Holly and her father went upstairs and to Mark’s office. The leather love-seat was worn and thin, but still her favorite place to take a nap. Books filled the room and the window let in the late afternoon sun.
A large piece of paper with the parade route sat ready on the desk. Holly pulled out fresh paper and pens for them to continue their planning.
She tried not to think that this was the last time they’d do this. She loved this time spent with her father. They’d designed so many parade floats in this room. She’d wrapped so many presents for the Christmas party. This was a room of fond memories.
And it was going to end. She pushed the heartache away.
“Let’s get to work,” she said, opening up a pen. Her father smiled and together, they bent their heads over his desk and planned.
Chapter 24
Nathan
Lucy had chosen him a local hotel, one of the big-chains, and rented out several rooms on the top floor. Hal and Gregory weren’t fans of the security situation, but as a middle-sized town, there weren’t many other hotel options. He could stay in Denver, but that was over an hour’s drive away.
Nathan stood in his hotel room and looked around. The room had a decent sized living area that connected to the bedroom and bath. There was a big-screen TV and a comfortable couch. The bed was a queen with fluffy pillows.
It felt tiny and cheap to Nathan after the luxury of Blue Aspen. He knew it was still a nice hotel room. He’d just grown used to his wealth.
His father’s words echoed in his mind. He’d grown soft. He was now one of them. He spent too much money. He should stay someplace cheaper. He didn’t deserve even this level of comfort.
Nathan shook his head, trying to clear his father’s voice from his mind. His father loved money, but hated spending it. Nathan had the same love of money, it was just that he had so much of it, he could afford to spend some.
“Sir, your car is here,” Hal announced. “Would you like me to tell the driver to go around again?”
Nathan shook his head. “No, I’m ready.” He checked his watch. He was right on time for the meeting with the Element Computer Technologies group.
Gregory was waiting with the dark windowed car. Nathan had requested not to have a limo, opting for a more economical and less visible vehicle. Gregory took the passenger seat next to the driver. Hal flowed behind in a second car.
Nathan gazed out the window, taking in the view. The Rocky Mountains stood with white peaks and heads in the clouds to the west. The town itself was picturesque. A cute downtown area with shops and restaurants. Nathan thought he saw a sign for “The Book Bag” but the car turned down a different street.
ECT headquarters was located at the northern end of town. Several large buildings sat around a man-made lake that had frozen over. It looked like an average high-end business location.
Nostalgia hit Nathan hard in the chest. Paradigm Technologies had looked like this at one point. A nice building with room to grow, but comfortable. He found himself missing those early days. He’d made more than enough to be comfortable, but the challenge was still there. He knew his employees then.
These days, he was so busy with board meetings, investor meetings, and the unending slog of emails requiring his constant attention that he no longer created technologies anymore. It had been ages since he’d even built his own computer. He just didn’t have time for it anymore.
The irony that the king of tech didn’t know what kind of video card he used was not lost on him. His fingers itched to touch a motherboard again. Ideas swirled in his mind for ways to improve function and speed, but he knew he’d never get to play with them.
He had meetings to attend.
He thought of Holly and wondered what she was up to today. He had to do the meeting first. Then he could go and surprise her. Business before pleasure, no matter how much he wanted the pleasure. Yet, it was just another thing that he couldn’t do. One more limitation.
He sighed and rested his head against the cold glass of the window. He pulled out his phone and checked his bank account. Up one million today. The thrill was small. He put his phone away still unhappy with the work before him.
What was he going to do if this kept happening? It was the money that drove him. It was the thrill of seeing his bank accounts go up. He did everything possible to keep that happening. The last month with the RentTech fiasco bringing his numbers down had nearly destroyed him.
“Sir?” Gregory turned around in his seat.
Nathan looked at his watch and saw it was time for the meeting. He needed to meet the men who ran this business before his company bought it.
He opened the door and stepped out into the
bitter cold air. There was the smell of frost on the wind that made the late afternoon feel colder than it was. Already the sun headed toward the icy mountain peaks to the west.
Nathan walked confidently into the building. Gregory and Hal trailed behind him, dressed in dark suits and darker sunglasses. He liked both men, but he had enjoyed the freedom of Blue Aspen. He liked not having someone following him constantly.
The front entrance was made of glass and sparkled in the sunlight. Inside, a mural filled the entrance. There was a picture of a man with eighties-style hair and seventies-style mustache. He stood in front of a garage, the smile beaming from his handsome face.