Senior Year Box Set

An attendant led Ashley off to be interviewed as play began again. She told the interviewer what a great time she’d had and how she’d made some good friends. When asked about Harry, she played it off as his just being competitive and said that it hadn’t bothered her.

We were all a little surprised when Harry came back from his snit and congratulated Ashley on playing well today. They both walked to the cage, and Harry handed over his winnings.

When they’d completed their transaction, Harry walked up to me and gave me a hard look.

“I was mad earlier when I thought you’d known that Erika and I were engaged. I understand you had no idea.”

“If I had, it never would’ve happened,” I said in the way of a backhanded apology.

“You must think I’m a complete tosser with my talk of a mistress and what happened at the fundraiser. I was just trying to brag in front of my mates and then … well, you know. My sister says I need to get my head out of my arse and grow up,” Harry said.

“You might want to listen to her,” I said.

“We might never be friends …”

“But we can be cordial,” I suggested because I never expected to see him again.

Why cause more trouble just because I thought he was an ass? I never planned to see him again, so I’d let my feelings go to offer him this olive branch. Honestly, I still would rather punch him than look at him.

He smiled and held out his hand, which I took. Beth gave me a smile of thanks as she joined Harry and his mates, and they all left.

◊◊◊

“Since I won, I’ll buy dinner,” Ashley said.

“I know just the place, and it’s within walking distance,” I said.

I took them to the three-starred French place I’d gone to last night. Everyone agreed it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially at those prices. Ashley wasn’t impressed when she got the bill. I took it from her because it had been my idea to come there.

◊◊◊

My mom finally caught up with me once we got back to the condo. When I saw her number come up on caller ID, I stepped into my room for some privacy.

“Did you not know she was engaged?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Then I gave her the whole story.

“I’m not happy about that or the fact that you lost your cool with the paparazzi,” Mom said.

“I heard a new term for them: stalkerazzi. This group of them from the UK fits that nickname. They were looking for a confrontation.”

“And you fell for it.”

“Yes, I did, unfortunately. I wasn’t happy with how I handled it, either. I’d just reached my limit when they brought the boys and you and Dad into it. If they’d only attacked me, I wouldn’t have reacted.”

I heard her sigh.

“Next time, walk away, or tell them that you don’t discuss your family,” Mom suggested.

I caught her up on Ashley winning money in the poker tournament. Mom told me that Coby had disappeared, and Duke had shown them he’d somehow made it to the basement. She suspected Dad had left the door unlatched, but he hadn’t admitted it yet.

“I have a new development on the condo front. You will have to thank Fritz for this one,” Mom said cryptically.

“Okay.”

“He sent Chuck out to install security gear at all of your condos. That included installing a camera at the front door. You’d mentioned that the lady had been hanging out in the front of the house there in Monaco. I got to thinking, and I wanted to see her to get a feel for who I was dealing with. We hit pay dirt,” Mom said proudly.

“What happened?”

“She’s one of those irritating people who puts their cell phone on speaker like they think everyone wants to listen to their conversation,” Mom said, getting off track.

“Did she call someone?”

“She got a call from her boss. He wasn’t happy that she hadn’t figured out who owned the condo. He told her she needed to get it under contract by Monday. They plan to start demolition next week. He told her to do whatever it took to get it done.”

“So, what happened?”

“When I talked to her, she sent over the original offer they’d made to Zander and wanted to stick to those terms. It was more than fair, based on what the market has been doing for similar properties,” Mom said and told me the number.

We’d initially had all the properties appraised as part of the settlement process with Zander, and the offer was about ten percent more. That was a healthy increase for holding the condo for less than three months.

“I was ready to call you and advise you to take the deal until I saw the video. I came back and countered her at four times her original offer. That’s when the fun began. I won’t bore you with the back-and-forth and just cut to the chase. They’ve made an interesting counteroffer. Before I tell you what it is, do you like vacationing in Monte Carlo?”

“I guess I feel about it like you described Vegas. It’s a nice getaway, but after a week or two, I would want to go home. It’s expensive. Before the UK paparazzi showed up, I was able to actually walk down the street and not get harassed. It’s probably because they’re used to people in the public eye spending time here,” I explained.

“Do you want to go back?” Mom asked.

“I do.”