“You know, I have to hand it to you. I wasn’t sure we’d get Fred to come around, but you did it.” Carl takes a drink of water. “We’re still waiting to hear back from Voltaire’s legal team, but I think the deal is well on its way.”

Right. Another reason to be in a fantastic mood.

“Good,” I say, albeit distracted by thoughts of Chloe.

Carl laughs. “Good? That’s all? You’ve only been obsessed with landing this deal for the past few months.”

“And we’ll close the deal, so we’re good.”

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s next? You always have a deal on the back burner. The next target.”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. Carl’s right, I’m always after what’s next, never content in the present. It’s different now with Chloe in my life. What’s next is figuring out how to keep her.

It must be written on my face.

“Wait a minute. I know that look. It’s the look of a man who’s wrapped around a woman’s finger. This is about Chloe. You really like her.”

My eyes narrow.

“Go ahead. Try to deny it,” he says.

I can’t. I don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to gab with Carl about my feelings for her.

“Should I remind you of all the advice you’ve given me? Minimize distractions, don’t make it personal, eye on the prize? Sound familiar?”

Those are my words repeated back but they sound foreign to me now. Chloe’s not a distraction, she’s the main attraction and I want to make it personal.

My eyes are on the prize and it’s making Chloe mine.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it handled.”

While Carl opts to stop for a beer in the men’s lounge, I head for the locker room, eager to get showered and get home.

On my way down the hall, I hear a familiar laugh. I turn around but no one is there.

The woman laughs again, then I hear whispering.

I wouldn’t bother with further investigation, but I could have sworn it was Frankie’s laugh. I wonder if she and Fred are here.

I back track, but there’s only the door to the stairwell leading down to the lower two levels. Deciding to not give it any more thought, I start moving back down the hallway. The laugh registers again. It’s bugging the hell out of me now. I either need to find out what’s going on or give it up and go shower.

Determination to uncover the mystery of Frankie’s soundalike laugh has me moving back to the stairwell door and looking through the window.

What I find there has me wishing I would have kept moving.