Page 91 of Muted

Susu: That bad?

Me: Absolutely not.

Susu: What do you think, then?

I begin to text a longer explanation of how I felt about it and where my mind went, then highlight the whole thing to delete it. Susu is teasing me with her words, and it’s only fair that I give her a taste of her own medicine.

So, I give her a simple reply.

Me: You’ll know what I think about this soon.

Susu: What does that mean?

Grinning to myself, I don’t answer and leave her on read. Just before I turn off the screen, enjoying the fact that she’s probably stewing over there, I see her last text pop through.

Susu: Theo?

I choke out a laugh as I lean over to turn off my light next to my bed. I’ll absolutely show her what I thought about it as soon as I see her again. I close my eyes with a satisfied smile on my face, ignoring the raging hard-on from thoughts of recreating another poem of hers in the near future.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“The first thing we need to discuss is what kind of path you’d like to pursue for the alleged theft. We’ve already set up the offer to dissolve the partnership the two of you have together with a buy-out on Theodore’s side. Which, I’ll be frank, is still generous in my opinion.”

Sonority’s business lawyer, Richard Leigh, is monotonous in his delivery. I suppose that’s a good thing, but I want him to be just as affronted and horrified by Cliff’s actions as we are. I know that’s unrealistic and would be bad for everyone in the end. It’s a blessing to have someone levelheaded help us traverse this situation.

“What do you mean by path?” Chaz asks, ready to take notes.

A shuffling of paper accompanies his explanation. “Well, are you simply looking to negotiate with him? We can take care of that if he accepts the proposal you’re offering. You’ve already deducted the extra funds he’s helped himself to, so we could add that in addition to accepting the offer, he signs non-disclosure forms preventing him from speaking of the incident as well as giving up any rights to come back and attempt to sue you for wrongful dissolution of said partnership. If this is the route you’d like to take, I would say it would be a good first step.”

“What if he refuses?” I ask, not liking the idea of simply asking him to sign on the line and disappear. There’s no sense of justice that comes with that and Cliff, in my opinion, needs to pay for being a cunt.

The way Richard answers rubs me the wrong way. Like it should be obvious. “Well, obviously if he doesn’t accept, we’d take it to litigation.” I look to Chaz for a better explanation. I know the word, but I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before.

“Take it to court,” he tells me quietly. Then to Richard, asks, “I don’t think either of us feel comfortable with just letting him walk away from this.”

He sighs into the phone, but not in annoyance, more like he knows this is about to be exhausting for him.

“Then we move to criminal prosecution, which isn’t my specialty, but I have a partner who does well with prosecuting white-collar crimes. I can handle the civil side moving forward. We would still need to dissolve the partnership. If that’s the direction you’d like to go, I would advise we redraft the offer for Clifford to be replaced by Theodore, and just create a new partnership between the two of you. I’d have to recalculate the value of the business without Clifford’s personal deductions to get a true 50/50 split. Is this what you’d like to do?”

My friend knows my answer just by looking at me. “Yeah, that’s what we want to do. Keep the number from the original offer the same, though. Theo and I are both comfortable with that price.” I’m relieved he said that. I could come up with more if I needed to, but I’ve already shifted funds and felt comfortable with it.

“Are you sure? It wouldn’t be accurate. Normally when—”

I cut him off because I know what he’s getting at. “Give us a second, Richard,” I say, then hit the phone to place him on hold. “Let’s just stick with the original number, but I want to know what the difference was. We can trickle it out of my cut each month until it’s caught up. I’d feel better if I paid my fair share, but I have an idea of how much Cliff has stolen, and that’s a lot to get my hands on right now.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want? I don’t mind sticking with the original number.” I know he doesn’t, but a slow smile builds as I point out something he’s not thinking of.

“We’re going to press charges, sue him for damages, I would assume. That’s going to come back and we’ll both come out on top.”

Chaz’s booming laughter fills the office. “Then how about we stick with the regular offer and take the rest once court shit is settled? That’s what makesmefeel most comfortable.”

“Agreed. Also, Richard? He’s a dick,” I say, pointing at the phone where I’m sureDickis impatiently waiting for us.

Snorting, he nods in agreement. “He is, but he’s fucking smart and knows his shit. Worth every penny.” With that, my friend reconnects the call. “Sorry about that, D—” I hold back my laughter when Chaz starts coughing. “Sorry, something in my throat. I was saying, sorry about that, Richard. This is what we’d like to do.”

I listen as my soon to be new business partner fills him in on the plan, then gets a list of initial documentation that the lawyers will need to put together evidence before pressing criminal charges against Clifford Ford.

Once we get off the phone, both of us sit back and relax in silence, taking everything in. There’s a soft banging from the bar area, muffled by the closed office door. With a glance at my watch, my lip ticks up in eagerness.

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