Opulent

by Manoa, David

  “Ha-ha, him! The toothpick guy. Gelled hair and the gay ass scarf?”

  “Yeah.” I smiled.

  “He was such a snob, gave me one look then brushed me aside. He kept checking out the ladies though, he’s kinda creepy.”

  “That’s him alright. He’s harmless. Your desk is just over there near the door. I need to have a chat to Vivian about a few things, then we'll link up at two pm, ok?”

  Felicity bit her lip and asked, “What’s Vivian's role in this company, is she a boss?”

  “Yes and No. Just to clarify, you are to direct report to me, but she will have work that she will divvy with you as well.”

  Felicity looked uneasy.

  “Don’t worry about Vivian, you’ll get used to her. Oh, and another thing, this meeting is entirely confidential. I want to keep this from Vivian for now.”

  ***

  It was one p.m. and Felicity was getting her things ready for us to leave. Alex had arranged to meet offsite in a restaurant. He was there already with Sione. I started to put my coat on while Felicity watched. I adjusted my cufflinks and turned to her. “It’s the best way to learn.”

  “Throw me in the deep end, huh?”

  I smiled. “C’mon it’s not like that. You’ll be fine, you'll swim just fine.”

  Felicity adjusted her glasses and breathed in. “It’s the sharks I'm worried about,” she was saying, walking towards the door, when suddenly it opened.

  Vivian didn’t bother to knock and waltzed right in. She came up to me and put her arms around me and kissed me. My eyes shifted to Felicity, who looked down to the ground.

  Vivian licked her lips. “Chad, I thought we could go for a late lunch?”

  “I'm afraid that’s not possible,” Felicity blurted.

  “Excuse me?” Vivian said, putting her hands down on her hips.

  I said, “Vivian, we have a meeting offsite at two p.m. with a client.”

  Vivian held her stare at Felicity and she stared back. I could feel the tension.

  “Fine, we'll do dinner then tonight. I want to talk to you about Alex.”

  “Ok…”

  Vivian put her arms around me again and kissed me, her possessive push against my lips with her tongue nearly choking me. I noticed her open her eyes with a quick glance at Felicity.

  When Vivian walked out Felicity bit her lip. I shut the door, exhaling.

  “You said you didn’t have a girlfriend?”

  “Ha! I don't know if I could call her that. I don’t even know if I'm her boyfriend.”

  Felicity raised her eyebrows and I said, “It’s kinda complicated.”

  “Friends with benefits?”

  “Huh?”

  “Booty call?”

  “What?”

  I raised my eyebrows and glanced at my watch. “C’mon we gotta go. Felicity…Focus!”

  ***

  Alex was always mixing business with his secondary pleasure which was food. He’d arranged the meeting at a Chinese restaurant called Yum-Cha, with forty round tables and staff who came around with a variety of dishes.

  The place was packed, but Alex had booked the VIP area which was behind the massive fish tank. The lighting was dim but blue ambient light from the fish tank made the setting like we were under water. There was one table and when I spotted Alex and the person who I assumed was Sione. They both stood up.

  Alex introduced me to Sione. He was impeccably dressed; mocha skin and clean shaven, his jet black hair styled in a modern pompadour with a neat part on the right side. He was wearing a grey wool suit with a waistcoat. White pocket square. Crisp white shirt with a grey tie. I took a glance at his shoes- they were black lace–up, rounded to a blunt end at the toe. Shiny and expensive. Shoes were an indicator for me to a customer’s latent wealth. Even the suit to a degree. It was definitely tailored to his physique.

  Sione had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Tall. When we took our seats, he undid his coat and revealed a pocket watch.

  I commented. “It’s an excellent timepiece, Sione,

  “Thank you. I’m quite old fashioned when it comes to keeping track of time.”

  Felicity said, “I use my smartphone. You can do so much with them, you know.”

  Sione smiled. “I’m afraid I am antiquated when it comes to technology. I have one that I’m getting a grasp on. I have to say Felicity you look fabulous.Half the people in the restaurant are still staring.”

  Alex started coughing nearly spitting out his glass of beer. Felicity blushed. Alex said. “Let’s get on with this ok?”

  Sione opened his folder and took out a sheet of paper, his piercing dark brown eyes shifting to me.

  He said, “Mr Taniela, I am very interested in acquiring your shares, on the sheet is the offer I’m prepared to pay. Double the Market valuation.”

  I held the sheet of paper to see the numbers. For half the number of shares I sold already to Cerberus, it was double.

  I asked, “I'm curious as to why you would want to pay so much for stock that‘s plummeting as we speak.”

  “Mr Taniela, my vested interests need be of no concern to you. I'm a legitimate buyer as I'm sure Alex can testify.”

  Sione had an unusual tinge of a French accent, so subtle that when he spoke, it was like a lullaby.

  I turned to Alex who skulled the rest of the beer. He slammed the glass on the table and said, “Bro he’s the real deal the money is in my account, I can confirm that.”

  I handed the piece of paper to Felicity, who was staring at Sione. She shuddered when I said, “It’s a great offer. I will have to talk with the team here before I confirm anything. But it’s positive so far.

  “Splendid. Take what time you need. I shall touch base with you in the foreseeable future.”

  Sione stood up “If you could excuse me please, I have a flight to New York that I'm running late for.”

  We all stood up and shook and hands. Sione lifted Felicity hand and kissed it.

  “A pleasure Felicity, you’re a beauty behind those glasses…” We watched him walk out while Felicity held her tablet against her chest like she swooned. She said, “Such a gentleman. My ovaries are like, exploding right now.”

  I rolled my eyes, and looked at Alex. “Is this guy for real?”

  “He pays… So yeah. Cash money!”

  Felicity said, “So are you going to sell to Sione? It seems like a no-brainer.”

  I paused to think about Vivian.

  Alex started meowing like a cat. When Felicity frowned, he said, “You hear that sound, Felicity? That’s pussy whip thoughts going through Chad’s mind.”

  “Shut up Alex.”

  “Look. Man up and tell Vivian its your own business for fuck’s sake.”

  “I know but she spent so much time organizing and schmoozing to get the deal with Cerberus, she's gonna be pissed off.”

  Alex crossed his arms. “I think she did more schmoozing if you know what I mean.” Alex poked his tongue in his cheek and did the motion of a blow job. I shook my head.

  He grabbed his jacket. “I gotta go but you would be an idiot to walk away from this.”

  ***

  Felicity and I were left at the table. A lady came by with a trolley of food and Felicity picked out a few dishes. The bottles of wine already opened, we got into it.

  “Ooo yum!” she said, grabbing her chopsticks.

  I covered my face with my hands and Felicity poked me with the end of a chopstick. My vision thwarted to the bowl of chicken feet. I winced.

  “Toughen up, Chad. Try this.”

  I lowered my hands and watched Felicity pick a dumpling from the plate. She held it out and I tasted it.

  My appetite soon resumed and I grabbed a set of chopsticks. Felicity smiled when my mood lifted. She said, “Is there anything you want me to do?”

  “Not at this stage. I'm pretty much keen on Sione’s offer. It’s the pain of telling Vivian that I'm dreading.”

  “It shouldn’t be that bad. You�
��re a couple after all?”

  I shook my head. “Jeez Felicity, you’re persistent aren’t you?”

  “I'm just nosey, that’s all. I just wanna know.”

  “To be honest, I don’t know what I am to her.”

  “Do you want my opinion? From a female perspective, I think you have a blind spot for her. My woman's intuition knows she's just out to use you.”

  I baulked. “Woman's intuition? Ha, you sound like Alex.”

  Felicity looked puzzled.

  I said, “Alex has what he calls mantuition…”

  Felicity burst out laughing. “That’s absurd!”

  “I know.” I blinked twice. “But what he tells me has a ring of truth to it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Both of you are telling me the same thing about Vivian.”

  Felicity picked at the fried shrimp while I went for the chicken feet again.

  I sighed. “I'm dreading having to tell her tonight. Anyways let’s change the subject let’s talk about you.”

  Her eyes lit up and she took a sip of a glass of water. “Ask away. But don’t bring up my childhood. We’ll be here all night.”

  There was a twitch within me. Childhood… fuck that.

  “Do you regret giving up your career?” I said.

  “I do but to start something on a blank slate is quite exciting. But to be honest Chad, I’m actually quite relieved I can finally cover my mortgage payments. Oh my god, that’s such a relief. The stress of not knowing where the money is going to come from, it's up there with public speaking!”

  “You’re quite young to have a commitment like that. You could have got renters or a partner.”

  “Heh-heh, I asked a Fireman if he would flat with me. He went all silent, maybe I was too forward. That uniform though… Yum…”

  “Okay…”

  Felicity looked down. She adjusted her glasses, staring into the sweet and sour sauce on her plate. “My ex was the reason why I quit my career. It started so great, you know. Then things fell apart.”

  “Oh, so there was more to it. You didn’t mention that when I interviewed you.”

  “I probably would have cried.”

  “Let’s change the subject then.”

  “No Chad, I want to talk about it please, you said that we had to be honest with each other.”

  “But not on something personal like that. It’s none of my business, and besides I’m not a therapist.”

  Felicity was quiet, looking a bit hurt, getting fidgety with her fork.

  “When you fidget it means you want to talk about it.”

  Felicity bit her lip. “It will make me feel better, Chad.”

  I nodded. “Shoot.”

  Felicity put her fork down, and she removed her glasses. It was the first time I had ever seen her without them. I paused to see in detail her features. She had high cheekbones, plump, pink and pleasing. Her eyes weren’t pale blue, they were a luminous sky blue. The glasses seemed to hide the sparkle. Her bold brown eye shadow made the colour in her eyes come out. My attention was fixated and I was captivated. Stunning.

  “That’s what Sione meant,” I murmured.

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing. Please continue. But please don't cry… people around us might think I have daddy issues.”

  Felicity chuckled. “I won't.” She took in a deep breath and lifted her hands, waving them to fan her face. She was getting fidgety again when I reached over and grabbed her hands and put them down on the table. I squeezed.

  Her eyes dilated slightly and she looked at my hands holding hers.

  I said, “Okay… Talk.”

  “I Dunno if it was me or him, but I’ve always been bad at relationships. Or maybe it's what I expected relationships to be. I find a man, I lock him down. I guess I was so eager to play happy families I scared the bejesus out of him.”

  I lifted my hands away and I smiled. “I bet you were one of the girls who played house with their Ken and Barbie dolls, huh?”

  “Oh my god! It was, you know. It’s a girlie thing. I loved it.”

  I paused to remember my childhood, being in my first foster home. My stepsisters getting their dolls and a kids’ play set at Christmas.

  I sighed. “Tell me about it. I grew up with three older sisters. So you could imagine what I had to put up with.”

  She laughed. “Three girls telling you what to do all the time. Ha-ha, I guess kinda like Vivian.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Careful…”

  “Oops, I mean, I can see how, growing up, those experiences could have made you co-dependent on women telling you what to do in adult life. Kinda like those sex slaves who end up falling in love with their masters. It happens. Sorry, am I babbling again?”

  I sighed, holding back my curses. “Felicity, focus.”

  She bit her lip again, then she put on her glasses. “Okay, Okay, my bad. Gosh, so with my ex I got a sense of commitment. We like dated for two years, before I suggested we take the next step and move in together. It was bliss having our own place to ourselves unlike my other friends who were still living with their parents. It was liberating, you know. Walking around the whole house, naked. Ha-ha.”

  “Okay…”

  I stroked my chin and said, “How long were you both in the house for before you split?”

  “About a year. No. It was eighteen months before Francis got cold feet.”

  “Oh, so he proposed?”

  “No, no, no. Don’t be silly. Ha, I would have been the one that would get down on one knee. A girl can only hint so many times, then you need to take things in your own hands. Silly thought huh?”

  “It happens, Felicity. My take on it is that the life you were leading him into, he didn’t want to be part of. Or commit to.”

  “Yeah, he felt strangled, I guess. Everything was moving so fast, blah blah blah. He said that he wanted to travel the world and things like that. Young men and their dreams. Urgh!”

  “I’m fascinated. Why are you so into marriage? Most girls your age would be travelling the world! Probably drunk on some tropical beach working part time at a bar.”

  “I get messages from my friends that are on their overseas experiences. I guess I wanna settle down, have a man look after me, vice versa. I’m the youngest in my family. My sisters and their kids, OMG, I love looking after them. If I weren't a nurse, I would be a babysitter. I wish I had their life, you know, I want kids someday before my ovaries wrinkle and wither, ha-ha.”

  My eyes narrowed. “So when you judged me on my co-dependence, you’re suffering the same thing. With your sisters and all.”

  “I’m not the sex slave!” She giggled.

  I didn’t laugh.

  “Oops, sorry… I did it again. Awkward. What about you, Chad? Did you ever think about getting married?”

  “It might mean having a girlfriend first…”

  Felicity chuckled and I raised an eyebrow. “Oops again. I wasn’t supposed to laugh was I? I sort of like, thought you were like telling it as a joke.”

  I paused, watching Felicity bite her bottom lip. I pulled my head out of my ass and laughed. It was pretty funny in a fucked up way. “It’s all good. You know, I actually proposed to Vivian.”

  “Oh my god! Really?”

  “Yeah, I was so certain she would say yes. I took her to a fancy Mexican restaurant where they had a live band. The place was absolutely packed. When I mustered up enough courage, I called her up on stage. She didn’t even shed a tear. She only said yes so I wouldn’t be embarrassed. God, imagine if she said no on stage in front of all those people. I would have topped myself.”

  “But she said no? Didn’t she?”

  “Yeah. When I dropped her home, she said it wasn’t that type of relationship yet. I was pretty gutted. Maybe it was the engagement ring. Ha! I should have got the most expensive one.”

  Felicity crossed her arms, “Did you get down on one knee?”

  “Umm…no. Should I?”

 
“It might have helped… I’d say yes.”

  You watch too much daytime TV, Felicity. I notice though you haven’t cried from your side of the story. You must be over it?”

  “I probably cried more over the hopelessness of the financial side. Francis moved out on a whim and left me to pay for everything. Probably in France or New York, laughing at me. Eating a French stick or Pizza.”

  I took a sip from my drink. “Well, I’m glad I was able to provide employment for you to cover your debts. It was, to be honest, a long shot hiring you and I sense you will be a work in progress.”

  Felicity scratched the side of her temple. “Oh, did you mean that in a bad way? Like I’m not doing good so far? Please tell me what I’m doing wrong.”

  “No Felicity, I mean that in a good way. Working with you, empowering you, relying on you. These things take time. That’s what I meant.”

  “Oh...okay. Phew, you had me there for a sec. I’m your girl.” She smiled, pointing inwardly.

  When she said that last line, I flinched. “C’mon let’s get out of here. I have to see Vivian tonight. I need to front up with everything now before it becomes a pain in my ass.”

  Felicity said, “She is to me.”

  ***

  I never saw Vivian that night but Felicity was persistent in encouraging me to front up. A week later, Vivian asked me to come over. She had been working the week in China and wanted to share a final buyout offer from Cerberus for the rest of our shares. I arrived at her house to see her on the balcony holding her glass of red wine. I opened the front door and went in. On the table were two bottles of red wine, an empty box of chocolates, and small blocks of cheese with toothpicks, untouched except for one block that was missing a toothpick. There was a folder next to the plates.

  One bottle of wine was empty and the other three quarters full. I removed my suit jacket and grabbed an empty glass.

  I had started to pour, when the click of heels started coming down the stairs. Vivian always became hot, flushed and horribly horny after a bottle. I wondered how she would react when I told her I’m signing the remaining shares to Sione.

  She stopped in the middle of the stairs, her catlike stare quietly judging me. Vivian looked incredibly sexy. She wore a blue tunic that stopped at the top half of her thighs and hugged her body. One of the shoulder straps had come loose, her extensive and expensive breasts protruding.