In the morning I felt like shit. I slept in until 11am, which was highly unusual for me. Sara was nowhere to be found, so I moped around the house, took a shower and made some lunch. After I had eaten I felt better, although in the light of day, my options seemed very limited.
Sara got home around 2pm. She was wearing sweats and her hair was damp, as if she had just showered. She told me that she had been at Adrian's, negotiating on my behalf. I scoffed, knowing full well what that entailed. Then she dropped the hammer.
"We have an appointment with Adrian at 7pm tonight," Sara began. "He is expecting both of us to be there. You need to shave, and get dressed up. Wear your best suit. You need to make a good impression on Adrian today," she told me, like it was a job interview.
"I will meet you there, as I have a couple of errands to run first," she continued.
I shot her a quizzical look, and she repeated her new favorite phrase, "Don't ask!"
I am not sure what kind of errands Sara had to run. However, apparently it required being chauffeured around San Clemente, because Adrian's limousine came up my gravel driveway around 2.30pm. Adrian wasn't in the car. I noticed it was the younger, physically imposing driver that looked like a bodyguard, who opened the rear door for my wife. She looked very ordinary in her baggy sweatpants and damp hair.
The limo disappeared down my driveway, and I shaved and prepared myself for the upcoming meeting. I wore my nicest suit, although it was tatty compared to Adrian's bespoke tailored suits. I got to his office right before 7pm and I was very nervous. There was no sign of Sara as I waited with Adrian's secretary, which made matters worse. At exactly 7pm, the secretary told me that we could go in to the office now.
As I walked into the office, I was stopped by the young bodyguard looking driver and searched. He patted me down thoroughly, to ensure I was neither armed, or wearing a wire. Then the secretary led the way through his office, and into the conference room, that was adjacent to it.
The bodyguard followed us, and motioned to Adrian saying, "He's clean Sir, no pink lipgloss today!"
There were a few men already in the room, and they laughed openly at this revelation. It was apparent to me, that the lipgloss story had obviously been shared with the men.
A long conference table dominated the room. On one side of it, sat Adrian and several well dressed men, who were introduced to me as his legal team. I recognized one of the men, from Adrian's limo, the day I had shown up with pink lipgloss in my pocket. He smirked at me, when I made eye contact with him.
I sat across the table from Adrian and his team of lawyers. The secretary sat next to me, and patted me condescendingly on the arm.
"I will take notes in shorthand," she told me. "That way if you have any questions afterwards, we can refer to my notes for clarification."
