“Leo, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Of course there’s more to you than football.”
“It’s me I need to prove it to. Make something from nothing—not nothing.” My eyes widened and the ball slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor.
“I know what you mean.” Sam snatched the ball up and placed it in my palm. He looked out of his office door at the empty space that had once been the hub of the business. “Truth be told, I was going to close up shop. The little jobs here and there are only enough to keep me afloat. The house isn’t the same without Felix there and this business…” He waved his hand in front of the doorway. “Without him it doesn’t have the same magic it once had. If you want to take it over you can, but I have one condition.”
“Anything.”
“You can’t do things the way he did them. Change the name. Break the mold, and never feel like you have to do this for him or me or anyone else. Do this because you want to do it. Do you accept?” He held out his hand.
“That’s doable. I’ll keep you on as partner if you like.”
He scoffed. “A silent, silent partner. It’s time I went out and did a little living of my own. I’ve got a new life to figure out now, too.”
“A silent partner.”
“Are you going to do this all on your own? Where’s Zara?”
“She’s leaving for Australia in three weeks.” I tossed the ball in the air.
“And you want to start a business instead of following her? What the hell are you thinking? After everything you two—”
“I want to build something she’ll want to come back to. Start something she’d be proud of.”
“You’re planning on doing this all on your own?”
I looked at him over my shoulder. “I might ask for a little help.”
“Are you guys sure you want to do this?” I looked at them across the drafting desk that had taken over the main office area. “All I needed was some help getting set up.”
“Some help.” Hunter moved his fingers in air quotes. “How the hell was this thing limping along at all?”
Jameson looked up from the laptop. “Hunter’s being a little harsh, but, fucking hell, these books are a mess.”
The balloon was being pricked from all sides, the air leaking out. Maybe this had been a mistake. Maybe Zara would be cool with an unemployed and unemployable boyfriend.
August squeezed my shoulder. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.”
I squeezed the mini football stress ball. “It’s not your mess to figure out. It’s mine.”
“What if we wanted it to be our mess too?” August dragged his chair beside me. “We’re all here for whatever you need. Tell us and we’ll get it done.”
My eyebrows dipped and I looked at all of them. Everest stood in the corner, scanning the older invitations pinned to the wall as a showcase. “What about him? Are you in Everest?”
He didn’t look over at everyone else. He stood there with his hands in the coat he still hadn’t taken off, like he wanted to run away at a moment’s notice. “I have nothing better to do. Why not get a front row seat to watch this shit show burn?”
Jameson snatched the ball out of my hand and lobbed it at Everest, hitting him in the side of the head. “Do you have to be an asshole twenty-four seven, or do you take vacations from time to time? Are you going to help or not?”
“No need to be so dramatic, Jameson. Not everyone has team player stitched into their DNA, but I’ll help. It looks like you’re all going to need it. What’s the cash flow on this place?”
Everyone looked to Jameson from behind the laptop.
He winced and drummed his fingers across the desk. “Well…there are a few different ways we could handle this.”
“Direct would be best.” I swung the laptop around and looked down at the bottom line highlighted in red. “Is that months?” White-knuckling it while riding in the business owner seat wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.
He sucked in a short breath between his teeth. “Weeks.”
“Shit.”
“You need cash flow yesterday.” Everest peered over my shoulder. “There are three types of clients you’re looking for. Corporate. They’re a huge pain in the ass, but they don’t require too much handholding and their budgets can handle upsells. Then you have your entertainment focused clients. This is clubs, sporting events, musicians.” He grimaced. “Finally, you have one of the most lucrative clients, where the sky isn’t even the limit, if you’ve got the right person at the helm.”
August and I exchanged a look. He’d gone chalk pale.
I turned to Everest. “Weddings.”
He raised a finger high over his head. “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.”
Hunter jumped in, keeping himself out of the scramble. “I can handle clubs and musicians. Those are already in my wheelhouse. I can see what’s coming up and work my magic.” He rubbed his hands together.
My experience wasn’t huge, but I had a relationship with one of the biggest clients in the world. “Corporate, I’ve got locked down.”
Jameson raised his hand. “I can do sports.”
I nudged the laptop back toward him. “We need you on the back end handling this financial shit show. You cool with that?”
He shrugged and pulled the computer back in front of him. “Sure, whatever you need me to do.”
Hunter rocked back in his chair, lifting the front two legs off the floor. “That leaves sports and weddings.”
Jameson’s nearly silent typing was the only sound other than the rumble of the heater kicking on.
“Between those two, I’ll take sports.” Everest flicked his lighter open and closed against his leg.
August shot out of his chair. It teetered on two legs before landing back down. “I’m sure as hell not doing weddings.”
Jameson looked up from the screen. “You are the only one with any experience.”
Everest sliced his hands in front of him. “I’m not doing weddings.”
“As soon as things are up and running, we’ll swap. Everyone will take turns learning each thing, but we need someone to be the expert out of the gate.”
“I’m not doing weddings.” August crossed his arms over his chest.
Hunter set his chair down on all four legs. “You did say whatever he needed. And what he needs now is a wedding planner.”
August looked around the room with a mild panic in his eyes that transformed into dead set retribution. “Who knew all my friends were such fucking assholes?”
Jameson slowly raised his hand over his head, scanning the room.
I clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll order extra fortune cookies for you.”
Our meeting raced into the night and I sprung for the Chinese food. We figured out the partnership agreement on the back of a napkin, even came up with a new name and logo.
“Business cards will be delivered in two days.” Hunter shoveled beef and broccoli into his mouth.
Rummaging around in a grease-soaked bag, Jameson pulled out an egg roll like he’d discovered long lost treasure. “It’s a bit early for spending on things like that. We need to focus on revenue-generating expenses only.”