Honor Roll

by Collins, Kelly

  “Luca, you’re not getting rid of me that easy. Let’s have dinner in the city next Wednesday. You can tell me all about your day at Kent Enterprises. Invite Mim if you’d like.”

  After a kiss on Judith’s cheek, I climbed into a taxi and headed back to the city, full of chicken and warmth.

  Chapter 18

  There were no classes, no clients, nothing on Thursday. I’d left Mim chai tea and a single red rose on her doorstep. I leaned against the rough bark of the old oak tree and waited for her to appear.

  The door opened, and Mim emerged, but she wasn’t alone. Her dad stood beside her. She bent over to pick up the flower and tea when our eyes met. She took a step toward me. Her free hand lifted in an almost wave, and her lips turned into an almost smile.

  I pushed off the tree and stepped toward her, She wavered, and her half-smile faltered. She turned and walked away with her father. My heart sank with every step she put between us. Today’s note was simple.

  Mim,

  I’ve never been in love until I met you. I’m not sure if it was immediate, or it happened over the course of our relationship, but the night I told you I loved you was the most honest thing I’d ever said. I love you, Mim, and I refuse to let you go. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I’m a good man if that’s what it takes.

  Love, Luca

  With my hands buried in my pockets, I entered the subway and went home. Mom would be calling soon. She phoned daily to make sure I was okay. The biggest surprise was, Dad had been calling, too. He wasn’t a big talker, so it didn’t take long to catch up on the six years we’d missed. Despite the crash and burn of my life, some positive things had come out of the experience. I’d mended fences with my father, and with every day that passed, I was mending fences with myself.

  The smell assaulted me immediately. My apartment was trashed again. On my way to the kitchen table, I stepped over a knee-high pile of clothes that needed washing. My living room had become my laundry basket. I knew I had to pull myself together. What I wore today was the last clean outfit I owned.

  There wasn’t a clean dish or glass in the cupboard. I’d begun to cup my hands and drink water from the sink.

  I needed to get myself together. I would get Mim back, and when I did, I wanted to bring her into a clean home. I wanted to make love to her on clean sheets, and I wanted the next day’s breakfast cooked in a spotless kitchen.

  My fingertips were pruned by the time I’d finished cleaning, but the results were worth the effort. I pulled out a frozen helping of spaghetti and meatballs Mom had made, and I sat at my clean table to eat it.

  When I powered up my computer, the spreadsheet flickered to life. Falling short by thirty thousand dollars wasn’t too bad when I put things into perspective. I had twenty-two thousand dollars in savings, the money I’d need to hold me over until I could find a job. I’d never done the math before, but I’d had sex over four hundred times to pay off the bulk of my college debt. At roughly a teaspoon of ejaculate per event, I filled over eight cups in my tenure as an escort. I laughed at the thought. Jessica would have been ecstatic.

  It was the silly things that made the day go by fast. Who else would measure the amount of come they’d expelled in two years?

  Enough procrastinating.

  Pulling off my nails with pliers would have been infinitely easier than writing my graduate project report. Every word reminded me of Mim. The rise in stock prices made me remember the rise in her anger at seeing Diane. Dividends reminded me of the less than stellar results I got from my decisions. Bonded, merger, and long-term were things I wanted with Mim.

  Against my better judgment, I sent her a text.

  Mim,

  Thinking of you and missing you. I met with Judith Kent, and she invited us to dinner next Wednesday. Can you make it?

  I love you.

  Luca

  I thrummed my fingers across the table and waited. By the time she responded, my pads were numb.

  No, Luca. I can’t do it. Please don’t tell me you’re doing Judith Kent.

  I was such an idiot. Of course, she would think I was doing Judith.

  Mim,

  Judith is just a nice woman who likes my company. We eat and talk. That’s it. She liked you and wanted to get to know you better.

  Can you cut me some slack? I’m trying here.

  Luca

  Would Mim ever let the past go? Five, ten, twenty years down the road, would I be paying for a decision I made when I was twenty-four?

  I’m trying too. I’m attempting to fall out of love with a man who broke my heart, and each time I see you, the wound begins to bleed. It’s killing me, Luca. No dinner for me, but tell Judith hello. My father says if you’re bringing tea he’d like a double shot latte. By the way, what did you do to him? He now seems to be standing in your corner.

  Seeing me was causing her pain. A pain I could relieve with my absence. It would kill me, but I’d give her more space. And as for her father, I was baffled.

  I’m sorry Mim, I never meant to hurt you. I only wanted to love you. I’ll bring you coffee and tea and give you space.

  Love always,

  Luca

  * * *

  When I arrived at Mim’s, her worn copy of The Scarlet Letter sat on the steps. I picked it up and hugged it tightly to my chest. It was the closest thing to Mim I’d touched in a while. I left the tea and coffee on the step and walked away with renewed hope. Today’s cup held a simple message.

  I love you.

  Love, Luca

  On her father’s cup, I wrote a short note.

  Thank you for your support.

  I could only assume Marcus Knight saw something in me he respected.

  * * *

  By seven, I was sitting in Jessica’s house, drinking beer and watching her while she packed. She’d need a suitcase for her sex toys alone. Out of all my clients, she was the best. She’d become a friend and mentor, and her fetish had paid off a huge amount of my debt. I’d always remember her with fondness. Leaving her was easy. It was time, and we both felt the pull of our futures tugging us forward.

  The next several days, I stayed away from Mim and spent my time working on my report and looking for employment. Landing job interviews was a priority, and I’d had two, but nothing seemed promising until I met with James Seagull from Kent International. The corporate office was located in the heart of the financial district, a block from the New York Stock Exchange. The lobby was black marble, with wall niches that held millions of dollars in precious gems.

  Kent International’s main source of revenue was mining, but they dabbled in many industries from healthcare to manufacturing.

  “Luca, it’s great to meet you.” James shook my hand with the confidence of a king.

  “Happy to be here. Although, I’m not sure why I’m really here. Judith just told me to show up, and I did.”

  “It always goes better for those who do what Judith says.” His voice held humor that I appreciated. Too often, men in positions of influence lost their ability to laugh. I hoped that no matter what I lost over time, my sense of humor wasn’t included.

  “She’s a determined woman.” I was meeting her for dinner in the city tonight, and I imagined we would talk about the company she was so proud to own.

  “That she is. Let’s take a tour, and I’ll tell you why you’re here.”

  We walked along the wall, where James explained the gems, where they were mined, and what their significance was. I’ve never seen a diamond come in anything other than black and white, but the cases held blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, purple and red. The colors were based on the impurity that entered when the stones formed.

  “When something outside the norm is mixed in, beautiful things can happen. That’s where you come in, Luca.” We entered the elevator and were rushed to the twenty-fifth floor. “Judith has decided in her golden years to give back to the community that gave her so much.”

  “She’s a generous woman.”
Judith had asked nothing of me except for my friendship. We’d had a lot of fun coming up with naughty things to tell her friends, like my hands in her drawers and on her breasts. She was smart, charming, and witty.

  “In this day and age, there are few opportunities for college students to earn and learn. She’s worried about the next generation, and that’s where you come in. Judith wants you to oversee the Kent Center for Opportunity.”

  “The what?” Generally speaking, I was good at following people, but James had lost me at the word ‘oversee’.

  “She wants to open a center that helps college students find suitable employment during school and after graduation.”

  I shook my head. “I’m a finance major. I know nothing about finding jobs. If I did, I wouldn’t be unemployed.”

  “It’s not much different from stock trading. You’ll be given a certain amount of money, and how successfully you invest that money will determine how many people you can help. You’ll hire who you need and provide a service students can use.” He closed the door to his office. “Luca, I made my way through college as a stripper. I would have done anything to get out of school debt-free, and I did, but it would have been nice to have had other options.”

  Did he know my story? If so, he didn’t judge me. He understood me. “I know about the lack of opportunities.”

  “Luca, you now have options. I believe you’re meeting with Judith for dinner. She asked me to give you this offer and told me she would be happy to discuss the details tonight.” He handed me a fancy Kent International envelope. “Obviously, Judith sees something special in you, or she wouldn’t have chosen you as her project.”

  “I’m assuming you were once her project?” The envelope felt like hope wrapped in fine linen paper.

  “Yes, and now I’m the president of her New York Office. I may be premature in saying this, but welcome aboard, Luca. If Judith wants you, you have to have something special.”

  “She says I have heart.”

  He gave me a half-smile. “Well, nothing stays alive without one.”

  Fifteen minutes later, I sat in a coffee shop down the street and stared at the envelope. I’d always assumed I’d make six figures, but I couldn’t begin to put a value on what Judith wanted. This envelope contained my worth in Judith’s eyes.

  I tore through the paper and opened the trifolded page.

  Dear Luca,

  I’m an old woman, but I’m a smart woman. I know quality when I see it. I saw it in my husband so many years ago when I convinced him to marry a poor country girl and let her make him a millionaire. I see it in you.

  The secret to success is seeing value in people. It’s not in the fancy suits they wear or the jewelry they drape themselves in. Value is seen in an honest heart, and a desire to please.

  Your annual salary will be one dollar. I am offering you a one hundred thousand dollar sign on bonus, and each year you will be paid a bonus based on your success.

  I’m not giving you a job, I’m offering you an opportunity. Good things come to those who fight for them. Are you a fighter?

  Sincerely,

  Judith Kent

  CEO Kent International.

  I reread the letter twice. She’d offered me the most valuable dollar I could ever earn. I’d thought graduating debt-free would earn me respect, when all it took was being myself.

  My parents were responsible for my windfall. They had taught me the importance of a kind word, a smile, or a helping hand. “It’s not what you have, it’s what you give,” they always said.

  It took me about six seconds to sign the acceptance part of her letter, and about an hour to get Mom off the phone after I called and told her I was employed.

  My first paycheck was going to my parents, and they would frame and cherish that dollar forever.

  I walked into the steakhouse on Madison Avenue and scanned the room for Judith. She sat smack dab in the center. The candlelight danced off the large ruby brooch pinned over her heart. I was overwhelmed with emotions, gratitude, and hope.

  “Luca,” she motioned for me to sit beside her. “Let’s celebrate.” She ordered champagne, and we toasted to my future. She pulled a crisp dollar bill from her pocket and slid it across the table. I defaced it by signing my name across the front. I’d put it in the mail to my parents tomorrow.

  We enjoyed a relaxing dinner while we discussed her expectations. My first day on the job would begin the day after graduation. Until then, I’d work on finishing my degree and working on a way to get Mim back into my life.

  Chapter 19

  Mim’s text came in late on Sunday night.

  Luca,

  Are you okay? I haven’t seen you in a long time. I miss my tea.

  Mim

  I rolled over in my bed and cradled the phone to my heart. It was the first time she’d reached out to me in weeks, and I wasn’t sure what to do.

  Mim,

  I’ve been busy. I’m due to give my graduate report tomorrow. After that, I’ll tie up some loose ends, and I’m finished with school. Sorry about the tea, you made it clear you didn’t want to see me, and I was respecting your wishes.

  I love you,

  Luca

  Nothing else came in even though I stayed up watching my blank screen.

  In the morning, I packed up my graphs and loaded my presentations on a thumb drive. I had two prepared. One if Mim was present, the other if my audience was a bunch of dodgy old professors. One would get me a passing grade in the class, and the other would clear my conscience once and for all.

  I slipped my hand in my pocket and stroked the red felt E. It wasn’t the cold coin that once weighted me down. It was soft and warm and would be an important component of option two.

  Judith had asked if I was a fighter, and in all honesty, I didn’t know, but I was ready to go all twelve rounds if it got me one moment to prove myself to Mim.

  At two o’clock, I took my place on the stage. The spotlights made it impossible to see who was in the audience. I squinted and strained to see the faces of the bodies in the first row, but it was impossible.

  Inhaling deeply, I smelled lilacs. Mim was here.

  Her voice floated through the air. “Mr. Gregorio, do you have the required number of reports available?”

  My knees nearly buckled from the sound of her voice. She was here, and that meant option two would be implemented.

  Five folders containing my project were handed to the beautiful woman who approached the stage. Before she could pull away, I said, “This is for you. I may not graduate, but I don’t care. Nothing will ever mean more to me than you.”

  She pulled the folders from my hand, “Good luck, Luca,” and she disappeared into the darkness.

  Who would have thought I’d put it all on the line for a woman? Six years, I’d chased a dream that included debt-free, employed, and respectable. How does a man become an escort and remain respectable?

  The flash drive slid seamlessly into the computer, and with the touch of a key, my first slide appeared.

  Are You Getting What You Paid For? Commodities in the Twenty-First Century.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, today you’re going to hear something you won’t hear every day. I’m going to talk about commodities of a different type. I was told I had thirty minutes and I could discuss anything I wanted. So without further delay …”

  The paper backing peeled off the felt E, and I pressed it to my chest. I’d considered an A, but I’d never serviced married women, so E for escort seemed more appropriate.

  “I’m Hester Prynne with a penis.” A gasp came from the black hole in front of me. “Two years ago, I stepped out of the norm to sell a commodity that’s been sold for thousands of years. I sold myself.”

  I brought up the graph I’d been keeping for twenty-three months. “As you can see, I obliterated over one hundred and sixty thousand dollars of debt by using particular talents.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Gregorio.” I recognized the voice of Professor Sau
nders. “Are you going to tell us that you worked as a…what do I call it?”

  “Whore, gigolo, prostitute, escort? You can call it anything you want, in the end, it’s all the same. I sold my body for money.” Mumbling filled the auditorium.

  “I have to say, you’ve intrigued the board. Continue.”

  No doubt, I interested the board. People are closet perverts. What they won’t come out and admit to in public, they devour in private. I had first-hand knowledge of the many fetishes people enjoyed.

  “As you can see from the graph, I’ve had a lot of sex. At three hundred and fifty dollars an hour, I’d have to have had a lot of sex to earn the kind of money I did.”

  Mim piped in. “Did you say three-fifty an hour?”

  “Yes, or fourteen hundred a night.” I wished I could see her face. “Is there any way to turn down the spotlight? It’s blinding me.” Moments later, the light was lowered and I had a clear view of my audience—four male professors and Mim. “Thank you.”

  One of the professors I didn’t recognize asked a question. “How did you find a job like that?” Was he asking out of disbelief or curiosity?

  “I was recruited on this campus. I’m not going to discuss the company or people, but I’ll talk about the job. If anyone approaches me about this conversation, I'll deny it ever happened. This would probably go better if we used a question and answer forum.”

  Mim stood and walked to the stage. “How could you take advantage of those women? You used their bodies for money.” She crossed her arms and held her position.

  I rubbed the E on my chest. “You have it wrong. I didn’t call them. They called me. They used their money for my body.”

  One of the professors began to speak, but Mim stomped her foot and glared, silencing the man. “How could you have sex with strange women but never sleep with the girl you claimed to love?” The men behind her mumbled.