Chapter 20
The waiting room at the surgery was like a grandma’s front room.
I hadn’t really noticed the last time I was here, as I was in too much of a dither from Demetri leaving.
I picked up a copy of a grubby weekly magazine from a coffee table and made a mental note to check whether I’d got any hand sanitiser in my bag.
Flicking through the pages, I settled on a fascinating feature about a woman who had had to declare herself bankrupt, because of her addiction to Botox, fillers and other cosmetic treatments.
How the other half live, eh? I stood and looked in the mirror opposite, and pulled the skin on my face in various directions.
I wondered how different I might look with a face lift.
I was of the age where I had put on a little extra weight during the awful lockdown period (who hadn’t?) and it had never quite shifted.
A cough behind me indicated that I wasn’t alone and I smiled to myself, slightly embarrassed, in a ‘you are an idiot sometimes, Michelle’ way.
Thankfully, I didn’t recognise the older gentleman who was sat behind me, but he acknowledged me as I sat back down, and then stuck his nose back into the novel he had clearly brought with him, whilst smirking.
The office door opened and Jacqui called me through to her room, where I sat beside her desk.
‘So, have you had a chance to have a think about HRT then, my lovely?’ She smiled at me, immediately putting me at ease. It was a strange relationship at the best of times between a doctor and a patient, with them knowing everything about you, let alone when they were a friend. ‘Any questions?’
‘When can I start?’ I laughed.
She got her prescription pad out and started to scribble.
‘Don’t you print them out these days?’ I asked. I presumed most things were dealt with on computer in this modern world.
‘Ah, I’m old school I’m afraid. And my handwriting is still legible so the pharmacy has agreed they’re happy with me doing things my way.’ She grinned.
‘Glad to hear it. That was nice and easy then. Is that it?’
‘Absolutely. I know that you’ve done your homework and we talked through options briefly when we last met up so I know it’s not a decision you’ve taken lightly.
You’ve been through the mill lately though and have to be kind to yourself.
Give yourself some help if you can and want to.
I never looked back personally, but it’s not for everyone. ’
‘Well, yes, I did do lots of research and I suppose these things wouldn’t have been created unless they helped people, would they?’
‘Indeed. But always good to check things out for yourself rather than take someone else’s word for it, even if they are a doctor. Still up for a walk later?’
‘Sure am, shall we meet at the end of my beach path? About 11.30? Does that give you enough time?’
I stood, popped the prescription in my handbag, and glanced at my watch. That would give me time to get to the chemist too before I went home. May as well start these patches as soon as possible. I headed towards the door.
‘That’s perfect. See you shortly.’
* * *
When I got home, I could hear the shower running in the guest room’s en suite.
Determined not to think about Makis in the shower, I busied myself by sorting out my purse and chucking away a load of old receipts which I always stuffed in the back.
When I’d gone to the pharmacy earlier, I’d panicked a little when I couldn’t find my bank card to pay but then I came across it and realised that I’d just put it back in a different slot.
I couldn’t wait to start HRT to get rid of this brain fog.
The TV remote control had turned up in the fridge last week, and there was no one but me to blame for that!
I hoped the patches wouldn’t take long to kick in.
Makis appeared with a towel wrapped around his waist and rubbing his damp hair with another, barefoot and bare-chested. Crikey.
‘Oh, sorry. I thought you were still out. I’m glad you are here though. I have something to tell you. But first let me go and get dressed.’
‘Yes please… I mean, yes, OK.’ I turned and busied myself filling the kettle. It was all I seemed to do these days to distract myself.
I placed two mugs of steaming hot coffee on the lounge coffee table and when Makis reappeared, fully dressed thankfully, he sat on the edge of his seat, clearly itching to tell me some exciting news.
‘Our investment has just slightly more than doubled overnight.’ He rubbed his hands together and grinned broadly.
‘What?’ My hands started to shake a little. ‘You know this already? How?’
‘I do. There was a lot of activity late last night and we bought and sold shares at exactly the right time. It’s amazing when this works. I’m so happy that this has happened on your first try.’
‘Wow!’ I was stunned for words. I wasn’t expecting news for days to be honest.
‘So, following this, I spoke to the investor contact of mine while you were out, and he loved the sound of your plans and has recommended some more investments that he thinks would be really beneficial to you. But you’d need to act quickly.
If you buy now, you should see a really quick uplift. Time is of the essence in this market.’
I’d seen enough films on the TV that showed the stock market with lots of shouting going on and people yelling ‘sell’ and ‘buy’ loudly at each other. It all looked rather stressful to me. It wasn’t something that I’d ever considered would be part of my world.
‘That was quick. You spoke to him on a Saturday?’ My brain was whirring.
‘Ah, well, when I say he’s a contact, he’s more of a friend.’ He grinned at me. ‘He doesn’t pass on his expertise to everyone, you know. We’re very lucky. Great news, yes?’
‘Well, yes. A bit unexpected but yes. It is. So, does he want to meet me?’
‘No, he is happy to take my referral and give his advice.’
I could feel my brow furrowing.
‘Well, I’d like to meet him. I’d like to know who I’m dealing with and who I can trust.’ This sounded a bit of a strange way to do things. I didn’t know this man, who I was supposed to be taking advice from about my hard-earned money, from Adam.
‘That’s not the way people like this work, Michelle.
He has so much money that the amount that you are talking about wouldn’t even make a dent in his bank account.
You have to take these opportunities when they’re offered.
He doesn’t offer advice like this to many people, we’re very lucky.
Shall I tell him we’d like to go ahead and find out more? ’
‘I’m sorry, Makis, but I need some time to think. It was only in the last day or so that we even started to discuss this, so it’s come out of the blue really.’
‘I understand, Michelle. You started small and you can continue to stay small. You could go for a medium investment. Or you can go all out. You do have savings I presume?’
‘Yes, I do. But I can’t afford to be throwing money away.
What are we talking about when you say medium?
’ I was worried that medium to me would be small to a multi-millionaire.
My heart was beating a little faster than usual and I felt a little uncomfortable.
I wasn’t used to gambling with my money.
I was more of a savings type of girl. It was only recently that I’d ever considered working for myself and that gave me palpitations let alone gambling away the money that I had worked so hard to earn.
Although I couldn’t deny that knowing I’d invested in something and got way more back than I’d even imagined had felt quite thrilling, and it had definitely piqued my interest further.
‘There’s nothing to worry about. I promise. He’s a good man. That’s why I think you should, how do you say it, bite his foot off?’
‘Hand off. Not foot. And wow!’ I needed some time for this to sink in.
‘You could go again with as little or as much as you want. Staying small to medium is fine, but it’ll just take longer to generate a substantial amount of money.
This is your call, Michelle. But just remember you said that you wanted to expand your business.
There’s absolutely no pressure at all from me.
But it is a very good time to continue on a good roll.
And don’t tell me you weren’t delighted to get more back than you put in.
I saw that look on your face. You can’t deny you found it exhilarating. ’
I remembered Makis saying that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. And there was that saying ‘you have to speculate to accumulate.’ My brain was working overtime. He was right, it did give me a thrill.
An injection of cash could give me salaries for at least one member of additional staff, if not more along with their required technology and systems. And it might even allow me to rent an office, leaving money in the bank.
Might take some pressure off me for a while and make life a little more comfortable without having to worry each month whether I had enough to cover my bills.
Being employed for so long had been a luxury and it wasn’t until recently that I’d thought about how hand-to-mouth it could be.
I wasn’t destitute by any stretch of the imagination but I did have to watch the pennies for sure.
Although I suppose I’d never had that extra cash in the first place.
Feeling quite light-headed, I noticed that my hands were shaking. This was huge for me.
‘I know it’s scary, Michelle, but it’s what you wanted. It’s just happened quicker than you planned. I was just chatting to him and he asked where I was staying and one thing led to another and I started telling him about your business and he was incredibly impressed by what I said.’
‘Well, thank you. I think. I just need some time to get my head around how much. How about if I invested what I’ve just made?
So I keep the two thousand five hundred I put in and invest the amount that it grew by so another two thousand five hundred.
I know it’s not a lot but it would let me make a start.
Do you think that will be OK? I know I already have questions and will probably think of more. ’
‘Yes, but I still think you should invest more if you can. The more you put in the more you get out. Have a think. You go and do whatever you are doing today. I’ll call him back and stall him for time, ask him for a meeting and then we can approach him together.
He’s away in Monte Carlo at the moment on his yacht though, so I’m not sure when he’ll be around.
Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.’ He grinned at me. Easy for him to say.
Trying to work out in my head if I wanted to invest more was blowing my mind a bit, but he was right. The more I put in, the more money I would be able to throw back into the business. Maybe I should go higher. I would mull it over a little longer but maybe I should be taking more of a risk.
Still feeling a little uneasy, I sipped at my coffee and then when I glanced at my watch, I realised that I needed to get my walking gear on and go and meet Jacqui.
I’d got delayed earlier while in town, chatting to Mary in the supermarket and Phoebe in the chemist. It was always the way in Sandpiper Shore.
It hadn’t taken me long to fit in, but it did mean that a quick trip out was never as quick as you wanted it to be as you inevitably bumped into someone you knew.
‘Opportunities like this are very few and far between. You have to grab them while you can. Well done, Michelle. I knew that you were amazing and told you that I believed in you.’ He crossed the room and pulled me close to his chest. His hard, toned chest. Where he held me for slightly longer than he probably should have.
And probably longer than I should have allowed him to, but again in the moment it was nice to be held.
The intoxicating woody scent of sandalwood lingered long after and I almost had to force myself to pull away, saying I was heading off to get changed and then going out.
I might have been dazzled by this investment opportunity, and I needed to make sure that it was the only thing I would be dazzled by.