by J. P. London
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Maddy responded.
“You’re late!”
“You said eight o’clock!”
“Uh huh, likely story.” Maddy approached and threw her arms around Jace’s neck, planting a hello kiss on his lips.
“Did you talk to them?”
“Yeah, they’re inside already.”
“Aw, shit” Maddy grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pressed her face into his coat. Jace threw his arms around her.
“I told you, you were late.”
“I’m not late, it’s …” Maddy said, stepping back, pulling her sleeve up, and looking down at her watch. Jace stared back at her, waiting for her admittance.
“Hmmm,” she mumbled and pursed her lips. “Don’t give me that look!”
Jace laughed. “Shall we?” He extended his arm toward the door.
Maddy cleared her throat, stood up straight, and smiled. “We shall.”
The pair checked their coats and the maître d' escorted them to a white clothed table that held their evening companions, Evan and Lilly. After a brief embrace of greetings, Jace pulled out a chair for Maddy and their four-top was complete at the high class establishment of 417. A restaurant whose name was modeled after the street address and whose high ceilings and open floor plan boasted the best harmonics that the city had to offer. The restaurant often had live musical entertainment in the form of light jazz or piano. That night was a piano night.
“So, Evan said you seemed excited on the phone. What’s the big surprise?” Lilly asked.
“Surprise?” Jace countered with a smile.
“Yeah, what’s the big mystery here, buddy?” Evan asked.
“Well, I had something worth celebrating, so I figured why not celebrate with my four favorite people.” Jace grinned and looked out over the spacious floor plan to a well-suited man sitting down at a grand piano looking over some musical notes.
“You mean three?” Maddy corrected him.
Jace picked up his water glass and took a sip. “Well, I include myself in that list of favorite people.” Jace smiled at Maddy.
“Uh huh,” Maddy responded.
“And…?” Evan inquired.
“And…,” Jace responded.
Maddy elbowed Jace. “You can tell them or I will.”
“All right, all right. I got a promotion today.”
“That’s awesome, congratulations, “ Lilly said.
“Yeah, what are you doing now?” Evan asked.
“I’m actually managing a fund now.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah, thanks.” Jace silently tapped a melody on his water glass.
“So, uhh … What were you doing before?” Lilly asked.
“Well, before I was an account man. So I really just meet with the people, pitch the ideas, and make sure they’re happy.” Jace took a sip of his water then continued to talk before fully swallowing. “Kinda like Pete in Mad Men.
“Ahh gotcha,” Evan said just then fully realizing the scope of Jace’s job.
“So now I do that, but also pick the investments.”
“I could have sworn you did that before,” Lilly said suspiciously.
“Yeah, kinda. I’ve been riding shotgun for a while. So I suggest things, I’ll meet with perspective recipients. But all I’ve really been doing is spectating, sorta learning the ropes, how to tell when someone’s full of shit or when an investment sounds good but doesn’t have much immediate upside. But—”Jace raised his finger “—someone else has always had the final decision.”
“Whereas now, you get to pick?” Evan asked.
“Yeah, I get full creative control.”
“Wow. That’s a huge responsibility,” Lilly reasoned.
“Yeah, I know.” Jace smiled and let out a deep breath.
“So you went from being Pete Campbell to Don Draper.”
Jace laughed. “Now that’s a great way to look at it.”
The soft keys of the piano began to hum throughout the room.
“How much are they giving you control over?” Evan asked.
“Two hundred million.”
“Jesus Christ!” Evan shouted.
Maddy smiled and looked to her left then right to see if anyone else heard him. Evan, realizing that perhaps the harmonics of the dining room were working against him, looked about and expressed an embarrassed smile.
“Yeah, it’s a relativity small fund, all things considered.”
“Dude, that’s still amazing.”
“Yeah I’m really happy about it. And what that also means, is increased performance incentives.” Jace grinned.
“Good evening,” the waiter interrupted. “My name is Peter. I will be taking care of you. Can I start you off with something to drink?
“Yes, Peter,” Jace spoke before anyone else could. “We’re going to need a bottle of Dom Pérignon to start.”
“Certainly.”
“Does anyone else want something different?” Jace asked.
Evan and Lilly both shook their heads. Jace squeezed Maddy’s leg under the table.
“I guess we really are celebrating.” Evan smiled.
“Hey, this is low-key,” Jace said in his own defense.
“I know, the last time you went celebrating you came back with a girlfriend.” Evan chuckled and leaned into Lilly.
“Yeah, that is really crazy,” Maddy said. “I mean who does that?”
Jace shot her a look and pinched her leg under the table.
“Your story is like my favorite ‘How we met’ story,” Lilly said, looking at Maddy.
“Oh, it’s your favorite, huh?” Evan asked with a tone.
“My second favorite, darling.” Lilly leaned in and kissed Evan.
Evan nodded and grinned.
“It’s just so out of the ordinary, but it seemed to have worked out well,” Lilly said.
“God, I know.” Maddy smiled.
“Yeah, what were you thinking? Some strange guy you barely know offers to take you on vacation and you go?” Jace said with a look of mock skepticism.
“Well, of course I went.”
“How did you know I wasn’t just going to hit it and quit it?” Jace asked, leaning into Maddy and pursing his lips.
“You were taking me on vacation, I didn’t care.”
Lilly and Evan both laughed.
“You’re a dangerous one, Miss Maddy,” Jace taunted.
“No, I knew you weren’t a psycho or anything.”
“And how did you know that?”
“Okay, well, maybe I spoke too soon. But if anything, you were a sophisticated psycho, and that I can live with.”
“So you didn’t think he was going to chop you up into little pieces or anything?” Evan asked.
“Him? Please …”
“Hey! You watch it,” Jace said, waving a finger.
Maddy turned to face Jace. “I’m just kidding, darling, You could totally chop me up into pieces.” She leaned in and kissed him.
“That’s right.”
“All kidding aside, though. Yes, I see what you’re saying,” Maddy began, “but, he works in finance. He’s successful. And I spent the entire day with him before agreeing to go. That and he’s responsible for my retirement anyway, so I feel like I kind of have to trust him.
“Yeah, that’s true,” Evan said.
The waiter returned with the bottle of champagne and showed it to Jace. Jace nodded and the waiter gripped the cork.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Jace cried out.
“What?”
“I want to do it.”
“Sir, for safety reasons, we don’t let patrons open the bottle themselves.”
“I insist,” Jace said, standing up.
Peter appeared to be obviously uncomfortable. Jace, recognizing this, followed with, “I’m gonna leave the cage on it.” Jace extended his open hand to Peter awaiting the bottle.
Peter thought for a moment and then handed
the bottle over.
“It’s not quite a good luck thing, but it almost is,” Jace said and shot a wink at Peter.
Peter nodded in understanding.
“Just do it quick. I can get in a lot of trouble for this.”
Jace nodded and twisted the bottle, his hand firmly around the cork.
The bottle let out a sharp sound of air escaping and Jace’s hands adjusted to the shot.
“You know how to open champagne,” Peter said, surprised.
“I used to be a bartender.” Jace shot Peter a wink. “I got this, come back in a few.”
“I didn’t know that,” Maddy said.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that,” Evan said.
“There’s lots you don’t know about me, darling,” Jace said and took the cage off of the cork. “I’m like an onion with all my layers.”
“Uh huh, and like an asshole, will all your bullshit,” Maddy retorted.
Jace laughed to himself and began to pour the champagne.
“She’s got your number, huh?” Lilly asked.
“Oh, you have no idea.”
Jace took his seat and raised his glass. The other three followed suit.
“Cheers guys,” Jace said.
“Congratulations.”
“To the things that make us celebrate, and the people we want to share them with,” Jace said.
“Amen.”
The glasses clinked together.
*
“You know, I really like your family,” Maddy said, looking back at herself in Jace’s vanity mirror and dabbing away some of her makeup.
“I knew you would,” he called from the bedroom.
“They show an interesting side of you.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. All of the Wall Street guys I’ve dated only care about work. It’s like the only thing that matters to them.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Jace said as she heard a rustle from the bedroom. Then Jace appeared at the bathroom door. “You’ve dated other guys?”
“Well … Maybe …” Maddy looked up innocently.
“What was all that one in a million talk?”
They both laughed. Maddy put the makeup remover down and pushed Jace out of the bathroom following him toward the bed.
“I think they are what makes you different.”
“How so?” Jace asked, plopping down on the bed and rolling under the covers.
“So, in my experience,” Maddy began while getting into bed, “everyone seems to think that being a stockbroker excuses them from being shitty people, like if you work hard enough you can be an asshole and it’s totally okay.”
“I could see that.”
“But then it becomes their entire identity. It’s like they don’t want to see the other stuff because then they’d be forced to look in the mirror.”
“I could see that too. It’s a hard job to have. Their hours are awful, and when your whole life revolves around getting people to say yes, you soon stop caring how you get there.”
“But that’s what defines a person, is what they are willing to do to get that yes.”
“I know, and in a results driven industry, people sometimes sell their soul for the results that matter to them.”
“I’m glad you’re not like that.”
“It’s the difference between the love of money. And the lust for what money can bring you.”
“So, which are you?”
“I’d hope you’d know that at this point.”
“I do.” Maddy smiled warmly. “Now let me get inside.”
Jace opened his arms wide and Maddy rolled into him, then he closed his arms wrapping her up tightly. Maddy kissed Jace on the chin, and they gazed deeply at one another.
“I’m glad you like them, though. Wait until you meet the rest of them.”
“Oh, God, there’re more like you?” Maddy pushed against his chest creating a little space.
“Nah, none quite like me. But there’s more.”
“What’re they like?”
“Well diverse, I would say.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Everything from saints to sinners.”
“Oh God, the saints must be so boring.”
Jace laughed “Ehh, they’re not so bad.”
“Well, then they must not be very good saints.”
“No one really is, you know what the rolling stones say.”
“What’s that?”
“Every cop is a criminal and all the sinners saints.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
Chapter 10
Years earlier…
Maddy stood inside a recording studio with her friend John. The padded room with its thick glass window was not the place she expected to find herself when she agreed to take a communications elective. Junior year was a hard year in any major, but it was especially hard for her. Not only did she have her regular 300-level classes to attend to, but she also had the overflow of pain from the previous year.
She would tell herself later that she took it easy sophomore year because of her mom getting sick, but she knew that wasn’t true. She had picked out her classes before she knew anything about her mom.
Freshmen year she had a solid fifteen credits each semester which was good for a freshmen. That meant five classes a week and most of her classes, save British Lit., only met once a week and rarely if ever took the full three hours of time allotted. And although she had plenty of time for fun, she felt like she had earned a break for her sophomore year.
Her last semester she had just pledged Delta Pi, a sorority known for pretty girls and fun parties. That’s how she knew them, anyway, and that’s what she hoped everyone else thought, but who really knows? Pledging hadn’t been that bad—it was time consuming. She, along with her newfound sisters, had to engage in a lot of team-building exercises. The focus was always on bringing them together as sisters. That was a far cry from what the guys had to do. She didn’t know anything for sure but had heard stories from friends. She would not have pledged a fraternity, had she been able to.
Her grades suffered a bit as a result of her newfound sisters, her hectic pledging schedule, and her increased social life. Not that a girl like her needed any help enhancing her social life. But the will of new friends often beats out the desire to study or do homework. And Maddy, who was usually an A student felt to a B average for the first time in her life.
So she told her parents that college was getting more difficult. “The work is just so much more complicated and takes so much more time,” was her favorite argument, but rather than an argument, it was more of a self-affirmation. When it became an argument, her favorite defense was, “You never went to college, what would you know about it?” but that was reserved for when her back was against the wall.
Her parents were both intelligent and successful, yet she had them on that one. Neither of them had ever been to college. Her dad was a truck driver. He made good money and was able to start his family in a very affluent neighborhood. But he was a working man, as was his wife. He was an ambitious man who liked a good gamble and double downed on himself when he remortgaged their house to buy another truck and hire a driver.
It was the start of his job becoming a business and he had two small girls in grade school, years when they still loved their daddy, and he didn’t want to miss those years driving around the country. Those were years to be cherished, before the hormone-fueled rage of an adolescent girl overtook his daughters and turned them against him. By the time Maddy was going to high school, he had eight trucks running all hours of the day. He no longer drove at all; he just managed the business and helped his wife with her jewelry store.
Diane was a woman for which the word stunning was created for. She had a very classy, old school Hollywood look to her. Her legs were long and her features were light. She wore a gorgeous length of blonde hair. Growing up, everyone said that Maddy was a carbon copy of Diane.
Diane was a soft-hearted individual
with a snappy wit. She was artsy and had a natural inclination toward drawing and beading. That was what inspired her to start her jewelry store. It was before the times when the Internet ruled the world and a small store that sold homemade jewelry could do well. Especially one in a nice neighborhood that also carried an excellent diamond supply. Diane let her knack for beading growing into a knack for jewelry design. She was a natural. It was as though her beauty gave her sway over all things beautiful. All things except her daughter.
Diane’s jewelry business began to really pick up right around Maddy’s 11th birthday, and for someone whose stunning features, unmatched spunk, and gorgeous eyes matched her mother completely, the two mixed like water and oil. As a child, Maddy loved her mother for everything that she was, but as her age rounded into the double digits, she began to resent everything that she loved about her mother, as children do at that age. And although as an adult the wounds would heal, the scars would always remain. There were some stains left by hate that time just can’t wash away.
Mid-way through her first semester of sophomore year Maddy’s mom, Diane was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her mom had been diagnosed in the beginning of November and decided to wait until Thanksgiving when Maddy was home to give her the bad news. Her plan was to keep it to herself until then, but Diane was never much of a poker player and her heart bled through onto her sleeve.
The day that she received the diagnosis, she came home, sat in the kitchen, and wept. She tried to hide her emotions but was not able to and despite taking the day off of work to go to the doctor, she was not alone in the house. Maddy’s sister Sarah was home in-between classes and heard the crying. It didn’t take much to break the silent facade. After all, how do you not tell your daughter why you’re crying? Leaving a kid in college in the dark was one thing, but lying to the one in front of you was totally different.
She broke down and confessed her grim diagnosis to Sarah, and Sarah sat and listened and cried with her mom. Then, almost against her will, Sarah swore to her mother not to say anything to her sister until Thanksgiving. That the holiday would be the day that they were all together and that was how they were going to get through all of it—together.
Maddy’s last class was canceled on Wednesday and due to her incredibly lucky schedule, that meant that she was done with school by 1:30. Maddy attended school at the prestigious Penn State University. That was before all of the scandal, when the words Penn State were a status symbol, one of envy. And at a mere two hours from her childhood home, it was the perfect location for a girl in her shoes. With any luck, she would be able to leave right from class and beat any of the holiday rush traffic that everyone else would be stuck in.
