Chapter Eight
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After mutilating Justin’s heart with my brilliant ‘feels like incest’ explanation, I felt awful. I could have sat around feeling miserable about the entire thing, but I decided to do something for myself instead, just to take my mind off things.
It’s been so long since I had a ‘me only’ day.
With my freshly stocked bank account, I headed over to the mall to buy some new clothes, which was a long time coming.
I only had three pairs of jeans, which all had holes in various locations and not being able to afford a new pair, I ended up becoming quite skilled in the art of sewing up the gaps.
With some newfound financial flexibility, the thought of retiring my jeans and wearing a brand new pair delighted me.
I decided to spoil myself and purchase a pair of designer skinny jeans that was one hundred and thirty six percent over my usual budget.
With my credit card in hand, I strolled up to the cash register of the trendy boutique to ring in my purchase. However after inserting my card through the chip reader, the foggy-eyed cashier pulled out my card and returned it to me, smiling while shaking her head.
“Shit, am I maxed out again?” I asked.
“Your money is no good here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Like you won’t take my business?”
She chuckled. “Enjoy the jeans,” she replied as she placed them in the shopping bag and handed them over to me.
“Just like that?” I asked incredulously. “I get to walk out of here without paying a cent?”
“Yes,” she said, still maintaining her glowing smile.
“You’re not entrapping me or anything? The second I walk out of the store, security’s not going to drag me back in and search me?”
“No, your purchase is valid.”
She rang up a receipt in the cash register and handed it over to me.
“Just to ease your worries,” she said.
I grabbed it, gave her my thanks, and walked out the store, stunned. Did that just happen? For me to walk out of a store with a three hundred dollar pair of jeans without dropping a cent was too good to be true.
Oddly enough, the same thing occurred when I tried to purchase a tall Americano at Starbucks. My credit card went inside the chip reader and the barista took my card out and handed it back to me, along with my drink, without any purchase confirmation.
“Enjoy,” he said.
Holy shit! Was it possible that my credit card had become the holy grail of unlimited shopping?
I needed to test this theory. I went to Michael Kors next and purchased a large Hamilton canvas tote handbag valued at five hundred and fifty dollars, followed by a cotton linen parka from Burberry priced at eight hundred and fifty bucks, and topped it off with a pair of Jimmy Choo pixel high heels costing six hundred bucks. Total value of purchases: two thousand bucks.
Total amount I was charged for these items: zero.
I was on cloud nine.
My shopping spree continued on for another two hours, until the mall’s closing. I had a grin that stretched across my entire face knowing that I had just restocked my wardrobe and jewelry collection with designer purchases.
Hunger soon gnawed at my stomach and I decided to treat myself to a special dinner.
As I sat at Omakase Japanese Restaurant, dining on pieces of raw fish that cost four hundred dollars per plate, I could only speculate on my recent fortunes.
No doubt, Shadow and this clandestine Midnight Society had a role to play in all this. As I looked at my piles of shopping bags—filled with dresses, shoes, sunglasses, etcetera, etcetera—with insuppressible glee, common sense snuck up from behind and struck me like a slap across the backside of my head.
By accepting all of these items, I had put myself in debt to these crazy people. I was blinded by my shopping frenzy and during those three hours of euphoric bliss, I had lost my mind.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I cursed aloud, drawing the attention of all the rich patrons in this overpriced—but incredibly delicious—restaurant.
“Is the sashimi to your liking?” the old sushi master asked, a dumbfounded look on his face.
“They own you too, don’t they?” I whispered as I dropped my chopsticks onto the table. “By eating these delectable pieces of raw fish, I’m handing my life over to your organization.”
The old master, whose wrinkles reminded me of a prehistoric turtle, looked at me, puzzled. Eventually he let out a deep sigh.
“There is an ancient Japanese proverb--” he began.
“Blah, blah, blah,” I said as I quickly pulled out my debit card that was linked directly to my bank account. There was no way I was going to add more to my tab owing to the Midnight Society, which was to be paid for with my soul.
“Your money is no good here,” turtle face replied.
“Charge me for this meal,” I cried out in desperation. “Please.”
“You are our guest here today. Your presence brings our restaurant great honor.”
“No, there’s nothing special about me. I pull up my pants the same way you do so let me pay for this freaking meal,” I demanded.
He shook his head.
I was about to lose it.
“Please I insist,” I tried one last time.
“When royalty dines in a peasant’s house, the peasant does not charge the queen,” he replied.
Royalty? I’ll show them royalty. I decided to go off the rails. I picked up my bottle of sake and dropped it to the floor.
“Let me pay for that,” I said.
“No.”
Argh. At this point I was seriously considering taking out the bottle of overpriced perfume I purchased and spraying the entire sushi bar with it, defiling the sanctity of their kitchen with the scent of perfume. However I had caused enough damage here for one day.
Feeling rather ashamed, I reached down to pick up the broken glass from the shattered bottle of sake. A waitress was already there cleaning up the mess.
“Don’t,” I said. “I got it.”
“Please, do not concern yourself,” the waitress remarked as she placed the last of the broken pieces on an empty tray and headed to the back of the kitchen.
“I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to be such a jerk.”
“No apologies needed,” old master turtle said.
I gathered up my shopping bags and stood up, suddenly aware that all attention in the restaurant was focused on me.
“I still owe you,” I said as I headed for the exit.
“No you don’t,” the old man replied. “And please do come again.”
#
“That’ll be twenty-four dollars,” the cabdriver said as he dropped me in front of my apartment.
I was shocked.
“Really?” I asked. “You’re going to charge me?”
“Well yeah,” the cab driver said, shooting me an awkward glance. “Why are you surprised?”
I was ecstatic as I reached into my pocket and yanked out two twenty-dollar bills.
“Thank you!” I exclaimed as I thrust the cash into the palm of his hand. “I’m so happy you’re charging me. Please, keep the change.”
“You’re fucking crazy,” the cabdriver said, just before cracking a smile. “But I like your generous ways.”
“You’re sweet,” I replied as I got out of the cab.
Just as the taxi pulled away, a black limo pulled up beside me. The passenger side window slowly scrolled down revealing Abraham’s weathered features.
“Is it Saturday already?” I asked. “I didn’t know the universe decided to remove Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from the weekly calendar.”
Abraham laughed warmly. “Actually, I’m here to drive you home.”
“I am home,” I said.
“To your new home,” Abraham corrected me, as if I was to know this tidbit of knowledge. “All your belongings have been moved to your new penthouse condo down on Fifth Street.”
Did I hear him correctly? “What?”
“You now live in the Penthouse suite at the Luxe down on Fifth Street,” Abraham repeated.
This had to be a joke. “Abraham, I can’t afford a condo there, let alone a parking spot.”
“It’s all been taken care of Ms. Aria.”
I shook my head. “Abraham, thank you for the gifts and all, but I really can’t accept any of it.”
Abraham tilted his head towards the piles of shopping bags in my hands. “It looks like you already have,” he pointed out.
“Uh yeah…” I began. “I kind of lost control.”
“What are you afraid of Aria?” Abraham asked.
“I don’t want to be owned by anyone,” I replied. “Not by Shadow or the Midnight Society. I haven’t earned any of this stuff and I don’t want to be in debt to anyone.”
“We’ll never ask for you to pay this stuff back,” Abraham said. “Accept it as a gift.”
“You know the saying ‘if it’s too good to be true?’”
“I am aware of Shadow’s arrangement with you. After two dates, the fictional relationship between Shadow and yourself will end. I also understand that these two dates will take up a lot of your time and efforts. Consider all these gifts as payment for your time.”
“In exchange for two dates, you’re giving me a condo,” I stated. “That’s way too much.”
“The Midnight Society offers exceptionally competitive rates,” Abraham said.
I stood on the sidewalk dumbfounded—shopping bags in hand—and stared pensively at the ground. I was still unsure about any of this. I just didn’t trust the Midnight Society and whatever games they had me involved in.
“I feel like an over-priced escort,” I finally sighed.
“Nonsense,” Abraham said. “You won’t be required to have sex with anyone.”
I had the mental image of Shadow pressing his massive, rock-hard body against my naked flesh and it sent shivers all over my body. I guess that wouldn’t have been so bad.
“Right,” I said.
“So Ms. Aria, I guess the question for you now is, do you intend to spend the rest of the evening standing on this shady street with your expensive clothes, enticing savage criminals to rob you of all your gifts? Or will you get into the car and allow me to drive you to your new four thousand square-foot condo?”
He made a good sales pitch.
I opened the passenger door to the limo, tossed all of my bags into the backseat and got in.
“Home Jeeves,” I said.
“Please don’t call me that,” Abraham said, pleasantly. “I’m not a butler.”
“Sorry.”
“All is forgiven,” he said cheerfully. “Your new home awaits my princess. Welcome to the world of the social elite.”
#