The Grey Billionaire

DANIEL

“Daniel!” his best friend, Josh, called from the other side of his office door.

Unlike other CEOs, Daniel had no intention of owning a home. A home represented family, and that’s the last thing he wanted for himself. Besides, home ownership was a complete waste when he had a perfectly good office with a leather couch that converted into a bed, as well as enough money to sleep in the luxurious hotels any time he grew tired of his routine.

Daniel loved his office. It had large windows that overlooked the ocean, giving him the most relaxing view in all of South Beach, and everything sixty floors below looked miniature, like it was all beneath him. This boosted his ego even more.

Looking out, he felt like the master of his own universe. He was in charge of his own destiny, his own life, and for short periods of time, the lives of the women who came in close proximity.

Daniel flicked his wrist, motioning for his assistant to let his friend inside.

Josh stepped into Daniel’s office and paused. He glanced from Gloria to his friend, then back to Gloria. His face froze.

Gloria excused herself and closed the door behind her. Not two seconds later, Josh frowned and rested his hands on his hips.

“Really, Dani?” he asked, shaking his head as he stepped further into the room. Familiar judgment flashed in his eyes.

“Don’t start,” Daniel said before Josh could get his thoughts across. “We weren’t doing anything. Today.” However, he knew this pale excuse for an explanation wouldn’t do the trick. Josh was relentless when he was on to something.

“You need to stop sleeping with your assistants. What’s this—the second one in six months?” Josh didn’t even bother to lower his voice. He’d been trying for a decade to change his best friend, and he wasn’t the type to give up.

Daniel only smirked as he continued to stare out the window. He hadn’t even turned to face his friend yet, but he didn’t need to see Josh’s face to know what he was thinking or what he’d say next.

Josh rolled his eyes and exhaled, disdain evident. “Are you trying to set the record for world’s most perverted boss? Or the world’s shittiest guy for that matter?” he scolded as he lowered himself onto a chair.

This was the part where Daniel would normally gloat. He’d bask in the power that he held over every woman he came across. But this time, he opted for a less jerky response.

“Obviously, she knows it’s just sex.” Okay, so that wasn’t exactly a flowery reply, but it was certainly less bitter than his usual ones.

“You never change,” Josh scoffed.

Daniel decided to give up on trying to be gentle; this sort of pretense was not his cup of tea. He was definitely more of a rip-the-band-aid-off kind of guy—why change now?

He finally turned to see his friend.

“Josh, she knows that she means nothing to me. I honestly think she doesn’t care anyway.” He could’ve stopped there, but he didn’t. “Besides, why would she turn down the opportunity to fuck me? If anything, she should feel honored to meet my needs…even if it is temporary.”

Daniel’s arrogance and sarcasm never ceased to amaze, shock, and/or cripple nearly everyone who heard him, but Josh was different. Even though they lived completely different lives, they had been best friends, almost like brothers, since high school. Even now, they looked out for each other no matter what.

“Let’s start over, shall we? We both know you’re aging quicker than I am because you’ve got three kids,” Daniel joked. “Let’s not increase those wrinkles on your face.”

Josh didn’t say anything. He had been with the same woman for ten years, but no matter how happy his best friend seemed, Daniel still found the idea of a long-term partner repulsive.

Daniel sat in his chair and pressed the power button on his laptop. “How’s the family?” he asked, realizing his attempt at a joke was a bit harsh.

Josh finally said, “They’re great, my wife says ‘hello,’ and we hope to see you at the black-and-white charity party our company is throwing next weekend.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows, suddenly curious. “Will there be my kind of girls there? Or is this one of those boring functions with a room full of men and a handful of wives?”

“Speaking of wives,” Josh started, crossing his arms, “when are you going to settle down with a nice girl, get married, and start a family of your own?”

Daniel knew his best friend was sick and tired of his behavior, thinking he was as gray as a rain cloud, but he couldn’t help answering, “Read my lips, Josh: never.” He put a great deal of emphasis on the final word.

“Seriously, Daniel, you are twenty-seven. When are you going to start thinking of your future? You can’t expect to be a playboy forever.”

“You sound like my dad,” Daniel muttered dryly. He hated lectures and would do anything to avoid them.

“Your dad is a smart man.”

Josh seemed confident that he was winning this debate, but Daniel wasn’t an easy nut to crack. He was sure his best friend was hoping for him to get his heart broken, just to know that he was still capable of feeling…something. Anything.

Just when he saw a ring of hope enter Josh’s eyes, he let a cloud of dangerous mist settle in his own.

“Women are like clay, and I am the potter. It’s my duty to mold them into whatever I want them to be, and then I can give them to someone else or simply set them free.”

Josh’s mouth dropped open.

“I wasn’t put on this earth to be with one woman. Frankly, I don’t see the point of that insanity. It must be so boring waking up to the same person for decades on end.” Daniel smiled at his friend. “No offense—Patricia is a beautiful woman—but I’m not built for the hearts-and-flowers sort of arrangement.”

Josh, of course, knew Daniel didn’t want a relationship, but he had never heard him say so in such gritty detail. Still, he took it in stride.

“Whatever, Daniel. One day, a woman will come along, and your annoying charms won’t work on her. Then you’ll be sorry you wasted half your life living like this.”

Daniel burst out laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Your day is coming soon,” Josh warned, but Daniel only laughed harder.

After a minute, Daniel’s laughter died down, and he shifted from amused and playful to serious and businesslike again. He knotted his fingers on the desk and stared at his best friend.

“All jokes aside, what’s going on, Josh? I assume you didn’t come all the way here just to lecture me about my personal life choices. We both know that route is a dead end.”

“I just told you why I’m here. I came to invite you to the party next Sunday. You are a benefactor, so it’s only fitting that I invite you…no matter how much of an asshole you can be.”

“Okay. I’ll go if you stop prying into my private life,” Daniel bargained with a smirk. “It’s exhausting to repeat myself over and over.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe I still get worked up about you using these poor girls.”

“FYI, the women love everything I do to them—it’s mutually satisfying. No complaints on my end or theirs, so stop hating.”

Josh sent daggers across the desk, but before he could reply, there was a knock on the door.

“Yes, come in,” Daniel said, and his assistant sauntered in. She had a glowing complexion, a bubbly smile, and an extra pep in her step.

“Sir, I’m so sorry to interrupt you, but there’s a call on line one.”

Gloria’s smile reached her eyes when she looked at Daniel. Poor girl… She was a lost cause, like so many others who crumbled like cookie in his hands.

Daniel didn’t share her enthusiasm. In fact, he was rather annoyed by the interruption.

“Who is it?” he snapped.

“She wouldn’t tell me her name, but she sounded very upset, sir.” Gloria said, though her smile never faltered.

“Women are always upset—what’s new? I’ll take the call now. You can go.”

After Gloria turned around and left his office, Daniel leaned back comfortably in his leather chair, loosened his dark tie, and slowly unbuttoned his dark jacket. He left the jacket open so his wrinkle-free shirt was on full display and gazed up at the ceiling, expression content.

“Aren’t you going to take the call?” Josh asked.

Daniel glanced at his friend. “You heard what she said, right? She said the woman on the line sounds angry. I know you’ve only been with one woman, so you might not know this, but never just pick up an angry woman’s phone call without working out a strategy in your head first.”

Josh looked as if Daniel spoke a different language.

“I’m serious about this, J. Always work out a series of possible questions and the answers to those questions just in case.”

Josh didn’t even have the strength to roll his eyes this time.

After a long time, Daniel pressed a button on his work phone and cleared his throat. “Daniel here.”

Immediately, a young woman’s voice came screaming through the speakerphone. “Why haven’t you called me? What do you take me for? I’m not a toy to use and discard for your amusement. You’re such a jerk—I don’t know why I ever slept with you in the first fucking place!”

Her voice was so high-pitched that Daniel had to stifle a laugh. With a straight face and no emotion in his voice, he answered, “Are you done?”

The woman paused, no doubt double-checking to ensure she called the right number.

When she didn’t say anything further, Daniel continued. “First of all, the next time you call my work phone you had better present yourself with a lot more dignity than that. I have no idea who I’m speaking to… Women all sound alike—same squeaky, annoying voice. What is it that you want, miss?”

The woman was silent. Daniel knew she was caught off guard and contemplating her next response carefully.

In a much calmer voice, she eventually gave a poor description of herself. “Mr. Jackson, this is Genevieve from New York Fashion Week. I’m a huh…I worked there.”

Then the bastard said, “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.”

Another minute of uncomfortable silence went by. In it, both Daniel and Josh could hear her obvious disappointment.

“Oh…I’m sorry, you must meet so many women in a day…” she whispered softly, with more than a hint of sadness in her voice. “I suppose I can’t expect you to remember me from almost two months ago.”

“Ms. Genevieve, what can I do for you?” Daniel asked, acting as if he was just meeting her for the first time, as if this was standard procedure.

“No-nothing, sir…” Her voice cracked, but she continued, “I’m sorry to bother you at work.” It almost sounded like she was crying.

“Okay. In that case, have a nice day.” Daniel hung up and folded his long fingers below his chin.

Josh took a few seconds to watch his best friend’s dangerously handsome face. “You know exactly who she is, don’t you?” he asked when he caught Daniel smirking.

“Yup.”

“Then why did you pretend like you didn’t know her?” Josh sounded so confused. He had seen his best friend talk to his share of women before, but never like this.

“Pay attention, Joshy. In exactly two minutes, she’s going to call back in a way better mood. The first minute after she hung up, she thinks, ‘Wow, he really doesn’t remember me?’ What woman wants to hear that a man she had sex with doesn’t remember her? Which means the sex wasn’t that memorable… The second minute, she thinks, ‘How could I possibly redeem myself?’”

Although he dreaded the answer, Josh couldn’t resist the temptation to ask, “So, was it that horrible?”

“No, it was quite good actually,” Daniel boasted shamelessly. “She had beautiful, perky breasts, nice, long legs, and an incredible mouth…if you know what I mean.”

Then, just like he said, the phone rang again. Daniel pressed the speakerphone button, and Genevieve’s small voice greeted him.

“Hi, it’s me—Genevieve—again. I’m sorry about the outburst before. I was wondering if you’d allow me to make it up to you?”

Normally, Daniel would ask her out, they’d sleep together again, and there’d be a repeat of this mess two weeks from now. This time, however, he said, “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea Genevieve. The level of immaturity you just displayed was quite unsettling. The woman I choose to be with won’t embarrass me or herself like that. You obviously have some more growing up to do… Perhaps you can call me then.”

Daniel ended the call as soon as the last word left his sinful lips.

“What the actual fuck?” Josh said, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re telling someone to grow up? You’re the most childish grown man I know. Something is seriously wrong with you.”

“On the contrary, my friend, I’m perfectly sane.” Daniel chuckled like nothing could ever faze him. He then pushed himself up and walked over to the large glass windows to take in the incredible view once again.

“Josh, I love my life. I always get what I want, and I set aside what I don’t want. Life is a cabaret, my friend.”

Daniel grinned, but he knew Josh could not resist the urge to give another warning.

“Like I said, D, one day someone will catch your eye, and you won’t be able to sweet talk your way into her life—or con your way out.”

Daniel turned to look his best friend in the eyes. The seriousness in his stare was almost scary.

“Trust me, Josh, that will never happen.” He spoke with so much assurance that it left no room for doubt or further discussion.