On Thursday evening Mike’s ex boss came to have dinner. Claire had invited her to discuss Mike’s future. Renata did not look forward to the evening. She was going to give bad news and The couple deserved a personal appearance. She had a look at the excavation around the house and bridge in astonishment at what Mike had done. In herself she was deeply upset that she would be losing his services. Mike and a few others had been people to build an empire with.
“Freddie ran away with all the money, even cleaned the petty cash out! I have to tell you that reopening is out of the question for now.” Renata said to the couple as they sat down to the meal Mike had cooked.
Her thought was to get the bad news out of the way and not build false expectations. If they chased her away, so be it. Renata was in no way prepared for what came next.
“Mike, find Fred and recover Renata’s money, even the petty cash. ” Claire ordered.
That it was an order was not in doubt to Renata. She had used that tone of voice many times.