The Love Of Money - Episode 135
29-07-25 (07:47)
She showed off a dazzling smile and said, "Hello Mr.
Upton. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Shea. I'll be
serving you and your party while you're in the air."
She offered me a dainty hand and I shook it. "Oh! Uh...
good to meet you, Shea! I, uh..." Fuck, I hadn't even
thought about a flight attendant. I glanced at Erin, who
entered the plane behind me. She smirked at me with
a twinkle in her eyes.
"You don't need to call me Mr. Upton," said. "Marcus is
fine."
"If that's what you'd like," she said and looked back
down at the sheet of paper she held. Then she glanced
up as my security team was filing in behind me. The
captain was no longer around; I assumed he had made
his way to the cabin.
"It looks like we're only waiting for... one more," she
said.
"Cool," I said. I assumed Ashlee was running late since
I'd sprung this trip on her late last night. "So the other
guest is here?"
"The other two are, yes," Shae said. "Would you like me
to take you to them?"
"What?" Chloe immediately perked up. "Where are
they?"
"They?" I asked.
"Um." Looking confused, Shea pointed in the direction of
the main cabin. "That way?"
Chloe brushed past me and disappeared through the
door in the direction Shea pointed. One of the Johns
followed on her heels.
"I'm sorry," Shea said, looking at me and leaning close,
"Is there a problem?"
"There was only supposed to be one other person," I
said. "Excuse me..
I moved past Shea and followed my bodyguards, my
mind already starting to run through several scenarios
of what this could mean. When I walked through the
door and into the main cabin, I saw Natashya sitting in
a small booth with a table. She looked a little confused
while watching Chloe conversin with a second woman
sitting in the booth opposite Natashya. All I could see of
her was dark brown hair almost the color of Ashlee's.
Had Shea missed Ashlee getting on the plane?
I approached my bodyguards and asked, "Is everything
alright?"
"Everything's fine. I think there was just a little mix-up,"
Chloe said, her mouth screwed tight in disapproval.
The dark-haired girl turned in her seat to look up at me
with pale eyes; her full lips were turned downward into
a confused frown.
"Marcus?" Emily said. "Is something wrong?"
"Emily?" said in shock and horror. "What are you doing
here?"
Emily glanced from me to Chloe, then back to me.
"I'm... coming to Vegas?"
"..." I looked at Chloe, but as always, she wasn't giving
me anything to work with. As soon as Emily proved to
not be a threat, she was out. I closed my eyes and
pressed my fingers to my eyebrows, massaging then to
make the sudden headache I was feeling go away.
"Look, don't take this the wrong way... Did I invite
you?"
"Yeah," she said, clearly taking it the exact way I had
told her not to. "I asked you yesterday when we were
on the phone."
"What?" I said. That couldn't have been right. "You
asked if you could use the house while I was gone."
"But that was before you told me where' you were
going." she said, getting more upset with each passing
moment. "I specifically asked..."
Emily looked like she was on the verge of tears. She'd
always been sensitive even when we were young, but
after what happened to her in the wake of her fiance's
death and her subsequent recovery, she'd gotten
worse. Especially when she felt like she already owed
me so much.
"Hey! It's okay," I assured her. "We're okay"
Then a thought struck me. "How did you know where'
the plane starting to run through several scenarios of
what this could mean. When I walked through the door
and into the main cabin, I saw Natashya sitting in a
small booth with a table. She looked a little confused
while watching Chloe conversin with a second woman
sitting in the booth opposite Natashya. All I could see of
her was dark brown hair almost the color of Ashlee's.
Had Shea missed Ashlee getting on the plane?
I approached my bodyguards and asked, "Is everything
alright?"
"Everything's fine. I think there was just a little mix-up,"
Chloe said, her mouth screwed tight in disapproval.
The dark-haired girl turned in her seat to look up at me
with pale eyes; her full lips were turned downward into
a confused frown.
"Marcus?" Emily said. "Is something wrong?"
"Emily?" said in shock and horror. "What are you doing
here?"
Emily glanced from me to Chloe, then back to me.
"I'm... coming to Vegas?"
"..." I looked at Chloe, but as always, she wasn't giving
me anything to work with. As soon as Emily proved to
not be a threat, she was out. I closed my eyes and
pressed my fingers to my eyebrows, massaging then to
make the sudden headache I was feeling go away.
"Look, don't take this the wrong way... Did I invite
you?"
"Yeah," she said, clearly taking it the exact way I had
told her not to. "I asked you yesterday when we were
on the phone."
"What?" I said. That couldn't have been right. "You
asked if you could use the house while I was gone."
"But that was before you told me where' you were
going." she said, getting more upset with each passing
moment. "I specifically asked..."
Emily looked like she was on the verge of tears. She'd
always been sensitive even when we were young, but
after what happened to her in the wake of her fiance's
death and her subsequent recovery, she'd gotten
worse. Especially when she felt like she already owed
me so much.
"Hey! It's okay," I assured her. "We're okay"
Then a thought struck me. "How did you know where'
the plane was?"
"I didn't," she said. "Vikram arranged it. You told me to
ask him...
I wracked my brain, going back over the conversation I
had with my sister, and remembered saying something
about Vikram arranging it. I'd meant access to the
apartment, but now that I thought about it, Erin and
Helen had been fooling around while I was on the
phone with Emily, and I might have missed some of
what she had been saying. This was on me. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
