Our Autumn Fire

Nineteen

    Ring. Ring. Ring.

    “Yellow,” William Frances answered on the other end of the phone that Elliot held to his ear.

    “Mr. Frances?”

    “Yes. Who am I speaking to?”

    “This is Elliot. Elliot Quentin - the designer for your ‘SVAC’ campaign. I was just ca-”

    “Oh, Quentin. Right. I told you to call me William.”

    Elliot sighed. “Right, William, listen I’m looking at the check you just sent me.”

    “Oh good, you got it!” William’s voice sounded as smug as usual to Elliot.

    “Yeah, but there’s a problem.” Elliot braced himself for what he knew was going to be a conversation that would either give him a headache or set him on a homicidal rage, or both.

    “A problem? Are you sure?”

    “Yeah, the amount is wrong. I hand-delivered an invoice to your receptionist, and she should have given you the correct one.”

    William shuffled through some papers on his desk. “Hold on. Let me check on that.” The ruckus that sounded from the earpiece was extraordinarily loud and boisterous. A chair creaked and a few drawers were opened and closed, but it didn’t seem like William had moved at all.

    Elliot waited patiently on the other end, pacing back and forth in front of the couch staring at the check in his hand.

    “Ah, here it is.” William finally ended the noise-making. “Okay, I see. But this bill has the wrong amount. It’s more than we agreed to in the contract.”

    Elliot took a deep breath before answering. “Yes, that’s correct, but that invoice contains an added amount for late payment.”

    William was quiet on the other end.

    “Are you still there?” Elliot checked to see that the call had not been cut. “Hello?”

    “Quentin,” William used the most falsely endearing tone he could muster. “I appreciate all the work you’ve done for us. I really do.” He paused. “And I apologize for the lateness,” he added.

    Elliot closed his eyes and tried to focus on happy thoughts.

    “But,” William dragged out the word. “We didn’t agree to be charged these late fees, so we won’t be paying them.”

    Elliot stopped his pacing abruptly and stared with fierce intent at nothing in particular. He had expected some contention on the issue, but the offhanded manner that William swept aside the extra cost was too ridiculous to believe. Calmly, he took a breath and replied with a hint of bite, “I appreciate the payment for the original invoice. I really do. But,” he dragged out the word just as William had done. “We did agree that you would pay me over a month ago. As a result, I sent over the new one with the late fees according to the contract we both signed.”

    William sighed on the other end and replied in a squeaky voice that refused to admit that he had lost. “The invoice you sent me is wrong.”

    Elliot returned a sigh and sat down. He spoke in a forfeited tone. “Ok, I’m looking at my copy. What’s the problem?”

    “It doesn’t include the payments I’ve made.”

    Elliot wasn’t sure what he meant, but he decided to humor his client. “I don’t see any records of payment being received here. When did you make the payment and how did you pay?”