No Way
RHETT
Closing the plates with another plate, my head nodded in satisfaction. That was it. I walked farther from the table to take a look from a far distance, satisfied with what I did.
Finally!
I wasn't scared of Victoria walking in when I wasn't done with the cooking. It was a business meeting and at the same time, I would love to give her a treat.
Suddenly, my phone started to beep.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked to the right—leading my way to the living room where the phone had been abandoned a while ago.
Catching up with the couch, I picked the phone up and gazed at its screen. That was a call from my guest—a woman who was supposed to be here with me already but wasn't. Without any hesitation, I picked it up and placed the device next to my ear. “Mrs. Victoria? It's taking you forever to get here. Or didn't you get the address?”
“Oh, Mr. Rhett,” from the other end, her voice sounded. “I'm right at the gate of your apartment. Can you ask someone to come get me or come get me yourself?”
She was here!
“One moment,” I sounded, ending the call. In seconds, I had dialed the contact of the man who worked at the gate. “There's a woman at the gate. Let her in already and be fast about it—” I commanded, ending the call the very next moment. “Yes!” With this, I ran to the kitchen to arrange a few things quickly before walking out.
Now, I was more than ready to have the woman in my house. Why did it take so long, anyway? Settling on one of the chairs, I dropped my phone on the table and waited. Waiting for the entrance door to push open, but what was I even thinking? I asked myself as I got on my feet.
Upon my arrival at the door, Victoria had stopped and was ready to knock. “Come on in—” I opened the door even wider. “Welcome to my house, Victoria Blackwell. Make yourself comfortable but can we move to the diner before anything else? It's better there than here.”
“Sure, Mr. Rhett—” Victoria, who had stopped in her tracks to take a quick look, continued walking and did not stop until she caught up with the diner space. “Thank you for having me—” the words came out of her mouth while she settled on one of the chairs—the same chair I wanted her to sit on because it had the meal I prepared for her.
“Thank you for coming.”
In a short while, I was seated on my chair.
“I understand how much stress this is putting you through, Mrs. Victoria. This is why I thought about it and decided to make something for us to eat while we go ahead with the meeting. It's not much, but—”
“That's fine—” she cut me short. “Thank you.”
A look of approval was on her countenance. It didn't look like she didn't want it, but exactly the opposite. “Can I?” Picking up a spoon, she opened the plate and started to eat. There was me who wondered why I thought she wouldn't want it, but she did and that was all that mattered.
In the course of the meal, we talked about a lot.
Victoria, who from the look of things, found me funny, did not stop laughing—almost forgetting the main reason why we were here in the first place and I couldn't blame her. I was doing my best to keep her company while she was on the meal—before the main meeting would begin.
“Thank you once again, Mr. Rhett—” her meal wasn't finished, but she looked up, dropping her spoon. “How about we set to work and leave pleasure aside?”
She was right.
It was important to discuss the same business that brought her to my house on a day like this. Nodding, I dropped my spoon and met her gaze. “You said you wanted us to see and as a matter of fact, I am not very strong to leave the house so I thought we should meet here.”
“I understand, Mr. Rhett,” she mouthed, dropping her hand on the table. “I just think you should understand that these things you've given to me—one proof, in fact, would not be enough for the intended operation. How do I give this to the board members and executives of the company? What do you think they would think of me?”
She was right.
That picture was not enough.
“I don't know, Victoria. But that's the only good thing I could provide you with and as we speak, I don't have the slightest idea what I would do because there are no suggestions at all coming up in my head. You must know.”
“Well—” the smile on her countenance was comforting. “As it is, I think I might have a solution to our problems. Do you want to see it?” She picked up her bag from the table, placed it on her lap, and looked into it, leaving me to wonder what exactly she was looking for.
“What?” I asked. “You know I'll love to see it, Victoria. What do you refer to and why is it taking time?” Controlling myself from bursting, I asked with a smile on my countenance even though I wasn't sure about what the answer would be. “What is it about, Victoria?”
She took out her phone. “It's a suggestion I think we should go with, Rhett—” she pressed on something, totally leaving me in the dark. “I think I should call your brother and see if he's going to give in. I'll record the call while on it and you can do the same with the normal recording app—anyone you have installed on your phone.”
Indeed, she was more than right.
Without any hesitation, I picked up my phone and turned on the recording app. “It's ready.”
“Good—” Victoria nodded, dialing the number while the both of us waited for the bastard of a brother to pick up. “Hello, Mr. Raymond. It's good to hear from you again. I was thinking I could speak with you.”
“Hello, Victoria,” he sounded from the other end—more like a man who wasn't in pain or rather, a man with plans of escaping the trouble myself and Victoria had put him in.
“What do I owe the call, Mrs. Victoria?”
“Oh, Mr. Raymond,” she chuckled. “I was thinking you would love to discuss some terms with me. Like, give me a reason to not submit my proofs at the feet of the men who are members of the board. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” He sounded from his end.
“Yes, what do you think?”
All this while, I waited for him to say something. Something that would expose him and the woman he claimed was his wife when we all knew that she wasn't.
“I'll advise you to tell me the truth, and I'd be nice enough to come to terms with you. The board members don't have to know about this call as I don't plan to tell them either. Maybe we should see and talk about it.”
“That won't be necessary, Mrs. Victoria.”
Disappointment came on my countenance. Not just mine, but Victoria as well even though she covered it up. “As a matter of fact, I look forward to the meeting. I'd love to see the evidence and proof you have against me. Until then, I don't owe you anything at all. I'll see you on that day.”
That was all.
No, was that all?
“The call ended—” Victoria mouthed. “He ended the call, Raymond. I'm guessing he knows we don't have a thing on him. Isn't that what this looks like?”
Not saying a word, I got on my feet.
The glass of water that got up with me, didn't sit back with me because I threw it against the wall—soothing myself with the sounds of its shatter.