literature

The Miseducation of Lavinia Llwynog: ChapterXIX

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“Enter.”  Evelyn did not bother looking up when she heard the knock on her door.  She continued writing when Sebastian walked in, not bothering to look up until she finished writing the last sentence of the paragraph.  She capped her gold pen and stood up.

“No need to be so formal, Evelyn!  This is your office, but I’m not a student who’s here for detention!” Sebastian laughed.
 
“Formality has its place, Sebastian.  My office is my workplace.  Even family and friends respect that.”  Evelyn responded evenly.
 
“Of course,” Sebastian remarked with a bemused smirk.  He lightly slapped the leather gloves that he was holding in his left hand against his right palm as he took in the pictures, bookshelves and other objects.

“Wonderful spot that you have here, Evelyn!  It’s elegant and feminine, but not at all twee.  Scholarly, but not stuffy.  You were quite fortunate to obtain a prime spot in the Ravenclaw tower.  Then again, Severus Snape’s wife would not be shunted off to a windowless closet!”

“Severus had nothing to do with me obtaining this office.  The professor who had it before me retired and it was available when I was hired.”

“Ah!  Well, the luck of the Irish has certainly rewarded you,” Sebastian commented as he picked up a framed photograph of Soren.  He smiled and placed it back on the table.

“So, Evelyn, you wished to speak with me.  I’m hoping that you have reconsidered my business proposal.”

“I most certainly have, Sebastian.  My answer has not changed.  Thank you, but I must decline your offer.” Evelyn replied firmly.
 
“I must say that I am disappointed, Evelyn.  You are perfect for the position.  Well, regardless of Vinnie’s decision, your services are no longer required for Augustine.”

“Wrong, Sebastian!  My services will continue for Augustine.  That is why I wanted to talk to you.  Your son has unwittingly been a pawn in this elaborate game, and you need to set things right.  You will talk to him after you have spoken to Vinnie.”

“What is wrong, Evelyn?  We had an agreement.  Augustine was not to know about this arrangement.  I would tutor Vinnie, you would tutor him.  Everyone benefits.  Had he known about this plan, I doubt if he would have participated.”

“Precisely, Sebastian.  Thankfully neither of the children has been damaged by the secretiveness of your scheme.  However I am no longer willing to be part of it.  Come clean to Augustine or I will!”

“Scheme?  Evelyn, that is not fair!  I was very up front with you about the terms of our arrangement!”   Sebastian frowned slightly as he sat down to face Evelyn.

“No more games, Sebastian!  You wanted to interview me in person to see if I would be a suitable tutor for your son.  I didn’t know it at the time, but you were also sizing me up for the other position.  Tutoring Augustine was just part of the test to see if I would be suitable for the position as the account representative for Le Baiserde Passion.  I’m sorry, Sebastian, but I am not going to clean up your affairs for you.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Evelyn,” Sebastian remarked.

“Please, Sebastian,” Evelyn countered.  “Give me some credit, since it is so obvious now.  The campaign for Le Baiser de Passion is in trouble due to your failure to reign in your own passions.  You’re having an affair with Jasmin d’Espagne.  Traipsing off to France on short notice and then suddenly returning tipped me off that things were not going well with the project.  You don’t want to continue the affair, but you also don’t want to abandon a product that will be the next big thing in love potions.  What to do?  Send in a knowledgeable female representative who won’t do anything foolish and who will save the campaign and make you rich, all without your wife ever having to know.  Problem solved!”

Sebastian stared at her.  His facial expression had not changed, and he showed no reaction to her announcement.
 
“I am sorry that you think so lowly of me, Evelyn,” he finally said in a smooth, quiet tone.  “You are only partly correct.  The campaign has hit some bumps, but  I am not having an affair with Jasmin.  Because the Baiser de Passion campaign is not running as smoothly as I anticipated, I have been running to France to ensure that the shipments will be in British apothecaries by February.  The schedule has been grueling and has taken me away from the other parts of my business which need attention.  I need a smart representative there who can patch things up and allow me to run my business without interruption!  That person is you!”

“No, Sebastian.  The person who needs to patch things up is the person who caused trouble in the first place.  I believe that you are not having a full-blown love affair with Jasmin d’Espagne, but maybe the two of you were a bit careless about keeping business and pleasure separate?  You say that your business is your pleasure, Sebastian, but even you know that there are boundaries.  There is that old song which claims that a kiss is still a kiss, but sometimes it is much more.”

Evelyn reached into her pocketbook and pulled out the floral lipstick tube.  She set it on the desk between them.

“That was certainly quite a kiss, Sebastian.  You should have been more careful.” She said quietly.
 
His face was a strange mix of anger and surprise as he stared at the lipstick. .  Evelyn wondered if he would have snapped at her if he had been in fox form, but continued to stare into his fiery eyes.
 
“How did you guess?” He asked quietly.

“It was difficult, but eventually I pieced things together.  I didn’t pick up on your clues right away, and I don’t think that many people would have.  However your son, R.J., told me that the two lipsticks that he had taken from the warehouse were the only two samples that you had brought over from France.  When you gave me the red one you told me that it definitely worked.  Now, how would you know if you hadn’t sampled the goods yourself?  The two lipsticks were unused, so you definitely did not try them with your wife.  As a man whose reputation is judged by the quality of the products that he imports, you must have told Madame d’Espagne that you wanted assurances that the lipstick worked.  I’m sure that she was more than happy to oblige.”

Sebastian continued to silently stare at the lipstick.  When he didn’t speak, Evelyn made her last comment.

“You don’t know me very well, Sebastian.   I don’t care how you live your personal life, and whatever arrangements you have with your wife are none of my business.  However I will not be an accessory to a plan which can potentially hurt innocent people, like your son.  I also cannot be bought, no matter how high the salary or attractive the perks are.  I love teaching.  My place is here.”

“Checkmate, Sebastian.  You invited me to play chess, but you know that not all chess games are played on a board.”

Sebastian was silent.  His eyes were still fiery, but he looked stunned, not angry.  Evelyn knew that this was a rare moment, and said nothing.  His features relaxed and he smiled at her.

“Congratulations, Evelyn!  You are one of the few people who has beaten me at the game!” Sebastian remarked.
 
“I do set boundaries, Evelyn, regardless of what you might think.  I know that certain pleasures should never be mixed with business.  However, I made a rare misjudgment.  I have known Jasmin for years and we have always had a good business relationship.  When I told her that I required proof that the lipstick worked, she laughed and said that if I didn’t mind kissing her, that would be all the proof that I would need.  I saw no harm in it at the time.  Our relationship was strictly a business one, and we are both married.”

“The effects of the lipstick took me by surprise.  Thankfully we were interrupted by a knock on her office door.  We laughed, I said that it was a stellar product, and thought that was the end of it.  What I didn’t know is that although I am happily married, Jasmin is unhappily married.  Unfortunately ever since the kiss,  Jasmin has been hinting that she wishes to pursue more activities in that direction.  When I ignored her suggestions, she became quite angry and threatened to pull out of the deal.”

“So what do you propose, Sebastian?” Evelyn asked archly.

“What I should have done from the beginning.” Sebastian reached into his jacket and pulled out his wand.

“Evanesco!”he intoned as he waved his wand over the lipstick.  It vanished from the top of Evelyn’s desk.
 
“You say that I don’t know you, Evelyn, but you don’t fully know me, either. There are things that I value more than money and my business, and all arrangements that I make are not necessarily to benefit myself,” he said evenly.  “Yes, I was testing you as a potential candidate for the position.  However it was Augustine’s happiness that was my primary concern.  It still is.  You have done better by him than I could have imagined.  I want it to remain that way, if you are still willing to mentor him.”

“I am willing, Sebastian.  However Gus should know that I am not mentoring him by chance.  You should talk to him.  Naturally he doesn’t have to know about the more unsavory details, but he still needs to know.”

“Vinnie needs to know, too,” Sebastian said gravely.  “It would be grossly unfair to leave her out.  It may influence her decision that is not to my liking, but I will bear the responsibility for that.”
 
“I will also share in the blame if Augustine is not willing to continue assisting me,” Evelyn said heavily.  “The deception was not easy, and I still feel guilty about it.”

“That is my fault, Evelyn.  Forgive me.  I have been known to cause mischief, but I never intend to bring harm to anyone.  Especially people whom I love and respect.” Sebastian’s voice was uncharacteristically soft.  There was no trace of his trademark smirk and confident air.
 
“Apology accepted, Sebastian.  I believe that helping your son was most important to you.  As parents we often do the wrong things for the right reasons.  The hardest part is admitting that to our children.”

“You’re correct about that, Evelyn.  I’ve been faced with many difficult situations in my life, but none of them remotely prepared me for the unexpected surprises and difficulties of being a parent.”

“Will cancelling the Baiser de Passion hurt your business?” she asked.  Sebastian shook his head.

“No, not in the long run.  Jasmin is hurt, but I am positive that she will see that there is no point in jeopardizing a successful business arrangement.   She is a smart businesswoman and we have worked well together for years.  She won’t do anything hasty like cancelling my other orders since our contract for exporting her other goods is still valid for several years.  We have made each other wealthy.  I am not cancelling the Baiser de Passion campaign, but I think that it should be postponed.  Adrian will be furious and the apothecary owners will not be happy, but the product was never marketed  here, and people will not miss something that they never had.   I will give Jasmin total control as to when she plans to renegotiate, if she ever intends to in the future.”
Sebastian stood and offered his hand to Evelyn.

“Thank you for your time, patience and wisdom, Evelyn Snape.  You are a wise teacher, and not only to your students.”

“Goodbye, Sebastian.  I hope that Gus will continue with our tutoring sessions,” Evelyn said as they shook hands.

“I hope that he will, too, just as I hope that Vinnie will continue her animagus training with me.  However, that is not for us to decide.  We will have to respect their decisions.”  Sebastian said gravely.  He left her office, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Evelyn sat down, staring at the thick envelope on her desk.  She had wanted to share the contents with Gus, but now realized that this event might never happen.  She knew that she had done the right thing, but that did not remove the veil of sadness which hung over her, compounded by her implicit guilt in the scheme.
 
Would Gus want to continue sessions with a teacher whom he had trusted, only to reveal that she had been part of a large deception?  Would Vinnie wish to continue her training with Sebastian?  He certainly was a scoundrel, but had revealed that his concern for the children was paramount.  It was all so complicated.

“Well, Severus, we certainly will have a very interesting conversation when we get home tonight,” Evelyn murmured as she capped her pen.  There was no point in trying to get any more work done that afternoon.
Checkmate!  A short bridge chapter before the final one.  Evelyn and Soren belong to :iconjosiecarioca: who also owns Vinnie with :iconameraucanablues:.  Gus, Sebastian, R.J., Adrian and Jasmin belong to me.  Naturally Severus Snape belongs to J.K. Rowling.
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foureyes's avatar
Wink/Razz  yup,....he knows !