The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-37

Louise dialed Terri's phone from the car.

"Hello?"

"Am I a horrible person?"

"Well, hi Terri! How are you doing?" Terri mocked. "Oh, I'm fine Louise! How's everything with you?"

"I'm sorry," Louise exhaled. "I'm really sorry. How are you doing?"

"I want to know why you think you're a horrible person."

"Okay, well, I went back to the office..."

"Oh my God!" Terri screamed. "He wasn't there was he?"

"Well, yeah."

"Louise! What did you do?"

"We just talked!"

"Are you sure?"

"I mean, it's not like I was going to do him in the copy room or something."

"Louise, this is YOU talking," Terri scolded.

"Okay, well, maybe if I still liked the guy, I would have done him in the copy room. But I don't, and I didn't."

"Why was he there?"

"Some of them went out to an Irish pub. He stopped by to use the bathroom."

"Oh, that's a lame excuse."

"Whatever, I didn't verify that he actually used the bathroom."

"Well, that's a relief."

"I can't believe you."

"Okay, I still haven't heard why you're such a horrible person."

"He confronted me. About Walter."

Terri's voice suddenly took on a tone of concern. "He knows about Walter?"

"He knows that I have a boyfriend. And that I did when we ... hooked up."

"What did he say?"

"He asked me why I didn't tell him."

"And you said - 'DUH!'"

"That's not funny!"

"I'm sorry, Lou!"

"I didn't know what to say. I mean, he's right."

"He knew all along?"

"He found out just before he left," Louise explained. "Someone at the office said something."

"Oh! That person is definitely coming off of your Christmas card list!"

"Be serious."

"Okay, so, do you think that's why he blew you off when he went back to South America?"

"I think it's a real possibility."

"So, maybe he isn't a player?"

"That would kind of change my opinion of the guy."

"But you don't know if it's true."

"I don't."

"I mean, he could have found out anytime. And maybe he's just trying to make you feel bad so you don't think he's so much of a scumbag."

"I guess," Louise admitted. "Anything's possible. I don't know. I'm tired. By the way, did you talk to Francisco?"

"He called me."

"Was the wicked blonde witch still there?"

"She and the kid went out to dinner," Terri explained. "Then she went back to her hotel. At least, that's the story."

"That's the story," Louise repeated.

"That's the story, morning glory."

"How did he sound? And what did the kid say?"

"Oh, he just told them that he's going off to school, to the university as planned. I guess for a while he was thinking about not going."

"Well, if your dad's rich..."

"I don't think Frank would look upon that too fondly," Terri said.

"I know," Louise assured her. "I was just kidding."

"Okay, so are you good with this guy?" Terri prodded. "Are things going to be weird in the office?"

"I have no idea," Louise said.

"When does Walter get back?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Okay, don't do anything stupid!"

"I won't," Louise assured her.

"Call me if you need moral support."

"Okay."

"Goodnight!"

"Good night!"

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-36

Louise pushed through a revolving door and stepped into a shimmering marble lobby. She presented her identification badge to the evening staff at the security desk and walked toward the elevators. "The first stop is the bathroom!" she mused as she rode up to her floor.

The office suite was dimly lit. Louise didn't see anyone working as she navigated the corridor to the restroom. Once she arrived at her desk, Louise checked her email to see if anyone had requested changes to the presentation. Luckily, they hadn't.

The team would need about fifteen copies for the morning meeting, but Louise always printed extras in case someone joined unexpectedly. She opened the print dialog, verified that the collate and staple options were enabled, and sent the job to the large printer on the other side of the floor.

Louise left her purse on the desk. No one was around, and she'd have to come back anyway to lock the printouts in her file drawer. 

She walked past a row of glass offices on her left and a sea of cubicles to the right. "Corporate heaven!" she thought as a sly grin stretched across her face.

Four of the presentations were ready by the time that she reached the copy room. She removed them from the hopper and flipped through one deck to make sure it had printed correctly. In the back of her mind she could hear Sharon complaining about the cost of printing multiple copies on single-sided pages, but tough luck. Presentations don't print well double-sided, and it's difficult to negotiate the pages when they're stapled.

"What are YOU doing here?"

Louise turned to see Antonio standing in the doorway.

"Jesus! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think that anyone was here."

"You shaved your beard."

"Yeah, something new," he acknowledge. "Do you like it?"

"I... I have no idea," Louise responded, searching for words. "I'm just making copies..."

"Oh, for tomorrow. Good idea!" Antonio noticed a look of mild shock on Louise's face. "I'm sorry. I just stopped to use the bathroom. A bunch of us went to Fitzgerald's."

"They don't have a bathroom there?"

"They do, but after I left, I felt like I needed... Never mind. - You should have come with us."

"I had a thing."

"Bueno. La proxima vez."

"You know I don't like Fitzgerald's," she argued.

"Another place, perhaps..."

"Are you going dancing with Beth?" Louise had no idea why she asked this or why she asked it now. It wasn't planned. In fact, she felt instantly mortified as she heard the words falling out of her mouth. But there they were. There was no taking them back.

"I... no!" Antonio responded emphatically.

"Because she said that you asked her."

"I'm not going with HER," he clarified. "A bunch of us are going. On Friday."

"OK!"

"I would have asked you, but ... you're busy."

"I'm busy," Louise confirmed dispassionately.

"Don't worry," Antonio assured her. "I'm not going dancing with Beth."

"It's none of my business."

"You're right, it's not." Antonio's voice now sounded irritated. "And besides. I think I learned my lesson the last time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I really have to go to the bathroom." Antonio walked away as quickly as he had appeared.

Louise's mind searched for answers. "Did that conversation really just happen? Why did I say that thing about Beth? What did he mean when he said that I was busy?"

She realized that she still had a copy of the presentation in her hand. She looked over at the printer. She hadn't noticed that it had stopped, but all twenty copies were ready. She gathered them and took them to her desk.

Louise picked up her purse, pushed in her chair, and walked around the corner to the area where Antonio's desk was located. He was seated there, his face and long black hair illuminated by the blue light cast by his terminal.

"I'm sorry," Louise said. "I shouldn't have asked about Beth. You're right. It's none of my business."

"It's OK," he said without looking up at her.

"What did you mean? About the last time?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"You don't want to talk about it," Louise repeated. "Which is strange, because you did everything possible to get me on your latest project. So, I guess maybe you wanted to talk to me about something."

Antonio lifted his head as though he were looking past his computer toward some distant object; he then turned quickly to face Louise.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"Tell you what?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were seeing someone? Last year, when I was here."

"I..." Louise realized that she had never told Antonio about Walter.

"I mean, we were together. Really together, or so I thought. And then three days before I left, when I told someone in the office that I had dinner with you and thought that you were really special, they said, 'Oh, but she has a boyfriend'."

Louise's eyes were downcast now. She struggled to find her words.

"I mean, what if the guy had come after me..." Antonio continued. "...with a knife, or something?"

"Antonio..."

"Go home, Louisa!"

"I..." 

"Go home to your boyfriend."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-35

"It was unbelievable!" Walter exclaimed. His face was flushed as he savored his third beer.

Susan smiled and leaned in closely. "I heard that something happened, but I never heard the whole story."

"Oh, I was in the room!" Walter said.

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah! It was my first meeting with upper management after my promotion. We were in the big conference room, and we had the client on speakerphone."

"What happened?"

"It was a tense conversation. We had to delay a delivery by a week due to a shortage at one of our suppliers. Sam was trying to calm them down, but they were angling for a discount."

"Did he give it to them?"

"He didn't have a chance," Walter explained. "Carl jumped in, and things just went crazy."

"What happened?"

"Well, apparently he knows their VP of marketing, some woman named Doris."

"So he was trying to leverage that relationship?"

"Yeah, at least I think that was the intent. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an epic screw up."

"Oh, no! What happened."

"He gets on the phone and calls the woman 'Lacy'. - 'Hey, Lacy! It's me, Carl. We used to work together at Stemmfeld.'"

"Did she respond?"

"No, it was like total silence on both sides of the call. And then he turns to Sam and says, "We used to call her Lacy because she wears lace underwear."

 When she didn't respond, he turned to Sam and said, "I used to call her Lacy, because she always wore lace underwear."

"Oh, my God!" shrieked Susan.

Walter was laughing too hard to talk now. He just shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"He did NOT say that!" Susan exclaimed in disbelief.
"Oh yes he did!" Walter whispered between chuckles.

"What happened?"

"Oh, well, there was a pause..."

"I bet!" Susan said as she let out a loud laugh. Walter laughed with her.

"So, Doris, finally comes onto the call and says, 'I think we'll need to take this off line and reschedule the call.' Sam said, 'Okay', and they hung up."

"Did he say anything to Carl?"

"No! Je just got up from the table and walked out without a word."

"Oh my God, that is hilarious!"

"Hey, it's getting late," Walter said. "Do you still want to see those pictures?"

"Sure!"

Walter signed the bill and placed the receipt carefully in his wallet. Susan watched him attentively as the two of them rose from the table in a coordinated movement. They walked through the hotel lobby toward the west elevator bank. Neither spoke on the ride to the eighth floor.

"Sorry, the place isn't very big," Walter said as he opened the door and turned on the nearest light. 

Susan placed her purse on the nightstand. "It's nice."

"There's a good view."

"Ooh! I think I'll check that out!"

She opened the curtains but had trouble seeing past the glare on the windows. "Hey, can you turn out the light for a minute?"

"Sure!" Walter turned out the light and walked carefully through the dark to stand beside her.

"I love the mountains!" Susan said.

"Yeah, it's amazing!" Walter agreed. "I'll have to plan to do some mountain biking on the next trip."

"You should!"

Walter stepped away from the window and turned on a lamp. "Well, we have the world's smallest couch, or we can sit on the bed."

"The bed's fine," Susan said. "It's probably more comfy."

Walter pulled the iPad from his backpack. The two of them sat on the edge of the mattress as he searched through his photo galleries. "Ah, here we go!" as he found the photos of the bike race.

Susan leaned in close to get a better view. There was no space between them now. "How long did you train for the race?"

"Well, I train all the time for shorter distances," Walter explained. "But it took me about three months to build up my mileage."

"That takes a lot of dedication!"

"Yeah," said Walter. He noticed that Susan's hand was now resting gently on his thigh. "Luckily, we had good weather as I was training."

"I'm sure that makes a difference."

Walter leafed through the photos showing each one for a few seconds.

"Ooh, I like this one!" Susan said. As she pointed, she deliberately caressed his arm.

He turned toward her slightly and became aware that she was facing him. Their lips came together in a single instinctive motion. He kissed her gently and passionately. She responded to each subtle movement as though they had known each other forever. He felt her raven hair against his face. He didn't want to stop.

Walter set the tablet beside him on the bed and caressed Susan's cheek with his left hand. She turned and climbed onto his lap, now facing him fully and straddling his thighs. He slipped her denim jacket off and let it drop to the floor exposing a silky black camisole.

She ran her fingers through his hair as he explored her body with his hands. The camisole had a distinctively feminine feel that excited his senses. He glanced down at her full breasts but stopped short of caressing her there. Instead, he wrapped his right arm firmly around her waist and leaned back onto the bed, pulling her down on top of him. 

She kissed him from above and let the tips of her breasts rub against his lean, muscular chest. Walter caressed her thighs through the stretch fabric of the black leggings that wrapped her bottom so exquisitely.

Susan sat up and began to remove the camisole. Walter touched her arm gently in a motion that she understood to mean "stop."

"I'm just not sure whether we should be doing this right now," he said, struggling to find the right words.

"I understand," she said in a voice that hinted of distance and disappointment.

"I mean, there's work," he continued.

"And Louise," she added.

"I just think... maybe I need a little more time?"

Susan stood and picked her jacket up off of the floor. "It's okay." She slipped on the jacket. "I had a nice time."

"Do you have to go?" he asked.

"It's late," she said as she picked up her handbag.

"Are you sure that you're okay to drive?"

"Don't worry about me."

Susan opened the door and dashed out into the hallway. By the time that Walter reached the door, she was already standing at the elevator waiting for it to arrive.

"Send me a text when you get home?" Walter pleaded from his doorway.

The elevator reached their floor. Susan stepped into the car without responding or glancing in Walter's direction. He thought about going after her but decided that it wouldn't do either of them any good. Susan was hurt. The evening hadn't worked out as she had expected, and nothing that he could say now would change that. 

Walter accepted that he wasn't in a position to give Susan what she wanted unless he was willing to destroy his relationship with Louise. Louise had forgiven him for one transgression. He was certain that their life together was over when she learned about his one-night fling with Jo. But she took him back. God bless her, she made the hardest decision that a woman can ever make. She took him back. She gave him her trust. And this is how he re-payed that trust.

Susan was a colleague, someone that he worked with and interacted with regularly. Someone that Louise already distrusted. An affair with her would be unforgivable.

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-34

Walter followed the hallway to room 826 and entered using the electronic key. He set his backpack on the bed and pulled the folding luggage rack out of the closet. He set his rolling suitcase on the rack and unzipped the main compartment.

Walter set a clean shirt on the bed next to his backpack. He removed his toothpaste and toothbrush from a zipped pocket and walked toward the bathroom checking the lighting options on the way. 

Once he'd finished in the toilet, Walter washed his face and hands, dried off, and removed the cap from the toothpaste. The room telephone rang before he had a chance to squeeze the toothpaste onto his brush. 

"Hello!"

"Hi! I'm in the lobby!" Susan sounded energetic and cheerful despite having driven from her parents' home in Boulder.

"I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Okay!"

Walter brushed his teeth and changed his shirt. It was a relief to freshen up after a long trip on the plane.

He zipped the suitcase shut, checked that he had his wallet and room key, and grabbed his laptop case. It was too risky to leave the computer behind in the unattended room. 

Walter called the elevator and waited. A family of four in wet bathing suits emerged when it arrived on his floor.

"Hey, thanks for coming!" Walter exclaimed as he opened his arms toward Susan. 

She hugged him back. "Thanks for inviting me!"

"Is the restaurant here okay?" Walter asked. "I'm pretty sure that I can expense it."

"Sure, that's great!"

A waiter with a long, black apron greeted them at the door. "Two for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, please," Walter responded.

The waiter guided them to a large booth in the back of a spacious room adorned with dark wood beams and surfaces. Only about a quarter of the tables were occupied.

"This is nice!" Susan exclaimed.

"Well, you drove all this way. I didn't want you to have to spend more time in the car."

"It wasn't that bad, really!" she said. "About an hour and fifteen minutes. I thought it would take longer."

"Well, I hope that you didn't break any speeding laws."

"Maybe just a few," she said with a smile.

They looked over the menus. Walter had a beer from a local brewery, while Susan tried a pinot noir imported from New Zealand. They each ordered Cobb salads and shared the seared tuna appetizer that the waiter had announced as a special of the day.


"It's so cool that you're here!" Susan said raising her glass.

"Get used to it," Walter said. "I'll be out here at least every couple of months. Maybe more often when projects are in high gear."

"Well, you'll be here more often than I will," Susan noted. "But I do try to come out to see my parents when I can schedule a long weekend."

"How are they doing?"

"Oh, they're fine," she said. "Dad's trying to decide whether he wants to retire, but I don't know what he'll do with himself if he closes his practice."

"What does he do?"

"Dental surgeon."

"Oh, my goodness!" Walter said. "No wonder you have great teeth!"

"I'd like to think that I had good teeth anyway," Susan said. "But I guess having a dad in dentistry might have helped a bit."

"And your mom?"

"She volunteers, mostly. And she's loves opera."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah! She goes all the time."

"Does your dad go with her?"

"Only when one of her friends can't make it," Susan explained. "He hates it, but he'll go to keep her company. He knows how much it means to her."

"Well, that's really nice!"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Yeah, if Louise were into opera, she'd never get me to go!"

"You're so bad!" Susan scolded him. "I thought you were a nice guy!"

"Well, I am nice," Walter argued. "I just draw the line at opera."

"You'd love it!" 

"I don't think so."

"Yes, you would. The drama, the staging, the great music."

"The boredom."

"Oh, my goodness! We're going to have to give you a crash course in culture, Mr. Anderson."

"That's okay!" Walter argued. "I need to focus on work for a while. Culture will have to wait."

"So, how's the new job going?"

"Well, I might have a better idea after this week," Walter said. "This will be my first time meeting the Colorado team face to face."

"Well, I hope they like you despite the fact that you have no culture."

"Oh, wow!" Walter exclaimed. "It's going to be like that, is it?"

"I'm afraid so," Susan said playfully. "By the way, do you have those photos from your hundred-mile race?"

"Uh, I think so," Walter said. "I have them on my iPad."

"Do you have it with you."

"It's upstairs."

"Okay, well, maybe we can take a quick look before I head back."

"Sure! Sorry, I should have brought it down with me. I brought the laptop, because I can't take a chance of losing it."

"Oh, yeah!" Susan agreed. "They're totally paranoid about lost laptops these days."

"Well, yeah. We don't keep critical designs on them anymore. That's all of the servers. But if someone has a laptop, they're one step closer to being able to crack into the network."

"Right."

"Hey, do you want to have dessert?"

"I'm kind of full, but I'll take a look at the menu."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-33

Ilsa was puzzled, but it didn't show on her face. Years of successful diplomatic wrangling had trained her to maintain a calm and pleasant expression even when receiving surprising news. "When did this all happen?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Last week," her ex, Francisco Mela explained. 

"May I ask why?"

"We wanted to restructure our accounts for insurance purposes. It seemed like the right time."

Ilsa turned to her son, the younger Francisco. "Are you okay with this, honey?"

"Yeah, Mom. As long as it's still okay with Dad. Since I'm going to be leaving and everything."

"It's going to be fine, son," his father assured him. "We'll set things up so you can do most of what you need to do remotely. And you can always call me if you aren't sure about something."

"Great!" exclaimed the younger Francisco. "Thanks!"

"Well, I believe that we have much to celebrate!" Ilsa announced cheerfully. "Francisco, do you still like that Japanese grill that we went to last year?"

"Oh my goodness! They have the best seafood!"

"Well, if your father says that it's okay, maybe you can drive me back to the hotel, and we can stop there for dinner."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," the elder Francisco Mela agreed enthusiastically.

"Should I take the Benz?" his son asked.

"Yes, take the Mercedes. It's easier to park than the Suburban."

"Why don't you go get ready, Darling?" Ilsa suggested. "I need to talk to your father for a few minutes."

"Okay, sure!" The younger Francisco left the study and raced up the staircase.

Ilsa discarded her carefully practiced expression and stared at Francisco with striking blue eyes. "You are going to tell me what's going on. Everything! And don't give me this bullshit about insurance."

Francisco stood and walked over to close the door to the study. "Everything is okay," he assured her.

"Okay? You just signed over your home and business property to an eighteen-year-old. I know he's your son, and you trust him. But I know you, too, Francisco. You wouldn't have given up control unless you were in trouble."

He sat back down on the couch and turned to face her. "You're right. There has been some trouble."

"Does this have anything to do with your father?" Ilsa demanded.

"No, he has nothing to do with it."

"Because I don't want our son getting mixed up in his dealings. You know that I won't tolerate that."

"Believe me," Francisco assured her. "I don't want that either."

"So, what is going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure," he continued. "I got a call from Dave Birnbaum at the bank one day. Well, actually, I called him, but it doesn't matter."

"What did he say?"

"Well, he claimed that he couldn't provide me with any details. But he informed me that my US accounts had been frozen."

"Are you serious?" Ilsa exclaimed.

"I am afraid so."

"That means..."

"...that the feds are involved," Francisco said completing her sentence. "Yes, I know."

"What is going on?"

Francisco sat back and thought for a moment before responding. "I have reason to believe that this is some sort of personal vendetta."

"Personal?" Ilsa demanded. "By whom? A business contact?" 

"I'm not certain..."

"Oh, my God!"

"It's going to be okay," he said.

"No, you idiot!" Ilsa snapped. "I wasn't saying that because I was upset. I'm saying it because you're a fool."

"Okay, hold on..."

"It's that girl, isn't it?"

Francisco sat stone faced and unwilling to answer.

Ilsa continued. "That's it, isn't it? You won't even deny it!"

"I don't think you're being fair," Francisco argued.

"Fair? What is there to be fair about? You hooked up with this girl without even checking her out. She's bringing a mess from her pass into YOUR house, and now you're involving our son. What is fair about that, Francisco?"

"Ilsa..."

"You're an idiot! A fool and an idiot!"

"Okay, you're right," Francisco admitted. "I am an idiot. But don't take this out on her."

"Oh, don't even get me started, you son of a bitch!"

"Ilsa, calm down. Please! You were right about everything. This was caused by someone from her past."

"That doesn't make me feel any better right now."

"I understand. But I haven't mixed Francisco up in anything."

"Do you really believe your own bullshit?" Ilsa asked crossly. "What if the person who came after you decides to come after our son?"

"That's not going to happen," Francisco assured her.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because it's being handled."

"Handled by whom? Your father and his...mercenaries?"

"No, I told you already. I am keeping him out of this."

"You had better not be lying to me, Francisco Mela!"

"I am not lying to you, Ilsa. In fact, I was going to talk to you about all of this tonight anyway."

"That is the last thing that I would ever believe."

"Well, you can believe it, because it's true."

"Why would you volunteer to tell me all of this if I had not figured it out for myself?"

"Because you have a right to know," Francisco said, wringing his hands tightly. "Because I had to involve Francisco to avoid losing the farm."

"Yes?"

"And because I need your help."

Ilsa's demeanor changed to show concern. "What kind of help?"

"We think that the guy who did this was able to apply pressure because he has a contact in the State Department."

"Oh, I see!" Ilsa raised her chin and leaned back slightly. "So, what is it that you think that I can do for you?"

"I know that it's a lot to ask..."

"Yes, it is a LOT to ask, Darling. And you do not have much leverage right now, so think very carefully about how you ask me."

"I was wondering whether, if you might know someone in the Argentine or Venezuelan embassies..."

"...someone who could place a call to the State Department and ask why their people are harassing a naturalized American citizen with extensive business holdings in their countries?"

"Yes, sort of..."

"Is that what you are asking me to do, or not?"

"Yes. Look, I know it's a lot..."

"Are you crazy?" she asked tensely.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Francisco said. 

"Are you seriously loco? Out of your mind?" Ilsa demanded.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll handle it another way."

"No, you idiot! We'll handle it this way." 

Francisco was caught off guard by her response. "What do you mean?"

"I am telling you, Darling, that you should have come to me sooner." Ilsa took a sip from her mimosa and leaned toward him until her face was inches from his. "I know everyone."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved

The Horse Farm - Chapter 2-32

Francisco turned off of the main road and guided the Ferrari up the long driveway to the farm. He amused himself with some quick accelerations along the straight sections.

"The place looks beautiful!" Ilsa cooed in a deep, breathy voice. The words dripped with confidence and sensuality. Even the way that she sat in the car seat was beguiling. Francisco did his best to ignore Ilsa's charms, but he realized in that moment why Terri had reacted so strongly to her presence in the house.

"It's a nice time of year," Francisco noted. "And we've put a lot of work into it."

"It shows!"

Francisco parked the Ferrari in front of the garage and walked around to help Ilsa out of the low seat. She rose to her feet in one elegant motion, poised and self-assured, as though she were about to charm a roomful of ambassadors and prime ministers. 

"Do you have everything?" Francisco asked.

"Everything that I can pack into a Ferrari," she replied playfully in that steamy voice. "Which isn't much!"

Francisco escorted Ilsa through the main entrance and called upstairs to his son. "Francisco! Your mother is here!"

"Coming!" answered a distant voice.

"What can we get you to drink?"

"A mimosa, if you have champagne," Ilsa responded, her green eyes surveying the furnishings.

"Coming right up."

Young Francisco jogged down the stairs and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Hi, Ma!"

"Hello, Sweetheart!" she gushed. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine!" the young man answered. "Thanks for coming!"

"Thank you for asking me!"

Francisco, Sr. emerged from the kitchen with a tray of drinks. "Here we go!"

"Well, what a talented bartender!" Ilsa remarked playfully.

"I gave the staff some time off," he reported. "Shall we sit in the study?"

"Okay," Ilsa agreed.

"Francisco, you take the big chair," his father suggested as they walked into the room. "This is your meeting."

Young Francisco approached the desk sheepishly but began to look more comfortable as he took his seat. His parents sat on opposite ends of the antique leather couch.

"Ma, Dad - thanks for coming!" His parents remained silent as he collected his thoughts.

"For a while, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to college. I thought that maybe I wanted to take some time off, to travel or something."

"Do you still feel that way?" his mother asked.

"No!" Francisco replied emphatically. "I'm definitely going."

"Well, that's good news!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks!"

"What made you change your mind?" his father asked cautiously. "That is, if you want to tell us."

"Well, I always wanted to go," the young man explained. "I always knew what I wanted to get my degrees."

"In veterinary medicine," his mother confirmed.

"Yes," Young Francisco confirmed. "Probably pre-med first, and then veterinary medicine with an emphasis on research."

"And that's still what you want to do?" the elder Francisco asked.

"I never changed my mind," the young man explained. "I guess when the time came, though, I started to think about other possibilities."

"That's normal!" his mother added.

"What changed your mind?" his father asked.

"I was training Barney one day," Francisco said referring to his favorite horse, "and I started to think about getting ready for a race," Young Francisco continued. "If you lose time at the start, you only delay your finish."

"That's a good way to think about it," his father added.

Ilsa chimed in. "Why do I think that this has something to do with that girl that you've been dating?"

"We're not dating, Ma!"

"Who are you dating?" his father asked.

"No one! I..."

"I'm sorry," Isla said. "We shouldn't pry in your personal affairs."

"I don't have personal affairs, Mom. She's just a friend."

"OK!" Ilsa exclaimed. Her tone of voice indicated that she didn't believe him.

"Who are we talking about?" asked his father.

Ilsa exploded: "What kind of father are you? You don't even know who his friends are?"

"I know his friends," Francisco said defensively. "Some of them."

"Mom, Dad," Young Francisco interrupted. "It's okay. And it's Isabella, by the way."

"I thought she was going out with your friend," his father said.

"She is!" Young Francisco exclaimed. "We're just friends."

"I see."

"Well, I may be wrong," Ilsa stated, "but I have a feeling that this friend of yours is a very wise young lady, and maybe she helped you with this decision when you saw her yesterday."

"She did talk to me about it," Francisco admitted.

"Ah! You see!" Ilsa taunted her ex-husband. "I live halfway across the country, and I know more about his friends than you do!"

"It doesn't matter, Ma!"

"I'm sorry, Darling! Please continue."

"I just... Dad, I just want to make sure that it's okay for me to go since we talked about that other thing."

"What other thing?" Ilsa demanded. "What is he talking about."

Francisco ignored Ilsa's query. "It's fine, son. We'll work it out."

"Work what out?" Ilsa demanded. "What's going on?"

"Just some farm business, Mom."

Ilsa stared at Francisco, Sr. "What is he talking about? What farm business?"

Francisco looked Ilsa in the eye and flashed his most charming smile. "I'm please to announce that your son is now the proud owner of El Corazon Stables."

  

'The Horse Farm'

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South

All Rights Reserved