A Million for Eleanor: A Contemporary Story on Love and Money Read Online Free PDF Page A

you are trying to get what you always wanted before the police nails you down?”
    “Another one.”
    “Another one – what?”
    “Another brilliant hypothesis. Are you already afraid to say “goodbye” to the million?” He remained silent for a moment, examining her face. “Dear me! I bet you wouldn’t be surprised if the police broke in right now.”
    “At least I wouldn’t have to make any decisions.”
    “Sorry, no easy ways for you. The million is mine, and it can become yours any moment.”
    “I thought so. You always make things complicated.”
    “Why delight in simplicity when it comes to love?”
    “Are we talking about love again?” Eleanor rolled her eyes. “I thought you were telling the story of how you became rich.”
    “My bad.” He shook his head guiltily. “I forgot you forget about everything else as soon as you hear “money”. So, where was I?”
    “You just got your first five thousand.”
    “Right. I hated the idea of spending the win, so I decided to invest it. Of course, I wasn’t thinking about the stock market: I needed better returns. That’s why the very day the money was transferred to my bank account I called my best friend in North Carolina and told him I wanted to get into his business.”
    “What kind of business?” Eleanor asked when it became clear he was waiting for her question.
    “He was a cocaine dealer,” he explained.
    “Cocaine dealer?” Eleanor seemed genuinely surprised. “I never knew you had such friends.”
    “Is that your way of saying you thought I was a nerd? But when would I have a chance to tell you if you were always busy with other guys?” She gave him an annihilating look which he ignored. “The truth is: I was lucky with my friend. Most people know only how to waste money; few know how to make use of the most. He belonged to the few.”
    “Weren’t you afraid to get into that ?” Eleanor asked suspiciously.
    “At that point I wasn’t, because I participated only as an investor. We struck a simple deal: he’d buy another load with my money and keep seventy five percent of all net profit. That would still more than double me up in less than a month.”
    “Very simple, really,” Eleanor nodded.
    “I had no choice. It was my last year in college, and I had no employment prospects. Besides, I believed I wasn’t meant for a nine-to-five job.”
    “And what happened next? Did the five become fifty soon?”
    “It did, by the end of the school year. That last time you saw me on graduation I already had enough cash to buy the Lexus your boyfriend drove. My friend who also graduated suggested I’d join him down in North Carolina, and I agreed.”
    “Did you parents not object?” Eleanor wondered innocently.
    “They didn’t know anything. I told them I wanted to take it easy for the summer. But I did put an explanatory letter in a bank cell, so that they’d know what was going on in case of my death.”
    “So, it was serious?”
    “If you are a cocaine dealer, it always is. Especially if you are a popular one. And we sure were. We ran things differently than other guys. Usually if you are meeting a dealer at a gas station at six p.m. it means that he can be there any time between six and midnight, or not come at all. But if you were meeting us you could count we’d be there at five to six. Naturally, the clients liked it, and the competition didn’t. At some point, someone got so upset they tried to kill us. Should have aimed better, though,” he added contemptuously.
    “You were shot at?” Eleanor said as if refusing to believe his whole story.
    “Multiple times. But back then they only damaged the car. I was even glad it happened. I realized we needed to change our tactics. Our profits’ curve was flattening, and tolerating that under bullets was out of question.”
    It was then that two remarkable things happened, almost simultaneously. First, he noticed admiration in Eleanor’s eyes. It was but a spark, an involuntary