Page 69 of Nash Falls

“Just some things to go over. Won’t take long.”

He disappeared and Nash slowly rose, taking a few moments to process this.

One question burned in his head:He can’t know of the research I did on Cho’s company, can he?

The fact that he didn’t have a firm answer to this question made his heart sink right into his gut.

He crossed the hall and entered Rhett’s office. The man was sitting behind his desk squeezing a stress ball and looking distracted; Nash did not take that as a good sign. He perched in a chair and looked at his boss expectantly.

When Rhett didn’t seem inclined to immediately engage, Nash took a few moments to look around the space. Dozens of framed photos covered a large part of one wall: Warren Buffett and his late partner, Charlie Munger, looking very humble and Midwestern in their boxy suits, and Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Jim Simons, and Mark Cuban, among a dozen other legendary investor types. Rhett was smiling and shaking hands with all of them. Nash wondered if most of them even knew who Rhett was.

Rhett also had another photo section of celebrity meets: Brad Pitt, Mariah Carey, and Steve Carrell, and figures from the worlds ofprofessional tennis, baseball, football, and soccer. And there Rhett was again, beaming and looking ultra pleased with himself.

Nash caught sight of one picture he had never seen before. “You met Lionel Messi?”

Rhett glanced at him. “Yeah, just last month in Miami. Little dude, but the things he can do on a soccer field? He’s worth the billion or so they’re paying him. I got my pic with him and got out of there. See, I had a date later with the most beautiful Brazilian woman you have ever met.”

“Well, I haven’t, to my knowledge, met any Brazilian women, beautiful or otherwise, so that would be a low bar—”

Rhett sat forward and interjected, “Are you happy here, Walt? Anything I can do to make you… happier?”

Okay, he knows I made the outreach to the other firms. So tap-dance, Nash.

“I guess you heard that I contacted a couple of companies, including Black Cliffs?”

Rhett sat back and waited.

“I’m not sure why I did. No, I am. It’s, well, it’s Maggie.”

A clearly surprised Rhett said, “Maggie? What’s the issue there?”

“I think she would prefer living in New York or on the West Coast. Black Cliffs has substantial offices in both.”

Nash felt bad about throwing his daughter under the bus, but his tap dancing had produced nothing else of a useful nature.

“Well, have you considered allowing the little bird to fly from the coop?” said Rhett.

Nash’s eyes widened. “Letting a nineteen-year-old who has not figured out what she wants in life loose in the Big Apple or LA?”

“Best lessons are from mistakes.”

“I’m not entirely opposed to that philosophy, but letting her screw up so far away does not seem to me to be a good practice from a parental perspective.”

“What does Judith say about all this?”

“I haven’t addressed it with her yet. I’m sure she’ll have her own opinion.”

Rhett nodded his head so quickly and accepted this statement so readily that Nash’s always nimble radar turned on.

He added, “And I’m not certain that’s what Maggie wants. It’s just an assumption of mine.”

“Well, regardless of your reasons for looking for a new shop, the thing is, Walt, you are a highly valuedpartnerin our business. And I can tell you that we will move heaven and earth to keep you on here. You know that, right?”

Nash sat back to give himself a few extra moments to process this now that he knew more details about the schemes they were involved in. But another thought occurred to him.If he knew of my reaching out to Black Cliffs, he probably would also be aware that I was turned down. So why this sudden generosity?

“I appreciate that, Rhett, I really do. And I’ve decided that that move was not a good one on my part. I’m relatively happy here.”

“I want youmorethan relatively happy. So what extras can I give you?”