Inital Public Offerings Ch. 04

"So this is the end?"

"For you and me? Yes. It's all over except the paperwork." She looked a bit sad, a bit mad, got up, and stiffed me with the bill. But I didn't mind.

The important stuff was done. Back when this began, I talked to Swati about how to handle this whole divorce thing. She said this: "Mr. REEnalds, those two do what they do by being hidden. You need to tell the world what they did, so they can't do it again."

So I couldn't allow her to soften her image. And I also couldn't take her money. You see, part of my strategy with the underwriters was to let them know that they could pursue me all they wanted. My coffers were empty. They'd have more luck getting blood from a stone. A few of the smaller holders had already dropped their suits and the rest, faced with the PR nightmare, were making noises. Mindy was asking the employees I helped out to talk to the press. Wanting to sue the man who was spending his fortune to rescue them? As Allie put it, horrible optics.

How did I lose $3.5 million dollars so fast? A good bit of it was spent on unemployment or relocation or retraining. I owed it to my ex-coworkers.

But Swati wanted to become a citizen. And there still existed the 'million dollar investor' visa program. The potential immigrant doesn't even need to spend the money. They just need to invest it! She and Prathee would become citizens very soon. And they needed an investment advisor. Any question who that might be? Pradeep even agreed to forgive me for calling him a criminal.

Karl, my best friend, got a HELL of a check for services rendered. And in the course of time, I'd be getting part of that wedding gift back for my own wedding. Or something. Maybe I'd defrag his computer for a million.

Let's just say that Mindy is not complaining about her compensation package as my assistant. In fact, I'm letting her cover most of the bills these days. She's not complaining, though we are still taking things slow.

As I said before, I'm no saint, though I play one on TV.

One half of this last chapter was edited by mikothebaby. The mistakes are when I ignore her suggestions or make other changes.

I want to thank Mandy01 for giving me a great line for the story about pragmatism. Thanks Amanda.

And I want to thank my readers for their patience. I wouldn't be writing these stories without the encouragement of you all. Please feel free to critique away. If you would separate plot, from grammar, from technical points I got wrong, I'd appreciate it.

I hope you enjoyed the story.