Free Smokeheads by Doug Johnstone Page A

mean it, don’t you?’ said Roddy. ‘You actually want me to give you over a million fucking quid …’
    ‘Not give it to me, invest it in this place. Roddy, it’s a great opportunity. You know yourself that the whisky industry has been bulletproof during the credit crunch, in fact the market for Islay malts is going through the roof in the Far East and India …’
    ‘Go to a fucking bank.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I said go to a bank. Loaning people money is what they do.’
    ‘Come on, Roddy …’
    ‘Go to the bank.’
    ‘I already went to the bank.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘What do you think? I don’t have a track record in the industry, I’m not a successful businessman, I didn’t have any collateral to borrow against. They weren’t going to give me a million quid.’

    ‘So why should I?’
    Adam felt his heart thudding against his ribcage.
    ‘Because you know me,’ he pleaded. ‘We’ve been friends for twenty fucking years. I’ve never asked you for anything in all that time, but I’m asking you now. It’s not a favour, it’s a sound investment.’
    ‘What makes you think I have that kind of money lying around?’
    ‘Come on, you’re always talking about how much you make.’ Adam heard his voice rise in pitch but couldn’t control it. ‘This is probably peanuts to you, you make this much in yearly bonuses.’
    ‘That might be true, but I didn’t get to be the best in the business by throwing money at pie-in-the-sky projects.’
    ‘It’s not pie in the sky,’ said Adam, panicking. ‘If you’ll just take a look at the business plan, the figures all stack up. You can have whatever percentage of the company you like, I’m just interested in making quality whisky.’
    ‘This isn’t Dragon’s fucking Den ,’ laughed Roddy. ‘We’re talking about a million quid and change of my money getting pished into a big black hole at the end of a dirt track on a God-forsaken rock in the Atlantic. It’s not going to happen.’
    Molly piped up. ‘You could at least take a look at the details of the proposal, Roddy. It seems like Adam’s gone to a lot of work putting this together.’
    Roddy turned and stared. ‘He’s got you in his corner, has he? Well listen, darling, I don’t need to take a look at the details, because I’m not going to throw money away on a ridiculous scheme like this.’
    ‘It could work,’ said Molly. ‘Bruichladdich have proved that. And there’s a new farmhouse distillery at Kilchoman that’s doing great business already after only three years.’
    ‘That’s right,’ said Adam, feeling sweat on his hands. ‘I’ve arranged for us to have a chat with the owner and manager of Kilchoman this afternoon, take a look round the place. It’s amazing what they’ve done in such a short time.’
    ‘You’re wasting your time,’ said Roddy. ‘I’m not investing in this fucking crazy idea.’
    ‘But why not?’ Adam begged.
    Roddy stared hard. ‘Because, Adam, you’re one of life’s losers, you always have been and you always will be. You’re almost forty and still working in a shop, for fuck’s sake. You’ve spent your whole life being petrified of taking a chance on anything. That doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person, but it sure as shit doesn’t make you the kind of person who runs a successful business either. You never take risks, it’s that simple, so you’ll always be one of the also-rans. You’re a beta male through and through.’
    ‘But don’t you see, I’m trying to change that with this project,’ Adam said. ‘I’m trying to turn things round, take risks and grab life by the bollocks.’
    Roddy smiled. ‘Did you fuck Molly last night?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I said did you fuck her?’
    ‘Mind your own business,’ said Molly.
    Adam looked confused. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
    Roddy shook his head. ‘Man, you couldn’t get laid if you fell into a barrel of fannies. You can’t even pull with a woman who actually likes you,