Page 11 of Sawyer
“I didn’t know you were in the city this week.”He works between Whispers and New York.His girlfriend, Daisy, comes with him for the most part, visiting her family here.The two of them are inseparable.
“Had a few team issues here I needed to fly in and sort out.But I flew in last night and want to be back tonight.”
“That quick?”
“You know I hate being away from home, and I sure as hell hate being away from Daisy.”
I shake my head.“I don’t understand how a man can be so consumed by their woman that he can barely stand being away from her.”
“Nothing wrong with going home to a good woman, Sawyer.What’s the alternative?Drinks at the Polo Bar?Young girls fluttering their eyelashes at you while also tracking your jet?”
He’s right.I’ve dated for years and nothing serious ever comes of it.Mostly because the women I meet look for my bank balance before they even look at me.So I bury my head in work ninety percent of the time, because my penthouse, although luxurious, can get a bit lonely.I live in one of the world’s most populous cities, yet at times feel completely alone.
“When are you flying back?”he asks me.
“Here for a few days, then flying into Whispers on Thursday.”
“Great, just in time.”
He and Tanner are always doing something, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he told me that they’re building a theme park next.
“In time?In time for what?”I scrub my face, knowing I’m not going to like his answer.
“Well, you’re sponsoring the junior baseball team this year, right?Their first game is on the weekend.”
“Yeah, a weekend in Whispers isn’t really in the cards for me.”I think I’ll fly in and out this time.Although, as I hear the muffle car horns and traffic below, I start to think maybe a quiet night or two might be welcome.
“But we all know how much you love baseball.Hell, you own a fucking team, Sawyer.”I think about my beloved New York Mets, the team I’m a minority owner of.I’ve been a fan of baseball since I was a kid, and I still love it to this day.
“Besides, as a sponsor, you have to be there.It’s the first game.Can’t let the kids down.”Connor sits back in his seat with a big shit-eating grin on his face, and I roll my eyes at him.
“That’s a low blow,” I murmur, not wanting to be the reason kids can’t play.As a kid, baseball was my only solace, where I escaped the daily grind and found friends, happiness, and health.“Are you going to be there?”
“Nah, Daisy and I will do our morning yoga and then go down to her new studio and start the fit-out with Victoria.But I’ll see you at the bar on Friday night,” Connor confirms, plans seemingly already in place.My usual well-planned week is now morphing into something else.
“Fine.What else did you want to discuss?”I ask, and his face turns serious.
“The Grant brothers.I heard they’re making moves.”
I nod.“Heard that too.I mean, they run a very fucking big empire; their real estate holdings are impressive.”
“We’re working with Van Cleef, and I love Val and AJ.But if there’s an opportunity…” His sentence hangs in the air.
“Van Cleef offers us a pretty good foothold.Plus, we have more meetings we want to line up with them for stocking the whiskey in their hotels.”
“Grant Holdings is global.Andre has a corporate box near mine at the games.He’s almost permanently here now.”
“He’s pretty much retired.Tyler is the man we need to talk to.”
The Grant family runs hotels and properties across the world, having started in France and worked their way around Europe before hitting the Asia region and now making moves here in the US.
“If we wanted to make a deal, what does that mean for Van Cleef?”he asks me outright.
“We have the usual competitive clauses.But… we could do it.It’s a longer-term strategy, so we’ll need to build relations, work out exactly what we want from it.”It would mean a lot of networking and a lot of contract shuffling, but I know I can do it.“If Whiteman’s Whiskey wants to be global, Grant Holdings is the company we need to associate with.”
Connor’s eyes brighten.“I want to go global.”
“My favorite type of deals.”
