"We can arrive in them," she decided after a moment, "on one condition."
Michael waited.
"Nobody in that room gets to pretend we became worthy of respect during the drive over. Tell them who we are, by all means. But tell them they owed us courtesy when we came in your father's old sedan, too."
Michael nodded. "That's exactly what I want them to understand."
Walter sighed and looked at his wife. "You really want to ride in one of those things?"
"I've ridden in your old station wagon with a wet towel under the passenger window," she replied. "I think I've earned a different experience."
He laughed despite himself. "Fair enough. But I'm keeping my hat."
Michael returned to his study and asked Lydia to proceed only after confirming permission from the collectors and the gallery's ability to receive the cars safely. She arranged a conversation with the collection's curator, a detail-oriented woman named Margaret Price, who agreed to the brief visit under the same procedures already in place for the exhibition. Professional drivers would handle the vehicles, and the presentation would take place in the controlled forecourt rather than among moving traffic. The cars would return to the collection afterward. Michael was grateful because the arrangement gave his parents the experience they had chosen without turning a private collection into a reckless spectacle.
He also called a lawyer who advised Bennett Meridian on commercial ethics and discrimination issues. Her name was Rebecca Sloan, and she was known for asking questions rich clients sometimes preferred not to hear. Michael told her the story and asked what he could properly request from the dealership. She cautioned against treating the showroom as his own boardroom merely because he could afford its most expensive inventory. A business needed to preserve evidence, hear from witnesses, follow applicable employment procedures, and take responsibility for whatever it found. Public humiliation was not a substitute for accountability.
"I don't want to humiliate anybody," Michael said.
Rebecca let a small silence follow. "I believe you want to believe that," she replied. "You also love your parents and you're angry. Those facts can both be true. Make sure they don't pull you in opposite directions tomorrow."
He appreciated the correction, even though it stung. He asked her to prepare a concise letter requesting preservation of surveillance recordings and any written incident reports, and to offer the dealership a chance to conduct a review with an outside adviser if it preferred. He would bring the letter rather than a crowd of lawyers. Rebecca agreed, provided he would call her before making any formal settlement or employment demands.
On the other side of the city, John Williams poured himself a glass of expensive wine in his apartment and replayed the day's incident for a friend over the telephone. In his version, two people who obviously had no intention of buying a car had disrupted the showroom and a junior salesperson