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He closed the door behind him. “It’s about Gumpert.”
Gumpert was always asking for a little something extra. “What’s he want now?”
Larry leaned on the chair back instead of taking a seat. “He’s really pissed about the spin-off.”
“He’s the one who wanted to paint the news story that day as a death knell.”
I’d overstated it a bit, but Gumpert had gone out on his own limb on that one.
“Rumor is he lost half a mill.”
“The stock was up the next day. All he had to do was not panic.”
“It’s worse than that. He shorted us in the afternoon, and he thinks you stiffed him on purpose by not giving him a hint.”
I shook my head. “All I did was refuse to give him anything we weren’t giving everyone else. He’s a twerp.”
Larry cocked his head. “A very powerful twerp. I’m giving you a heads up that he’s out to get us. It’s personal for him now, so I wouldn’t advise talking to him at all. And don’t be surprised when he writes a hit piece on us next quarter.”
I wasn’t sure what Larry wanted me to do with this information. “Do you want me to call him and try to square it?”
Larry’s eyes widened—I’d guessed wrong. “No way. I think it’s beyond repair. This is just the price of being publicly traded.”
Yep, I knew it was one of the big trade offs, probably the biggest. “It just burns me that these guys get to critique us, when most of them couldn’t run a profitable lemonade stand.”
Larry straightened up, ready to leave. “Life’s not fair. Anyway, you’ve been warned.”
This visit had been to put a stake in the ground for the future when Gumpert caused trouble. Larry didn’t want me blaming him.
“Got it. Give me a heads up if you see it coming.”
He waved a salute as he backed toward the door. “Will do.”
Life certainly wasn’t fair, and not all shit ran downhill either. The Melissa and Gumpert vendettas weren’t problems I could delegate away.
* * *
Jennifer
As I turnedon to my street, I checked my rearview mirror, but I didn’t see the gray car I thought had followed me. Paranoia was a bitch.
Upstairs, I busied myself with dinner to control my urge to tell my sister everything. It had been such a confusing whirlwind of a day. I downed a glass of wine while cooking to calm myself.
“And whose canary did you swallow?” Ramona finally asked me after we’d eaten.
I closed and started the dishwasher, then crossed the room to settle on the couch, smiling wordlessly.
Billy was at the kitchen table doing his homework. “Eww. That’s gross. Jeremy ate a salamander once. Do the feathers tickle?”
“It’s just a saying that means she looks like she’s hiding something,” his mother explained.
“Oh.” He went back to his paper.
I didn’t think the discussion was Billy-appropriate. “Maybe you should finish your homework in the bedroom.”
“I like it out here.”
I had another idea. “You’ll like it better in the bedroom. We’re going to talk about kissing boys.”
