The Love Of Money - S01 E204

Story 1 month ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E204

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 204

"Hey," I said to Natalie,

She didn't immediately look away from the dance floor, and I almost repeated myself, but she slowly blinked and looked at me at the last moment.

"Jessica and I have a few things to discuss," I said. "Will you be okay here by yourself?"

She gave me a smile that looked slightly forced. "Yeah. Go ahead. I'll probably need to get out of here soon anyway."

As I stared back at her, I wondered if everything with what's-his- name actually was going well. She'd only been dating him for a couple of weeks, so she should have still been in the honeymoon phase with him. Surely, Erin and Danni's antics hadn't made her jealous. It wasn't as if she hadn't known was sexually active with others.... she'd seen me with Bobbi, after all.

And just where the hell was Mr. Perfect anyway?

"Okay" I finally said. "You don't have to leave."

"I have an early work day tomorrow," she said.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," I retorted.

"I'm putting in some extra hours to take some time off next week."

"Okay," I said, not entirely convinced. "You sure?"

"Yeah," she said and approached me. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug that felt more friendly and less emotionally charged than others we'd shared. "I'll probably leave soon, so I'll just say goodbye now." She stepped back. "I'm glad you're okay. Take care, Marcus." Then she looked at Jessica and gave her a half-hearted, closed-lipped smile. "Good to see you again, Jessica.

With that, she turned and headed in the same direction Erin and Danni had disappeared. She looked back over her shoulder at me, almost like she wanted to say something. Instead, she gave me one more smile and then walked away.

That long-suffering, Natalie-infatuated piece of my brain wanted to go after her to get answers... to see if there was anything still between us or if she was just another stupid girl who wanted what had suddenly become unobtainable.

Fuck, I thought to myself. I still had feelings for her.

Once again, I wondered what it would take to make someone disappear.

"Marcus?" It was Jessica pulling me out of my reverie.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"You wanted to talk?"

Go the fuck home, Jess

I thought about saying it, but there was a chance wouldn't get this opportunity with Jessica again. It wasn't like I wouldn't see Natalie again when she worked for me.

"Yeah," I said, still staring in the direction where Natalie had disappeared as if i could see her. "Come on."

I made sure she was following me as I made my way to the bar. I picked up a couple of drinks -a Sex On The Beach for her and an Old Fashioned for me. Once we had our drinks, I decided to take her somewhere quieter so we could talk; the closest place to do that was the garden.

About five feet along the garden trail, we ran into one of the last people I expected - Carla Tanaka. "Marcus!" she said, looking more than a little buzzed. She giggled and toppled forward, catching herself on my chest. She burst into another fit of giggles as she looked up at me, her blonde bangs brushing the tops of her dark brown eyes. They made her look more innocent than she was, which I suspected was something she was well aware of.

"I'm so happy you're back!" Still leaning on me, she walked her fingers up my chest and across my shoulder as she licked her lips. "You know," she said in a quieter, more conspiratorial tone, "You never called me."

I placed my hands on her arms and helped her right herself; she wasn't as helpful as I would have liked. "Mrs. Tanaka-"

"Sssshhhhhhhh!" Carla said as she placed a perfectly manicured finger on my lips to shut me up. Blinking her eyes slowly at me, she gave me a radiant smile. "My friends call me Caria."

I glanced at Jessica, who looked more bemused than uncomfortable, then looked back down just in time to see that Carla's face had inched so close to mine that our noses brushed.

"I'm sorry I didn't call. I was tied up."

"I know! heard some things!" Carla slurred.

That got my attention. "What things?"

"Oh, nothing for sure, Carla said, and I could tell she had difficulty focusing on me. "Just rumors." She reached out and gently ran her fingers over the fading bruises on my face, being surprisingly gentle for someone whose motor skills appeared so affected by alcohol. "But these bruises say a lot." Her fingers trailed down my neck, and she looked up at me. Her playful grin started to fade as she adopted a more serious expression. Her eyes seemed to temporarily become more focused on my face. Her fingernails grazed my collarbone and moved to the V, where my shirt buttoned over my chest. She gently scratched my skin just under the hollow of my throat. "Just how far down do those bruises go?"

"Oookay, Carla," I said. "We should get to a place where you can lie down. I think you've had too much to drink."

"Nooo," Caria said and backed up a foot. She swayed a little where she stood but didn't look like she was having trouble standing. "I'm just playing with you, Mr. Upton! My husband told me a little about your plan with Chandler. We're going to be in business together. We can't mix that with pleasure!"

Shit. Hira told Carla about our alliance? didn't think she was anything other than arm candy for the old man. I looked around instinctively as if expecting listeners in the bushes.

"Oh, relax!" Carla said. She brought her finger to her lips and shushed, which devolved into a fit of giggles. "Your secret is safe with me," she whispered.

Then, she finally took notice of Jessica. "And who is your lovely little friend?" Carla offered her a swaying hand. "Where did you find her? She's not one of the strippers, is she?"

"You know about-" I bit down on the rest of the sentence, not wanting to admit that Carla had been right about some of the ladies being exotic dancers since some places in society didn't look too kindly at women in those professions.

Despite being inebriated, Carla looked at me in disbelief, which basically told me she had easily clocked the dancers. Then she looked back at Jessica, "I mean, she's lovely but not stripper material.

Some rustling in the bushes behind her made me jump, and I looked over Carla's shoulder just in time to see Kwan emerge. He was in the middle of buttoning his shirt as he skidded to a halt behind Carla. I hadn't seen my Korean-American friend with the others and had assumed he hadn't been able to make it. As I put two and two together, I had the feeling he should have stayed home.

"Aw fuck! Kwan! She's married, dude!"

"What?" Kwan said. He was in sales and was pretty good at reading people and noticing details about them, so I was a little surprised he seemed so caught off guard. He looked toward Carla, who giggled.

Carla looked at me and said, "Well, you never called, so I decided to look for a younger Asian model."

"Fuck!" Kwan said. "She's married!?"

God, the last thing I needed was yet another angry husband being cucked by a younger man because of me... especially this husband. Hiro Tanaka was vital in Grayson's strategy, and I couldn't afford to have him back out just because one of my friends stuck it in the wrong place.

"Yeah, man," said.

Carla turned, draped her arms over Kwan's shoulders, and said, "Thanks for the lovely time. If we do it again, I'll let you see the rest."

She kissed Kwan on the lips and then spun around to head in the direction Jess and I had just come. She waggled her fingers at me, kissed the air, and grinned as she said, "Marcus, remember, a gentleman always makes sure a girl finishes first!" Then she pointed at Jess, "Don't let him treat you as anything less than a queen!"

"Walt!" I said. "Where are you going!?"

"To get another drink," Carla called out without stopping. "Don't worry.. I can keep a secret. It's not like this isn't the first time or anything!

The three of us watched her disappear, and my stomach twisted in knots. My possible plans were in the hands of a drunk, gold- digging philanderer. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Kwan..." said and turned to look at my friend.

"I didn't know," he said. "She wasn't wearing a wedding ring or anything."

"You didn't ask her if she was here with anyone?"

"I did!" he said. "She said she was here with me!"

"Jesus. Okay."

"Is it bad?" he asked.

"Her husband's name is Hiro Tanaka. I think he owns, like, a third of Japan. I've only met him once, so I don't know him that well, but I seriously doubt he would enjoy learning that you've been fucking his wife."

"We didn't get that far! We just fooled around a little."

"Oh," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "Well then that makes everything better."

Poor Kwan. He was a good guy who just wanted a stable relationship, but he continually attracted the crazies. He came from a religious fundamentalist background, and a lot of that had stuck with him... not that he was overly Christian or anything, but he was the last one among our friends to do anything insane. The fact that he had crossed a line with a married woman was probably horrifying him.

I sighed. "Look, don't worry about it. She said she was discreet. I'm gonna handle the husband. Just go find Dillon and Jonah, and don't leave their side." I pulled out my phone and looked for Grayson's contact information. I hadn't seen him yet, but I knew he was here.

Hey Chandler, I texted. Could you grab Hiro and take him to my study? I'll be there in a few minutes. You're welcome to anything in the bar.

"You sure everything's going to be fine?" Kwan asked.

"Yeah, man," said. "Just go have fun and stay a thousand miles away from Carla. Don't even look at her."