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“He certainly does,” Stone said. “And I’m still getting over the fact that he’s not the twelve-year-old I was expecting.”
“He took in every word of Leo’s briefing, too, and asked good questions that neither you nor I thought of.”
“Embarrassing, wasn’t it?” They both laughed, then said good-bye and departed in opposite directions.
Stone and Peter strolled down Fifth Avenue together through the throngs of shoppers. They passed the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.
“That’s nice,” Peter said. “I’ve seen it on TV.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I hope I didn’t speak out of turn at the meeting,” Peter said.
“Not at all, Peter. Mike and I were impressed with your understanding of what Leo was saying. We both completely missed the budget increases, which I’m sure is what Leo intended.”
Peter laughed aloud. “I’ll bet he did, too.”
“What grade are you in now?”
“Well,” Peter said, “that’s kind of problematical.”
“Oh? You aren’t about to get booted out, are you?”
“Oh, no!” Peter said, looking shocked.
“Only joking,” Stone said.
Peter looked relieved. “It’s just that I’ve been on sort of a special program of courses,” he said. “And it looks like I’ll be graduating in June.”
Stone blinked. “At fifteen?”
“I’ll be sixteen. I know it’s unusual, but the school said they thought the accelerated program was the best way to keep me interested.”
“Were they right?”
“Oh, yes; it’s been great!”
Stone wondered how he was going to keep this kid interested for two weeks.
When they arrived back at the house Stone took Peter in through the office entrance and introduced him to Joan.
“I’m very glad to meet you, Peter,” she said. “Funny, I was expecting someone younger.” She shot a glance at Stone, who rolled his eyes.
“Stone, your client Herbert Fisher is waiting to see you,” she said.
Stone sighed. “Come on, Peter,” he said. “I’ll introduce you to a New York character.” He led the way to his office.
5
S tone introduced Peter to Herbie Fisher. “Peter, I have s
ome business to discuss with Herbie. Why don’t you go upstairs and get unpacked? We’ll leave for dinner at eight-fifteen.”
“All right,” Peter said, and ran up the stairs.
Stone turned and looked at Herbie. “What’s going on, Herbie?” he asked. “You look kind of soggy.”
“That’s because I went for a swim in New York Harbor.”
