Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 72: A Tough Nut to Crack

Aaron drummed his fingers impatiently on his thigh during the board meeting. This financial data wasn't new to him and he could be doing better things. Like thinking of what he was going to say when he 'coincidentally' bumped into Keeley later.

The time had come to meet up with her again; he had been vice president for almost two years and held 24% of the company shares, though his father thought he only had the original 10%. It was supremely satisfying keeping that man in the dark.

Cameron Singleton's gambling skills had been vital in building up the start of his empire. As promised, Aaron hooked him up with a job upon graduation and still had him occasionally fly to gambling hot spots on the weekends, all expenses paid.

Not only was Cameron a financial analyst at Hale Investments, he currently held 5% of Aaron's shares and served as a member of the board. He was the first successful dummy shareholder of four.

Aaron gave him the shares he acquired from Maria right away but after that he had to patiently wait for the 2008 recession to hit.

Having lived through it once, Aaron knew that Hale Investments would weather the storm of the huge stock market drop but none of the shareholders knew that. Several of them panicked and sold their shares after he spread rumors that the stocks would remain worthless and that it would be better to get out now.

He bought them all up the second they were available. The real question after that was what to do with them. Giving Cameron too many shares would look suspicious. Besides, what he really needed were more members of the board on his side.

He approached two of his classmates from Harvard that had decent backgrounds but weren't anywhere near the Hales' level. Roger Clark and Kyle Griffith had the dual benefit of being smart and loyal.

Harvard graduates were common among the company's employees so it wasn't suspicious that a bunch of them came out of nowhere joining the board.

Aaron's last dummy shareholder was none other than his old prom date, Alice Wheatley (now Alice Kelly). Her husband's family owned a prestigious law firm so it wasn't a conflict of interest for her to hold shares in the financial sector.

She had been a tough sell. Aaron ended up convincing her that having some of her own influence outside of the Kellys would be beneficial to her in the long run in case they tried to pull any tricks. Having a Hale on her side in the future would be especially helpful.

Each of his dummy shareholders aside from Cameron held 3% of the shares. Those firmly on Alistair's side made up 54% of the shares and the wild cards Aaron still needed to contend with made up 22% altogether.

What he needed to do now was work on the people who made up the neutral party and get them firmly on his side. How he would do that…he still hadn't quite figured out.

A look around the table showed that his chess pieces had varying reactions to the information being presented. Alice was just as bored as he was. Cameron wore his usual poker face so he had no idea what the man was thinking but Roger and Kyle, finance nerds, were soaking it all in like a sponge.

When the meeting was adjourned, they all blessedly headed back to their offices or left depending on whether or not they worked there full-time. Aaron found an unpleasant surprise waiting for him in his office when he got back.

The desk chair was facing backward and slowly turned around to dramatically reveal Aiden Quinn sitting with his fingers pressed together under his chin like a mob boss. He broke his serious expression in a split second and grinned crazily.

"I've always wanted to do that."

Aaron sighed, knowing this wouldn't lead to anything good. "What are you doing here? The IT department is six floors down."

Aiden ignored that and asked questions of his own.

"Is today the day? Are you finally going to talk to her? Should I talk you up to her first? That might be a good idea since we have no idea how she feels about you at this point."

When Keeley moved into a not-so-safe neighborhood after getting her bachelor's degree, Aaron's overprotective instincts came out. Not only did he offer a "free trial" of a top-of-the-line security system to the owner of the building, he set the newly graduated Aiden up in the apartment across the hall just in case.

Aiden didn't mind since he thought of Keeley as a friend due to how often he had been called upon to use surveillance cameras to check up on her over the years. They were on good terms and stopped to chat when they saw each other in the halls.

He liked her spunk but had no idea how someone like that had caught the attention of his super stuffy boss. It was a mystery he was still trying to figure out.

"I want to but like you said, I have no idea what she's thinking these days…I'm still trying to think of the best way to approach her," Aaron explained.

"Well, what does she like? Offering her something she likes might soften her up a bit."

What did Keeley like? He didn't pay enough attention to things like that in his first life, which he regretted deeply afterwards.

He watched her like a hawk enough to notice things like which Skittles flavors she preferred when they spent time together their senior year but he hadn't been around her nearly enough to know what she liked anymore.

He frowned and opened Instagram. He had followed her on there using an account that didn't bear his name as soon as she joined the site. Scrolling through her pictures might give him an idea.

Unfortunately, she didn't post often. When she did it was usually pictures of activities with the same rotating group of friends, pictures of food she cooked, or pictures of a fluffy white and orange cat.

He didn't even know she liked cats; she never said anything about it. Maybe Aaron should learn about cats so they could have something to talk about. Weren't pet owners usually obsessed with talking about them? He might ask for a second opinion later.

"I know something she might like," Aiden said in a singsong voice.

The temperature around Aaron dropped five degrees. "Why didn't you say something before I bothered checking my phone?"

He put on his most innocent look. "I only just came up with it, you know."

Sure he did. Aaron pinched the bridge of his noise before rubbing it exhaustedly. Get to the point already, kid.

Aiden's enthusiasm couldn't be dampened by anything, least of all his boss. He spun around in the desk chair a couple of times before answering.

"Based on her credit card purchases, she really seems to like this little coffee shop close to NYU. She goes there at least a few times a week. Showing up there and offering to buy her a pastry or something might work."

It wouldn't be terribly difficult to pretend it was a coincidence, would it? He hated to admit it, but Aiden might actually know what he was talking about.

"I'll take it into consideration."

Aiden smiled smugly. He had been around his boss long enough to know what that meant. He was totally going to do it.

He wished Aaron the best of luck—Keeley Hall wasn't the kind of girl to be messed with. She would probably be a tough nut to crack.