Sasha pulls me into the common room.
“She’s on drugs,” she says, pointing to the broken glass tube. “That’s some kind of pipe. I don’t know if she’s smoking crack or meth or what, but it’s something.”
“She destroyed all my stuff!”
“I know, I know,” says Sasha, giving me a hug. “I’m sorry. You’ve been through so much.”
David
“We were beginning to think you weren’t coming back,” says Judge Carter, who’s now sitting in my chair at the head of the table. He’s swirling a glass of cognac in a glass.
“Oh,” I say, startled. I’d honestly forgotten that they were here at my house.
Ryan and Lily are sitting nearby, cuddling in an armchair. Ryan looks up at me with the question plastered all over his face. “What happened?” he’s saying with his features.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “It’s not been a good night for my family. I’ll have to have you all over again another time to make up for it.”
“But I was looking forward to meet your new wife so much,” says Judge Carter, a nasty look spreading across his face. “Don’t tell me that she won’t be joining us after all?”
“I’m afraid… she won’t,” I say.
“Do tell me what happened,” says Judge Carter, his voice full of obviously fake concern.
“The truth is,” I say, “we had a bit of a disagreement. She went to stay with a friend.”
“Can I talk to you?” says Ryan, giving Lily a kiss on her forehead and getting up.
I nod at him, and we move to walk into another room, but Judge Carter gets up, his cognac glass still in hand.
“You know,” he says, “this is all starting to seem very strange indeed.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ll have to have you over for another night.”
“Well,” says Judge Carter, “I don’t think that will be necessary. I have all the information I need.”
“What does that mean?”
“This night played out almost exactly as I expected it to. You see, your ex-wife’s lawyer recently provided me with some very interesting documentation… Apparently your wife isn’t your wife at all. The whole thing is merely a business arrangement. Isn’t it? Isn’t that the truth?”
“Think what you want,” I say. “Now get out of my house. I won’t be insulted like that.”
“Very well,” says Judge Carter. “But you should know that I don’t like having my time wasted. He takes his glass and turns it upside down, pouring the liquid on the hardwood floors.
He gives me a bitter look and leaves the room.
“Nancy,” I say, hitting the intercom. “Make sure Judge Carter gets out safely.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t punch him,” says Ryan.
I shrug. “Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to.”
“What’s going on?” says Ryan, sounding concerned.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, but Ryan I were always good friends, and when you’re a businessman like me, you’re not expected to be the type to have friends. And the truth is, I don’t have many. I have colleagues, associates, and business partners, but not many friends. But Ryan is one of those old friends that can’t ever go away. Each time you meet up years later, even a decade later, you just pick up where you left off before.
“Everything’s screwed,” I say. “I’m going to lose Laura.”
“What are you talking about?” says Ryan.
“It’s…”
“Come on,” says Ryan. “How long have we known each other? You can tell me, man.”
I walk over to the door of the study and close it, so that there’s no chance that anyone can overhear us.
“It goes without saying that this stays between us… and Lily, if you want to tell her,” I say.
Ryan gives me a stiff nod.
“OK,” I say. “Here it goes.”
I tell him all about the fake marriage, all about my crazy drug addict ex-wife Alicia, and how she wants to steal Laura from me to take her under a bridge somewhere to live some horrible life, probably getting her addicted to drugs.
“And now,” I say, “I don’t know how, but Judge Carter, who’s presiding over the case, knows that the whole thing is fake.”
Ryan nods but doesn’t say anything for a moment. He’s thinking, with that crazy techie brain of his, probably analyzing the situation as if it were a programming problem, or a math puzzle. He’s the best in the business. I’ve been using his Sisyphus Algorithm for years, and nothing in the industry can even come close to it. Hell, if I didn’t have his algorithm, I wouldn’t be able to make half the stock picks that I make.
“You know,” says Ryan. “Reading between the lines here…”
“There’s nothing to read between,” I say. “I told you everything.”
“I don’t think you did,” says Ryan, a grin growing on his face. “Do you know what I mean?”
“No.”
“You’re telling me this is a fake marriage, just a business arrangement. But frankly, I’ve never seen you get upset like this over a business arrangement. You’re known in the business for keeping a calm head no matter what and simply picking the next right move, no matter how bad things are or how bad the last deals were. That’s what makes you such a dangerous poker player. How much money have you won from me over the years, anyway?”
“A hundred thousand or so,” I say, thinking over what he’s saying.
He might be on to something.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do,” says Ryan. “Because for one thing, I know you never listen to anyone, even me. But think about Olivia and what she means to you.”
He excuses himself, saying that he and Lily need to be getting to bed. They’re staying here, in one of the rooms upstairs.
Everyone else has gone home, and I’m left in the study by myself, staring at the wood paneled wall, no drink in hand.
Maybe Ryan’s right… maybe he’s able to see what I’ve been avoiding myself.
When I look deep inside myself, there’s something there… something I haven’t been admitting.
And now that I uncover it, it’s staring me right in the face.
And it’s her… it’s Olivia.
Her beautiful face shines at me, her hair thrown back as if a gust of wind pushed it.
Her breasts stick up towards me, and her thighs glisten at me. She’s naked and shimmering in the moonlight.
And I wish that she was here.
I don’t care about the judge, the court case, or the fake marriage.
I don’t care about whether or not it’s been a successful deal.
Hell, this isn’t a business.
This is something else.
This is love.
I need to get her back, no matter what.
The custody situation—well, I’ll just have to figure out a way to work that all out. I always do.
But I need Olivia.
Olivia
“What are we going to do about her?” says Sasha.
We’re in my room, sitting cross-legged on my bed, facing each other.
“We can’t just kick her out,” I say.
“Why not?”
“She’s on the lease, right?”
“Yeah,” says Sasha.
“So she paid the rent. She’s on the lease. I don’t see any legal reason to kick her out.”
“What about the drugs? Whatever she’s using, it’s definitely not legal.”
“So what are we going to do? Call the cops on her? I feel sorry for her.”
Sasha looks up at my celling, where all of my possessions have been super glued to the ceiling.
“I just wish she’d used regular glue,” I say. “Whatever she used, that stuff’s never coming down.”
Sasha giggles, and it makes me giggle.
But the joyous moment doesn’t last long. I sink back into my depression.
My thoughts turn to David, and his muscular body, and the way
he looks at me.
I’m never going to feel the way he made me feel again. And that’s not the depression talking, nor the hopelessness. That’s just reality. I can feel it in my bones, and I’m as sure of it as I ever have been of anything in my life.
Unless I get him back.
But how can I deal with his demanding personality? The way he talks to me… it’s terrible. It’s like each time after sex he turns into a different person altogether.
And, anyway, even if he was to open up… he’d be furious at me for ruining everything with his daughter. He’s going to lose her to his ex-wife and it’s going to all be my fault.
“Wait a second,” I say, an idea suddenly coming to me out of the blue. “What did you say her name was again?”
“Alicia, why?”
“There’s something familiar about her.”
“I’ve never met her before. Like I said, she’s just some random person from Craigslist. That’ll teach me, right?”
“But…”
“I don’t think you’ve met her either.”
“Wait,” I say. “This might sound crazy. But I think she might be David’s ex-wife. I’m pretty sure her name was Alicia too.”
“That’s crazy,” says Sasha. “She sure doesn’t seem like a billionaires-ess, or whatever it is you call them.”
“I’ll be right back,” I say.
“Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry,” I say. “It’s OK.”
I leave Sasha sitting on my bed, pondering my very strange ceiling.
“Alicia?” I say, entering the common room. “Alicia? Are you here?”
“Hi,” says Alicia.
“Where are you?”
“I’m right here.”
Now I see her. Or, I see her foot. She’s lying behind the couch, apparently, with one foot sticking out.
“You’re behind the couch.”
“Yes.”
“Oh,” I say, not knowing how to respond to this strange behavior. “Are you sure you don’t mind that I’m in your room?”
“No, it’s filled with bugs.”
“Bugs? I didn’t see any in there. I thought you fixed that problem by plugging the holes.”
“That was for the ice. But now there are bugs. They can’t get me here, though. I’m safe. You should come back here with me or else the bugs will get you.”
Her broken glass pipe is sitting in a different position on the table. I touch it and it’s so hot it almost burns my finger tips. She must have just smoked whatever it is she’s smoking. There’s that strange burnt plastic smell around.
“I’m OK up here,” I say. “But I’m glad you’re safe.”
“I’m safe.”
“Alicia,” I say. “I was wondering if you had a daughter.”
“A daughter?”
“Yeah, do you have a daughter?”
“Of course!” says Alicia, her voice turning angry and mean.
“What’s her name?” I say.
“Why do you want to know? Are you from the courts?”
Wow, she’s really out of it. She must be high as a kite and hallucinating. She doesn’t seem to remember who I am from one minute to the next.
“I’m your roommate,” I say. “Remember?”
“Oh. Yeah, I have a daughter named Laura. But I don’t have her.”
“Where is she?”
“With her asshole father, David.”
“David Masters?”
“Of course! Who else do you think I meant?”
So this is Laura’s mother!
Wow, so David wasn’t just acting out of self interest. Alicia may not be a bad person, but she obviously has some drug issues, just like David said, and it’s clear to me right now that she’s certainly not fit to be raising Laura, no matter what kind of father David is. He may have some work to do in terms of becoming more of a good conversationalist with his daughter, but he’s providing her a stable place to live and a stable life, something that Alicia is not capable of.
I turn on my heel to leave, to tell Sasha all about this.
Apparently Alicia hears me from behind the couch.
“Where are you going?” she cries out shrilly. “Don’t leave me. The bugs are going to get me.”
“I’m going to go get the bug spray,” I say, rushing away from the couch, without listening to what she has to say.
Sasha’s lying on my bed, looking up at the celling.
“You know,” she says. “This bed hasn’t even been touched. I don’t think she’s slept in it since you left.”
“She’s probably sleeping under it,” I say, and I tell Sasha how Alicia is hiding behind the couch. I tell her all about how Alicia is actually David Masters’ ex-wife.
“What are we going to do?”
“I think I can fix things,” I say.
“Fix what? What are you going to do?”
“I can get David full custody of his daughter,” I say. “I don’t know how, but I can do it.”
“What? I’m talking about the apartment. What are you going to do about the apartment?”
“Oh,” I say, realizing we’re on completely different pages. “I don’t know. I’ll figure something out. I’ll just sleep in your room until we figure it out.”
Sasha sighs.
“That OK?”
“Yeah,” she says.
David
The court date is coming up, and I’m screwed. Completely screwed. I’m going to lose Laura completely, and I’ve already lost Olivia.
“There’s nothing you can do?” I say to my lawyer on the phone.
“It’s messy,” he says. “As your legal representative, I shouldn’t know anything about what you just told me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “Save the spiel for someone else. So I tried to defraud the legal system and whatever other system.”
“It doesn’t look good,” he says, speaking in grave and serious tones.
“Just give it to me straight. Am I going to lose custody?”
“I’m afraid it’s looking like that.”
“Damnit. Aren’t you lawyers always supposed to give good news?”
“Not that it’s improbable.”
“Can’t we get another judge? Can’t you do something?”
“I’m afraid there’s really no further legal recourse at this point. You just need to wait until the trial and see what happens.”
He starts to drone on and on, and I simply hang up the phone. I’ve had enough. Simply enough.
Laura’s upstairs in her room, probably reading. I need to go talk to her. I need to tell her what could happen, but I just don’t know how. Again, I’m completely stumped about what to say.
I start running the words through my head, over and over, trying to prepare a little speech I can give her, telling her that I still love her, that I still care about her, that we need to prepare for the possibility that she might have to go live with her mother, but that I’m sure it won’t last long, and that I’ll always be there for her, no matter what, and no matter what the courts say.
Honestly, I’ve been avoiding talking to her since Olivia left. I don’t know how to explain that either.
I sigh as I get out of my chair and start the slow walk upstairs.
“Laura?” I say, knocking on her door.
“Daddy?”
I open the door.
Laura’s sitting cross legged on her bed, reading a book that has a picture of a dinosaur on the cover.
“Just talk to her,” said Olivia, when we were at the museum together. The memory gives me an internal pang of pain. That was such a great day, just the three of us together, enjoying one another’s company.
“What you reading?” I say.
“A book about dinosaurs,” says Laura. “Well, it’s about a girl who lived with dinosaurs.”
Normally, I would just not tell her that Olivia’s gone, and tell her the bad news about Alicia. But I’m going to try out Olivia’s advice, even though she�
��s long gone.
“Hmm,” I say. “That’s funny. I thought dinosaurs lived a long, long time before people.”
“Yeah,” says Laura, nodding her head excitedly. “But it’s a time travel story.”
“That sounds cool,” I say. “How does she time travel?”
“She’s got a time machine. Her crazy old uncle built one, and she went into it by mistake.”
I nod, wondering how I’m going to tell her everything, now that we’re talking about dinosaurs and time traveling.
“Are you listening, Daddy?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, Laura. It sounds like a cool story. I was just thinking about Olivia.”
“Where is she, Daddy?”
“She’s gone,” I say.
“Why? Where’d she go?”
“We had… sometimes grownups have problems with relationships.”
“Like you and Mommy?”
“Sort of,” I say. “Although your mother has some other… problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Grown up problems,” I say.
“I liked Olivia,” says Laura. “Is she going to come back?”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “I’m sorry, Laura.”
“Why don’t you get her to come back?”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Why not?”
“There are things… I don’t know, Laura. It’s complicated. I don’t know what to tell her.”
“Just tell her you want her to come back.”
I look at Laura. It’s like a light bulb goes on in my head.
“You know, Laura,” I say, “I may just do that. You’re getting pretty smart, you know that?”
“Daddy,” says Laura.
“Yeah, Laura?”
“What’s happening with Mommy?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Nancy said something about it. Something about a judge.”
I sigh. Nancy shouldn’t have told her anything.
“What did she tell you?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t understand it.”
“Your mother wants you to go live with her.”
“But I want to live with you.”
Daddy's Bought Virgin: A Fake Marriage Romance (Innocence Book 2) Page 14