Chapter 9

“Are you sure you don’t want a drink?” Matthias asked him, as he poured himself another bourbon. Tobias shook his head.

“It’s a little early isn’t it?” He asked, looking up from his paperwork.

“Relax,” his colleague told him, walking over to the bar area of the cream and gold accented interior of Tobias’s private jet. “There are no meetings lined up today. Only dinner.”

“An important dinner,” Tobias reminded him. He’d lined up to meet with the founders of a few tech startups as well as those of companies which were now in their third to fifth year of operation. Having survived this far, they were of interest to him and as always Tobias wanted to meet with the founders, to get a feel for the personalities and brains behind these operations and to assess whether he thought they had what it took to remain strong and flourish. “Drinks and dinner, and what, a getting-to-know you exercise?”

“Tonight, yes,” Tobias commented. “For the rest of the week we’ve got meetings lined up and I’m hoping we can determine which of the companies we want to invest in by the end of it. It didn’t take as long as I thought it might, to get them all together tonight.”

“A man of your stature and wealth—I’m sure they wouldn’t have missed this opportunity. Is it wise, to invest heavily in tech right now, Tobias? You know how fast the technology changes. We could be sinking money into a never-ending black hole.” Tobias lifted his face and stared at the large TV screen to his right, between two large windows. In front on him, a large chestnut table bore fruit and flowers and papers he had been going through. His mind was deep in the figures he’d been analyzing, or trying to, without Matthias’s constant interruptions. His colleague seemed eager to make conversation. “Technology is a part of our life now, it’s embedded into our DNA. It’s not going anywhere. If it changes, we need to make sure we’re up to date with it.”

“I know we’ve been slowly looking at changing our investment portfolio for over a year now, but do you think it’s wise to drop our current investments, especially those which have been so lucrative, and from which we have made so many good relationships—do you think it’s wise to suddenly cut them?”

“I didn’t set out to make friends. This is business.” Tobias replied, icily. “And if I sense fluctuations in the foundations of a company, I don’t give a fuck about the business dinners and friends I made while courting that business. I will always do what’s best for my clients, and the company.”

“For you, you mean.”

Tobias frowned. “Not me. But Stone Enterprises. What are you implying?” He wasn’t sure what Matthias was getting at. “What is it? Are you questioning something?”

“I’m not questioning your motives, Tobias.”

“Aren’t you?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Matthias asked. “You seem distracted, that’s all I’m saying. Yanling is still waiting for a decision.”

Tobias snapped the folder of papers he’d been going through. “I’m not distracted. I’m thinking things through. At the moment I’m still undecided about him and the Far East and I’m in no hurry to give him a decision one way or another. What we’re doing this week is more important.”

“We’ve been keeping him hanging on for weeks,” Matthias retorted.

“The market conditions remain tough and global equities have been rocked by China’s slowdown,” replied Tobias evenly. He didn’t understand Matthias’s insistence on partnering with this man. “I’m not ready to make a final decision, so please don’t press me for one. You know my stance on it.” Tobias placed his paperwork on the table between them and stood up and stretched out his shoulders. He walked over to the bar area where he poured himself a glass of water. He turned around to find Matthias watching him carefully. “I heard about the new position,” Matthias said, broaching the very subject Tobias had been waiting for. “Which one?”

“The one for Savannah Page.” Matthias replied, smoothing down his tie. Tobias had been wondering when his colleague might comment on this. It hadn’t been a grand announcement. It was, after all, a low position and had barely warranted a minor mention in the 21st floor email group as well as a small entry in the corporate newsletter.

But it was two days’ worth of work that would make a difference to Savannah Page’s life. It wasn’t going to affect his business in the slightest but it was his company and he could do what he wanted, as long as he didn’t put his clients’ best interests at risk. Giving Savannah a job that was permanent, instead of temporary, and one that gave her more money, and perks, was something he could do; something he needed to do to make up for his mistake. His conscience was clear now. As far as he was concerned, he had done as much as he could.

“Because I was under the impression,” Matthias continued slowly, “that Briony and I were supposed to put together a case for hiring someone. I have a lot of client data that I want Briony to segment for targeting purposes.”

“I haven’t taken that away from her. In fact, this new requirement I have isn’t going to impact Briony that much.” He’d made sure that he hadn’t compromised Briony’s work. “Nothing has changed much for Briony and she’s assured me that it doesn’t affect the work she’s doing for you.”

“It doesn’t, especially since you’ve given her the go ahead to hire a second person.”

“Briony needs a second person. She has too much on her plate as it is. She was starting to struggle towards the end of last year and things were beginning to slip. She’s taken too much on and I wanted to alleviate that.”

“Savannah Page,” said Matthias, letting the name hover in the air. Tobias returned to his seat and sank into the cream luxury leather, easing his head back against the headrest and closing his eyes. “What about her?”

Matthias continued. “She’s done very well, getting the sort of position that our college graduates would kill for.”

Tobias opened his eyes, unsure where this conversation was leading. “We reward hard work and effort—at least that’s what I like to think. But I didn’t realize you’d taken such an active interest in our recruitment campaigns…or in Savannah Page.”

“I’ve always had a thing for pretty little things. You should know that about me, Tobias.”

A lump, as solid and as cold as ice, formed in Tobias’s chest. “Do you never think of settling down, Matthias? You’re what—in your mid-thirties now? Doesn’t family life and commitment call out to you?”

Matthias almost choked on his bourbon. “Me?” He stared at him then threw his head back and barked with laughter. “In all the time you’ve known me, when have I ever given you the idea that I was a settling down kind of guy?” It was true; Matthias was not that type of man. In the decade that he’d known him, from the days when they had both worked with Becker Schwartz, the man who had taken a liking to Tobias and employed him in his small company, Matthias had been a ladies man through and through. Six years older than himself, it wasn’t long before the two became firm friends. It had been a friendship that had survived Tobias becoming Schwartz’s new prodigy in the trading world, and had seen Tobias through both his happiest and bleakest times.

“I thought that with the passing of time you might see things differently,” said Tobias softly. Matthias partied hard but he couldn’t do that forever.

“I love you as a brother,” said Matthias, slugging down the rest of his bourbon, “but women are like cars to me, I get bored with the same one after a while. I need the newest model on a constant basis. I don’t do commitment. I’m not you. You have the Midas touch and you had it all…” Matthias looked away, stopping sharply in his rambling.

“Had it all?”

Matthias turned to him again. “I meant with Ivy. I don’t know where that came from.”

“It’s alright,” Tobias shrugged. There was a time when he didn’t want to talk to anyone about Ivy, wanted to keep her memory and all his thoughts about her deep inside him. But now, thinking about her didn’t envelop him in complete darkness, not the way it used to. “I know you cared about Ivy.”

“I still think about that time, and I still wonder how you cope.” Matthias clunked the empty glass onto the table and sat back, staring out of the window. “I don’t ask you anymore, because I don’t want to take you back to that dark place. I hate to see you in pain, but I don’t want you to think that I don’t care.”

“I know you care,” said Tobias. He would never forget that Matthias had been there for him the whole of the first year. He had been the one who had turned up at his apartment daily, picking up the bottles of whiskey and empty glasses littered all over the floor. Matthias had been the one to drag him out of bed and throw him under a shower on those never-ending days when he wanted to bury himself under his covers. He couldn’t face the world, not a world without Ivy and he would never forget that his friend had helped him through it.

“I know you don’t like to talk about it, and I haven’t asked as often but this past year, I think you’ve started to move on. Maybe Naomi has helped with that.”

Tobias stared at the powder blue sky and the cotton candy clouds, and listened to the quiet, controlled humming of the engines. “I had to move on. I couldn’t stay in that place forever.” Those days had been dark, the mornings and the nights, and everything in between; a huge, rolling wall of blackness where he hadn’t known one week from the next. Each moment had felt as though someone had pierced his lungs and heart with a fish hook and tried to tug them both out through his throat. “I haven’t seen her around much lately,” Matthias ventured. “I notice you and Naomi didn’t go away this Christmas either. What’s going on?”

Tobias shook his head.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“She’s good for you, isn’t she?”

Tobias shrugged. “She was.” She had been.

“Was?”

“We’re not together anymore.” He stood up and returned to the bar, this time pouring himself a glass of whiskey. “Another bourbon?” he asked Matthias. His friend nodded. “What do you mean you’re not together anymore?” Matthias joined him at the bar.

“We split, before Christmas.”

“That’s why you’ve been so up and down lately?”

“Have I?”

“Miserable as fuck one moment, and easy-going the next. We didn’t know what was up with you.”

“We?”

“Your friends, your colleagues.”

“You and Candace.” Tobias guessed.

“She noticed too. How could she not? She’s your goddamn PA, and I’m one of your closest friends, at least I like to think I am.”

“As my closest friend,” Tobias offered, “This goes nowhere.”

“Go on,” Matthias leaned closer, in anticipation of receiving a shiny new secret.

“She was never a girlfriend.” Matthias’s mouth hung open. Tobias elaborated. “Naomi is a high-class escort.”

His friend’s eyes opened wide. “What?”

Tobias nodded. “It’s true.”

“You can have any woman you want and you paid for an escort?” Matthias gasped. Shock creased the furrows on his forehead. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to deal with all that other stuff.” Tobias replied, in a voice that reeked of boredom, of having to explain his reasons. He thought a man like Matthias would understand since he wasn’t so hot with emotional involvement either. Matthias’s face turned softer. A glimmer of understanding and admiration graced his features. “Ingenious,” he said. “You paid someone just to screw her. Freaking ingenious. That’s exactly the type of service I need.” He slapped a congratulatory pat on Tobias’s back. “You’re full of surprises, Tobias. I would never have guessed. Do you have her card?”

Tobias rested his hand on the bar cabinet. “Don’t.”

Matthias’s eyes narrowed, “The penthouse—was that where…?” Already Tobias had regretted telling him. “Enough,” he said. “This goes nowhere, do you understand?” Matthias sobered up immediately. “Of course not but does this mean you’re single again and missing pussy?”

Tobias gave him a cutting look. “You can be unbelievably vulgar, you know that?”

Matthias held his hands up. “I’m sorry,” he grinned. “It can’t be easy going from a pro to nothing. She must have been something in the sack.”

“I wish I hadn’t told you,” Tobias replied, regretting his confession.

“I’m sorry. It’s come as a surprise, that’s all. Your secret is safe with me but we should check out the night life here.”

“I’m not interested.”

“And yet you paid a whore for sex!” Matthias exclaimed.

“We were together for over a year. It hardly qualifies as being as sordid as you make it out to be.”

“So why not just get a regular girlfriend. Hell, Tobias, you had enough women throwing themselves at you.”

“I didn’t want complications or emotional crap to deal with. I didn’t want commitment. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Matthias picked up a newspaper and screwed his face up at the headlines. “Silverstein is giving away more millions to fund Third World vaccines.” He shook his head in disgust.

“It’s a noble cause,” Tobias countered.

Matthias snorted. “I don’t understand it myself.” Then, after a few moments, he folded up the newspaper again. “And all this time I thought she was your girlfriend.”

“Enough.” Tobias thundered.