Page 54 of The Orc of Wall Street

Tarek

RICH PRICKS.

I don’t miss the irony as the words come to mind. But if Sloane was right about anything, it’s how absolutely insufferable rich people can be.

For the past few days, I’ve had to do my best to wine and dine whoever I can to make up for what I lost. Which means taking some of the richest and most arrogant bastards in town out to eat and play golf.

At least they actually did end up agreeing to sell me some much-needed supplies at a discount. That along with calling in a few favors and the product launch is back on track. Maybe not as grand as we wanted, but we should be able to make it up once sales start. But at least I’ll have something to show for the investor’s meeting tomorrow.

Collapsing into my seat at my desk, I look at the mounds of paperwork that have gathered there in my absence.

“It never ends, does it?” I grumble aloud. In my soul, I can practically feel the hours of sleep I won’t be getting for the next few weeks.

Groaning, I begin to sort through the mountain. As I arrange everything from urgent to can-wait-until-next-week, I find familiar-looking reports. They’re not as neat as the others and even have a coffee stain. It’s Sloane’s.

I put it aside and try to move on, except I can’t stop looking at it. Unwillingly, memories I’ve tried to suppress of our fight come trickling in.

The moment she walked out the door, I wanted to take it all back. Sure, I was pissed about what happened. I’m still a little pissed. But watching her face as we fought, watching the moment she decided to walk away…

I run a hand through my hair and quickly put that report in particular into the deal-with-it-later pile. With the investor’s meeting tomorrow, my focus needs to be on getting ready.

I succeed for all of five minutes at getting work done before my head is once again filled with thoughts of Sloane. Every harsh word I said, every unnecessary dig. Sure her plan didn’t work, but it wasn’t like she meant for it to go wrong.

What bothers me most is just how hard I was on her. She’s done so much to help out my company and put herself on the line when she didn’t have to. We both agreed to the same plan, and then I pinned all the blame on her when it failed.

I acted out of anger and she didn’t deserve that. Not the woman I claimed to care so much for. Not the person I’ve felt like I can connect with better than anyone else I’ve ever known. No, I shouldn’t have spoken that way to her.

But now it might be too late to repair the damage I’ve done. She won’t even come near me. Not that I blame her.

There’s a knock on my door and for one wild moment, I hope it’s her. “Come in.”

Instead, Valentina comes in. I slump a little.

“Did you still want to go over the plan for tomorrow?” she asks.

I gesture to a seat. “Right, of course. Please take a seat.”

She does so and then opens up her itinerary binder. “Tomorrow morning, we set up displays and get ten minutes to do sound checks and make sure everything electrical works. Then we have four others presenting before us before it’s our turn. These are some of our biggest investors and there’s a few new ones so everything needs to be on point.”

“I made sure to secure a few more deals today, we’ll still be able to move forward with the original product,” I reassure her.

“Good.” Then she digs through her binder again. “I almost forgot. Add this to your pile to look over.”

She hands me a folder and I open it up. It’s more reports. Reports done by Sloane. I quickly shut the folder and put it to the side. “Thank you. I’ll look through that later.”

When I meet my VP’s eyes again, she’s studying me with an unreadable expression. Being under her scrutiny makes me squirm a little. “What?”

Her mouth presses into a thin line. “I’m not blind, you know. I know what’s been going on between you and Sloane.”

I suck in a sharp breath. Just to what extent does she know about me and Sloane?

“I’m not sure what you mean,” I lie, feigning confusion.

But from the narrowing of her eyes, I can see she’s having none of it. “I mean, you two are obviously romantically involved. Neither of you is very subtle with the way you two look at each other or how she’s always in your office. And of course when you personally took her to the gala.”

I sputter a little, feeling a bit embarrassed. It hadn’t occurred to me that people would be paying that close attention to Sloane and I. Especially since we’re both professionals. Clearly not.

“So is this a lecture about her and I being together? Because you don’t have to worry, we’re not anymore,” I tell her, a bit of bitterness over the whole thing seeping into my tone.

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