Chapter 83: Just a Friend
** Harper **
They didn’t get to buy any lottery tickets in the end, because as soon as the new secret cult members shared their first meeting together, where the preliminary plans for the business trip to Hawaii was revealed, the fresh wave of shock blew all other thoughts off of everyone’s mind.
"I can’t believe it. Wow, I seriously can’t believe it." Lindsey was clutching her laptop so hard when she came out of the meeting. "Two weeks at a five-star beach resort in Hawaii, just to get to know the core team and hash out the scope of the project? I knew the investors had money, but this is ... Wow, just wow."
"Feeling lucky that you’re part of the core team now?" Naomi emerged from the room next, a wide smile dancing over her face. "Talk about good timing. The whole office is going to be so jealous of you."
"The whole office is going to be so jealous of all of us," Lindsey corrected her. "I mean, really, is this standard protocol for Sterling Trust? How can a regional investment firm afford this much extravagance with all their partners?"
That comment was probably meant to be just a casual remark. But as Harper followed the group to file out of the meeting room, the words suddenly gave her pause.
Was this standard protocol for Sterling Trust? For the first time since she heard the news, she realized that such a question had never occurred to her. All the surprises had caught her off guard, and she had been too busy processing what the changes meant to her project and her personal life. But now, with the question voiced out loud, she couldn’t help but start to wonder what this huge turn of events truly meant.
She wasn’t familiar enough with either Sterling Trust or joint ventures to know whether this level of high-profile partnership was normal. But one thing she did know — Eli’s relationship with his father was hopelessly strained, and that fact must be a non-secret throughout his company, given the way some of his colleagues acted toward him during the meeting two weeks ago. Needless to say, even if the high-stake investment and extravagant trip to Hawaii were standard protocols in the industry, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to pull off in the current context.
How far did he have to go to secure such a deal with Miracles? The question stabbed at Harper. She had never asked about it, too stunned to ponder that far when Eli revealed the news to her over that romantic dinner. Now that she was finally thinking everything through ... Damn, she could only wish that the surprises didn’t come at the cost of the father-and-son relationship getting even more strained than it already was.