Setting the Records Straight

Bobbie was hard at work on some figures for Max. The heavy wooden doors of the bank were open wide, and the large ceiling fans lazily sliced their way through the warm still air.

Although she had her head down and heard nothing, she knew there was someone about to enter the bank. The shaft of sunlight that had been bathing her head was cut off. Looking up, she saw the silhouette of a large man standing in the doors. He was surrounded in a golden halo of sunlight for a second or two before he stepped into the interior.

He walked silently and gracefully towards the counter and stood in front of Bobbie, saying nothing.

“Good morning, sir. May I help you with anything?” Bobbie asked pleasantly.

The silent man looked back at her and she noticed a sadness about him. He cleared his throat and spoke. “G’Day. I’m afraid I don’t have an appointment, but would it be at all possible to speak with Mr. Skinner?” he enquired.

“One moment, I’ll just check for you. May I ask who would like to see him?”

“Oh yes, sorry. My name is Thorne…Terry Thorne.”

Bobbie smiled up at the man in front of her and bit the inside of her lip to stop the smile becoming a grin. How he reminded her of James Bond when he gave her his name. He looked fit enough to actually be James Bond as well.

Max picked up the call and she got back to business. “Mr. Skinner, would you be free to see someone without an appointment?” she waited for his reply. “Thanks you, his name is Mr. Thorne, shall I bring him up? Right, I’ll tell him.” She put the phone down and once again smiled up at Terry.

“He said he’d be down in a couple of minutes, Mr. Thorne. Would you like to take a seat?”

“No worries, Luv. I’ll stand.” Terry replied, looking around the bank.

The door to the stairs opened and Max came rushing out. “Terry…good to see you,” he told his friend, hugging him warmly, much to Bobbie’s surprise. “Come on up to my office.”

Hugging him back, Terry then pulled away. “Thanks, mate. I know I should have called. Hope I’m not putting you out.”

“Not at all, Terry. I don’t have any appointments this morning. Follow me up.”

They went back up to Max’s office and he motioned Terry to a large, comfortable leather chair. “Would you like a cuppa?”

“Tea would be great, Max.”

“I’m going to make one for Bobbie as well, so I’ll take hers down first. Make yourself comfy for a bit.”

Terry nodded as Max headed off towards what he assumed to be the staff room. He wandered around the office for a bit, looking at the view from the window, and running his hand across Max’s beautiful desk. He then tried out the chair he’d been offered. Finding it extremely comfortable, he wondered if he could talk Max out of it.

After about five minutes the door opened again and Max entered with two steaming cups of tea. Handing one to Terry, he went to sit behind his desk, then thought better of it and pulled up the other leather chair beside his friend.

They sat drinking in silence for a minute, then Max put his cup on the desk. “What can I do for you, Terry?”

“I need you to help me sort out my finances, Max. Not mu business account, my joint account.”

Max looked at his friend with sorrow in his eyes. What Terry must be going through he couldn’t imagine. He felt that the shock of M falling in love with one of her fellow hostages must have been devastating for Terry. He momentarily wondered if things would have been easier if Dino had told Terry that she had been killed.

He booted up his computer and brought up the records, motioning Terry to move closer so that he could look at the screen as well.

“There’s a lot in there, Terry. What would you like me to do with it, shall I close the account?”

“No, mate. That wouldn’t be right. Can you just take my details off and make it a single account in…M’s name?” His throat caught as he spoke her name out loud. He hadn’t even begun to heal yet.

Max gently placed his hand on Terry’s shoulder. “I can do that for you, my friend. How do you want me to divide the balance? I can open up a new personal account for you and transfer funds into it before I change the joint account.”

Terry just sat and stared at the screen. Should he just let Max leave all the money in the account for M? He thought that would be the easiest thing to do, but then again, he couldn’t keep dipping into the business account. He looked at the total and tried to work out in his head how much was actually his. He knew that he had put the majority of the cash in there when they had moved to The Glen, and was well within his rights to take it all out leaving hardly anything in there. Of course he was a gentleman, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that, even as hurt as he was by M’s actions.

“Split it, Max…50-50.”

“Are you sure, Terry?”

“I think so. Do it before I change me mind. I just want everything done and dusted.”

“Okay. I can do most of it on the computer right now. I’ll open up a personal account for you, and then I’ll get the paperwork printed up for you to sign. Do you want to wait or come back in a bit?”

“I’ll wait if that’s okay.”

“Good. By the time we’ve got everything sorted it will be almost time to close up for the day. We can go get lunch.”

“Okie dokie, Max. If it’s okay, I’ll go and sit on the bench across the street until you need me to sign. It’s too nice a day to be stuck inside.”

“Tell me about it. It’s on days like this I’m glad we only open four hours a day. I’ll get Bobbie to give you a call when everything’s ready.”

“Bobbie?”

“My beautiful assistant downstairs.”

“Oh, right. Sure, fine. I’ll wait for her call.”

Fifteen minutes later, Bobbie walked to the bank entrance. She saw Terry sitting on the bench, head tipped back, eyes closed and his face to the sun. She walked across the road and spoke quietly.

“Mr. Thorne. Max is ready for you now.”

Terry opened his eyes and looked up at her smiling face. She was a pretty thing. Getting up, he managed a slight smile. “Thanks, Luv,” he said, following her back to the bank.