and when tom negotiates a deal he sees all the angles and plays it cool, plays it like a hand he’s been dealt before and he already knows its outcome. tom never comes unprepared, tom never goes in blind. he’s seen it all before, he’s looked hard and long into the mirror and he knows the man he is and could be. he’s been there, done that. just barely past thirty and he’s beaten the liquor that put his father into the ground, he’s beaten the coke that drove his friends to ruin. he’s risen above it all and he’ll keep rising, keeping plugging along until he doesn’t have to sit at any table to negotiate a deal anymore. he won’t even have to show up. he’ll have someone else do it for him. he’s almost there, but not quite yet.