Simon stood in front of Charles and Silver who both stared at him as if he has gone mad after his proclamation about gold and glory. Seeing how the two of them were staring at him, Simon was slightly embarrassed, but he knew that he needed to get their attention if they will ever listen to him.

After a few seconds of silence, Simon could no longer take it as he spoke with slight embarrassment evident in his voice:

“Alright. Maybe not gold per se. Anyway, let’s go get lunch and we can….”

Before he can finish speaking, Charles immediately interjected as he spoke hurriedly:

“We can eat later. Explain what you mean.”

Simon looked at his friends face and saw a glimpse of that youthful exuberance that he remembered from years ago. Even though he reconnected with Silver after his downfall, Charles however was another story.

Simon heard from Silver that Charles’ went bankrupt after the wave of modernization that hit Brandermill. Eventually, he sold off all his assets and moved somewhere else to start again. This turned out to be another black mark on Simon heart, which is why he is currently going around trying to reconnect with his true friends.

Simon stopped himself from reminiscence and regret and sighed before sitting across the Charles. He immediately started talking, albeit with a bit more serious tone:

“Well in the interest of not beating around the bush, I want to buy in to your company.”

The small office immediately descended into silence as Charles and Silver both stared at Simon while processing his words. In the meantime, Simon pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit one. Thinking this was enough time for them, he turned to Charles and spoke:

“What do you say little Charles?”

Charles looked intently at Simon as if trying to figure out the intent behind his proposal. He couldn’t help but remember the last time they spoke and Simon’s words causing him to frown as he spoke:

“I don’t need your charity Simon. My company is not doing well right now, but things are not so bad that I need to be your little vanity project. Please see yourself out.”

Charles’ words did not surprise Simon who immediately released a puff of smoke into the air as he spoke:

“Don’t get me wrong Charles. I consider you family, but we are both businessmen. I want to buy a majority stake in your company. I have plans Charles, and I would like you to join me in achieving them, but you don’t have to.”

The atmosphere in the room immediately got tense as the two stared at each other in silence causing Silver to feel slightly out of place. Silver immediately cleared his throat and spoke In a bid to ease the tension:

“Alright guys. I’ll let you guys discuss business.”

Simon immediately spoke without sparing a glance to Silver as he continued his staring contest with Charles:

“I brought you here to help me conduct a thorough audit of the company’s worth.”

He then turned to Charles as he spoke:

“I want to 51% of your company. If you agree, Silver here will conduct an unbiased audit to figure how much my buy in should be. Consider my proposal Charles and don’t let your pride cloud your judgement.”

Charles was quit for a few seconds before sighing heavily as he spoke:

“Alright Simon. I believe you. But I still can’t agree because this company of mine is about to go out of business. It is not worth your time.”

Hearing his words, the seriousness evaporated from Simon’s face and was replaced by a confident smile. He immediately spoke with a laugh:

“That’s for me to worry about little Charles. I am not one for wasting money, so what do you say?”

Simon stood up and extended his hand across the desk to the flabbergasted Charles who was wondering if Simon was just pulling his leg. A few seconds later, Charles shook his head in resignation before flashing a thankful smile to Simon and shaking his hand as he spoke:

“Alright, I guess I’ll take your money if you’re offering it.”

“Haha. Great. Can we go eat now? I am starving.”

Simon laughed as he shook hands with Charles, then he turned to Silver who was still wondering if it was normal to come to such decision in a few minutes.

“Hey Silver, I need you to get the audit done before Monday, of course, you can make these billable hours. Anyway, let’s go get lunch.”

Simon immediately let go of Charles’ hand before walking to the exit. He knew he was being slightly too eager since he had just closed the sale of his bank today and was already buying into another business, but he really was excited.

He was sure that this was simply a manic state, a defensive mechanism that is helping him cope with his failures and regrets, and he didn’t know when he might wake up only to find himself back in reality with a gun to his head and no path forward.

Furthermore, he had made more progress in the last few hours than he had in the last five years, so it was understandable that he wanted to make full use of every minute he has left in this reality to accomplish all that he always wanted.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

As Simon, Silver and Charles sat in the Aston Martin heading towards their eating venue, a silence pervaded the entire car, however, this wasn’t an awkward or uncomfortable silence, rather, it was more due. To reluctance since each of them had a lot to say but did not know how to say it causing them to exchange glances ever so often only to end up chuckling.

Eventually, it was Silver who broke the silence from the back seat as he turned to Simon who was driving and spoke with some hesitation:

“Hey Simon. What was that gold and glory all about. What do you intend to do with Charles’ company when you get majority stake?”

Charles immediately turned to Simon as he also was wondering what those plans Simon had were. In fact, he was still worried that this was simply an attempt on Simon’s part to give him money to keep him from going bankrupt, but he wasn’t sure.

Simon looked at Silver with some interest through the rearview mirror. He noticed the curiosity in Silver’s face and the worry in Charles’, but he still smiled and spoke with a lot of confidence:

“Well, I have a few plans, but the first is to buy Brandermill FC.”

This was another case of Charles and Silver being shocked by Simon’s proclamations. However, this time, there was a sense of foreboding that came from the pit of their stomachs. Charles immediately spoke up with an angry tone:

“Why the fuck would you do that. Don’t you know how much that would cost, not to mention the cost of maintaining and operating a club. Furthermore, these is no way to make any money out of this since the club was just relegated.”

“Charles is right, Simon. This is maybe the dumbest thing I have heard, unless you plan to waste your entire family fortune on a bottomless money pit.”

Simon was amused by the two’s reaction, but he wasn’t worried as he spoke with his trademark smile coupled with a reassuring tone:

“Relax guys. I don’t know if you guys are aware that my family owns a small stake in the club, and I have it on good authority that the club will go on administration in a few days, so I can buy it for a fraction of the cost before that happens.”

Charles and Silver couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but they still weren’t convinced as Silver immediately retorted:

“Even more reason not to get involved. This club will never make enough money to make it financially viable.”

Simon was touched by his friends’ concern for him, but he still chuckled as he spoke without worry:

“Like I said guys, I own a stake in the club, so I can’t let it go into administration or I’ll lose money. Rather, I want to take control of the club through Charles’ company and actually fix the problems that plague it. I already have everything planned, I just need your guys’ support.”

Charles and Silver could hear the conviction in Simon’s voice causing them to realize that there is no changing his mind. Silver shook his head in resignation and Charles sighed as he spoke:

“We’ll help you Simon, but you have to tell us exactly what you’re planning. I may not be as smart as Silver here, but I can’t see any way to make substantial money with a fifth-tier club like Brandermill.”

Simon turned to look at these two friends of his and couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke while trying to sound as mythical and wise as possible:

“That’s because there is no way to make money with this team.”

Hearing his words, Silver rolled his eyes and Charles simply shook his head in resignation. Simon however, was in a really good mood as he reached for the radio and turned it on to the music channel.