by Amber Burns
Very few people genuinely liked Leonard, but everyone knew that it was imperative that you stayed on Leonard’s good side. Otherwise, you might not be around long enough to even realize you had managed to get yourself on his bad side. When talking to Leonard, I always felt as if I was balancing on a tightrope. I had to execute the conversation carefully, successfully saying what needed to be said while still managing to maintain my balance, staying within Leonard’s good favor. Tonight, considering the information I was looking for concerned the woman I was pretty damn sure I might just be falling for; I knew that I had to be extra careful to stay on Leonard’s good side. I took a breath and mentally prepared myself for the words I was about to unleash upon this powerful, dangerous man.
“Oh, certainly, Leonard, of course,” I said, nodding my head deeply, signifying my respect for his wishes. “And what might that singular condition be?”
Leonard smiled tightly at me, his leathery, over tanned skin stretching across the bones of his face.
“You may ask me a question,” he began, his voice wheezing through his thin lips. “And in return, I may ask you a question.”
His demand caught me off guard; Leonard usually wanted free access to the booze supply for the rest of the year, or an invite to some underground, hard to access party or even the number of a woman in my company he found attractive (that particular demand had been fed to me more than a handful of times). But to simply ask for the permission to ask me a question in return? That was a strange thing, indeed. Leonard was the type of man who always said what he wanted, and did what he pleased, without ever asking for permission. Something about this very uncharacteristic demand sent chills crawling down my spine, and yet I appeased him; of course I appeased him, for he was, still, Leonard Carmichael.
“Certainly,” I said, smiling, clasping my hands together. “Certainly. You know you can always ask me anything. In fact,” I added, “why don’t you ask me your question first?”
Leonard smiled and clapped a bony hand down hard upon my shoulder.
“Why isn’t that generous of you,” he rasped, biting at his wrinkled lips with his gold teeth. “You always are just too kind to little old me.”
I tipped my head to the side, still forcing that trademark smile to hold itself upon my chiseled face.
“Well, who can resist your charms, Leonard,” I teased, and we both erupted into a small fit of forced laughter.
The girls hanging around us chimed in, some of them clapping their skinny hands together weakly. Others were just smiling dumbly up at us, their mouths hanging open, and their eyes blinking dopily.
“I know, I know,” Leonard wheezed, grinning at me, squeezing my shoulder, his many rings driving into my traps. I winced but hoped my smile succeeded in covering up my pain.
“Well, then, Nikko boy, old pal,” Leonard proceeded. “What I wanted to ask you about was a particular employee of yours. A very special, special employee of yours.”
I nodded; I was used to Leonard wishing to pursue one of my female employees. But the fact that he had this time asked for permission still left me on guard.
“Certainly,” I said, still guarding myself, still smiling politely. “I do happen to think I have very many very special employees, however, so you may need to be a tad more specific, my friend.”
Leonard grinned, but upon his face, the expression more closely resembled a snarl. He tapped on my shoulder again, his eyes red with alcohol, his spindly fingers coming closer and closer to gripping at my neck.
“Yes, yes, that is true, Nikko boy, that is true. Well, then, allow me to be quite straightforward.” He clutched at me, then, even more tightly, his long, yellowed fingernails tickling the base of my neck. I cleared my throat and glanced sideways at him. His beady eyes met my own. “I would like to propose this little clarification in a place that is slightly more…. private. If that is alright with you,” he said, his breath hot and heavy upon my cheek.
I glanced at the circle of girls that stood patiently waiting around us, their hair deflating from the long night spent partying, their eye makeup slightly smudged around their tired faces. I glanced back at Leonard and nodded sharply.
“Why don’t we step into the lounge,” I offered. “The stage left lounge, that is,” I quickly added, remembering what I had done to the loveseat that rested in the stage right lounge.
Leonard wheezed and grinned, his gold teeth seeming to glint with pleasure.
“Yes, yes, Nikko boy, yes. I think that would do the trick indeed.” He took a step away from and laid his sticky hands upon the naked shoulders of the two Asian twins. “Alright, my lovelies; I will be right back. Don’t you move your pretty selves.”
The girls teetered as he laid his dry lips upon their cheeks. Then he turned, waggled his fingers over his shoulder at the girls, and began to lead the way up the stairs and to the stage left lounge. I followed, glancing back to watch as the girls all leaned upon each other and played with each other’s hair. Then I rounded the corner and slipped into the lounge closely behind Leonard.
“Now then,” Leonard said once the door had been securely shut and double locked. “Please, take a seat.” He swept one of his heavily jeweled hands over the leather armchairs that sat around the room.
“I am alright, thank you,” I returned coolly. “But if you wish, you may find yourself a seat.”
Leonard laughed, though his laughter always came out sounding more like a rough edge of sandpaper grating against the vocal chords.
“I am quite spry, thank you,” he said, tapping his fingers together, eliciting a gentle clacking as the rings bounced off of each other. “In that case, let us get down to business.”
“Let us do just that,” I confirmed. I eyed him suspiciously, my arms gripped firmly across my chest.
“Right, then,” Leonard drawled, his long nails winding his single earring in circles around his ear lobe. “I noticed, today, that you had a brand new little lady employee doting upon you,” he began.
My insides turned cold, and I instantly felt sick. I knew exactly who Leonard was talking about: Molly. The way he played with his earring, slowly, teasingly, as if he was running his fingers around some giant clitoris, that was no accidental movement; not coming from a man like this. It made me sick, and I tried to look away but knew I could not. Moving my eyes from this man’s face would be the equivalent of handing him a gun and drawing a target on my face. This conversation with a powerful, dangerous, disgusting excuse for a man, was combat, a war, and I knew it just as well as Leonard knew it. I swallowed the disgust and anger that was welling up inside of me and smiled back at Leonard, taking care to keep my voice steady and casual.
“Molly,” I said in a way that sounded offhanded and unconcerned. “Yes. Yes, my brand new assistant. That must be who you mean. Demure, sober, far too straight-laced for your liking, no?” I offered.
Leonard chuckled that dry, grating chuckle. His fingers fell from the earring, and he instead began to fondle the rings that decorated his left hand.
“For my liking? No, no, Nikko boy, not at all. Not. One. Bit.” He dropped the words like stones from his creaking, sallow face.
His words jarred me. First, I thought he certainly must be joking. A woman who was that conservatively dressed and unmade up would never appeal to Leonard Carmichael. After all, until an hour ago, I had not even been able to get past the fact that Molly looked so fresh, so beautiful, and so different from every other woman men like myself socialized with. Leonard was drunk on girls who were more mask than human, and so he certainly could not fancy Molly. In fact, I had approached him with the intention of asking him if Molly had taken one of his group’s drinks by mistake; they usually added some pretty intoxicating powders and whatnot into their beverages in order to heighten their experiences of the evening. But as I stood there before Leonard, another, darker idea dawned on me. What if Molly was exactly the type of woman Leonard Carmichael fancied, and what if he had intentionally drugged her as a means of
getting to her? I felt my skin begin to crawl as I stared at the sunken-faced man.
“In fact,” Leonard continued, “I like her so much that I… well, I gave her one of my special concoctions to sip on. Aha. Aha.” His laughter scraped at my ears, and he shot my one of his beady-eyed stares, full of malice.
“You did?”
The words fell from my lips, almost a whisper, and it took my several seconds to realize that I had been the one who had said them. Leonard looked just as surprised as me to hear the words slip into the room. His over plucked, black eyebrows crept up his forehead so high that they nearly disappeared into his hairline and his lips fell open in surprise.
“Well, well, well, well,” he wheezed, taking a shivering step closer to me. “Does Mister Nikko boy have a little crush on his brand new pet?”
“She is not my pet,” I said coolly, forcing myself to meet his gaze. It took everything in my power to keep my hands from trembling. They itched to ball into fists and slam blood across Leonard’s sallow face. I forced the necessary words out, hoping they sounded as true as they were false. “And I most certainly do not have a crush.”
Leonard grinned, his smile full of knives.
“Good, good,” he said, his long nails playing through his hair. “Then you will not mind my asking your permission to whisk the pretty young thing away from her new job.”
I took a step back. I had not been prepared for that request. I eyed Leonard with disbelief.
“Take her away?” I gaped. “What do you mean?”
Leonard rolled his eyes.
“Don’t look so shocked, Nikko boy,” he coughed. “I do not mean for anything other than the usual thing. You know, jet-setting to Panama, relaxing on the beach, having a couple drinks, seeing what happens…” he winked at me, and I felt instantly repulsed as a wave of nausea rolled through me. “And then,” he added, waving his skinny arms through the air. “Oh, you know, just setting her up as my own personal secretary.”
I could not even hide my shock. I looked at him, my eyes narrowed, my thick lips parting with disgust.
“Your own personal secretary?” I repeated the words because I needed to hear them again in order to be sure they had actually been spoken.
Leonard nodded, his skinny chin bobbing up and down.
“Very good, Nikko boy,” he mocked. “You can hear. Yes. In fact, I thought I might like to have her start, say… Oh, I don’t know… On Monday?” He sniffed. “I mean, my home office needs a bit of eye candy, and pronto.”
I simply stood there, motionless, staring at Leonard. My muscles were tense and made my suit stretch over my body uncomfortably. I could not let him take Molly away. Convincing her to marry me was going to prove difficult enough. But it would be absolutely impossible to convince her of that if she was off gallivanting in Panama with Leonard during that time. But as I stood there, imagining my new personal assistant draped across a lounge chair sipping from the same martini as Leonard, I felt physically ill. I knew then without a doubt that I felt something for Molly that was more real and true than anything I had ever felt for anyone else, ever before in my entire life. Possibly more than I would ever feel for anyone ever again. The realization overwhelmed me, and I felt my head sliding back and forth, shaking a very obvious “no” at Leonard.
“I can’t let you do that,” I said. My voice was now measured, sturdy; I was resolute. “I’m very sorry, Leonard, old pal, but the answer, this time, is just going to have to be a no.”
Leonard stared at me, his smile still hanging off of his skinny lips, his beady eyes still glittering with greasy lust. He took a step forward and placed his fingers upon my arm.
“Why is that?” He asked, his breath creeping down my neck. “If you don’t mind my asking, that is. After all, Nikko boy, you have always been so kind to me in the past.”
I could feel the threat hanging in his eyes, but I could not afford to let Molly go.
“Well,” I said, scrambling to come up with something to say. “You know, it is just that she is such a good worker that I do not think I could ever find anyone to fill her shoes,” I blurted.
Leonard stared back at me.
“She has only been working for you for a matter of hours, Nikko boy,” he said, his voice dropping to an icy tone. “I am sure that you can find someone else who shall prove just as sufficient.”
“I know,” I rushed, “I know, Leonard. But it is not just about her work ethic. There is more. So much more. It just so happens, Leonard, that I am engaged to Molly, and that is why I have offered her this job with me. In fact, we are announcing our engagement to the public by the end of the week.”
The words had poured out of me before I was even conscious of what I was saying. I stood there, panting, my heart racing. Now that I had said it, I had to make good on it. Not only to keep ahold of my job, but to prove to this dangerous, deadly man that stood before me that it was, in fact, the truth, and keep ahold of my life.
Leonard’s eyes opened wide, and his fingers uncurled from my arm. He took an appraising step back and looked at me for a moment as if judging whether or not I was joking. I stood my ground and tried to fashion my face into something that looked half embarrassed, half lovesick. After a moment, Leonard burst into his wheezing, coughing laughter and patted me vigorously upon the shoulder.
“Well, well, well!” he yelped, slapping my shoulders with his many rings. “Why didn’t you just tell me in the first place, when I originally teased you, Nikko my boy? That is fantastic. The only person I would want to have that woman, other than little old me, would be you, Nikko boy. This is incredible news indeed!”
I forced a smile and nodded back at the older man.
“Yes,” I said weakly. “I am very, very excited.”
“Certainly,” Leonard said, his beady eyes dancing. “Certainly. I would be, eh eh eh!” He jabbed me in the ribs with his bony elbows. I tilted my head back and forth and chuckled weakly, trying to match his enthusiasm.
“Well then, a change of requests, then!” Leonard said. “In that case, may I request free access to your wedding night liquor bar?”
I nodded and bowed towards the top-hat clad man.
“Leonard Carmichael, that would be my pleasure,” I promised.
Leonard grabbed my hand in his own, his yellow nails digging into my flesh as he pumped my arm up and down.
“Well then! Many congratulations!” he repeated. “And now that my request has been voiced, what question did you want to bother me with?” He asked.
I startled at that. In all the eventfulness of the last few moments of conversation, I had completely forgotten the reason that I had first sought out Leonard’s company. I shook my head and ran a hand over my face.
“Honesty, Leonard,” I said, feigning a yawn and glancing at the clock. “I just wanted to discuss a bit of general economics with you, as I always respect your opinions on monetary matters. But now, I have become so overwhelmed by exhaustion that I think it might be best to put such things off until tomorrow evening.” I blinked several times, hoping I looked as tired as I truly felt. “Would that be alright with you?”
Leonard nodded in his weasely way and crossed the room, making for the door.
“Nikko boy, of course, of course. Especially since you have just confided in me such joyous news. A lucky man she’ll make you, that little firecracker, indeed!” He wheezed, and with that, he slapped me on the shoulder and slipped through the door.
The heavy door thudded closed, and I fell into one of the leather armchairs. I let my face fall into my hands and rubbed at my tired eyes with my fingers.
“Oh fuck,” I moaned. “Oh fuck, oh fuck. What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
8
Molly
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
The sound of a hammer smashing into concrete jolted me awake. I rolled over, and my eyes flickered open. Bright light instantly smacked me in the face so hard I thought I might vomit.
“Oh my god…
holy shit!” I moaned. I rolled back over and pushed the pillow over my face, blocking out the offensive light.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
There it was again, that stupid, incessant hammering. It was so loud it seemed to shake the bed and the walls and the floor, too. I squeezed my eyelids tightly closed and pressed the pillow around my ears, hoping it would drown out the headache inducing clamor.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
“Who the fuck is hammering so loudly at this time in the morning!” I yelped.
My alarm had not even gone off yet; that meant it could not yet be six am. And yet, it seemed as if one of my neighbors had had the bright idea of hiring a construction crew to unleash their hammers upon the entirety of the building at this ungodly hour.
“When I properly wake up, I am going to go door to door with flyers highlighting the building laws regarding construction and sleeping hours,” I mumbled, a yawn fluttering through my grumbles.