Nadia processed this for a moment. The man Mr. Robert introduced you to Yes. She got her snack out of the cabinet. She thought about it while she opened the bag.
So, you'd own part of a company, she said. If it works out. Yes. She looked at him with those careful eyes. Daddy, she said you should call Olivia.
He looked at his daughter. She was right. He called Olivia. She answered on the first ring this time. He told her.
There was a silence on the other end. Then she said, "Marcus, stop downplaying this in your head. I can hear you doing it. I'm not downplaying it. You're about to tell me it's not settled yet, and there's a lot to work out, and you don't want to get ahead of yourself. " He opened his mouth, closed it.
You know me too well. He said, I'm paying attention. She said, this is enormous. Let it be enormous for 5 minutes before start qualifying it. He let out a breath.
Okay, say it out loud. Olivia, say it. He looked at the kitchen window. The December night outside, his daughter's somewhere in the house, the street where Robert's porch light was on across the way. Gerald Patton wants me as a business partner, he said with equity, co-ownership of a 30-year-old company.
There it is, she said softly. That's the one. He put his elbow on the table and pressed his hand against his forehead and breathed. I went from 2 months behind on rent to this. He said in 4 months.
No, she said, you went from being the kind of man you've always been to having the world finally catch up with that a pause. There's a difference, Marcus. You didn't change. Your circumstances changed because you crossed the street. He sat with that.
Because I crossed the street, he said because you crossed the street, he called Robert next. The old man picked up on the fourth ring, which was progress in October. He hadn't picked up at all if he didn't recognize the number. Marcus told him about Gerald. Robert was quiet for so long that Marcus checked his phone to make sure the call was still connected.
Then Robert said, he called you directly. Yes. Not through me. No. Another silence.