Page 84 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

“Coffee, please. Man, it’s just like a five-star hotel here.” The table was set with a lace tablecloth, nice dishes, and... fish?

“What is that?” I whispered to Amanda, but her mother heard me.

“It’s kippers. A British tradition,” Jeannie replied. She was being polite, but her attitude was a lot chillier than before. Clearly, once you screwed up around here, you were screwed.

I started helping myself to everything. I had already worked up an appetite. “Wow, this is a great spread. Do you eat like this every morning?”

Jeannie smiled politely. “No, only on the weekends. Would you like a section of the newspaper?”

“Sports, please.”

Apparently, everyone here read the paper on Sunday mornings and breakfast was pretty quiet, which was fine with me. I read about baseball and ate the kippers, which were good but salty. Then I heard a strange moaning and then the faint sound of Bonita scolding someone.

“Not again,” Jeannie said. “Amanda,yourcat was tormenting Mookie this morning. You simply must do something about this.”

“It’s not Pookie’s fault. If Mookie would stop acting like prey and stand up for himself, they would get along fine.” Oh, we were back to the Mookie & Pookie Show, were we? Amanda and her mom were both crazy cat ladies.

“Well, I was speaking to Leona Kingsbury at a dinner last week. She was telling me about this lovely new condo development they’re just completing. It’s sold out, but there’s one unit that’s coming up for resale. It’s a corner penthouse. And pets are allowed.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, Mummy. You were the one who insisted that I live here instead of getting my own place. I’m not going to buy a condo for whatever little time I’m still in Vancouver.”

Damn. Was she still planning on moving back to Toronto? My eyes met Jeannie’s across the table. Her expression was clear—she wanted Amanda to stay as much as I did. We needed to do something about this. I gave her a slight nod. I had a glimmer of an idea last week. I needed a little time to work on it though.

“I was wondering if I could meet with your family, Greg too. I have an idea for the Vice I’d like to discuss with you all.”

Amanda shook her head. “Chris, my mother doesn’t like to mix business and personal matters. Call me on Monday, and we’ll set up a—”

Jeannie interrupted. “No, that’s fine, dear. Tuesday morning would work for me, Christopher. Let’s say 10:30 at the Vice offices? I can avoid some of the more wretched traffic that way.”

I nodded, and she smiled at me. It was a genuine smile this time, and I felt a rush of relief. If I could pull this off, Jeannie would be on my side again.

36

Deal or No Deal

Chris

“Hey,Tori. I’ve got a meeting with the Richardsons at 10:30.”

I tried to act casual, but today was the most important meeting of my business career and possibly even my life.

Tori smiled brightly. Today she was wearing a plain sweater and jacket. It was like everyone around here got a new wardrobe. “Yes, they’re both here, but I think they’re talking to Mrs. Richardson right now.”

“Okay. You know, I think I’ll slip into my old office. I left a few things in there before.”

“Sure, go on ahead. I’ll let Amanda know where you are.”

I walked into my office only to see Brenda sitting at the desk.

“Chris! You’re not back, are you?” She didn’t look particularly happy to see me.

“I’m just back for a meeting, but I may be back soon.” If everything went according to plan.

“Oh. Well, since this office was empty and human resources staff need privacy, I took it. But not officially.”

Which meant she hadn’t run this by Amanda yet. “Whatever, we can work this out later. But I left a few things here. You know, a notebook, mini-sticks, nothing big.”

She pulled a small cardboard box from under the desk. “I put everything in here. You can check if you like.”

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