My Soul - Mi Alma (Ongoing)

17 Mick and Stuart

I was thrilled to see Mick and Stuart again. I felt I had so much to share with them after my weekend in Sevilla.

"So tell me baby doll – what has happened to you over the weekend? You sounded somewhere between tired and upset when we talked." Stuart looks me straight in the eyes.

"Let's see what Carlos has cooked for us. He's such an excellent chef – I think he has to give me private classes," I smiled happily. "Ohh, I'm sure he should," Mick said – "because you cooking sucks Alma, you have a lot of fantastic qualifications, but cooking is not one of them."

"Thanks – I love you too, Mick," I smirked.

"Alma – can I join your cooking classes with Carlos, he is so HOT" Stuart laughed.

"I'm not sure if Mick will approve of it Stuart, besides, you are the best chef of the three of us – By the way, I need to go out and find a formal dress for some fucked up reception hosted by the  American embassy, care to be my personal shopper? You know me, I hate shopping" I sent him a hopeful glance.

"I'd love to baby doll," Stuart gave me a wide grin. Carlos entered with the culinary treats of the day – I rushed over to him, "what are you tempting us with now Carlos?" He laughed and placed a big casserole of chicken, chili, chickpeas, and rice on the table. "Tempting you– what could be more tempting than my body?" He gave me a sloppy kiss, laughed, and opened a bottle of wine.

We had a wonderful evening, Mick and Stuart told us about the trial they were working on in Paris, and the surprise upholds of the case for five days so they could come down to Madrid. I told them about my revelations in Sevilla, and my uncle Gabriel. 

"Alma" – Mick said suddenly serious, after an evening of fun and laughter, "I - or actually Stuart - have done some research. Your mama's outburst in New York really made no sense to me then," he said. "So I had to find out if anything in the company made her panic as she did."

"Well, you see – back in the old days when your grandfather Leo Sachs started this law firm, there was a lot of cooperation with Spanish companies, companies that were blacklisted or boycotted by both countries and consumer groups. Sachs& Goldberg helped them resettle their business in "neutral" countries, meaning other European countries, Panama, the US, or Canada.  They also represented several south American dictators, helping them to invest their money – This is the really shady past of Sachs&Goldberg and how our two families got so wealthy. Not an inheritance to be proud of" Mick looks at me with a sad expression.

"But why be scared of these old skeletons 50 or even almost 70 years later?" I asked.

"Sachs&Goldberg is not the only one of the New York bigger law firms that would be caught red-handed. If some investigative journalists started looking for skeletons, they would drop out of any closets - in heaps. What about all the African and Southeast Asian dictators who have invested their people's money in their own names, in buildings, and stocks in the US and Europe? Technically and legally, these companies do nothing wrong, but their reputation will suffer among clients who want transparency. I guess that is what your dad is afraid of Alma, but as the next CEO, and I'm not," Mick gives me a tight hug.

"Most large banks, investment-companies, and legal companies have dirt on their hands when it comes to whitewashing huge fortunes held by dictators around the world." Mick takes another sip of his wine. "So, what do you want to do with the company Mick?" I looked him in the eyes. "I honestly don't know, Alma. I have been afraid of coming out of the closet as gay for about 10 years in fear of company reputation. Everything has always been about company reputation, and when we start studying the company reputation it's ugly as hell.  What about saying, hey we don't care about the past's secrecy. We want to run an open and transparent company – and those clients who can not go along with our ethical standards will have to find another lawyer".

"Do you think our dads would accept that?" knowing the question is more rhetorical than real."No, I don't think so," he said quietly.

"So, on a lighter note – should we go dress shopping tomorrow?" Stuart sent me a hopeful glance.

"Sure," I said; "Carlos, should we take Claudia along as well? She knows where to go, and I think she detests shopping as much as I do."

Carlos phones Cladia, and gives us both the afternoon off work tomorrow – we all agree that Stuart should come over to the Museum around noon – so we could have a few hours of work first.

"Carlos, is that gorgeous green Morgan in the garage yours? I have been dying to ask, " Stuart looked at Carlos, who confirms that he is the owner of the Morgan. He also offered Mick and Stuart to borrow it and go sightseeing on Friday – both of the boys were thrilled.

The next day Stuart turned up in my office at noon. Claudia is almost as tall as I, and she knows a few good places to go dress hunting. Claudia dislikes shopping and wearing fancy dresses as much as I do. Her style is about as dull, straight out of a conservative Ralph Lauren catalog, as mine – Christ, I even have Airedales, just like Ralph Lauren.

Both of us were looking for simple dresses with elegant cuts and excellent materials. Stuart took his job as a personal shopper seriously, and the lady working in the dress shop almost has a fit when he pulled out all the dresses there – to reject them. Then he saw it, a very simple green dress of silk taffeta – figure-fitting, but not tight, no beading – just a plain green sheet dress, with a mandarin collar and short sleeves. "Alma, I think I found your dress!" Stuart came over to my fitting room with it. It was gorgeous! 

Some minor changes had to be done to the dress, but we had more than a week to the reception,  so the tailor could easily make the changes

Claudia settled for a champagne-colored dress with a Greek-inspired design, free-flowing from below the breasts in an almost transparent silk-chiffon.

We all meet up with Mick at a sidewalk café, where he was sitting; deep into a book and a glass of wine."We are done shopping!" – I exclaimed.

"No, we are not" Stuart corrected me, "you need a pair of either nude or green heels to go with your dress Alma." I just looked at him, "you go out and look. No more than two inches heels – size 8, which would be 39, or 40 in Spanish sizes – I'm done for"."That's my size as well – try my shoe and see if it fits" Claudia commented, "I'll go with Stuart, and you two sit here and enjoy yourself."

Mick and I were sitting in silence for a while. "what do you think, Alma? After all the law firm is partly your inheritance as well." I nodded and looked at him.

"I believe our fathers would not understand, they have always been money-driven."

Just then, I saw Carlos walking to our table. He sat down and looked at both of us. "I heard what you were talking about, and I have been thinking about our conversation last night. Just to balance the picture a little, yes, many actions are inexcusable, but have either of you ever reflected over how Antonio Bech could have the money to buy a townhouse in Manhattan? Even if this was in the 70-ies?"

We both shook our heads – "Well," Carlos continued, "some of the same law firms and financial institutions also helped people like him getting their fortune out of the country and selling off their estates. So the picture is not entirely black and white".

Mick's eyes met mine – I know we were thinking the same thing, we have to do more research, was it Sachs&Goldberg that helped my grandfather?

Claudia and Stuart are back – They found a pair of nude heels that fit me, and I guess they would be fine.

We all went back to Carlos's place to cook dinner together – Claudia loves cooking, and according to Carlos,  she is good at it. We stopped by a shop to get whatever we needed.

I was having a cooking class with Carlos and Claudia in the kitchen, while Mick and Stewart made sure our wine glasses were filled.

 "Tell me" – Claudia said, "What is the deal with the four of you? We all looked at each other – and nodded. We needed to tell Claudia. She was actually relieved that Carlos and I are still on.  "I envy your openness about this, we are in Spain, you know," she said, and her shoulders rose. "The country where the seven mortal sins still are vividly alive, and hypocrisy rules ".

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