LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 03 - post071

“I know he adopted a little boy. Never heard about a second daughter though. I see him often enough that I would know if he did.” - Samantha is my daughter, not his. I decided a talk with Themi is necessary - but later decided it is not; I'm glad he is that proud of her.

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1618

“Are you part of this mystery investment Alki and Elia have put together?”

“I’m afraid not,” I laughed, “Alki says I have the mind of a child when it comes to business. I used to charge fifteen or twenty thousand to do a site, he took over and pushed it up to three or four hundred thousand. He has a very good sense of what the market will bear.”

“Dollars! I did not know people charge that kind of money for putting up a site.”

“There are sites that have cost up to three million. I do not understand how the companies justify charging that kind of fee, but I suppose corporate America sees things in a different way from us Europeans.”

He looked troubled, suddenly his thoughts returning to his own worries. “The world is changing very fast. My accountants and legal advisers have been pushing me to go public now that Greece is part of the Union.”

“You do not like the idea?”

“Our companies have been within our family for three generations, it is a difficult decision. There is a lot of money to be made by going public.”

“How would you use this lots of money? Open new factories or just invest in other public companies?”

“Perhaps that is what my husband needs to think about. He would no longer be independent if he went public.”

I said, “I know very little, not enough to advise. There is one thing I do know. If you are not used to the corporate world, it does not matter how good a businessman you are, get out. It is a totally alien world where you not only have to watch your back all the time, but have to also know what to protect yourself against. I presume you are also aware of a growing trend? For instance, if you have a good year or a bad one, at least all the profit after taxes is yours. Once it is a public company, the board of directors will grant themselves a bonus, taking a large share of the profits for themselves. I dislike the idea, a bonus is only supposed to be something the owners of the shares grant, not just taken according to how greedy they feel like being. If you do go public, you can maybe pass a resolution forbidding such bonuses? I don’t know whether it can be done.”

It did not take long for him to excuse himself and he left. His wife sat there without speaking a few minutes.

“You would rather be sitting with the children? I notice your eyes keep on straying to them all the time.”

“Perhaps that is why Alki said I have the mind of a child, I enjoy their company.”

“I do not think you have the mind of a child. I think you are more shrewd than you pretend to be - as you just proved to my husband, and that you can be quite a dangerous man to cross.”

“Me!?” I laughed. “Compared to men like your husband and Alki, how could I compete?”

“Men are often blind, seeing only what they expect to see. You had a number of very powerful men at your house and I watched them. They all spent their time watching you.”

1619

“I have also found that men of wealth or power are fascinated by men who are not interested in power or money - which is true of most artists.”

She smiled, but I noticed her eyes did not, they were withdrawn and thoughtful. “I’m sorry, I did not intend to make you uncomfortable.”

I tried to change the subject - and blundered. “None of them thought Smaragda would come to the party, they told me families of your social standing are very careful about who their children meet. As most of the children at my home are adopted, they insisted she would not come.”

“I am aware of that Mr Teller.” The way she said my name made me realise I did not know her first name. What puzzled me was why she was showing her claws. In what way did she perceive me as a threat? I had the feeling she was giving me a message which I am not equipped to understand.

“I believe one of the girls here is called Samantha? My daughter told me she met her.”

“That is correct.” I called out, “Samantha?” She came to us.

“The lady is interested in you. She thinks Themi is your father.” Sam quickly looked in my mind.

“Uncle Themi?”

“I do not understand, I can see she looks more like you, but you are too young to have a daughter of her age.” (Sam was looking about twelve).

“I guess I am. She is family, but was orphaned. I was very lucky to get her, she feels like a daughter now.”

“But you are not married?”

“Dominique and I decided not to marry, but we are a couple. Luckily we both love children so we are comfortable doing what we are doing.”

She exclaimed, shocked. “I remember! You are the Angel of Athens!!”

“I thought you had realised that a long time ago.”

“Maybe the title was deserved.” I looked at her startled. “I mean with your magic tricks and adopting so many children. They are all adopted?”

“Not the case unfortunately. Mostly it was a case of being appointed guardian by families who could not afford…may I speak openly? Cut out the crap as people of my social standing would say?”

“Please do.”

“What is going on? Why your interest in me and my family?”

“That is not obvious? A man like you calls at my home, talks me into letting him in to meet my daughter and somehow convinces us to come to a party we would never go to. You want something from our family and I want to know what. I have a feeling this group of children are a clue. Smaragda said you made her fall, did you?”

“She was not near me when it happened.”

“Why your concern then, why did you call on her?”

“I saw blood and was worried she had been hurt.”

She nodded at Samantha to leave us. “You offered to cut out the crap, so why don’t you. We have all seen what you are able to do. When my daughter fell down I saw her face and felt sick. Apart from the blood I saw her front tooth was broken. By the time we got to the car and I took another look the tooth was whole again. Magic Mr Teller?”

“I have no idea. Perhaps the tooth was covered in blood so a glimpse made you think it was missing.” Even as I spoke I realised I was being too clever, my answer would only make her more suspicious. I should have professed total ignorance and kept my mouth shut.

1620

“Thank you for the theory, a mother does not make that kind of mistake. I do not.”

I shrugged and kept quiet.

“I will find out about you.”

Heavily I said, “You are looking for hostile reasons where none were intended. I think it would be better we do not meet again. If you will excuse me, it is time for my girls to get to bed.”

“Whose bed Mr Teller?”

“Their own. Are you just making insinuations or accusations?”

“Neither, just wondering. I saw your bedroom, the strange layout. Is that where they sleep, a private harem Mr Teller?”

I stood up. “You want to make an accusation that is your right. I will not sit here listening to this kind of talk.”

“Sit down!” I looked at her, surprised at her tone. “You will leave when my daughter is ready to leave. We can discuss the weather now if you wish.”

“No thanks. You would probably blame me for that too.”

She laughed. “You are not a good sparring partner. Your emotions show on your face.”

I leaned forward. “I’m puzzled. If I have all these remarkable powers you seem to be accusing me of, why would you challenge me? Surely such a person would be extremely dangerous to go against?”

“The more a powerful a man is, the bigger his weakness is.”

“And mine is?”

“That is obvious, your love for these girls.”

“That would only make such a man even more dangerous.”

Softly she asked, “Does it Mr Teller?”

“I will answer a question you asked. The time your daughter fell, she had come to us because of dolls the girls had. They tried to talk with her and she acted very high and mighty and as she walked away I wished something would happen to cut her down, make her realise she is not so special. That kind of thought is not characteristic of how I normally think. I do not know why I felt that way. It may have been because I know some of the misery my girls have been through. Anyway, she fell and I felt guilty about wishing something bad would happen to her. I have confessed, in a way, to your daughter.”

“I know. Telling my daughter something is a secret was the wrong thing to do. She has been brought up understanding she must tell me if a stranger tells her a secret.”

I nodded. “A good idea, I may borrow it.”

“Are you now going to wish something would happen to me?”

I was shocked and she saw it. I sat for a moment, more miserable than scared.

“I’m very sorry I met you. You are likely to try and destroy just for the pleasure of it. I have met very few persons like you. Nothing apart from your child and husband matter to you, you would try to destroy my girls without caring what misery you will cause them, just because you imagine a threat. I will not allow you to hurt them, but meeting someone as cold and hard as you damages me.”

“I will be honest. I intend finding out everything I can about you. If you leave us alone I will not use whatever I find out about you. If I feel any danger I will use it.”

1621

Without looking at her, lounging in my chair, staring into the distance, I crept carefully into her mind and looked around. She was not afraid, it was bullshit, she knew I did not intend any hurt to her daughter. She saw me as a mystery, perhaps having some special abilities she might manage to blackmail me into using for her own purposes. Once I had all I wanted I left.

“We really must go now.”

“Smaragda, say goodbye to your friends.”

Cherine had been sitting frozen, her face pale with anger and I had been forcing her to keep quiet. She saw what I saw in the woman’s mind and she compressed her lips into a thin white line with her anger. Smaragda came to say goodbye to her and I was pleased to see her empathy make her treat her gently, even kissing her cheek goodbye.

By the time we got home Alki, Marian and Tasso were there. Savva arrived a little later. Instead of telling them I let them re-live what happened through my mind.

“You handled that very badly Roberto.”

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I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{2nd October, 2019}

* posted on PALNet - Steemit - WEKU - CreativeCoin: 2nd October, 2019

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