"Mr. Michael," Rosa exclaimed, her face breaking into a wide, warm smile. “Welcome home.”
"Hello, Rosa," Michael greeted her. “It’s good to be home.”
“Can I get you any coffee, iced tea…” Rosa offered, looking between Linda and Michael.
“No, thank you, Rosa,” Linda declined.
“Not for me either, thank you, Rosa,” Michael said, declining as well. “We’ve just had a cup.”
After a few more exchanged pleasantries, Rosa went about her duties while Linda and Michael headed towards Martin’s office. Linda knocked.
“Come in,” Martin called.
He looked up from his computer when they pushed open the door.
"Hello, Michael," Martin greeted warmly, standing.
"Hello, Martin," Michael answered.
The two men shook hands.
"Welcome home," Martin told him.
"Thank you," Michael replied. "We’re here to get started on saving the hotel by dealing with the first shark we need to get off our backs, Mr. Wayne."
“Yes, the man is overly keen to get his hands on the property,” Martin told them, taking his seat as they sat in front of his desk. "Mr. Wayne responded faster than I expected. He's asked if we could meet sometime tomorrow."
Linda's eyebrows shot up."Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow," Martin repeated.
"That man is pushy," Linda observed.
"He is," Martin agreed, looking at them. “And arrogantly so.”
Michael's whole demeanor changed, and his eyes narrowed.
“It means he’s getting impatient, and whatever deal he has made for the hotel needs to be resolved quickly,” Michael told them, steepling his fingers in front of him, his elbows resting on the arm of the chair. “He’ll probably be charming and try to sugarcoat the deal while waiting to hit us with something he’s sure we can’t say no to.”
“You mean he’s going to try and bully us,” Linda guessed, anger flashing in her eyes.
"Yup," Michael confirmed with a sharp nod before looking at Martin. "Put him off for a couple of days. Tell him you’re waiting for Mr. Michael Heart, who would need to accompany you and Miss Heart to any such meetings.”
“Won’t that provoke him?” Linda asked.
“It will force him to have his backup plan on hand,” Michael told her. “Because I can guarantee he already knows who we all are.” He smiled. “He also knows that the last time his rather large team of attorneys faced me in court, they lost.”
“You’ve gone up against him before?” Linda spluttered.
“Not him personally,” Michael told her. “His cousin. Baxter Johnson.”
Linda felt a little more confident at that. She also knew her brother was very good at his job, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard him lose a case.
"Send the email now," Michael instructed Martin. "I'd like to go over everything about the hotel between now and then.”
"It's all in a folder on my laptop," Martin told him. "And I have copies of all the accounts. Anything else you need, let me know, and I will get it for you.”
“Thank you, Martin,” Michael said.
