In the Restaurant

Carl RITCHIE: Between you and me, even now I sometimes wonder whether or not you could have given me that advance payment.

Margaret PEAKE: It would have been tricky, but I could have managed it.

Carl RITCHIE: What about your senior managers?

Margaret PEAKE (with a broad smile): I often used that one on you, but fortunately in my case they always allowed me a lot of scope for personal discretion. They would never have intervened on such an issue.

Carl RITCHIE (with a more awkward grin): Of course not, that’s what I suspected. But what could I have done to obtain that advance payment?

Margaret PEAKE (becoming serious again, almost solemn): When you put the question of the advance payment to me, it was already too late.

Carl RITCHIE: But surely I had to discuss the price first?

Margaret PEAKE: You should have raised the two issues simultaneously. If you had presented the advance payment as an essential trade-off to obtain a price of $400,000, I would have agreed to it.

Carl RITCHIE: But I discussed the advance payment with you just a minute later!

Margaret PEAKE: A minute later was too late.

Carl RITCHIE: And yet I’ve often tried to obtain something in return.

Margaret PEAKE: And you often did obtain something!

Carl RITCHIE: Not always. Do you remember the issue of the exclusive deal?

Margaret PEAKE: It was a long time ago now.

Carl RITCHIE: I still can’t understand how I didn’t clinch that one.

Margaret PEAKE: Remind me again, what happened?