Читать Hide-and-Seek

Dedicated to my parents

hide-and-seek (n.) – a game in which several children hide while one child counts to a particular number without watching the others and then tries to find them

(Definition of hide-and-seek from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

The office was large and looked on-trend opulent–plenty of natural light through large windows, grey walls, black leather furniture and contemporary art on the walls. I couldn’t say that I liked it. I preferred more classical interiors. Be that as it may, it was intended to show, along with its location on the top floor of the highest building in the city, that the owner of this place had a lot of financial power. The April morning sun shone brilliantly in the clear, blue sky, adding saturation to the professional décor of a site where tens of millions of multiple currencies were routinely made before some people had their first cup of tea. I was sitting in one of the two very expensive-looking custom-made armchairs at a large coffee table in the part of the office where the owner would want people to feel more comfortable, a few meters away from his big meticulously organized working desk with two big computer monitors. The man I was meeting was one of the most successful money wizards in the City. His name was Jared Shannon, and he was a few years younger than me and a couple of billion dollars richer. The latter fact was annoying, the former was baffling.

Why would a man of his level want to talk to me about my little country project? I mean, I realized I was not an average Joe, but I could hardly be of any personal interest to him unless he micromanaged everything in his company, which was highly unlikely. He had enough people below him in his empire whom I could meet and to get what I wanted without meeting the man. It could only make sense if he was into aristocrats and their lands. Whatever the reason, I was there, and it was all that really mattered at the moment.

I was trying to concentrate and appreciate the moment of this opportunity, but it was proving hard to do because of the hangover I’d tried to suppress with some painkillers before the meeting. It had not been a good idea to go to a party last night and spend half of it flirting with some open-minded young women to schmooze them into a more meaningful conversation in my apartment later. One of them was susceptible to my oratorial skills and I had to wake her early and put her in a cab to give myself enough time to be presentable for this meeting.

“Well, I don’t think I have any more questions,” Jared said, still nonchalantly holding what looked like my proposal. He was a tall man in a good shape in his late thirties with a face that projected intelligence and confidence, sitting in the other armchair in front of me on the opposite side of the table. “Perhaps you’d like to ask me some questions?”

He was wearing an unpretentious but extremely good quality custom-made T-shirt and a pair of jeans, accompanied by a pair of matching Louis Vuitton sneakers. Anyone who didn’t know much about quality outfits wouldn’t even look twice at this man on the street. I, on the other hand, knew a thing or two about sartorial choices that made you stand out among the initiated. Someone had done a decent job putting together this look for him. No watch though. Apparently, he was one of those people who could afford any watch in the world but used his phone to check the time. It said “new money” to me. No tradition yet.