KEREM
"Sir, it is my duty to warn you that such a decision will not come without accompanying losses for all," Neville declares as we sit after dinner.
I slump back into the chair I'm sitting in after we've finished dinner. The truth is that I have barely touched my food. I don't feel very hungry, I have eaten more of a bite out of obligation to maintain good habits and so that my morning physical training is not obstructed by a bad dinner on my part, which is not outside of everything that has already been happening, and that is where the damn problem lies.
"Yes, Neville," I chime in. "I know what your duties and obligations are and also that you will always be there with your warnings to call me back to good sense, but it is also a reality that I am losing control of my own life and I cannot allow it anymore."
"So this is where it all ends?" he asks me.
"At least this trip, yes. We lost a very important part of our duties, which translates into money that we cannot afford to continue losing. Staying in this city during the exhibitions could mean a risk of investing in a company that has not convinced us so far. Because of the tests and not because of the speeches that try to do their best, but also seem to have run down lately."
"Or, it could be the opportunity to discover some jewel that we had not foreseen until now."
"You know that the rest of the folders are not even half as good as the one in which we had already put our cards."
"That's the thing: it could surprise us and for the better, as long as we can check the numbers. We are already here, in Silicon Valley, the cradle of future ventures, where investment firms from all over the world come to leave their money so that it can be multiplied in the medium and long term..."
"And others only seek to launder dubious funds."
"But also where thousands of companies and entrepreneurs are eager to visit so that their projects gain momentum..."
"And where scammers and illusionists emerge."
"Yes, that's true. Some who are worth more for their speech than for the reality of their endeavors."
"I prefer to play it safe to move on with my life, in Turkey and with my baby, away from everything that life in the United States left me and...took from me. I just need to refocus on myself and take control of my own life."
"Sir." This time his tone turns serious. I knew it. It is going to be affirmed in my part of what life snatched from me to proceed: "It is my duty..."
"Yes, your obligation."
"...to warn you that your idea doesn't seem bad to me since it's true that since the tragedy of the flight."
I inhale, furious.
He shouldn't mention it.
But I still tolerate it, bite my cheek and let him go on talking.
"Since that day, you have not stopped for a moment and perhaps off your own axis. That probably means it's important for you to take a moment to think about your world, your future, and your family."
"All the family I have left is my son."
"With even greater reason, you need to prioritize your son."
I think about it for a minute until I make a decision. I take a drink from my glass of tonic with ice and lemon and put it down.
"I'm going to offer Thammy to go with us to Turkey. Ali will need a familiar face that can give him everything that I, for now, don't feel capable of."
"How long before you feel capable? You are missing out on accompanying your little baby as he grows."
"Are you judging me?"
"Not really. But there is another aspect: did you know that Thammy is married?"
I keep thinking.
Did I interview her at least to start the job? No, only Neville and Zara were in conversation with her at the time.
I don't know anything about her at all.
"And so what?" I seek to defend myself. I don't like someone revealing my ignorance on a subject, even less if it's a person inferior to me.
"It will be a reality to evaluate in case you have to leave."
"We can place her husband in a company in Turkey, what does he do?"
"Her husband is a 'She'."
"Oh."
In terms of rights for homosexual people Turkey is not the best place. They suffer many conditions of discrimination and in some localities there are certain behaviors that are punishable.
I never got too deep into it, but I should. What if my son turns out to be gay or falls in love with a person who is not a woman or any situation happens outside of the heterosexual norm that is usually the moral force of the Turkish streets? I wouldn't want Ali to go through anything damning. It's also kind of silly to get ahead of that idea, but I hadn't considered that until now.
I'm sure Zara would love him unconditionally as long as he's happy and knows how to love and be loved, but the matter was never discussed before, so I hadn't even thought about it before.
"I think it won't be an easy task and we could condemn them to any situation, even more so if they don't know the country and its cultures," Neville adds.
I blink, dispelling doubts.
"Okay, we'll look for someone from there to educate him, besides they don't know anything about the country, it's not a good idea for them to go," I take it back.
"Thammy is wonderful at doing her chores," Neville adds, "so it's also good that Ali stays around and doesn't crash our plans at the last minute.
"You know what?" I turn to him, already stressed with this situation. "I don't like you contradicting my decisions."
"It's part of my..."
"Not when they're already taken. You are my assistant, not my partner."
The comment floats in the air like razor blades that if you touch them too hard they can hurt you.
I gulp down the drink and Neville's phone begins to vibrate on the table next to his plate.
It is not his personal phone but his work phone.
The conditions make it a little awkward for him to notify me what's supposed to happen, it's up to me to know because I'm his boss.
"Who is it?"
Before speaking:
"Father Massera."
"That decrepit old man. What does he want?"
"I would have to answer to find out."
I reach out my hand, take his work cell phone (even though it's his, I was the one who bought it for him, so I have the right to answer the call because I feel like it) and I answer by putting the phone to my ear.
"Yes?"
"Kerem."
"Massera."
"A surprise to hear you, I thought that for a matter of protocol I should speak with your personal assistant first."
"I'm here to listen to you, sir. But hours after leaving, in the morning I make a stopover by plane and then I return to Turkey."
"Oh! What a huge surprise. I didn't expect it at all."
"Some tasks were brought forward," I comment. I won't give him the pleasure of announcing that we're leaving because we've lost him as an investment partner and he's going to take a big slice of the pie all to himself.
"That means the American girl will stay."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"The one that came with you today. I like her."
Heavens.
I try to divert the subject:
"What happened with my son's babysitter?"
"I mean the one who tripped and you didn't even help her up.Is she not your employee?"
"She is."
"Good to know!"
"Sorry?"
"You'll make things even cheaper for me. I like it when I find an offer almost by accident, even when you're one of the richest men in Italy it's fascinating when that happens."
"What do you want with Juliet?"
"Do you remember that I asked you for something else? That you grant me quality, a purpose or something that cannot be achieved with money because you already know that this is something that I already have and a lot."
"So...so what do you want?"
"Juliet. I found her gesture of leaving me a message with my assistant to apologize charming."
"She did what?!" Immediately all my nerve endings go into an attack position.
"Don't worry, I investigated her and I found her amazing, as well as beautiful. I was wondering if she was interested in fashion and languages. The owner of one of the brands I fund, CANDELA, is in need of a personal translator. And I would also like her personally for myself for a while... What do you say? Will she be free from tomorrow then? Interested in learning Italian? I suppose that she must have some notion, besides being a very beautiful and polyglot girl, intuition warns me that she is very intelligent and that it is worth millions to invest in someone like that. What do you think? I keep her."