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“I’m disappointed in her.” Her support of Nurit and Kisharti instead of him, hurt him more than he thought possible.
“How did she disappoint you?”
Erez didn’t answer his little brother, not sure of how much he should tell him.
“Are you in love with her?” Eitan asked. He told Dafna he loved her, and he did. The first woman he’d ever been in love with. He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face. His little brother clasped his shoulder and Erez lifted his face to meet Eitan’s worried eyes.
“Man, you have it bad. She doesn’t love you back? Is that the disappointment? Patience, Erez, you’ve only met her a couple of months ago.”
“No. That’s not it.” He took a deep breath and decided to tell his brother. “It’s the company Dafna works for. Her friend the bookkeeper, under the instructions of their CEO, is inflating subscriptions for their company.”
He told his brother how Nurit was keeping previous clients that cancelled their subscription as active clients and had been falsifying the books.
“For real? In a big way?”
“No. I think they’re actually quite subtle about it. Dafna said she was going to confront the CEO herself–he is overseas now and will be back after Yom Kippur. She asked to wait with my due diligence report to the investors. Till after The Jewish high holidays.”
His brother didn’t mirror Erez’s indignation. Eitan stretched his legs and sipped his coffee, looking anything but appalled.
“Sounds reasonable. It’s not that big of a deal, what she’s asking. And she promised to put a stop to it. She’s just asking that you let her do it in her own way.”
His resolve was unwavering, but the same disappointment gripped him again. His brother, like Dafna, made light of this.
His land line buzzed with Dorit’s number.
“Yogev and Motti are coming your way. Expect them in about five minutes. They want to talk about your due diligence.”
“Okay,” he said. This was way too early. He thought he had at least until Menni came back.
“Just a heads up—they both expect and want a positive report,” Dorit added. He could understand why the investor would want a stamp of approval from G&L for his investment. But Yogev shouldn’t care either way.
“Why does Yogev care so much?” he asked the all-knowing Dorit, grateful that he’d become an ally of hers long ago. “Did Motti save his life forty years ago?”
A shared army service was a debt, but in his experience, not the kind that was translated into these kinds of favors.
“Yogev’s daughter is engaged to Motti’s son,” Dorit said. “I thought you knew.”
His stomach roiled. This was bad news.
“I don’t think what she asked you is so bad,” Eitan reiterated when Erez finished his call. “A few more days to try to make things right without a huge blowout. Are you okay? You look freaked out.”
He heard Yogev’s gruff voice from the corridor. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Hi Erez!” Yogev said heartily. “Oh, there are two of you!”
“Hi, I’m Eitan.” His brother jumped in, giving him time to pull himself together. “People have been known to mix us.”
“Motti, good to meet you. Yogev, so good of you to come to wish me Shana Tova.” He stretched his mouth in a wide smile. Maybe as a fallback career, he could be an actor, like his brother.
“Hello, hello!” Motti said, his smile just as wide, his blue eyes crinkled at Erez as his hand stretched for a handshake. He had a powerful build and a bonhomie charisma about him. “Your brother is very thorough, very professional, highly thought of,” Motti continued. “I was so gratified when he agreed to do the due diligence on my upcoming investment.”
“I was happy to do it. It was very interesting, a great hands-on experience.”
Motti tapped on Yogev’s shoulder. “I heard my friend is making it worthwhile for you.”
Motti referred to the G&L consultancy job, painting Erez as part of a conspiracy, the due diligence process a pretense, Erez’s summary of Kisharti a foregone conclusion. He balled his fists, sickened over these corporate games.
“You’re welcome.” Yogev smiled at Motti, his eyes flickering towards Erez.
