Insatiable Desire.

n year

n a sidewalk ne

y?" I say

of my newspaper building. A black hat with

pirate?

rt. His torso is fish-belly white, naked, and flabby. The sour stench of beer hits my nostrils, and my nose wrinkles instinctively. A thin sigh escapes my lips. The guy had probably gone on a bender ove

gs limp around his neck, an

ppy headline. As it has for every pirate festival, every year, for decades. Hell, I even wrote the headline this

ge: Like Mardi Gr

d. Pirates. Tou

icu

her in America—am the cleanup crew. On the day I'm supposed to loo

es

't need this, not today. Taking a few steps, I prod the pirate's forearm with my

ing man. I take a few steps back and grimace. It's all I can do to contain my annoyance t

't have a potential investor stepping over a passed-

tch. It's eight-thirty, and the morning air is as putrid as the beer that's in the plastic cup sitti

spapers into the trucks at three every morning. Moving the guy ourselves might be quicker than relying on the local sheriff's department, which hasn't

cky curtain. Why had I taken the time to blow it straight when I could have slept for an extra half-ho

idity's

air in a bun, and pretend I never saw the drunk. Feign ignorance when the vice p

wardly. A real woman looks a c

hour? Over the past few weeks, since rumors about our impending bankruptcy started to swirl in the city's alt-weekly newspaper and on a loca

-stucco behemoth built by my great-grandfather. To me, the building

gly building, but it's my ugly buildin

d the light of the letters on the building's sign no longer illuminated. The Time, it

mber one on

na

e's pregnant. Very, very pregnant. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and her tanned skin—I

ehead, and my thumb circles my temple. I shouldn't have had that seco

to me, breathless. Why is she in such a hu

out of here. Do you know i

e the Wall Street Jo

er at me. It's folded twice

get ready, and guzzle a gallon of coff

da Cap

" I snatch the

the ar

tes. I'm waiting for the VP to show u

to the bottom of page one with a chubby finger. Pregnancy and humidity have

tal. As part of the $800 million cash deal, MDA will assume all of Florida Capital's investments and continue to expand its acqui

look up into Diana's wide, blue eyes and shrug. "So? Sounds like this is g

nd smacks my arm with

o you think you, me, and Larry can haul him across the street? Wa

aragraph. Top left column." Diana's lilting S

backs midmarket companies in a variety of industries, including media, consumer and business services, consumer products, distribution, and

htens. My eyes read the name five tim

half of Florida. I fan myself with the newspaper and loo

it's the

." For a second, I suspect a vein in

Worse than ba