"You're enjoying this too much," I said.
"Just answer the question, Anita."
"I know John couldn't do it. I don't think Phillipa is as good as John, so no, they couldn't do it."
"I'm going to up the bid," Bert said.
I laughed. "Up the bid?"
"Nobody else can do it. Nobody but you. They tried treating this like any other construction problem. But there aren't going to be any other bids, now are there?"
"Probably not," I said.
"Then I'm going to take them to the cleaners," he said with a smile.
I shook my head. "You greedy son of a bitch."
"You get a share of the fee, you know."
"I know." We looked at each other. "What if I try and can't raise them all in one night?"
"You'll still be able to raise them all eventually, won't you?"
"Probably." I stood, picking up my coffee mug. "But I wouldn't spend the check until after I've done it. I'm going to go get some sleep."
"They want the bid this morning. If they accept our terms, they'll fly you up in a private helicopter."
"Helicopter—you know I hate to fly."
"For this much money you'll fly."
"Great."
"Be ready to go at a moment's notice."
"Don't push it, Bert." I hesitated at the door. "Let me take Larry with me."
"Why? If John can't do it, then Larry certainly can't."
I shrugged. "Maybe not, but there are ways to combine power during a raising. If I can't do it alone, maybe I can get a boost from our trainee."
He looked thoughtful. "Why not take John? Combined, you could do it."
"Only if he'd give his power willingly to me. You think he'd do that?"
Bert shook his head.
"You going to tell him that the client didn't want him? That you offered him to the client and they asked for me by name?"
"No," Bert said.
"That's why you're doing it like this; no witnesses."
"Time is of the essence, Anita."
"Sure, Bert, but you didn't want to face Mr. John Burke with yet another client that wants me over him."
Bert looked down at his blunt-fingered hands clasped on the desktop. He looked up, grey eyes serious. "John is almost as good as you are, Anita. I don't want to lose him."
"You think he'll walk if one more client asks for me?"
"His pride's hurt," Bert said.
"And there's so much of it to hurt," I said.
Bert smiled. "You needling him doesn't help."
I shrugged. It sounded petty to say he'd started it, but he had. We'd tried dating, and John couldn't handle me being a female version of him. No; he couldn't handle me being a better version of him.
"Try to behave yourself, Anita. Larry's not up to speed yet; we need John."
"I always behave myself, Bert."
He sighed. "If you didn't make me so much money, I wouldn't put up with your shit."
"Ditto," I said.
That about summed up our relationship. Commerce at its best. We didn't like each other, but we could do business together. Free enterprise at work.
2
At noon Bert called and said we had it. "Be at the office packed and ready to go at two o'clock. Mr. Lionel Bayard will fly up with you and Larry."
"Who's Lionel Bayard?"
"A junior partner in the firm of Beadle, Beadle, Stirling, and Lowenstein. He likes the sound of his own voice. Don't give him a rough time about it."
"Who, me?"
"Anita, don't tease the help. He may be wearing a three-thousand-dollar suit, but he's still the help."
"I'll save it up for one of the partners. Surely Beadle, Beadle, Stirling, or Lowenstein will appear in person sometime this weekend."
"Don't tease the bosses either," he said.
"Anything you say." My voice was utterly mild.
"You'll do whatever you want no matter what I say, won't you?"
"Gee, Bert, who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?"
"Just be here at two o'clock. I called Larry. He'll be here."
"I'll be there, Bert. I've got one stop to make, so if I'm a few minutes late, don't worry."
"Don't be late."
"Be there as soon as I can." I hung up before he could argue with me.
I had to shower, change, and go to Seckman Junior High School. Richard Zeeman taught science there. We had a date set up for tomorrow. At one point Richard had asked me to marry him. That was sort of on hold, but I did owe him more than a message on his answering machine, saying sorry, honey, can't make the date. I'm going to be out of town. A message would have been easier for me, but cowardly.
I packed one suitcase. It was enough for four days and then some. If you pack extra underwear and clothes that mix and match, you can live for a week out of a small suitcase.