A valet in black,red and white uniform,must be the standard for valets world wide, opened the back door of the black Mercedes at Kempinski hotel,soon to be Erdogan Palace hotel if everything worked out,and Lamuel stepped out in a dark blue three piece Italian suit.He did the button of his jacket sweeping over the hotel that would soon add to the list of his family's vast assets.He wasn't an expert in negotiation like Lamar,but he had some admirable skills.His father's assistant joined him and they went in through the executive lobby.
Someone was waiting to take them up to the conference room,a woman who looked roughly in her early thirties and wouldn't keep her eyes from him.
"Do I have something on my face Aisha?"He asked his father's assistant.
"No,Mr Erdogan."Lamuel sighed.He was nervous.What if Kucuk already bagged the deal and there was nothing to negotiate?No,he couldn't afford to be pessimistic,he was Lamuel Arslan Erdogan.He took one last breath as the elevator came to a stop and their usher led them to the conference room.
"Right this way sir."Lamuel followed their usher into the quiet conference room and took a sit opposite Saphire Bansaki and her pretty boy arrogant brother.What the hell were they doing there?This was supposed to be him cutting a deal with the masterpiece chain of hotels,Grande Erdogan's closest rival.
"Good morning gentlemen...lady!"Lamuel greeted sitting down.Yeah,Saphire was the only lady among the six gentlemen in the room aside from Aisha.
"Mr. Erdogan..."The patron of the meeting said quizzically.He clearly hadn't expected him....alone.
"Why are they here?"Lamuel asked eyes schooled on Kucuk.Aisha,took out a cheque book and a pen then slid them to her boss' son.
"They were invited here as individuals who were interested in buying the Kempinski and had to be present when we made the board's decision public.
"Okay,name your price."Lamuel stated opening his chequebook ready to right an amount that could grant his family ownership of the hotel.
"Actually,Mr. Erdogan...the board took a lot of time and consultation before they decided the Kempinski is off the market.Thank you to both parties for your time."
"What?"Saphire's chair scrapped back and she stood up almost knocking it over.Her breasts almost spilled out when she slightly bent slamming a hand on the table.The gentlemen turned to her."So you've been wasting our time and money playing mind games and finally proudly tell us you are not selling?"
"Saphire,calm down..."Kucuk stood up and placed a hand around his sister's mid-section.
"Don't tell me to calm down!"She brushed Kucuk's hand off.She looked furious,like she was sure they already had the deal and why was she so upset,they had atleast half of Istanbul's scrappers in their palms!"How do you know they didn't already close a deal with sassy pretty boy baby Erdogan here and are just making a fool of us?"Saphire pinned an irritated look on Lamuel then turned to Kempinski's board."This isn't over,I'll see you gentlemen in court...all of you!"She finished with another mirthless grin on Lamuel.Lamuel inwardly cursed because the day wasn't going as planned.And he wasn't a baby!He was twenty three!A fully grown man!
He could already hear Basak Erdogan regretting letting him go to the meeting and wishing Lamar had gone instead.
Saphire marched out of the conference room heels clicking loudly on the polished floor and after Kucuk excused himself followed her out.
Lamuel leaned on the table and rubbed his had over his close cut head then made a loong sigh.
"Are you okay boss?"Aisha asked.
"Yeah."Lamuel looked up to the still shocked gentlemen from Saphire's outburst.She was just bluffing,what exactly would she sue them for?They decided not to sell though their reason wasn't very clear yet.The reason they had declared the hotel for sale was due to financial crisis but had refrained from declaring bankrupt.They had opted for a graceful absorption.
So if they decided not to sell last minute,it meant someone had boosted them financially and by boost they probably had to sell more than half of their shares to their savior,whoever that was.
"Why did you decide not to sell last minute?"Lamuel just had to know.
The gentlemen exchanged glances then one turned to him.
"This is a complicated industry son.You wouldn't understand!"Lamuel scoffed suddenly angry at people always referring to him as a kid.
"I'm not a fucking kid!"He said very slowly but enraged intending every word to be heard and understood clearly.He took a deep breath and left before he said something he would regret later.He wasn't impulsive like his brother but he matched his temper.
"Aisha, don't tell Basak anything yet."
"Yeah...but--"
"I said don't tell him anything! Leave him to me!"He took off his jacket and loosened his tie feeling suddenly hot.He handed them to Aisha who followed silently behind into the elevator and back into their Mercedes.
...
Raul drove back into the Erdogan mansion some minutes after noon with very interesting bit of news.He didn't get to the ground to dig up on the young man Basak was so obsessed about himself but he had people doing that.He was chief of security at the mansion and bigger tasks to tend to than chase after a bastard.
According to his men,the young man that went with the name junior,was a casual laborer in Anatolia,his mother, Suzanna Balik, had died during his birth and was brought up by his maternal grandmother.His father,was a stray and nobody knew him.
Now,the interesting bit of the news was Junior's mother's name,Suzanna Balik...it sounded vaguely familiar.The Erdogans had an olive ranch there and back when Basak was at the prime of his youth,he frequented that place.
That was back when he and now ambassador Emir Jamal were blood bound brothers...they were more than pals until Emir married Zeynep a girl the two had been fancying and their bond broke into tiny little pieces.They became rivals.
Raul didn't care about their rivalry,the only thing that came out of it was Basak impregnating Yasmine,a girl Raul had intended to court once he was financially stable then,and forced to marry her.
Yasmine was the daughter of the caretaker of Erdogan's Anatolia olive ranch,Turkey's leading olive producer.They had an olive oil brand in their name,Erdogan farm or
something...
Maybe Basak had gotten more than one girl pregnant then,his infidelity ran through his veins because his father was worse.
If Raul's speculation was right and Junior was indeed his son,their marriage wouldn't survive and Yasmine would finally divorce him.
He decided to hold the new found information from his boss until he was sure.He put the knew file back into his car's glove compartment.
He got out of his car and started for the mansion.Unlike the rest of the security personnel,he lived outside the premises despite having a fully furnished house here for him.He wasn't sure who he was here to see either because Basak was barely home by noon.
The living room was quiet and empty as usual then...
"Are you sure you don't want to join me for lunch Zehra?"Raul silently gasped because that voice...would be his undoing.Yasmine came into the living room and a brilliant smile lit up her face.That was the thing about her,she smiled at everything and never let her enstranged husband weigh her joy.Raul found himself smiling.
"Hello there...Basak isn't home!"She spoke.She was carrying a couple of red,white and yellow roses in one hand and a vase with the other.They looked fresh, beautiful like her,Raul thought before he saw a frown replace her jovial mood.He was always a nervous mess whenever around her."Raul,are you okay?"For starters, nobody ever asked Raul if he was okay,then second,her voice sounded concerned,for him!Should he dare hope...?
"Yeah,I'll come back later when the boss is home."
"Are you kidding me?You just got here...and besides,everybody else refuses to have lunch with me.Would you give me the honor?"Absolutely...Did she have the slightest idea of what her invitation meant to him?He would do anything for her.
Raul nodded unable to utter a single word without making a fool of himself.Her smile settled back in and Raul was elated he was responsible for it.
"Okay,help me get these roses into the vase first then we can get that lunch."Raul followed her into the living room and he placed the vase on the armrest of Basak's favorite couch.Her hands brushed his when she was putting the roses into the vase and his heart went to over drive.For Aurelia's sake!Why was he acting like a teenager?Well,not totally him but his heart and mind seemed to have a sense of their own.
Yasmine didn't even notice their hands' contact.She arranged the roses in the vase and put it back on the armrest for her husband,who wouldn't give her even a second of his time.Raul's jaw ticked for that.
"All done!Now follow me for our lunch arrangement while you tell me what you and Basak have been upto."