Chapter Three
Cade
November 29, Wednesday Evening
“So, this is the electric sushi maker...” the realtor announced as if that was standard for an apartment to have. “And of course, all the floors have heated.”
“Won’t they get too hot to stand on?” I asked rapidly, proving my novice rich status. I hadn’t ever been poor, but I also hadn’t ever had a billion dollars before, either, especially not to spend on my own home. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to spend any of the money on, but a new apartment was a must. Although did I need an electric sushi maker? I wasn’t wholly sure. Just bigger would have sufficed.
“No, I can assure you that your feet will not get burned. You may regulate the temperature anyway. The thermostat is over there.” The obsequious and attractive real estate agent that had undoubtedly been chosen to work with me on purpose remained professional as I asked my stupid question. “Would you like me to switch it on now so you can get a feel of it?”
“No, thank you,” I murmured as I was already distracted by the wonderful view of Central Park out the window. Maybe I didn’t need the sushi, but I did need that! In my last place, I looked out of the window onto more gray buildings. “Wow, that’s an incredible view.”
The realtor moved over to the window as she sensed my interest. I already knew this was what I wanted, so there wasn’t any point in playing games. I had more than enough at my disposal to purchase it, so I didn’t even care enough to haggle on the price. I hoped she’d sense that soon enough and would stop putting on the performance.
“It is lovely out there, isn’t it?” she breathlessly sighed while flicking her long, platinum blonde hair over her shoulder. “I wish I could live in a place like this.”
As we stood there in silence for a few moments, I suddenly got the sense that she was moving in closer to me. Yep, she was in my personal space now; something was definitely happening. As she twisted her head and pouted out her bright red lips towards me, my heart flip flopped in my chest. I didn’t need this; I had far too much to sort out.
“This is perfect for a bachelor pad,” she purred at me. All the professionalism had slipped away, and she was now in another mode entirely. “Unless you’re planning to move a girlfriend in.”
I knew how this went. I’d seen this move pulled by lots of women before. Back in my old partying days, I would’ve been right in there. I mean, the woman was hot. Her face was kind, if not maybe a little taut from Botox, and her breasts looked remarkable from where I was standing – but that wasn’t me anymore.
Ever since I’d finished business school, I felt like I was searching for something, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. It wasn’t this, though. I was long past all the silly games and random hook ups. It just wasn’t fulfilling enough.
“I just need to make a call to my mother.” There was nothing this sort of woman hated more than a momma’s boy. I could pretend to be that for a moment, just to put her off me. “Is it possible to have some privacy?”
“Oh, sure.” She bristled, clearly hurt by the way I’d rejected her subtle advances. “Of course.”
She stalked from the room, clipping on her high heels as she went, and as soon as I was alone, I decided to take a quick tour of the place by myself. The living room was a huge space with a giant flat screen television on the wall. It was a bit much, but awesome all the same. Then there was the well-equipped kitchen, the massive bathroom, and the bedroom that looked like something from a movie set. It was certainly nicer than anywhere I thought I would live. I even had a spare bedroom, a small balcony, and what could be considered as a reception room.
Any minute now, I would have a limousine driving me around. Actually, that wasn’t a terrible idea. I could just see myself being whisked about the city in a long black car, with all eyes on me. It’d be great to have people acknowledging my existence and being in awe of me. Maybe not yet, though; just one step at a time.
I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket and put in a call to my mom. Now that I’d spun that lie, it felt like a good idea to speak to her. We emailed more than we talked on the phone, but every so often, she would be free to talk. I loved hearing her voice; it made me feel a bit less abandoned.
But clearly, this wasn’t going to be my lucky day. As the phone rang out, I didn’t even bother to leave her a voicemail. I knew she didn’t listen to them, so what was the point? With a deep, deflated sigh, I decided to call someone. I had the urge to share my good news, and there was one person that I could trust to be happy for me.
“Hey, buddy!” Matt cried down the phone. “How’s the apartment hunt going?”
“Good, thanks.” I winced as the loud music boomed down my handset. “Where the hell are you?”
“At a party,” he replied casually as if that was normal for this time of day.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” He was an investment banker – they didn’t get Wednesday afternoons off for partying. Much as Matt loved to have a great time, I knew he wouldn’t risk losing his job for it. He’d worked too hard to get to where he was. “It’s like, one in the afternoon, or something.”
“I took a vacation day. I had lots stored up, so when I heard about this party, I figured, why not?” Hmmm, not such the grown up after all with his very adult job. “Hey, you should come! It's great.”
“Yeah, maybe later.” It sounded like he was right in the middle of a sweaty club, which was the last place that I wanted to be. “Text me the address, and I’ll try and get there as soon as I can.”
Eventually, the sounds died down, which suggested that he’d gone outside to speak more freely to me. “So, how is the new place? You found anywhere yet?”
“Yeah, I’m standing in it right now. It’s pretty impressive; it looks right over Central Park.” I knew I would never get tired of saying that. “You’ll have to come over when I’m all moved in.”
“And, when will that be?”
“I’m going to speak to the realtor in a moment to put in an offer. I'm paying in cash, and there’s no chain, so I think I’ll be able to move in today. Since it’s furnished, I won’t need to bring much of my stuff with me. It’s a win/win for me to move in now.”
“Yeah?” his words slurred, I could tell he was already losing interest in what I had to say. “Well, that sounds great. Come out after though, yeah?”
“Sure, will do.”
As I hung up the phone, I turned to go and get the attention of the realtor once more. I hoped my rejection earlier wouldn’t put her off and she’d let me get what I wanted. Now that I’d made my decision, I wanted just to get moved in.
I was excited for what was to come next.
***
I glanced around my new house with a smile. It would take a while for it to feel like home, but at least it was luxurious while I waited. It hadn’t even taken an hour for me to move in. Fifty minutes later, and I'd completely relocated. To help speed things along I told the moving guys to sell off the crap I wasn’t taking with me and to keep the money, but still, it was crazy.
I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get used to being a billionaire. Even if I had never been broke before, I had never been this rich, and it felt awesome. I could do what I wanted, go where I wanted, be whoever I wanted...
All I had to do in return was go to visit Helen’s daughter, Alissa. I glanced at the piece of paper in my hand, the address that my dad had given me to go and find her, and I figured I better get a start on it early. I knew she wasn’t going to want much to do with me, but I had to try and keep up my end of the bargain all the same.
I could go now. I didn’t have any plans for the night unless I wanted to go and peel Matt off the floor of some dive bar somewhere. I could just casually pop over there, see how she was doing, then get back to my own life in a jiffy.
It would be so easy, so why did it feel so hard?
With a loud sigh, I crumpled up the paper and stuffed it back into my pocket. I would do it this evening, but first I wanted to get a drink in me. I wasn’t about to get wasted with idiot frat boys at some party; I wanted to go to a classy bar and to have one fine, sophisticated drink. Maybe something off the top shelf, now that I could afford to do so without worrying.
With a big smile on my face, I spun around to get changed. I was sticky from a day of shifting furniture, and I wanted to look good if I was going to a classy place. I wanted people to know that I fit in.
I grabbed the nicest shirt I’d unpacked already and slipped on my best pants, too. It wasn’t for Alissa, although I figured it might help if I at least appeared lovely. It was to go to the bar. I got my concerns about making the right appearance from my father. I wasn’t as obsessed with it like him, but I couldn’t help wanting to look good.
While I checked out my reflection in the mirror, I also glanced at my phone just to spot a text message from my mom: “Hey, Cade, sorry I missed your call earlier, I was...”
I didn’t bother to open it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what she was doing, but I felt touched that she’d taken the time to text me. Maybe soon she would work up to replying to my last email, as well.
With my phone already out, I couldn’t resist typing Alissa Jones into the Internet, just to remind me what she looked like. It had been too long, and it was only a blurry meeting we had shared before. I wanted a reminder.
Huh, wow. She was officially gorgeous in an understated way. She had a natural beauty to her that wasn’t show-offy at all. Her blue eyes were saucer-like and adorable, her hair cascaded past her face, and her high cheekbones were striking. No wonder Helen was awful about her, she was probably incredibly jealous of this woman who got to be so stunning without any doctor’s help at all. That had to kill her.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad spending time with this woman, billion-dollar bribe or not. She looked sweet, probably fun, too, and we already had something in common: two people that we could bitch about all day long.