Chapter 6 – Acceptance
By the time the food and wine was gone, Roger’s and Gwen’s heads were spinning,, and they wished it was from the wine rather than Little Jinny’s proposal. Wine spinning is fun. A business proposal from a Russian criminal produced a different kind of spin. A spinning sense of interest and possibility didn’t begin to capture the effect of the proposal. A swooping sense of wow, holy smokes, and lookout below was a little more like it. Then if you add to the mix of sensations the ideas of danger, are you kidding me, and you must be totally and absolutely crazy, you begin to get a feel for the June’s reaction.
Gwen didn’t know if it was good or bad that they were drinking wine while listening to Blistov explain his plan. She thought the wine might calm her down in the face of this insanity, but on the other hand she thought it might influence her to even consider this insanity. Roger was a bit sorry he was drinking this great wine while listening to Blistov, because he knew it was total insanity, and being exposed to such insanity reduced the pleasure he normally would have gotten from drinking great wine. Both of the Junes were dumbfounded. They were glad Blistov had spoken in a clear but soft voice during the meal and his explanation of his ideas for the partnership. Roger had made certain no one else could hear Blistov talking. The Junes were known in this restaurant, and already they were in dutch just for sitting down with someone dressed the way Blistov was. If anyone had heard even the slightest part of the conversation, the Junes would have been barred from the restaurant for life.
The waiter approached the table, staying well away from Blistov’s chair, and spoke directly to Gwen, asking if anyone wanted coffee. The waiter managed to look at Roger, but didn’t look at Blistov. Coffee was ordered, because it was needed.
Blistov had stopped talking near the end of the meal. He had been remarkably composed in issuing the proposal: logical and succinct, simple and clear, calm and reassuring. He had thought long and hard about this venture, and had worked out many issues down to some reasonable level of detail. After all, he had had six months in jail to do that. And he had had six months to think about Roger June. Describing his proposal had taken Blistov about twenty-five minutes, during which time he also managed to eat an entire chateaubriand and drink his share of the wine. Blistov could multitask. The Junes didn’t say a word, and they finished eating and drinking at the same time Blistov did. Roger noted this phenomenon.
Gwen had sustained a double dose of dumbfoundedness, twice as much as her husband, because she not only processed the meaning of the business proposal; she also processed Blistov as a person. She had to figure out how a person of his stature and physical makeup could speak so eloquently, so concisely, so persuasively, and so endearingly. Here was a guy with questionable grooming habits, highly questionable sartorial skills and knowledge, and who is utterly oblivious to southern genteel social engagement. And yet, she had begun to like him. Never mind his shoes, his stature, his choice of clothing fabrics, or his accent. He had rudimentary manners, he managed to chew with his mouth closed most of the time, his eyes were clear and penetrating, he spoke with a bit of smile twisting around the words, and the content of his mind was stunning. Gwen liked smart people, and she would tolerate a lot to be around them. She wondered if this tolerance extended to Blistov’s shoes. She decided it did not, but allowed that she, with her own brand of not inconsiderable persuasiveness, might be able to influence a change in that department. She had wound other men around her fingers, and thought she might try her skills on this very considerable Russian man.
The large pot of coffee came in a sterling silver pot, and was poured into the Mikasa china cups. The three diners sipped the brew with the same seriousness they had sipped the wine. They sat and thought. Or rather, the Junes sat and thought, while Jinny sat enjoying the effects of the wine on his psychology, and took in the crowd. He looked around the elegant room, the attire of the men and the bodies of the women, and decided he liked this place. He would be back, though it occurred to him he might have to make an adjustment in his approach to socialization in order to fit in, and decided that was no big problem. One had to adapt, and he was one adaptable character. From his examination of the restaurant and the patrons, two things became clear: he had to persuade the Junes to join him in this scheme so he could make lots of money, and he had to make some social adjustments so he could enjoy spending all the money they would make together.
With these points settled, Blistov’s attention came back to the Junes, and he could sense them processing, processing, processing. This was good, and as it should be, so he left them to it. He motioned to the waiter to come over, who hesitated, but realized he could not just ignore this customer no matter how scary he was. He came to the table, and was surprised by how calmly, quietly, and courteously Blistov order a cognac and soda in a snifter. Blistov could adapt like no one’s business. He learned every day, every minute. So while the Junes pondered, Blistov exalted inside on his incredibly good and unexpected fortune. And what was this fortunate thing? It was the presence of Gwen June. Previously Blistov didn’t know of or care about Roger’s wife. All those months in the joint, thinking through the scheme, figuring out how to use Roger, working out the roles and the details, the thought of a third partner never entered his mind. It was going to be him and Roger, and that was it. But now, discovering Gwen, and quickly coming to know something about her, namely that she was beautiful and went to dine at fancy restaurants heeled, well, this was unbelievably good fortune. Blistov did his own processing early in the engagement, and intuitively realized Gwen could be valuable to the operation. He didn’t have time to work out all the details of course, but he could see in general terms how Gwen could perform and what she could produce. With this realization, Blistov did a cartwheel inside. His team was forming better than he had hoped.
So Blistov was drinking coffee and cognac, was relaxing and thinking, and the Junes were drinking coffee, and were worrying and thinking. It was easier for Blistov to contemplate a shady partnership than it was for the Junes to contemplate a shady partnership. Not that Roger was an angel, by any means. But he strayed in that direction not so much by deliberate intent as by an inclination to make life interesting. Gwen was worried less by the shadiness of the proposal than by the probabilities of success. She was figuring the odds of complete success and stacking them against the consequences of complete failure. You can see that Gwen is the brains of the duo.
The three potential partners sat contemplating the potential partnership and the potential outcomes. Each had a role in the operation, and they had to compute the inputs and outputs of these roles. The computational picture was as follows.
Aristocratic Thieves Page 6
