Ron quicken his steps when he saw Tavia up ahead waiting for him. He was late. He didn't want to be but nevertheless he was. Luckily, Raymond convinced Michael into letting him leave. The unexpected meeting took longer than he expected. He ran up to Tavia and in between breaths said, “Sorry I took so long.”

Tavia looked at her watch and scrunched her face, “You’re almost half an hour late!”

Ron threw up his hands in surrender, “I know. Blame it on Michael.”

Tavia’s face relaxed as she smiled impishly at him, “I was only playing with you.” She hooked her arm with his and dragged him along, “Where to?”

“I feel like having steak and lobster tonight, any suggestions?” Ron asked.

Tavia stopped walking and cocked her head up at him, “Yes. Why don’t I make it for you?”

Ron looked at her with wary, “You cook? I don’t want to get food poisoning.”

Tavia playfully slapped his arm, “I can’t make any exotic dishes but steak and broiled lobster I can do. So what do you say? Home cooked meal at my place?”

Ron grinned, “How can I refuse!” Then his face fell, “I forgot about Raymond. I told him that he can join us for dinner after his meeting with Michael.”

“He’s more than welcome to my place. We’ll pick up the food now and start the preparations. By the time he arrives, everything will be ready.”

Ron said, “Ok. When he calls I’ll give him your address.”

They resumed their walking and Tavia said, “Raymond sure is strange. I mean the way he acted at the café the other time. What was wrong with him?”

Carefully avoiding her eyes, Ron said, “Nothing was wrong. He was having a bad day.”

Tavia frowned as if weighing what Ron was telling and skeptically asked, “All of a sudden? He was fine when he started asking me questions about my friendship with Charmaine.”

Ron was at a loss for words then he formed a lie, “Hearing what happened to Charmaine brought back unpleasant memories for him. You see, his girlfriend committed suicide too, only she didn’t make it. He never forgave himself for it.”

“Oh, that’s so sad. I’m sorry that Raymond had such a painful past,” Tavia said earnestly.

Ron was relieved that Tavia bought it, “Let’s not talk about him anymore. Where do you want to pick up the steaks from?”

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Raymond and Joe faced Michael as they discussed the latest transaction. Michael looked from Raymond to Joe, “The client had another offer and decided to take his business there. What do you guys think about that?”

Raymond said, “Our shipments are the best there is and it’s an unbeatable price. There is no way he could get such quality for cheaper. Besides, everyone in our line is selling for much more and we have always kept our prices fair.”

Michael looked at Raymond and said, “You think someone leaked the information out?”

Meeting Michael’s gaze, Raymond boldly said, “I don’t think, I know for a fact.”

Joe laughed, “How would you know? There are so many dealers out there and we are all very secretive about these types of transactions.”

Raymond ignored Joe, “There is no way the other dealers could contact our client. First of all, he’s isn’t from around here. Second, he’s new to the business. So basically, he’s a stranger and being a stranger means he’s a nobody. The only way for the dealer to find out about him is if someone from our association leaked the information.” He turned to look at Joe and said softly, “Am I right?”

Joe’s face hardened as he bit out, “What are you insinuating? That I leaked the information out? That I would betray our association?”

Raymond was not affected by the harshness of his tone. He smiled and said, “You said it, not me.”

Joe turned to Michael and said, “I have nothing to do with it.”

Michael eyed the two men, then said, “I don’t want to hear you guys argue. Let’s work together to find out what happened here and to prevent the same situation from happening. If this continues, we’re talking about millions down the drain.”

“Why don’t we just ask the client directly why he’s not dealing with us?” Joe posed, “That way we could try to find out who betrayed us?”

Michael shook his head at the idea, “No. We’ll leave it for now. I have another shipment coming in tomorrow and another buyer. He is also new to the business. I want the two of you to meet him and do the transaction.”

Raymond flickered a glance at Joe and wanted to wipe the smug smile off his face, preferably with his fists. He turned back to Michael and mumbled, “Fine.”

Joe smiled in return, “If it’s fine with him, then it’s fine with me.”