Chapter Eight
ZAYDEN
I had never been to the neighborhood before and was surprised to see apartments cramped together so closely.
“Ned,” I rolled down the screen of the limo I had chosen for the night. “Is this the ghetto?” I joked.
I could swear I heard a chuckle, but Ned was clever enough to turn it into a cough. “No, sir. Definitely not the ghetto. This is just a college neighborhood, mostly resided by students, who are on quite a budget.”
“Ah,” I said. I wondered if I should offer to let Aria rent one of my houses. She would never accept that for free, but maybe if I let her pay as much as she was paying for one of these places…
Why the fuck was I worrying about her living arrangements?
“Here we are,” Ned said parking next to a three-storied apartment building.
The lights were on in the 3rd floor, and I vaguely remembered Aria mentioning that she was on the top floor of her building. So that had to be it.
“I don’t know what to do now, Ned.”
He looked back at me with concern. “Are you nervous?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” I exclaimed. “Why on earth would I be nervous? I just am not sure whether to walk in or call her.”
“Just walk up to her floor and ring the doorbell.”
“Ah, right, the doorbell!” I laughed.
I walked into the building and looked for the elevator; finding none, I grunted my way upstairs. She’d better be on the 3rd floor after the workout. Damn the flowers, I had forgotten the flowers in the car. I was not going to run downstairs and right back up just for that.
I rang the doorbell and was surprised to be welcomed by an extremely tall gentleman wearing horn-rimmed glasses.
“Who are you?” I asked feeling slightly annoyed. What was a man doing in her house?
“Who are you?” he laughed. “Just kidding, come in Zayden, everyone in a 50-mile radius of Atlanta knows who you are.”
“I am not sure this is the right place.” I looked at the guy quizzically. Could it be her brother, maybe? Unlikely, they looked too different.
“No, of course you’re in the right place, come on in, Aria is just getting ready.”
I guess I was in the right place after all. “Are you her brother?” I asked the tall guy.
“No, I’m Nick,” he said, as though that clarified his relationship to her.
“And you are here because…?”
“I live here,” he glared at me. “With my girlfriend.”
That sent a wave of fury through my whole body, as though someone very close had stabbed me in the front. Aria was his girlfriend! She had told me she was single, had she lied? Had she made up the whole story for money? Wait, if she really was such a scheming bitch, she would be smarter than to have her boyfriend hovering around the apartment when I was due. And he didn’t mind that she was going out on a date with me?
“And you’re… okay with this?” I asked Nick.
“With what?”
“My deal with Aria,” I said, assuming he knew.
He shrugged. “I mean, it’s pretty unorthodox, but hey, you’re helping her out and that makes you a pretty awesome dude. Why wouldn’t I be okay with this?”
What kind of sick and convoluted world had I walked into? Was I growing old? Were college kids this casual with exchanging their partners nowadays? It seemed like a cool concept, on the one hand. To have one’s cake and eat it too. But on the other hand, why even bother to make a commitment to one person if straying was expected and accepted? From an epistemological standpoint, it simply seemed like a waste of time. They could just do what I do and sleep around. I shook my head in confusion and was looking around the house when Aria walked out of her room. Seeing her, I temporarily forgot that I was upset at her for lying about being single. I forgot about Nick. I forgot about everything. I barely even noticed that she had defiantly decided not to wear the dress I had sent her – and I’d have been foolish to expect otherwise anyway – because right now she looked better than a starry night sky. She was wearing a green one-piece dress that came right above her ankles, with a low-cut neck that contoured her breasts to perfection, and a cream-colored blazer on top of it. It wasn’t very immaculate, as far as attires go, but she accessorized it beautifully with a silver pendant, her hair tied up into a classy bun, and her makeup accentuated with deep red lipstick to match her hair. I was almost glad that she had chosen not to wear what I had sent.
“Hi,” she smiled serenely at me. “You find the place okay?”
“Yes,” I smiled back at her. “Well, Ned did. Should we get going?”
“Sure.” She waltzed over and grabbed my arm with a soft touch. Before we walked out of the apartment, she told Nick, “I will probably be back late, tell your girlfriend if she asks, I am not entirely sure we’re on speaking terms right now. See ya, Nick!”
My initial reaction was to grunt at the very sight of her talking to him but about three seconds later it registered; she was referring to Nick’s girlfriend in the third person, which meant that it couldn’t possibly be her. The rush of relief that ran through my veins was overwhelming.
Why did I care so much? I had screwed many girls that were in relationships.
“So Nick is not your boyfriend?” I couldn’t help myself from asking.
She burst out laughing. “You thought Nick was my boyfriend? Oh God.” She laughed for a couple of more minutes before adding, “Didn’t I tell you I was single?”
I shrugged. “You could be lying. People lie all the time.”
“Speaking from experience, huh?”
“I have never lied… to you,” I looked straight into her eyes. That wasn’t quite true, as I had lied to her about my interaction with Wilson, the loan officer. She didn’t need to know that, though. And it’s not like it was a lie that hurt her in any way. She was still getting the money she needed, and I was getting what I wanted; a chance to seduce her. If she ever found out – and I couldn’t think of any way she would – she wouldn’t exactly be able to be mad. However, knowing her, she would find a reason to be furious about it. The thought of it gave me weird pangs in my chest. As we hopped into the car, I tried hard not to let my thoughts drift in that direction again.
“These are for you,” I handed her the purple orchids I had forgotten in the car.
“Thanks!” She seemed pleased with my flower selection this time around.
“A drink for the ride?” I asked, producing the same bottle of champagne from our dinner a few nights ago that she had enjoyed so much.
Her face lit up upon recognizing the drink. “You shouldn’t have gone through all that trouble.”
She actually thought I was trying.
“Yeah, I should have. How else would I get that look to appear on your face?” I grinned. “But I have to be honest, I didn’t have to do anything at all to acquire the bottle.”
She laughed. “Yes, yes, I am aware of you and your rich ways. Which reminds me, am I dressed up to standards for your gala? I’m returning the dress you sent.”
“Of course you are,” I shook my head, but with a smile. “Like I said in my note, I wouldn’t have cared if you came in ripped jeans. But to answer your question, you look more beautiful tonight than I have ever seen you.”
Her face got pink as she mumbled thank you. “You look pretty good too,” she said looking out the window.
“Are you talking to someone in the street?” I teased.
She looked me in the eye this time. “You are very handsome. I am really looking forward to spending this evening with you,” she spoke softly.
I was startled by those words, not at all expecting her to be so solemnly candid in showing signs of affection. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite affection, but some admiration had to be lingering somewhere if she was willing and excited to spend an evening with me. That made me very enthusiastic, so much so that I almost wanted to skip the whole evening and just spend it with her, however she wanted.
I was becoming weak.
---
“What exactly is this auction for?” Aria asked, as we walked in almost holding hands. We were brushing our fingers against each other’s, which made me feel all kinds of desires. It also scared the shit out of me because I had never come close to holding a girl’s hand after my ex.
“For cancer research,” I said and nervously added; “I forgot to mention, I will be giving a speech on behalf of the organizers. Usually I ignore speaking arrangements, but I love this cause, and of all the non-profit hostings, this probably gets the highest percentile of my yearly donations.”
She put a hand on my shoulder. It was definitely affection this time. “You’re an amazing guy.”
“I’m alright,” I said with a straight face.
“Nope, really amazing. I look forward to your speech. I will be embarrassing and whistle and make you wish you had never-“
“Zayden!” An old, balding man approached me. “How are you doing, my boy?”
“Hi Mr. Kirk, I’m doing good. It’s nice to see you!” I looked at Aria and pointed, “This is Ms. Aria Roberts, my date for the night.” Then I looked at Mr. Kirk. “Aria, Mr. Kirk is one of our oldest business partners, and when my dad was alive, one of his best friends.”
Upon hearing those words, Aria wrapped her hand around mine and I felt her warm, soft skin.
Mr. Kirk’s face lit up. “Wow, what a beautiful girl! What do you do, dear?”
She looked nervous. “I am finishing up college, studying to be a loan officer. I also work at the bank.”
“That’s great,” Mr. Kirk said, with much less enthusiasm, and started walking away. I had never quite taken someone plain to a public event like this. Sure, I fucked all the young women that worked for me, but that was usually confined to the walls of my own house; I never dared take a teller out to a coveted event like this one.
These things were boring beyond belief though, and her company, with her snarky humor and challenging attitude, would provide a lot of entertainment. I enjoyed having her around.
“I think you’re being judged pretty hardcore right now,” Aria looked at me with amusement.
“You aren’t… offended?”
She laughed. “Why should I be? I am sure he’s used to seeing you with supermodels. Everyone is. It is quite amusing watching people’s reaction. I never quite realized this before, but messing with rich people is fun.”
“Fucking rich people is even better,” I winked.
“Okay, I practically led you to that one,” she shrugged. “What does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?”
“I’ll grab one for you,” I said, and started walking but remembered something. “You’re not 21.”
“Meh, it’s just a matter of a few months, nobody will care.”
“I hear it’s impossible to get a comfortable king-sized bed in jail,” I retorted.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, if it’s such a big deal-”
“I’m teasing you. Champagne okay?”
“Grab me a beer,” she grinned. “Let’s see how your acquaintances will react to a working-class girl who also shamelessly drinks beer at a classy event.”
I chuckled. “You are crazy. I don’t think they even have beers at this thing. I can ask Ned to-“
“It’s okay, you don’t have to make everything happen at the snap of your fingertips. Get me anything you want.” She put her hand on my shoulder again and smiled. Her touches were distracting.
I returned with two glasses of red wine and handed her one. “So I have to make a speech in like five minutes, you think you’re going to be okay on your own for a little bit?”
“Of course not. Oh wait, I’m not a 5-year-old that needs constant adult supervision,” she pulled out her tongue. “Break a leg.”
“Don’t interrupt my speech if you need anything. You’re on your own. We can always screw later.”
She covered her face with both her hands. “Zayden, go make your big important speech.”