Heartsville 02 - Unscripted (Nico Jaye) Read Online Free Page B

he’d reminded himself that this was what Richard wanted.
    The Oasis was in good hands.
    “Of course. Yes, next week Thursday at noon would be great,” Teddy said, trying to maintain a professional air when all he wanted to do was dance in his chair. “I look forward to meeting you too.”
    He hung up with a grin and pulled up his calendar to enter it into his schedule. The director of community outreach for the Chicago Metropolitan Theater would be visiting with an eye toward sponsorship and future donations, both in-kind and monetary. While the Oasis ran quite well on its own between the small grants it received from Heartsville’s community board and ticket sales, as well as smaller, local sponsors, receiving the attention of a big-time player like the CMT was completely unexpected—and would hopefully help the theater in the long term.
    Teddy did a quick scroll of the next couple weeks of his schedule: 2015’s Heartsville’s Got Talent competition, the weekend showing of a local theater company’s modern adaptation of Twelfth Night , the one-woman show from local-entertainer-gone-national Lorraine Prinz, and, to cap off the month, the annual Halloween special of a live performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show .
    Scrolling back up, Teddy’s gaze caught the new entry for the meeting next Thursday with Paul Aston, and he grinned again. Paul would be there during the dress rehearsals for Twelfth Night , which should show the Oasis in the best light possible.
    Teddy gave in to the impulse and wiggled in his chair, throwing in a fist pump for good measure. “Yes, yes, yessss!”
    A cleared throat sounded from the doorway.
    Freezing mid–fist pump, Teddy slowly swiveled around and looked up.
    Carter Monroe.
    All six-foot-something, thousand-dollar suit, and tastefully-trimmed dark stubble of him.
    Abruptly, Teddy lowered his arms and stood.
    “Carter, hi….” Teddy approached him, extending his hand. It felt a little odd offering a handshake to someone who’d sucked his cock, but what else could he do?
    The glint in Carter’s eyes suggested he knew the train of Teddy’s thoughts, but mercifully Carter didn’t voice them. “Teddy,” Carter said, shaking his hand and looking down at him with a hint of a smile.
    At five foot nine, Teddy was pretty content with his height, especially considering it was average for his family. With Carter looming over him, however, he found himself wishing for a few extra inches.
    Clearing his throat, Teddy gestured toward the seat by his desk near the entrance to the office space. An ancient yet extremely cozy green corduroy loveseat held up the near wall, and Richard’s desk—which had been unoccupied for almost three months already—sat in the far corner. With its sole window on the far wall and a pair of mostly ornamental wall sconces for lighting, the office was dim in the way of most structures nearing their hundredth birthday.
    “I came by to talk about the Oasis,” Carter said as he took a seat and casually crossed his legs at the ankles.
    Teddy nodded and moved to sit behind his desk. “And…?”
    “And I thought about what you said. I should at least see what it’s about, do a little further investigation.” Carter’s shapely lips quirked up, and Teddy tried not to get distracted. “In my line of business, we perform due diligence, and oftentimes there’s a short window of opportunity to get it all done. With the Oasis, there isn’t a time pressure other than an overall uptick in the real estate market, so I’ve decided to take a… hands-on approach to the analysis.”
    Teddy’s gaze automatically dropped to Carter’s hands, which he’d clasped in his lap. Teddy blinked a few times, his brain catching up to the unexpected words, and felt his mouth drop open in surprise. Looking back up, he caught a look on Carter’s face that had him snapping his mouth shut and, inexplicably, blushing.
    “So you’re nixing the sale?” A hopeful smile spread