“So you’re telling me my colleague is trying to dick me over?” Jake asked with a smirk.
“Yes!!” I insisted. It was late evening now and Jake was back from his meetings, the pair of us squared off in the living room. We’d been going back and forth for almost half an hour about what I’d overheard that afternoon, Jake not believing a word I was saying.
“Lauren… I’m sure that wasn’t Stephen, he wouldn’t do that.”
“Well I had dinner with the guy last night, I have a pretty good idea of what he looks like and what he sounds like,” I scoffed, “It was him. His eyes were alight with dollar signs.”
“Hmm…” Jake grumbled, going to the kitchen. I watched him open a bottle of wine, pouring two hefty portions, “I just can’t believe it.”
“Well you better,” I said, “I wouldn’t make something like this up.”
“True. I just don’t get what they’re up to.”
“That’s easy,” I said, “It’s all about the money.”
“But…”
“Listen Jake, I know you’re trying to see the good in this Stephen guy, but it’s too late. Dominique Gerard has her claws in him… And she clearly has other intentions too....”
“Don’t be crass.”
“That woman may be married but she doesn’t act like it,” I said, “Total golddigger.”
Jake rolled his eyes at me, swilling his glass carefully, “You’re positive about all this.”
“Look if I had some way to record it I would have. Look at the scratches I’ve got from hiding in the bushes!” I exclaimed, showing him my ankles. It was true I had a few little scratches down my legs, the prickly bushes catching my clothing and skin.
Jake nodded and then took a huge gulp of wine, setting his now half empty glass on the counter, “So now what?”
“Well no offense but your plan was kind of lame,” I told him, “We need to come up with a new plan. A much better one.”
“And do you have something in mind?” Jake asked.
“Actually I kind of do,” I told him. He raised his eyebrows at me, encouraging me to continue. “Dominique expects that if you find out about her devious plot you’ll expedite a sale to someone else and expose her.”
“Right…”
“So to catch her out we have to do the opposite. Pretend we have no idea that she’s up to something.”
“Lauren, that’s all well and good, but while we’re ignoring the problem Stephen could be totally screwing me over,” Jake sighed.
“I know that,” I laughed, “I’m not done!”
Jake rolled his eyes at me for what felt like the fifteenth time that evening, “Well get on with it then…”
“I’ve been thinking all afternoon about this,” I said, “I don’t think a real estate transaction is what we need to do. Shockingly I do know a couple of things about finance and I think if we can show Monsieur Dupont that he can accept offers from an investor without actually selling the entire perfumerie and still get the money and retirement time he wants… we might be able to save the place.”
“Investors?”
“The perfumerie has property, yes, but at the end of a day it’s a business. I think we treat this as a business deal.”
“I’m not qualified for this,” Jake said.
“I know, but I kind of am.”
“Lauren, since I’ve gotten here you’ve pretty much only told me you hate finance and you’re totally shit at it.”
