Sssshhhhhwaccckkk!

“You’re serious about winning this bet aren’t you?” Lea asked dolefully.

Bette was smiling widely, twirling her club as she turned around. “I can feel that facial already.  By the time I fly out later tonight, I will be soooo zen…”

She paused, and for a moment her playfulness disappeared. “But … I’m even more serious about the foundation, Lea.”

Lea nodded. “Good.  I only want to work for a serious outfit, Bette.  And I think you’re serious.”

They were both smiling broadly when they boarded the cart. As Lea piloted them down the cart path, she said, “One last thing: I don’t want to know about the financing…”

Bette turned to look at her in surprise. “You don’t?”

“You need to hire a chief financial officer who will manage the foundation’s finances and financial assets, because I won’t do that, on top of running operations. I only want to know about and focus on the operations.  I don’t want to know how you suddenly grew your foundation finances into something approaching a small country’s GNP – like you’ve suddenly tapped into a gold mine or something.   So as long as the financial sources are legit …”

“Totally legit.”

“Then I don’t care. And I don’t want to know, quite frankly.  I only want to do good; and I think our agendas match.  That’s all I want and need.”

“Fair enough.”

“And I’m not cheap.”

“I didn’t think you’d be.”

“I’ll cost you in the seven figures.”

“As long as you move to New York… none of this working remotely crap that Cade was comfortable with…”

“I anticipated that. I’ve asked someone I trust to scout things out for me in New York, already, thinking you would like me close by as soon as I started, as far as that’s concerned.  So yeah … we could start with seven figures…”

Bette had to laugh at that. “You’ve had someone scout things out for you in New York already, huh?  So far, you have been an interesting mix of scrupulous preparedness, ballsiness, extreme confidence, and fiery competitiveness.   And Cade swears by your smarts.”

“Yeah, yeah. And I have so much more to show you, boss.  I loved the relatively light work with Cade, as well as the consideration he gave me by allowing me to live in another city.  But I couldn’t even begin to spread my wings with him.”