They were waiting for me on my desk first thing that morning. As I scoured through all of the papers, I was blown away at how badly Ria had screwed me over. It wasn’t just the nearly one million dollars that she embezzled from the company. She also messed with our company’s investments, for reasons that were still unknown, which caused me to lose a large amount of money in the stock market.
According to the documents, Ria had cashed out one of our major investments, redistributed the funds into lower-yielding bonds, and some of the money from the investment sale was unaccounted for. It was bad enough that she had embezzled our regular income but messing with our investment portfolio had a worse impact on the company’s long-term goals. Whoever took over her job would have to sit down and run some serious numbers before the company could move forward.
In other words, I didn’t have time for this bullshit.
My secretary knocked on my door right as I was eager for a break.
“Come on in.”
She shut the door behind her while holding a letter in her hand. I thought I noticed a “certified” stamp on it.
As she went to put it on my desk, I realized that I was in desperate need of a distraction for a few minutes. “I know that you respect my privacy, but aren’t you going to ask about my trip to Paris?”
“Of course, Mr. Stein. I know that things were quite tense in the office right before you left, due to Ria, so I hope you enjoyed your vacation. I assume you and Ginger had fun in France?”
“It was amazing, and you need to put it on your bucket list. We saw a handful of plays. However, they weren’t nearly as good as those on Broadway. I was amazed at how fulfilling a simple French pastry and coffee could be for breakfast, too. Of course, it probably helped that we were in Paris. The ones you can buy at the store here aren’t nearly as good as we had. Hell, who am I kidding? I never let myself eat that kind of food.”
All she did was smile at me, while awkwardly shifting back and forth in her shoes. Typically she was a bit more talkative, but I got a distinct feeling that she was hiding something.
“That sounds wonderful, Mr. Stein.” Something was definitely off with her that morning.
“Is everything all right? You look…worried. Did something happen while I was gone? Ria didn’t come back here, did she?” I stood up from my desk, suddenly worried that Ria had, in fact, shown back up at our office.
She shook her head at me, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief. “No, Mr. Stein. But I had to sign for a certified letter on Friday from the De Veers Diamond Group. I was going to call or text you about it, but I didn’t want to ruin your vacation with Ginger. After everything that happened with Ria, I’m sure you were eager to get away.”
I practically yanked the letter out of her hand, causing her to recoil in fear. “The De Veers Diamond Group never sends me certified mail.”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Stein. I should have called you right away, but I figured you’d be back in a few days anyway.”
Yes, you most certainly should have contacted me right away.
With a wave of my hand, I dismissed her from my office and read it to myself.
There was a miner’s strike at the diamond mine that I owned in Africa. It was the same one that had been striking off and on over the past few weeks, only returning to work every time Ria or I authorized a small wage increase. Their new demands were too complicated for me to spend time working on, and this was Ria’s department. She handled payroll and everything related to human resources.
I ran my hand through my hair, realizing that I was in way over my head. This wasn’t something that I could handle on my own, and the longer it waited, the more money I stood to lose.
And that’s when I remembered the email they had sent me right before I went to Paris with Ginger. I pulled it up on my laptop and read it over.
Mr. Stein,
The miners are getting ready to protest yet again. They are not happy with the small, minuscule pay raises your company has given them. They’ve also expressed concern over their working conditions and benefits packages.
If you meet their demands within five business days, they will not strike.
If you do not meet their demands within five business days, they will strike until you or someone from your company comes to Africa to meet with them.
Sincerely,
De Veers Diamond Group
Son of a bitch!Who the hell would I send to Africa?
If I’d read that email before leaving for Paris with Ginger, I would have immediately authorized whatever the hell they wanted, because frankly, I was getting tired of dealing with this issue. Of course, I supported fair wages and decent working conditions, but there was no way I could go to Africa myself.
This is why I have avoided romantic relationships all of my life. All they do is get in the way of work.
I shook my head, refusing to allow myself to feel that way about Ginger. I was a changed man, and life without her wouldn’t be worth living. This was just another hoop for us to get through, and after our trip to Paris, we felt more durable than ever.
