“Yes, I know. They will be working on hotel projects. In fact, I’m going to be sending them the marketing information for the hotels in Coconut Beach, in Florida, that you’re looking at. They will do some research on the area and the deal.”
“Okay, good. Well, that will be all.” I dismiss her, and she walks out of the office with her head held high and her shoulders stiff. I know she’s upset with me, but right now I don’t care.
“Jack, you in there?” My younger brother, Zac, walks into the office, his cocky stride confident as he breezes in without a worry in the world. His blue eyes are vibrant as he grins at me and then at my assistant as she walks past him. “Hey, Patricia. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, thank you, sir.” She blushes slightly as she beams at him.
“Ah, Patty, that smile... It’s going to break my heart one of these days,” he says as he grins at her.
“I’m a little older than you, Zac.” She looks like she’s received the compliment of her life as she touches her hair.
“No way, you don’t look a day over eighty.”
I can see Patty frowning, because she’s most definitely not even close to that age. “I’ll be in my office, Mr. Heathcliff,” she says to me and walks out, slamming the door behind her.
Zac starts laughing. “She’s still as tough as old boots, isn’t she?”
“That wasn’t funny, Zac.”
“What? She can’t take a joke?”
I decide against telling him off; I just don’t have the energy. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a business meeting.”
“Yeah, we got done already, so I figured maybe you’d wanna go to lunch.”
I look at my watch. It is 1:00 p.m., and I haven’t eaten, but I have so much work to do. “I don’t know. I still have work to do.”
“Come on, bro. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” He winks at me, and I roll my eyes.
“I mean, I can grab something quick. You want to go to the cafeteria?”
He lets out a long-suffering sigh. “The food is not that great.”
“We have Michelin-star chefs cooking there.”
“Well, they don’t seem to be making many Michelin-star recipes,” he says, shrugging. “The last burger I got . . . Let’s just say it wasn’t all that.”
“Really, Zac?”
“And I’ll have you know that the last time Tristan was here, he got a quesadilla, and he asked for?—”
I shake my head. “If you want us to go to lunch, let’s go now. I’ve got a meeting in about an hour.”
“Boring.”
I shake my head. “And how are you, bro? How’s business?”
“It is what it is. Tristan and I are getting ready to open our comedy club.” He grins. “And I think it’s going to be a great success. We’ve already had a lot of DMs from a lot of big-name comedians who are interested in coming and performing.”
“Oh, really?” I say as I stand up and head toward the door. “Who? Anyone I’ve heard of?”
“Lots of people.”
“Oh, okay. Like Dave Chappelle?”
“Well… maybe not Dave Chappelle.”
“Eddie Murphy?”
