Gifts and Consequences (24 page)

Charlie was shaking his head.  He broke the silence, “What are you doing here?”

The stranger didn’t acknowledge Charlie.  “Lisa, my name is Jonathan.  Congratulations on your new apartment and new life.”

Lisa risked a quick glance at the man, but didn’t respond.  She inched closer to Charlie.

“I’d like to talk to you about a job.  May I come in?”

Charlie stepped in front of her before she could answer.  “We’re done,” he said.  “I did what we agreed.  Why are you here?”

Lisa had never seen anyone rankle Charlie like this.

“I’m here to talk to Lisa about employment, as I said.”  The man was unfazed. 

With Charlie in front of her, Lisa could only peek coyly over his shoulder.  She could tell that the man was used to influencing others and not the other way around.

“I’m going to college,” she piped up and averted her gaze from the man’s dark eyes.

The stranger still didn’t acknowledge Charlie, even though he practically had to look through him to see Lisa.  “That’s a good decision, Lisa.  The job I have in mind is one you can work through college and after.  I think you will find it the perfect job for you.  After a couple weeks of training the salary is fifty thousand.”

“What is it?” she asked over Charlie’s shoulder. 

“Research,” said Jonathan.  “On the internet.  In a small office with three or four other people.  Very little interaction between them.  Just you and a computer.”  He hadn’t asked if he could come in again and Lisa got the impression that he wasn’t the type to ask or invite more than once.

“Why are you doing this?” interjected Charlie.

“I think she would be perfect for the job,” said Jonathan politely.

But Lisa knew there was more to it than that.  “What’s going on?” she asked, looking up at the side of Charlie’s head. 

After a few seconds of silence, Charlie sighed.  He turned his head down and back to look in Lisa’s direction and took another deep breath.  Glancing sideways at Jonathan he said, “I’ll explain it to you later.”

Jonathan spoke up.  “I realize you need more details, but I do not have a lot of time to discuss this.  My office is in Detroit.  If you are interested, be at the Buffalo Airport on Monday at nine.  My jet will be waiting to fly you to Detroit.  Here is where to show up at the airport.” 

He held out a business card, reaching slightly around Charlie, not seeming to notice the tension between Charlie and himself.  Their history was the only thing Lisa cared about at the moment.  She just wanted to know the reason her life was about to come crashing down. 

Why couldn’t this happen yesterday?

She stared at the card, then back up at Charlie.  He looked at her expectantly, and moved sideways a half step to give her full access to the card.  He was giving her the decision.  At that moment Lisa was glad the apartment had no sheets or blankets because she did not know if she would have been able to resist the urge to run to her room and curl up.  It still wasn’t too late to keep her old place, her old furniture and her old life as a recluse.

Lisa’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared down at the white slip of cardstock.  It wouldn’t hurt to take it; she didn’t have to agree to keep the appointment.  Afraid the card would be withdrawn the minute she reached for it, she slowly extended her hand.  Jonathan held it perfectly still.  She took the card and slid it into her pocket.

“I hope to see you Monday, Lisa.  You are a special person and I’d love to have you working for me.”  She expected him to offer a handshake; she thought that’s what people did in situations like this.  But she was relieved when he turned and walked away. 

Charlie couldn’t close the door fast enough and stood facing it with his back to Lisa.  Now that the time had come she was having second thoughts.  It was just a matter of time till the bottom fell out.  Standing at the precipice she wanted to savor her new life for a few more minutes.  But Charlie didn’t give her the chance.

“Lisa,” he said, turning, “I want you to know I really like you.”

She couldn’t speak so she just nodded.

“The only reason I started dating you was because I had so much fun with you at the concert.  Your shyness has always been a turn on for me.  I could tell from the start that you were a sincere person, not fake like everyone else.  When I took you out, I saw an undiscovered princess, like the weird girl in a Disney movie before the fairy godmother shows up.”

She shook her head.  If he didn’t speak he couldn’t ruin her life with his words.  Either he didn’t understand that she was trying to shut him up or there was something he had to get off his chest.

“Don’t take this wrong at all,” he moved closer and reached down to take both of her hands in his.  “The reason I asked you out on that date is because that man gave me the tickets on the condition that I take you and only you.”

“That’s why you showed up at my door?” she asked.  Her face retreated into the familiar flush and the corners of her eyes dripped tear after tear down the creases of her nose.

Charlie nodded.

“Why?” was all she could manage.

He looked reluctant but said, “I’m not going to lie to you.  I only told him I would because I wanted to see Green Day.  But when I showed up I could tell you needed a friend.  I had never really noticed you before, but you looked so beautiful.”  It was his turn to blush.

She shook her head again, but her tears were flowing more freely now and she couldn’t speak for a minute.  Not wasting breath on unimportant words she emphasized, “Why did he make you take
me
?”  Her chin turned slightly to the side as she forced out the words.

“I have no idea,” said Charlie.  “I swear.  In fact, part of the deal was that I didn’t ask any questions.  None at all.  He didn’t even tell me his name.”

“Did he tell you—” She paused and swallowed.  “Did he tell you what I was doing before you came?  Does he know?”

Charlie shook his head.  “The only thing he told me was to wait a half mile away with my cell phone.  That he would call me by a certain time and tell me yes or no.  There was a chance I’d go to the concert alone that night.”

Somehow she found the courage to look directly at him, despite her tears and rapidly puffing eyes.  “What did Tyler have to do with it?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve told you everything.”

“So, he didn’t tell you why me, or why that night, or why right then, or…”

“No.”  Charlie shook his head again and drew her closer, putting his arms around her.

They stood like that for a while, Lisa using the shoulder of his shirt as a handkerchief.

“What else?” she asked.

“Huh?  That’s it.  I swear.  Everything else was because I wanted to.  I swear.”

“I’ve never heard you swear,” she joked.  It came out with a sniffle, causing Charlie to draw back and look at her appraisingly.  She added, “And honestly, I don’t care.”

“You don’t care that I don’t use profanity?  Or, about everything else?”  His eyebrows were raised and his teeth were clenched.

“About any of it.”

“Really?  You don’t care?”

Lisa shook her head.  “I want to care.” She looked down at the floor and forced out, “What I really want to do is run back to my old apartment and climb in bed.”

Charlie wrapped her in his arms.

Through tears, Lisa said, “You could have walked away when I told you to go to H and die.”  She didn’t mention that she was intending to do exactly that if he would have left without letting her know that someone cared.

Charlie shocked her by bending down and kissing her on the lips.  With the remnants of her blubbering still on her face it was the sloppiest closed mouth kiss in history.

Neither spoke and they both blushed.  He saved them from the inevitable awkwardness by asking, “Are you going to go Monday?”

Lisa shrugged.  “What do you think?”

“I think he’s strange, but he kept his word.  I half expected the tickets to be fakes or something.  He gave me your address, but I double checked it before I showed up.”

“Did he say fifty thousand?” she asked. 

Charlie nodded.

“Dollars?”

He nodded again.

“A year?” 

He continued nodding. 

“That’s four times as much as I’m used to living on.  But I don’t think I’m ready for a real job.  And he seems kind of like a weirdo.”

Charlie answered, “I think you can handle the job; don’t let that scare you.  But I really don’t know about the rest.  If you don’t go how are you going to figure out why he picked me and you?  As far as I know I’m still not supposed to ask.”

“I told you, I don’t care.  I mean it.  Does a drowning person care where a life preserver comes from?”

Charlie looked confused, but she didn’t feel like explaining so she asked, “And what do you mean you aren’t supposed to ask?”

“He was very serious when he warned me about the consequences of breaking our agreement.  Kind of threatening, actually, but I didn’t care because I didn’t intend to back out of the deal.”

The mental image of Tyler O’Hara kicking the flat tires of his car made Lisa bark a laugh.

“What?  I’m serious.  There was no reason for me to back out.”

“That’s not what I’m laughing at,” said Lisa.  “Maybe I’ll tell you some other time.”

“So,”  Charlie’s eyebrows rose again as he waited for a response.

“I’m gonna go,” she said resolutely.  “As long as you come with me.”

“You couldn’t stop me if you tried.”

Lisa caught Charlie off guard by stepping up and kissing him. 

“C’mon,” said Lisa, taking him by the hand.  “Let’s go get Oliver.”

Jonathan knew something was wrong when his phone rang the next morning.  It felt way too early for Marcus to be calling. 

Blinking to clear his eyes he checked the caller ID and the time.  Paul Evans and 5:20.  “This is Jonathan,” he said out loud to prepare his voice, then pressed the button to accept the call.  “This is Jonathan,” he repeated.

“Jonathan, it’s Paul.”

Jonathan patched Marcus in.  Marcus would link in Britney, the night shift Tracker.

“Morning,” said Jonathan.  “You’re up early.”

“Yeah, I still do pretty good at getting up at 3:30 every day, just like you taught me.  I just need to work on getting to bed by 10:00.”  He chuckled nervously.

“What’s up, Paul?”

“Jonathan, I need out of our deal.  Money’s a lot tighter than I expected.”

“I’m glad you called to discuss it before walking away, but I’m sorry.  There only two ways out of the arrangement.  Comply with the terms or quit.”  He swung his legs over the side of the bed and opened his laptop.  “I recommend the former.”

“You don’t understand,” begged Paul.  “We had to use the money we’ve made already to recover from the lean times when we were purchasing the property.  I just can’t afford to sponsor the scholarship.”

“If you think about it you’ll realize that you can’t afford not to.”  Jonathan quoted their verbal contract: “After the first million dollars net profit, one scholarship at a state school.  After the second million, another scholarship, this time at an Ivy League school.  Alternating scholarships until you have set up twenty.  Were those not the terms?”

“Yes, but, I can’t do it.  The money just isn’t there.” 

Sooner than Jonathan thought possible, a message appeared on Jonathan’s laptop.  The attachment contained documents of Paul’s recent expenditures. 

Nice work, Britney
.

“Let me get this straight,” said Jonathan.  “You can’t afford a nine-thousand dollar scholarship, which you gave me your word you would fund for the next twenty years at a minimum?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s right.” answered Paul weakly.

Jonathan scanned the document on his monitor as he continued, “But you can afford two weeks skiing the Andes with your wife and kids?” 

Paul didn’t answer. 

“And a timeshare in Vegas?  And a lifetime membership at the Castle Creek Country Club?”

“What the hell?  How do you know about those?”

“That’s not important,” said Jonathan.  “The only thing that is important is that you realize I am very willing to put the brakes on our investment if I have to.”

“You wouldn’t dare.  You’d lose millions.  Tens of millions.”

“That’s the difference between me and you now, Paul.  My integrity’s worth that much.  Even though I take some responsibility for helping you become the way you are, there’s only so much I can do.  That’s one reason I made the deal with you, to help you discover your integrity.”

“But I’d go bankrupt if you pulled out,” whined Paul.

“Yes, you would.  I told you I’d make sure of it.  As fifty-one percent owner, I can put improvement and marketing of that development on hold with a word.  For as long as it takes for you to lose everything.  I wouldn’t necessarily lose the money, I’d just postpone my profits.”