Page 135 of Caper Crush
There is silence again at the other end.
And then Stewart breathes out. “Wow. I know I’ve said that your mind is so different from mine, but it really is. That’s an amazing translation.”
“It works?” I ask.
“For these purposes.”
“Excellent. Give me some more.”
“There’s the consistency concept—that accounting policies are consistent from one period to another.”
“Okay, that’s useful.”
“It is?” Stewart sounds mystified. “There’s also the business entity concept. Business is treated as a separate entity that is distinct from its owner, and hence, distinctions should be made between personal transactions and business transactions.”
“Oh, I like that one a lot.”
Stewart laughs. He’s got this raspy laugh like it isn’t used often. He’s really such a sweetheart. “I’ll have to remember to bring that up on my next date.”
Stewart is warming up to the task. “There’s the materiality concept—that material risks and other information that would influence a decision should be disclosed.”
“Oh yes,” I say. “That’s useful too.”
“And maybe what you were looking for with matching is expressed by dual-aspect accounting?”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“This concept signifies that every business transaction involves a twofold aspect: (a) the yielding of a benefit, and (b) the giving of a benefit,” Stewart says. “But maybe you don’t want to characterize your relationship in that manner.”
“It does make it sound like a zero-sum game rather than expressing the mutuality of the benefit,” I say. “But still, this is super helpful. Thank you so much, Stewart. I’m going to go read some annual reports and see if I can get any more insights.”
“Don’t you think you should just tell him you love him? Won’t that be enough?” Stewart asks softly.
“I hope so,” I say. “But I want him to know that I mean it.”
Chapter thirty-nine
Petercallsandasksme out for dinner.
I am tempted to tell him how pissed I am that he interfered in my relationship and said what he did to William, but that’s not where I want to spend my energy right now. And, I can understand that from his point of view, he was doing the honorable thing and warning William that he was about to face competition.
“I can’t. I have to paint. Jade says there’s already more interest in buying my paintings,” I say.
“But you need to eat, and I’m here,” Peter says.
“That’s the beauty of New York. I ordered in. Plus, apparently you are staying, so I don’t need to see you this week. This is a key painting week for me.” I don’t need to say how pissed I am. He can tell from my voice.
There’s silence on the other end.
And then I can’t resist. But I’m not going to tell him William dumped me. I say, “What were you doing telling William that you were going to compete for me? Thanks for adding that wrinkle to this week.”
“I want you back,” Peter says.
“It doesn’t work like that.” As I say that, I hope William doesn’t say the same thing to me. “I’m really in love with William. I thought I made that clear before you came. But our friendship means a lot to me. I don’t want to lose you as a friend, but I’m not in love with you anymore.”
“Don’t you think you should give us another chance?” he asks.
“Not at the risk of losing William.”
