Minnie Chase Makes a Mistake (19 page)

‘People don’t always get it right,’ reasoned Minnie. 

‘But when they’re wrong, they should admit their mistakes.’

‘Guilty as charged,’ said Minnie putting her hands up. ‘And I want to make it right. I can’t speak for Ms Bachmann.’

Greene looked irritated at this. Perhaps she sounded naive. 

‘I can pass a message on to her though,’ added Minnie hesitantly. ‘Tell her that you’re okay and that…’

 ‘Parker Bachmann has got the message,’ said Greene cutting her off. 

‘Oh,’ said Minnie, shocked. ‘But… I thought… you’re getting married.’

‘It is a business arrangement.’

‘I’m not sure I follow.’

‘Unfortunately, there is no exit strategy. No plan B. If she dumps me, it doesn’t look good at the polls. If I dump her, my political connections suffer. And I don’t need to remind you that I’m hurting enough after recent revelations. I have investments that link to politics. I can’t afford to piss off the right people.’

‘Are you so sure she doesn’t love you?’ asked Minnie. 

‘She ran out on me,’ he repeated.

‘She panicked.’

Greene turned to face her. Minnie found it disconcerting to be so close to him. ‘Would you have done something like that?’ he asked.

Minnie thought about James George. The wedding vows she had planned to make: sickness and health. She answered honestly, ‘No, I wouldn’t.’

Minnie knew better than to mention his health so she focused on business. ‘Reputations can be restored. Greene Inc stock shares can rocket again. Let’s get moving with the natural gas deal. We’re wasting valuable time.’

Greene shrugged and said, ‘I’ve hired Jones & Sword to take care of that.’

‘They’re stalling – they’re behind by nine or ten months. Let me help you finish it
now
. I’ve been working on the missing algorithms and connectives. I tried to tell my boss this before she fired me but she wanted more billable hours.’

‘You got fired?’ He raised an eyebrow. 

‘I deserved it.’

‘You are the picture of perfect chaos.’

‘That’s me,’ she said, knowing it to be true.

‘And yet you are here.’ His tone had thawed fractionally.

‘Let me help you work it out. I’m good at this. It’s what I do…’

He silenced her with a raised hand. 

She watched him pick up a wine glass and raise it high, trophy-like, before deliberately dropping it onto the black marble floor. It shattered with a lightning strike and a SWAT team of bar staff descended on the scene to clean and sweep with immediate effect.

Minnie gasped. The noise was startling in the quiet atmosphere. 

‘Leave it!’ commanded Greene and the staff stopped in their tracks. 

He leaned towards Minnie. ‘Do you think “sorry” can fix this? He continued, his teeth seemed bigger and wolfish up close, ‘Do you really think that somehow anything
you
say will make a
difference
?’ The sentence was punctuated with furious bursts of intonation. ‘How long do you think it will take to put the glass back together?’ He jabbed a finger in the direction of the floor. ‘You might pull a miracle out the bag and find all the pieces but my reputation will
never
be the same – just a grotesque version of what it used to be.’

‘You’re not a wine glass,’ said Minnie, eventually. She had planned to say something much more eloquent but words failed her.

She was also anxious and embarrassed about the scattered glass. She imagined cut fingers and lacerated toes. However, the glass was nothing compared to Greene. She could see that he was the one who was truly broken. 

Then the maitre d’ descended, silent like the angel Gabriel. His hands were pressed together underneath his chin. ‘Sir?’ he said.

Greene nodded.

The maitre d’ clicked his fingers and a silent rush ensued, quick, soft action so as not to disturb Greene.

Greene seemed stricken for a second. ‘Ashton Greene is dead,’ he said. 

Much as this shocked her, part of Minnie believed him. The man she was looking at bore no resemblance to the elegant, poised person she had first met at The Savoy. Perhaps a comeback
was
out of the question. 

She had murdered the old Greene. 

He closed his eyes, self-imposed darkness, and mumbled, ‘You can’t help me.’

Minnie didn’t answer. 

Greene quickly recovered his composure. He sat up rigidly staring straight ahead, and said, ‘You will go ahead with the public apology and deny that I have this disease.’

Minnie could see that he was serious. 

Then he said, almost as an afterthought, ‘You will also arrange the perfect break-up – make me look like a gentleman and keep Parker smiling at the polls. I am
not
getting married to that woman.’

Deadly serious. 

‘You can say what you like about Parker Bachmann but her instincts are pure gold,’ he added. ‘She knew to cut and run the minute you dropped the bombshell about my health. It was instinctive. She couldn’t fake it. At least it was an honest reaction, one from the heart. I admire that in a woman.’

14

Pillar Point Harbor

Minnie left Harbor Heights
with a deep sense of foreboding. The San Franciscan fog seemed to have settled inside her head. She had agreed to make the public apology. She hadn’t made her mind up about the rest. As far as Greene and Levchin were concerned, however, she was going to do as she was told.

She called Angie immediately when she got back to the motel. She told her what was at stake. Her friend was shocked when she heard the details of Levchin’s conversation.

When Minnie finished talking, Angie gave an indignant screech that didn’t need telecommunication power to be transmitted across the Atlantic. ‘How does he know about Howl Couture?’

Minnie held her ear away from the phone until the screech subsided. ‘Greene has unlimited powers in the business world. He’s a financial giant. He probably ordered someone to do a background check on me. I helped organise the e-commerce side to Howl Couture. I’ve left virtual fingerprints all over your business.’

‘This Greene might be one of the world’s most celebrated business tycoons but that doesn’t give him a free pass to do what he likes.’

‘It kind of does,’ said Minnie exhaling. She wasn’t that naive. 

‘How dare they bully you like this,’ seethed Angie. ‘This is blackmail, Minnie.’

‘It’s either blackmail or bankruptcy,’ said Minnie. ‘I talked myself out of a job at Jones & Sword but I’m not taking you down with me.’

‘I have loyal customers,’ said Angie defiantly. ‘Personality tests reveal that animal lovers are prone to attachment and form strong relationships. I would not be easily abandoned.’ 

‘Greene will bring down your online business. He will set up a similar business to Howl Couture and drive all the traffic to his site. The man is surrounded by hi-tech neighbours at Pacific Heights who practically own the Internet through search engines and social media. You wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage. James George holds the title deeds to my apartment. You and I would be out on the street facing the same fate as the abandoned cats and dogs you come across. Who is going to rescue us?’

‘We’re stronger than that.’

‘I know how this works.’

‘You would lie for him?’ asked Angie, sounding incredulous.

‘No,’ answered Minnie, without missing a beat. ‘I would lie for you.’

‘Minnie, you don’t owe me,’ said Angie gently. ‘Whatever I’ve done for you in the past holds no bearing on your decision now. I’m your friend.’

‘You’ve always been there for me,’ said Minnie, her throat was rough with emotion. 

‘Greene
knows
he can get to you through me,’ said Angie. ‘He’s manipulating you.’

‘He has advisers who are telling him this is what to do,’ explained Minnie helplessly. She thought about the grasping Levchin.

‘Are you telling me he doesn’t know better?’

‘It’s called “delegation”, apparently.’

‘Horse shit,’ snorted Angie.

‘Row Reduction was mentioned, too,’ said Minnie quietly, although at this point James George was not her top priority. Angie came first. ‘James George has co-founders and colleagues. I want him to feel terrible about cheating but I’m not out to ruin him. I want him back and it would be good to have one person in our relationship holding down a job.’

‘James George is an arse but I suppose he doesn’t deserve this,’ said Angie reluctantly.

‘He would want me to save his business,’ said Minnie, ‘whereas, you are letting emotion cloud your judgement. Our friendship has made you go soft in this situation.’

‘James George is the one who proposed to you. Shouldn’t a smidgen of emotion cloud his judgement, too?’

‘You’re a much nicer person than he is.’

‘I’m not nice,’ declared Angie, ‘not when my best friend has been threatened like this.’

Minnie could picture Angie rolling up her sleeves on the other end of the phone. She never backed down when she was cornered. 

‘I can work this out,’ said Minnie, rubbing a tension pain between her eyes.

‘There is nothing to work out.’ Angie’s voice was threatening to rise to screech level again. ‘We haven’t even discussed the damage it would do to Sid Zane. The man is a talented mathematician who has devoted large amounts of time to zero-profit research to help diagnose people with Parkinson’s. You simply cannot discredit his work without good reason. Greene is adamant that you restore
his
reputation but thinks nothing of wrecking the reputation of another man who is trying to do some good in the world. I’m sorry, Minnie, it doesn’t wash with me. Forget about Howl Couture and Row Reduction. There is a moral issue to consider here.’

Minnie had to agree. It would be tortuous to publicly undermine the credibility of Sid Zane. He would be humiliated. He was a phenomenal mathematician who was always pushing boundaries for the sake of research. He didn’t have a get-rich-quick scheme in mind. Unlike Levchin.

There was a slight delay on the line. Then Angie’s voice came back loud and clear. ‘I think you should apologise for hurting Greene’s feelings and leave it at that. It’s not your fault. How were you supposed to know that someone was recording your conversation at The Savoy?’

‘I really thought I could make it right,’ said Minnie wearily. 

‘Perhaps you still can,’ said Angie, optimism pushing through the frustration. ‘Get the influential and fabulous fiancée
on side.’

‘I tried that, remember?’

‘You don’t give up, remember?’

‘Greene wants to break up with her,’ said Minnie, dampening down this suggestion. ‘The wedding is off.’

‘Ah,’ said Angie.

‘What’s more, he wants
me
to mastermind the perfect break-up.’

‘He has it all figured out, doesn’t he?’

‘It looks like it.’

‘You should still talk to her,’ persisted Angie. ‘She is running for governor. She has speech writers at her disposal. She could help you out.’ 

‘She doesn’t like me.’ Minnie shuddered as she remembered their last encounter. 

‘You’re not asking to be her bridesmaid, Minnie. You want advice on how to write the perfect apology. She knows Greene. She was about to get married to him.’  

‘She scares me,’ added Minnie. 

‘Don’t let her intimidate you.’

‘Easier said than done.’

‘Really?’ cried Angie with an awesome snort. ‘She’s the one driving around in a sausage.’

Angie was right. Minnie needed to talk to Parker Bachmann again. She
needed
to let Bachmann know that she’d made contact with Greene. Bachmann and Greene might not be hopelessly devoted to each other but Minnie felt a responsibility to keep her informed. She knew what it felt like to be planning a wedding one minute, then have everything fall into chaos the next. 

It was also really important that Bachmann was told about Dr Levchin and his influence over Greene. Levchin seemed to be manipulating the situation with self-aggrandisement in mind as he ruthlessly focused on the expansion of Levchin Care Clinics around the world.

She needed Bachmann to know that Greene seemed to have lost his better judgement when it came to dealing with the formidable, conniving Levchin who appeared to be working to his own agenda. Private gain
through
public loss.

Minnie also needed advice on how to handle Greene’s demand about the public apology and denial of the disease. Minnie had no problem with saying sorry but she felt deeply uncomfortable about the rest.

Bachmann could probably help here as she knew Greene better than Minnie. She had chosen an arranged marriage over romance but at least she wasn’t under the impression that love mattered. Minnie, on the other hand, believed that love could conquer all. The irony wasn’t lost on her. Minnie was willing to commit to an adulterous man while Bachmann and Greene were on the verge of calling time on their relationship even though both of them had been faithful and true. 

Minnie once more accessed Bachmann’s schedule online. The acting mayor was having lunch in the business district. The restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Sansome Street at 1pm. 

Minnie was in the hotel, being whisked upwards by the elevator before she had a chance to change her mind. The hotel was situated in one of the tallest buildings of the city and boasted stunning views including the iconic suspension bridges. Minnie lurked in the plush cocktail bar area for a moment so she could scan the restaurant and locate Bachmann, which took less than three seconds. The Bachmann laugh echoed
off the sparkling glassware and dinged in Minnie’s ears. Waiters in starched white shirts glided across the floor ferrying plates to the well-dressed diners.

Minnie approached the table with caution. Seven people were seated at a circular table listening intently to what Bachmann had to say.

Bachmann, quick off the mark, saw Minnie before her luncheon companions did. She stared, the initial expression of surprise was dropped from her face and was quickly replaced with a look of intense displeasure.