Even when Seth has a good idea, like checking to make sure a $5,000 watch is not counterfeit, Les does not feel comfortable listening to his son any longer; can they get past the hurt to begin to build trust once again?
Last week, Seth and Les avoided another relationship-shattering pitfall when Les came to see that Seth’s demands that they throw out the junk in American Jewelry & Loan were positive, not just another attempt to go over his father’s head. This week, Les’s biggest challenge was, well, Les.
Unexpectedly, a man brought a Audemars Piguet watch into the pawn shop, and Les was thrilled.
“It’s very rare that we see a brand of that caliber walk through the door, but here it was, right in front of me.
Absolutely spectacular,” Les said in a camera cameo. “When can I put it on my wrist, ‘cause there is no doubt about it, I’m owning it.”
Les put up the good fight, offering the man $3,000, no doubt thinking that he probably didn’t really know what he had, since he mispronounced the name of the watch when he brought it to the counter.
But, the man started at $8,000, negotiated down to $5,000, and would not go one nickel below. Finally, as the man walked away, Les gave in and coughed up the five grand.
“I can’t wait to show my kids I made a great deal,” Les said, giddy about his new purchase.
But, did he?
Uh-Oh, Les
Seth and Ashley were suspicious. “A $20K watch for five grand?” Seth asked.
“Seems too good,” he said, as Les snatched the watch and stomped off in a huff—no doubt planning on when he would be able to buy the other watch the man claimed to have left at home.
As has become routine, Ashley stayed silent through the disagreement; hard to blame her, as there seems to never be a winner in one of these family discussions these days.
Seth insisted on being thorough and doing a search on it—not a bad step.
But, the insistence that any search beyond his own inspection of the watch be done infuriated Les.
Finally, however, Les, Ashley and Seth gathered in Seth’s office, so that Seth could, as Les said, “get it over with.”
But, when a check indicated that the watch in question was counterfeit, the search did not seem like such a waste of time any longer.
Still Feeling Pontiac
Seth’s previous betrayal of his father has caused mistrust on many levels, but it seems to be affecting even common-sense steps, now, with Les unwilling to take even the most basic, necessary steps of prevention, because he is too busy trying to prove to his kids—and perhaps to himself—that he is still the king of American Jewelry & Loan.
Sooner or later, something is going to have to give between father and son, but will it take more incidents like these for Les to truly move beyond the Pontiac incident.
Yes, he says he has forgiven his son, but he clearly has not moved forward. No one really expects he will forget, or that he should forget, but he is going to have to find a way to move forward.
Of course, the Gold family pulled forward on this one—Les called the guy to bring his other “nice” watch into the shop, because he was interested. Was it counterfeit, as well?
Yep. But, the seller claimed he did not know, and he had been taken, too—and he was probably telling the truth, because he gave Les his money back.
“I admit it, I screwed up today,” Les said, giving Seth a, “Good job, Son.”
“I’m trying to do what’s best for the business,” Seth said in a camera cameo. “Hopefully I can get back on his good side.”
No Security Checks Needed
But, on the upside, there is at least one thing that American Jewelry & Loan WON’T take into their inventory, whatever their potential profit: Roaches. And, boy, was Ashley glad of that.
Stay tuned.