I really had to stop thinking about Shadow like this. I had convinced myself that there was no meaning behind these dates. The contract I signed proved that much.
“Are you cold?” Shadow asked, breaking the silence between us. I shook my head.
“Usually I hate the cold, but for some reason tonight, I find the air invigorating,” I replied. “Why? Are you cold?”
Shadow shook his head. “I’m never cold.”
“You’re one of those people. Don’t tell me you enjoy long winters.”
“I’m impartial to it.”
“Man, I absolutely hate snow,” I said. “Find me a warm place to be and I’m there in a heartbeat.”
“Like a destination resort?”
I shook my head. “Too typical,” I replied. “I’m not a fan of lying around while the sun bakes my skin. Give me exploration any day.”
Shadow cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “So you like adventure?” he stated in a playful way that had me wondering what his version of adventure meant.
“You bet. There’s so much history and so many interesting places to discover in the world that I just can’t see myself lazing around a beach all day.”
“Any place in particular you dream of visiting?”
I shook my head. “I try not to think about places I want to visit. Vacations have never been in my budget.”
“You have at least ten thousand in the bank from the gig at my place,” Shadow pointed out.
“No,” I replied. “I need to pay of my debt and that money’s going to have to last me for the rest of my University studies. Food and tuition don’t come cheap.”
“I can make some calls at the University,” Shadow said. “The Midnight Society has strong influences there.”
“Don’t you dare!” I snapped. “It’s bad enough I owe you for the condo. I’m not going to owe you for my tuition as well. It’s something I need to do on my own.”
Shadow shrugged. “Suit yourself. But the offer is always on the table.”
“I don’t even see the table,” I said. “I will support myself through my studies, thank you very much. I don’t need a sugar daddy paying for me.”
Seconds later we pulled up to the Black Swan. The establishment was a lavish affair, its patrons dressed in expensive outfits that were typically seen on a red carpet.
Inside, extravagant chandeliers hung from the ceilings that were decorated with beautiful murals that belonged in old European churches. The antique tables were hand carved with the highest degree of craftsmanship, intricate patterns decorating the rich wooden surfaces. Three-storied windows lined the walls of the room, offering a spectacular view of the tranquil night sky.
A waiter dressed in butler garb greeted us with a wide smile and led us to our table, though hidden underneath his pleasant demeanor, I sensed he was looking down on me, for whatever reason.
Maybe he could smell the scent of student poverty.
When Shadow and I were both finally settled in, I couldn’t hide my excitement of being able to dine in such a magnificent looking place. Sitting inside the Black Swan, with its renaissance architectural influences, made me feel like I was on a European vacation as the queen of fine dining this evening.
“This is amazing,” I said. “This place is like a natural treasure. I can hardly believe it’s only a restaurant. Just look at the building and how everyone’s dressed in this place.”
“The food here has been the talk of the town,” Shadow said. “It’s one thousand dollars for a three course meal. I hope it’s good.”
It wasn’t.
The appetizer was four paper-thin slices of raw beef, decorated with some fancy looking leaves and served in an over-sized bowl that gave the illusion that I was getting a substantial sized meal. As I stared at the two hundred dollar dish, all I could think of was, where’s the damn food?
“What is this?” I asked, pushing the tiny portion of food—that could barely feed a gnat—around with my fork.
“I believe it’s beef Carpaccio,” Shadow said, placing a thin slice of raw meat on his tongue and chewing it.
“Are we suffering from a famine or something?” I asked. “Did they also forget to cook the meat first before serving it?”
“Raw beef is considered a delicacy.”
“It’s also considered a way to grow worms in your intestines,” I stated. “How does it taste?”
“Try it yourself.”
“No thanks,” I announced, pushing the appetizer away from me. I try to keep my stomach insect free.”
Shadow shrugged and reached for my plate, scooping the meat onto his own. “All the more for me.”
“I wonder if they can bring some bread over here,” I muttered, suddenly noticing that my stomach was growling at me.
Shadow finished the last of the appetizer and set his fork down.
“The main course should be coming over pretty soon,” Shadow said. “I assume that primitive roar I’m hearing is your stomach?”
I nodded. “I hope they bring out the food soon before my stomach decides to revolt and devour the rest of my body.”
Just as I finished my sentence, our waiter came by our table and set down two massive plates in front of us.
More disappointment.
“You have to be kidding me,” I sighed. At the centre of the plate was a tiny speck of food, hidden within a forest of leaves and grass, which served more as décor rather than anything edible. The waiter informed me that the meal was wild goose.
“Great, you brought the goose’s egg. What about the rest of it?” I asked.
The waiter shot me an insulted look. I immediately wanted to eat my words as my eyes adverted from his gaze while he replied to my comment.
“We aren’t exactly the McDonalds down the street, if that’s what you seek. However this city’s elite are very satisfied.” Those simple words were like a slap to my face and suddenly, I felt very aware that I didn’t belong here. I was, and would always be, a poor college girl, no matter what fancy clothes I wore or whom I associated myself with.
There was something about being put down by a person in customer service—who’s only task was to make an individual feel welcome—that felt degrading.
Shadow leaned back in his chair, stared at the waiter with his fiery eyes and spoke.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said calmly. “You’re going to apologize to my lovely date for your idiotic remark. The exact words you’re going to say are ‘Ms. Valencia, I’m sorry for being the world’s biggest asshole. I beg for your forgiveness.’ Now, after you apologize to her, you’re going to head into the kitchen and remain there until we finish our meals so we don’t have to see you again.”
“Sir, you must be joking,” the waiter said.
“No, I’m not,” Shadow replied. “If you don’t do as requested, I guarantee you that you’ll never find a job in this city again. Hell, let’s make it this country. However, I don’t take pride in being cruel and vengeful so I’m giving you the opportunity to set things right. Apologize to my date and then get out of my sight and all will be forgotten. Does that sound good?”
The waiter opened his mouth, but failed to produce any meaningful words from it.
“It looks like you’re tongue-tied. Let me help you out a bit,” Shadow said. “Let’s start off with ‘I’m sorry Ms. Valencia…’ I’m sure the rest will start to flow.”
The waiter turned to me, wide-eyed and ashamed.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“I’m sorry Ms. Valencia,” the waiter began, “I am the world’s biggest—’ but before he could finish, I cut him off.
“It’s fine.” I knew the feeling of shame, and that was punishment enough for the rude waiter. There was no further need to publicly degrade him. “Just go.”
The waiter turned to Shadow, who nodded with approval.
“The lady has forgiven you,” he said.
Once the waiter was gone, Shadow rose from his seat and motioned for
me to come with him, which I gladly did. I held him by his large, muscular arm and together, we strolled confidently out of the Black Swan.
Once outside, I turned to Shadow and smiled.
“You’re quite intimidating when you want to be,” I said.
Shadow shrugged. “You still hungry?”
My stomach growled again and I nodded. “Yeah, let’s get something to eat. You have any suggestions?”
“To tell you the truth, after the waiter mentioned there was a McDonald’s down the road, I’ve been craving a Big Mac. I haven’t had one of those tasty sandwiches in five years,” Shadow said.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Not at all; are you too good to stroll through the golden arches?”
“I do like McNuggets,” I laughed.
And that was how we ended date number one, filling our bellies with cheap, greasy fast food.
After Shadow finished the last of his meal, he leaned back in the round metal seat, looked at me and grinned.
“What?” I asked while my mouth was still full of processed chicken.
“I had a good time tonight.”
I was surprised. You’d think that discussing Abraham’s tragic past and making a scene at one of the top dining establishments in the city was enough to put a downer on the entire evening. But here Shadow was, smiling.
It was infectious, and I couldn’t help flash my pearly whites in return. I hoped I had nothing stuck in my teeth.
“Yeah, it wasn’t boring, that’s for sure,” I replied. “So what do you have in store for date number two?”
“I have something in mind.”
“So what is it? I hate surprises.”
“Everyone loves surprises.”
“I don’t,” I stated.
“Too bad,” Shadow said. “I’ll make the arrangements for our next date.”
“It better be a good one then,” I teased as I finished the last McNugget. “Examinations are around the corner and I’m dying for a little bit of excitement before then.”
“If excitement is what you want, I’ll make it happen. I just hope you can keep up with me.”
He was flirting. A thrilling rush swept through me, and without realizing, my smile widened. While sitting in this fast food restaurant with the secret king of the world on our non-date, I came to a sudden realization; maybe Shadow was right. Maybe we weren’t so different.
“Honey,” I said in a half-joking tone, “Whatever pace you set, you’ll find that I have no trouble keeping up for the ride.”
“Challenge accepted,” Shadow said.
His usual hard eyes sparkled with a child-like excitement, like stars reflected against the ocean.
Chapter Thirteen
Reading was another simple pleasure of mine, one that allowed me to escape into worlds that were much more interesting than my own. I had to admit though, ever since meeting Shadow, my life was far from boring.
Just fresh off my date with him, I decided to unwind by spending the following sun-filled day on the patio of my favorite coffee shop, whisked away in the arms of a sexy book. As I sipped on my Americano and lost myself to an adjective-laced sex scene, I was abruptly interrupted.
“I saw you last night.”
It was Justin.
I was at a loss for words. I had tried texting him for over a week and each one of my messages was met with silence. I missed his friendship terribly.
“Justin,” I said, surprised. “I haven’t spoken to you for so long. Please, sit down?”
He looked at me with sour eyes and shook his head.
“I saw you last night,” he repeated himself. “You and your date, that rich guy, were at McDonalds.”
“You were there too?”
Justin shook his head. “I was coming back from the bar and I saw you through the window. Not a place I expected a loaded man to take a girl on a date.”
“I guess I didn’t mingle too well in the classy restaurant,” I said, smiling.
Justin glared at me, angry at first, but the look of hurt that followed made me want to reach out and hug him. It was quite the dilemma. How do you console someone when you were the person that hurt them in the first place?
“I’m sorry Justin,” I began, but he was quick to cut me off.
“No, don’t,” he said. “I really can’t talk to you right now.”
He walked away from the table, breaking off a piece of the happiness I felt earlier this morning, dragging it in the dirt behind him.
I noticed a few awkward glances from the couple sitting at the table next to me. Typically, I would make some rude comment or snarl at them like a wild jungle cat, but I was in no mood for a fight today. Instead, I picked up my coffee and took my reading to the park across the street from the coffee shop.
I settled myself on an empty park bench, cracked open my smutty book and tried to lose myself in a world far away from my emotional problems.
However, my encounter with Justin left me frazzled and no matter how hard I tried to concentrate on the words in my book, I just couldn’t do it.
And then I received my second visit of the day.
“You’re the Golden Virgin,” a voice said with a noticeable British accent that sounded familiar. I looked up from my book and saw a thin man in a beige suit and white dress shirt, his short blonde hair slicked back to one side, his face dressed with a neatly trimmed beard. He looked at me with dark eyes that were filled with venom. Tucked underneath his arm was a large envelope.
“Do I know you?” I asked, feeling rather uncomfortable underneath the man’s gaze.
He sat down next to me and lit a cigarette, not bothering to look at me, as if I were insignificant in whatever world he was living in.
“We met before,” he said in between drags. “Though last time, we were both wearing masks.”
“You were at the party,” I deduced.
“Yes, a rather dreadful affair and a complete waste of time,” he snickered. “Shadow made a mockery of the entire ritual by choosing you.”
“Thanks.”
“In addition, that primitive ape who sits on the throne decided to lay his hands on me.”
Inside my head, all cylinders were firing as I realized who he was. I said his name aloud. “Lucien.”
“So virgin, which I highly doubt you are, what makes you so special and deserving to be chosen?”
“I’m not special at all,” I replied truthfully. “I shit the same way everyone else does.”
I saw Lucien crack a slight smile, but quickly suppressed it by taking a generous puff of his cigarette.
“You’re out of your element,” he stated. “You don’t belong in our organization and the fact that you’ve been chosen for such a prestigious position taints the blood of the Midnight Society.”
“Since when is marriage considered a position?”
“Don’t be naïve. For centuries marriages were about forging alliances and building empires, not some trivial act of love.”
“You must have a hard time with dating.”
“I’ve looked into you, Aria Valencia. You’re nothing more than a lowly arts student,” Lucien continued. “There’s no such thing as the Golden Virgin. Calisto was spinning tall tales again. You have no influential bearing on our society.”
“And what makes you so high and mighty?” I asked. “You’re probably some over-glorified suit and tie guy, running some boring business where you spend your days crunching numbers in a cubicle while talking to other equally boring business people. How do you enrich the little people in any way?”
“I own Kingdom United, the world’s most famous football club, or known to you American Neanderthals as ‘soccer.’ I unite my city and give them something to cheer for each and every week.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Okay, that is pretty cool. But you’re still a dick.”
“Let me give you some simple advice,” Lucien said, his eyes directed on me for the first time during the conversation. “Stay away
from Shadow. He is possessed by demons from his past that have driven him insane. The man’s a sociopath and the darkness that controls him is like a flesh-eating disease, one that will consume anyone close to him.”
“That’s rather dramatic.”
“I love the Society,” Lucien said, “And it saddens me to know that the destruction of our organization is imminent under Shadow’s leadership. He will burn it to the ground like the mad Emperor Nero, and the rest of us will crumble like ash.”
“Sounds like a sad story,” I said in a mocking tone. I always hated the melodramatic types, making everything sound more Shakespearean than things really were.
“Of course you don’t take me seriously,” Lucien muttered. “What else can I expect from an arts student? Someone who chooses your area of studies can’t be taking life seriously.”
I had enough.
“Look, are you going to sit here all day and play guidance counselor?” I raised my sexy novel to his face. “I have some erotic smut that needs to be read, and no offense, you’re killing the mood.”
“Stupid girl,” Lucien said as he rose from his seat, just before handing me the blank envelope, which was resting on his lap the entire time.
“If it’s naked pictures of you, I don’t want it. I get nauseous when I stare at assholes for long periods of time.”
“I’m giving you the opportunity to discover the mystery behind Shadow,” Lucien replied. “He’s an emotionally unstable man, and the information in this envelope will unlock his troubled past. I think you’ll find it a much more fascinating read than the filth you American’s pass as literature these days.”
“Are we done here?” I asked, annoyed.
Lucien flashed me a sly smile. “If you have any common sense, I won’t be seeing you ever again,” he said, just before adding, “Virgin,” mockingly.
I watched the bastard stroll away from me at a casual gait, hands buried in his pockets while whistling a cheerful tune. I was left alone with my erotic book in my hand and the mysterious envelope in my lap.
Whatever was inside was probably poisonous propaganda with the sole intention of soiling Shadow’s reputation. The best thing for me to do was to set the envelope on fire. Extreme measures, yes, but logical at the same time.
Semblance Page 10
