Truth be told, he was sorry  that their relationship had slowly, but surely, as friends, had more or less ended.  In that sense, Bette was the ultimate professional.  He didn’t realize when he had made his offer that this was the downside risk to bringing her on board as a trusted adviser; it meant losing her as a friend.

Perhaps one day, when he, or she, ended their business relationship, their friendship could resume.  He missed her, talking to her long into the night over drinks at her place, or his pad. Picking her brain over this piece of sculpture, or that painting.  Asking her advice about a new romance. She was simply, the most exotic combination of beauty, brains… and heart, that he had every come across.

As she continued updating him on the latest deals that were brought to her for review, his mind went on another tangent: perhaps he had never really fallen out of love with her.  The only thing that had changed was that his love for her had evolved, transitioning from romantic love, to that of a good and dear friend.  And now, as a key adviser.

He thought, with gratitude to the fates: she was Tina’s now.  By some lucky happenstance, the stars had aligned for them, and they had found each other.  Tina was lucky.

Check that:  from what he knew of Tina, Bette was lucky, too.  Hmmm… a lucky pair.  He wondered if he would every get so lucky, as well.

“Bette…Bette…,” he tried to cut in.  The one deal that caught his interest was a potential one in India. “Why don’t you turn the Wakefield stuff over to Mark?  Give him a few bullets on what he should do, and I’ll email him later, also, to make sure he follows everything you tell him to do to the letter.   That tech investment in India could be good for us in the long-run.  I agree with you; even if there are signs people could cool off about that market, given uncertainties, this is precisely the right time to go in.”

He continued,“So why don’t you pop over to Dubai, maybe?  You were saying Arvind was going there?”

“Yeah, he is,” Bette was confused.  She had suggested things to be handled the other way around from what George was saying.  She would take care of Wakefield, since Mark was the emerging market, and India, expert.  He should be the one meeting Arvind, right?