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to throwing coffee all over you.”
    “Well, obviously that too.”
    They clinked their glasses together and both took a sip.
    “Thank God it was iced coffee,” Jace said, thinking to himself.
    “Oh my God, could you imagine if it was scalding hot?”
    “Yeah, I’d be in the emergency room right now getting my face grafted.”
    “And no face is kind of a deal breaker for me.”
    Jack laughed. “I’ll bet. So, are you still close with his daughter?”
    “Yeah, we’re still really close.”
    “Is it weird working for someone you’ve known your whole life?”
    Maddy stopped and thought for a moment. “No, it’s not too bad. I think Brent makes a conscious effort not to give me shit in front of Jenna.”
    “That’s his daughter?”
    “Yeah.”
    Jace nodded.
    “Yeah, but then he’ll get a phone call, and I’ll start jotting down notes and dates, it’s just kind of become habit.”
    “I gotcha.”
    “So tell me about you. You seem awfully nice for a Wall Street guy.”
    Jace laughed. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
    Over drinks and games, food and laughs, competitions, and trash talking, the lunch crowd turned to the dinner crowd. The dinner crowd turned to the after dinner crowd and before they knew it, they were drunk and it was late.
    “Wow, it’s like ten o’clock already.”
    “Uh oh, better get me home soon before I turn into a pumpkin,” Maddy said, draping her arms around Jace’s neck.
    “All right, let’s get out of here.”
    After paying the bill, they descended down the escalator and emptied out onto the sidewalk.
    “So, let me ask you. If you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do?”
    “You mean anything? Or for a job?”
    “Anything.”
    “I want to do something totally random, totally spontaneous.”
    “You seem like a spontaneous girl.”
    “You would think so, but I don’t buy suits and get drunk in the afternoon every Friday.”
    “You should.”
    Maddy laughed. “God, yes I should.”
    Jace pondered for a moment. His thoughts trailing back to an earlier conversation in the day. “You really want to do something spontaneous?”
    “Yes.”
    “Really?”
    Maddy stopped walking and turned to face him. She looked up at him; her excitement was evident in her eyes. Jace grinned deviously.
    “Uh oh,” Maddy said through a smile.
    “How long would it take you to get your passport?”
    Maddy blinked hard. That was a question that had some serious implications.
    “Twenty minutes …. What in God’s name are you thinking?”
    “I’m thinking I’m going to call someone’s bluff.”

 
    Chapter 5
     
    It was a bright Saturday morning and Mark awoke from his bed. His white linens shined with the purity of a sinful man. The sun was bright and beaming through his floor-to-ceiling windows. He inhaled deeply and was struck with the dry cardboard taste in his mouth. His throat ached and his brain was a few sizes too big from his own celebrating of a new client last night. One of which he was still entitled to a bonus for as he was the senior man on the account. He reached over and grabbed his clock, refusing to move his head at all to see the time. The red numbers looked back at him—10:23. He dropped the clock on his bed, rolled over to face the ceiling, and took a few deep breaths to gain his bearings. Glancing around the room, he realized that the drunken Mark hadn’t left any water out for the hungover Mark. Which is fine, he thought to himself. I think hungover Mark would prefer a Bloody Mary instead of a glass of water anyway.
    With the promise of another drink in mind, he hopped from his king-sized bed and took inventory of the room, looking for his cell phone. He found it tossed on the floor, an impact that appeared to have luckily been hindered by the plush, white, area rug that he had around his bed. The white looked astounding in the morning light. It was one of the reasons he bought the place. Although the sun was devastating on the