by S. Poulos
should be in jail as far as I know."
"And what do you know about it?"
Not much at all, but according to the television news he is kind of a terrorist and should be in prison."
"Let's us change the subject," said Michael. "You know, the first time I bumped into you back on Patmos I thought I bumped into the Venus de Milo."
"You mean Aphrodite of Milos?"
"Is there not an island in Greece called Milo where they found a famous statue called Venus de Milo?"
"You mean Aphrodite of Milos!"
"Okay, I believe so. You really looked like the goddess of Milo. May I call you Venus then?"
"No, but you can call me with the original name."
"Which one is this?"
"I told you... Aphrodite, the goddess of love."
"I like that. The goddess of love."
After their lunch and during the coffee he said, "Well, Goddess of Love, did you enjoy your lunch?"
"I did not mean you to call me Goddess of Love, although it sounds beautiful," she said, smilingly, "I meant Aphrodite."
"All right, Aphrodite, how did you like the lunch?"
"It was all right, although I really had to earn it."
"Come on. It was not so bad after all; at least it solved one of the questions you had in your mind," Michael said.
"Yes? And what is that?"
"Finding out if everything I was telling you was true or not."
"So I ticked one square as okay?"
"Yes, the one concerning the position at the television network. After all, this is the main reason you came. You wanted to find out more about me to quench this curiosity."
"You know, I just cannot make up my mind about you; you must be the most stupid man I have ever met or the most brilliant one."
"That is up to you to find out," he said, smiling, "and in order to do that we will have to meet again. Tomorrow at the same time I will be here for lunch again. I would very much like to see Aphrodite of Milos again."
And with that after they exchanged telephone numbers parted.
So the man that died that night actually wanted to commit a murder, Michael thought. I wonder if the current chairman was implicated in this.
That was what his instinct told him but how could he prove anything? How could he uncover anything? That's if there is anything to be uncovered, he thought as he lay on the bed in his hotel room.
When the new chairman closed himself in his office with a bottle of whisky after the second incident with his little girl and his wife blaming him for it, he spent a few days drinking and more days not attending his duties as the chairman of the WCFET.
Finally he came to the conclusion that he was not going to solve any problem like this, so he managed to come to his senses. He hoped it was not too late.
He was in his office trying to think of a way out of this mess when the answer knocked at the door. His secretary's head appeared at the half-open door saying a young man was here to see him.
"I told you I was not to be disturbed," he said.
"He said it is urgent and that he must see you."
"Who is he? Did he tell you?"
"He said he rubbed shoulders with the vice-chairman before he died."
The new chairman was curious, and finally, after considerable thought, he told his secretary to let the young man in.
"I understand you knew the vice-chairman," he said as soon as the Michael walked in.
"I rubbed shoulders with him before he tried to murder the ex-chairman," said Michael
"How on Earth do you know that?"
"I also know you were involved with it and if you do not repent you—"
"Did you say, repent?"
As soon as Michael realized he had hit a nerve, he started to work on it, telling the chairman he was chasing an innocent man and sooner or later he would pay for it unless he repented. And he emphasized the word, repent.
The new chairman was going to and fro in his office but when he heard this word again he went and collapsed in his seat. "Who are you? How do you know all this?"
"The issue is not what I know; the issue is what you are going to do about it."
"I don't know. I am lost. I am afraid I am going to lose my family, too," he said, almost crying, "But why should I talk to you? I only just met you."
"Trust me, I want only to help. Consider, I know enough to make your life hard if I wanted to but I only want to help."
"You seem to be a decent guy and to know things. Do you think I will I ever mend things with my family? Right now I am not allowed to touch my kid, and I'm not speaking with my wife anymore."
"How is that?"
"She blames me for things that take place at home."
"Don't tell me... some unexplained messages?"
"Yes, the last one is the word repent."
"And I suppose your little kid is always present when it happens."
"Exactly. Who are you? How do you know all this things?"
"Don't worry about that. It is your dead friend. He understood that he was wrong and is trying to convey it to you through your kid. The good thing about it is that you can fix things with a small amendment."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you want to mend things with your family?"
"Very much so."
"Do you want your friend's soul to rest in peace without bothering your kid again?"
"Of course I do."
"Do you want to have peace in the rest of your life with your conscience clear and be able to enjoy your life with your family again?"
"Of course I do. I would give everything to make things as they were before."
"Even give away your position as chairman?"
It was this question he was reluctant to answer.
"Look," Michael told him, "you are still relatively young and you are a good lawyer. You will surely find your way again to support your family and reclaim your dignity. Is it worth losing everything you love for a chair? Look what happened to the ex-chairman. Look what happened to the vice-chairman. Look what is happening to you. Do you want to go further into it until it is too late for return?"
Michael realized it was too much and too sudden for the man to give an answer right away and he told him so. "I understand this is too much and too sudden. Here is my phone number. If you make up your mind, ring me and we will work something out."
He left for lunch.
The table they occupied yesterday was empty so Michael sat in the same chair again. He withdrew into his thoughts of what to do next if the current chairman decided not to ring him.
Two soft hands gently covered his eyes, bringing him back to the moment. "Now let me guess," he said. "Venus de Milo."
"Wrong. Aphrodite of Milos," she said. "Where were you? I was right in front of you and you could not see me. You were miles away."
"Now I see a goddess right in front of me," he said, smiling.
"Certainly you were not thinking about me," she said. "I hope not anyway as you looked very concerned."
"Do I look concerned now?" he said, smilingly.
"No, because I am here."
"Exactly. When you are around concerns and worries go out of the window."
"In that case I should be around more often, for I don't want you to be concerned or worried."
"You can say that again."
"I should be around more often."
"Once more."
"Shut up," she said teasingly. "Let's order something to eat."
While they were eating, Michael's phone rang. It was the ex-chairman Mir. Clarke.
"How are things there?" the ex-chairman asked.
"Hello, Chairman; how are you? How does the Teacher receive the idea of being in jail?"
"I tell you he acts as though he is on vacation; I am more concerned than he is!"
"That is the way to be, Chairman; you don't gain anything by worrying."
"How do you go on with the case? Do you have any idea of how to approach it yet?"
"Good, because if the case goes to full court hearing I feel we will be in trouble. We will have to appeal before the hearing proceedings; this is the only hope we have."
"Tell me, sir; we can appeal against the indictment, but what evidence do we need for that?"
"We need to make an appeal on the grounds of sufficient evidence to challenge the validity of the indictment."
"This is exactly what I am working on, sir."
"Are you still at the hotel?"
"Yes."
"Stay on; for if nothing pops up there you may have to come here to help me with the case. I am hopeless with these electronic gadgetries."
"Sir, if the recommendation is amended will that be sufficient ground to appeal?"
"That's all we need. But if that happened I tell you it will shake the whole judicial and legal system from its foundations. There is no precedent for three alternative recommendations in such a short time."
"The records are there to be broken."
"That will be something."
"Is there anything else you need from here, sir?"
"No, if I need something I will ring you. If you have to tell me something you ring me."
"Okay sir."
He turned the phone off and waited for Aphrodite to return from the washroom where he thought she had gone. Then after a while he realized that she was upset with this long telephone conversation and she would not return. He decided to ring her but then changed his mind. He thought that perhaps it would be better to let things cool down so he rang his friend to see if they could finalize the deal of turning the apartment over to his name.
The friend said he was at work, but he asked him to go for coffee after he finished.
"I will be home about six o'clock. I'm looking forward in seeing you," he said.
By now it was about two o'clock and he had four hours to spend before he met up with his friend. He went for a wander, until he thought a considerable time had passed, but when he looked at his watch it was only three