by Greg Miller
“Only half a million. It just needed a few minor repairs … like a new roof.”
“A new roof? On a 34-room chateau? That would have cost a fortune. Those things have got to be money pits,” he said. “It’s probably best that you couldn’t buy it.”
“Don’t say that!” she snapped. “It’s been my lifelong dream to have my own little castle. I wanted to stroll through the gardens in my velvet cloak and look for truffles in the woods with my faithful hound.” She lifted her nose. “You could have accompanied me on my walks, and helped protect me from any wild boars or boorish peasants.”
“‘Boorish peasants’?” Gavin frowned. “That’s not very nice. That doesn’t sound like the Emily I know. Maybe it’s a good thing the car wasn’t worth what you thought. The money would have changed you – I can see it already.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “I wanted to be changed. I’m tired of being me. I wanted to be ‘Émilie la Châtelaine’.”
Gavin stared at her, taking another sip from his mug. “It’s still a decent amount of cash. You could probably buy a nice little house around here with it.”
“I don’t want a little house around here.” She sulked. “I guess I might as well just stay living with you then.”
“I suppose that’s always an option.” He smiled.
“So, what are you going to do with your half?” She sniffled.
“You still want to give me half?”
“No,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “But a deal’s a deal.”
Gavin shook his head. “I wouldn’t feel right taking it. You should keep the money. Invest it in something sensible.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “What if I invested half, or maybe a little bit more, into the business? Would you feel better about that?”
“I don’t know.” Gavin sighed. “We’re just scraping by. I can’t say that an injection of cash wouldn’t be a help right now. We could buy a few more cars. Maybe even move upmarket, a bit.”
“And more upmarket cars mean bigger profits. Right?”
Gavin nodded. “In theory. The classic car business isn’t without risk, though.”
“No business is without risk,” Emily said. “I’m well aware of the dangers. But together we might be able to turn this business around. Take it to the next level. And then, someday, I might be able to buy my dream chateau.”
“It’s certainly a nice thought.” He smiled.
“I’m really liking this idea.” She nodded. “I took a marketing course, you know. I could bring my full repertoire of business skills to this venture.” Emily thought for a moment. “Okay. I’ll become your business partner.”
Gavin’s eyes widened. “Partner?”
“Junior Partner … for now.”
He rubbed his temple. “Speaking hypothetically, what would you want in return?”
She scratched her forehead with a pencil. “Well, to begin with, I’d want a new title – Chief Financial Officer.”
“Sure.”
“And my own set of keys, of course.”
“Of course. Anything else?”
She pressed the pencil to her lips. “Yes. I’d also like an expense account.”
He pulled his head back. “Expense account? I don’t even have an expense account.”
“It can be very modest. I’d just like to be able to say that I have one.”
“Alright, but I meant what kind of a stake in the business would you want?”
“Oh.” She twirled the pencil around between her fingers. “For $100,000 investment … I’ll take ten percent.”
“Ten percent.” Gavin leaned back in his chair. “I suppose that sounds fair.”
“It’s very fair.” She smiled. “I know exactly what this business is worth.”
He took a deep breath. “Let me give it some thought and get back to you – you might just have a deal, though.”
“I look forward to it,” Emily said, adjusting her glasses. “I think we should schedule a special meeting to discuss it further.”
Gavin lifted his eyebrows. “How about tonight? Over Chinese take out?”
“I’ll be there.” She reached for her purse on the coat stand. “I’m going to enter it in my daily planner, right now.”
He chuckled. “Come give me a kiss.”
“Gavin!” Emily gasped. “That’s a very inappropriate thing to suggest at work.” She twisted her lips. “Oh … come over here on the couch.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to express my sincere thanks to everyone at Veloce – especially Rod Grainger who, in addition to everything else, helped to correct all of my automotive technical blunders; Rebecca Taylor, who was a true pleasure to work with, and went above and beyond in fixing things; and Tim Nevinson, Kevin Atkins and Jeff Danton for all of their fantastic work.
I’d also like to thank Bina Hadar – devoted critiquer, beta reader, and friend – as well as Michelle Reichartz – the ‘Epilie Aspie Chick’ – for her great help. And, finally, I’d like to thank everyone on Scribophile who helped me so much.
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