ASIA

 

I stared out the window and watched the city pass me by. The people walked the streets and went about their day. The cars drove by. The sky was clear and the sun was shining.

I couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of it all. It was just another boring day in Ivory.

“I keep thinking I’ll see something out there,” I said.

“What?”

“Sometimes when I sit here, I look out the window and think I’ll see something different out there.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Something. Anything. But I guess Ivory is as uninteresting as it always is. Just a town full of hicks in the middle of nowhere.”

I turned toward the man sitting in front of me. He had his head down as he swiped his thumbs across his phone. Taking care of some business as usual. He was always taking care of some business.

“Is it like this in other cities?” I asked.

He didn’t pay much attention to me. He just kept his thumbs busy. I knew better than to interrupt him when he was dealing with business.

He didn’t even bother to pay attention to the waitress as she arrived with our food.

“Steak, medium-rare and for you, stack of pancakes with a side of bacon. Can I get you anything else?”

I smiled and shook my head at her. She gave me a wink and turned to the man sitting in front of me. He kept his head down, ignoring the waitress.

“Just holler if you need something,” she said before walking away.

“I’m not waiting for you,” I said.

I grabbed the bottle of maple syrup and drizzled it all over the pancakes. I hadn’t eaten breakfast but I imagined my stomach would have been growling anyway from the sight of the pancakes.

As I started cutting away at the fluffy hotcakes, he finally put his phone down and stared at me.

Blade didn’t look much different from the way he usually did. A dark, pin-striped suit was perfectly-tailored for his physique. Black hair slicked back over his head. His face always looked like it had been freshly shaved. Then there was that confident way he looked at me. He looked at everybody that way.

A man in a suit as expensive as his looked out of place in a small diner like this. Then again, he looked out of place everywhere.

“Pancakes?” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. “For lunch?”

“I didn’t have breakfast,” I said with a shrug.

“That’s no excuse. This isn’t the first time I’ve ever seen you eat pancakes for lunch.”

“What difference does it make? I like ‘em. You don’t see me saying anything about you having a steak for lunch.”

“That’s because a steak is more appropriate. I suppose I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about that.”

He chuckled softly to himself. I would have spoken up and taken offense if he were anybody else. But I knew better than to start anything with Blade.

I tried my best to not pay much attention to him. I turned to the side and looked out the window, continuing to watch the city pass by as I ate my lunch.

“Are other cities like this?” I asked.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Like this. I can’t imagine bigger cities are as boring as Ivory.”

“What difference does it make?”

“It doesn’t. I was just thinking—”

“Don’t think, Asia. That’s not your job. All you have to do is what I tell you to do, you got it?”

I turned back to him and saw the stern look on his face.

Business like always…

Blade was always serious. There was no way around it. I kept my head down and focused on the food in front of me.

“What’s this all about?” I said. “You don’t usually buy me lunch.”

“I have someone special coming into town. Important businessmen. This weekend. I want you to spend some time with them. Do what you always do. Please them. Show them a good time.”

“How many men?”

“What does it matter?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Don’t think. And don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Okay,” I said with a nod. “This weekend…”

Despite how relaxed the atmosphere in the diner was, there was a nervous tension at the table. I knew it was just me feeling it though. Blade didn’t give a shit what he or anybody else thought about him. I had to do everything I could not to get on his bad side.

From the corner of my eye, I watched him delicately cut his steak and shove it into his mouth.

“This is an important deal,” he continued. “That’s why I decided to buy you lunch.”

“It must be…”

“I make this deal and I’ll be the wealthiest man in town. The Chinese will have to scatter. So will all the other gangs trying to pass through Ivory. I’ll control distribution at every corner.”

A lot of people would have thought Blade was crazy for telling all of his business plans to someone like me. But it wasn’t exactly the biggest secret in town who Blade was.

“Is that such a good idea?” I asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean… I heard there are federal agents in town. They’ve gotta be here for a reason.”

“The feds are keeping their eyes on the motorcycle clubs. I have nothing to do with that leather-wearing trash. Besides, they’ve been here for almost a year now and they’ve done nothing. I have nothing to worry about.”

If there was a man as confident as Blade, I haven’t met him yet. He flaunted his wealth. It didn’t take much for someone in Ivory to look like the richest person in the city.

I polished off my stack of pancakes and pushed my plate away from me. Blade was still cutting through his steak.

“You’re already finished?” he said.

“I was hungry,” I sighed.

“Maybe you should eat a little less. You’re getting a bit paunchy around the stomach. Clients like curves but there’s a limit to that.”

I put my head down and wrapped my hands around my stomach.

“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe I can eat a little less…”

“Maybe this week you can go on a diet. So you look real good for the new clients next weekend.”

“Sure. Whatever you say.”

The waitress arrived and picked my clean plate up.

“How was it?” she asked, a cheery smile on her face.

“Great! The best pancakes in all of Ivory.”

The waitress giggled as she walked away.

“I like her,” I said. “You should leave her a big tip.”

“The service is adequate,” Blade said. “She should consider herself lucky she’s getting any tip at all.”

“You know waiters don’t make much. Especially in a place like Ivory. A few bucks can go a long way.”

“If she wants to make a few extra bucks, she should get a better job. Perhaps I could offer her some work. She could replace you. Would you like that, Asia?”

Blade cackled to himself as he shoved another piece of steak into his mouth. I clenched my jaw and swallowed. I turned back out toward the window to avoid having to look at the man sitting across from me.

“Miss Gibson.”

I heard a voice next to me and looked up at the old man standing there.

“Hello, Sheriff Sutton,” I said with a nod.

Sutton was a fixture in Ivory. His face was wrinkled. His hair was gone. He was hunched over like his knees were bad. Or was it his hip? Maybe it was both. Whatever the case, Sutton looked like he’d been around before the city was even built.

“Mr. Holmes,” Sutton said as he said to the man sitting across from me. “I hope you’re doing well this afternoon.”

“I’m doing just fine, Sheriff,” Blade replied.

Blade had a big, fake smile on his lips. He flashed his gleaming white teeth like a politician. And just like a politician, I was just waiting for him to lie between those same white teeth.

“How are things?” Sutton asked.

“Things are going just fine,” Blade said. “We’ll have a new facility up and running in no time. The new manufacturing plant is going to provide plenty of new jobs in Ivory.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

Blade kept that fake, polite smile on his lips as he nodded to Sutton. The old man turned back to me and smiled softly.

“You stay out of trouble now,” he said.

“I wouldn’t think of ever getting into trouble,” I replied.

The old sheriff left us at the table. Blade had his eyes locked on the old man the entire time until he finally left the diner.

“I don’t know how you can be so comfortable around him,” I said.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Blade said as he nonchalantly ate his steak. “He runs the Sheriff’s Department. If there’s anybody to be comfortable around, it’s him.”

“For normal people, I guess. But he knows what you’re up to.”

“Ha! The old man doesn’t have a clue. If he did, he would have done something already.”

Blade set his knife and fork down on his plate.

“Let me explain something to you, Asia…”

He leaned forward and whispered.

“…There are two types of people in this world. People who get shit done. They’re the people who make the world turn. They’re the people that advance civilization. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Those are the people that inspire me. That’s who I’m trying to be.”

“And what about the other type of people?”

“The other type of people are followers. They sit around and watch the world move around them. They wait for someone else to do something and then they try to find their place. People like you.”

I swallowed anxiously as he looked at me. His blue eyes were icy cold, his stare unblinking.

“There’s no shame in being who you are,” he said. “You just need someone like me to point you in the right direction.”

He leaned back in his seat and stared at his half-eaten steak. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and tossed it on the table. I watched him pull out a wad of cash and throw a few bucks next to his plate.

“You’re really not gonna give her a bigger tip?” I asked.

“If you want to give her a bigger tip, feel free. I’m not stopping you. Maybe you can make a little more money tonight and you can pay her.”

He got up from his seat and straightened his tie.

“Come along now,” he said.

Blade walked out of the diner. I stood next to the table and stared at the money near the plate. I waited a few moments before reaching into my bag. I was about to leave a bigger tip when I realized I didn’t have much money to begin with.

“Shit…”

I muttered to myself then sighed before eventually leaving the diner.

Blade stood waiting for me, looking as magnanimous as he always did. His hands in his pockets, he stared out into the distance.

“You’ve been slacking lately,” he said.

“Business is tough. There aren’t many rich people in Ivory.”

“Or maybe they’re not interested in paying for a woman who’s gaining so much weight.”

He reached down and poked his finger into the side of my stomach.

“I’ll take you home,” he said. “Get some rest and go out tonight. I want you to do as much business as you can. Any guy who’s even remotely interested in you, take whatever he has to offer.”

He looked down at me and wrapped his hand around my chin softly.

“I could find a dozen women to replace you,” he said. “They’d be more than willing to do the work you do. Don’t take my kindness and generosity for granted.”

I swallowed nervously, trying not to let his stare get the best of me.

“Thank you,” I said.

He chuckled softly and gave me a cocky smirk before pulling his hand away.

“I think you’ll do good business at Finn’s tonight,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll find a man desperate enough to spend some money on you there.”

“All right,” I said with a nod. “I’ll go to Finn’s.”