Chapter 2

  They end up gathering in an empty conference room nearby. Since it's more of a preliminary meeting between pals, neither side has anything prepared. Johnny is checking emails with his shoes on the table, not a care in the world. Eventually, Nicole puts her hands together and speaks up.

"What can we do for you this time?"

"For Wesreal," Johnny grins and puts away his phone. "Two words: high-end."

"It's actually one—" Jacob perks up, excited to talk about linguistics.

"Don't," Nicole warns before turning to Johnny again. "What are you proposing?"

"So I was on a date last week," he starts.

Nicole makes a disgusted face on autopilot.

"Oh, come on," Johnny says, offended. "Look, it's crucial to the story. Anyway, so I tell her what I do for a living, and at the end she calls me a manchild, goes to the bathroom, and never comes back! And that same night, I'm just lying in bed next to a perfect ten, but I'm still not happy.

"Alright, humblebrag," Don mutters to himself.

"And I'm just thinking, like... She's right. Energy drinks? Gas station pills? Podcast management? I mean, I'm in my thirties."

Nobody is convinced, Johnny has been pretending to be thirty for at least two decades.

"My people keep telling me that I can't move past my mistakes," he says. When the words catch up to him, he clears his throat. "With Wesreal, I mean. So I want you to do your thing and sniff out what's wrong with it."

"You know we don't do public image, right?" Nicole asks.

"I know, I just wanna get your opinion on this. You're smart, what do you think?"

"What do I think? I think that every business you've ever owned that wasn't a Ponzi scheme has been marketed towards young adult lowlifes, and both you and the companies themselves are ridden with lawsuits. Might be a bit of an issue, I don't know."

"The name sounds like Israel," Jacob chips in. "Which isn't inherently a bad thing, but... you know, controversial."

"Frankly," Nicole continues, ignoring the comment. "Wesreal is just an umbrella, so sure, you could get a controlling stake in some new luxury brands and sell off the weak links. But it's too major of a paradigm shift. For you."

Nicole is certain Johnny doesn't understand most of the words she just said, but it strikes a nerve anyway. He crosses his arms defensively.

"I don't think you're trying hard enough, Nicole."

"There's nothing wrong with being slimy," she says, raising her hands. "Hell, there's nothing wrong with being seen as a joke; Musk is doing just fine. Some-fucking-how. Nobody cares."

"I care!" Johnny raises his voice. "I fucking care! I care that people think I'm a fucking joke!"

Slowly, he exhales. Nobody bats an eye at the outburst; they've seen worse. It's not the first time a client took Nicole's prodding personally. Granted, knowing when to prod is a science. A science that Nicole doesn't care enough to enforce in regards to Johnny.

"And if you don't want my money, then Holden will."

"What, you think Holden Vega can help you?" Nicole laughs, jeering. "Good-fucking-luck with that, Johnny. Let me know how it goes."

Johnny gives her one last look before he gets up and leaves the room. The tension is palpable. Jacob cuts through it by awkwardly clearing his throat, not realizing how loud he's being.

"So, uh," he blurts out. "What just happened?"

Nicole motions for him to elaborate.

"You just handed him over to Holden. Why?"

"You wanna take this one?" Nicole asks Don, tired.

"Alright," he says, turning Jacob's chair toward himself. It squeaks in protest, and so does Jacob. "Well, first of all, she's an equity partner, so she doesn't really care which DL consultant he goes with — she's still gonna get paid. Just not as much, which is still a fuck ton.

"Second, like everything Johnny Ferrari has ever done in his life, Wesreal's daughter companies are about to go under; much like Ophelia, but not as graceful. And you'd know this if you read the fact pack I gave you."

"I did read it. And what about us? Why not grab some chartreuse jelly before the Titanic sinks?"

"You're mixing metaphors."

"It's a simile."

"Shut the fuck up," Nicole snaps, and it's clearly meant for both of them.

"All you need to know is that it will sink. And I don't want to be anywhere near it when that orange dick goes to jail for either sexual assault, fraud, or both."

"I didn't know you had a moral compass," Don says, giving her a knowing look.

She gives up and sighs. Usually, it really wouldn't matter; since Wesreal is a private holding company, the most likely scenario is Johnny taking the losses when his subsidiaries go bankrupt. But since he openly has a finger in every pie, he could be liable for the accumulated debts. Because he knew. Ultimately, it's a bad look for DL.

"Look, I just don't want to work with him again. The man ruins everything he puts his hands on."

"True that," Don nods.

"Fair."

Nicole sighs and gets up. The two instinctively follow, but she puts her hand up.

"Just go home, that's enough facetime for today. And happy birthday, dipshit."

"Thank you?" Jacob says, so unsure it comes out as a question. "Hey Don, do you wanna grab a drink— Oop, and he's gone."

He's about to ask Nicole, but looks around and realizes that he's alone in the room.

"Cool, thanks," he mutters under his breath.

Deciding to make the most of it, he sits back down and gets out his phone.

"Hey Siri, cool restaurants in— Cool restaurants in Manhattan. Manhattan."

Hi! If you're enjoying the novel I would love to hear from you below or on Bluesky! #davidsonlibera

I may or may not be working on a dating sim in the DL universe too...