The Business of Opportunities

He calls me princess. It is not the most imaginative, but he doesn't need to be. He owns the air, the ground, the sky above him, which is obscured momentarily by the sooty, dark ceiling of this bar full of men and me, the princess. He and the Admiral have come back from a trip, he tells me, to check out a business opportunity between opportunities. For him, life is not the bills, the dog walks, the fed children; for him, it is a string of opportunities, opportunities that culminate into stories that he reels off between cigarettes: the restaurant business, the real estate business, the ship business, the business of business. He doesn't like sports; he only knows fishing, and likes a good catch. How about you, princess?

Between drinks, I am between lives. I have passed from the lives of bills, dog walks, fed children, obscured momentarily by the sooty, dark ceiling of this bar full of men and me. It is either life or opportunities, you know. For instance, sailing the seas with a restaurant/real estate enterpeneur, knowing how to reel them in. The opportunities, that is. He is older and handsome; I am close enough to see the faint lines in his boyish, tanned face. Boyish for forty, or older than his time? Between times, he owns the air, the ground, the sky above us.

He knows about seizing opportunities. He knows so many things of which I know nothing. For instance, the business of opportunities. I may be leaving in a few weeks, he explains, definitely maybe. From South Beach to New York, I am looking for business. Restaurants, real estate, sailing. I am at the will of life, of opportunity. So can I call you sometime, princess?

Between lives, I know this business is slippery. He is older and handsome. He knows so many things of which I know nothing. He owns the air, the ground, the sky above him, but when we step out into the night, of life and opportunties, we will meet face to face. I will notice the tiredness in his eyes, the rasp in his voice, the troublesome cough when he laughs. And I know there are bills, dog walks, and fed children. There are so many things of which he knows nothing. You'll have to understand, I say. I am not in the business of opportunity. I got out of that business a long time ago.