The Love Of Money - Episode 111
28-07-25 (10:44)
Marcus has a rough start to the day.
Tuesday, 9:09 am
If the swarm of paparazzi was any indicator, my time
of anonymity had come to a swift end.
I was grateful to Helen and Erin for pushing me to hire
bodyguards so quickly. Today, I was surrounded by four
of them, who were doing a fantastic job of keeping the
hounds at bay. Chloe took point, blazing a trail through
a veritable sea of ambulance chasers and
photographers while was flanked by two others with a
fourth having my back. It made walking thirty feet
from my car to the door of the Strange Mudd take ten
times as long. Camera flashes kept blinding me, and I
raised a hand to shield them and hopefully thwart most
of them from getting a clear shot of me.
"Jesus!" I shouted into my phone as I fought my way
into the back of the black suburban. Chloe followed
behind me, shutting the door and cutting off most of
the noise outside. "This is insanel"
"You're telling me. I'd keep away this morning, boss,"
Erin said over the phone. She was at the Dunbar
building setting up a couple of meetings for me later
today. After yesterday's press conference, Chandler had
asked to meet and discuss the fallout and the next
steps needed to ensure VistaVision wasn't impacted
negatively by my surprise announcement. On top of
that, the private investigator Erin hired to look into the
break-in at my old apartment had some new
information he wanted to present.
"Is it that bad?"
"Yep. Like a bunch of dogs hanging around the dinner
table. Some of them are pretty obvious, but most are
trying to look like they're just reading the paper on a
bench or pacing back and forth while talking on the
phone. Stuff like that. It's all so obvious. Who the hell
reads newspapers on a park bench? Do they think
they're in a sting operation in an eighties movie?"
"Fuck. Is this what it's going to be like for the rest of
my life?"
"I doubt it," Erin replied. "Just until you stop being the
most Interesting thing to happen in the Northeastern
quadrant. The
American attention span is about 6 seconds. They'll drop
you as soon as a sex tape hits the internet or someone
tries to ban abortion."
"That's comforting," I muttered. "I was planning on
coming in later this morning, but maybe I'll wait till
closer to the meeting this afternoon. Maybe they'll tire
out by then, or do you think I should change the
location."
"I don't think that'll be necessary," Erin said. "They look
like they've been out here a while. They'll get tired and
eventually leave. You should be good to go by one or
two."
"Cool," I said. By now Chloe had reached the door of
the coffee shop and had it open for me. I entered,
followed by my bodyguards. "I'm going to take it easy
this morning. Just got to a coffee shop where' a friend
works. We're going to hang out for a bit."
"A "friend". Should I be jealous you didn't invite me
along?"
I made a face as I glanced out the window at the
throng of hungry ambulance chasers. "Don't be gross.
First off, Darrin's not my type, and second, he showers
like once a week"
"Ew. Why's he your friend?"
"Eh. He's good people. I just don't want to spoon him."
"That's good. Means more spooning for me," I could
practically hear her grin.
"I miss that I said.
"I do too. It's been a little over twenty-four hours.
Soon?"
"You bet," I said. "Anything going on that I need to be
aware of?"
"Yes sir," Erin's tone suddenly took a sharp turn into
professional, "Psalter- called this moming to push the
meeting back to four- thirty. I told him that was okay.
Chandler won't be here till six anyway.
"That's fine," said, turning away from the window. I got
in line to order with Chloe beside me. My other three
bodyguards were nowhere' to be found. "I'm gonna let
you go. Talk to you later this. afternoon.
I hung up Erin and looked at Chloe. "Where did John
and the others I hung up Erin and looked at Chloe.
"Where did John and the others go?
"To secure a table," Chloe said, her dark eyes scanning
the customers. They were all staring and rubbernecking
to get a good look at the guy who had just left a
crowd of gawkers outside the quiet little coffee shop.
Most of them were made up of college students, a
couple of guys in cheap suits probably trying to sucker
someone into a pyramid scheme, and bored
housewives.
"Good call on beefing up security," I said.
"It's why I get paid the big bucks," she responded,
sounding distracted as she turned her attention to the
chalkboard next to the counter, looking at the specials.
"Shouldn't last long. I give it about a week at most
before it dies down."
"That's what Erin said," I muttered.
"Thank social media for ruining the attention spans of
multiple generations," she sald.
The line moved as the person being served moved to
the side to wait for their order, leaving two people in
front of me. I spotted Dillon emerging from a door in
the back; he grinned at me and jerked his head toward
the main sitting area to the right. I was a creature of
habit, usually ordering the same thing every time I
visited. Since he knew what I wanted, he usually
brought it to me on his break. It was a ritual at this
point. I shook my head and stayed in line behind the
bottle blonde in front of me, jabbing my thumb at
Chloe. Dillon wouldn't know Chloe's order and I didn't
want to complicate his day. I also didn't want to seem
like an entitled asshole, which was what it would have
looked like now that I was wealthier than a sheik. I'd
caught the light of recognition in most of the customers'
eyes, and some of them even had their phones out,
taking pictures or videos of the newly minted king of
the Gerrard empire. In a way, the paparazzi had
followed me into the building after all.
"What do you want?" I asked Chloe.
"I'll just take a medium coffee, Black."
"That scans," said. I was starting to suspect that Chloe
was the reincarnation of some hardened detective from
the forties - strong, silent, and crotchety. It only made
sense that she would take her coffee the same way an
old war vet would.
I might get a double today," I muttered, looking at the
board. "I'll need the extra caffeine if I'm going to talk to
the Pi and have a meeting with Chandler Grayson."
"Don't like him?" Chloe asked. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
