Chapter 5: Dinner

While in his car, he thought of his girlfriend and decided to see her, since she was going out with her friends the next day.

They had dinner at a trendy restaurant, but Emily complained about everything and made unreasonable demands—perhaps that’s why he remembered Noah telling him that his mother wasn’t demanding.

He couldn’t get her out of his mind; he seemed spellbound by that woman.

They went to her mansion; he didn’t really like ending up there, because Emily misinterpreted everything and thought she was the lord and master of her house, but at this point, they weren’t going to stay at a hotel either.

“You need a little bell to call the house staff.”

“What?”

She kept coming out with nonsense.

“So they don’t have to be glued to the door—they can hear our conversation.”

He figured it didn’t matter much, since he didn’t talk business with his girlfriend, and if he needed to close a deal or handle something important, he did it from his offices at his companies or in his study inside the mansion. Anyway, he didn’t think the maids were listening to what he said with his girlfriend—their conversations weren’t interesting.

He thought he’d have to have dinner with his parents next Saturday, but that was yet another thing he was trying to avoid, because they wanted him to get serious with Emily, and between his mother and his girlfriend, they were making plans for his future.

“I’m a grown man; I want to decide when to get married, and I really don’t find the idea of marrying Emily all that appealing,” he thought.

She was a beautiful and cultured woman; although sometimes, given the amount of nonsense she spouted, he doubted her culture, the truth was that she had class—he couldn’t deny that—but with each passing day he found her more and more bland and wondered if he’d be able to stand being by her side for the rest of his life.

He already knew the answer, and it was no.

He liked his freedom—going out to dinner with his friends, choosing who to sleep with—and he was already finding his girlfriend boring.

She was attractive—he wouldn’t deny that either—but he often found it a drag to be with her.

The next morning they had breakfast together, though Emily was complaining that it was a little early.

“We’ve had too much work lately—I’ve been telling you this for a week now—I don’t have the luxury of sleeping until noon.”

“Then let me sleep.”

“You just want to get up with me.”

“Yeah, because when you leave, the maids make noise on purpose so I can’t sleep. When we get married, we’re going to hire new staff.”

“I’m happy with the staff.”

-“See? You never take me into account.”

-Enough already, please. You’re wearing me out with your nonsense.

Joseph said, setting his coffee cup on the table and checking the time on his cell phone.

It was early, yes, but he’d arranged to meet with Henry Green so Green could tell him if he’d found out anything and so he could give instructions for a new investigation; he wanted to know about Jennifer Donato.

The night before, he’d even found having sex with his girlfriend tedious; he just wanted to test that woman.

When the investigator arrived, he told him he was going to look into her.

-“Dig deep into it. If necessary, keep following her. I want to know everything about her—what she does for a living, her schedule, whether she has a partner. I want to know absolutely everything.”

The investigator was confused because he couldn’t make sense of this investigation; it never occurred to him that it was for personal reasons. In any case, he was being paid very well, and all the leads were related, so he figured one investigation would lead to another.

Joseph was so obsessed with that case and that woman that he found himself talking to his partner to tell him he wanted to take Noah out to dinner.

“Is he your pet?”

Victor asked.

“Something like that. I want to know everything about the case and also everything about his mother.”

Victor burst out laughing.

He’d always figured Joseph would act this way if a woman really caught his interest, because he knew him and knew how passionate he was about everything—though he thought Benjamin’s widow was just a passing fancy, like a new toy or something like that.

“I’m going to stop by Noah’s office and invite the two architects who took the place of the laid-off employees, as well as Noah.”

“Are you at the office?”

They were talking on the phone; since he owned so many companies, they didn’t always work at the same ones, though given the mess that broke out the other day, it made sense that they’d be paying more attention to that company and that some of the executives—or both of them—would stop by to keep an eye on things there. As they say, the master’s eye feeds the cattle.

As he made his way to that section, Joseph thought he had to find a way to meet with that woman without Noah standing between them.

It felt as if he’d turned into a fox and she was his prey—that’s how he felt—but he had to lay the groundwork, and he still didn’t know why he was going to all this trouble.

Joseph was certain that Jennifer was a different kind of woman; she was used to her husband going out of his way to pamper her. She must be a completely superficial woman, even though she did go out to work to support the household…

He wanted to get to know her, to learn about her and her life; winning her over would be an adventure, even if it were just for a moment.

When he walked into the office, everyone fell silent.

He walked into Noah’s office, where Noah was reviewing a blueprint; the young man grew nervous upon seeing him—Joseph had a powerful presence and was known for being almost despotic, though he’d always treated Noah exceptionally well.

“Good morning, Noah.”

“Good morning, sir,”

The young man said, standing up and extending his hand.

As they greeted each other, Joseph studied him, wondering how much Noah might know about his mother.

“Call Jack Wright and Adam Walker.”

-“Yes, sir.”

Immediately, the two architects who ranked just below Noah entered the room.

“Gentlemen, we’re meeting for dinner tonight. I want to hear your expectations and learn about your expertise. I hope all three of you will live up to my expectations.”

He gave them the restaurant’s address and the time.

Noah was worried, because it was clear that the two architects knew much more than he did.

They were already established, and he was just starting his studies. It was true that he knew how to handle the workers and understood the start of each project and all the steps that followed—he had often accompanied his father to the job sites and felt that engineering ran in his blood.

He didn’t waste any time after leaving work; he wanted to read some of his father’s notes—about a construction project or some venture—so he could impress them during the conversation that night.

He called his mother to let her know the news.

Noah knew what the restaurant was like; now he was wondering whether to wear a suit—given his age, he didn’t have many. The place was elegant, but he decided on black jeans and a light green shirt anyway. It was quite hot, so he didn’t wear a tie, but he still looked sharp.

Then he reviewed some notes and called a taxi to take him to the restaurant.

At the door, he ran into the architects, who were wearing suits; the young man thought he might be dressed too casually. The three of them went in together and were shown to a table where Victor was sitting—wearing a shirt but no jacket—and Noah breathed a little easier.

He worried too much about every little detail.

He’d only told his mother he had dinner with his bosses and hadn’t asked her what he should wear—he felt like an adult, even though, on the other hand, she usually took care of many things for him, including his wardrobe. At that moment, he realized he had to grow up, but she still saw him as a teenager.

The thing is, even though he was working and studying, he was still only 18.

Jennifer let him work so he could gain experience, even though she and her husband had always dreamed that Noah would become an engineer and business owner in the company they ran.

David and Joseph arrived together.

They each arrived separately but met at the entrance; both were dressed quite casually.

They ordered dinner and chatted amiably.

David looked at Noah and thought he resembled his father, although his eyes were gray, with a hint of green, almost indefinable—like his beautiful mother’s.

He was about to make a comment, but then he remembered that his friend had told him he had his eye on her, so he kept his mouth shut.

They talked about projects the three friends had in common.

Noah mentioned something about a modern building his father had built five years earlier.

He tried to focus on the conversation.

The architects working in his office chose their words more carefully and were more insecure than he was.

Joseph realized that Noah, despite his age and limited education, had a clear understanding of how to handle himself on construction sites.

Victor noticed it too.

The CEOs were very pleased that he was in charge at the office, because often it wasn’t essential to know everything, but rather to know whom to delegate each task to and how to lead—it seemed the teenager knew how to do that. Both surmised that he had learned this by accompanying his father, and they were right.

The architects who ranked below the young man were amazed by this aspect of his character that they hadn’t known about; even though he didn’t know how to do many things—since it was clear he lacked years of college education—it seemed as though he did know them, and they couldn’t understand why. Neither of them knew his father’s story.

It was a story well-known among CEOs in the industry, but it didn’t spread much beyond that circle.