Accounting for Love

by Chrissie Loveday

  ‘Oh. You’re sure?’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘It’s pretty quiet there. I had some rather off fish one night too.’

  ‘Avoid the fish, then. I thought if we went somewhere quiet, it would give us the chance to talk.’

  ‘I’m sure we could find somewhere much better. Hey, driver. We don’t want to go to Misami’s after all. Let’s go to ... to ...’

  ‘We do want to go to Misami’s, thank you. Please carry on.’

  ‘Make up your minds,’ the driver said crossly.

  Melissa sat back looking furious. She suddenly clicked.

  ‘Oh, dear. Have I burst in on a business meeting? Maybe I’ll call someone and see if they’re free to save me.’

  ‘Oh, no, you don’t. You invited yourself to come along with us. You’ll damned well stay with us. There are a whole range of things we need to ask you.’ Adam was determined we weren’t going to waste another evening.

  ‘I haven’t brought my briefcase with me. I doubt I’ll have any answers for you.’ She laughed, but Fiona suspected she was slightly nervous.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll have plenty of answers,’ she said sarcastically. Adam smiled at her without letting Melissa see him.

  It was a small restaurant with a big reputation. It was fairly crowded, as it was a Saturday. Adam had booked a table, so they were shown straight to it.

  ‘You’re busy this evening,’ he said to the waiter.

  ‘We have a party in. Always makes a difference to numbers. We’ve put you near the back. I hope that’s all right.’ He was looking slightly uncomfortable, Fiona thought. ‘Good evening, Madame. I wasn’t sure we’d see you again. Not so soon.’

  ‘Oh, you know me. Always willing to forgive and forget.’

  ‘I see. The table, sir? Is it all right for you?’

  ‘Perfect. Thank you.’ Adam was gracious in his response. ‘So what did you do when you were here last time?’

  ‘Oh, nothing of any consequence. They were quite rude to me, actually.’

  ‘I bet that went down well,’ Fiona smiled. Melissa glared.

  Fiona looked around. It was a rather ordinary looking place, and she felt slightly disappointed. This was her first meal out in the big city, after all. There were several small tables round the edge, and a larger one in the middle where the party were sitting.

  ‘What can I get you to drink?’ the waiter asked as he handed out large menus to each of them.

  ‘G & T for me. Lots of ice, and make it a large one,’ Melissa ordered.

  ‘I’ll have a dry white please,’ Fiona said.

  ‘Shall we have a bottle? I’d like the same.’ Adam was studying the list and ordered from it. ‘The white Burgundy, I think.’

  Melissa, typically, chose the most expensive items, assuming she wouldn’t be paying.

  ‘Shall we divide the cost between us?’ Fiona asked, knowing full well that Adam was paying.

  ‘Thank you, that’s a nice idea,’ he replied wickedly.

  ‘I don’t pay for my meals when I’m taken out,’ Melissa responded.

  ‘It seems rather unfair for him to pay for all three of us. You’ve chosen rather expensive items from the menu.’

  ‘I have what I like.’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure you do.’ Fiona felt cross with the woman, and didn’t want her to get away with everything. ‘Right, well we have a few questions for you. Shall I begin, Adam?’ He nodded.

  ‘Oh, don’t let’s spoil our meal by talking business. Leave it till tomorrow.’

  ‘You’ll probably be busy tomorrow. I’d like your answers now, please.’

  ‘Is she always like this, darling? I mean to say, how on earth can you cope with having her in the same flat?’

  ‘Who are Tyler Incorporated?’

  ‘What?’ She looked puzzled.

  ‘I said who are Tyler Incorporated?

  ‘How am I supposed to know that?’

  ‘You’ve paid them loads of money over the last two or three years. Who are they?’

  ‘Oh, somebody that supplied us with something. Is the food arriving soon? I’m starving.’

  ‘I shall keep on asking the same question until I get a satisfactory answer.’

  ‘Can’t you stop her, darling?’ she said to Adam.

  ‘We need to know Melissa. Stop prevaricating and admit it. You know perfectly well who they are. Now tell us.’

  ‘Darling, if you already know, why are you asking me? This is ridiculous. If the food doesn’t arrive soon, I’m leaving.’ As she was speaking, the waiter arrived and placed their starters on the table. She hesitated, and then got up. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t eat this. I’m leaving. You two stay and enjoy your evening. I need some air ... some fresh air. Ciao.’ She downed her drink and swept out of the restaurant.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Fiona asked, distressed by the woman, and the fact they were about to be served with several plates of extra food. ‘Shouldn’t you go after her?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. We’ll eat what we can and try to see her again tomorrow. I somehow don’t think she’s going to be an easy person to pin down.’

  They did manage to enjoy their meal, despite Melissa’s attempts to ruin the evening. They went back to the flat and saw there were no lights on next door.

  ‘Looks as if she did find someone to take her on,’ Fiona said.

  ‘Poor him. Whoever it is, he doesn’t deserve her.’

  ‘Maybe he does. I’m bushed. Thanks again for a lovely evening. And I really love my new outfit.’

  ‘Me too. Thank you, too. I’ve enjoyed it all immensely. Especially the way you didn’t let Melissa get away with anything.’

  ‘Wasn’t exactly successful though, was I?’

  ‘I think she must realise she’s met her match. Go to bed now. Before I do something that your father won’t forgive.’

  ‘My father’s a fuddy duddy, but I am knackered. So, I’ll say goodnight, and I can tell him how well behaved you really are.’

  ‘Night. Sleep well.’

  She went into her lovely room and looked around it. How many girls of her age could be living in a flat like this? Her father did her a really good turn when he suggested she came to London. She could easily do the work that he wanted, and Adam was a very easy companion. The fact that she was halfway in love with him already had little to do with the fact that she was living in a beautiful place. She undressed and hung her new dress in the wardrobe. It looked a little less bare with her new additions. She yawned and stretched. She cleaned off her makeup and pulled on her nightie. She got into bed and lay back, smiling to herself. She felt very happy and contented.

  It was after ten o’clock when Fiona awoke. Sunday. She wondered what she might do. Perhaps Adam would suggest something they could do together. She stretched and got up. When she looked out of the window, she saw it was raining. That would limit their options but who cared? She was in London. The Capital City. She hugged herself and put on her dressing gown. Coffee was the next thing. She was getting quite a taste for it instead of her usual tea. She went into the kitchen area and saw the pot was full. Adam must have made it earlier. She poured some and wandered to the window, gazing at the magnificent view as she sipped it.

  ‘Oh, you’re awake,’ said Adam, coming into the room.

  ‘Morning. Sorry I’m late getting up.’

  ‘No worries. There’s nothing planned. Well, apart from dealing with Melissa of, course, but I doubt she’ll emerge till after lunch. Do you want some breakfast?’

  ‘Not really. I ate so much last night, I’m not sure I’ll ever eat again.’

  ‘That I doubt. Right, well I’m going into the office to do a bit more research. Are you okay for a while?’

  ‘Sure. Erm, how long do you think you’ll be working?’

  ‘No idea. Why?’

  ‘I was wondering if you had any plans for later on?’

  ‘Not really. Oh. Do you want to go out somewhere?’

  ‘I
can always go on my own. There’s so much to do in London.’

  ‘Take the car if you want to.’

  ‘That’s very generous of you, but I’d never dare to drive your car. It’s so big for one thing.’

  ‘Then I’ll have to take you, won’t I? I need to do a couple of hours and then we can go somewhere. Decide where you want to go.’ He went back into his office and Fiona went to take a shower and get dressed. While she was dressing, she heard a female voice in the apartment and hurried to see who it was. She heard a protest come from Adam, and immediately knew it was Melissa. She finished quickly and went into the office.

  ‘Melissa. I trust you enjoyed your evening?’ she said slightly less than politely.

  ‘If you must know, it was a total disaster. I had to come home. Alone.’

  ‘Oh dear. Poor you. We noticed there were no lights on when we got back.’

  ‘Oh. Well, I did call round at a friend’s place first. Anyway, I came to collect some papers. I’m going away for a few days and wanted to be sure things were up to date. Now then, Adam, I’ll take the accounts from the three stores and maybe I’ll find time to look at them.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Melissa. I shall be needing them myself. If you’re going to be away, I need some answers from you first.’

  ‘Sorry, darling. I don’t have time now. I’m flying out soon.’

  ‘I’m sorry, too,’ Fiona burst out. ‘We’ll have to proceed with the sale, and you’ll have to put up with whatever we deem is your share. If you can’t explain who Tyler are, and several other points we want to raise, we shall assume you’re involved in some sort of scam with them, and that any money paid to them has gone into your pocket.’

  ‘How dare you?’ the woman snapped, her eyes flashing angrily. ‘Who does she think she is, darling?’

  ‘Our potential new partner. Do you have a problem with that?’

  ‘I should say I do. I want fifty percent of whatever you get from selling this business. You hear me? Fifty percent. No less.’

  ‘It’s not quite as simple as that.’ Adam spoke quietly and extremely calmly. ‘The accounts don’t reconcile with the profits you claim. I shall have to revise the offer they made.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I simply can’t let them pay the full amount. Not when the figures were falsified.’

  ‘Falsified? You’re crazy. Okay, so I may have been slightly optimistic in our profits, but it was hardly worth bothering about.’

  ‘So why won’t you tell us who are Tyler Incorporated?’ Fiona asked yet again.

  Melissa glared at her.

  ‘Does she have to be here?’

  ‘I’m afraid she does. She is very much a part of the business. She represents her father and Theobald’s. I’m hoping she’ll stay in London and take over running this end of the business. Leave me free to work on the television series.’

  ‘Good luck to you both, then. You deserve each other, I’m sure. Ciao.’

  ‘Melissa. Wait a moment. You still haven’t told us, who are Tyler Inc?’

  ‘Sorry. Can’t be bothered. Remember what I said, Adam. I need my fifty percent of the value. The full value. Otherwise, I’ll have to tell my father about your mishandling of the accounts. He won’t like that.’

  ‘But you have been handling the accounts since we stared the partnership.’ Her eyes narrowed, and she looked positively snake-like, Fiona thought.

  ‘And you left it to me? Not very professional of you, was it? If my father hears of this, he’ll blacken your name so much that you’ll be bankrupt in less time than it takes you to whistle.’

  ‘Your father may be a big name in the city, but he’ll never put me out of business. I can assure you of that. I’ll certainly retaliate to your threats, Melissa.’ Adam was white with rage and spoke with a sort of venom that Fiona found really scary. ‘As I said, I’m taking it that you are probably Tyler Incorporated yourself. I shall assume that is so, and your share of the business will be lessened by the large amounts paid into that company over the years.’

  ‘You’d better not. I’m warning you. Don’t play with me. I’m no fool ... like this prissy miss you’ve got here. Pay me my rights, or you’ll regret it. Ciao.’ She swept out of the room and slammed the door as she left the flat.

  Adam sat fuming. His face was still white, and Fiona could see how angry he was.

  ‘More coffee?’ she invited.

  ‘I could do with a very large brandy, actually. You go and amuse yourself for a while. I need to calm down.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’

  ‘Just go away. Leave me alone for a while.’

  Feeling somewhat hurt, she went out the office. She could go for a walk, but it was raining. She looked at Adam’s music, but decided the noise would probably interrupt him. She wondered what her parents would be doing. She glanced at her watch. Her mum would be madly organising Sunday lunch, possibly for the family. Suddenly, London seemed a rather long way away from the life she had known. She picked up her mobile and dialled home.

  ‘Hi Mum,’ she said when her mother answered.

  ‘Fiona. I was expecting it to be James. How are you, dear?’

  ‘Fine thanks. Is James coming over for lunch?’

  ‘I’m expecting them any minute. I thought the phone was him to say they were delayed. So, how’s it going?’

  ‘Okay. Well sort of. One or two problems have cropped up. I’d like to have a word with Dad if he’s around.’

  ‘I’ll give him a call. You’re sure you’re all right though?’

  ‘Course I am. You never used to worry when I was away at uni. I’m fine.’

  ‘Very well. If you say so. I’ll hand you over when I can find your Dad.’ She put the phone down and went off in search of her father. He was a while in coming, and she was almost ready to put her end down and call them again later.

  ‘Hallo dear. How’s everything?’ her father asked.

  ‘Fine. Just a couple of things I needed to know.’

  ‘Fire away. I haven’t got anything here, of course, but I’ll answer if I can.’

  ‘I was wondering about the profits Adam mentioned. Do you know the total figure?’

  ‘Not without looking it up. Why do you ask?’

  ‘It seems they may have been exaggerated. Adam’s partner has been doing the books, and it seems that she was paying out to some company he doesn’t know about. Quite large sums every year. She’s well, very flighty. She’s now gone off on holiday or something and won’t answer any of our questions. She’s threatening Adam with all sorts if he doesn’t pay her half of what you’re proposing to pay him. It’s crazy, actually. I don’t quite know what to say.’

  ‘I’m going to come down. I’ll book something and be down tomorrow afternoon. It obviously needs me to sort things out.’

  ‘No, Dad. Please leave me to deal with this. I can do it, I know. It may mean you reduce your offer eventually, but, believe me, I’m in a good position here. I can do it.’ She was almost crying in her earnestness.

  ‘I said I’d give you to the end of next week. Then I’ll need reports on each section or shop and the total profit. You sort it then. Make sure you know exactly what you’re doing, and don’t commit us to anything. Understand?’

  ‘Course I do. And thank you for trusting me. I really do appreciate it. And Dad, don’t say anything to the others. I know James doesn’t exactly trust me either.’

  ‘Well, all right. Keep in touch. James and the family are just arriving. Better go.’

  ‘Say hi to them all.’

  ‘Will do. Bye.’

  ‘Bye’ she said to the silent phone. She felt even more despondent and poured some more coffee. She began to feel slightly hungry and looked in the fridge to see what there was to eat. She wondered who did the shopping, as there were several packs of cooked meat in there that she had never seen before. Fresh salad had arrived too, and in the freezer were some bread rolls she hadn’t noticed before. She took the
m out and defrosted them in the microwave, and made them up into some lunch for the two of them.

  ‘Adam?’ she said, going into the office. ‘I’ve made some rolls for lunch if you’d like them.’

  ‘Oh. Thanks. Can I have them in here?’

  ‘Sure. What do you want to drink?’

  ‘Coffee of course. When you’ve time.’

  ‘I’ve got plenty of time,’ she answered sourly. She left him and went to put the coffee machine on. When it was ready, she took it and his rolls into him. She plonked them down on his desk and left him to it ... whatever ‘it’ was. Grumpily, she sat and ate her own rolls.

  At three o’clock, Adam came out of his office.

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m still in a foul mood. It’s Melissa, of course. She’s covered her tracks really well. I doubt there’s anything much I can do to resolve the problem. I’m going to have to tell your father and offer to let him out of the deal. Sorry and all that. You came down here with so much hope and so many good intentions. You’re welcome to stay on if you like and enjoy some of the sights. I won’t be able to take you around much, but we could spend evenings doing something.’

  ‘I’m sorry. Look, Adam, I have called my father and told him some of the saga. I’m sure he’ll be willing to listen to anything you want to say to him.’

  ‘Frankly, I’m thoroughly pissed off with the whole business. I’d give it all away to anyone who wanted it, left to me.’

  ‘Now you’re being ridiculous. What about the money you put into it in the first place? You must want to get that back?’

  ‘Oh, don’t listen to me. Do you want to go out somewhere?’

  ‘Well it would be nice but I don’t want to drag you away from whatever you want to do.’

  ‘No. I need a break. But think, seriously. If you want to go home and forget about any sort of deal for your family, then go.’

  ‘I don’t. I want to go to see Brent Cross tomorrow as we’d planned. I’m not quite done with you yet, Adam Sullivan. Not by a long chalk.’

  Chapter Nine

  They drove out of the garage and once they were clear, Adam said,

  ‘So where do you want to go?’

  ‘I don’t mind. Where do you like?’