by Nicole Casey
I slammed a fist against the wall, “Damn it!”
“That’s not the only issue, Dax,” Sonya said. She looked at me directly into my eyes and held on to my hand. “This one is something you’re going to want to soak in.”
I swallowed hard and held my breath. “What is it?”
“It’s about mom and dad,” she explained. “They wanted to name me as their heir now that Gary’s gone but I refused. I told them the family business should go to you.”
Those words smacked me like a slap to the face. My jaw dropped in shock and I looked at my sister with confusion and surprise, “What? Why me? I don’t deserve it.”
“You don’t,” Sonya said flatly. “You’ve been wasting money on girls, clubs and a lot of other nonsense but nobody cared because Gary was there to pick up the slack. You can’t just do that anymore, little brother. I’m fine with what I have but the family business needs to go to someone and that someone has to be you. It has to be within the family. Otherwise, dad might name his vice president as the heir and then we’ll lose everything.”
“Why can’t it be you?” I got frantic.
She shook her head, “Like I said, I’m fine. I’ve already built an empire with my books and the hotels I own. You, on the other hand, you’ve got nothing except what they give you. You were a firefighter but now you’re just playing games being a model.”
“So you’re telling me I need to grow up,” I rolled my eyes. I heard this speech before. I heard it so many times from my sister, from my brother, from my parents and all my aunts and uncles. It was always the same: I was irresponsible, I was immature and I was just fooling around while my sister and brother were doing their part for the family.
Sonya sighed and shook her head, “I’m saying I want you to inherit our family wealth and business, but in order to do so, you need to prove yourself to mom and dad. Once they sign the papers, you can drop everything and do whatever you please. I’m just looking out for you, Dax. I don’t want mom and dad to leave you out.”
I nodded. If I got left out, I’d lose everything. I didn’t have a big job to pay for my condominium or my car. Sure, I earned a lot from modeling but even that wouldn’t be enough to sustain my extravagant lifestyle. Without my parent’s money, I’d be buried in debt and worse.
“I get it,” I told Sonya. “But I don’t see how I can convince mom and dad to sign me as the inheritor when all my life they’ve seen me as the extravagant playboy.”
Sonya pursed her lips and thought about it. “Well, we need to start painting a new image for you. That might mean getting you a job and a steady girlfriend, one that they can get used to and identify you with. Remember they’ll judge you according to the people you hang out with and a girlfriend will be the deciding factor for that.”
I raised his hands in refusal, “Wait, hold on a minute there, hit the brakes – I can’t do that. I haven’t had a steady girlfriend since I dated Jean in high school and that was what, twelve years ago?”
“What about that girl, Elena? The one you introduced to me back in college?” Sonya thought I had a steady girlfriend back then.
“Dated her for a week and a half,” I admitted sadly. “Look, this is a lot to think about. I do want mom and dad to sign me as the inheritor, now that you put it into my head, but I still need to really think about how to go about this.”
Sonya patted me on the back, “You’re good with girls. I bet you can stick around with one longer than a weekend. Look, I got to go back in there and start dealing with Gary’s funeral and everything. I just want to get over with this. I got this, okay? I want you to just focus on impressing mom and dad.”
I nodded and watched her get up to talk to the people at the hospital morgue. I watched as she disappeared behind white doors and left me to sit and ponder how a single moment completely changed the direction of my life.
“Guess I have to cancel that date with Tatyana and Jessica,” I whispered to myself. I didn’t know if I was supposed to be sad about that or if I had to accept that it was time to move on from that kind of life.
I shook my head in frustration and buried my face in my hands. “Fuck!”
I dug into my pants and pulled out my phone. I swiped and logged into my Facebook account.
“Gary, I love you. I miss you already,” I typed in my status and then posted it on my page. In just a few more minutes of scrolling, I got a notification.
It was a message from Noelle, one of my high school friends. It was a message of condolences. That put a smile on my face. It had been forever since I last heard from her. I wondered what she had been up to in recent years.
“Hey, thanks for the message,” I replied to her. “Are you free sometime this weekend? It’s my treat.”
I slid my phone back into my pocket. I could read her reply when I got home. Right now, I just wanted to slump in a corner and cry. I lost Gary, my life was changing and it was all happening too suddenly and too quickly.
3
Noelle
“Are you going to meet up with him?” My best friend asked. We were out in the mall on a rainy Saturday. I needed to buy a new pair of sneakers and Hannah just wanted to kill some time.
I looked at her and shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe, I guess. I haven’t spoken to him in years. It’ll be so awkward but in a way, I guess I see why he’d ask me. He just lost his brother and there’s probably a lot of pressure on him right now.”
“Didn’t you see the news?” Hannah poked at me as we headed for the mall’s lower food court. We were going for chocolate sundaes. “It’s like all over Facebook.”
I had no idea what Hannah was talking about. “Elaborate, please. My head’s all over the place right now. My credit loan got rejected because I need to pay that stupid credit I took to fix my car.”
Hannah just rattled on, “You know he has a sister, right? Sonya? Well, she’s older but she declined the offer when the parents wanted to name her their inheritor. She nominated Daxter instead. However, the parents don’t trust him with the company and want to name the company’s vice president instead.”
“That’s kind of a dick move,” I commented. That was just so strange. Even though I wasn’t particularly close to my parents, I couldn’t imagine them betraying me like that or vice versa. Family was family, regardless of being poor or rich.
I then pointed to the ice cream stall, “What’ll you have?”
“Chocolate with lots of candy topping,” Hannah told me.
We ordered ice cream and sat down by one of the food court tables. There weren’t a lot of people today. Most of the time, however, we had to deal with perverts who kept on trying to peek at us or get our number. One time we even encountered a guy who flat out said we could take turns having fun with his cock.
“Well, do you think I should go?” I asked as I took a bite out of my sundae. Mine was just three vanilla scoops with banana slices and chocolate syrup. “I mean, it’s not like it’s a date or anything. He just wants someone to talk to.”
Hannah grinned and I could see a wicked thought glimmering in her eyes, “Noelle, you do know Daxter is a playboy right? All he does is screw around with girls.”
“I’m not going to be one of those girls,” I told her. “I can’t even deal with a hookup right now. I got no time for all that shit. I want to work more nights but the club has a three-nights-a-week policy.”
“Yeah, I’m not saying you’re going to let him fuck you,” Hannah tried to reason. “I’m just saying a lot of people might mistake your date as him trying to get into your pants.”
I ate a spoonful of ice cream, swallowed and pointed my spoon at my friend, “He’ll fail at that.”
“You keep waiting for Prince Charming, you know he’ll never come,” Hannah tried to be realistic, and those were words I didn’t want to hear right now. “You’re dreaming of a guy who’ll marry you before he fucks you. You’re looking for a man who’ll save you from all your problems but also love you. Guys like that exist
but they don’t go for strippers.”
Maybe Hannah was right, but I wasn’t going to let that dampen my mood, “Who the fuck cares? I’m not hoping Daxter will change overnight and become my Prince Charming anyway. I’m just going to go out, let him grieve and see if we can have a good time.”
Hannah smiled at that, “You’re cute.”
I laughed and shook my head.
I just focused on enjoying our snack and soon enough we were back to strolling down the mall looking at clothes. In the end, I did buy a brand new black dress. It was a mini-dress with a low back, big space for my cleavage and a slit on one side. It was probably too sexy for most girls but for me it was just another cute piece for me to wear out of work.
When we were done, Hannah went off for work at the club and I headed home.
* * *
A few hours later, I found myself just resting on my bed – a mattress on the floor since I didn’t have a bed frame – when I saw Daxter was online. I had nothing else to do and no one else to talk to and was simply waiting for the pizza I ordered for dinner.
“Hey,” I started typing a message for him. “I’m okay with meeting up. When and where do you want to hang out? I got work this Friday night but I’m clear for Saturday.”
It didn’t take him long to reply. “Saturday’s cool with me. Where do you live? I’ll just drive by and pick you up.”
I suddenly felt my heartbeat sink and I panicked as I tried to think of a way for him to ditch that idea. I didn’t want him to see where I lived. My apartment was a piece of junk. It was one step away from being in the projects. All of my neighbors were drug addicts, thugs, strippers and whores. It wasn’t the place for some rich pretty boy like Daxter.
“Oh, uh how about we just meet up at the Old Velvet Café? You know, the one near the mall, close to the main central train station?”
Daxter was busy typing but the door suddenly knocked. I left my phone on the bed, hurriedly put on a shirt big enough to hide the fact I only had my panties on and no bra, and then opened the door.
There stood a thin, lanky young boy holding a box of pizza. He looked at me like he caught me fingering my pussy or something. He just had this dumbfounded expression and I swore he was drooling at me.
“Uh, for a Noelle Stanley?” the kid asked as he checked the receipt for the pizza.
“That’s me. Thanks cutie,” I confirmed and took the pizza. I already paid in advance but handed the kid a two-dollar tip. I then gave him a wink before shutting the door.
When I got back to my room and down to the bed, I saw Daxter had already sent several replies. Most of them were just nonsense “thank you” chat messages but the important thing was he agreed to just meet me at the café.
Satisfied, I opened my box and had dinner.
4
Daxter
I looked at my car one more time. I parked right in front of the Old Velvet Café and I had been standing there for a good fifteen minutes but I just couldn’t wipe off the feeling that this might be one of the last dates I ever go to using this car. If I didn’t convince my parents I was the right guy to inherit their wealth, I might have to let go of this beautiful thing just to pay my bills.
Of course, I didn’t need Noelle to know about that. I was pretty sure she already got a good idea judging from all the media coverage we got lately. It was hard just to go to a gas station or the mall without someone bugging me. They were always asking about my parents’ decision to wager the inheritance between me and the Vice President, Donald Graham.
“Well, I can’t stand around forever,” I whispered when I saw Noelle get off a bus, cross the street and walk towards the café. I almost felt my legs quiver when I saw just how damn gorgeous she was.
Noelle was always a beautiful girl, but in the five years since we last met, she grew a little taller. She was probably a good five-foot-six, only an inch shorter than I was. Her long hair reached down to her hips and she had a bombshell of a body.
She didn’t notice me in the nearby parking lot so I took the time to check myself in the mirror one last time before heading in too.
I could only hope she’d like what I wore. I decided to go with something simple; just a pair of skinny jeans, a gray shirt and a leather jacket. I went for an old-school 1980s look. To be honest though, I didn’t know why I was trying to impress Noelle. Perhaps it was just the fact we hadn’t been together for a while.
When I walked in, I saw her seated by the far corner and she was blankly staring out the window. I took the time to order two cups of coffee and some donuts before heading to our table.
“Hey,” I greeted when I finally came over. I slid the tray on the table and handed her a cup of coffee and then a small plate with a donut. “It’s so nice to see you. You look freaking amazing.”
She smiled at me and took a sip of coffee. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself. Have you been working out?”
I grinned and looked at my own biceps as I said, “Yep. Well, I used to but you know, ever since my brother died it’s been hectic lately. I’ve been busy trying to reassess what the fuck I have to do to convince my mom and dad to give the family business to me.”
Noelle took note of that and pointed a finger at me, “You need to explain that to me. First off though, I truly am sorry about your brother. He seemed really nice. I never got to meet him back in high school but he was always like a star. How’s your sister taking all this? She was really sweet to me last time I saw her. That was, oh, five or six years ago.”
It was really sweet how she still remembered my sister. “Oh, Sonya? My sister’s been busy with the funeral arrangements and she’s got a book-signing tour coming this year.”
“Wow,” Noelle commented. She started telling me about a time she and Sonya spent shopping together but all I could focus on were her luscious lips. Noelle was wearing some kind of pink lip gloss and it just made her mouth look so delicious. I couldn’t help but glance at her body too. She was wearing an off-shoulder blouse and the sight of her neck and shoulders was starting to get me a little horny.
“So what do you think?” she suddenly asked me, popping me back into reality.
I looked at her with a look of surprise. I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t hear what the heck she was talking about. “Huh? Oh yeah, yeah.”
“Really?” she scrunched up her face. “You think I’d do good as a porn star?”
Wait a minute, what? I thought we were talking about her and my sister, how did we get to talking about Noelle doing pornography?
“W-well, you’re definitely hot and I bet a lot of guys fantasize about you,” I blurted out, hoping to catch up with the conversation somehow. “I mean, I know I would, seeing how damn gorgeous you are.”
She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or just you being a pervert.”
I laughed and pinched her cheeks, “You’re beautiful, trust me. However, I don’t think you need to get into porn for money. Why do you need that kind of money anyway? What’s your job right now?”
“I’m a stripper,” she said with a sigh. I could see her blushing and I could tell she was a little ashamed of her current situation.
That was a little intriguing though. “Wait, you’re a stripper? Like a dancing-naked-on-tables stripper? Don’t you earn a lot from that?”
“Not really,” she admitted. “You’d think guys would pay a lot to see me show off my body but the reality is, a good percentage goes to the bar. I’m buried in debts and I don’t know what to do. I’ve seen ads for porn stars and to be honest I’m on the verge of walking into one of those.”
For a moment, I felt really bad, but then she cut my train of thought and suddenly asked, “I thought you were getting married? What was your girl’s name? Janine? Jenna? The one from our school.”
“Jenna,” I answered and gave her a sad look. “We broke up a few weeks ago. It’s my fault, to be honest. I was screwing around with some other girls at Mer
cury Wild and she caught on.”
Noelle looked at me with a frown, “Well, that is your fault. I just don’t see you sticking to one girl, much less getting married to one.”
Hearing those words made a light bulb flash in my head, “I have a crazy idea. It’ll help me convince my parents I deserve the inheritance and it’ll help you with all your financial problems. You have to hear me out on this.”
“Wait a minute,” she cut in. “Why aren’t your parents being more considerate with you? They just lost their eldest son, their daughter rejected their money and now they want to pry it away from the last son they have left?”
I rolled my eyes and nodded, “My dad’s really old fashioned. He doesn’t want to give the money away if he thinks I’ll just waste it all on fast cars, girls and alcohol.”
“So how’s your genius idea going to help us both simultaneously?”
I rubbed my hands together and just blurted it out, “Okay, before I say it, let me explain a little bit on how this will work. What I’m planning will impress my parents and it is guaranteed to get you out of the financial hole you’re in now. I swear this is going to work out.”
“What is it then?” she asked.
I winked and answered, “Let’s get married.”
5
Noelle
Was he joking? He had to be joking. I nearly choked on my donut when I heard him say we should get married. We just met again like five minutes ago and he was already proposing? How in the world did he get laid with so many girls if his pickup lines were this freaking stupid?