“I would say that you have gone above and beyond. This all looks very delicious. If I don’t miss my guess, I believe that you got this from the place across the street. I can never remember its name, but the owner is very rigid and his wife caters to those that enter.” Michael was fuming and August was enjoying playing with that Damocles sword over his head.
“I don’t like being ignored. I hope that you don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Trust me; my father is not one to be made a fool of.” Michael was pacing, wringing his hands and looking like a bit of the bluster had been blown out of him.
“You’re right, August and everything looks absolutely sumptuous.” I sat down and we both talked to each other leaving him out of the conversation altogether.
“I do like the way that they treat us. I’m not sure that I enjoy the way that they think that they have the upper hand. It’s interesting about what happens when you push an animal too far. They don’t just sit in the corner and lick their wounds. They find a way to fight back and use whatever is at their disposal to give their enemy something to think about. You would think that somebody with that kind of business acumen would know that there are several ways to skin a cat.” He was alluding to the information that we had that was going to change everything.
“I don’t know what you’re getting at. Stop this before it goes any further. I’m pleading with you not to get into this with my father.” It was too late for that and Michael was now backpedaling like his life depended on it.
“That is more than enough groveling, Michael.” We were under the impression that his father didn’t speak English, but that was just another one of his lies. “Let these people eat their breakfast in peace. We can always discuss business afterward. It’s not like they’re going anywhere.” He had this self-important attitude that really did grate on my last nerve.
He grabbed a chair from nearby and sat down with a smirk on his face. He was looking back and forth between me and August. It was a very uncomfortable silence. He was waiting for us to say something.
We continued to talk about the weather or anything else that came to mind. It was our way of sticking it to him. It was a dangerous game and could easily blow up in our faces. I could see that Michael’s father was a time bomb ready to go off.
“I have to give my compliments to the chef. I think that we will be making that place a regular haunt for some time to come. That is if we can get past this pesky business of you wanting things your way. Your son was very forthright, but I believe that the words that he spoke come from you. He was just a puppet and you didn’t want to dirty your hands with this kind of business. I’m sure that you weren’t very happy when he came back and told you of the way that we reacted.” The plates were pushed aside and now they were both facing off like adversaries.
“I will not allow you to talk to my…” Michael was cut off by a hand gesture that had him cowering and bowing his head in servitude to his father.
“I don’t know why we are arguing about this. You either do what we say, or all of this will disappear and you can expect a battle that will stretch years in court. We take breach of contract very seriously in my culture.” He was laying down the law like he was the sheriff and we were lonely peasants.
“I have something to show you. It gives me great pleasure to do so.” He retrieved the portion of the contract that was going to leave him speechless and stunned. “If you would look at section five, paragraph seven, I think that you’ll find that everything is in order. This contract supersedes the one that I signed to come here to work. You really should know your enemy before you go casting stones at glass houses.” His facial expression changed from mild amusement to outright contempt.
“I see that we have come to an impasse. How do you suppose that we get past this? I’m open to ideas, but don’t think that you have me where you want me. I could easily just rip up the contract. I don’t want to and that is going to be my last resort.” Michael’s father was dressed impeccably with not a hair out of place. His fingers were manicured and I had no doubt that the rest of his body was summarily taken care of.
“You think that it’s a threat that you can tear up the contract but it’s not. You came to us and not the other way around. With that being said, you and your son have not even mentioned my partner’s name. That stops now. I don’t care how you feel about women in general and I won’t have you treating her like she’s nothing. I have more than enough money. Losing this contract would be unfortunate, but not life changing” It was time that I said something or they would just continue to use me as a doormat.