“I am hoping to tonight,” I said, “but I have admired his work from afar for many years.”
“He is most remarkable,” she said, “a man of science but also of great faith and erudition.”
I pointed at the photo on the cover of the program. “And a family man, too,” I said.
“He met his wife in Moldova when they were just children,” she said, “and they’ve been married now thirty years.”
“We should all be so lucky,” I said.
“Yes, yes,” she said. I saw her quickly gaze down at my left hand, and when she looked back up, I was staring directly at her, which made her blush, but I didn’t look away.
“I’ve not been so lucky,” I said.
“Your mother must be upset about that,” she said.
“Among other things,” I said.
This got Reva to laugh again. She was an attractive woman, but she wasn’t Fiona. For the purposes of my needs that day, however, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
“I’m sorry,” Reva said. “You must be a very busy man and here I am going on about silly things.”
“Stop apologizing,” I said. “You’ve apologized to me three times and I’ve only known you five minutes. I’m beginning to think this relationship will be built on regret.”
Reva cleared her throat, but that didn’t help her blushing. “I’m sor…” she began, but caught herself just in time. “You wanted to buy a table?”
“I do,” I said.
“For how many?”
I handed her the check. “There will be only five of us, unless you’d like to join our table,” I said, “but I think this should cover it.”
“Dr. Bennington,” she said, “this is a check for a million dollars, yes?”
“Yes, it is,” I said. “My company has great faith in Mr. Drubich. We would like, if you do not mind, to present him with a copy of the check this evening.”
“A copy?”
“We’ll have one made that will be large enough for everyone to see when we present it to him.”
“Like,” Reva paused, searching for what this was like. “Like, the Publishers Clearing House?”
“Similar,” I said, “but Ed McMahon won’t be able to make it.”
“And you do not know Mr. Drubich?”
“Not personally. But my company and his company are about to embark on a very significant project together. I have sadly been in Zurich tending to business there and haven’t been able to meet with him, though my people tell me, as you have, that he is a rare human being. Have you been to Zurich?”
“No,” she said.
“We should go,” I said. “It would be good for you. You need less stress. Zurich removes the stress from your every pore.” Reva seemed flustered by all of this- that I was hitting on her as if my name were Sam Axe and also that she held a check in her hand for a million dollars-so I reached over and touched her hand. “I would like to keep this secret until tonight, Reva. Do you mind if I call you by your first name, Reva?”
“No,” she said. “I mean, yes, call me my first name.”
“Reva,” I said, “we’d like this to be a surprise for Mr. Drubich.”
“Of course, of course,” she said. “Is there anything we can do to help facilitate this?”
“It would mean a great deal to me if we could have a table near to Mr. Drubich’s. And a reserved parking spot out front. Will there be press at this event?”
“We’ve invited the local stations and reporters, but I’m afraid what we do here in the consulate is not as exciting as what happens on South Beach.”
“A shame,” I said. “This would be good for Moldova. Particularly in light of your troubled election situation back home, don’t you think?”
Reva considered what I said. “I could make another round of calls, yes?”
“It couldn’t hurt,” I said. “Get your name in the paper back home, perhaps, too.”
“I make my home here now,” she said. “Much warmer than Moldova. I’ve learned that winter isn’t something I need, yes?”
“I agree,” I said. “And the sun suits your skin. And your eyes.”
I let that hang there for a moment.
“I should tell you I’m seeing someone,” she said. She fingered the diamond necklace around her neck.
“That’s good for him. You must make him very happy. Does he let you speak on the phone?”
“No one tells me what I can do,” Reva said.
“I’m happy to hear that. Perhaps then I could call you?” I said. “We could talk about less formal things than money and science.”
Reva didn’t answer right away. Probably because she actually loved the man who gave her that lovely necklace. And probably because she wasn’t used to someone being as direct as I was being. Or maybe she just liked my Hugo Boss suit. “There is nothing wrong with talking, yes?”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”
Reva took out a pen and wrote her phone number on the back of her business card. Her official title was director of international media affairs. A good job title. One she would probably lose for all of this.
She excused herself for a moment and came back with a stack of papers for me to fill out. The first was just the names of those who’d be attending the event that evening and the rest were more formal documents, namely those the Treasury Department would want to see when their full investigation began.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I should have my CFO handle all of this. I am good with science but lousy with tax ID numbers.”
“That is not a problem,” Reva said. “Bring them back tonight.”
“You should deposit the check, however,” I said. “That would be an expensive piece of paper to lose track of.”
“Oh, we will, certainly,” she said. “I will take it to the bank personally and immediately draw a check for Mr. Drubich’s trust.”
It was certain, then, that she’d lose her job.
“Reva,” I said, “have you ever thought of working somewhere other than the consulate?”
“Are you offering me a position with InterMacron?”
“No, no,” I said. “No business and pleasure. But you should see about other opportunities. You’re better than this job.”
Her hand went up to her throat again, to that necklace, which made me wonder if maybe the man who gave her the diamond also gave her the job.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course,” I said.
She got up then and closed the door to the conference room and then sat back down and scooted her chair closer to mine, so that she was only inches from me.
“I have always wanted to model,” she said. “Do you think I could model?”
And suddenly Reva Lohr, the director of international media affairs for a foreign government, was just like every other woman in Miami. Every woman who wasn’t Fiona, at least.
“You could be on runways in Milan tomorrow,” I said.
“My boyfriend, he says, ‘You are professional, why do you want to be a walking doll?’ And I say, ‘I want to be admired, just like anyone.’ And clothes, I could make clothes, too. Be a model who designs. And I would also like to be on a reality show. The one with Mr. Trump. I saw him once at a restaurant here. So smart, that man.”
I smiled at Reva. It hurt to do so. It made me wonder how Sam did it on a daily basis just for drinks and chicken wings. I decided to go all in.
“Don is a personal friend. I’ll see what I can do.” I stood then and so did Reva. “One other thing, if you don’t mind,” I said. “Would it be possible to get a private room downstairs to prep our surprise prior to the event?”
“Of course,” she said. “Yes, yes, of course. We have a salon you could use. Just tell the security guards when you arrive and they will show you to it. And I’d be happy to provide any kind of, how do you say, concierge service you might need.”
