I stood there holding his garbage bag while something cold leaked through the plastic onto my hoodie. In my pocket was a folded document showing that earlier that day my investment firm Northgate Capital had quietly purchased the distressed debt portfolio of Montgomery Shipping Holdings.
The man who just handed me his trash no longer owned the company he was bragging about all weekend.
He simply did not know it yet. I set the garbage bag aside and walked into the rehearsal dinner.
Inside the dining hall Alyssa sat beside Bradley wearing a white dress that probably cost more than a year of our childhood rent. When she noticed me she looked relieved but also nervous as if my presence might upset the fragile world she had stepped into.
Bradley’s mother Diane Montgomery smiled thinly across the table.
“Alyssa told us you work in shipping logistics,” she said sweetly. “That sounds like a lot of lifting. Your knees must be tired.”
Some guests chuckled politely. Bradley leaned back in his chair and added with a lazy grin, “As long as the business is legal right Natalie. Some people from rough neighborhoods get creative with their hustles.”