Chapter 3 : Re-Encuentro

Lucas’ POV

I was awakened by the buzzing of my cellphone on my nightstand. I let it vibrate for a while, hoping that whoever it was would call back later. After a few seconds the buzzing stopped. Unfortunately, that only lasted a few moments before the buzzing started up again.

“Oh, my God.” I said, with a groggy voice.

I lifted my head up from the pillow and squinted one eye open to see who it was. The number wasn’t saved. I reached over and picked it up, the area code looked foreign, definitely not american.

“Hello.” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster so early in the morning. The sun wasn’t even up yet, and the time on my alarm clock read four-thirty.

“Hello, yes Mr. Bradford, how are you doing?” A sweet woman’s voice said in broken english.

“Just fine, thank you.” I said, still delirious.

“My name is Alexandra Cabrera and I am calling from Energia de la Nueva Generación.” She said.

“Oh, yes of course!” I perked up remembering that I had finally gotten a bite. “You’re the company that reached out last night, correct? The one in Peru?”

“Yes, that is right.” She said with a thick accent. “I am the executive assistant to the CEO, Paolo Sanchez. He would like to schedule a meeting. Is that alright?”

“Of course!” I said, beaming. “When can he meet?”

“Mr. Sanchez is very busy.” She said, “So we’ll have to schedule the meeting for the end of the month. That’s approximately three weeks from now. Will that be alright?”

“Yes.” I said, rising from the bed and searching for my laptop in my completely darkened apartment.

“Wonderful!” She said again, sounding genuinely pleased. “I will send you an email with information about the date and time.”

I smiled and nodded, even though she could not see me. “Perfect, thank you!”

“My pleasure.” She said, kindly. “Oh, and Mr.Bradford one more thing.”

“Yes?” I said, holding my breath.

“Mr. Sanchez would like for you to prepare a presentation. He would like to see what LB Electrics has already discovered with renewable energy. Can you have a presentation ready in three weeks?”

“Absolutely, I can surely present what we have then.” I lied.

“Wonderful!” She said, once again, very enthusiastic. “I will send you an email with further details about your meeting. We look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks.”

“Thank you, me too.” I said as a new wave of anxiety settled into my bones.

We hung up. I stood still in the middle of my bedroom for a second, unsure of what to do next.

“Brilliant.” I whispered.

How was I supposed to come up with a pitch in three weeks? LB Electrics had made zero discoveries in the world of renewable energy. We were clueless. I picked up the phone and dialed my business partner, Ryan. I hoped that he’d know what to do.

“Do you know what time it is?” He complained when he picked up the phone.

“I know, I’m sorry to bother you so early but do you have a minute?”

“I guess.” Ryan said, trying to wake himself up.

“I just got off the phone with the executive assistant for Nueva Generacion Energy.”

“Holy shit.” Ryan said, finding more enthusiasm.

“I know it’s not our first choice.” I said.

“No, no. But it’s still a really good company.” Ryan said. “I did some research on them a few months back, and they have one of the top refined energy programs in the world. This is definitely a great start.”

Ryan and I continued to geek out about our new promising lead into the renewable energy world. I told him how the assistant requested a presentation at the end of the month and that we’d be presenting it to the CEO himself.

Ryan was shocked but motivated as hell. There would be no stopping us now. I wanted to call my dad and rub his face in it. But there weren’t enough concrete details in place yet. I knew it was best to wait until after the meeting to tell him anything about my plan.

After Ryan and I got off the phone, I didn’t dare go back to sleep. I stayed up the rest of the morning researching our new prospect, hoping I’d stumble across a fresh angle for our presentation. Around eight-thirty I got a call from Ethan.

“Good morning, sir.” He said, gently. “I just wanted to remind you that you have a scheduled Spanish course this afternoon at the New York Institute for Language and Speech. Try not to be late, sir.”

“Right.” I said, remembering that learning Spanish was also at the top of my priority list.

I spent the rest of the morning exercising, and studying in my apartment. My flat wasn’t humble by any means. It was two stories high and overlooked Central Park. I knew it was flashy, but I wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best.

I must have done two hundred pushups in an hour. I took more notes than I did at university. I was surprised my laptop didn’t catch fire with all my research. There was no excuse but to kick it into high gear. LB Electrics needed this win. My father needed this win. And I was going to be the one to get it.

Around noon, I asked Geoffrey to bring the car around. I met him downstairs in the lobby of my building. The car still had a huge dent in the trunk from our accident the night before. He promptly opened the door for me as I walked over.

“What’s this?” I said, not amused.

“What’s what, sir?” He said, looking confused.

“The car.” I said. “You can’t possibly think I’m going to drive around town in that, do you?”

“Apologies, sir.” Geoffrey said, swallowing his pride. “I intended to get the car to the body shop today while you were in your meetings.”

“Fine.” I said, annoyed.

Considering the amount of cars that I own, being seen with this dingy hunk of metal was embarrassing.

“Next time, get a rental.” I said just before Geoffrey closed my door.

He said nothing but I caught him rolling his eyes as he slammed my door shut. I rolled mine back and slouched in the backseat. I didn’t want anyone to see me in this retched car.

I checked my emails during the drive and sent Ryan links to promising articles. We texted back and forth for a bit before I arrived at the institute.

Geoffrey came around to open my door and I stepped out and adjusted my suit. He closed the door behind me cleared his throat.

“I’ll take the car to a body shop today, sir.” He said. “Again, my apologies.”

“It’s fine, Geoffrey.” I said, annoyed. “No need to get all whiny about it.”

He said nothing. Only nodded and returned to the car. I pulled out my phone and called Ethan.

“Yes, sir.” He answered.

“I’m at the institute.” I said. “Where do I go?”

“I’ll come around and meet you, sir.” Ethan said. “I was just getting your syllabus information for you.”

A few minutes later, Ethan emerged from the front doors of this large building. He walked with poise and grace. He wasn’t very tall and he was a thin little thing. His clothes were plain, just a basic gray suit. The only place he expressed himself was his hair. He died it a bright platinum blonde. Even still he styled it professionally and with simple flair.

He escorted me through the double doors where we found a lobby with a concierge. A large woman sat at the front desk. She wore a headset over her frizzy hair, and her nails were long and red.

“Can I help you?” She said plainly.

“Yes.” Ethan said, clearing his throat. “Mr. Bradford has a scheduled tutoring session today for beginners Spanish.”

“One moment.” The woman said, typing something into her computer.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke again.

“Yes, you’ll be with Ms. Amaro. That’s room 3-0-1.” She rubbed her nose and pointed to a hallway over to the side. “The elevators are down that hall. Here’s a key fob to operate them. Return the fob before you leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Ethan said, taking the fob from her.

We made our way down the hallway and pressed the button to go up. The elevators hummed for a few seconds before the door to one of them slid open. We stepped inside and pressed three.

When we stepped out onto the third floor there was a long hallway with classrooms lined on both sides. We made our way to the first classroom on the right with the room number given to us by the concierge. Ethan knocked on the door twice and we waited.

“Come in!” A woman’s voice called from inside.

Ethan opened the door and gestured for me to go in first. I stepped inside and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw her.

“It’s you.” I said, remembering the stunning beauty from the accident yesterday. “Luna.”

Her name was like butter on my tongue. I was suddenly taken right back to the moment when I first saw her. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I was struggling to find words.

Luna sat at her desk in the front corner of the classroom. Her hair was pulled back and held together by a clip at the top of her head. A few short strands of hair fell to her face as she looked up at me with a warm smile.

“We meet again.” She said softly.

I could tell she was just as surprised as I was. She rose from her place behind the desk and walked over to greet us.

“Hello, I’m Ethan Epcot.” Ethan said, extending a hand toward hers. “I’m Mr. Bradford’s assistant. I’ll be sitting in on the classes.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Luna Amaro.” Luna said, doing her best to avoid eye contact with me.

I smiled to myself. She was so nervous. I thought it was rather cute.

“So you’re the same Lucas Bradford I met yesterday.” She said to me, extending her hand to mine. “Unfortunate circumstances.”

“Yes, that’s correct.” I said, shaking her hand.

“I would like to apologize for my friend.” Luna said. “She was just frustrated.”

“Oh it’s no problem at all.” I said, politely. “I think we were all in a state of shock.”

She nodded but said nothing in reply.

“Perhaps I can take you to dinner as a formal apology sometime.” I said, casting my line. I could slap myself for trying to be so bold so soon. But the words were out already.

She smiled and nodded. I couldn’t tell if that was a yes, or a polite way of avoiding the question.

“Maybe.” She said, bashfully.

We stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity. I felt desperate to understand her.

“Ahem.” Ethan cleared his throat, pulling us both out of the trance.

“Well,” Luna said, embarrassed. “Comencemos!”