either.
When Tallie went back to L.A. that night, Hunt had good news for her, and he was making a wonderful dinner.
“Well, we passed the audit with flying colors.” Hunt beamed at her. “Mr. Nakamura is happy with everything, and they’re going to draw up the papers next week. I guess that means that neither of us is going broke, nor a crook.” He kissed her and she smiled too, and told him about her meeting with Victor on Sunday. “I had one of those meetings with him this week too. I swear, he wants to know everything I ate at every restaurant and was I talking business while I did.” They both laughed about their persnickety accountant, but Tallie commented that she was sure he was why she had never had an audit by the IRS, because he was so precise and so honest, and Brigitte kept such good track of her books. Problems with the IRS would be a headache, and she had always assiduously avoided them by being honest and cautious. So it was worth putting up with how thorough Victor was, and sometimes how annoying.
“I’ll meet with him when you play tennis,” she told Hunt. “He said it would be quick. The last thing I want to do is spend my Sunday with Victor.” They both laughed at the idea.
Hunt and Tallie spent a relaxing weekend. Tallie caught up on some errands and things she wanted to do. It was nice to have some time in the city before she had to go back to Palm Springs again. She visited her father on Saturday afternoon, and spent several hours with him. He wanted to hear all about how the film was going, and they sat in his garden and chatted while she filled him in. And on Sunday, when Hunt went to play tennis, she went to Victor’s office for the meeting she had promised him. He was waiting for her in a suit and tie. Tallie was wearing torn blue jeans, her high-tops, and a faded sweatshirt whose only virtue was that it was clean.
“Thank you for coming in on Sunday, Victor,” she said politely. “My schedule is crazy right now while we’re on location. It sounds like everything went great with the audit. Our investor notified us on Friday that he’s satisfied. I really appreciate everything you did.”
“That’s my job,” he said, as he adjusted his glasses and sat down. He had a list in front of him on his desk. The questions that applied to the California Use Tax were on the top of his list. He reminded her that it applied to her daughter too, and that anything she bought in New York and brought back to California had to have state tax paid on it. It seemed like a terrible burden to Tallie, but it was the law. And she said that Brigitte kept a careful record of everything they bought out of state and reported it to him. Victor was relieved and said that many of his clients forgot and got in trouble for it later on. He had questions about employees, several independent contractors that he wanted to verify with her. And as he droned down the list, Tallie found herself thinking that he could have done a lot of it with Brigitte. He had recategorized the apartment in Paris as a personal rather than a business expense, and he reminded her that she could only take Max as a dependent as long as she remained a full-time student, which Tallie already knew. He had told her several times. And then he scolded her for the amount of money she spent in cash every month.
“I can’t use it as a tax deduction when I don’t know what you spend it on,” he complained.
“Ice cream, parking meters, Starbucks. I don’t think you’re missing any big deductions, Victor,” she said with a rueful look.
“You must drink a lot of Starbucks then. From what I can tell, you’re spending about twenty-five thousand dollars a month in cash.” He tried not to look disapproving, but he was unhappy about it. That was a lot of deductions to miss.
“Twenty-five
thousand
? That’s impossible, I don’t think I spend more than two hundred a month in cash, maybe one. I use my credit card for everything I buy, even
When Tallie went back to L.A. that night, Hunt had good news for her, and he was making a wonderful dinner.
“Well, we passed the audit with flying colors.” Hunt beamed at her. “Mr. Nakamura is happy with everything, and they’re going to draw up the papers next week. I guess that means that neither of us is going broke, nor a crook.” He kissed her and she smiled too, and told him about her meeting with Victor on Sunday. “I had one of those meetings with him this week too. I swear, he wants to know everything I ate at every restaurant and was I talking business while I did.” They both laughed about their persnickety accountant, but Tallie commented that she was sure he was why she had never had an audit by the IRS, because he was so precise and so honest, and Brigitte kept such good track of her books. Problems with the IRS would be a headache, and she had always assiduously avoided them by being honest and cautious. So it was worth putting up with how thorough Victor was, and sometimes how annoying.
“I’ll meet with him when you play tennis,” she told Hunt. “He said it would be quick. The last thing I want to do is spend my Sunday with Victor.” They both laughed at the idea.
Hunt and Tallie spent a relaxing weekend. Tallie caught up on some errands and things she wanted to do. It was nice to have some time in the city before she had to go back to Palm Springs again. She visited her father on Saturday afternoon, and spent several hours with him. He wanted to hear all about how the film was going, and they sat in his garden and chatted while she filled him in. And on Sunday, when Hunt went to play tennis, she went to Victor’s office for the meeting she had promised him. He was waiting for her in a suit and tie. Tallie was wearing torn blue jeans, her high-tops, and a faded sweatshirt whose only virtue was that it was clean.
“Thank you for coming in on Sunday, Victor,” she said politely. “My schedule is crazy right now while we’re on location. It sounds like everything went great with the audit. Our investor notified us on Friday that he’s satisfied. I really appreciate everything you did.”
“That’s my job,” he said, as he adjusted his glasses and sat down. He had a list in front of him on his desk. The questions that applied to the California Use Tax were on the top of his list. He reminded her that it applied to her daughter too, and that anything she bought in New York and brought back to California had to have state tax paid on it. It seemed like a terrible burden to Tallie, but it was the law. And she said that Brigitte kept a careful record of everything they bought out of state and reported it to him. Victor was relieved and said that many of his clients forgot and got in trouble for it later on. He had questions about employees, several independent contractors that he wanted to verify with her. And as he droned down the list, Tallie found herself thinking that he could have done a lot of it with Brigitte. He had recategorized the apartment in Paris as a personal rather than a business expense, and he reminded her that she could only take Max as a dependent as long as she remained a full-time student, which Tallie already knew. He had told her several times. And then he scolded her for the amount of money she spent in cash every month.
“I can’t use it as a tax deduction when I don’t know what you spend it on,” he complained.
“Ice cream, parking meters, Starbucks. I don’t think you’re missing any big deductions, Victor,” she said with a rueful look.
“You must drink a lot of Starbucks then. From what I can tell, you’re spending about twenty-five thousand dollars a month in cash.” He tried not to look disapproving, but he was unhappy about it. That was a lot of deductions to miss.
“Twenty-five
thousand
? That’s impossible, I don’t think I spend more than two hundred a month in cash, maybe one. I use my credit card for everything I buy, even
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