Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
CHARLOTTE
Caleb and Nora Stone are in their mid-thirties. They’re East Asian, both tall and slim, and they’re already inside when we arrive.
Nora is in a two-piece suit, with no blouse under the jacket. The outfit is beige but covered with brightly embroidered flowers. It looks designer, and with her pixie cut and dark lip, she looks like a model. She smiles warmly and talks fast.
Her brother is a sharp contrast. He’s just as tall, but he’s sporting a buzz cut. His suit is a size too big. He’s a technical engineer at heart, but clearly a social person, talking nearly as much as his sister.
Nora’s older than her brother. Maybe holds more decision-making power, I think.
We’re halfway through our drinks when she cocks her head to the side and looks at me with a bit too much scrutiny.
“Are you sure we haven’t met before, Charlotte?”
I laugh a little. “No, I’m fairly certain we haven’t. I would have remembered you.”
“You don’t work in the TV business,” she continues. “Are you sure?”
I look back down at my menu. “No, I’m sure.”
She sighs dramatically and elbows her brother. “Does she not seem familiar to you?”
Caleb’s voice is smoother. “No. If she was, there’d be no doubt in my mind that we’d met.”
I look up in surprise at him. He’s smiling at me a little. Is he...flirting?
I smile back at him. “Thanks.”
“Just the truth,” he says simply and looks back down at his menu. “We should get oysters for the table.”
“Oh, good idea,” his sister continues. “They also do that steak here, the one four can share. Let’s do that as the main.”
It’s clear to me, after just a few minutes in their presence, that they don’t want to discuss business. Not here. Not yet. They want to vet Aiden.
He seems to realize it, too.
Because he just nods and closes his menu. “That sounds great to me. Should we ask for their mocktail menu?”
Nora’s eyebrows rise. “You know we don’t drink?”
“I didn’t,” he says smoothly, “but I’m not tonight. I’m driving.”
“Good man,” Caleb mutters and closes his own menu.
I glance at Aiden out of the corner of my eye. He knew they weren’t drinkers. I know it, bone-deep, and he’s playing the game. Charming them without making it seem like he's trying.
He’s good at that.
The oysters are delicious, and so are the mocktails. The Stones are talented conversationalists. If I had thought they would be technocrats who preferred their books over people, I would have been wrong. Nora is the driving force behind our exchange, but Caleb interjects here and there in the comfortable way of a sibling.
“So, how long,” Nora asks as we all reach for strips of the giant medium-rare steak that has been served on a flat stone, “have you two been dating?”
In my peripheral vision, I see Aiden’s lips tip up. He lifts his glass and leaves it to me to handle the question. The jerk.
Well then, I’ll handle it.
“We’re not dating,” I say. “I’m writing his memoir.”
“His memoir?” Caleb asks. “I didn’t know you were working on one.”
Aiden nods a little. If he’s annoyed that I came right out and admitted something I technically signed an NDA about, he doesn’t look it. “It’s about the company and its history. Me. Charlotte is a very talented writer, and she’s been shadowing me for weeks.”
Nora nods slightly. “You must trust her a great deal,” she says, and there’s shrewdness in her gaze.
“I do,” Aiden says.
“Not dating, huh?” Caleb asks me. He chuckles a little and runs a hand over his buzz cut. It makes his face look more angular. He’s beautiful, I decide. In almost a model kind of way. “That’s good to know. How long are you in LA for?”
Beside me, Aiden tenses.
“I’m here for a few months, to work on Aiden’s memoir,” I say. “Gather the necessary material and see the places that shaped him.”
Caleb nods. “Does he give you any free time?”
“She’s pretty busy,” Aiden says. He leans back, his shoulder brushing faintly against mine.
“I set my own schedule,” I protest. “Besides, you work a lot, so that leaves plenty of time for me to write.”
Caleb smiles. “That’s good. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on seeing the city.”
“I’ve shown her the city,” Aiden says. His voice comes out a bit rough, and I turn to look at him.
He reaches for his drink and drains half of it.
For the rest of the meal, we’re having two conversations almost simultaneously. Nora and Aiden, and Caleb and I. The discussions sometimes cross and intertwine, but more often than not, we’re talking about separate things.
I try to make sure I talk about Aiden with Caleb. Tell the younger Stone some of the things I’ve noticed about Aiden while living here in the city. About his work ethic and fairness to those he works with. Beside me, I hear Nora and Aiden dance around similar topics. It’s a business meeting disguised as nothing but a social nicety before potential negotiations start.
Aiden handles the check. He insists, and like a fencing partner sidestepping through a duel, Nora inclines her head and accepts.
“Very gracious,” she says.
Money is no object to either party. They’re all filthy rich, and if Aiden gets his way with this purchase, Caleb and Nora will go from being comfortable millionaires to near-billionaires in their own right.
“Charlotte,” she says again. Her voice is kind, but her eyes… they are still as shrewd as they’d been earlier. I wonder if she collapses in bed when she comes home. Strips off the expensive, gorgeous suit and wipes off her makeup, shedding the confident facade. Or maybe it’s who she is, through and through.
I respect her a great deal, I realize.
“Aiden mentioned that you’re working on your own book, as well. What will it be about?”
Suddenly, three pairs of eyes are all on me. I want to kick Aiden under the table.
I clear my throat instead. “It’s early days. I have a few ideas, but… I think I would like to investigate the relationship between media and the concept of ‘fifteen minutes of fame.’ What happens to those people, you know? After their time is over? And how are their stories used by the media to further all kinds of narratives that might not be true?” I wave a hand. “Sorry, that’s kind of vague. But remember… that girl who was interviewed a few years ago, after the hurricane? What she said?”
“Of course,” Caleb says. “The banana girl.”
“Yes, exactly. She said one sort of funny, tone-deaf thing in a news report, and then the media turned it into a symbol of that community’s unwillingness to evacuate.”
“I remember that.” Nora’s voice is thoughtful. “You should talk to those people, for your book. Get their stories. What happens after they’ve been a sensation for fifteen minutes.”
“That’s a good idea, yeah. If they’ll talk to me.”
“They will,” Aiden says. His voice is full of confidence. “And it sounds like a book that would make an excellent documentary series, too.”
Nora’s eyes move back to him. “Indeed it does. Something perfect for BingeBox.”
“If they offer enough,” Aiden shoots back with a wide smile. “Charlotte’s talent is worth the price.”
Across the table, her eyes shift between us, and she smiles, too. “I can see that.”
We leave shortly after. I walk next to Caleb, a few feet behind the other two.
“If you ever need someone to show you around LA,” he says with a small shrug, “I’m around.”
I nudge him. “You sure you have time for that? I get the feeling that you and Nora work pretty hard.”
He rubs a hand along the back of his neck. “We do. Too much, really.”
“I’ve said the same to Aiden. When none of you have to, in reality.” I nudge his shoulder again, and maybe I’m not subtle at all, but I have to try. “You could cash out. Just spend the days surfing, or volunteering, or whatever else you can dream of.”
His lips tip up. “I don’t think you do that.”
“I don’t work as hard as the three of you, that’s for sure. Today, I wrote while lounging by the pool.”
He closes his eyes with a groan. “Okay, that does sound unreal.”
“The life you want is right in front of you,” I say grandly. “But thank you for the offer, truly. Don’t be a stranger.”
“You, too.”
We say bye to the Stone siblings, and Aiden asks for his car. It arrives not even a minute later. He tips the valet driver, and we pull away from Velveteen, past the line of would-be diners that is only marginally shorter now.
“That went well!” I say. I’ve only had mocktails all night, but the ambiance of the place, the food, and the conversation have me feeling tipsy.
“Yeah,” Aiden says. He’s got one hand on the wheel, and he’s driving as fast as the traffic allows. “Caleb was flirting with you all night.”
“And you weren’t flirting with Nora?” I say with a chuckle.
He looks over at me. “What? Of course not.”
“You were talking most of the night. She was flirting with you.”
“She was not. She’s engaged to her longtime partner, who is not a man, by the way. And she’s far too smart to let romance influence this deal.” He shakes his head a little. “It was like talking to a shark for two hours.”
That makes me smile. “Which means, you had a lot of fun.”
He’s quiet for a moment. And then he taps his fingers against the wheel. “Yeah. I did.”
“Caleb wasn’t flirting. He is a shark, too. Just… a different kind, I think.”
“He was interested in you,” Aiden says dryly. “Trust me. I know the look on a man’s face when he sees a pretty woman.”
“Maybe you’re biased,” I say.
He glances at me again, for longer than he should, before returning his focus to the road. “Yes, I am. Which is why I noticed.”
“He asked if we could hang out sometime,” I say thoughtfully.
“He did?” Aiden’s voice sharpens. “And you still think I’m wrong about his flirting?”
“It’s because I asked him if he even has time with all his work, and he agreed that he does work too much. Maybe that means he wants you to come and save him,” I tell Aiden. “Liberate him from his successful company. Help him, Aiden!”
“That’s good thinking, Chaos.”
“I’ll have a more thoughtful analysis of them tomorrow.” I then look at the road we’re driving on. I haven’t been in LA for many weeks, but even I know we’re not on the familiar boulevard journeying back toward Bel Air. We’re climbing higher up the mountain drive instead.
“Where are we headed?”
Aiden taps his fingers against the wheel again. “There’s a place I want to show you.”