Chapter 74: RICHARD
"Richard? Richard!" Madame Dame yelled , yanking at my hand.
"Boy, where did you go? Been calling you for some time now" she said, as my attention returned to the present.
Against all resolve, I forced myself to face her, streak lines of her tears were still visible, her eyes still red and puffy and I realized, she hadn’t been crying only minutes or seconds ago, and that was why she had on a bonnet.
She had aimed at hiding it, but the real question was, who was she talking about? Who was taken away from her? Who was she grieving?
"I’m so sorry about that, I recalled a rather emotional memory and I’m afraid lost myself in the whims of it’s melancholy. But please, who were you talking about? Who was taken away from you? Did anyone from the Dame family die?" I asked.
I was confused, but not to the point of asking more than the required one question. It was all a ploy, an incentive to get her to open up. A question she can easily wave off, but three questions she must answer.
"Don’t do that, I know what you are doing and it won’t work." At my feigned puzzled expression, which she surprisingly fell for, she added, "you think I’m at a weak point and you are looking to exploit that, after all we may be partners but we are still very much rivals, isn’t that right?"
I knew she was too smart to fall for my ploy to get her to open up, but exploiting her weakness wasn’t part of my intentions. After hearing her talk about it like that, like it was what she would have done were the tables turned, I found myself wishing that was my intention.
It just confirmed to me that the aged Dame was a real ace player of the game of business negotiations and someone who would do anything to win.
I took a sip from my glass, set it down, unbuttoned my blazer as I leaned forward and said,
"To be honest, I wish that was what I intended, but it’s not. I confess I wanted you to open up, but it wasn’t to exploit your weakness. I was just curious as to who it was that you lost and as a sign of goodwill, I will indulge you in the latest happenings in my life. I promise."
She gave me a measured look as if she was reading me. Just when I didn’t think she would say anything, the aged Dame spoke,