Dead Certain

sent you Floyd Wiznewski in his place. Floyd’s been working with Delius on the project from the very beginning.”
    “Pleased to meet you, Floyd,” said Hurt, keeping his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. He turned to the dark-suited man who’d met us at the elevator. “Darren, will you please take Mr. Millman to review the numbers with the guys from banking?”
    The seeds of an objection formed themselves in my mind, but I deliberately ignored them. Icon held all the cards and called all the shots.
    “Oh, good, there’s Mindy!” exclaimed Hurt. “Mindy, this is Kate Millholland. She’s the one who sent me the game.”
    “Cool,” said Mindy, an athletic young woman whose white jeans and white T-shirt made her look like some sort of hip private nurse.
    “Mindy, will you take Kate into the dining room and treat her to some of your famous Reiki?”
    “No, thank you,” I answered, thinking that I was being offered something to eat.”
    “No, no, I insist,” said Hurt. “Consider it a thank-you for the game. Besides, you look like you could use it.” Mindy gave me the same beatific smile you see on the Moonies who accost you at the airport and invited me to follow her into the dining room.
    “Just take your shoes off and lie down on the table,” she said, pulling the curtains and dimming the lights. The table was covered with bed sheets and there was some kind of incense burning in little brass pots on top of the Sheraton sideboard.
    “Excuse me?” I inquired with as much poise as I could muster, which frankly wasn’t much.
    “Don’t worry,” replied Mindy. “I’m only going to do your hands, feet, and head. There’s no need to get undressed.”
    “And what exactly are you going to do to my hands, feet, and head?”
    “Didn’t Gabe tell you?” she asked, tipping her head back and laughing. “I’m his personal masseuse.”
    I considered for a moment. Then I sighed and hoisted myself up onto the table. In less than a minute, I found myself listening to Indian sitar music while Mindy pressed the various spots on my feet that she assured me were connected to my internal organs. There was also something about trying to visualize different colors that I didn’t quite follow. Not that I was actually paying any attention. All I could do was keep thinking to myself that they didn’t do this kind of thing in any other business.
     
    By the time I left the Four Seasons, I felt much better, though I couldn’t decide whether it was because Mindy had succeeded in releasing my toxins or because I had the draft copy of a deal term sheet in my hand. As the doorman held the door of the cab open for Millman and Wiznewski, who were heading to Morton’s to celebrate, I realized that I hadn’t even told Floyd that because Delius had given him shares in Delirium in lieu of a raise the past two years, he was about to become a millionaire. As they pulled away from the curb I decided it was okay to save it. He was already walking on air from having beaten Gabriel Hurt at pinball.
     
    From elation to desperation in under three blocks— anyone who didn’t like the ride should avoid transaction work. As I crossed Michigan at Chicago Avenue to get back to my car, something at the news kiosk caught my eye. From the front page of the afternoon’s Sun-Times, a picture of my mother and me looked back at me. The headline was big enough to read from the corner: SOCIALITES BATTLE HOSPITAL GIANT. I could hardly wait to hear what Skip Tillman was going to say about this latest public service announcement for Callahan Ross from the women Millholland. I figured it might not be a bad time to start thinking about a new job—in Australia.
    A quick phone call to Cheryl confirmed my worst fears. Not only was Tillman beating the drums for me, but my mother was on the warpath. According to Cheryl she was calling every couple of minutes. From what my secretary told me, it sounded like she was in the middle of a full-fledged nervous breakdown.
    Driving back to the office, I tried to set that particular anxiety aside and called Jeff Tannenbaum with the good news about Icon. I felt entitled to have someone share in my sense of victory, if only for as long as it took for me to drive back into the Loop. Besides, there was a ton of document preparation that needed to be done and Tannenbaum was the one who was going to get stuck doing it.
    By the time I got upstairs to my office, Cheryl was looking a bit shaken.