by Ashley Woods
As promised, the meeting was very brief. As the men began to depart, the waitress handed the bill to one of them. “How nice,” Kristen was amused, and a little surprised, that the men paid for the snacks; not Robert.
Robert then made two phone calls. During the first one, he was talking in hushed tones, and it sounded like he was talking to a girlfriend. He saw Kristen watching him and covered his hand over his mouth. He then got up and walked into the hall. He was on the phone for about fifteen minutes.
Kristen was thinking of leaving and began to stand up. He smiled and waved at her from the hall, holding up his finger to gesture that it would just be another minute. He then made another call and started walking back toward the table.
Kristen heard him telling someone to come and meet them. She gave him a curious look as he reached into his briefcase, which was on the floor next to him, and pulled out some papers.
“So, you want to get in on the action?”
Kristen watched him curiously, as he laid several documents in front of her.
“All you need to do is write me a check for $125,000, and I can give you back $100,000 right away as soon as we go to war with these guys.”
Kristen looked confused and began to ask him a question, when an anorexic-looking, middle-aged brunette walked into the room. Kristen recognized her from the Patio Bar, which was one of her favorite suburban spots. Her name was Anne, and she squeezed in very close next to Robert.
Kristen thought, “What the heck was she doing downtown at this time of night?” She was never really friends with Anne, but she had seen her around the bar scene for years, knew some of her friends, and thought she was a decent person.
Robert spoke up, “Anne just passed her CPA test and has an MBA. I knew she would be perfect for my newest company. In fact, she is flying to L.A. tomorrow to conduct due diligence for me.”
He continued, “Anne has invested $50k with me, and she knows a good deal when she sees one.”
Anne nodded in agreement.
Robert gloated, “I am already giving back returns for some of the investors!” He stood and walked back to the lobby.
Kristen felt awkward being left alone with Anne.
“This is really a good offer,” Anne told her, “I checked him out thoroughly. You should invest!”
Kristen felt like she was being badgered and wanted to go. Robert came back to the table carrying a fresh drink. He was all smiles and sat back down on Kristen’s side.
He gave Kristen a poke, “So, sweetheart, are you ready to come onboard?”
“No, I don’t think so Robert. I am just going to take a cab back to the bar, before I lose track of my girlfriends. Good-bye Robert. Good-bye Anne.”
Kristen looked disappointed, and added, “I bet there was never even a party.” She promptly left the hotel and had the doorman secure her a cab.
A few days later, Kristen was at the Happy Hour at the Patio Bar with Suzie, and her recently acquired beau. She noticed Robert and Anne were sitting at a table on the other side of the room. Robert beckoned for her to come over to them.
Suzie shrugged, “Oh no, looks like you are getting ready to ditch me for him again. Tell you what Kristen, me and my future fiancé, are going to go over to the bar next door. You can meet us there when you are done with him if you want to.”
Kristen laughed, “Fiancé, huh? She pointed at Suzie’s boyfriend, “Are you good with this?”
He laughed, “You never know, I am pretty happy, and it’s only been two days.”
Kristen shook Suzie’s hand, “Well, if that’s the case, I will start preparing some bad jokes about you for the bachelorette party. Congratulations. I will see you two later.” Kristen picked up her drink and headed for Robert.
Robert looked very happy to see her, “That party was really fantastic the other night, too bad you left us.”
Anne looked at him curiously. Then she followed his lead, and said enthusiastically, “Oh yes, it was a great time. Really fun.”
Robert wasted no time to approach the investment subject with her again, “So, Kristen are you ready to pop in some quick money with me. I promise, you will really see a fast return.”
Kristen smiled, “I have been thinking pretty much about it, and I might do it.” She was in need of making some extra money quickly, with the small amount that she still had left.
She thought, “Why not? It really seemed like it was a win-win situation. Those men from the other night had looked like they were big wheels, and they were doing it.”
“Anne, did you bring the contracts?”
“They are right here.”
She opened a briefcase with her bony hand and placed them on the table. Kristen looked down at them.
The first page listed the principals of his company. For the top officers, it showed Robert St. Germain, someone named Reynolds, and Anne was listed as Vice-President.
“Anne as Vice-President?” Kristen thought, “What the hell? She doesn’t know him. He just came to town.” It was all sounding a bit fishy.
Kristen took on an attitude and read off the papers.
“Your name is St. Germain? Who is Reggie Reynolds?
He laughed at her all-business approach, “Reynolds is my partner and attorney. You will meet him soon. I have known him forever. We are like twins.”
Kristen said, “Funny, that I have never known your last name.” She realized even more, how crazy she would be to do this with someone that she barely knew anything about.
“I am sorry Robert, I don’t usually make investments. I just know how to spend money, and I’m still not ready to do this right now.”
Without a word, Robert indignantly grabbed the papers back, and walked out of the room, dragging Anne by her arm behind him. He then had Anne pull her car up and they quickly drove away.
Kristen was really curious about him now. She had to find out what he was up to and decided to tail him. She had nothing better to do at that moment.
She only followed them for a few miles, until Anne dropped him off in front of a restaurant. Kristen wanted to see who Robert was meeting, so she left her car in the front, while she went in and looked around.
In the middle of the room, Robert was looking just like a family man. He was sitting with a pregnant girl in her early twenties, who had a small boy next to her.
Kristen at first thought the girl could be a daughter or something, but then it dawned on her that Robert wasn’t that old, and it was probably the Jeannie who gave him the watch!
Kristen walked right up and stood in front of him.
“I knew you were up to something Robert. Hello Jeannie.” The girl looked confused.
Robert calmly said to Kristen, “So, are you hear to tell me the news about Anne? Is she still at the hospital?”
Kristen was dumbfounded, “What?”
He continued, “Anne. How is Anne? How did her tests go?”
Kristen could tell he was creating some kind of crazy story to explain her being there. She just replied, “Anne is going to be alright,” and walked away. It was pointless to stay there.
Robert said, “You are so kind to let us know,” he really sugar-coated it.
Kristen thought, “God, he is such a loon!” She began to walk out, and was surprised to see Robert following behind her, carrying his briefcase.
He braced it against one hip, as he fumbled with the latch to open it. He pulled out papers and placed them on a front counter. Kristen watched him carefully.
"Kristen, this is it! You need to sign now, or I am going to offer this opportunity to a man who is on his way to join me here.”
He started explaining the venture all over again, and made it seem like very easy money. Kristen knew she was acting very naïve, but she still felt that it was a low risk, so she now thought it might be alright.
Robert continued, “Are you ready to do this?” He walked her to a table on the other side of the restaurant, and out of the sight of his companion. He remained very
serious and shoved the papers at her.
As Kristen slowly reached for her purse, Robert perked up. He kept his arm around her shoulders, as she looked over the contract carefully. It seemed very official.
She was afraid to upset him, and with great hesitation she said, “I am only willing to put in $75,000, not $125,000.”
Robert’s smile disappeared. Kristen quickly added
“And I am paying cash!”
It just happened to be that Kristen was so sure that she wanted to invest with him, that she had been lugging around the bills in her large tote bag, soon after she first was told about it. Robert’s eyes almost popped out as she pulled several stacks of bills from it.
Kristen laughed, “I came prepared, almost fooled you, didn’t I?” Robert now stood behind her and produced a pen. Kristen took it from him and signed in the three places where he pointed.
“Don’t you need a Notary for this?”
“Don’t worry. Anne will take care of it.”
Kristen wondered how much Anne was involved in all of this, and if she was sleeping with Robert. Kristen balked again; and then greed entered the picture.
“Wait Robert, I am going to invest $25,000 more. But, I am going to have to do it with a check.”
Robert slowly smiled like a Cheshire cat, and had her sign another document. Then, he pulled the papers from her like a hot potato, as he grabbed the check. He scrawled his name and gave her the final page to serve as her receipt.
Kristen stood up to leave, and Robert began shoving everything back in his briefcase, “I will see you later.”
As she walked out into the parking lot, Kristen was feeling nervous about how fast he wrapped it all up. She sat in her car for several minutes and had an increasingly sick feeling that she had better get out of the deal right away.
She rushed back into the restaurant and looked around for Robert. None of them were there. Kristen felt panicky and sat at an empty table. She could kick herself now, since she realized that she had only given into Robert, because she was trying to impress him into liking her more.
Kristen had to think fast. There was nothing she could do about the cash, but she could stop the check. She called her bank’s customer service line.
The cheerful bank agent told Kristen there was nothing to worry about, since she had placed the stop payment right away.
Kristen was actually more nervous, of how Robert was going to react to being blind-sided. He was no crook, just a little crazy, and she was convinced that he would give her all the money back, if she merely asked for it.
As she drove to the other bar to meet Suzie, she thought that she was just experiencing buyer’s remorse. Maybe, she shouldn’t completely kill the deal?
7 ART OF DECEPTION
A few days passed, before Kristen heard from Robert again. He had the nerve to drive to her house in the early evening, and pound on her front door. She was afraid to open it, fearing retaliation for her stopping the check.
To her surprise, Robert said nothing except, “I need to go back downtown. I had too many drinks at Mulligan's." He shook his head like he was trying to wake up, “I am too messed up to drive my rental car back by myself.”
Kristen replied, "How did you even know where I live?"
He didn’t have to answer. She knew it was one of her friends that had broken the "Girl Code" again, without even warning her! One of them must have given him their phone number. Which traitor was it?
At first, she refused to go meet him, but things were different for her these days, and the bad boys were now more fun, and definitely not boring. Her life was becoming an adventure! She didn’t even mention the investment to him. She would let him be the first to speak about it.
They left his car there, because he was going to have the rental place pick it up later. She grabbed her car keys, and soon they were on the expressway heading south.
As they were driving, Robert said, “I need to borrow a few hundred dollars to get something. I will pay you right back.”
Kristen immediately said, "No! You still owe me all that other money.”
He quickly added, "I'll pay you back double!"
Robert now looked angelic, “By the way, I am not happy that you stopped the check. But it is alright, and I totally understand.”
Kristen began to feel nervous and wanted to talk about her other money. But, sitting this close to him, she didn’t want to make waves, and decided to save it for later.
She then raised her hands up like she gave up on everything, “Go look in my purse.”
Robert reached for it and put it on his lap. Kristen had planned to make a bank deposit the next day and had plenty of money in there.
Robert grabbed a handful of bills and held them up, “Is this OK?”
“Sure, but, seriously, only if you are paying me this week.”
Kristen was about to take the exit to go toward the lake, but Robert said, “Keep going. Get off at Division Street.”
“Why do you want to go there?”
“Don’t worry so much, just drive!”
He had her head east for a while and then suddenly yelled, “Take a turn here.
Kristen said, “Are you insane? This is the low-income housing projects. We are in the ghetto! Don't you know that it is totally dangerous here? I don’t want to get shot!”
He assured her, “It’s OK, don’t worry, it’s not bad. I come here all the time. Go pull over by that corner and shut off the engine.”
Kristen parked, and could hear gunfire about a block away. The area was dark because most of the streetlights had been shot out. She switched the car back on and said, “I’m getting out of here!”
She was about to pull out, when a man wearing a dark cap, torn coat, and black pants, walked up to the car. Kristen almost died right there.
Robert opened his window, “Hey man, can you get us some rock?”
The man leaned in, “I don’t know man, are you the heat?”
Robert laughed like a lunatic, “No, we’re cool!”
Robert poked Kristen and said, “I need smaller bills. Give me sixty bucks.”
Kristen protested, “Drug deals? No way Robert! I can't believe you are trying to buy drugs here. You are just going to get ripped off.”
Robert smiled at the man, “You wouldn’t do that, would you? You need to leave me with your wallet so I know you’re coming back.”
The man acted like he was going to just walk away. Robert demanded the money from Kristen again saying,
“I’ll pay you back along with the other money I owe you tomorrow. I promise.”
The dealer was starting to look angry, so Kristen stretched to reach over Robert, and directly handed the cash to the him. The man pulled his wallet from his back pocket and tossed it in the car.
He said, “I’ll be right back. Do you want any weed too?”
“Robert said, “Just the coke.” The stranger walked off in between two of the projects into the dark.
They waited for half an hour, and then Kristen angrily said, “You know that creep isn’t coming back. I knew it! You are such a jerk! I can't believe you have put me in the middle of a coke deal. What happens if we get arrested? I don’t even do them.”
Robert said, “He’ll be back. We have his wallet. I wonder how much money is in it?”
Kristen watched as Robert opened it, and looked in. All it contained was a driver’s license, no money, nothing! Robert held the I.D. up to show Kristen, and chuckled. The picture on it was of a very young man with bright blonde hair.
Robert laughed like he was going to fall over, “I guess it looks like our friend isn’t coming back. Let’s go.”
Kristen saw a crowd of teens coming up on them and peeled out of there. She was livid at Robert. He was now deliberately endangering her life! She was so angry that she took him to his hotel, kicked him out, and took off.
Kristen was now completely sure that Robert was out of her life, and she was starting to seriously worry about
how she was going to get her money back. She was not rich enough these days to handle that type of loss. It was going to have a significant effect on her plans.
After two weeks passed, she received a bouquet of flowers from him with a note. She called him, and agreed to meet that night at the new hotel that he was staying in. She wanted her money back.
She drove there, and when she arrived, the door was slightly open. As she began to knock, an arm reached out, took her hand, and pulled her inside.
Robert had a new haircut and was looking handsome as usual. He gave her a big smile and handed her a fruity cocktail as she sat down.
Kristen started to speak, but Robert touched her lips with his finger and said, "I want you to take a big sip first! Then we will talk!"
As she began to drink, she felt an amazing rush, and a total feeling of peace overtaking her body. Then she just felt numb and slumped over. She reached out her arm toward him to steady herself. Robert laughed and pushed her hand off with a light slap,
“Oh, no you don’t, you nasty she-devil.” He quickly retreated to the other side of the room, and curiously watched her
Kristen felt her heart skipping beats. Robert said gruffly, "Finish that up. I have to go to a late business meeting. But first I need you to sign these first.”
As Kristen pushed the glass away from her, he walked back and laid down a few papers on the coffee table.
Kristen squinted her eyes again and realized it was the same contract that he had her sign before.
“No, Robert. I am not signing those again,” she barely sounded audible. I don’t feel well I want to leave now.”
Robert looked angry, and he grabbed the pile and walked off.
Kristen slowly sat up and groggily said, "Are you going to drive me? I don't think I can do it.”
Robert acted like she was bothering him, “You’re a big girl. Have the doorman get you a cab.”
He then flicked the towel at her like he was fending her off and walked into the bedroom.
