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The pause was getting a bit too long and the silence was calling either for another round or for the meeting to be adjourned.

“Well, thank you for giving the shirt back,” I said finally.

“You bet.” Jared stood up and pressed a few buttons on his phone.

I also stood up and felt that I’d had just about the right amount of alcohol. I waved to Hugh to come and give us the check. He understood me but gestured that there was no need.

“Don’t worry about that,” Jared said. “My treat.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Jared waved to Hugh, and we walked out of the bar. It was chilly, but I found it refreshing and congratulated myself for wearing the jacket. Jared’s car, a big black SUV, was parked right outside and Freddy was standing near it, ready to open the passenger door.

“Do you need a ride?” Jared asked. “Freddy will take you anywhere you want.”

I felt that I’d had enough of Jared and his people for one evening. “I’m good.”

“Cool,” Jared said and turned to Freddy. “I’ll walk to the office, Freddy.”

Freddy nodded, walked around the car, and got in.

“Listen Alex,” Jared started. “I didn’t mean to stir up the past with all those questions back there. I was fascinated with your family once and I guess I got carried away with my nostalgia a bit.”

“No worries,” I said, feeling surprised at this sudden correctness.

“Good,” he said. “I’ll have my people contact you about the proposal in a day or two.”

“Thank you, Jared,” I said and felt that it would be better not to push my luck by asking if I’d got it.

***

I was deep in my thoughts when Harry appeared with my drink on a tray.

“Cheers,” I said taking the drink and getting the first sip. “Wow, how can we possibly still have this in the house, Harry?”

It was The Balvenie, the scotch my family has been buying since the distillery started production all that way back in the nineteenth century. All the males in my family preferred it to any other whiskey. I was sure that we had emptied our cellar when we moved to France.

“I kept a few bottles, just in case, sir,” Harry said.