by Wilde, Rhea
Chapter 26 - Lanea
“I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I realize that now. I… I didn’t have the right people surrounding me. I think it’s because there’s so much money that spending it frivolously wouldn’t matter. I’m lucky enough to understand that a mistake like this isn’t the end. And now I’m going to do everything I can to be accountable and responsible for all of my future decisions.”
I sat at the head of the long wooden table in the middle of the office. I swallowed nervously as they all shuffled their papers and listened to me speak to them. They were all stuffy old men who were all business; A board of advisers I hadn’t dealt with in a long time.
After betting ten million dollars and having it disappear before me, I had to answer to someone. My lawyers and accountants handled everything but this was different.
“Ms. Zara, I’m happy to see that you understand the ramifications of your actions,” one of the old men said. “Your parents left you a lot of money. You’re free to spend it however you want. But if you continue down this path, it will run out. Frivolous spending has ruined many lives. I’d imagine that this is not the life your parents planned for you.”
“No, I don’t imagine it is.”
“Then you understand what we’re doing here? You understand that we’re looking out for your best interests?”
“Yes, sir. I… I understand. Believe me when I say that this will no longer be an issue for you. And I am grateful for your input. I will be putting it to use when I make future investments.”
“That’s what we’re here for, Ms. Zara. You’re free to do whatever you like but bad decisions are still bad decisions.”
I nodded my head to him. He looked back at me with a polite smile on his face. He closed the book in front of him and stood up from his chair.
“Well, that should do for now,” he said. “Your finances are back in order, Ms. Zara. Again, we are at your disposal whenever you’d like to speak to us. Take care.”
All of the men got up from their seats and politely said goodbye to me. I got up from my seat and sighed when they finally left the room. I didn’t remember the last time I had actually sat inside of a business meeting. There was never any need to. The results of the last fight in The Pit were the last straw, not just for me but for the men who managed my money.
There was a knock at the door. My chauffeur stepped inside of the office.
“Shall we be leaving now, Ms. Zara?”
“Yes.”
I left the building as quickly as I could. As my chauffeur held the door open, I stopped myself. I looked inside of the limo and decided that this wasn’t the way to do it.
He’ll know…
“Do you have another vehicle for me?” I asked my driver.
“Is this limo not up to your standard? I have access to other—”
“No. I mean, do you have another car? I’d like to drive.”
“Ms. Zara?”
“I’d like to drive myself. I have the address.”
“Ms. Zara, are you sure?”
“Yes… Nothing fancy. Just… ordinary.”
He nodded to me and made a phone call. A generic-looking sedan suddenly rolled up to the curb next to me. The valet driving it handed me the keys and I thanked him.
It felt odd sitting in the driver’s seat. I was so used to having everybody drive me where I needed to go. But I still remembered what it was like to be behind the wheel and I was able to handle the traffic in the city without any troubles.
“Where is this place?”
I muttered to myself as I searched for the address my people had given me. It had been several weeks since the last fight at The Pit. That was the last I’d seen or heard from Henry or Maxwell.
I drove past the city and suddenly found myself in a suburban neighborhood. It was much different from everything I was used to. The streets weren’t as crowded. There was no traffic. Everything seemed cleaner. Instead of tall, lifeless buildings there were vibrant houses. I was beginning to wonder if I had the right address.
9271 Eve Street.
The numbers on the house matched the address I was given. The driveway of the house was empty. I wasn’t sure if anybody was home but I wasn’t in the position to call ahead. I sighed then proceeded to get out of the car to see if I could finally find whom I was looking for.
I took a deep breath before I rang the doorbell. I looked down at my heels and tapped them against the ground, hoping and praying that someone would answer. The door slowly began to open.
Maxwell stood there in a plain t-shirt and pair of jeans. He was wearing the same look of disdain he had when I last saw him. Before I could say anything, he immediately started to close the door.
“Wait!” I said as I caught the door. “Maxwell…”
“What do you want?” he asked me as he reluctantly opened the door.
“I just want to talk to Henry.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“I know that. I just want him to listen. I want to… apologize.”
“Apologize? You think apologizing is going to make anything better?”
“No, it won’t. I just… I know that I deserve everything I get for doing what I did. It was wrong of me. I made a mistake. All I’m asking for is an opportunity. Just a chance. I’m being honest with you. This is the truth.”
Maxwell stared hard at me. He began to sigh and disappeared back into the house.
“Henry!” he shouted. “There’s someone at the door who wants to talk to you.”
I grew anxious as I waited for him to show up to the door. I looked down at the ground, waiting and listening for him to arrive. I felt the presence of a man standing in front of me and I jerked my head up.
Henry was standing in the doorway. His outfit looked as plain and ordinary as it always did. The only difference was that most of the injuries on his face had healed. His right hand was in a cast.
I stared at him and couldn’t help but sigh. Henry looked back at me but didn’t say anything.
“Please…”
The first thing I said to him was a plea for forgiveness. I had so much to say to him but none of it mattered if he didn’t bother listening to me.
“Just give me a chance,” I said to him. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
“You’ve had so many chances before. And all you did was lie and manipulate me.”
“I know. Just one more chance. If you don’t believe me, I’ll never bother you again. Please, Henry.”
He sighed then slowly stepped out of the doorway.
“Maxwell, I’m gonna step outside for a moment,” he shouted. “I’ll be right back.”
I followed Henry as the two of us began walking along the sidewalk. I wasn’t sure how to start so I just remained silent. It felt odd to be walking along the sidewalk and not have to worry about running into anybody dangerous. I could only assume that this was normal outside of the city.
“Where’s your limo?” he asked me.
“I… I didn’t take a limo. I drove myself.”
“You drove yourself?” he let out a short chuckle. “Octavio must be really bored.”
“He doesn’t work for me any longer. At least, not directly. I managed to get him a job in one of my offices. He seems to be adjusting to it quite well.”
“Really? Octavio doesn’t strike me as the office type.”
“You would be surprised. It’s best not to judge a book by its cover.”
Henry stopped walking. He turned then looked down at me. When I looked into his eyes, I could see all of the pain I’d caused him. I found myself struggling to speak. Something was caught in my throat and my eyes started to water.
“I’m sorry,” I said to him. “I’m sorry for putting you through all of that.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “But I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Maxwell and I made a lot of money. In a sense, I owe you.”
“It’s not that simple. I l
ied to you. I… I had you attacked. Just so I could take advantage of you.”
“Everything worked out in the end, I suppose. It’s nothing you should be proud of but hey, we’re all doing well. You can go on with the rest of your life just fine.”
“No, I can’t. Henry… Henry, you don’t know what it’s like for me.”
I paused to try and compose myself. I swallowed down the feelings that were working their way up my throat. I didn’t know how to put it eloquently so I just let it all go.
“My parents died when I was young,” I said. “It broke my heart but I got over it quickly. I didn’t have anybody else around me. They left me so much money that everybody came up to me with their hands out. They all begged to get a piece of the fortune that I had. They were all on their knees. I grew accustomed to that life. I… I stopped looking at them like they were people.”
“I figured. It takes a special kind of person to design a place like The Pit.”
“I… I needed an escape. I wanted people to entertain me by risking their lives. It was wrong. I didn’t realize that until I met you, Henry. When I learned that you were doing this for your daughter, I finally understood what it was like from the other side.”
“Did you?”
“My suite… It’s so high up that I can see everything. But I can’t put a face on anybody. I don’t know the struggles they’re going through. I know that they’re dealing with problems that I can’t imagine. It wasn’t until I saw you… The way you looked at me made me realize that there are real people out there with real problems. And it was time for me to stop taking things for granted. I want to thank you for making me realize that.”
“Well, you’re welcome, Lanea. I’m glad that you’ve learned your lesson. I hope that you spend the rest of your life well.”
Henry looked at me then slowly started to walk back toward his house.
“Wait!” I rushed up to him.
Henry stopped and I could see the reluctance on his face.
“I know that I lied to you,” I said. “I know that it won’t be so easy for you to forgive me. I could spend the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am but that still wouldn’t be enough.”
“But what, Lanea?”
“But… I spent a lot of time with you. I dressed you up. I took you out to dinner. I enjoyed watching you win all of your fights. Even when I bet against you, there was a part of me that wanted you to win. Henry… I… I care about you.”
I swallowed as the tears fell from the corners of my eyes. I did my best not to break down in front of him but with the way Henry stared at me, I couldn’t hold back any longer. There was a kindness in his eyes that made me feel ashamed that I had taken advantage of him. And the possibility that I had thrown everything away to satisfy my selfish desire hurt me worse than anything I’d ever felt before.
“How am I supposed to know that?” he said to me. “You lied to me. You manipulated me into thinking that there was something more. You slept with me just to get me on your side then you hired someone to attack me. How do I know that this is any different? How do I know that you’re being honest with me?”
“You don’t. You just have to trust me.”
Henry looked at me and started to shake his head.
“Tell me you didn’t care about me,” I said to him. “Tell me that there wasn’t some part of you, deep down inside, just a little bit, that thought our relationship was more than business. Tell me you didn’t feel the same way about me, Henry.”
Henry hesitated to respond. I looked into his eyes in search of the answer I wanted. I knew that there was something there for me. I knew he felt the same way. But it didn’t matter if he didn’t admit it.
“I don’t know what to think about you,” he said. “But I’m sure we’ll both be better off if we just went our separate ways.”
He started to walk away and I grabbed his hand to stop him. I used all my strength to hold him in place and stop him from walking away from me. He stared at me and I could slowly feel him beginning to slip away from me.
“This is the truth,” I said. “You know why? Because I have nothing to gain from this. I don’t need any money. I don’t need you to risk your life for my own entertainment. I don’t want you to do me any favors. I don’t need you to sleep with me. I just want you, Henry. Nothing else matters to me. You’re not like any other man I’ve ever met.
“Everything that happened was terrible. But some good can come out of it.
“You’re right. I don’t deserve someone like you. But I’m going to do everything I can to try and prove to you that I’m sorry. Henry…”
He looked back at me without saying anything. I looked up at all of the scars on his face. I reached up and gently put my hand against his cheek, hoping that he would understand what I was feeling. He stared at me then slowly started to close his eyes. He moved his face closer to my hand. The rough feeling of his face against my palm hit me with a flood of emotions. I felt more tears pouring from the corners of my eyes. I closed my eyes and enjoyed this moment with him, knowing that it wouldn’t last forever.
I slowly opened my eyes and pulled my hand away from his face. I had done everything I could to let Henry know how I felt about him. It was his decision to make. But if he were the man I thought he was, he wouldn’t let me go. Not like this.
“You’ve changed me for the better, Henry. You can’t just leave me now…”
Henry took a deep breath as he looked down at me. Our eyes locked upon one another. He reached his arms out then wrapped them around me. His face slowly drifted toward mine. I closed my eyes and felt his lips press against mine. I kissed him as hard as I could, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him in closer.
We slowly pulled away, our eyes still locked upon one another. When I finally saw him smile, I felt all of the pressure lift off of my shoulders.
“Okay,” he said. “If you break my heart—”
“I won’t. If I do, yours isn’t the only heart that will be broken.”
Chapter 27 - Lanea
Maxwell wasn’t as open to trusting me as Henry was. After everything I’d put them through, I couldn’t argue with him. But I was willing to do everything I could to let them know that I no longer viewed them how I used to. I only wanted to be a part of Henry’s life and have him in mine.
The Pit was completely dismantled. The parties with all of the millionaire and billionaires in the city were no longer held. I no longer spent time with any of them. It wasn’t just that I no longer wanted their company but there simply was no need for them. I didn’t want their money or their approval.
Instead, I began spending more time with Henry. With the help of my advisers, I was able to invest my money in things that were more appropriate. I opened up a small shelter for people who didn’t have a place to stay. I opened another office to help people find work when they were desperate just like Henry. I even maintained a soup kitchen that Maxwell was more than happy to be a part of.
Despite the amount of money they had made from Henry’s last fight, that still didn’t stop either Maxwell or Henry from venturing back into the city to look for work. While Maxwell worked to serve the homeless, Henry found a job with a small shipping company. He was responsible for preparing products for shipping and at the end of the day, he would always look exhausted. All of the hard labor was nothing to him though. After everything he’d been through, this was easy.
After the end of another long day, I showed up to greet Henry at work. I picked him up and we headed back home. As we drove through the city and his neighborhood, I looked around and started to smile.
“What’s so funny?” he asked me.
“This. All of this. It’s… It’s weird.”
“Weird? How is it weird?”
“I just never imagined it would be like this. All my life, I never thought that I would be picking someone up from work, someone that I cared about, and then heading home. It feels like…”
“Feels like you
’re part of a family.”
“Yeah…”
I looked over at Henry and he smiled back at me. All of my effort and energy was spent on trying to improve upon everything I could. I no longer cared about just myself. Henry was the man I had been looking for all my life and now that I had found him, I had changed.
I pulled up to his house. I followed Henry inside and could see how tired he was just from the way he walked. He collapsed on the couch in the living room and I took a seat next to him. His head leaned back and he sighed.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just a long day at work. I just need a break.”
“Let me give you a massage.”
He tilted his head up then looked at me skeptically.
“You want to give me a massage?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know,” he laughed. “You seem like the type to receive them instead of giving them. What do you know about giving a massage?”
“Well… I’ve been pampered all my life. I know what I like. That means I know what you want, too.”
“I don’t think it works that way, Lanea,” he laughed.
“Come on! Turn around!”
Henry reluctantly lifted himself up from the couch and turned his back to me. I placed my hands upon his shoulders and rubbed him down. I felt the thick knots underneath my grip. It took every ounce of strength to try and work them out.
“Wow, you’re really tense.”
“It was a long day.”
“You know, Henry… You don’t have to work there. I could…”
He turned around and looked at me.
“I know,” he said. “But that wouldn’t be right. Just because you have a lot of money doesn’t mean I’m going to take advantage of you.”
“You’re not taking advantage of me. I want to help you.”
“I think you can put your money to better use.”
“Like what?”
“Like getting some massage lessons. You’re terrible!”