Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

Chapter 10

Wednesday, 09 March 2022 – 1:00 p.m. MST

Quinn and Ramesh sat opposite each other in a casual Indian restaurant. Ramesh looked over the menu while Quinn chatted with the store manager. Quinn had loved this restaurant since it opened six years ago. It was within walking distance of the office and provided the best authentic Indian cuisine he had tasted. The manager was grateful for Quinn’s patronage and made sure to remind him of that each time he came in.

“I recommend the biriyani,” Quinn offered. “Either the vegetarian or the lamb. They’re both excellent.”

Ramesh closed the menu. “Please, whatever you recommend,” he said politely to the manager. Ramesh and the manager exchanged a few words in Hindi. Ramesh was not as comfortable with Hindi as he would have preferred, having been raised primarily in England and South Africa and never having visited India. He knew that he had a noticeable accent – most native Indians pointed that out when he spoke.

“I love this place,” Quinn offered as he sipped his water. “Laura doesn’t really care for Indian, so I usually only eat here for lunch.”

Ramesh lit up at the mention of Laura’s name. He had failed to ask about her earlier. “Laura is doing very well politically?”

Quinn couldn’t restrain the grin that appeared. “She is an excellent speaker. She engages people. I could say the exact same words and never get the reaction she gets. It’s truly amazing. And yes, she is doing very well. She’s going to take this election and the next. And she’s going to the White House.”

Ramesh shot a quick glance to see if he could tell whether Quinn was kidding. Though he had lived in the United States for the past twenty-six years, he was still unsure sometimes about American humor, especially the sarcasm. “President? You think she is going to become the President of the United States?”

“I know she will,” he said. He didn’t even seem to be looking at Ramesh. He glanced at his watch, sipped his water, but did not truly engage the conversation. He looked up. Ramesh appeared to be a little stunned. Quinn smiled, something lit in his eyes. “Give me just a few more hours. Then after we’ve really discussed why you’re here, think about what I just told you.”

Ramesh furrowed his brow. “If you say so. I am not sure why we cannot simply get to the point now.”

“Time,” Quinn said. “It’s a funny thing. Sometimes we wait. Sometimes we cannot wait. And sometimes, if we’re lucky, we get ahead of it.” He glanced away and stared into the distance then snapped back. “Oh,” he started. “I was going to tell you about Valerie’s husband.” The gleam in his eye returned. “So, what did you think of her?”

“Very beautiful,” Ramesh started. “And young. How is someone so very young your executive assistant?”

“She’s not as young as she looks. Like me, she’s the beneficiary of her success. A bit of surgery, some biotherapy and anything else that money can do to help. She’s younger than we are, but she’s been with the company for nearly sixteen years.”

“Sixteen years? How old is she?”

“Thirty-three today. She’s just two months away from thirty-four. She started here at eighteen,” Quinn responded.

“Amazing. I have seen few eighteen year olds that look as well,” Ramesh smiled. He hadn’t spoken so openly with anyone for some time. It was refreshing.

“After she was promoted, her stock options and salary were such that she became recognized as one of the most eligible bachelorettes in the country. Do you remember the tabloids? Did you see them?” Quinn asked sincerely.

“No, I have been a bit ... disconnected,” Ramesh glanced away. Truthfully Ramesh had become fully disconnected in a social sense.

Quinn recognized the meaning in Ramesh’s statement. He continued, a bit subdued, “The media coverage became so distracting that Val was unable to perform her normal work. Within the company, staff and coworkers gossiped, some made passes, others entertained courtship. Outside of the office, it was worse. While she was flattered initially, it grew into something pathogenic. She was threatened, stalked. It was scary for a while.”

Quinn stopped and looked past Ramesh, remembering how scared she had become.

“So, she got married,” he said.

“He is a fortunate man,” Ramesh commented. Just then, a waiter arrived with lunch. There was a small break in the conversation as they began eating, then Ramesh asked, “So what about him? Who is this man?”

Quinn smiled deviously. “Me.” He said no more; instead he focused on a bit of lamb.

“Say again,” Ramesh sputtered.

“Well,” he answered, “Val wasn’t really interested in getting married then. She didn’t have any real prospects and at that time she wasn’t sure she could trust any new men who might have come into her life. But, she was sure that being married would change things. So, we got married.”

Quinn stopped again. He glanced at Ramesh. He had never told anyone this. No one.

Ramesh was clearly confused. “But, Laura. Your kids. I do not understand.”

Quinn laughed. “We staged it. Laura, Val and I flew to Switzerland. Laura shot photos of me in a tuxedo standing on a stack of books next to Val. We took shots of a honeymoon. Then we doctored them up – Laura’s really a graphical genius – then we leaked the photos of Valerie’s private wedding to the press.”

“So she is not married? She has no husband?” Ramesh asked.

“With the access that we have to public records facilities and a bit of gray-area database tweaking, technically she is married. Her husband is not a citizen of the United States and spends little time here,” he answered, laughing again. “It was surprisingly easy and amazingly effective. Things normalized in a few months and Val was able to refocus on her work as she had hoped.”

“So how many people know about this?”

“You, me, Laura and Val. I’ve never told anyone. I trust you’ll keep it low.”

“Certainly,” Ramesh answered sincerely. “I hope you do not mind my asking. How did you propose this idea to Laura? It seems ...”

Quinn chuckled. “You know, at first there was a little tension from Laura when she first met Val. Laura isn’t as confident in her own beauty as you might think. And Valerie is just ... well, you’ve met her. She’s beautiful ... and her smile is intoxicating.”

Quinn paused, remembering the first time he met Valerie. She had been working at Q-Morrow for three years before he first met her. She was twenty-one years old and perfect.

“But Laura got to know Val,” he continued. “They’ve become like sisters. Laura and Val hatched the plan themselves. They only needed me to be a placeholder for the pictures.”

Ramesh smiled and shook his head. He could never have been involved in something of that nature. It surprised him that Laura had. Laura wasn’t the type to deceive anyone.

As if Quinn had read his thoughts, he said, “Laura felt that Val’s personal safety and integrity outweighed the deception.”

Ramesh nodded. Laura was one of the most ethical people he knew and she was also possibly the most caring person he had ever known.

“Unbelievable,” Ramesh smiled. “You can fool some of the people all of the time...”

Quinn laughed. The rest of the lunch was filled with light conversation. Quinn and Ramesh both enjoyed the meal and the camaraderie.