The Love Of Money - Episode 204
31-07-25 (07:15)
"Hey," I said to Natalie,
She didn't immediately look away from the dance floor,
and I almost repeated myself, but she slowly blinked
and looked at me at the last moment.
"Jessica and I have a few things to discuss," I said. "Will
you be okay here by yourself?"
She gave me a smile that looked slightly forced. "Yeah.
Go ahead. I'll probably need to get out of here soon
anyway."
As I stared back at her, I wondered if everything with
what's-his- name actually was going well. She'd only
been dating him for a couple of weeks, so she should
have still been in the honeymoon phase with him.
Surely, Erin and Danni's antics hadn't made her jealous.
It wasn't as if she hadn't known was sexually active
with others.... she'd seen me with Bobbi, after all.
And just where' the hell was Mr. Perfect anyway?
"Okay" I finally said. "You don't have to leave."
"I have an early work day tomorrow," she said.
"Tomorrow's Saturday," I retorted.
"I'm putting in some extra hours to take some time off
next week."
"Okay," I said, not entirely convinced. "You sure?"
"Yeah," she said and approached me. She wrapped her
arms around me and pulled me into a hug that felt
more friendly and less emotionally charged than others
we'd shared. "I'll probably leave soon, so I'll just say
goodbye now." She stepped back. "I'm glad you're
okay. Take care, Marcus." Then she looked at Jessica
and gave her a half-hearted, closed-lipped smile. "Good
to see you again, Jessica.
With that, she turned and headed in the same direction
Erin and Danni had disappeared. She looked back over
her shoulder at me, almost like she wanted to say
something. Instead, she gave me one more smile and
then walked away.
That long-suffering, Natalie-infatuated piece of my brain
wanted to go after her to get answers... to see if there
was anything still between us or if she was just
another stupid girl who wanted what had suddenly
become unobtainable.
Fuck, I thought to myself. I still had feelings for her.
Once again, I wondered what it would take to make
someone disappear.
"Marcus?" It was Jessica pulling me out of my reverie.
"What?" I asked, annoyed.
"You wanted to talk?"
Go the fuck home, Jess
I thought about saying it, but there was a chance
wouldn't get this opportunity with Jessica again. It
wasn't like I wouldn't see Natalie again when she
worked for me.
"Yeah," I said, still staring in the direction where' Natalie
had disappeared as if i could see her. "Come on."
I made sure she was following me as I made my way
to the bar. I picked up a couple of drinks -a Sex On The
Beach for her and an Old Fashioned for me. Once we
had our drinks, I decided to take her somewhere'
quieter so we could talk; the closest place to do that
was the garden.
About five feet along the garden trail, we ran into one
of the last people I expected - Carla Tanaka. "Marcus!"
she said, looking more than a little buzzed. She giggled
and toppled forward, catching herself on my chest. She
burst into another fit of giggles as she looked up at me,
her blonde bangs brushing the tops of her dark brown
eyes. They made her look more innocent than she was,
which I suspected was something she was well aware
of.
"I'm so happy you're back!" Still leaning on me, she
walked her fingers up my chest and across my shoulder
as she licked her lips. "You know," she said in a quieter,
more conspiratorial tone, "You never called me."
I placed my hands on her arms and helped her right
herself; she wasn't as helpful as I would have liked.
"Mrs. Tanaka-"
"Sssshhhhhhhh!" Carla said as she placed a perfectly
manicured finger on my lips to shut me up. Blinking her
eyes slowly at me, she gave me a radiant smile. "My
friends call me Caria."
I glanced at Jessica, who looked more bemused than
uncomfortable, then looked back down just in time to
see that Carla's face had inched so close to mine that
our noses brushed.
"I'm sorry I didn't call. I was tied up."
"I know! heard some things!" Carla slurred.
That got my attention. "What things?"
"Oh, nothing for sure, Carla said, and I could tell she
had difficulty focusing on me. "Just rumors." She
reached out and gently ran her fingers over the fading
bruises on my face, being surprisingly gentle for
someone whose motor skills appeared so affected by
alcohol. "But these bruises say a lot." Her fingers trailed
down my neck, and she looked up at me. Her playful
grin started to fade as she adopted a more serious
expression. Her eyes seemed to temporarily become
more focused on my face. Her fingernails grazed my
collarbone and moved to the V, where' my shirt
buttoned over my chest. She gently scratched my skin
just under the hollow of my throat. "Just how far down
do those bruises go?"
"Oookay, Carla," I said. "We should get to a place
where' you can lie down. I think you've had too much
to drink."
"Nooo," Caria said and backed up a foot. She swayed a
little where' she stood but didn't look like she was
having trouble standing. "I'm just playing with you, Mr.
Upton! My husband told me a little about your plan with
Chandler. We're going to be in business together. We
can't mix that with pleasure!"
Shit. Hira told Carla about our alliance? didn't think she
was anything other than arm candy for the old man. I
looked around instinctively as if expecting listeners in
the bushes.
"Oh, relax!" Carla said. She brought her finger to her lips
and shushed, which devolved into a fit of giggles. "Your
secret is safe with me," she whispered.
Then, she finally took notice of Jessica. "And who is
your lovely little friend?" Carla offered her a swaying
hand. "Where did you find her? She's not one of the
strippers, is she?"
"You know about-" I bit down on the rest of the
sentence, not wanting to admit that Carla had been
right about some of the ladies being exotic dancers
since some places in society didn't look too kindly at
women in those professions.
Despite being inebriated, Carla looked at me in
disbelief, which basically told me she had easily clocked
the dancers. Then she looked back at Jessica, "I mean,
she's lovely but not stripper material.
Some rustling in the bushes behind her made me jump,
and I looked over Carla's shoulder just in time to see
Kwan emerge. He was in the middle of buttoning his
shirt as he skidded to a halt behind Carla. I hadn't seen
my Korean-American friend with the others and had
assumed he hadn't been able to make it. As I put two
and two together, I had the feeling he should have
stayed home.
"Aw fuck! Kwan! She's married, dude!"
"What?" Kwan said. He was in sales and was pretty
good at reading people and noticing details about them,
so I was a little surprised he seemed so caught off
guard. He looked toward Carla, who giggled.
Carla looked at me and said, "Well, you never called, so
I decided to look for a younger Asian model."
"Fuck!" Kwan said. "She's married!?"
God, the last thing I needed was yet another angry
husband being cucked by a younger man because of
me... especially this husband. Hiro Tanaka was vital in
Grayson's strategy, and I couldn't afford to have him
back out just because one of my friends stuck it in the
wrong place.
"Yeah, man," said.
Carla turned, draped her arms over Kwan's shoulders,
and said, "Thanks for the lovely time. If we do it again,
I'll let you see the rest."
She kissed Kwan on the lips and then spun around to
head in the direction Jess and I had just come. She
waggled her fingers at me, kissed the air, and grinned
as she said, "Marcus, remember, a gentleman always
makes sure a girl finishes first!" Then she pointed at
Jess, "Don't let him treat you as anything less than a
queen!"
"Walt!" I said. "Where are you going!?"
"To get another drink," Carla called out without
stopping. "Don't worry.. I can keep a secret. It's not like
this isn't the first time or anything!
The three of us watched her disappear, and my
stomach twisted in knots. My possible plans were in the
hands of a drunk, gold- digging philanderer. Shit. Shit.
Shit.
"Kwan..." said and turned to look at my friend.
"I didn't know," he said. "She wasn't wearing a
wedding ring or anything."
"You didn't ask her if she was here with anyone?"
"I did!" he said. "She said she was here with me!"
"Jesus. Okay."
"Is it bad?" he asked.
"Her husband's name is Hiro Tanaka. I think he owns,
like, a third of Japan. I've only met him once, so I don't
know him that well, but I seriously doubt he would
enjoy learning that you've been fucking his wife."
"We didn't get that far! We just fooled around a little."
"Oh," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "Well then
that makes everything better."
Poor Kwan. He was a good guy who just wanted a
stable relationship, but he continually attracted the
crazies. He came from a religious fundamentalist
background, and a lot of that had stuck with him... not
that he was overly Christian or anything, but he was
the last one among our friends to do anything insane.
The fact that he had crossed a line with a married
woman was probably horrifying him.
I sighed. "Look, don't worry about it. She said she was
discreet. I'm gonna handle the husband. Just go find
Dillon and Jonah, and don't leave their side." I pulled out
my phone and looked for Grayson's contact information.
I hadn't seen him yet, but I knew he was here.
Hey Chandler, I texted. Could you grab Hiro and take
him to my study? I'll be there in a few minutes. You're
welcome to anything in the bar.
"You sure everything's going to be fine?" Kwan asked.
"Yeah, man," said. "Just go have fun and stay a
thousand miles away from Carla. Don't even look at
her." Don't forget to leave a Comment 
