The call came two days later, in the middle of a morning that—though emptied of appointments—had filled up with a surprising amount of minor details to be dealt with. Karim had spoken to Hallie a number of times. Too many, according to her protest after his most recent check-in, since the hour had been exceedingly late and a girl needed her beauty sleep, darn it!

“I just asked you to be my girlfriend and now you don’t want to talk to me?” Karim had pretended displeasure.

“Well, of course I want to talk to you. But I have to be at work in six hours! How can I be fit as a fiddle if I’m yawning over the patients?”

“Ah. I see I shall have to take a stern role when we move in together. The male is the head of the household, you must remember, and the female is there to obey his orders. We shall have to set up—”

“Oh, shush, you! Good night, my love.” Laughing, she’d hung up.

Much as he’d wanted to call back, just to tease her further, Karim was forced to accept her conditions, for now. The situation would change when her schedule was not as dependent upon that of Cranston’s Emergency Room Unit.

There would be many things to discuss with her and her parents on Saturday night: where to take up residence, when to move, what to do once they got there. The family would, of course, stay together in some way, with little Aaron so vital a hub to it.

A thousand possibilities for the future existed, each one more exciting than the last; and Karim couldn’t recall ever feeling so excited. He was about to embark on a life with this incredible woman who had, on multiple occasions now, nearly moved him to tears.

Life was good. Life was sweet. Despite the final, galling cancellation of the contract for which he had labored long and hard. He would put aside all thoughts of the loss and move on; so much more was waiting for him.

So, it came as a huge surprise when Karim answered his cellphone only to discover Chip Griffin at the other end of the line.

“Good morning,” he said cautiously.

“Hello, Karim.” Griffin’s voice sounded less boisterous, less hail-fellow-well-met, than usual. Perhaps the hospital visit had taken a toll on him.

He wanted, he said in a subdued tone, to meet with Karim—if that would be convenient.

“At your office?”

“Hell, yes, at my office, where did you think I—” His outburst was interrupted by Karim clearing his throat. “All right, all right. I mean, yes. I’d like to see you at my office. D’you think you can get here soon?”

Still wary, Karim assented that, yes, he could certainly come to the Oceanic headquarters.

“In an hour, then. That works for you? Okay. See you here.” Chip finished up with his customary slightly testy grumble, and hung up.

And Karim was left to wonder what on earth was going on. He’d thought everything was done and finished with Chip Griffin. Did the man want to try inflicting still more damage, but in person? Was he filing some unheard-of lawsuit for some unheard-of reason, just to reignite a feud?

At precisely noon, he hobbled into Griffin’s main office, to find not only Chip sitting behind his monster desk, but Annemarie sedately installed in the lounge area, center stage, thumbing through a magazine.

“What happened to you?” Chip asked, by way of greeting. Concerned by his visitor’s condition, the magnate rose, reached out for a handshake, and guided Karim toward more comfortable surroundings.

Seating himself on a chair with some care, Karim waved a hand.

“It is nothing, a minor accident that required the re-setting of some delicate bones. I am recovering nicely, thank you for asking. Good morning, Mrs. Griffin.”

Annemarie gave him her serene smile. “Hello, Karim. I’m delighted to see you again.”

“And you, as well. And I hope, Mr. Griffin, that you have fully recovered from your own indisposition.”

“Well, yeah, I am. More’n a damn indisposition, no matter what anybody says. Had me just about bent over with all the stuff goin’ on that I—” A slight flush mounted over his cheeks, and he squirmed a little. “Hey, you want some coffee or somethin’? I can call for—”

“Chip,” interrupted his wife, in the slightly maternal, scolding tone she had often had to use throughout their marriage.

“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” Elbows braced on the arms of his chair, Griffin put the tips of his fingers together. “Well, then. Seems like I sprung open a real hornets’ nest, with my mouth yappin’ on as it does. After I got home from the hospital, and took a couple days to recover, Annie here lit into me. Called me some…interesting names.”

“Chief among them was horse’s ass,” his wife reminded him crisply. “Which you were. And still are, until you’ve done what you promised to do.”

Karim, smiling a secret smile at the power this woman wielded, sat back in his upholstered seat and prepared to enjoy himself while the big man was forced to follow her demands.

“Indeed?” he murmured.

“Huh.” Griffin sent her a look from under his bushy brows that said he didn’t like this one bit. “Well, when she heard that I’d made such a fuss with Hallie—the nurse takin’ care of me—she was s’posed to be your wife, damn it!” he burst out again.

“Chip.”

It was like watching a circus performer, whip in hand, sending a snarling lion diving through a ring of flame by sheer power and force of will.

Griffin squirmed again.

“All right. So there I was, on my bed of pain, not knowin’ if I’d even survive. You can imagine the shock. You can understand why I was mad enough to chew ten-penny nails. You can see why I canceled the damned contract once and for all.”

“What my temperamental husband is saying,” Annemarie cut in smoothly, “is that any fool might have behaved that way, cutting off his nose to spite his face. Any hard-headed businessman, looking to sell his business and retire—to please his wife—would have given the matter plenty of thought, and done some consulting, before making such a rash move.”

“Huh. That, too.” Chip’s expression had grown sheepish, as it always did whenever his astute spouse chastised him. “Well, anyway. So I wanted to tell you that I’d changed my mind—”

“Again,” Karim and Annemarie chorused.

“—and I’m not lookin’ to cancel anything. I want to go through with the sale and purchase of Griffin Oceanic, and I’d appreciate it if you’d honor our agreement.”

Karim shifted his injured leg. “You will forgive me if I have become—I believe your phrase is—gun-shy about proceeding as planned?”

“Okay, okay, I can understand that. I’ve dilly-dallied back and forth over this deal, even after I thought I’d made my final decision, so it makes sense it’d be hard to take me at my word now. But, darn it, you lied to me!” Chip suddenly burst out like a cantankerous old water buffalo. “Why did you go through all that malarkey about being married, havin’ a son, when it was nothin’ but an out-and-out invention?”

In that, his wife felt she must support him.

“I’ve wondered about that, too, Karim. Do you have some explanation for telling us that white lie, which wasn’t such a small thing at all?”

Their guest looked straightforwardly from one to the other.

“I have no idea why,” he admitted, hands outspread. “It was a ridiculous boast that I should never have uttered. You were speaking of your family, both of you; your sons and their wives, and how important they are. And I believe I was simply carried away by the moment.”

“Carried away.”

“And then, of course, when I realized the situation I had created for myself,” Karim paused for a shrug and a deprecating chuckle, “I knew I had to find a solution as quickly as possible.”

“And Hallie?” Annemarie, who had served so ably as her champion during that formal anniversary night, asked quietly.

No point beating about the bush, now. All cards must be laid on the table.

“We became acquainted shortly after. Reluctant though she was to agree at first, Hallie finally accepted to pose as my wife, and her baby, Aaron, as my son. I believe—” Karim rested one hand atop his cane, considering, “—I believe that is the only time in my life I have ever been dishonest. And I have regretted my lapse more than you will ever know.”

“Damn fool stunt,” grumbled Chip, sliding down in the chair to clomp his feet upon the coffee table with an emphatic thump.

“And yours wasn’t?” Again, it was Annemarie who took up the cause—and the cudgel. “You backed out of what you said you wanted so many times my head was spinning. The two of you are as pigheaded as each other. Neither of you should be allowed to cross the street against traffic, let alone run billion-dollar companies.”

Ouch. The lady was a formidable opponent. Anyone conferring with her across a boardroom table, about any type of business transaction at all, would be well-advised to tread carefully.

Karim’s laugh eased the tension building up once again in the office.

“You are absolutely correct, Mrs. Griffin. It is a fair judgment that you give there. Meanwhile, I hope that—even though this is much after the fact—you will accept my sincere apology.”

“I will, by God, if you accept mine!” The magnate instantly straightened his spine, stood up, and took the Sheikh’s hand for a hearty shake. “Now, let’s finalize this damned deal, get Oceanic sold once and for all, and have a drink on it! My wife wants me to retire so we can take some crazy round-the-world cruise she’s been hankerin’ for.”

It wasn’t until many hours later that Karim was able to put in a call to his new girlfriend.

The drink had become two, and those had become lunch at one of the Griffins’ favorite restaurants, and that had become an after-lunch drink and celebration.

Feeling slightly dizzy and light-headed after too much alcohol—not to mention the champagne fizziness of the whole encounter—he waited with impatience for Hallie to answer the phone.

“You do know I’m at work right now, don’t you, you exasperating man?” she giggled. “I’m in the middle of—”

“Put it down, and stop what you’re doing,” chortled Karim in glee. “You’ll never guess what just happened!”