Morning all, I hope your week is going well. I am having a pretty good one myself. It’s quiet. I’m trying to embrace the quiet and not assume it is quiet because mischief is being made where I can’t hear it and thus leap out unexpectedly. I’m about fifty percent successful. So lets ignore the feeling of potential impending doom and jump into the morning writing prompt. Timers set for fifteen minutes.
I like this. It could be a fun way to jump into a story. I just need to figure out what the story is first.
Tuesday, June 23rd: It seemed and interesting prospect.
It seemed an interesting prospect. But Dan thought that was often the problem with Steve. All his prospects, all his proposals all his ideas seemed interesting. Unfortunately, while Steve was very good at spotting potential, whether it be an investment, a gap in the market, or a promotional opportunity, that was generally where he ended.
Steve spotted the opportunity and then presented it. To Dan it often seemed as though Steve thought once he identified the something special, the universe would magically unfold and turn it into the something wonderful without any further requirements on his part.
‘Lika a game,’ Dan thought looking over the paperwork he had been handed. He looked up and nodded to himself. It was exactly like a game. Dealing with Steve was often like playing the Memory game he used to play a a child. The square tiles were all face down on the table. Steve pointed to the oes he thought matched but didn’t go through the trouble of turning them over, assuming he was right about what the other side held and taking the point without looking. It was up to you, if you were playing with Steve, to decide if you wanted to turn over the card to see if he was right or wrong.
‘Then of course you lose the points.’
He looked back down at the page, ‘Or buckets of money in this case.’
The problem was, it was an interesting prospect. He knew Steve wanted an immediate answer. He knew a guy. He always knew a guy. And this guy was looking for an answer quick. In this case, Dan suspected the owner simply wanted to divest himself of the property and the tax burden it represented rather than anything devious.
Dan heard a knock on the door and looked up. It was Steve, he knew it would be. He dropped off the paperwork, spouting about the opportunity and filling the air with words, only half of which meant anything, and then asked for Dan to take the leap.
Dan picked up the pages and actually started to read. Steve kept adding more words to the air, but when Steve continued reading the words on the page instead of listening, he informed Dan that he was going to the restroom and would be back.
A glance at the clock let Dan know, Steve lingered in the bathroom hoping Dan would finish reading before he returned.
“Well?” Steve said. “Are you in?”
“It is interesting,” Dan said.
“I knew you’d like it,” Steve said. His smile widened. “I told Thomas that you would be thrilled to jump at the chance an it is why I brought it to you first.”
“I will need to do some research before I do any jumping, but it is interesting,” Dan said.
“Research,” Steve fairly squawked at the indignity of the word. “All the research is done.” He waved his hand at the pages.
“The general gist of the project has been outlined,” Dan corrected. “I will need to look into a few legalities and extra costs before I am willing to think about committing.” There were a lot of costs the outline glossed over that he wanted to look into.
“Look if you are not interested, there are several others I can take this to who would jump at the chance,” Steve said.
Dan smiled. “Then take it to them. I won’t jump until I have done my research,” Dan replied. He doubted Steve would. Dan knew Steve hated that he always researched his projects before committing. It was why he was often last on Steve’s promotional list. If he was here with this proposal, no one else jumped either.
Ten til Midnight 