A Client Dinner (Arab Path)

"I figured as much," John grunted. "What is it?"

"The Sheikh is going to be in town next week and wants to have dinner with you and ... Barbie." The color drained from John's face. He took a moment before trying to recapture some bravado.

"Well, if that's what he wants, he'll get of course." John was lost in thought for the rest of the game.

Afterwards, John and Carrie huddled in a back booth in the country club.

"John, who is the Sheikh?" John took a long pull of his lager.

"Ibrahim Al-Assaf. He's a cousin of a cousin of a king. Owns AOG, the big energy company. Billionaire. Back in the day, he gave me a little business. Helped me get started. Then he made an indecent proposal: we'd be their bankers for all of Texas - but he wanted a month with Cathleen." Carrie's jaw dropped. John continued.

"We thought about it long and hard, and we thought the pros outweighed the cons. He fulfilled his end of the bargain, but we had to wait for Cathleen to give birth to Chad."

"And then she died. So he's cashing Cathleen's debt in with me?"

"A fair bet," John said sadly.

"Well, I don't welch on promises. Even Cathleen's promises. And if he likes me?"

"He's shrewd. He'll make an offer I can't refuse, and you can't resist."