The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe Read Free

can spend the whole day worrying about it.”
    â€œThis news of yours,” said Mma Ramotswe, trying to sound as if the matter under discussion was barely of any interest at all, “will it come in a letter, or …”
    â€œNo,” said Mma Makutsi, shaking her head. “It will not be in a letter.”
    â€œOr a telephone call?”
    â€œYes, it will be a telephone call. It will be a telephone call from my lawyer.”
    This could hardly be ignored. “Your lawyer, Mma?”
    Mma Makutsi waved a hand with the air of one who is accustomed to having a lawyer. Of course she might have a lawyer now, thought Mma Ramotswe, but she would not have had one all that long ago. Yet she did not begrudge Mma Makutsi the satisfaction of having a lawyer after having lived so many years without one, even if she had no lawyer herself, now that she came to think of it.
    â€œIt is nothing very important, Mma Ramotswe. Just a little …”
    Mma Ramotswe waited.
    â€œA little personal matter.”
    â€œI see.”
    Mma Makutsi rose from her desk. “But we should not be talking about these things. We should perhaps be going over that business plan I drew up, Mma.”
    â€œAh, yes,” said Mma Ramotswe. “The business plan.”
    Mma Makutsi had drawn up a business plan when she had seen one that Phuti Radiphuti had prepared for the Double Comfort Furniture Store. Of course the two businesses were as chalk and cheese in terms of turnover and profit, but Phuti had told her that every concern should have a plan and she had volunteered to do the necessary work.
    Mma Ramotswe took the sheet of paper passed to her by Mma Makutsi. The heading at the top read
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency: Challenges Ahead and Options for the Future.
    â€œThat is a very good title,” said Mma Ramotswe. “Challenges andoptions. I think you are right to mention those, Mma: they are both there.”
    Back in her seat, Mma Makutsi accepted the compliment gracefully. “It is forward-looking, Mma. You’ll have noticed that.”
    Mma Ramotswe glanced down the page. “And there is this paragraph here that talks about enhanced profit. That is good, Mma.”
    Mma Makutsi inclined her head. “That is the objective of every business, Mma. Enhanced profit is what counts. If we were a company, that would drive the share price up.”
    â€œYes,” said Mma Ramotswe, knowing even as she spoke that she sounded rather vague. She had no head for finance, especially when it came to companies and share prices and so on, although she understood the basics and was particularly good at counting. This she had learned from her father, who had been able to count a herd of cattle with astonishing accuracy, even as the animals moved around and mingled with one another. She frowned. Enhanced profit had to come from somewhere. “But where do these bigger profits come from, Mma?”
    Mma Makutsi answered with authority. “They come from greater turnover, Mma. That is where profits come from: turnover.”
    Mma Ramotswe muttered the words
greater turnover.
There was a comforting, mantra-like ring to them, yes, but …“Turnover is the same thing as fees?” she asked.
    â€œIt is,” said Mma Makutsi. “Turnover is money going through the books.” She made a curious gesture with her right hand, representing, Mma Ramotswe assumed, the progress of money through the books. It all looked so effortless, but Mma Ramotswe was not convinced.
    â€œMore money going through the books, Mma Makutsi, must mean …” She hesitated. “More fees?”
    â€œYes. In a sense.”
    â€œIn a sense?”
    â€œYes.”
    Mma Ramotswe looked down at the business plan. “So, unlessI misunderstand all this, Mma, more fees means more clients, or, I suppose, higher charges to the clients we already have.”
    Mma Makutsi stared at her. Her large