The Silver Lining

by Jennifer Raygoza

  “Makeup? Oh Great,” I said, with a lack of enthusiasm.

  He laughed and then motioned for the two girls to come over. They barreled my way with their face powder and blush brushes, packing powder on me. I hated it. I feel like a chick, now. Let me just hand over my man card again. I pulled back once I had enough, and they took off without a word. The camera crew came in and started attaching mics on both of us. The lighting above us suddenly became extremely bright and then Kevin tapped my knee with his hand.

  “Are you ready, James?”

  “Would it matter if I said no?” I was serious, but he laughed.

  “You are too funny,” he said, as he adjusted his suit jacket and tie.

  The woman from earlier walked over and placed a bottle of water down on the table between us. She looked at Kevin. “Coffee?” She smiled.

  “No. No thank you,” he replied.

  “We go live in ten seconds, people,” a man yelled out.

  I sat up straighter and tried to calm my racing heart. Interviews were never my thing.

  “Five, four, three, two, one,” the man behind the camera said, and then pointed to Kevin.

  “Welcome to L.A’s Dish It Up. I’m your host Kevin Trey. Today’s first guest is James King. You may know him from King Hotels. James King is the son of successful owner Victoria King. Today we will be talking about what happens behind closed doors of the wealthy and famous hotel children.” Kevin turned his attention away from the camera and looked at me. “Thank you for coming on today, James. Tell me. How did it feel growing up the way you did. You were surrounded by a lot of money?”

  “I don’t know. It was something I was used to. I never really thought about it.”

  “Many hotel children are known to be spoiled. You had expensive clothing, you went to the best schools and you never had to want as a child? Is this safe to say?”

  “Yes I did have the best. I wouldn’t say I never had to want as a child.”

  “What does a wealthy child want for?” Kevin stared at me with curiosity.

  “People assume that because you have money that it brings happiness. I wasn’t a happy child.”

  “Why not,” Kevin pressed.

  “My father used to run several companies before he opened the hotel business. He was a busy man. My mother was always gone, doing whatever she did back then. I guess I was lonely.”

  “There are two of you, so how lonely could you have been? You have a brother, Chad as well. If both of your parents were never home who raised you and your brother?”

  “Nannies.”

  “Was your mother ever home? Was she good to you when she was?”

  I cringed at this question. My insides were tight as I tried to push out the answer.

  “Rarely was she home. No. She wasn’t a good mother in my eyes.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “We just didn’t get along. Sometimes people are like oil and water. That was us.”

  “Sounds like you’re not telling me something. Was she abusive?”

  I looked around for something. Help maybe. I looked back to Kevin.

  “Sometimes.” My lips and throat were so dry. My knee was shaking with anxiety.

  “What did she do to you as a child?”

  “She’d smack me in the face if I misbehaved. She’d tell me I was her biggest disappointment in life. She constantly compared me to my brother. I was never good enough for her. I remember one time she threw me in a cold shower for standing up to her. I mean, most of the time it was verbal abuse. She liked to cut me down with words.”

  “How did you feel about that?”

  “Terrible. What do you think? How would you feel as a child?”

  “Was your brother abused as well?”

  “No. Not that I saw. If it happened I didn’t see it. She loved Chad.”

  “But she didn’t love you?”

  “No,” I said, as my head dropped.

  “So let’s talk about you. You have been in the news for plenty of things. I am going to read off a few things and then you can let me know what’s true and what’s not. Bar fights?”

  “True.” I nodded. “I didn’t start them. I just finished them.”

  “Okay. Womanizing?” He arched his eyebrow.

  I laughed at the sound of it. “Not true. I find that because of my so called status women, want to try to be with me. A few of those girls I turned down went to the tabloids and sold stories that weren’t true.”

  “They say you are addicted to strip clubs, drinking and drugs.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I’ve only been to a strip club twice in my life. I do like to drink on occasion, but not once have I done drugs.” I adjusted my weight in the chair.

  Kevin looked at me and nodded. He wasn’t convinced. I could tell.

  “Tell me about the drugs. You were caught with quite a bit of cocaine on you. You served time recently. Tell me what happened.”

  I tried to remain calm. Millions of people were watching this. I had no other choice.

  “I was thrown a backpack filled with drugs and the person who gave it to me took off.”

  “So this person. Did they serve time too?”

  “No.” I shook my head.

  “Interesting. So this incident where you said you were left with a backpack full of drugs. What was happening during this time? Give me more details.”

  “I thought we were going to take a backpack to a kid. I was just along for the ride. We get to the house and the cops show up. I get tossed a backpack and the other person runs. That’s pretty much what happened.”

  “So why didn’t this other person serve time?”

  “I don’t know. Lack of morals I suppose.”

  “What do you mean? Lack of morals.”

  “Most people nowadays don’t take responsibility for their actions.”

  “So you are saying you served time for someone else’s crime?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  I laughed. “It’s pretty hard to prove a sack full of cocaine is not yours when you’re holding the bag.”

  “What happened when you told the cops who really did it?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You never pled your case? You never told them who was with you.”

  “It’s complicated. Loyalty is something you might not understand.” I stared at Kevin. He looked a bit offended but tried not to show it. It wasn’t supposed to come out the way it did.

  “Loyalty to what? To who?”

  “To those I care about. It’s just me. It’s who I am. To me this person was like a brother.”

  “I understand that.” Kevin nodded. “How was prison? Were they hard on you inside, because of your name, or did you get special treatment?” Kevin leaned into me.

  I thought back to all of the things I saw in jail and I felt sick. These things I saw and heard were ugly. They were the nasty, dirty parts of human nature. I watched the man sitting next to me at dinner get stabbed to death for god knows what. Thoughts of his blood splashing everywhere made me cringe. I suddenly remembered more, at about the same time every night, I could hear the guy in the cell next to me cry and beg for his cell mate not to ass fuck him. His cries for help echoed through the walls and the guards turned their cheek like nothing. In there you were left to defend yourself. It was a jungle and we were all animals to them. This wasn’t a place for me. I wasn’t a criminal. I kept to myself most of the time. I was just the lucky one to get a cell to myself and for that I felt thankful.

  “They were accommodating. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “Fair enough.” He turned to the camera. “I’m your host Kevin Trey. We are taking a quick commercial and coming right back with an exclusive interview with James King. This is Behind the scenes with hotel children.”

  The camera cut out. I licked my lips and looked around as makeup girls flew in and started dabbing me and Kevin with more makeup. People rushed a
round the set which left me clueless. I had no idea what the hell they were doing.

  “James, you’re doing great,” Kevin yelled over. “I hope I’m not being too pushy with the questions.”

  “That’s your job. I understand. I know what I signed up for.”

  “Just keep being you. The public will love it.” Kevin smiled.

  I didn’t really care what the public loved. I was doing this interview for me or so I thought. The girls jogged away and camera men refocused the lens on us again. I think about five minutes passed before the same man from earlier stepped out from behind the camera.

  “Ten seconds, everyone.” He paused. “Five, four, three, two and go.” He pointed to Kevin.

  “Welcome back. We are talking with James King. Let’s really dish it out now. We’ve touched on your childhood. We’ve touched on your media troubles and we also touched on your mother. There are quite a few things that I have to know. The papers are always asking why you’re not living in the King estate. They say you’ve been disowned by your mother. They say that you’re living in poverty. There’s reports of you dating your mother’s house maid. I can understand why you may be estranged from your mother after hearing today’s interview, but most people wouldn’t just step away from so much money the way you have portrayed to do so. I don’t believe you were disowned. I think you walked away from it. Tell me why?”

  “Like I said, money doesn’t buy happiness. Money creates monsters inside of us. We crave for it. We are sometimes willing to do things that are wrong to get it. I’ve seen the ugliness of it right in my home. I don’t want to be that person.”

  “Speaking of doing wrong things. Your mother is being sent to prison for tax evasion. You must know about that. Any thoughts?”

  “I’ve already given my opinion, like I said money creates monsters. She made bad decisions. We all make bad decisions, right? That’s something she has to deal with.”

  “Do you feel bad for her?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. I’m just saying that she is the one that has to deal with her actions. At the end of the day the choices we make affect not just us, but those around us. Hopefully she learns from it.”

  “Well said. Before we wrap up this interview. I wanted to ask you about the lovely young lady, Emily Monroe, you are rumored to be with. There are lots of pictures of you two together. I know you were in a horrible accident a few months back. I’m glad you’re both okay. This young woman works for your mother, correct?”

  “She used to.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  “Are you two in a relationship?”

  “Yes. We are engaged actually.” I sat back in the chair, finally feeling comfortable talking about this subject.

  “Congratulations. Date set yet?” Kevin smiled.

  “No. I asked her to marry me this morning.”

  I wasn’t going to bring up the baby. The media would start making up stories that I was marrying her because she was pregnant. Those were sure to pop up soon enough anyhow.

  “Wow. So this is it. She’s the one?”

  I chuckled. “She’s a great girl. I’d be stupid not to snag her up.”

  “I have to assume your mother doesn’t approve.”

  I guess he knows my mother better than I thought, or was he just as judgmental as her? People act as if she’s a circus freak with six heads. Emily’s a maid for god’s sakes. There is nothing wrong with that. Maybe they think I seduced the help in some perverted way.

  “It doesn’t really matter what she thinks or what anyone thinks. My happiness is mine to deal with.”

  “Do you still talk to Victoria?”

  “No. I haven’t spoke to her since my accident. We’re not really on speaking terms.”

  “Do you see a reconciliation in the future?”

  “It’s hard to see one, but I would never say never. The opportunity for people to change is always there.”

  “Yes it is.” He paused. “Thank you so much for coming on the air with me today. It was a fantastic interview. I appreciate your time. I hope you’ll come back again in the future.” He reached out and shook my hand. I nodded and painted on a smile.

  “I’m Kevin Trey and this has been another edition of L.A’s Dish It Up.”

  The camera’s cut out and Kevin and I both stood up at the same time.

  “Good interview, James. Thank you once again. Brianna will have your check on the way out. Please, don’t be a stranger.”

  I nodded and walked toward a woman in a tight black dress who was flagging me down.

  “Here is your check. We all want to thank you for coming here today. The interview was amazing. I’ve been obsessed with your story in the news. I’m such a sucker for a good romance. I’m rooting for you and Emily by the way.”

  “I have no idea what the papers say or report on. I try not to read them anymore.” I winked.

  “Of course. The exit is that way.” She smiled and pointed to a door.

  I walked out while checking my phone. I had so many calls and messages that my phone should have exploded by now. Some from Emily, some from Chad and a whole lot of messages from my mother. I had to assume everybody had caught the show. I dialed Emily first.

  “Hey, baby,” she answered.

  “Hey.”

  “Are you okay? That was intense. I felt nervous just watching it.”

  “It wasn’t too bad. Five thousand dollars for thirty minutes of stress. It’s all good.”

  “They paid you five thousand dollars? Wow.”

  “Yeah. Imagine if I was really important. They probably pay the A-list celebrities bank. I just wanted to get things off my chest. I guess that’s why I did it. I won’t complain about the money. We could use it to get the baby stuff all set up.”

  “Yay. Are you leaving now? I’ll let you go. Mike is over here babysitting me. Feel free to tell him to leave if you want. He said he only reports to you.” She laughed.

  “I’ll call him in a bit. See you soon.” I hung up and looked over my text messages. I pulled up my brother’s first.

  Chad: Mom is freaking out. She caught part of the interview and is on a war path. Be careful. Why didn’t you tell me you were on air today? I heard about it from Gary who was flipping channels and saw you on and started yelling at me to come watch. By the way you looked handsome on T.V. You did well, brother. So proud of you.

  James: Mom is always on the war path with me. Nothing new there. LOL. Sorry about not calling you. There was a scheduling problem, so they asked me to do the interview today instead of next week. It was a last minute type thing. I looked good, huh? Thank you.

  I scrolled through to notice quite a few messages from my mother. I was about to open a can of worms with all this mess. I really should just delete them all instead of reading them. No. I’m reading them.

  Victoria: There was no need to demolish me on live T.V., James. Since when have I ever gone to the media with your antics? If your goal was to embarrass me, you accomplished. I should turn my lawyer loose on you for the things you said, but I won’t. I am going to be the bigger person here. Just know that there will not be a reconciliation at all after today. You are dead to me. Not that you ever existed really, but to me you are officially dead. Good luck with your Mexican poverty princess.

  I shoved the phone in my jeans and ran my hand through my hair. I tried to not let her bother me, but she had the capability to just piss me off with a few words. I could feel the venom dripping off every letter. I wouldn’t allow her to know how it affected me. I wouldn’t engage her. She would just sit there and wonder. I hoped her brain would combust into flames from all the damn thinking. She was off to prison soon anyways. What the hell did I care? I smiled and realized I didn’t. Not a single bit.

  Chapter 13. Checkmate Bitch

  I opened the door and walked into my place. Surprisingly it wasn’t as messy as I thought it would be. Boxes were neatly stacked against the wall with just a few of them open. I looked over to the coffee tab
le to see a few candles lit. The scent of vanilla filled the air.

  “Em, you here?” I shouted, as I threw the keys down on the counter.

  My eyes almost popped out of my head when I turned to see her walking toward me butt ass naked. Good Lord. Every part of me stood at attention.

  “Hello to you too,” I said, as she walked into my embrace. “I hope Mike’s not back there.”

  She laughed. “He left about thirty minutes ago after your text.”

  I squatted down and kissed her belly. She was beautiful, bump and all. I stood back up and pulled her into me. My hands gravitated to her ass and squeezed on her silky smooth skin.

  “I have a surprise for you in the bedroom. I know you had a tense day and I want to make you feel a little less tense.”

  “Mmmm. Tell me more. I like where this is heading.”

  She pulled me along to the bedroom where she had more candles set up. I walked in and saw a variety of things on the bed. A blindfold, handcuffs, a bowl of ice and baby oil. She looked at me like a tiger does a gazelle.

  “Sit down,” she ordered. I tried not to smile, but I was lit up with excitement. “Let me take your shirt off for you.” She climbed behind me and tugged off the clothing.

  I watched her pick up the baby oil and squeeze quite a bit in her hands, before rubbing down my shoulders with it. I was in heaven.

  “Does that feel good?” she asked.

  “Yeah, don’t stop.”

  She continued to massage me for a good five minutes before she climbed off of the bed and stared at me with those seductive eyes.

  “I want you to lay back, put your head on the pillows.”

  This was kind of sexy. I liked this side of Emily. I stared at her naked body, hard as a rock, already. I wanted to grab her and take over, but I refrained. She grabbed the blindfold and slipped it over my head, covering my eyes. I then felt the cold sensation of metal against my skin as she placed the handcuffs on one wrist. She pulled both of my arms over my head and then she place the other cuff on my free wrist. The sound of the cuffs locking made my dick pulse. Nothing about being arrested was sexy to me, but the thought of a hot, naked woman doing it for sexual gratification was a turn on. She then unbuttoned and unzipped my pants and pulled them down along with my boxers. Suddenly I heard the sound of the ice being clinked around inside of the bowl. I had a feeling what was to come next.