Consequences (63 page)

After a nine-hour flight, they arrived home. She couldn’t remember being more tired. Their flight from Fiji was longer, yet they predominately rested in Fiji or at least spent time horizontal. She felt that she had been literally sightseeing, walking, and hiking for the past seventeen days. Their dinner in New York seemed forever ago, still she knew it was not.

Before they went to bed, Tony brought Claire a large stack of e-mails from his home office; she chose to not look at them. She’d do it tomorrow. They both collapsed into her bed. She thanked Tony repeatedly for the trip of a lifetime and the wonderful memories. She drifted into a dreamless sleep with her head resting on his shoulder, listening to his breathing.

He was exhausted too as he hugged the soft warm body that nestled against his. Hearing her thank him for the memories filled him with intense satisfaction. He closed his eyes, inhaled the scent of her hair, and recalled their memorable trip. Before he drifted off to sleep, Tony said, “I plan to go into the office tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow evening, I plan to sleep through your alarm.”

Tony smiled.

It’s
not
a
question
of
enough,
pal.
It’s
a
Zero
Sum
game,
somebody
wins,
somebody
loses.
Money
itself
isn’t
lost
or
made,
it’s
simply,
transferred
from
one
perception
to
another.
Like
magic.

—Gordon Gekko

 Chapter 41

Anton stood silently outside of his grandfather’s home office. Even though the grand double doors were tightly closed, he could hear voices from within. His father insisted that Anton be excluded from the conversation within. As far as Anton was concerned, that was ridiculous. Something big was happening, and it had to do with
his
name and the company that he’d been told would be his.

Samuel could shelter him from the discussion and knowledge of the business dealings, but Anton wasn’t stupid. He could read a NYSE ticker. Rawls Corp. stock had plummeted from 79.8 to 56.4 at the close of trading. The news release proclaimed
rumors
of wrongdoings within the corporation. The four men within the office weren’t drinking beer and playing cards; this was deadly serious. It seemed like everything was crashing down around them. Someone opened a dam, and the water couldn’t be stopped.

Inside the cherry-paneled regal office, Nathaniel questioned Clawson. “You said
no
one
would ever know. What the hell happened? Where did these allegations come from?”

“Mr. Rawls, I don’t know. We have covered our tracks for almost ten years. You have made a bloody fortune. Maybe the feds got nervous because you were making too much profit.”

“What the hell is that
,
too
much
profit?” Nathaniel couldn’t sit. He paced every inch of the plush carpet. “Have they investigated Trump or Gates? I’m nowhere close to those men.”

“It doesn’t matter who else has been investigated.” Samuel tried to bring the men back to the task at hand. “What matters is that we get our ducks in a row and meet the investigation head-on.”

Clawson gazed over to his assistant, Cole Mathews. Mathews was busy organizing stacks of paper and utilizing a shredder to reduce the paper overload. Clawson addressed both Rawls men. “Cole and I are making sure that there is no evidence that can be linked to any of the allegations.”

“You said no one would know. Why is Mathews shredding papers? There shouldn’t be anything that needs to be shredded.” Nathaniel watched as Mathew’s green eyes briefly met his. He seemed to be working as fast as the shredder would allow.

Cole Mathews entered their inner circle about two years ago. He didn’t talk much, but was a whiz at research. Tell him a stock or a company, and bingo, he will have more insider information than one would believe humanly possible. Suddenly, Nathaniel regretted not having Clawson and Mathews sign some kind of power of attorney, a way to distance himself from them.

These two men helped to make him mega-wealthy. At this moment, if possible he would hang them both out to dry to save himself and his family. Hell, Samuel wouldn’t even meet his eyes. Briefly Nathaniel thought about the recent news, the space shuttle “Challenger” blew up during takeoff. That was a damn shame. Just maybe that news would overshadow the unfortunate
false
allegations regarding Rawls Corp.

The
sudden
disappointment
of
a
hope
leaves
a
scar
which
the
ultimate
fulfillment
of
that
hope
never
entirely
removes.

—Thomas Hardy

 Chapter 42

On the day following their return, Claire woke late, relishing the large empty bed. After Cindy brought her coffee and food, she sat on her balcony, ate breakfast, and enjoyed the summer day, truly contented to be home. August in Iowa reminded her of Indiana, and even though the temperature and humidity continued to increase, the summer’s climax was rapidly approaching. Before long, the balminess would diminish, and evidence of autumn would materialize.

Claire intended to appreciate the remaining days of summer. She took the folder of e-mails to the pool. Knowing that Tony read them before delivering them to her, she decided to separate the ones that she felt needed responses and expedite her evening request session. Eighteen days’ worth of e-mails took quite a bit of time. She started by removing the ones that she didn’t intend to answer. Next she reread the ones from acquaintances. What did they want? Could she help in any way? If not, they went into the “
Patricia,
please
respond
” pile. If she believed there was something she could do, she put them in a pile to discuss with Tony.

Next was the pile of friends and family. It was considerably smaller. Most of them knew they were out of the country. They wanted to know about the trip and schedule a get-together. Courtney wanted to do lunch as soon as Claire recovered from her traveling. MaryAnn’s e-mail apparently went to both Tony and Claire. She invited them to a movie premiere party at their home in Malibu in October. Claire checked her calendar. It was the weekend after the Red Cross silent auction. She added those to the “
discuss
with
Tony
” pile. The last few pages were from Emily. She definitely preferred sitting in the sun, drinking iced tea at her pool, in her bathing suit, and reading Emily’s e-mails to doing it under Tony’s glare.

The first one was a note about their get-together. Emily and John enjoyed seeing them and thanked them for dinner. Apparently, John spoke to the waiter about paying the bill prior to their arrival, but somehow it never came to the table. This caused Claire to smile, she hadn’t noticed. Emily wished them a good time on their trip. She anxiously waited to hear all about it. The second came a week later. It began with, “I know you are still in Europe, but I wanted to tell you . . .” The firm set an arbitrary date of November 1. At that time, there will be a review of the associates’ production, hours billed, and fees recovered. She was optimistic about John’s final numbers. He spent every waking hour working. But cautiously she said that if he didn’t make the cut, it wasn’t the end. He would still be an associate and considered for partnership during the next review process. She asked Claire to call when she got home. The third e-mail was dated yesterday. It began, “Are you home yet?” She asked multiple questions about their trip and talked about her impending school year. Apparently, the economic state of the country was affecting the finances of her school as well as others everywhere. Even though she worked for a private school system there were severe budget cuts that would affect her classroom directly. It made Claire wonder if she could use some of her
capital
to make a donation. She decided to put these in the
Tony
pile. She wanted to call and perhaps pursue the donation.

Lunch arrived at the pool. Settling into the lounge chair with a book that made the trip to and from Europe but never opened, Claire was filled with comfort, peace, and contentment. She was home. Jet lag settled in and soon she fell into a deep sleep, sleeping through most of the afternoon. Catherine woke her at four and she went to her suite to prepare for Tony. At five o’clock, Catherine informed her that they would dine on the back patio. Her life’s routine had resumed.

August faded into September, and before she knew it October knocked on the door. Claire and Courtney were very busy finalizing their efforts for the silent auction. The donations, facility, caterers, and wine distributors all confirmed; the guest list approved and invitations mailed. Excited about the impending event, Claire felt it was her debut to the philanthropic world. Tony not only participated in this world, he excelled. She wanted Mrs. Anthony Rawlings to be equally synonymous with charity as Mr. Anthony Rawlings. It was the first time Claire informed Tony that they would be attending an event. He smiled and told her he would check their calendar.

During the auction planning her hostess duties didn’t cease. Various dinners occurred at various locations. They also attended functions and events together. Her biggest decisions involved wardrobe and hairstyle, and often those choices were made for her. That made the Red Cross function all the more important to Claire. She knew she had more to offer.

Not long before the auction Tony and Claire attended a forum in Chicago where Tony was the keynote speaker. He was asked to give a speech about
success
. The theme of the conference was “Risk verses Failure in the World of Business.” He never practiced his speeches or ran ideas by her. So as Claire sat next to her husband at the head table and he addressed the audience, his words were new to her too.

When she first met him, really met him, she didn’t like the
business
Tony. He was the one who used to visit her suite. Always professionally dressed, impersonal, methodical, detached, and other adjectives that were not as complimentary. But now she enjoyed watching and being beside Anthony Rawlings, esteemed businessman, while he shined in his element. He radiated an aura that said
I
am
successful
. By some it may be perceived as conceit. Claire probably thought of it that way at one time, but now she found it attractive. In the past, she disliked or hated his ingrained confidence and authority but now she could look at it differently. It was sexy. Watching and listening to him she comprehended the importance of her role.

Many times, following the dinner and speech the organizers would schedule a question-and-answer symposium. These were informal, with various people approaching Tony, asking him questions. Many of the attendees were young entrepreneurs looking for advice. According to Shelly, Tony’s participation was essential for public relations. According to Tony, his participation was hell. Claire’s duty included politely interrupting participants so that he could move on to the next and eventually leave.

During these Q & A sessions, multiple people approached Tony. Claire tried to appear attentive yet unobtrusive until it was time for her to interrupt. She didn’t pay attention to the individuals. They blended together in her mind. During this particular conference, a question came from one of the participants that caught them both off guard. A man younger than Tony, closer to Claire’s age, blond and blue eyed, dressed in an expensive suit, approached Tony.