Til Debt Do Us Part

Chapter 3 - Cicero's at Eight

The lighting was tinted amber by the simulated glass shades on the table lamps. Dark green dinnerware with matching bone-handled flatware provided the rather bilious ambience of Cicero's faux elegance.

"I need something to drink, where the hell is the waiter?"

"Right beside you, Percy." Lillian shone an indulgent smile on the young man poised beside her companion.

"Ah great. I want a giant Bloody Caesar with a log of celery and a half inch of salt on the rim. Lil?"

"May I have a vodka martini please -- two olives."

The waiter bowed away into the dim luminance.

"So, are you still concerned about Matthew?" Percy Rudman opened his menu and frowned at the faint script.

"Certainly I'm concerned, you fired him! You never said anything about that. It was supposed to be a-- a goodbye occasion, with speeches and compliments . . ."

"Jesus, Lillian it wasn't Oscar night. There wasn't time for all that, the deal needs to be made pronto and this was the best way."

"You said he wouldn't be hurt and now he's just walked out and hasn't returned home. How am I supposed to talk about a divorce?" She looked quickly around as her voice sounded loud in her head.

"So what, he's been gone a night. Probably got drunk and stayed in a hotel."

"What hotel"

"Any hotel I don't know. You said he had a favourite hotel bar." Percy covered his exasperation with a gulp of his water. "Besides, you can't hand him papers right away. You have to wait for the-- the evidence. You have to finesse the situation a bit . . . work up to it, and I didn't fire him, Lil."

"That's how he saw it."

"He was released due to a necessary restructuring of the company goals . . . our goals I might emphasize."

Her expression pinched.

The drinks arrived and Percy wiped half the salt off with the celery, crunching noisily and decorating his plate with fallout.

"Look, Lil, we had to get this train movin'. Wheels are turning fast at the resort and I don't plan to get run over. As soon as I hear the results of . . . uh, we can move ahead with the necessary steps for the divorce."

"What if that doesn't work? What do we--?"

"It'll work, trust me."

"What if it isn't soon enough? Mathew isn't like that . . . I mean he doesn't-- wouldn't just--"

"Trust me, Lil. Mathew will do exactly as we planned."

"He'll want to sell the villa to cover all our other expenses you know. " Her sentence ended with a whine.

"He can't move on something like that instantly, Jesus, Lil calm down and think straight. He won't get that chance."

"He told me this afternoon when he got home, we're as good as broke or soon will be!"

Percy looked doubtful but since their entire scheme was aimed at acquiring the property, the value of which would be unlimited with the planned expansion of the resort, he had to keep her on course.

"Look, we're getting what we wanted, Lil. I guarantee but it can't happen at the snap of a finger; things need time to work right . . . and they will."

The waiter appeared and bent down to see their faces in the light.

"Would madam care for another martini?"