Diya owned twenty percent of Ludington’s, while Trey and I owned forty percent each, in proportion of what each of us had brought in, cash and intangibles combined.

She blinked at me. “For free?”

“What’s the difference between us shutting down and you walking away with nothing, and you walking away with nothing and letting me keep trying to save the business? You’ll have no further liability. If I’m sued, it won’t touch you. If I go bankrupt, it doesn’t go on your record. We all get what we want.” Please. “Trey?”

“Like I said, I’m not talking about a complete shutdown. If you hate the idea of polling so much, you quit. I’ll buy you out. How does two hundred grand sound? You get back what you put in.”

“No.”

“Then you buy me out. A million dollars.”

“There’s no million dollars.”

“I put in a million. Ludington’s couldn’t have happened without me.”

“As it couldn’t have happened without Diya.” Who brought in her finance degree and kept us afloat all this time, in addition to having a singular ability to corral celebrities. “As it couldn’t have happened without me.” My knowledge of the industry and the original client base I’d brought with me, and my starting stake. “But fine. I’ll buy your shares.”

I’d fantasized about saying those words. Ideally, in a distant future where I actually had money. This confrontation with my partners was coming way too soon. I wasn’t ready.

“If we’re shutting down, time is of the essence.” Diya was the first to recover. She knew I’d spoken on impulse, and so she passed right by my unrealistic offer. “If we keep going with the office rent and payroll expenses, we’ll be even further in the red. We don’t want to go bankrupt. We don’t want to be known as a complete and utter financial disaster.”

“Thirty days to buy me out.” Trey watched me with that blandly pleasant look that meant he was in future-billionaire mode, baiting a hook. “I sign my shares over to you if you pay me a million dollars within thirty days.”

We stopped. The silence was complete until a passing hotel employee dropped a plate from her tray. The china smashed onto hard tile, the sound of my dreams shattering.

“She can’t pay you.” Diya remained the voice of reason.

“If she can’t buy me out, she agrees that I buy her out.” Trey was on a roll. He was also too close. Almost a foot taller than me, he had a habit of standing over me with his head bent, looming. It always made me feel even shorter than I was. Diya had once asked, “Don’t you just love the way he makes you feel dainty?”

He didn’t make me feel dainty. He made me feel overshadowed.