Howie sat back in the big leather chair in the office of the man he was about to seal the deal with. He nervously played his fingers on the end of his shirt as he listened to the man spewing figures at him. He was talking a lot of money. Money he could use to get his foundation soaring. Even higher then imagined.
He wanted a cure for Lupus.
With the money he made from this casino, he could easily set up a fund and have one-third go to him and the rest go to his foundation. He wasn't greedy. He was intent on making his mark. The man stopped pacing right in front of Howie, forcing Howie to look up at his large shape in wonder.
"There is a catch though" He said.
There always seemed to be a catch. When he was young and naive he never listened to this part of their conversation because it was always spoken so softly the excitement of his career would deafen him to all the 'catches' along the way. For the longest time he only heard what he wanted to hear.
Probably the biggest 'catch' in his life happened when he signed with Trans con. So excited that he had made it in show biz that he didn't read what he was signing. He had blamed himself for everything else that unfolded because of it. Mostly because he had a good head on his shoulders. While the others, with the exception of Kevin, were young, Howie was too old to be fooled. He knew to read between the lines. His father had even told him don't go signing his life away.
Which is exactly what he had done.
After that, he really made sure to listen intently to everything management type people said. He noticed that when they really had a great selling point, their voices would crescendo, but when it was something those business types would rather just skirt around, they would get mysteriously quiet. Kevin liked to call it, speaking in small print.
Now with this big surly business man standing over him as if he was a child, he wished Kevin was there to keep his head level. He didn't stutter or even show his apparent uneasiness, instead Howie simply asked, "Catch?"
"Yes" Now the man walked back over to his desk and sat down. Howie didn't like the way he seemed to be shuffling through his papers. It looked as if it was just giving him something to do.
"We know you wanted some of the proceeds to go to the DLF and while we think your cause is extremely important...we just feel like we shouldn't really be championing a cause just yet"
"Why?" Howie sat straight in his chair. He had a feeling this conversation would happen, but not as quickly as it had. He figured he would at least have a few months before they started questioning his organization.
"Howie, it's not that we have anything against it, but..."
"But nothing, when we talked about this over three months ago, you knew full well that I was planning on having profits go to the DLF"
"Yes, but since then. Some of our newer investors don't think it's a good idea"
"Well, let me talk to those investors and I'll set them straight" Howie even though steaming inside always came across calm. That is why so many people took a natural liking to him. He was a great person through and through. No one could complain about that. There would be so many times he would be ready to strangle one of the guys or his own brother but they would never be able to tell.
He was the chameleon of all chameleons.
"It's not that easy"
"And why not?"
"Because they already had a vote about it" Howie decided now was the time to stand. Either stand or start screaming. He stood up and walked over to the huge window overlooking the beach. Just watching the waves crash against the sand calmed him down a bit. He wondered if Caroline ever watched the waves from heaven. If it was possible.
"Why wasn't I informed about this vote?"
"I thought it would be best to just tell you separately"
"How much did I lose by?" He refused to look passed the beach and back into the gloomy room.
"19 to 1" Howie closed his eyes.
"And that one being?"
"You" Now he turned to face the big man. He was still sitting at his desk but this time he had rested his hand on a pen which he nervously twiddled around his fingers.
"The only reason I wanted in on this was to bring in a substantial amount to the DLF"
"We know that Howie, but with the millions of dollars profit that you would eventually net..."
Now that was another word he always heard like the chiming of a bell. The word eventually. Eventually meant not anytime soon. No, he had his mind all set on how things would go. The hotel casino would open, he was one of 20 investors, but he was definitely putting forth one of the biggest sums of money. He and some other guy. A businessman from Texas. They had meeting after meeting about it, telling him that they had NO problem with the proceeds going to help his cause. They had NO problem with having his sister's name somewhere in a room of the hotel above. They had NO problem with any of it. The word eventually was never mentioned. Not once.
"Think about it Howie. You could still use those profits to help out your foundation but as far as the casino, it would have to remain separate"
"The only reason I did this was for her"
"Excuse me?" Howie wished he could retrace his steps, rewind time and take back the words that came out of his mouth. How could he allow himself to say something so completely unprofessional to this man? This man who obviously didn't care at all about Howie or his poor dead sister.
"Nothing, sorry it wasn't important"
"Howie, everything is all ready to go. All we need is your signature and we can begin to break ground on the thing"
"Um..can you excuse me for a minute?" Howie suddenly remembered something.
A conversation he had recently with an old friend.
"I need to make an important phone call" Before the business man could object, Howie was out the door and calling Kevin.
He knew Kevin was in town visiting AJ, in fact he was going to be meeting with them later on for dinner. "Come on Kev, please answer your phone" Howie said pacing back and forth down the long and very cold white hallway.
"Hello"
"Kevin, hey it's D"
"Howie, how's it goin?" Howie heard him turn away from his phone to tell AJ who it was on the other end of the line.
"I don't have much time to talk but I wanted to ask you a question"
"Okay... shoot"
"Remember you mentioned some land in Alabama?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, is that something you are still interested in?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Would you be willing to go in with me on buying it? Maybe putting up a hotel in honor of my sister?"
"Without a doubt" Howie smiled. If he could have he would have hugged his phone.
"Hang on, I'm going back into this meeting but I'll fill you in at dinner"
"Okay...Howie, is everything okay?"
"It is now" After hanging up the phone with Kevin, he nodded. How could he not have thought about that before? Who else should he go into business with then someone he trusted more then anyone else on the planet?
He walked back into the room and sat down comfortably, "I have thought about your offer and at this time I regret I have to decline to sign"
"What?" Now it was the other guy's turn to be angry and surprised.
"I just took a vote and it was decided on that I need to go elsewhere"
"That's a load of rubbish! Who did you consult?"
"The vote was 3 to 0"
"You are making a huge mistake Mr. Dorough" Howie smiled that the man was finally treating him like an adult instead of a dumb pop star. Using the title Mister.
"I very well may be, but it's my mistake to make. Thank you though and best of luck" With that being said he placed the pen next to the unsigned document and walked out of the office leaving the man stunned.
Three to zero. He, Kevin and Caroline, who would probably have preferred having her name attached to a nice family friendly hotel then a money grubbing casino.
That night, over dinner he explained everything to Kevin and AJ in detail. It felt liberating to walk out of an important meeting like the one he had been to earlier with his pride in tact. He and Kevin shook hands and decided that they would go ahead and develop a package to present to developers. In honor of his sister. With one of his best friends.
What could be more perfect than that?
