why they call me the most fearsome don New York has seen in decades.”
“And what if he makes the sale? Does that get him off your back?” Nathan had asked. “Does that mean you’ll finally leave him alone?”
“If, against all odds, he’s able to make this sale, then sure. Why not? But there’s such a little chance of that happening that I will safely make that bargain,” he said, grinning evilly as we walked past him.
He’d gotten into my head. That had been the only thing I could think of on the plane. And when we finally got into the conference room with the Swedes, I fumbled hard.
I bet that was exactly what my father was counting on. That’s why he’d appeared at the airport.
And now, here I sat, listening to them talk in Swedish, not knowing what they were saying.
“Fellas,” James declared, standing up. “I understand that you all might be having second thoughts. I would too. This is big money we’re talking about, and it’s your lives that depend on it. I mean, you are going to be sailing these things across the ocean.”
They all became quiet and listened to him, their translators whispering in their ears.
“But here’s the thing,” James said, nodding at me.
“My business partner here has told you all there is to know about these ships. They’re the best. You know this, I know this, but you’re still not convinced.
I guess that only leaves one thing on the table.
We’re going to do a live demonstration tomorrow, take you aboard the yachts. How does that sound?”
The room was silent except for the translators’ whisper. What was James doing? We hadn’t planned this at all. These were dry old businessmen who could not care less about parties on the yachts.
But it surprised me when they all nodded, and the chief guy’s translator said, “We accept your invitation, but our minds are largely made. We think that it would be better for our business if we were to shop around.”
“I completely understand, and I’m not one to force your hand,” I said, realizing that this sale was not lost yet.
“But there’s a reason why we’re still having this conversation.
We’re not the first people you’ve met. I have it on good authority that you’ve been shopping all over Europe and in the Middle East, but you have yet to find something that satisfies you.
I understand that. More importantly, I respect that.
You want nothing but the best, and what if, tomorrow, I show you that what we have is the best? ”
“In that case,” the chief guy, the head honcho, Nils Wilmer, spoke in English. “We will convene tomorrow.”
It boggled me as to why they’d done the whole song and dance of bringing translators if they already knew how to speak English.
But that was hardly a concern at this moment. They had agreed to another day, and the sale wasn’t entirely lost just yet.
We shook hands with the businessman, passed each other professional smiles, and waited till they left the conference room with their translators.
“First of all, you’re fucking fired,” I said to my translator, who was looking at me dumbfoundedly. “I told you to translate everything, and you were mute for most of that meeting!”
“Errr… I didn’t want to be rude. They were cursing you out a lot. All of you. Most of what they were saying was, ‘These American idiots don’t know what we want, so why are we wasting our time with them?’” The translator said.
“That would have been critical information half an hour ago!” I shouted at the translator.
“Take a walk,” James said to the translator.
He was a young guy, barely in his twenties, and was not the best speaker.
He was blunt, absent-minded, and for most of the meeting, he was on his phone.
It was as if he was using ChatGPT to translate what the Swedish people were saying.
“And collect your check before you leave. You’re still fired. ”
“Man, I don’t need this,” he said, throwing his hands up.
It occurred to me that perhaps the reason he was unhelpful was that he might have been working for my father.
Anything to even the odds. He’d do anything.
Or I was getting paranoid. I needed air.
I needed a lot of it. I needed to think.
Why the fuck was Seattle so cold, and why was it raining here all the time?
A lot of my previous sales had failed because of Seattle’s weather being so unpredictable.
That’s why I’d moved my sales pitches from Seattle to Los Angeles or San Francisco.
But this sale had to happen in Seattle because the Swedish businessmen had other business here as well.
I was locked out of other cities for the moment, and it was going to rain all of tonight and tomorrow.
“That could have gone worse,” Ethan said.
“No, it couldn’t have. This was as bad as it gets,” I said desperately.
“Look at their faces. They’re not impressed.
If they don’t buy our stock, do you fucking understand what happens?
This year’s models become last year’s models and their price goes down.
We will sell them at a staggering loss next year, all the while paying out of pocket for their maintenance and costs until we’ve sold them.
They’re not like cars standing in a lot, Ethan, for fuck’s sake. ”
Nathan put a firm hand on my shoulder, saying, “Calm down, Elio. It’s only August. There’s still more months in the year. We’ll sell these ships if that’s the last thing we do.”
Feeling supremely distressed, I took an Uber alone to the hotel where I was staying.
The other guys, they didn’t have as much to lose as I did.
They had gone out to enjoy Seattle’s nightlife after giving me pep talks and the customary ‘there, there, you gave it your all,’ and now I was all alone.
I stepped in through the hotel doors and walked through the lobby.
Surprisingly empty, the lobby and the adjoining bar were.
There sat a woman in a sleek dress at the bar, nursing a drink.
I knew that back. I knew that woman, and unless I was dreaming, she was supposed to be at my apartment back in New York, not here.
“Maria?” I whispered, stepping up to the bar.
“Oh, hey there, stranger,” she said, looking at me with a travel-tired smile on her face. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, half my anxiety and worries already dissolving away. “And how is it possible? That’s a five-hour flight.”
“Six. I got on Delta. They’re slower,” she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek as I sat down beside her. “And…”
“It’s got to do with my father,” I said. “I know.”
“How?”
“Because he’s been doing that all his life. Getting into my head.”
“Well, he’s confident you’re not going to make the sale, and you’ve got that worried look on your face,” she said, my worry reflected in her worry. “So tell me that you made the sale.”
“The ball’s in the air,” I said, not knowing what I was saying. “I’ve asked them to give us one more day. They’re not all that convinced. It’s raining outside. I don’t know how I’m going to show them the yachts tomorrow.”
She placed a calming hand on my chest as she leaned closer. I took in her scent. Lilacs. She smelled of lilacs. I could breathe easier, my heart starting to beat slower.
“You’re Elio Romano. You’ll find a way, because I swear to God, I’m not about to lose you, not when I’ve only just found you,” she said.
“You came for me all this way,” I said, hugging her. “No one’s ever done that for me.”
“If the sale doesn’t happen tomorrow, and your father’s decree, as written in stone, comes to pass, I’ll go with you all the way.
We’ll leave the country, live like shepherds in rural England or Sicily, and no one’s going to recognize us.
We’ll learn the accents. We’ll use our savings to make it.
And then we’ll open a small café that’s also a bookstore and a stationery shop somewhere.
Your father may have pull, but he’s not God. We’ll outrun him.”
“I love you,” I said, squeezing her hand, and then sitting with her in silence as both of us drank our whiskeys.
Her being here gave me strength that I didn’t even know I could muster. She was my ride or die. While my friends were out there partying, she was with me in the heavy silence that lay in my hotel room in the anticipation of what tomorrow would bring.
It rained heavily outside; the glass panes rendered completely opaque by the torrent of water splashing against it. We pulled all the curtains away so that we could see the view of all of Seattle below.
We closed all the lights.
It thundered outside, lightning streaks illuminating the sky, dark clouds filled with rainwater hanging low, their outlines glowing with each lightning strike. The wind and the thunder roared outside, rattling the window frames.
I could see the harbor on the other side, where the yachts were moored, along with hundreds of other ships.
I could see the traffic making its way through the streets, unbothered by the rain.
Seattle was the reading capital of America, even in this day and age.
There was something about rainfall and cool weather that made people get all cozy in a corner with a mug of something hot, a wool blanket, and their favorite paperback.
I had something better waiting for me in bed.
She lay in her black bra and panties, her hair flowing over her shoulders, a sight for sore eyes, tempting me, beckoning me with her finger.
She was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and in this moment, when all the world was pitched against me, she was by my side. It was me and her against the world.
I lay with her, kissing her as I rested her head on the pillow and reached into her panties, touching her softly.
How I loved to touch her there. She was tender, soft, wet, and plump all at the same time.
My fingers slid inside. She stifled a moan and bit my ear gently.
I wrapped an arm around her waist as I pulled her closer, fingering her, touching her clit, running my hand along her thigh to give her a breather, then touching her pussy once more.
She was on top of me very quickly, her panties on the floor, her bra still on.
I was out of my clothes and lying in the cool sheets of this hotel bed with its soft yet somehow firm mattress that felt like a cloud, the good kind of clouds, the one you enjoyed on a sunny day, and not at all like the clouds outside right now.
She stroked my cock, although it was already hard from seeing her slender naked form lit by the storm light. A pale vision with full yet perky breasts, a thing of beauty, a joy forever.
She lowered herself on my cock, and took it all in, doing all the work, straddling me slowly first, then arching her back and riding me with a rhythm that made me lose control.
She moaned as loud as she could, something we hadn’t done before.
Who was going to hear us? It was an ungodly storm thundering outside.
No one would hear us even if they were in the next room.
I turned her over until she was on all fours, and then slowly entered her from behind, treating myself to the sight of her arched naked back and her full hips. I placed my hands on her ass and stroked faster, making her moan louder.
When I came, I came with thunder and lightning, my cum shooting along her back. Her thighs quivered after I pulled out. She was still orgasming, lying on her back, her hips shaking, her moans growing smaller.
She pulled me down by my shoulder and made me lie next to her, kissing me furiously.
After that, I forgot what I was worried about in the first place.
Some stupid sales?
My father?
Why did I have to worry about any of that when I had the woman I loved next to me?
She was tired. I was tired. We fell asleep in each other’s arms, oblivious to the storm and to the worries of tomorrow. If the worst came to pass, we’d get in one of those yachts and sail off into the sunset.
When I awoke to a panic attack in the middle of the night, my heart palpitating, she was there by my side, running her hand through my hair, lying on my chest, making me go back to sleep.
What had I done to deserve her?