Chapter Forty-Eight
Forty-Eight
They arranged to meet the next day, Friday, in the Theater District – not that far from Quaddra’s house, actually – but this time, Mary picked the place.
She decided on a small Spanish tapas bar and restaurant called The Pawn Shop, on Mission Street, considered a hidden gem in San Francisco by those who appreciate authentic Spanish food.
Mary wore the outfit that she’d bought that afternoon – a very elegant/casual black dress with silver details adorning both shoulder straps.
Quaddra, too, wore a much less formal outfit than he had the previous week.
The chemistry between Mary and Quaddra was, once again, off the charts from the get-go.
As they took a table, towards the back of the restaurant, Mary wasn’t really sure of Quaddra’s intentions, but all that she could think of was ‘how fast can we order and eat so that I can rip those clothes off your body?’
Quaddra was thinking exactly the same, but they both did their best to act as civilized as they possibly could.
They ordered eight different tapas dishes between them and a very nice bottle of Rioja Reserva.
The conversation was, just like last Wednesday, very light – books, music, theater, films…
and all of it was punctuated by a lot of laughter – until Quaddra decided to touch on a much more delicate subject.
‘Mary,’ he said, as he refilled her wine glass, then his. ‘I’ve got something that I wanted to talk to you about.’
‘OK,’ Mary said, noticing that Quaddra’s expression had gained a more serious quality.
‘You told me that in the past year,’ he began, ‘you’ve been moving around from place to place like a nomad, right?’
‘A little… yeah,’ Mary replied, her tone skeptical.
‘And I assume that the reason for that,’ Quaddra continued, ‘is because it makes it a lot harder for anyone to be able to track you down when you’re moving from city to city, and state to state… and by “anyone”, I mean – your ex-husband.’
Mary sipped her wine slowly, her eyes studying Quaddra.
‘Are you doing your thing again?’ she asked. ‘The read-between-the-lines party trick?’
‘I am,’ Quaddra admitted. ‘And I’m sorry, but this time there’s a good reason for it.’ He paused and checked himself. ‘At least I think it’s a good reason.’
‘Is that right?’
Are we getting ready to do another ‘get up and go’ job here? the voice inside Mary’s head asked.
‘Well,’ Quaddra came back. ‘Just hear me out for one minute, OK? If you think that it’s a crap reason, I’ll drop the subject and I’ll never come back to it again. How does that sound?’
Mary had another sip of her wine and her left eyebrow lifted slightly at Quaddra.
He understood that as ‘OK’.
‘Since you’ve been moving around a lot, I’m assuming that you’re renting short-term rental accommodations – maybe three months at a time, maybe more… I don’t know… but probably nothing longer than a year, am I right?’
Mary stayed silent.
Quaddra took that as a ‘yes’.
‘And the way I see it,’ he continued, ‘the reason why you keep on moving around, is because one of the ways in which you could be tracked down would be by someone finding your name tied up to a lease agreement somewhere in the country.’
Mary still said nothing back.
Quaddra nodded at her. ‘Let me warn you that I’m taking all your silences as a positive response.’ He waited. Got nothing back. Proceeded. ‘OK, so here’s the reason why I brought all this up.’
Mary braced herself.
Quaddra took a sip of his wine before continuing. ‘Take one of my apartments,’ he said, his tone casual.
‘Excuse me?’ Mary cocked her head back just a little.
‘I’m an investor, remember?’ Quaddra explained.
‘And one of the fields that I invest in is property. I have several properties scattered all around California… quite a few right here in San Francisco.’ He paused, giving Mary a chance to better grasp what he was saying.
‘Take one of my apartments… or a house if you prefer.’
Mary sat back on her chair before letting out a deflated breath. ‘I don’t need charity, Quaddra.’ She sounded offended and a little angry. ‘I’m quite capable of taking care of myself. I’m also capable of paying for my own place.’
‘Oh no.’ Quaddra immediately sat forward on his chair, raising both hands at Mary in a ‘just a second’ gesture.
‘You got me all wrong – probably because I explained this to you like a second grader trying to explain algebra.’ He clarified, knowing that he could’ve done a better job.
‘I’m sure you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself and paying for your own place.
I wasn’t offering you charity, Mary. Not at all.
’ The new pause was a much more thoughtful one.
‘Let me try this again, OK? Last time you told me that the contract on the place that you’re living at the moment is coming to an end, and that you’d have to make a decision on where to go from here, right?
’ He didn’t wait for a reply. ‘So, what I’m suggesting here is – instead of going back to a realtor to find your next apartment, or house, or whatever… rent it from me.’
Mary angled her head at Quaddra.
‘I’m not suggesting any shady deals here either.
I really don’t do those. Everything would be done above board and by the book, the only difference is – you can put whatever name you like on the contract.
’ He threw his hands up in a hands and shoulders shrug.
‘Sign it Luke Skywalker for all I care.’
Mary’s eyes narrowed at Quaddra.
‘What I’m really offering you here, Mary, isn’t charity.
It’s just a chance for you to make it even harder for anyone to track you down because your name will not appear on a lease contract anymore, that’s all.
’ He raised a hand at Mary again before explaining.
‘Every lease applicant in the country gets screened for approval. I’m sure you know that, right?
Credit check… background check… references…
all that stuff. When they do, their names go into a Rental Applicant Screening Service database, which can be used as a way of finding someone.
’ Quaddra allowed Mary a couple of extra seconds.
‘It’s one less thing for you to worry about, and maybe you won’t have to carry on moving around like a nomad all the time. ’
Mary stayed silent, but her brain was working at speed.
She still had about two weeks left on her contract, and she had already decided that she’d like to stay in San Francisco, but for now, that was a detail that she was keeping to herself.
‘Full disclosure here?’ Quaddra asked, taking advantage of Mary’s hesitation.
Mary’s eyebrows shot up to her forehead to indicate that that was a silly question.
Quaddra looked down at their table and his lips moved ever so slightly, but no sound came out. To Mary, it looked like he was trying to put the sentence together inside his head first, so not to phrase it in the wrong way.
‘In all honesty,’ he said, his eyes, once again, meeting Mary’s. ‘This is also me being a little selfish.’
Mary’s eyebrows stayed up her forehead. ‘You being selfish?’
Quaddra nodded. ‘A little… yeah.’
Mary simply waited.
‘Your plan is great, Mary,’ Quaddra told her.
‘The more you move around, the thinner and more complicated the trail to you gets, until, one day, it becomes practically invisible. Any intelligent person would easily figure out that the more cities, or better yet, the more states you move in and out of, the quicker that process becomes. And you are a very intelligent person.’ He paused to observe Mary’s reaction.
She gave nothing away, except for a ghost of a smile that for a split second hovered over her lips.
‘So, I’m guessing that,’ Quaddra continued, ‘once your rental contract is up, the intention is maybe to leave San Francisco, probably even California.’
This time, Mary’s poker face was unreadable.
‘And this is where my plan becomes a little selfish.’ Quaddra had a large sip of his wine. ‘I’d really love if you stayed in San Francisco.’
Mary stayed silent, while Quaddra finished the rest of his wine.
‘Like I promised,’ he finally said, ‘I won’t mention this again, but… just think about it, OK?’
Mary, too, finished her wine, and silence settled between them, but even then, it didn’t feel at all awkward. In fact, to Mary, it felt comforting.
They gazed into each other’s eyes, but the gaze didn’t stay there for long, quickly dropping down an inch or so to each other’s lips.
‘Do you want to get out of here?’ Quaddra was the one who broke the silence.
‘I thought you’d never ask.’