Читать книгу The Geese That Lay The Golden Eggs - Nicola Maria Vitola - Страница 19

Contact between Henry and Silvia is interrupted for about ten days. She doesn’t get in touch with him. After all, apart from the flattering declarations of love, she’s not really interested in him. Or at least, she’s not interested enough to go looking for him or get worried about his absence.

Henry suddenly gets in touch again, telling her he’s been mugged shortly before returning home. Without beating about the bush, he asks her to help him out with some money, because he’s been left high and dry. He has nothing. He tells her the details of the armed robbery that he’s suffered at the hands of two thugs. Frightened of being killed Henry gave them everything he had on him: his wallet, his credit card, his gold watch.

Silvia answers that she is sorry. Henry insists on asking her to send him money. She doesn’t have money and tells him so, but Henry continues to describe all his trials and tribulations. He says he has nothing, not even the minimum to be able to eat. Silvia advises him to make a complaint to the police. He answers he’s already done that, but all the same, he’s still without any resources. Only she can help him.

«No.» replies Silvia. «I don’t have money to give to anyone. I can barely cover my own expenses!»

«You’re heartless!» the man rants, «I need the money for my children!»

So, she starts questioning him. The usual questions that would come to mind to anyone. She asks him where his relatives in the real estate business are. She wants him to explain why his children are in Ivory Coast and not in France.

Henry gets cross, he tells her she hasn’t understood a thing of what he’s told her. He makes excuses for his contradictions. Then he changes tone and asks her for a lower figure. A thousand euros will suffice. «Can she send whatever she can! He’ll pay back every cent.»

Silvia interrupts the conversation. Embittered she does some research and discovers he’s a scammer.

She was about to fall for it too, but in this case, she’s always kept a level head. She didn’t let herself be enchanted, a little thanks to her personality, a little because basically that unknown man never really seemed completely convincing to her. To be precise, let’s say the romantic talk on his part was fake, there never was any on her part.