Gap Year - 28. Chapter 28

February 19, 2004

New York City

 

Will

“Too bad you can’t stay longer,” Patrick said as I stood in front of his mirror getting my appearance in order.

“I think we should both be happy that I made it down here yesterday and we had last night together,” I said in a fake bitchy way. Stef had called me yesterday and told me he was leaving New York this morning in case I wanted to fly back with him. I’d been so done with Boston, since after I’d bought that stock in Facebook I’d gotten all these smarmy looks from Matt. Wade didn’t do that, but I knew he was thinking the same thing. So I’d said my painful goodbyes to the kids and Rosa and flown down here. I’d opted to spend my time with Patrick, and it had been a blast. It was like a cleansing experience after sleeping with Jorge and Peter Thiel.

He walked up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and nibbled on my neck, making me giggle. “That was the best present ever.”

“I’ve got some shit to do in California, but I’ll try to get back out here soon,” I promised.

He pivoted me around so I was facing him. “Thanks so much for saving me.”

I smiled at him. “Yeah, that was definitely a team effort,” I joked. He didn’t laugh.

“I’m serious,” he said earnestly. “For the first time in my life, I feel comfortable with who I am, and I feel completely grounded.”

I gave him a nice kiss. “I’m glad I could help.” This had gotten maudlin enough, and he sensed that.

“Safe travels,” he said. I gave him one last kiss then grabbed my bag and headed to the elevator, glancing at my watch as I did. I’d left my huge suitcase here in New York and had taken my garment bag to Boston, so managing that and my backpack were pretty easy.

I got to the front lobby and there was JJ’s Maybach waiting for me. “Morning,” the driver said. Fortunately, it was one of the cooler guys.

“Morning,” I responded.

“Got orders to take you to the condo so you can ride to the airport with Mr. Schluter,” he said. I guess JJ needed his car.

“That’s fine,” I responded. I kicked back and watched the city around me. The morning traffic made a relatively short trek a pain in the ass, but that was New York. It’s not like it was any better in the Bay Area. I was trying to be in a good mood, but I was sad about leaving Patrick. Since our reunion at his apartment before I went to Boston, and after our last night together, I’d really bonded with him. Being with someone like him who I really cared about, someone I had an amazing connection with, all but erased my memories of the encounters I’d had since leaving Connie in Australia. I tried to decide what made him unique among the guys I’d been involved with, and I decided that it was the way he was so considerate of me and my needs. Whether we were having sex or just hanging out, he went out of his way to make sure I was enjoying myself. I briefly beat myself up when I thought that, because it made it seem like I wanted him to just be my bitch and focus on me, but it wasn’t like that, and it wasn’t like I didn’t try to do the same thing for him. What made it so awesome is that when he did it, it seemed so natural, like part of him, and not something that was forced.

The car pulled up to the condo and stopped, jolting me out of my introspection and throwing me back into my bad mood. I noticed there was a big Escalade limousine waiting out front. “I’ll put your bag in that car,” the driver said.

I thanked him but kept my backpack with me and hiked up the stairs to JJ’s condo. I didn’t bother to knock, I just went in, and found JJ, Stef, and Susannah standing in the entry way. When I looked back, I saw Tom pushing a cart with all of Stef’s luggage into the elevator. “Good morning,” I said pleasantly, trying my best to paper over the bitchiness that was underneath my façade.

“Sweetie Darling, William is back with the car,” Susannah said, going into her AbFab mode. I felt my veneer cracking; my façade was falling apart. I almost panicked, trying to think of a way out before I lost it.

“Thank God,” JJ said, affecting the same act. “It would be dreadful to have to ride in a normal limo.” And with that, my whole pretense at pleasantness snapped. I’d put up with them while I’d been here, but my patience had finally worn out.

“You two are total dorks,” I said rather meanly. Susannah looked offended, while JJ got all pissed off. Stef was trying to hide a grin, probably because he was irritated with their games as well. “I’ll be in the car,” I said, directing that at Stef. Before anyone could respond, I turned around and went back down the stairs and hopped into the Escalade, making myself comfortable. I’d probably have to pay dearly for saying that to the two of them, but they were such idiots, I decided it was worth it if I shocked them out of their little bubble.

It took some fifteen minutes before the door opened, ushering Stef into the car. Grand had already gone back, evidently, and Tom decided to sit up front with the driver. “Well hello there,” he said, and we gave each other stunted hugs since we were in a car.

“It’s good to see you,” I said.

“Did you get in last night?” he asked. The back hatch closed, and shortly after that the limo began its trek to the airport.

“I got in yesterday afternoon,” I said. He looked at me quizzically. “I spent the night with Patrick.”

He smiled. “I am glad meeting up with me for the return flight had a side benefit.”

“It did indeed,” I said, grinning. “I decided that after a certain number of slutty hookups, I have to have a meaningful one.”

He laughed. “And what is the ratio of hookups to meaningful sex?”

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” I said.

“Your brother is irritated with you,” he said, but with a slight smile.

I rolled my eyes. “I put up with them all week, and it was like this morning I reached my breaking point and called them dorks.”

“I did much better than you,” he said in a jocular way, “but I think that if I were to stay much longer, I would probably react as you did.”

“He’ll make me pay for that later, but it was worth it,” I grumbled.

“I love Absolutely Fabulous, but that was quite tiresome,” Stef said. “I ignored that as much as I could and tried to figure out if there was anything between the two of them.”

“What did you decide?” I asked.

“I do not think there is yet, but I do not think it will be long until they are a couple,” he said. That really surprised me.

“Why do you think that?”

“I think that Susannah likes the finer things in life, and she is also in a very unsettled and insecure position, having left the UK the way she did,” he said. “I think she will grab the opportunity for safety and comfort.”

“You’re saying she’s a gold digger?” I asked.

“I think that is how this will play out,” he said. “JP agrees with me.” It was funny that he tossed that statement in about Grand, as if to validate his views in my eyes.

“Your read on the situation was good enough to convince me,” I said as I pondered the situation. “How do we handle that?” Only after I did that did I ponder how it was a little off that I thought I had any input in how ‘it’ was handled, but before I could correct myself, Stef answered my question.

“Most of JJ’s trusts have been structured differently than yours and Darius’s,” he said. “He has no control or access to the principal and can only get the income.”

“When did that change?” I asked. Most of these trusts had been started when we were kids, so that was kind of a big deal for them to go in and amend them. Stef got a bit nervous, then seemed resolved.

“After the incident with his coach,” he said. “We were concerned that he could be influenced by someone who would attempt to bleed him dry financially.” It really wasn’t fair to judge JJ for how he’d been completely preyed upon in that situation, but I could also see where that could happen again.

“That looks to be pretty smart now,” I said, even as I digested that. “Why didn’t you change mine and Darius’s trusts?”

He sighed. “I perhaps should not share this with you, lest it anger you.”

“What?” I demanded and gave him a steely look to tell him he had no choice.

“Your father originally wanted to change all of them, but I, with JP’s backing, demanded that yours and Darius’s be left alone.”

I shook my head. “I expected no less from him. He wanted to keep control of things. It’s a problem.”

Stef laughed. “It is.”

“So why didn’t you agree with him?” I was really curious about that.

“Because both you and Darius are confident young men, and I did not think that you would easily fall for a gold digger. You both think too logically for that. But JJ is an artist, and he thinks more with his heart.”

“You’re saying you trust my judgment?” I asked, smiling.

“I am,” he stated firmly, then got a bit nervous. “Your father does too. I do not mean to imply that he does not.”

“I don’t know if I buy that,” I said skeptically. “It seems like everything I do, he questions it.”

“He is certainly not free of issues,” Stef said.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I said, broaching a subject that was on my mind.

“Go on,” he said with a bit of apprehension.

“Right now, Dad has access to my bank account, and he puts money in when it gets low,” I said, telling him something he already knew. “I’m going to open a different account that he doesn’t have access to.”

“I am wondering why you feel the need to do that?” he asked.

“Because I get tired of him questioning everything I do. His first reaction is that I made a mistake, and he holds onto that viewpoint until I can argue with him and show him it wasn’t,” I said.

“It is often good to have someone who is also smart give you advice about such matters,” Stef said. I could have gotten annoyed with him over that, but I sensed that he was just trying to find out what I was thinking.

“I don’t feel like I have to justify everything I do to him,” I said simply. “If I need advice, I usually ask you, Grand or Dad. I’d rather do it that way, than have unsolicited feedback forced upon me.”

“I can see your point,” he said. “This won’t be an issue once you are 18.”

“But it’s an issue now,” I said. “So anyway, that’s my plan.”

“Without your father pouring money into your account, how will it get replenished?” Stef asked. I’d kind of hoped he’d offer to step in and help me out, but that wasn’t required.

“I still have Tonto’s money,” I said, referring to the trusts that I already controlled. “That should be enough to tide me over for the next six months.” There was over $8 million dollars in those accounts. After I turned 18, I’d have access to a shit-ton of money, but in the few short months until I was 18, I’d have to be careful about making big purchases.

“I am not sure how you feel about this, but if you would like to give me access, I will see that you do not run out of money,” he said.

“That’s really nice of you,” I said, smiling. “Thanks.” By him doing that, he’d basically given me an almost unlimited line of credit. I didn’t want to be strapped for cash while I was enjoying my time before college.

“I would have offered immediately, but I know in the past you have been concerned that I was a conduit of information to your father,” he said, and there was no mistaking the bitterness in his tone.

“It’s been a long time since that happened. I think you and I, and our relationship, has grown way beyond that crap,” I said with a combination of severity and sincerity.

He smiled and held up his finger, while I took my finger and pressed it against his. We’d become ‘blood brothers’ years ago, and that was the sign of our bond. It was more meaningful than saying ‘I love you’. “I agree. I have learned to filter what I learn from you when talking to your father.”

“I’m sure he’ll be ready to really unload on me when he hears I spent $500,000 in Boston,” I said. That statement coincided with our arrival at the airport. We focused on transferring from the car to the plane, and it wasn’t until we were taxiing away from the FBO that we resumed our conversation. Tom sensed that we were involved in something and absented himself to go bug the pilots.

“I heard that you had invested in this Book Face company,” Stef said.

I laughed. “It’s Facebook.”

“Bookface, Facebook,” he said dismissively, as if it were the same thing, cracking me up even more. “Matt told me that he advised you not to do the deal.”

“He did, and Wade did, but they’re wrong,” I said confidently. He raised an eyebrow.

“You seem quite convinced,” he said. I could tell he didn’t entirely believe me.

“I looked at what they were doing with Facebook, and played around with it, and it’s really cool,” I said.

“You have to be careful when you look at a product to make sure that it is not just something that you like, but that other people will like,” he said. I got the sense that he wasn’t questioning my judgment, but turning this into a lesson, kind of like Grand did when he talked about some things.

“I get that, and it’s not just something that I liked. I think Facebook is something that most people would like and would use.”

“You think someone like me would use this?” he challenged.

“Let me show you,” I said. “To access Facebook you have to have an edu email, but I got them to give me access without one.” I logged onto my account, and then set up my laptop so the camera was facing us. “Smile.”

“One moment,” he said, and used the camera preview to adjust his hair. Then he smiled, as did I, we huddled together, and I clicked to take the picture. “That is a good picture of us. You must send that to me.”

“Won’t be necessary,” I said. I loaded the picture into my news feed, typed a few lines below it, then showed him. “Now everyone who is my friend on the Facebook will be able to see it. And they can download it if they want to.”

He took my mouse and scrolled around a bit. “In this manner, you can keep track of your friends and what is going on in their lives.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Matt observed that there are other sites out there that do the same thing,” he said.

“There are,” I said. “Here’s what they look like.” I took him to MySpace and Friendster and showed him how hard they were to use in comparison.

“You are saying this is only available to university students?” he asked.

“For now,” I said. “The guy who developed this said that in ten years, grandmothers will be on here looking at pictures of their grandkids.”

“Entrepreneurs are usually overly optimistic about their products,” he said, even as he thought about it.

“I get that, but I think this dude is right,” I said.

“It is all very lovely to create a site where people can post pictures for their friends,” he said. “The big question is how this Facebook will monetize that.”

“Ad revenue,” I answered. “But it’s more than that.”

“Explain that,” Stef said.

“They’ll collect data on all their users, and so they’ll be able to target ads to them that users will find interesting,” I said. “Sean Parker is going to run the company.”

“The Napster guy,” Stef said, smiling. Stef liked him because of his extroverted personality.

“Yep,” I said. “He says that this will be like having people do constant consumer surveys on what they like and what they’re interested in.”

“That truly would make this much more attractive,” he said, grasping the concept now. “Online ad revenue can be substantial if it is done right. It sounds like they are doing much what Google is doing.”

“That was how I understood it,” I said. I had spent a lot of time studying Google and how it worked since I’d ended up with a bunch of stock in that company, courtesy of Stef and my father.

“I had heard about this project, but we had passed on it because we are very involved with LinkedIn,” he said. “We did not want to have a conflict of interest.”

“Why would you have a conflict?” I asked.

“Because we are heavily involved in helping manage that company, and it sounds like that is also what this Facebook requires. It is difficult to credibly manage two potential competitors,” he said.

“I can see that,” I agreed.

“You invested as an Angel,” he said, confirming that fact.

“I did.”

“That is the most dangerous type of investment to make in our business, but it is also the most lucrative,” he mused. “They will ultimately need more money. When they make it to Series A funding, I would like to participate.”

“I’ll let them know,” I said.

“When you bought your stock, I’m assuming there was a clause that let you maintain your ownership percentage?” he asked.

“There was,” I said. It was one of the things that Wade had pointed out in his review of the contract.

“That gives an early investor like you the ability to invest more money as the company grows and seeks outside funding,” he said. “In that way, we have expanded our ownership of Google as it went through multiple rounds of fund raising.”

“So that’s why my trust with the Google stock shows the number of shares going up,” I said. I’d also noticed the cash going down. That solved that mystery.

“That is why,” he answered. “When you get the offer to buy more shares of this company, you must do the same. If you do not want to, let me know, and I will do it for you.” I was a little stunned by his enthusiasm.

“You think I was right, and this was a good deal?” I asked.

“I am convinced it was,” he said. “I would not be surprised if this investment ultimately catapults you into the Forbes 400.”

“Oh come on,” I said, thinking he was full of shit.

“I was not joking,” he said seriously.

“Matt will be pissed,” I said, shaking my head.

“Why did he not do the deal?” Stef asked.

“There are some people suing Facebook, claiming they stole their idea,” I said. “He and Wade were all worried about that.”

“And you were not?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I think this is a cool enough thing to overcome that.”

He smiled at me in an appreciative way. “That is quite perceptive of you. In situations such as this, a lawsuit like that may be expensive, but it is unlikely to detract from the overall success of the company.”

“It was really strange, Stef,” I said. “It was like Matt had lost his edge.”

“I do not understand,” he said, more of a question.

“Matt has always been really confident and assertive, but it was like this deal seemed to scare him,” I said, confused. “I don’t know if it was Wade harping on about their lawsuit or what, but he seemed totally oblivious to the potential.”

“Indeed?”

“They talked about this lawsuit and the financials, but it didn’t seem like that big of a deal,” I said.

Stef smiled gently. “I think that Matt will ultimately rediscover those traits you think he has lost.”

“You do?” I asked.

He nodded. “He is working on his CFA exam and his MS in Finance. That trek into academia will be good for him in the end, but right now he is using the tools they are teaching him and relying too much on them.”

“So he’s looking at the financial information and the legal issues, and because that’s what his professors are focused on, he thinks they’re more important than the big picture?” I asked. I’d have to remember not to let that happen when I got to college.

“I think that is possible,” he said.

“It probably doesn’t help that Wade’s basically doing the same thing,” I said.

“That would be a reasonable assumption,” he said. “They are both so focused on analyzing the company they have seemingly forgot what the company is all about.”

“Another thing that may have bothered Matt was that he’d had a few meetings with Peter Thiel and got the impression that if Thiel was going to let him in this deal, he was going to have to sleep with him,” I said.

“That would be a challenge for him,” Stef observed.

“No shit,” I agreed. “There’s no way he’d do that, and cause problems with Wade.”

“That is probably a wise decision on his part,” he said. “Maybe that is why he was so reticent, and it was not the analytics.”

“I guess that’s possible, but even after I invested the money, Matt was focused on how weak their financials were,” I said.

“Do you think Matt was right, and that in order to participate he would have been compelled to have sex with Peter?” Stef asked.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

“I am wondering how you convinced Peter to let you invest?” he asked, acting like he was a big sleuth trying to find out if I’d slept with him.

“I fucked him,” I said succinctly, making Stef laugh uproariously.

“My first big success with venture capital was with a company called ComCalc,” he said, as if everyone hadn’t heard of that company. “As part of the incentive to get me to put money into the company, the founder fucked me.”

“I am your grandson,” I said, and we laughed some more.

“It did not bother you that Peter Thiel is a very dedicated Republican, and even founded the Stanford Review?” he asked.

“I knew he was a Republican, but I didn’t know he started that rag,” I said disdainfully. “Do you do business with Republicans?”

“I do, but I do not usually sleep with them,” he joked, making me laugh.

“It’s not like I’m going to marry the dude,” I said. “I found him to be really smart and really interesting. Plus he was a decent lover.”

“I think it goes without saying that he is very bright,” Stef agreed. “He also has a talent at sniffing out deals just like this and picking the right ones.”

“Much like you,” I said.

“Perhaps,” he agreed, smiling gently.

“I mean, we didn’t talk politics, and it’s not something I’d bring up, but it might be nice to hear the viewpoints of someone like him who wasn’t a complete idiot,” I said.

“Maybe you will get that chance,” he said.

“Maybe,” I agreed a bit skeptically. I didn’t think that Peter Thiel would track me down just to have a conversation about politics. If he tracked me down, I was willing to bet it would be for much more carnal reasons.

With the time change, we managed to get back to Escorial right before lunch time. I used the few minutes before that meal to call my father. I dialed his number and was surprised that he answered. “I’m in a meeting,” he snapped.

“I’m sorry,” I said, surprised at his gruff manner. “I just wanted to let you know that I was back in town.”

“I’ll see you this weekend,” he said, and ended the call. I stared at the phone, as if it was the reason he was a dick, shrugged, and went into the dining room. I gave Grand, Grandmaman, and Frank brief greetings and sat across from Stef, who was next to Frank.

“It is nice to have you back,” Grandmaman said smoothly.

“Thanks,” I said, smiling at her. “I had a good trip.”

“Are you planning to stick around for a while?” Frank asked me in his somewhat gruff way.

“My next stop is Malibu,” I said, to keep them up with my schedule. “There are some good parties next weekend.” He just nodded.

“Perhaps you should take Frank with you,” Stef said. “There is nothing he loves more than a big party.” Frank didn’t like parties at all.

“That’s more your deal than mine,” Frank said. “Especially if there are men there that are about a third of your age.” Stef glowered at him, while the rest of us tried not to snicker.

“I talked to Dad and he was pretty annoyed,” I said, to change the subject. “Has he been in a bad mood this week?”

“He has not been around since I have returned,” Grand said, then looked to Grandmaman.

“I have not seen him since last week,” she said.

“Is he up in the City?” I asked.

“I do not know,” Grandmaman said.

After lunch I called my father back. It went to voice mail the first three times, then on the fourth he finally answered. “I told you I was in a meeting,” he all but shouted at me.

“Still?” I asked, keeping my cool.

“Still,” he replied in a nasty tone, one that probably would have flattened most people.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“I don’t have time to talk,” he said.

“Where are you?” I demanded more forcefully.

“I don’t understand why you think you can yell at me for calling when you’re busy, then you think you can suddenly demand that I drop everything when you want to talk,” he said loudly, then he ended the call.