by Tiana Cole
“You are an idiot!” Barbara’s cry combined astonishment and frustration. “You went out husband hunting, didn’t you? You convinced a rich man to marry you so that he’d pay for my surgery? That stinks to high heaven, Deja. I’m so disappointed in you.”
The words stung. “That isn’t exactly what happened. Even if it was, what’s wrong with that if it saves your life?”
Barbara sat back, her expression stern. “For one thing, you are supposed to be living your own life, not trying to compensate for problems and bad luck in mine. For another, it’s dishonest and you will hate yourself, and he’ll probably feel used when you tell him why you married him.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what I’m doing, living my life. Maybe I love James. Maybe I’m sick of being poor andhaving a wealthy husband is the best thing to ever happen to me.” Deja held her breath. Her big sister had always been able to see through her, far better than their mother could. And now the familiar penetrating look burned into her soul.
“How did you meet him? What made you pick out this man?”
With her mind racing, Deja tried to think up an answer, but the question had come out of the blue. She’d prepared herself to answer lots of questions about James Andrews but this caught her off guard, and with Barb staring at her, she couldn’t think straight. Finally she did what she always did when she tried to lie to her big sister—she blurted out the truth. “I didn’t pick him out.”
Barb took her hand. “Sit on my bed, Deja,” she said sternly. Take a deep breath. Relax and get yourself together because you are going to tell me the story. All of it, right from the beginning.”
* * * *
“I recently heard an odd thing about you,” Shen Liang said over lunch. The man had called to announce he was back in town early and wanted to meet for lunch. That Deja was gone worked out well. She was busy and he could find out the status of the deal. He’d made reservations at a new hotel, then had his bags sent over. When he checked out, he left a note for Deja telling her the name and address of the new hotel.
Now he was sitting in front of Shen Liang, trying not to show his nervousness. “You heard an odd thing?” James couldn’t help but wince, seeing the concern on the man’s face.
“A disturbing thing, actually. Another business associate told me that he mentioned your name to the son of a friend, in passing. The son is a great fan of the social media. He said he recognized your name and that you were featured in a video on the internet that was trending.”
James felt his stomach tense. So Shen knew. The question was how it played out. “Really?”
“I have no idea what ‘trending’ means, but whatever it means, he said the video showed you acting disgracefully drunk and boisterous. The video was apparently of you getting married.”
“I haven’t seen that video.”
“But you know of it? It is of you?”
The temptation to lie was strong, but saving face and winning a business deal that way wasn’t promising. Any relationship that began with a lie was probably doomed. “Yes. I won’t deny it. I’m embarrassed to say I know it exists. I was married last night.”
Shen Liang’s eyes opened wide. “So you were married by an Elvis impersonator on a whim, while drunk?”
“Yes, I’m ashamed to say that’s true.”
Liang’s stony face returned. “I see.”
“I hope this doesn’t…”
“Affect our negotiations? I have to say, Mister Andrews, that I’m not entirely sure what it means as far as our discussions go. I can’t deny being rather disappointed in you and perhaps even more in myself.”
“I can understand your not being pleased with me, but disappointment in yourself? Why?”
“My vanity clouded my judgment. I have grown proud of my ability to judge people. Now it appears I was overly proud, and vain. I had judged you to be a rather different kind of person than one who gets drunk in public and humiliates himself in such a fashion. I must re-evaluate myself and my judgments.”
James wanted to say something more, to defend himself. He might have, but he agreed with Shen Liang. In letting himself be carried away, he hadn’t lived up to his own standards. It pained him to admit it, but he’d screwed it up.
“I have heard that now you intend to have this marriage annulled.”
“I haven’t told anyone my intentions, but it’s true that I was drunk and in Nevada that is grounds for annulment. My lawyer is examining all the possible ways of dealing with the situation.”
“That too is disappointing.”
The assessment surprised him. “Why?”
“While the legal ground might allow a person to act dishonorably, marriage is a contract. Regardless of the circumstances, you gave your word.”
“I was drunk.”
“And that is the fault of your bride? Or is it yours?”
“Mine.”
“So she must suffer your dishonorable actions twice—once when she learns you promised something you didn’t mean, and then again when you use a legal trick to negate that promise?”
“That’s not exactly—”
“Then what? Did you ask her to marry you, and then go through with the ceremony?”
“Yes.”
“Then, apparently, you feel it is fine to break a contract if you didn’t intend to sign it?”
“That’s not exactly what I mean.”
Shen Liang paused, then sipped his tea. “I don’t want to discuss this anymore until I see this video that McCabe mentioned for myself.”
“McCabe? Alan McCabe?”
“That’s right. He’s the other business associate I mentioned—the man who told me about the video. Before you say anything foolish, I am fully aware that he brought the video to my attention because he wants the deal for himself. But he made a point worth considering—he feels he would do a much better job of representing my interests. With some dignity.”
James felt the sharp stab of a knife between his shoulder blades. This entire thing had been a trick from the beginning. “McCabe is the man I was drinking with that night. He used to be my friend. I thought he still was.”
Liang tugged on his ear. “That compounds your failure. Perhaps you need to pay closer attention to your criteria for the people you call friends. Also, I find it troublesome that you didn’t bother to find out who your competitor was. McCabe did learn that and he outwitted you. If he also betrayed you, that doesn’t speak well of him. On the other hand, regardless of his role, I don’t suppose you would suggest that he somehow forced you to behave as you did.”
James felt like he should hang his head in shame. Not only was he losing out on the business deal, he had totally lost Shen Liang’s respect. Winning it back seemed impossible, but at least he wouldn’t whimper or whine. He didn’t want Shen Liang thinking any less of him, if that was possible. “I won’t say anything more, because I don’t want to sound as if what I did is justifiable.”
Liang nodded. “Send me a copy of the video. I will watch it. Then I will talk with McCabe. I wish to see if there are other sides to him that I do not like.”
“All right.”
“We will talk again in a few days.”
The last sentence made him his breath catch. The man wasn’t showing him the door. He wanted him to hang around. He possibly had a chance to turn things around yet.
James had an investment in a small high-tech company that was, for no apparent reason, headquartered in Las Vegas. “I had some business I’d intended to deal with after we settled things, but now I will spend the time taking care of that. I’ll be free when you want to speak again.”
Liang nodded. “You might want to give some thought to how you handle the other business as well—like this marriage. I understand that it is a private matter, but you must keep in mind that for people in our position there is little privacy. For that reason, I’ll be interested in seeing what you ultimately do.”
“Of course.”
As Liang left, James fum
ed. That bastard McCabe had picked Deja out and pointed him at her. He knew that she’d appeal to him, with that lovely lithe body and ebony skin, that ready smile. He’d gotten him drunk and then saw that he danced with her. Now he vaguely remembered Alan suggesting he go ask that hot black chick to dance. The band was playing a Martha and the Vandelles song. He couldn’t resist.
Alan engineered the meeting rather skillfully, he had to admit. But that left a huge unanswered question. How had he gotten so drunk and still been able to function? He’d never been that drunk in his life. When he’d come close, he’d passed out. That night he’d not only continued to party, but he’d made it through an absurd wedding, and then, if Deja was to be believed at all, he’d been a bull in bed. His ego liked the idea of that, but it didn’t make sense.
None of it made much sense.
CHAPTER SIX
It took some time for her to get her breathing under control. Barbara’s stare was harsh, but that was because Deja felt guilty. Finally she swallowed, looked into her sister’s eyes, and began to explain. “A week ago I met a man named Alan McCabe here at the hospital.
I was in the waiting room while you were getting a treatment. I’m not sure why he was there, but this man seemed interested in hearing about you, about the surgery you needed. He was very nice. More than nice. We had coffee and talked.”
“And he offered you a way to make money.”
“Not then. He asked for my phone number, and a few days ago he called me. He knew everything by then…about the new treatment, our finances, mine and yours, and, well, everything. He said he might have a solution, a way for me to get the money you needed. And he needed a favor. So I met him for lunch and he explained that he wanted to play a prank on a friend.”
“A prank.”
“He had a friend named James Andrews who was in town for business. The two of them were in a club of very rich people, ‘stupid rich,’ he called them.
The group often played elaborate tricks on each other. He said that James was shy and tended to bury himself in work. He was shutting out the world. This trick was going to help wake him up. Alan was supposed to get him drunk—very drunk.
Then they wanted to introduce him to a woman. She was supposed to get him to marry her in an absurd ceremony. It would be a great thing to hold over his head, that he had fallen for this trick.”
“And you believed him.”
She nodded. “I wanted to. He offered me fifty thousand dollars if I got James to marry me and stay married for a week. It seemed like a miracle, and I know I should’ve sensed that it was a too-good-to-be-true thing, but I didn’t want to see that it could be bogus. I needed that money and being able to get it soon...”
“Why a week? If it was a prank, once he married you, the trick was finished.”
Deja felt her cheeks turn red. “He said it was to have time to make sure James learned his lesson. This morning I found out it was so he could use that time to make James look bad and screw up a business deal.”
“So you did it. Did you really marry him, or was that fake?”
“As real as it gets when everything from the first date to the honeymoon takes place in one night.”
“How did you do it?”
“I showed up at the club. He was drunk already. I danced with him and we got cozy and… one thing led to another and we wound up at one of the downtown quickie marriage mills. He turned out to be nice, really nice, and I liked him. He really liked me too, so I didn’t have to do much of anything, and the marriage idea was totally his. I even tried to back out, to convince him to wait, but he was all for it. So I figured, why not?”
“Because it’s dishonest.”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t resist. All that money for one week’s work. And it can save your life.”
“And when you woke up this morning?”
“He was furious about the marriage, although I’m not sure whether he was madder with me or Elvis.”
“Elvis?”
“The minister.”
“Oh, right.”
“I was feeling kind of guilty—”
“As you should.”
“As we talked I started seeing clearly that it wasn’t a prank at all. Eventually, after some reporters came knocking, James got to wondering more about my motives, thinking that maybe I called them. He was coming up with all sorts of ideas.”
“And you defended yourself, even though you were not being honest.”
“He insisted on getting married. I just went along with it.”
“You were sober and no one held a gun to your head.”
“No, Barb, but they offered me fifty thousand dollars to go through with it. It was like taking a gun away from your head.”
“And where did you leave things?”
“James called his lawyer and they are happily trying to figure out the best thing to save whatever business deal it is that Alan was using me to sabotage and figure out what to do about my prickly presence. I needed to get out, so I just told him I was coming to see you and then going to work.”
“And then?”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’ll go back. Staying away will make things easier.”
“Why does that make things easy?”
“Without my signature, he can’t get an annulment quickly, and tracking me down will take time. He has no idea where I live or work and doesn’t even have my phone number. All I have to do is stay out of sight and then, after seven days, I can collect my money. After that he can divorce me or I’ll help him get that annulment.”
Disappointment distorted Barb’s face. “So running off makes things easy for you, by making it hard for him. What a totally crappy way to behave. So manipulative and cowardly too.”
It was, and the words made her cringe. “Still…”
“Still nothing. You are a decent woman, and that means you need to face this man. You have to sit in front of him and tell him the whole story. You might have done this as a trick, a way to get money, but he is your husband. You have an obligation to let him know about this shitty joke being played on him. He deserves that much from you.”
“He’d get rid of me immediately and then Alan wouldn’t pay me the money.”
“Maybe. I wouldn’t blame him in the least. But you would get back a little bit of your dignity. You used sex to get him to marry you. And you were paid to do it. You slept with the man for money. What you did is throw away your integrity.”
“To get you the treatment that will keep you alive, Barbara.”
“The end doesn’t justify the means. Not ever. Do you think I want to go into surgery thinking about what you did to get the money? Hell, Deja, the treatment might not even work and you would be doing this, to him and yourself, for nothing. You messed up, girl, but there is still time to try to make it right. He’ll be mad as hell at you, but there is a chance that if you are strong and admit what you did, he’ll see a flash of the wonderful girl I know you are.”
“I don’t know. I also gave Alan my word. I said I’d do it.”
“You promised to trick someone when you didn’t understand the consequences.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are deliberately being a little idiot, Deja. I know you. You don’t trust this Alan as far as you can throw him. He lied to you, and you feel almost as used as James Andrews must. But I can tell from the way you talk about him that you care about this fake husband of yours. It’s written all over your face every time you mention him.”
“So what?”
“If you care about someone, you don’t lie to them. And you don’t even seem to know everything that’s going on. If this Alan lied about it being a prank, you don’t even know that you aren’t mixed up in something that is illegal. If you act now you have a chance to come clean with James. Then he’ll be able to find out exactly what’s going on. Even if that doesn’t make things right between you two, if you keep lying to him, you’ll never be able to find out. Someone will be hurt. Mos
t likely both of you.”
“If I tell him, he’ll annul the marriage. If I don’t stay married to him a week I’ll lose the money.”
“It’s filthy money. If he pays you.”
“Filthy or not, we need the money for your treatment.”
Barbara shook her head. “And you think I want it on my conscience that my little sister did something like this to get the money? It’s just prostitution, you know. You probably didn’t want to think about it that way, but you slept with a stranger for money.”
Having had the same thoughts, she couldn’t fault Barb’s logic. “Maybe I slept with him for money, but I married him. Any marriage is a business arrangement.” Her protest sounded weak, even to her.
“This was a fraud, pure and simple. You deceived the man and I don’t want you using me as an excuse. I can forgive a lapse, Deja, but what you do now, understanding what’s going on, will tell the world who you really are. Even if you didn’t actually trick him into marrying you, or screw him and then insist he marry you because you were pregnant, you certainly went along with a set up.
No matter what Alan intended, you were part of it. And you didn’t bother to ask yourself what kind of prank is worth that amount of money to pull off.” Barbara gave her a thin smile. “You aren’t stupid, not in the least, but you never asked yourself that question. You had to know something more than a gag was the point of this. Face it, you knew it was wrong when you did it. Now you are obligated to make things right.”
Suddenly what had seemed like a grand opportunity was nothing but a colossal failure. It was all true, and Deja couldn’t look her sister in the eye. She had no stomach for looking James in the eye either. She damn well could have stopped the marriage if she’d cared enough about her own self-respect, or his, for that matter. Now, owning up to that, was harder than it would’ve been then.
“You’re right,” she said. “I did a stupid thing. I fucked up. All I had to do was not say, ‘I do.’” More than that, during the evening, behind the drunk she’d seen a man she liked, or might like. It wouldn’t have been that hard to say good night; she could have easily convinced him that they needed to see each other when they were sober. That would have been the right thing to do.