Chapter 3
1156 Words
Asher Levine twirled a pen in his hand and flipped through the documents in front of him. His brow furrowed, “There seems to be a mistake, Mr. Chu.”
“I believe not,” The middle age Chinese man sitting across from him, straightened his shoulders and undid the button of his black suit jacket.
“This clause here… it states that Roman Corps will be left out of the process for a minimum of six months,” Asher set the paper down, “That was not our agreement.”
“We are working together as business partners. This project is owned by us. We have full rights.” Mr. Chu replied to him, trying to get the upperhand. “We call the shots.”
Asher leaned back and smiled. His smile was so cold and lacked any of the warmth that came with one, “I’m afraid that's not going to work.”
“What?” He swallowed, sweat starting to gather on his brows. He shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable.
“I will not invest in your company if this is how you decide to do business. I’m quite certain no one will if word gets out that Roman Corps pulled out of this investment.” The smile disappeared, revealing the ruthless CEO.
The temperature in the meeting room of the hotel seemed to drop a couple degrees after Asher's statement. Mr. Chu felt a chill travel down his spine as Asher pinned him with a stare.
He took his eyes off of him to hand the pen back to his secretary behind him. She grabbed his suitcase.
“Mr. Levine—”
“You claim to be business partners. We discussed the terms. I don't intend to change everything you've worked hard to build. Far from that. I want to be involved in the process.”
“Mr. Levine,” Mr. Chu began, wiping the sweat on his brows with a damp handkerchief, “I’ll draft up another contract tomorrow. After all, two heads are better than one.”
“My secretary will do that.” Asher stood to his feet and buttoned his suit jacket, “We’ll meet here tomorrow.”
Mr. Chu stood to his feet, his mouth a thin line. “Ah, yes. Very well.” He held out his hand.
Asher stared at it. “Save that for tomorrow after we've signed our contracts. Goodbye.”
He turned and left the man, standing where he was. His secretary — Nadine— turned and followed after him, her red heels clicking against the tile loudly.
They closed the door behind them.
“Make sure the contract’s the same as the old one, make the clauses much more stronger. I do not want any loopholes. I’ll put Mr. Chu in his place,” Asher stated as they walked.
Nadine took notes on her note pad and nodded. “Understood.” she replied, they took a turn and found themselves in the lobby of the hotel.
Asher walked towards the elevator.
“Dinner, sir?” She inquired.
“You can have dinner on your own, Nadine. I would like to go on a drive.” He told her.
She nodded and passed the keys to him. “Drive safe.”
“See you in the morning,” he told her as he walked out of the elevator and into the penthouse that he had checked into earlier today.
He shrugged out of his suit and walked into the bathroom, taking a cold shower. He change into a navy blue polo and brown trousers, pairing it off with a baseball cap and sneakers.
Asher shut the penthouse door behind him and took the elevator to the underground parking lot. He got to the Range Rover he had rented and sped out of the building.
A deep sigh escaped his lips as the grip on the steering wheel loosened. He was feeling so down, the void growing in his chest seemed to be growing with each moment.
Something was wrong with him, he knew it. But he didn't know what, and it was beginning to affect the way he thinks and relates.
He kept driving around, taking the highway. His mind cleared and drifted, not sure where he was heading. More than an hour and some minutes later, he parked by the side of a street and checked the map.
It turns out that he was in Cottonwood Falls.
He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. “Driving back now means I'll be at the hotel close to midnight.”
He couldn't risk it. Not at all.
Asher decide to look for where to stay. He began to drive around, looking at the establishments in this quiet town.
He saw a club, a few cars parked around and people milling about. He shook his head, thinking against it. He had a deal to finalize in the morning. He needed a clear head. And it would be worse if someone recognized him in that place.
He drove past the club and then he spotted a town bar. It looked calm, not drawing too much attention.
Asher decided that he would have a glass of something strong. He stopped the car and walked into the bar. There weren't quite a lot of people here but something about the place made him feel at ease.
He walked over to the counter and took a seat, two stools away from the old man in the old dungaree. The bartender came to him.
“What would you like?” He asked, wiping the inside of a glass with a white handkerchief. The man had thick arms, big enough that Asher thought that if he fought a bear, he would win.
“Your best,” Asher stated, slapping a hundred dollar bill on the table.
The man’s eyes fleeted down to the cash and then at Asher, he palmed the note and slid it into his pocket. “You really shouldn’t be throwing money around.”
But he turned and prepared his drink. “s**t gets crazy when people know you have a lot to offer.” The man continued. He poured some drinks into a canister and shook it.
Placing a glass cup with ice in front of Asher, he poured his mixture into the glass. “You could get f*cked up really fast.”
“Well…” Asher said as he lifted the glass to his lips, “I think my life's just a little bit f*cked already.”
It took him a couple more drinks and he was laughing at the bartender's joke and the antics of the old man next to him. He was feeling comfortable, content.
Well, until she walked in.
“If it isn’t our very own Wrenlee Grace!” the old man beamed, turning on his stool to look at the literal goddess that just walked through that door.
- Writer
