Page 40 of The Marriage Pact
It was late afternoon the next day, and Alex was sitting in the New York traffic, going nowhere. He’d had a face-to-face meeting with the bank. That was never a good thing. There’d been some discrepancies in one of the accounts, and several million dollars was missing. These things happened, of course, and the paper trail would soon reveal the whereabouts of the money, but it was yet another thing for Alex to deal with.
“Back to the Macarson building, Mr. Lancaster?” Stephen asked, but Alex shook his head.
“No, go to the apartment. I’ll work from there for the rest of the day,” he replied.
It took almost an hour for the car to crawl through the traffic. Alex would’ve been better off walking. He was feeling tired, and the Jamaica deal was occupying his mind. There’d been another delay. What was supposed to have been a done deal was now proving anything but. Even Hilary hadn’t been able to smooth things over with the investors. As he went up in the elevator, Alex’s mind was filled with figures and possibilities. If the Mexican contingent backed out, who could he rely on to invest at such short notice? A pullout meant suspicion, and any other investor was sure to think twice before agreeing to take the place of those who’d refused.
Why does it always have to be so complicated?
As the elevator doors opened, Alex was met by the sound of loud music and what sounded like a herd of animals trampling.
“Kaitlyn?” he called out.
The music stopped abruptly, and Kaitlyn appeared at the door into the lobby, breathless in sweatpants and a T-shirt.
“I didn’t think you’d be back until later. I’m doing dancercise. You should try it,” she said.
Alex shook his head. “I have things to do,” he replied.
A look of disappointment came over her face. “But you’re back early. Wouldn’t it be nice to do something together? I’ve been thinking about the wedding,” she said. “I know we haven’t talked about it properly yet, but I’ve got lots of ideas. We don’t need anything over the top, of course, but you only get married once, don’t you?”
In truth, Alex hadn’t given much thought to the wedding itself. The actual ceremony seemed distant, somehow. There were no plans, and they hadn’t spoken of it since arriving in New York. “Well… I suppose so,” he replied, not wanting to put a dampener on her enthusiasm.
“Come and have a look at a few things on my tablet. I’ve been going through a few possibilities for venues, but it’s overwhelming. You can get married anywhere, have whatever you want. If money’s no object, of course.”
Moneywasno object, but Alex was distracted by thoughts of the investment and the Jamaica deal. But knowing it was important to her, he nodded. “Why don’t you show me?” he replied.
Kaitlyn smiled, holding out her hand to him and leading him to the couch, where they sat next to one another, with Kaitlyn’s head resting on his shoulder as she scrolled through her tablet.
“Look at this place. You can get married on the fortieth floor and have the reception in the sky lounge above, with views rightacross the city,” Kaitlyn said, showing Alex the glossy pictures on a website. “And this one’s cool. It’s an old nuclear bunker left over from the Cold War. They’ve made part of it into an aquarium, and you get married there, then have the reception in the bunker itself. The food’s served like ration packs, but Michelin-starred.”
Alex raised his eyebrows. “I thought you didn’t want anything OTT,” he said.
Kaitlyn blushed. “I don’t… I just got carried away looking. It’s meant to be the happiest day of your life. We’ve waited long enough for it, haven’t we? I just thought you’d like to see what’s possible.”
There was a note of disappointment in her voice. It wasn’t that he didn’t want something impressive. They could get married anywhere she wanted, no expense spared. But Alex didn’t understand why Kaitlyn should be so determined to make plans all of a sudden. Weren’t they happy as they were? It had all happened so quickly. Alex knew it was his fault, of course; he’d been the one to rush into things. Yet now he preferred the thought of taking things slowly, of waiting.
“It’s all very lovely. Whatever you think,” he said.
The disappointment lingered on her face. “But I want to know whatyouthink.”
Alex wasn’t sure what to say, but before he could say anything, his phone rang. It was Hilary. “I have to answer this. It might be about the Jamaica deal,” he said, rising to his feet.
Kaitlyn didn’t say anything, but her look was enough for Alex to know she was far from impressed.
“I’m afraid I have bad news,” Hilary said when Alex took the call in the lobby a moment later.
“I’m listening,” he said, his heart sinking as he waited for the bombshell to drop.
“The Mexican contingent has pulled out. They’re saying it’s too risky. We’ve lost our backing, and I’m all out of ideas for what to do next.”
Alex bit his lip. This was a disaster. It was precisely what he’d feared would happen, and as for knowing what to do about it, he was at a loss over that, too.
“All right. We’ll need to call a meeting first thing tomorrow. I want everyone involved to be there. We have to find new investors — and fast. Put together a list of local possibilities in Jamaica. We’ll get the government involved if we have to. This deal has to succeed,” Alex said.
He gave Hilary some further instructions, though he held back from saying he’d come into the office immediately. Disconnecting the call, he swore under his breath. This wasn’t how it was meant to be. He felt angry with himself for allowing it to happen. What hadn’t he done?
“Is everything all right?” Kaitlyn asked, appearing at the door to the living room with a concerned look on her face.
