Rejected By The Club, I Pulled My Funding

Chapter 4

"Stop him. Don't let the guy in the black suit through."

The security guard at the administration building stretched out his arms.

"You can't go in, son."

"Why not?"

"There's an important meeting today. I was told to keep unauthorized people out."

I looked up at the second floor.

Tyler and Madison were standing by the conference-room window.

Tyler cracked sunflower seeds between his teeth and spat the shells onto my shoulder.

"Look at the loser trying to force his way inside."

He spat another shell onto the steps in front of me.

Madison leaned over the windowsill.

"Thanks for your hard work, sir! That's the person I told you about. Just keep him away from the building."

The guard raised his arm again.

"You heard her. Go back."

I stared up at the pair without moving, then brushed the shells off my shoulder.

I took a badge from my inside pocket and clipped it to my jacket.

It read: Lucas Mercer, Senior Investment Associate, Mercer Capital.

The guard leaned closer to read it, then gave me a suspicious look.

"I'm the investor representative for today's final review."

"But I was told..."

"Call the administration office and verify it."

The guard hesitated and reached for the desk phone.

I didn't wait for him to dial. I walked up the steps.

Madison was still smiling smugly from the second-floor window.

Outside the conference room, Nolan was bowing deeply toward the hall.

"We're honored to welcome the representative from Mercer Capital..."

Before he could finish, I pushed open the double doors and walked in.

His smile froze when he saw me.

My badge was in clear view, and I carried the official Mercer Capital scoring folder with its internal reference number printed on the cover.

A nameplate in the first row read Mercer Capital Representative.

I ignored Nolan and the stunned Madison. Then I walked past Tyler at the front of the room, pulled out the representative's chair, and sat down.

I opened the scoring folder and uncapped my pen.

Tyler's face drained of color. The red dot from the laser pointer shook wildly across the screen.

Madison shot to her feet, mouth open but unable to form a word.

Nolan looked between me and the university administrators, sweat pouring down his face.

I leaned back and fixed my eyes on Tyler.

"Go ahead. I should warn you that my review standards are extremely strict."