by Leji Albano
Taking a quick glance at his watch, he continued, “I’ll knock on your door in exactly one hour, at which point we will go to a nice Parisian café and get some coffee and a light lunch. Is that acceptable?” Tina scowled at him but nodded her assent. He held up her room key, so she could see it, then set it down on the table in front of the couch.
Once he was gone, she walked into the cavernous marble bathroom and started her bath. Unpacking didn’t take very long, and soon she slowly settled her tired and achy body into the almost too-hot water of the tub. She had pinned her hair up to keep it out of the water, as she didn’t plan to take the time to wash it. Steam from the hot water rose slowly into the air, and Tina luxuriated in the relaxing heat, letting her muscles unknot one by one. By the time the thirty minutes she had allocated had elapsed, she almost felt human again.
Wearing the robe provided by the hotel, Tina finished applying her make-up. Fortunately, with her skin tone, she didn’t require much, and with a final touch of lip gloss, she was done. She wandered over to the closet and perused her choices, eventually settling on a pair of low-cut jeans, a navy t-shirt, and a comfortable pair of flats. A fashionable black leather jacket rounded out the ensemble. She pulled her dark brunette hair into a tight ponytail and called it good.
Since she still had a few minutes before Alexander arrived, Tina opened her laptop and started browsing the news. A story about a particularly gruesome murder in Naples, Italy caught her attention, and she was only halfway through the article when a soft knock sounded at the door. She closed the laptop and set it on the table in front of her, then walked to the door. A small sigh of relief escaped as she took in what he was wearing. Her instincts had been correct as he was wearing jeans also, along with a white long-sleeve button-up shirt, and comfortable-looking brown leather shoes.
“Ready? Paris in August awaits,” he said with a slight bow to indicate she should step into the hallway.
“Thank you, kind Sir.” She moved into the hall with a giggle. Gah! I can’t believe I just giggled. I hate giggling, she grumbled to herself.
The next few minutes were filled with small talk as they made their way to a café not far from the hotel. The weather was comfortable, so they sat at a street-side table, and when the waiter arrived, Alexander ordered them coffee and two sandwiches: a jambon buerre and a croque-monsieur.
“I figured I would let you sample each and decide which one you prefer,” he said a bit sheepishly. “These are classics, and I would hate for you not to be able to try them while you are here.”
Tina nodded agreeably and said, “I didn’t know you spoke French. Just how many languages are you fluent in?”
“Speaking or reading?”
She cocked her head to the side and asked. “Both?”
He leaned back in his chair and considered for a moment. “Hmmm, let’s say twenty.” A short pause. “Modern languages, anyway.”
“So, let me get this straight, you are fluent in twenty modern languages, both written and verbal?” He nodded reluctantly.
“How many non-modern languages?” she demanded.
Alexander looked uncomfortable and muttered, “Another fifteen or so.”
Tina sat there, stunned for a minute, shook her head, and opened her mouth to speak…twice. She finally managed to whisper, “Wow.”
He shrugged diffidently. “It kind of goes with the territory. I need to be able to authenticate the items we buy and sell, not to mention read through ancient sources looking for something other collectors may have missed.”
Their food arrived, the scent of toasted bread, cheese, and meats preceding it and interrupting the conversation briefly. He sipped his coffee as she nibbled on each of the sandwiches. “These are both really good. I think we should split them and call it even.”
For a while, they ate in companionable silence, but eventually, she blurted out, “Say something to me in one of the old languages.”
“Like what?”
She waved her hand in the air and said with a huge smile, “Surprise me.”
Alexander thought for a moment then grinned impishly. “Triúr fear go dteipeann orthu mná a thuiscint: fír óga, fir aosta agus fir mhéanaosta.” The words spilled off his tongue with a slight sibilance but were still beautiful to hear.
“What does that mean?”
He used his fingers to count as he replied, “It’s an old Gaelic proverb that translates roughly as Three kinds of men who fail to understand women: young men, old men, and middle-aged men.” He had to duck quickly as she threw her napkin at him.
“That’s terrible,” Tina said but was laughing as she did so.
They finished eating, and Alexander paid the bill. Afterward, they spent the rest of the afternoon strolling the streets near their hotel. He filled the walk with outrageous and scandalous tales of the various neighborhoods they crossed through, and imparted some of their rich histories as well. Eventually, the pair ended up back at the Four Seasons, where he asked her to join him for dinner later in the evening and left her at her door.
Alexander entered the town-car that the hotel concierge had arranged for, then provided the destination address to the driver. It only took a few minutes before they pulled up in front of the Cartier store on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where he requested that the driver wait for him. He entered the store and approached the woman behind the counter.
“May I help you?” she asked, in lightly accented English.
“Yes, please, I am here to pick up a watch. You should have a Silvertone Tank MC, with the alligator strap, waiting for an Alexander Matthews.”
“One moment, Sir.” The clerk walked away and came back moments later with a box in her hands. She opened the lid and showed him the contents. “Does this look correct, Mr. Matthews?”
He nodded, then pulled his wallet out, removed a credit card, and handed it to the woman. “Would you be so kind as to wrap it for me? It’s a birthday gift.”
“Of course.” She rang up the purchase, and minutes later, he was back in the town-car and headed toward the hotel.
Checking herself in the mirror one final time and adjusting her boobs, Tina decided that she looked good enough for dinner. She was still exhausted but was determined to power through the next couple of hours before going to bed. Her curiosity was piqued, but she assumed Alexander wanted to make this a working meal, probably to discuss the particulars of the sale of the artifacts tomorrow.
Her knuckles rapped on Alexander’s door, and he answered almost immediately. He ushered her to a seat at the small dining table and poured a glass of wine.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I thought a private dinner would be more conducive to getting actual work done.” His raised eyebrow and slight smirk made it more of a question than a statement.
“It's fine. I’m still tired from the flight anyway.” Tina sipped from her glass and nodded approvingly. “This is good.”
“I’m glad you like it. A good Vouvray is hard to beat, in my opinion. Also, it pairs well with what I had the chef whip up for dinner.” He removed the lids from a couple of serving platters and put food on both of their plates.
Her mouth began to water as the aromas from the meal wafted in her direction. “It smells wonderful. What are we having?”
“Chicken with forty cloves of garlic, haricots verts, and new potatoes in butter,” he replied. The skeptical look on her face amused him. “Don’t worry, the garlic loses its bitterness as it cooks, and adds just a hint of sweetness to the chicken.”
Small talk dominated as they ate, and Tina found herself enjoying this time with her boss. The witty sense of humor that he usually kept well-hidden was evident tonight, and she decided she liked this side of him…. Not that she would ever tell Alexander that.
He poured the last of the wine into her glass and gestured to the comfortable couch. She seated herself at the far end and turned her body so she could face him, pulling her legs under her. Appearing to collect his thoughts for a momen
t, he then began to speak.
“I don’t anticipate any real problems with the exchange tomorrow.” He smiled reassuringly at her. “These things tend to go fairly smoothly.”
One corner of her mouth quirked up. “But….”
He chuckled. “But on occasion, the buyer is less than honest, and events can get a bit hairy. I have done business with our customer before, and while he’s a bit of a prick, he has never tried to rip me off. You might compare him with an especially slimy used car salesman—gross, but essentially harmless.”
“What happens if he does attempt to not pay?”
His eyes hardened, and his voice was crisp. “Then, the situation might become more…fluid. If that happens, I want you to immediately get up and leave. Return to your room and wait. Do not open your door for anyone but me. Do you understand?”
“You want me to leave you alone?”
“I do. I can better manage the situation if I know you are out of harm’s way.”
Tina scowled. “I’m not sure I like the idea of abandoning you.”
Alexander sighed. “You’ll just have to trust me on this. If you prefer, I can handle the transfer myself?”
“No. I can follow instructions. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”
“Excellent.” They spent the next hour discussing what she could expect and which account the money should be deposited into electronically.
At some point, she fell asleep on his couch, and rather than wake her, he eased her down and covered her with a blanket, gently sliding a pillow under her head and removing her shoes. Alexander spent several minutes just gazing down at Tina’s sleeping form, a troubled expression on his face, then made his way to the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
Sleep did not come easily to him. Alexander had spent the last hour staring at the ceiling and arguing with himself. Was he doing the right thing? Intellectually he understood that maintaining his distance from Tina was the best choice. Still, he was finding it difficult to do. In fact, as it currently stood, he was half-assing it—neither fully committed to being aloof nor to allowing nature to take its course.
Their banter, where she gave as good as she got, amused him on many levels. Having someone to verbally spar with was fun, and surprisingly, she more than held her own. There was a fully functional brain behind the pretty exterior. However, he noticed that she tried to camouflage that fact as much as possible. Why was the question. Alexander understood that some men felt threatened by smart women, but he was not one of them. It was refreshing to be able to have an actual conversation with a woman, and not just talk about nonsense.
Over the last couple of months, he had given up on any pretense of maintaining his regular routines. Maria had been with him long enough that she required very little input from him to handle the day-to-day operations of the business. The same could not be said of Tina, nor did he begrudge having to take the time to instruct her, but the constant interaction was distracting…to say the least. Also, she was far too smart to allow him to provide less than comprehensive information, frequently calling him out on his bullshit when he tried to give her the bare minimum. A stubborn streak a mile wide hid within that shapely body, and she refused to acknowledge that she had a handle on something unless she genuinely did understand the material backward and forward.
So…he couldn’t pretend she wasn’t there, nor could he in good conscience fail to provide the guidance that she needed to get the job done. That would be shooting himself in the foot and potentially damaging to the business. Where did that leave him? Apparently, it leaves me with insomnia, he thought, a smile flickering across his lips. Enough. Stewing on this shit is accomplishing nothing.
Alexander rolled onto his side and focused on his breathing until he fell asleep.
Tina woke to the sounds of Alexander showering and getting ready for the day. She realized she must have fallen asleep on the couch and noticed that he had provided her with a pillow and blanket. She smiled a bit sardonically and thought, Not quite how you had hoped to spend a night in his room, is it? Then she grimaced at the horrid taste in her mouth. Chicken with forty cloves of garlic might be excellent going down, but the aftermath left much to be desired. She wanted to go back to sleep but sat up and stretched instead. Verifying that her room key was in her back pocket, Tina exited Alexander’s suite and made her way to her room. She stripped out of the clothes she had on, brushed her teeth to get rid of the dead animal that had taken up residence in her mouth, and quickly showered.
Her thoughts wandered as she dried her hair and prepared for the day. Last night was…nice. Definitely not what she expected in regard to how traveling with her boss would be. Rather than treating her strictly as an employee, he had directly involved her in the planning, going so far as to ask for her opinions, even though this was all new to her, and she lacked experience. Tina was beginning to understand why her aunt had loved this job so much.
It was almost mid-morning when she was finally ready to meet the day head-on. Her phone rattled on the end table, and when she picked it up, she saw a text from Alexander. Ready for breakfast? She responded in the affirmative and met him in the hallway outside their rooms. They took the elevator down to the main floor and had a leisurely breakfast at one of the restaurants in the hotel.
As she was sipping a perfect cup of coffee, Alexander said, “I almost forgot,” then handed her a small box. “Happy Birthday, Miss Ferrante.”
Tina gazed at the wrapped package in her hands as though expecting it to explode at any moment, then scowled at him. “How did you know today is my birthday?”
He looked inordinately pleased with himself as he replied, “One of the perks of being the owner of a business is having access to personal data of employees. It’s all in your data packet from the day you were hired.”
She looked less than pleased by his words, then visibly decided what the hell and started to unwrap the gift. There was a sharp intake of breath as she saw the name Cartier on the box. When she lifted the lid, Tina saw a beautiful watch…not just any watch, a Cartier. She puffed her cheeks out, set the watch on the table, and told Alexander, “I can’t accept this.”
“Why not?”
“Alexander, this had to cost several thousand dollars.”
He nodded. “It did. Your point would be?”
Tina’s exasperated tone spoke volumes. “Why would you buy such an expensive watch for someone who has only worked for you a few months?”
He sat back in his chair, studying her intently before he replied.
“I could tell you that it has nothing to do with how long we’ve worked together. Or I could say that I feel bad about dragging you away from your friends and family during your birthday.” He paused. “And it’s also possible that our company is going to make a rather large sum of money on the transaction this evening, making the cost irrelevant.”
Her narrowed eyes indicated her skepticism.
Alexander sniffed audibly and looked down his nose. “But mostly, a well-crafted timepiece is a necessity for any truly civilized person. I’m just doing my part to ensure you can never use ‘my watch is running slow’ as an excuse for being late.”
He almost got out of the way of the pastry remnant she threw at him as he laughed loudly. Almost.
Alexander and Tina were seated at a semi-secluded table in a restaurant located just a few blocks from the Four Seasons. Each had an untouched drink sitting in front of them, and the waiter had been informed that they were expecting guests. She was fidgeting, fingers idly twisting the new watch on her wrist, her nervousness plainly apparent, but Alexander reached out a hand and rested it on top of hers. “Relax. Breathe. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
She jerked her head in a nod. “OK.”
He continued to let his senses roam, even as his eyes actively scanned the room, looking for threats. Nothing indicated that they were in danger, but it never hurt to maintain low-level alertness in these types of situations. Only a minu
te later, he saw the person they were waiting for enter the restaurant, an obvious bodyguard following him closely. Their eyes connected across the room, and the two men made their way to the table where Alexander and Tina sat.
Alexander stood and offered his hand. “Jean, a pleasure as always. May I present my assistant, Tina Ferrante?”
Jean shook his hand, then glanced at Tina, appraising her like a piece of meat.
The greasy smile directed at her made Tina’s skin crawl. “The pleasure is all mine, Mademoiselle.”
He seated himself, while the bodyguard stood slightly to his right, and a step behind, actively scanning for threats. When the waiter arrived to inquire about a drink, Jean waved him off. “No, thank you. We will only be here briefly.”
“Do you have the items?”
Alexander countered with, “Do you have the funds?”
Jean opened his arms wide. “That’s the problem with this world, no? Where is the trust?”
“I believe it was Ronald Reagan who said, ‘Trust, but verify,’ was it not?” Alexander countered drolly.
“Bah.” Jean leaned forward, squinting his piggish eyes. “Who can be bothered with remembering what American said what?”
Tina watched as her boss reached down beside him and slowly raised a small metal case, set it on the table, and slid it toward the buyer.
Eyes glittering with thinly disguised greed, the Frenchman rubbed his hands together then opened the top, revealing the five jade stamps nestled within. “How do I know these are authentic?”
“Don’t insult me, Jean. If you have any doubts, you should just walk away.”
“And these are the correct period?”
“Yes. All from the Warring States era,” Alexander replied dryly.
Jean looked up as he closed the case. “My client will be very pleased with this acquisition.”
