Douglas approached from the other side of the square wearing sunglasses, expensive black shoes, designer slacks, and a loose-fitting, long-sleeve dress shirt in light pink. Francisco recognized him from his photograph. He was precisely on time and seemed to be in no hurry at all. He walked in controlled, deliberate strides and exuded unshakable confidence. This was not going to be an easy sell.
Douglas smiled as he approached the table. It was the smile of a seasoned political operative, a smile that made you want to trust the man behind it. "You must be Francisco," Douglas was still wearing the sunglasses.
Francisco rose to his feet. "Mr. Fenn-Creighley, pleased to meet you!" The two men shook hands as they disguised their contempt for one another.
"Well, at least you pronounced it correctly!" Douglas acknowledged.
Francisco smiled. "I hope so; I gave it my best attempt. Won't you have a seat?"
Douglas took a smooth but suspicious glance toward the center of the square.
"Don't be concerned," Francisco assured him. "I'm here alone."
Douglas nodded and lowered himself into the chair with the smoothness of a dancer. Francisco sat across from him and opened the conversation.
"You were probably surprised to hear from me."
Douglas smirked. "I know enough about you to expect some surprises. But this took some balls! I admire that."
Francisco pondered the comment. Douglas had deftly masked defiance with a compliment. His political skill was evident, but Francisco was not to be outdone.
"I thought that we should chat, since I missed you the other day. - Would you care for something? Cappuccino? It's amazing."
Douglas thought briefly before answering. "Sure. Why not? It's your dime."
Francisco gestured to the waiter with two fingers. The waiter nodded and walked quickly into the cafe.
Douglas had reached his limit for small talk. "Your associate said something about a business proposal."
"Yes," Francisco replied. "I thought that it might interest you."
"What makes you think that I would want to do business with YOU?" Douglas demanded defiantly.
"Not with me!" Francisco insisted. "It's with an associate, someone whom I have known for many years."
"And why would I be interested in working with one of your associates?"
"Because it's a good offer," Francisco explained. "And because you're here. If you weren't curious, you wouldn't have come."
Fenn-Creighley smirked again. "You think I'm curious?"
"Possibly," Francisco replied. "But more importantly, I suspect that you are running low on options."
"I have plenty of options," Douglas boasted.
"Are you working now?" Francisco asked.
"That's none of your business."
Francisco raised the intensity of his voice. "Would any of those options depend on assistance of a Director Marston at the State Department?"
Douglas did his best to hold his poker face, but the corner of his mouth quivered. It was clear that the mention of Marston's name rattled him.
Francisco continued: "Because at this point, I would be surprised if he's still taking your calls."
"That was you?" Fenn-Creighley demanded in a calm but firm tone.
"Not me, directly," Francisco clarified. "I understand that some calls were made. It's amazing what can happen when you reach out to the right people."
Fenn-Creighley took a deep breath and regained his composure, but he was now quite angry. "So you went after Marston to get to me? Is that it? Well, don't get too comfortable, because I know how to get to people, too."
The waiter brought the two cappuccinos and set them on the table.
"Mr. Fenn-Creighley, no one is trying to get to you. My understanding is that Director Marston's career is not in jeopardy at this time. We simply asked him to pull back on a particular investigation that we felt was not being prosecuted in good faith. He was more than happy to comply."
"And in the process, you got my attention," Douglas surmised.
"Mr. Fenn-Creighley, my associate is prepared to make you a bona fide offer of employment. If you're not interested, I won't waste any more of your time."
"I'm not saying that I'm not interested," Douglas confessed. "I haven't heard the pitch yet. What I'm concerned about is, why are you doing this? Why, all of a sudden, is some friend of yours interested in ME?"
"Those are two separate matters," Francisco replied. "My associate is interested in your skills and experience. He feels that you could be an asset to his organization."
"And you?"
Francisco leaned forward. He sensed blood in the water.
"My business philosophy is simple, Mr. Fenn-Creighley. Friends are more important than adversaries. When an adversary attacks, he may do some damage. But once you have identified your adversary, you can watch him and hopefully prevent him from doing more harm.
"Friends on the other hand, tend to be supportive over the long haul. They pass business your way. They help you out of difficult situations. A friend may help you dozens of times. Faced with a situation like this, I see more value in cultivating a mutually beneficial relationship than accepting that we are destined to be adversaries."
Douglas remained unimpressed. "So, you think that you can charm me into becoming your friend?"
"Mr. Fenn-Creighley..."
"Douglas. Please."
"Douglas - you see we're making progress already."
Fenn-Creighley grinned and chuckled through his nose as he shook his head.
"You're still a young man. You have a lot of potential. Given the right opportunity, you can get your life and career back on track after the, shall we say, unfortunate events that have befallen you. Or you can wait for your old friends to toss you a bone, but they don't seem all that keen on helping you."
Douglas removed his sunglasses for the first time. He had piercing green eyes, eyes with unmistakable charisma.
"Alright, Mela, what exactly is the right offer?"
"An associate, Mr. Samuels, oversees a number of concerns engaged in the extraction of precious metals. From time to time, his projects encounter interference from local authorities and other groups. He's looking for someone who could help him to cut through red tape and potential bad publicity before it happens. You seem like an ideal candidate."
"It does sound like my cup of tea," Fenn-Creighley added. "But it also sounds shady."
"Do you have other offers pending?" Francisco countered.
Douglas became defiant once again. "That's really none of your concern, is it?"
"Well, while you're waiting for something else to come along, Mr. Samuels would very much like to make his own pitch. I'm sure that you'll find the terms attractive."
"And if I'm not interested?"
"If you're not interested, Douglas, you're not interested. No one is here to twist your arm."
"And just where exactly is this position located?"
"I'm sure that Mr. Samuels will discuss all of the details. Some travel will be involved, but you would have plenty of discretionary time if say, you wanted to visit your daughter."
"So, basically you just want me out of your way - is that it? Because you're with Terri now, and you don't want me to muck that up."
Francisco wasn't sure what to say next. He suspected that the conversation would end up at an impasse over Terri, but he hadn't thought of a strategy to get past it.
"How long were you together?" he asked.
"Excuse me?" Douglas asked in disbelief.
"You and Terri, how long?"
"Three and a half years."
"That's a long time," Francisco noted. "She must have seen something in you if she stuck around for that long."
"Well, that's between me and her," Douglas said flatly.
"I understand. I didn't mean to pry. It just occurred to me that, if she was drawn to you before you fell on hard times, then perhaps once you re-establish yourself, she might look at things differently."
"Wait! You're saying that you think that she's going to come back to me if I take this job?"
"I'm saying that she might think differently about who you are - and the kind of man you are - depending on the choices that you make along the way."
Douglas ran his fingers through his hair as he considered his options.
"I'll tell you what, Mela. I'll consider your offer. Your friend's offer, whatever. But first, I want a favor. And since you're all into building trust and friendships and all, I think that you understand the importance of a favor."
"Sure," said Francisco. "Let me know what it is, and I'll see what I can do."
There was excitement in Douglas' powerful eyes now. "I want to talk to her."
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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