Nick is sitting in his office as he answers each email from employees and companies' that are looking for an investment. The deal he and Vincent closed on is currently in the works and will be ready to rent out in about 6 months. The units he already has are doing great. The millionaire is constantly closing deals and quadrupling his money; not only in the real estate business, but the investment business as well. Truth be told, he is not so far from being a billionaire. He's just one good investment away.
His office phone rings from his assistant. "Nick," She speaks. "Sophie is here to see you."
Sophie? Nick questions. Vincent's ex? What does she want? "Send her in." In a matter of seconds, Sophie walks in and glances around the room before landing her eyes on him. There's an awkward silence. The two of them haven't spoken since she and Vincent have broken up. Nick gets up to meet her. "Hey. Long time no see."
"Yeah. How've you been?"
Nick sits on the edge of his desk as she stands in front of him. "Ive been good. Im learning how to play the piano." He lets out a chuckle after he looks at her facial expression.
"Piano? Why?"
"To be honest, I really do not know. So what brings you here?"
"I need you to invest in my restaurant so I can open it. I tried other investors, but they do not believe in me and they want to own 50% of my business. That is ridiculous. At least with you, you won't cheat me. The banks will not approve me because I haven't taken out a loan before, so they do not know if I can be trusted."
"Do you think that's a good idea with Vincent's..."
Sophie interrupts him. She did not want to hear his name nor did she plan on running into him. What made her show up today is that she deleted Nick's number the moment her and Vincent broke up and that she remembers that Vincent doesn't come to his office on Mondays. "This is strictly business. I don't care about your friend nor what he has to say."
Nick believes her. His best friend's relationship troubles shouldn't stop him from a deal. Plus, Vincent has moved on. He shouldn't care if Nick invested in his ex's restaurant which he believes will succeed. "How much do you need?"
"$500,000."
"Woah. Half of a million dollars? Are you sure you're ready to take on something big without knowing what you're getting into?"
Sophie stands there perplexed. She wants to open up her restaurant badly, but she's never been a math or a sales person. She's never been the person to take risks. "To be honest, I don't know. Vin... Vincent used to help me with these things."
"Vincent is the person you should be talking to. He would get you a better deal than what they're asking for and before you let your pride get in the way, do you really want to open this restaurant?" Nick stands up and walks to his chair. He picks up his cell phone and starts scrolling through his contacts for Vincent's phone number.
She quietly stands there for a minute, thinking about what he said. She knows that he is right. She has to do what's best to achieve her goal of opening her restaurant. The one Vincent has known about. She lets out a deep sign before responding, "Where is he?"
"I am about to call him right now." He presses on call button on his iPhone.
"You know you could have gotten me a better deal as well."
"That is true, but I think you and Vincent should see each other a couple more time before you go back and disappear."
"Wassup?" Vincent answers the phone and speaks through his car speakers.
"Where you at?" Nick asks to make sure that Valerie isn't in the car with him and before putting him on speaker so Sophie wouldn't hear. She seems quite nervous to hear the sound of his voice.
"I just left a property that I plan on buying. Why? Wassup?" He asks again.
Nick puts him on speaker so Sophie can hear. He looks at Sophie while he responds. "Sophie is in my office. She needed my help, but I think she needs your help instead." There was a complete silence on the phone. Vincent did not expect to hear about her being in the building he shares with Nick. Nick can hear cars honking in the background, wondering is Vincent came to a complete stop once he heard her name. "Vin, you there?" Nick speaks.
"I'm here. What is that she needs help with? Is she ok?" He asks.
"Why don't you come in to find out. She will be waiting for you in my office."
"I'll be there in 20." Vincent hangs up. Nick sees that Sophie is deep in her thoughts. She's nervous, which is something he expected.
"You don't have nothing to be worried about." He assures her. "He's going to get you the best deal while you get to still keep majority equity. Remember that this is strictly business," He mocks her by repeating the last two words she said earlier. She knows that he's not lying that Vincent is going to get her a great deal. He's good at those things. She remembers him closing several deals as she sat in the background, taking notes. Not as his assistant, but as a supporting girlfriend.
Sophie sits on the chair across from his desk and starts a conversation to take her mind off Vincent and the anticipation of him entering the office in a couple of minutes. "Why don't you have a girlfriend?"
"How do you know if I have one or not?"
"I know you. You're still single. You have trouble being in a committed relationship, which isn't a bad thing on your end considering that you just do not enter any relationship. You want to enter the right relationship."
"You know that I am quick to dead the bull."
"I know."
"What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No. I am going to be of the market for a while. After my last relationship, I feel like it's time for me to just slow down and wait for the right person to give my all to. Someone that will appreciate me."
"That's how it should be. In all honesty, Vincent appreciated you. He just had a hard way of showing it considering the fact that you were the first girl he loved. He was afraid and now his fear has cause him to lose the person he really cared about."
Sophie heart stops for a moment there because of his words. They caught her off guard, and now all she wants to do is rewind this conversation to talk about a show on Netflix. "Stop. I don't want to hear that. Not from you." She whispers.
A knock appears on his office door. "Since when did Vincent knock." Nick laughs. "Come in." He shouts. Vincent walks in with the attire he had on this morning. A polo shirt tucked in his jeans and a pair of shoes that matches his shirt and his Invicta on his wrist.
On the inside Sophia is cursing at Nick for making this happen, but she keeps reminding herself that she wants to open the restaurant. "Hey," Vincent says to her.
"Hi." She avoids eye contact.
"What is it that you need my help with?"
There was a moment of silence, so Nick decides to speak for her. "She is looking for an investment of $500,000 for the restaurant she's wants to open. She has come to us because she believes that other investors are scamming her by trying to take 50% of her company, and the banks are declining her because she has never taken out a loan before."
"$500,000 for 50%? Got damn. Good thing you did not take that deal."
"Yeah. If I didn't attend those meetings with you back then, I probably would have taken the deal." She speaks.
"I can work on getting you a loan, but how much do you have to put down? Where is the building you're looking to purchase because I can try to see if they're ripping you off? What is your business plan?"
Nick stands up and packs his laptop. "I am going to head out. I have a piano lesson to attend. You guys do what you have to do, but do not mess up my office, or you guys can simply go to Vincent's office down the hall." He walks towards the door.
Sophie puts her briefcase on the desk and pulls out her business plan that she prepared in her notebook and hands it to Vincent. He smiles at her because he's proud that she's finally going through with opening her own restaurant. He's going to make sure he gets her a good deal. "You did this all by yourself?"
"I had some help from Google, but yes I did." She responds. He smirks.
"What? I'm just not good with numbers like you are."
"I am proud of you. I always told you that you'd open your own restaurant some day."
"I hope so. Getting funded is the hardest part, especially for the place I am looking at. I only have 36,000 in my savings, but that's still not enough." She rolls her eyes. "When do we get started?"
"After I review this," He waves her notebook in front of her. "After reviewing it, I will contact you to to meet up with bankers and the owner of the building to work some deals. Okay?"
"You're the boss." The awkwardness isn't there since they're only talking about business. "I am guessing that I should give you my number." She lays out her hand so he can give her his cellphone. He hands it to her after unlocking it and she inserts it.
After handing it back to him, she packs her things and walks towards the front door. "Soph," Vincent calls her by one of her nicknames he used to call her by. She turns around to look at him. "Promise me that when you get your restaurant, you'll invite me to the grand opening."
"I promise. Thank you for helping me." She genuinely smiles at him, which makes his day because he can honestly say that he missed seeing that smile.
"Anytime."