"A hundred and one million? Is he for real?"
The hall bustled with hushed voices for a moment. The plot was undoubtedly getting thicker as everyone seemed to be waiting with bated breaths for James' reply. James remained uncharacteristically silent while Eric smirked.
"To summarize, a hundred million dollars is what the Saja sapphires are currently valued at. For the inconvenience of having to take them from whom I have gifted them to in order to sell it to you so you can gift them to your secretary, I am charging one million. A paltry sum. This way, your secretary may be a hundred million worth but Ronny will always be a million dollars worthier."
"What are you rambling on about?" Mona shouted. "At the end of the day, they're just stones. No sane man would spend that much money on the Saja sapphires, talk less of fake ones."
"Stay out of this," Eric snapped at Mona, his voice carrying a severe undertone of threat. She'd better listen to him. After all, her cup of atrocities was running full and she might just end up taking a sizable chunk from the wrath Eric planned for James. Eric glanced at his watch before giving James an undaunted dazzling smile.
"Let us be diplomatic here so we can get right back to the party and have fun. You bought Mona's Saja sapphires at seven million and I bought Ronny's at a hundred million. I won't be as petty as to call in the jewel experts but I may humour you and call the former owners of the stone."
"Wait." This was Sandra's husband, Danny, coming with an intervention. "We can't be sure that you are really Eric Strauss because his face isn't really public knowledge. How do we know you aren't just calling someone you've already plotted with to lie on your behalf? I'll call my connection instead, he knows who got the auction cancelled."
Eric shrugged. "Be my guest."
So, Danny brought out his phone with public flourish, dialled and put it on speaker. I briefly feared that Danny was in cahoots with James and Mona but I dismissed the thought. Danny was not the sleazeball that James was and I believed he had genuinely wanted the sapphires for his wife, Sandra.
When the call went through, Danny exchanged pleasantries with the other man on the line before going straight to the question.
"Do you remember the Saja sapphires shipped in from Asia?"
"How could I forget? The stone did well for my business. Everybody wanted them enough for me to host an auction. It truly was an excellent take but why are you asking about it all of a sudden? If I recall, you wanted the stone too and you were so annoyed when I did not proceed with the auction. You threw a fucking tantrum."
"Nevermind that," Danny said hurriedly as a faint blush crept up his cheeks. "You said you were offered an outrageous sum you couldn't possibly reject and that the transaction was completed within an hour. Was it by chance, seven million?"
The man on the line burst into loud laughter. "Harharhar Danny, what a funny joke! Id sell the snot in m nose for ten million before I sell the Saja sapphires for seven million. Oh come on Danny, they were worth at least ten million and you were willing to bid fifteen million with the bids rising up by half a million dollars."
"You know I could have gone higher than fifteen million if you had gone on with the auction."
"Trust me Danny when I say it wasn't worth the hassle. As beautiful as those sapphires are,nobody could have bid more than fifty. It's not everyday that a client walks up to me and offers ten times the starting price."
"A… a hundred million dollars?"
"A bleeping hundred million dollars, yeah. But why now Danny? You never wanted to know the price before. What brought about the sudden change of heart?"
"Could you… um, tell me who brought them?"
"Ah for sure Danny, but I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me and why do you want to know? You don't perhaps have a hundred and one million stashed somewhere do you?"
"Just tell me who already."
"Alright, it's supposed to be confidential information but what the hell, nobody would believe you either. So, on the day we were preparing to publish the auction announcement and we were having a little argument on if the increasing bid should be raised. And this young man just strides into my place of business. He was alone in a suit and a tie. And he just offers ten times the starting price for the jewel. He didn't even know the starting price but he was ready to pay ten times. And there I was hesitating cause I knew how much you wanted them and how much you were my man; and how your wedding anniversary was coming up. In fact, I could have been your best man if I didn't have that business deal to close in Miami. But that besides, while everyone had their mouths open, this guy looks right at me and says 'Come on man, you won't get a better deal at the auction.' and you know what? He was fucking right so I said 'fuck it' and we went through the whole red tapes and this guy and his money was legit, and more? I had never seen or heard about him before and you know how I like to know my rich people so I got his private number so I could call him if I had another beautiful stone."
"Who was it?" Sandra snapped.
"Hold on is that…?"
"Who was it?" A few more simultaneous echoes of impatience. "I can't believe this guy, tell us a name and he tells us a story," someone grumbled.
"Well, so I guess I have an audience. Nice one Danny. I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Danny wailed.
"I'm not trying to throw you under the bus dude. I really don't know."
"Then what was all your talk for?"
"Cause I've been dying to tell someone. All I can remember is his account had a Strauss in it and it's very possible he could be related to Eric Strauss cause how else can he splurge that kind of money on sapphires without batting an eye? But he put the stones in someone else's name. I remember it was Ronica Risconce. The name sounds kinda familiar now that I think of it. Must have seen it in a newspaper or something…"
"Can you describe the buyer?"
"Oh sure, I'll even do you one better for you and the audience listening in on this conversation like spies. I'll give you his private number just in case you want to call him. A man like that can be good for your business. I think he was thirty ish, tall, silver eyes, dark hair."
"Thanks."
"No Danny, the pleasure's all mine. Let's catch up some time where you can tell me what's really going on. I'll be sure to bring my own fucking audience."
Danny cut the call and immediately dialled another number. In a matter of seconds, Eric's phone began to ring. He brought it out of his suit jacket and answered it with a wide smirk.
"Hello?"
And just like that, the spell of silence in the hall was broken.