I was walking down the stairs after helping Jim bring his bags up to Rachel's room when my wife met me halfway with a cross look on her face. The kind of face a wife would give her husband when he's clearly done something wrong. I face I knew all too well from being married to that woman for over twenty years.
"What?" I asked, refusing to give away any Intel that might incriminate myself. Until I know what's upsetting her, playing dumb was always the way to go.
"You said one of these women was a vegan," the wife reminded me. "Which one is it?"
"Knowing our luck," I started, "It's probably the sick one that didn't show."
"And whose Ferrari is that?" she chided back. "That better not be Rogers!"
"No, he's not here." I said, aware of how much she hates that particular friend.
"You're telling me one of your employees rode that up here?" she asked.
"I know," I said, understanding her confusion. "I need to talk to him about it."
"Do you need to call an auditor?" she demanded. I could tell she was upset.
"Not yet," I said, trying to calm her down. "There could be a perfectly logical explanation. I should at least hear him out before panicking. Let me talk to him."
"Okay," She said, taking a deep breath. "Off to a rocky start, aren't we?"
"We'll be alright," I assured her, despite my own doubts. "We can do this."
"I hope so," She said, walking away. I could see her frustration but understood it.
I walked into the living room and Nicholas was there sitting on one of the easy chairs and checking his phone. He looked apparently frustrated with the signal, or lack there of.
"Cell service is horrid up here," I called out to him, "But I will pass you the wi-fi password later if you just want to surf online. There's also a landline if you need to make an emergency call."
"Oh, thank you." Nicholas said as he put the phone away. "I'm sorry about Diane, but she was not well at all. She wanted to come, but I don't think any of you wanted to catch what she has going on right now."
"I understand, Nic." I told him, walking over and sitting on the couch opposite his chair. "We need to talk about the elephant in the room."
"That being?" Nicholas asked.
"The three hundred thousand dollar car in my drive way." I answered, "Should I be worried about something, or did you win a lottery recently?"
"No, sir." Nicholas said, smiling. "No lottery wins, and no shenanigans either."
"I'm still waiting for an explanation," I insisted, this time using a harsher tone.
"My car broke down, so I got a loaner." Nicholas replied, "Gerard Wilson sends his regards."
"Gerard?" I repeated as I looked back out the window, and then back at Nicholas. "That's Gerard Wilson's Ferrari?"
"Yes, Sir." Nicholas confirmed. "He thought you'd get a kick out of it."
"Did he now?" I asked, standing up to look out the window at it again.
"He even said you could take it for a spin to do something stupid," Nicholas added, "Like picking up some milk at the store."
I smiled and looked back at Nicholas. "That sounds like Gerard."
"He insisted," Nicholas said, "I'm just happy he didn't ask me to drive the Tesla."
"No charging stations around here," I informed him, "Or he would have made you take that one. Yet this one did the trick; it got my attention."
"That wasn't my intention, Sir." Nicholas said, trying to deflect. "Maybe it was Gerard's but I just wanted to get up here in one piece."
"Fair enough," I said, looking back at him after finally take my eyes off the stunning red car. "I'm just glad I don't have to call the auditor."
"That makes two of us," Nicholas said, sighing.
"So how the hell do you know Gerard?" I finally asked, "I mean you must know him well if he'll trust you with one of his cars."
"We met in college," Nicholas answered, "It was just dumb luck, as we were randomly matched up by the dormitory staff. We've been friends ever since."
"So why aren't you working for him?" I asked.
"That's a fair question," Nicholas said, "But the truth is you don't work for your friends, not if you want to remain friends. He was disappointed, but after some time I think he gets it."
"I get it," I concurred, "I don't like hiring friends and I stopped doing it a long time ago for the very reason you mentioned. It's more than true, it's spot on."
"I still help him every now and then," Nicholas added, "But I don't charge him for it. I do the same I would for any other friend or family member."
"Just one more question, Nicholas." I said to him, my tone a little more positive.
"Sure," Nicholas said, "Fire away."
"Is your wife a vegan?" I asked him.
"She's a vegetarian," Nicholas answered, "But not a full out vegan. She still consumes dairy products and eggs, but just stays away from what she calls the flesh of the animals."
"Alright," I said, finally aware of what was going on. "So Diane was the Veggie. We accidentally thought it was Angie. My wife served her a tofu salad for lunch. It looked horrific."
"Oh dear," Nicholas said, chuckling a little. "Are you sure she wasn't trying to punish Angie for showing up too early?"
"Maybe," I said thinking about it, "Anything vegan would be torture to me."
"You're preaching to the choir here," Nicholas said, "You should probably throw the rest of the tofu in the trash before she tries to punish someone else with it."
"Good idea," I said to him, "Let's hit the kitchen and toss that shit out right now!"
"Right behind you, Sir!" Nicholas said, hopping out of his chair.