Chapter 10

Frankly, I get literally hundreds of fundraising requests, through my voice mail, snail mail, and I can’t delete them fast enough from my email. It’s all rather annoying to me, so I thought perhaps you’d have a better temperament to deal with it. Also, if you like the job and you choose to stay on as my permanent paid employee, you’d serve as my buffer between the Foundation and the recipients of the money. I can think of nothing more tedious than serving on the Board of another organization. You could go in my place, representing the Foundation, while I could stay focused on what I do best, making money. If you chose to stay on, your starting annual salary would be 100,000 dollars, you’d receive a very good medical and dental plan, and 4 weeks a year paid vacation. If you’d care to put a little something away for your future, my company will match up to three and a half percent of whatever you contribute to a pension plan of conservative income generating investments with a safe, fixed interest rate. Of course, the pension plan is totally optional. What do you think of my proposal, Ms. Mauricio?”

Bella Lisa listened to him with lips slightly parted, her chin in her hand.

I’ve got to give the guy credit. That’s the most original and elaborate seduction speech I ever heard.

“I’m not sure what to say – it’s a very generous and intriguing offer, but…”

“But what?”

“I’m sorry, but I simply do not trust you, Mr. Williamson.”

“Why not?”

“Well for one thing, you look at me like some kind of ravenous beast, one that has not recently been fed. Obviously, that makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. Also something’s telling me you haven’t been all together forthright with me here, Mr. Williamson. I have the feeling there’s a few more job requirements I would need to know about that you’ve cleverly chosen not to share with me.”

“You are most direct, aren’t you, Ms. Mauricio? It’s true; I haven’t put all my cards on the table. I suppose it is time for me to be honest with you. Completely honest. Perhaps then I could win some of that coveted trust of yours. Would you like me to be honest?”

“For a start.”

Williamson took a long drink of sparkling water, removed a white handkerchief embroidered with the initials P.W from his suit pocket, dabbed the sides of his mouth and folded it up neatly, returning it to his pocket.

“I don’t know about my being a beast, which may of course be true. But what I do know is… I confess to being hopelessly attracted to you, Ms. Mauricio. I have been since the moment I first saw you, in that darkened theater nearly four years ago now. Do you recall making eye contact with me at the performance of your father’s play? I sat in the row directly behind you. Do you recall?”

“I do…”

“It was a most enchanted, yet painful night for me.”

“Painful?” Bella Lisa asked.

“Allow me to explain. Yes, I am swept away by your extraordinary physical beauty as is, I’m sure, every red blooded male who has ever laid eyes on you. Upon first seeing you, I experienced the deepest desire to possess you, body and soul. Despite how inappropriate it is, I knew I wanted you. Despite our age difference, I knew I wanted to make you mine. But this passion I feel is accompanied by this painful ache…”

Out of the corner of her eyes Bella Lisa saw Williamson wince, shut his eyes, lean back in his chair and rub his pelvis area with his large hands. He didn’t seem the slightest bit uncomfortable touching himself in front of her in such an intimate area. It seemed to Bella Lisa that the pain was authentic, or else Williamson was not only a successful businessman but a very gifted actor as well. She didn’t know if she should feel pity or repulsion for him at this moment.

He opened his eyes when the stab of pain receded.

“A painful ache that has never left me in the four long years since you’ve been away.”

“When did you first experience this pain, Mr. Williamson?” Bella Lisa asked, looking down at her hands, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

“The first moment I looked into your pretty eyes…”

Bella Lisa breathed in and slowly lifted her chin, making direct eye contact with Williamson for the first time.

“You literally stung me that night, you enchantress, and I’ve never been the same since…”

“I’m sorry,” Bella Lisa uttered, not knowing what else to say.

“There’s no need to apologize for being such an exquisite beauty.”

Bella Lisa was secretly flattered. She looked downward and hid her slight smile from him. Williamson watched her shyly pass a finger through her hair.

“You may recall I left the opening night party of your father’s play early and went home, due to the discomfort I felt. The next day the pain had not gone away. I set up an appointment with my physician who said I probably pulled a muscle down there while exercising and to call for a follow-up exam in a month. After the pain had not gone away or lessened in a month, he referred me to an internal medicine physician who ordered an MRI test to check for a disease she thought I might have, Deep Vein Thrombosis. Though I wasn’t the over 60, overweight, out of shape smoker she usually treated for this disease, she said she wanted to rule it out anyway, just in case. She thought I might have a blood clot in a vein on my pelvis, interfering with circulation and causing the swelling. She injected a fluid into my veins to enhance the images of the blood vessels, and put me through the machine, but didn’t find anything abnormal… Usually when a person talks about one’s own state of health, it’s immensely fascinating to that person, but dreadfully boring to everyone else. Am I boring you, Ms. Mauricio?