Alex
I hate these events. There’s a couple every single week. Some fundraiser for some issue that the attendants aren’t even aware of. What is tonight’s cause?
I look around to see a pedestal with a blown-up picture of a plastic jug floating by a coral reef on it.
Plastic in the oceans. Of course. That’s a popular one these days.
I’d like to see this same group of gowned and manicured individuals go down to the beach with trash bags. Not like they ever would. This isn’t about pollution. It’s an excuse to network and feel good about yourself at the same time.
I cut a check and skip the gloating part. I’m not a saint, but at least I don’t pretend like I am. The hypocrisy of this class of people is one of their greatest talents.
I should be able to focus on business tonight. I’m not worried about Hailee. There’s more security here than there is in a US embassy.
I hate to ditch her, but she can mingle for an hour or two while I wrap up my business. She doesn’t seem happy that she’s not getting my undivided attention tonight, but this isn’t a social outing for me. I’m not about to be her chaperone for the evening.
We part ways when the elevator opens.
“See you” is all she says as she walks off. That bothers me. I got her the dress. I think that’s fair payment for having to eat hors d’oeuvres and drink champagne for ninety minutes.
I almost want to consider this little act as tempting me. She knows walking away from me with as little as a see ya would tick me off.
I kind of like it. She doesn’t bend to me like most people in my life, professionally or personally. At the same time, I want total obedience, and that’s not something that can be easily gotten from bubbly Hailee Barnes.
I watch her hips sway under the thin fabric of her dress. I can picture her ass bare, and a pleased feeling comes over me when I realize I’m the only man at this event that can say that. Even if it was an accident the first time.
She’s staying under my roof, for God’s sake. I don’t care if I’m not fucking her. For the time being, she’s mine.
I watch Hailee until she disappears into the mingling crowd. Our timing was good. The speeches and salad eating are all over.
I find who I want to talk to before I even enter the room. The last thing I want is my time here being extended because I get tangled up in conversations I don’t want to have.
I find him by the bar. Both of them, actually. They’re speaking to each other.
I walk straight to them. My pace is quick. It says I don’t want to be bothered. And although I pass a few people who I know want to reach out and pull on my elbow to drag me into whatever stupid conversation they’re having, no one does.
I reach the bar and order a scotch. My presence is enough to stop the two men from talking. One of them looks like he swallowed a cocktail waitress. He’s sixty, with thin white hair and round red cheeks, colored by years of heavy drinking.
I take my glass over to them.
The other man is much better looking. Much younger. He’s in his mid-thirties and very blonde. He’s got that pretty boy look. Like if he lived on the opposite coast, he’d no doubt be some surfer bro. Still, his cheeks have been getting rounder as he’s aged. One day he’ll probably look just like his rotund father, who stands next to him.
The two are Chester Senior and Junior. Senior being the CEO of Summit Bank and Junior being the heir. As soon as Dad here drops dead. Which, looking at him right now, doesn’t appear to be very far off.
“,” Chester Junior says with that kind of surprise you reserve for seeing old friends. Something we are far from being. Old enemies, if anything. “We thought you might show up.”
We all shake hands, and I try to keep the ice from my eyes. It’s nearly impossible for me to do when I look at Chester Senior. My hatred for him is eclipsed by no other emotion I have. But I need information tonight. I’ll grit my teeth and talk with these buffoons if it means I get it.
“Wouldn’t miss it. Especially with all the talk around town.”
“So are those the worst assassins or what?” says Chester Senior. Although both are loud, Senior speaks with the oblivious booming voice of an 1800s railroad magnate.
Someone who has always had things go their way. “We bet they’re Venezuelans. Too stoned to aim and wanted to get to their siesta.” The father and son duo laugh. “And I can’t believe they blew up that reporter’s car when the guy wasn’t in it. Apparently, he had just gotten out. Some delayed signal. That’s why you do it when they get in . That way if the signal is delayed, they still go up in flames.”
“One would think,” I say. “I’d think you’d be happy at their failure, being three of your employees were in their cross hairs.”
“Oh. He’s just kidding.” Junior pats Daddy’s chest. “Of course we’re grateful. We’re the ones who just offered a half-million-dollar reward through the FBI for information leading to an arrest. Besides, I don’t think we need a morality lesson from you, .”
They certainly do, but I don’t want to start something. Not that I’m afraid of these clowns. I’m trying to stay under their radar, but I don’t know who else would’ve hired someone to watch me in my penthouse. Maybe the message they sent was presumptuous. They wouldn’t be standing here if they had any real idea of my plan.
I cut to the chase. “Have you put in the bid for your client yet?” Business is what I want to discuss. Summit Bank represents a mining company. Under the table, that is. They own a majority share of Millenium Metals, a long-time competitor of mine.
Junior’s face morphs into a shit-eating grin. “You haven’t heard? I thought you would’ve picked up a rumor or something by now. Put in and accepted. Millenium Mining owns the exclusive rights to the largest lithium deposit on the planet.” He and his dad clink glasses and drink.
So, I’ve been defeated. It’s a strange feeling. I had put the contract on the back burner while my plan was put in place. My last visit to the mine in Bolivia went better than well. I thought we had the contract locked up.
I could squeeze my glass so hard it shatters. This deal would’ve been worth several billion in revenues. It could’ve tripled my market cap. I’ve messed up. I thought this was a slam dunk and took my eyes off the ball.
I take a gulp of my scotch, not for the buzz but to distract myself with its burn. This might be the worst month of my professional life. I’ve let things slip like never before. I need to right this.
The plan is still in motion, but for the first time, I feel like all my careful planning might not go my way. The stars seem aligned against me. In the situations where I need a little luck to succeed, I’m not getting any.
“Congratulations,” I say. “So, what’s your bank getting out of this? Three and a half percent of profits?” Neither of them says anything. I must’ve nailed the figure on the head. They’re more thrilled at beating me than they are about the royalties they’ll receive.
“It’s the share price, . Expect Millennium to shoot up ten percent at market open. It’s a lot of money.”
I read the undertone. A lot of money that won’t be going to you.
God, I hate bankers.
So the Bolivian mine is Millennium’s. And Summit Bank gets to call it their win. We’ll see for how long.
I find myself looking around the room. I’m looking for Hailee, I realize. Why? I don’t even know. I don’t care for her. Maybe it’s because her beauty is a small win after this loss. I don’t see her anywhere, and I purse my lips and turn back to these apes.
I mean bankers.
“So what about this story we’re both caught up in?” I ask.
“Our lawyers are confident a deal will be worked out,” says Chester Senior. “No one is going to jail for this, . You rest easy about that, at least.”
I don’t say it out aloud, but that fact is entirely dependent on what judge gets the case. The crimes they’re charged with carry time. The problem is when it comes to sentencing, Wall Street is able to buy themselves a slap on the wrist.
But I like seeing their confidence. I want these losers to sink like the Lusitania. Better if their guard is down. I know I’m innocent. The metals we’re accused of illegally selling simply don’t exist. They never did. And an investigation would find that.
“I hope for your sakes that’s true. A bank as small as yours would never survive a scandal like this unless you don’t get convicted. Your reputation is everything in this business,” I say and watch them fume for a minute.
“We make lots of money for our clients. That is everything in this business,” says Junior.
I let the hate show in my eyes, and Junior averts his gaze to the floor. I’m livid that I even have to play games to see these two burned.
I wish I could show up at their door with a baseball bat. Death by a blunt object is almost too merciful for them. They’ve ruined businesses. Killed innocent people. These boisterous sons of bitches believe the world is still the Wild West and they’ve gotten away with it.
I would know. The first mining contract I ever got was foiled by Chester Senior.
He tried to make sure I never made the mistake of outbidding him again, and I acted like I understood his message.
Chester Senior is one of the only men I’ll be fake around, but it’s only so he doesn’t see the bat that’s coming to crack his skull. Little does he know it’s on the way.
“You two enjoy the rest of your evening,” I say. “Hopefully it’s not some of your last days of being free men,” I add. Chester Junior chuckles like I’m being absurd, but Senior says nothing as I walk away. I can feel his beady eyes following me into the crowd.
The fuckers. Is it worth a billion dollars to deal with people so vile? Not if I didn’t get back at them. But God help me, I’ll get my revenge.
I need to find Hailee. The last thing I want is to see her alone in the corner. This crowd likes its questions. What’s your last name? Who do you work for? Where did you go to college?
It’s all to see if you’re someone worth talking to. Someone something can be gained from.
I find Hailee and take back what I said about the last thing I wanted was to see her alone. Instead, she’s in a circle of three men.
Two are around my age, and a third is in his early fifties. I can tell from the way their eyes appraise her that they’re not talking shop.
Hailee is the only one speaking. She’s using her arms to gesture like she’s telling a story. One of the younger men must say something funny, because Hailee stops and laughs. She puts her hand on his shoulder for a moment.
He touches her elbow in return, and my mouth dries. I have to resist grabbing him by the arm and breaking it behind his back. I’m surprised by these feelings of ownership, but I don’t doubt them. Hailee is mine.
I take a step into the circle. “I see you made some friends.”
The men all freeze and look at me like a bunch of hyenas not realizing this watering hole already belongs to a lion.
I blame myself for the attention she’s getting. Not Hailee. She looks so damn attractive tonight, I’d have trouble respecting any single man who didn’t try to speak with her. They don’t know that for the time being, she’s mine.
It’s my fault. It’s like I went snorkeling with a severed tuna head and didn’t expect all these little sharks to show up.
“. Hi,” says Hailee. “This gentleman recognized me from the news.” She points at the oldest of the men. “Apparently, I was in the background of all the cameras when I gave my police interview about the shooting last week. I’m practically famous.”
“I’m not surprised.” I look at the younger men. With my sudden presence, they stare off into space nervously. One of them, the one Hailee didn’t touch, excuses himself to the bathroom.
The one she did touch seems determined to stand his ground. I step forward. “Let me get you a drink. Believe it or not, I’m halfway done here already.”
Hailee hesitates, and I frown. It looks like she’s about to defy me. Maybe she likes this boy. That will be a problem for him, but eventually she steps forward with her eyes on mine. There’s a question in them, a little tinge of fear in her stare that makes a flame flicker in me. I think she’s afraid she broke another rule.
She says her goodbyes to the hopeless admirers, and we find a quiet area on the far side of the bar.
“Don’t do that.” They’re the first words out of my mouth.
“Don’t do what? I was telling the story about how I was shot at.”
“They’re not so interested in your story when you look like this.”
Hailee suddenly looks like she’s so offended, I’m afraid she might toss a drink in my face. “Look like what?”
My jaw tightens. I don’t want to give myself away. She must sense the tension between us. Neither of us are idiots. “You’re the most beautiful woman in this room. No bullshit. No exaggeration. All these wealthy people, men and women, wish to God they could buy what you were born with.”
I look back to Hailee. She seems a bit shocked by my compliment. I’m not sure it even was one. I was just stating a fact.
I keep speaking. “If you show up somewhere on my arm, I expect you not to leave on anyone else’s.”
“I was just talking, .” She glares up at me with a smoky gaze, and I’m suddenly hit by the urge to kiss those brown eyes. To feel them flutter nervously under her eyelids. More. I want to drag her somewhere discreet and make her realize what being mine means. “But thank you. For saying all that.”
“Sure,” I say icily. “At least do me a favor and have one lady in your posse next time.”
“No promises she’s not trying to screw me, too,” Hailee says and stands. “I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”
I say nothing.
She heads back into the crowd.
I’m losing control. It’s not like I had her under my thumb in the first place, but the damn woman is acting like a cat. She won’t come when she’s called. This evening has deteriorated. Maybe it’s for the best to be reminded I’m mortal.
My winning streak has been several years long. I don’t want to end up like an undefeated sports team, so cocky in their ability that they get whooped one day by the underdogs.
The only way to keep winning is to be acutely aware that you can still lose.
I have one more conversation to have here. One more little battle before I’ll retreat to look at my wounds.