Struck By You: Players
Page 9
“Sweetheart, you don’t fool me,” he began. “I know you’re a freak and you’d get down with the two of us. I promise we never disappoint.”
I grabbed my brother and pushed him against the wall. “Shut the fuck up Tanner!” I yelled.
I heard the door slam shut.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Tanner, please just leave us alone.”
“Us?”
I pushed him harder, picked up the food and used my key card to get back inside.
“Riley.”
She was silent. She was already getting dressed, with her back to me.
“What the fuck was he talking about, Mason?”
“Nothing, he’s just being prick,” I replied, feeling sick to my stomach.
“You never disappoint? What, you do this often?” she said turning around to look at me.
“No, no we don’t.” I needed to figure out a way to finish this conversation – she had a disgusted look on her face.
“Whatever. I don’t want to know about the things you two have done, but don’t think for a minute I’ll take part in any of it,” she said.
I shook my head. “I brought breakfast,” I said walking up to her.
She smiled. “Your brother is an asshole.”
I agreed. “He’s exactly like my father was, we just look alike. Which is why they never did get along.”
She nodded. “But you did.”
“Law was about the only thing we had in common, but even then, it wasn’t enough to win him over. He was a difficult man to please.”
She put her arms around me and kissed me. “Are you staying with me tonight?”
“Yes, but I have the will and testament meeting tomorrow with dad’s lawyers and Tanner.”
“I have to work in the morning,” she replied kissing my neck.
“I’m sorry I have to miss class.”
“There’s a private make-up class at my condo later,” she said biting my earlobes.
“Check out is in forty-five minutes and I’m feeling filthy.”
She bit her lip. “Maybe you should hit the shower – water is hot just how you like it and I’m feeling a little filthy as well.”
Three hours later and a hefty surcharge for staying after check-out time, we were on the road making our way back to Toronto.
Monday morning, after the meeting with the lawyers, I agreed to have lunch with my brother before seeing Riley.
“So tell me about this girl,” my brother began as soon as our food was served.
“No.”
“Oh c’mon Mason, what’s the big deal, you pussy whipped now?”
“See, that’s exactly why I’m not telling you a goddamn thing.”
“So she’s okay with your lifestyle?” he asked.
“I’m not sure I’m okay with my lifestyle.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he replied “We just inherited a shitload of money and you got dad’s business. You’re twenty-eight years old and in your prime. Think about all the pussy that’s coming to us. We should be fucking celebrating.”
“Celebrate away,” I retorted.
“She knows nothing about you, does she?” he said smiling wry.
“She knows enough and I intend to keep it that way, you hear me?” I said.
He laughed. “So you’re serious about this broad,” he said.
“Never been as sure about something as I am about her.”
“Wow,” he rose his eyebrows.
“What?”
“Nothing, just surprised is all.”
“Just say what you mean Tanner.”
“She’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but who is she really, other than being related to Eric Hudgens,” he began. “She’s a fucking bartender at a strip bar and some yoga instructor. Just think about what you’re worth and what she can take you for if you should happen to have a change of heart.”
“Mom wasn’t rich either.”
“She is now, let’s face it, mom was smart.”
“Don’t even go there, you make mom look like a gold digger. Dad cheated on her, what the hell was she supposed to do?” I replied.
“She was perfectly aware of what dad was like, yet she married him anyway but only if he drew up a generous prenup. She did the same with Carl.”
“Riley doesn’t want me for my money Tanner, she’s not like that,” I complained.
“Wrong, they’re all like that.”
“Okay I’m done with this conversation,” I said.
“Fine,” he said and looked at his watch. “I’m out, I have an appointment with my lawyer,” he said putting some cash on the table.
“What about?” I asked.
“A business deal. Talk to you later,” he said and walked out.
Chapter 16
I was dreading going into work at the bar on Wednesday. I had to break it off with Paul without damaging our work relationship and try to maintain our friendship without it going sour.
I knew Paul’s feelings toward me were deeper than mine for him. I could see it in his eyes that I was already hurting him.
As soon as I started my shift and I saw the look on his face, I knew something was wrong. He looked at me once and looked away with not as much as a hello. It was a busy night and we were short-staffed so I couldn’t get away to talk to him.
At closing time, I saw him going up the stairs toward his office. I quickly did the tallies and split the tips and went upstairs to see him.
His office door was closed. I knocked but there was no answer. I had to give him the cash from sales so I opened the door anyway.
He was in there reading some documents.
“Sorry to disturb you, but I’m just here to give you this,” I said putting the bag with cash on his desk.
He didn’t say anything, just kept looking at the documents.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Not really, it’s been an interesting day to say the least,” he said continuing to look at the documents.
“Sorry to hear that,” I began, “Well if there’s anything I can do…”
He laughed and put the documents down.
“No sweetheart, you’ve done enough. Get out,” he said looking at me coldly.
I was speechless and walked away immediately. I was shocked, as I’ve never had him treat me that way since the day I started.
On the way home, I kept thinking about what I could have done to piss him off so much. We left off in good terms the last time we saw each other. We hadn’t made any plans for the weekend because as far as he was concerned, I was babysitting my sister’s kids. Maybe he’d heard from Carl about the funeral and he put two and two together. But even so, if he had found out, why would he reprimand me like that?
Then I thought about Mason. Could he have done something or said something to him?
I pulled over just a few blocks away from my condo and called Mason.
He sounded groggy when he picked up the phone – it was three a.m. after all.
“What did you do?” I accused.
“Riley? Is that you?”
“Yes, what did you say to Paul?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t act stupid, tell me the truth: did you talk to him?”
“No, I have no reason to speak to him. Why, what did he do to you?”
“Well, he’s very angry with me at the moment and I’m trying to figure out why. I was hoping you could elaborate.”
“I swear to you I have not spoken to the man.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you later then,” I said.
“Want me to come over?”
“No, I want to be alone tonight,” I said and hung up.
I didn’t see Mason on Thursday either because he said he had a meeting with some lawyers.
I was scheduled to work at the bar on Thursday. I was ready to confront Paul and ask what his problem was but he never showed up to work, which was very strange.
“What do you want?” he said as soon as he opened the door. He was wearing jeans and a dirty white t-shirt. He hadn’t shaved and reeked of alcohol.
“Can I come in?”
He sighed and opened the door wider.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked, showing me an almost empty bottle of whiskey.
“No thanks.”
“Suit yourself,” he said, taking a swig from the bottle.
“Okay you’re scaring Paul, what the hell is going on?”
He walked to his living room where he had a pile of documents laid out on the coffee table and he sat down. “I’m being bought out,” he said.
“What?”
“Yup. You see, I needed investors to open the bar. So I asked Carl Evans and Eric Hudgens to come on board. It was supposed to be an even 30% split between them while I owned the other 40%. Eric had a last-minute change of heart for some reason and found a third investor, splitting his share in half with him so I wouldn’t miss the deadline with the bank. That investor was none other than Don Hayes, your boyfriend’s now deceased father.”
“Who’s buying you out, Paul?”
“Carl and Eric already sold their shares. Did you know your boyfriend is now the new CEO of Hayes Associates?”
Well fuck me. Mason never told me what happened at that meeting and I never thought to ask.
“Judging by the look in your face you had no idea, did you?” he said. “Just as clueless as you are about him,” he added.
“Is he doing this?” I asked. I could barely speak out the words.
He smiled at me. “Wouldn’t that be poetic?” he said. “No, his brother is. Probably why it was so easy to buy out Carl and Eric. Well Eric was never too thrilled about being part-owner of a strip club. He probably jumped at the chance of selling.”
“What the hell does Tanner want with the bar?”
He sighed. “He doesn’t give a fuck about the bar. This is a personal vendetta against me for banning him. Once he buys out Mason, he owns me, and who knows what he’ll do after that,” he said.
“Why can’t you buy him out?” I asked.
“Because, Riley, I have all my money wrapped up in the club, every cent” he said and drank out of the almost empty whiskey bottle.
“This is absurd.”
“Yes it is. But you see, what Tanner and Mason want, they get. It’s that simple,” he said nodding at me.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I retorted.
“Your boyfriend and his brother are quite the pair,” he said smiling wry.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh that’s right, you don’t do relationships,” he pointed out.
“Get on with it, Paul.”
“Those two started a secret society during their college days. Word has it, they recruited only a small group of the elite and privileged. They had parties every weekend where each member was required to bring at least two girls with them, minimum. After hours of drinking and drugs behind locked doors, Tanner and Mason were in charge of selecting the top three, and the rest were sent home. You can imagine what happened next.”
I felt sick to my stomach.
“Anyway,” he continued, “turns out the university and authorities caught wind of their little venture. They were nearly expelled but Carl and dear old dead dad saved the day and paid everyone off.” He shook his head. “Rumor has it, they’re still quite active with the practice”
“How do you know this?” I asked.
“Because I hear stories from those who know those two fucks,” he replied.
I got up and suddenly felt like I needed to vomit.
“There are no accidental meetings with those two. Chances are, if you ran into them, it’s because they sought you out. Whether they ran into you at the mall, or a bar, or on the street, they are master philanderers and they will go great lengths to get the girls they want.”
“Now,” he continued, “you are the reason I’m in this predicament. Therefore I’m firing you.”
“What? How is this my fault?” I asked.
“Truth is Riley, I should have fired you a long time ago. The only reason the patrons like you is because you end up taking many of them home and word gets around.” He shrugged. “You are no different than your boyfriend as far as I’m concerned.”
I ran out of his house and left as fast as I could. I was so ashamed, disgusted, angry, and heartbroken, all at the same time.
Chapter 17
Mason
By Sunday night I was going crazy. She wasn’t home, she wasn’t returning my calls or my texts, I was lost and out of my mind. I knew it had something to do with my lunatic brother buying out Paul’s bar.
After he sprung the news to me on Thursday, I tried to find ways and loopholes around the contracts to null and void the hostile takeover. But there wasn’t. He just needed my shares and he would own 60%, then he could do whatever he wanted.
Monday morning, I dropped everything and went to the spa and see if I could talk to her. I was greeted by her sister at the doors and invited me to her office.
“She does not want to see you, and I’ve cancelled your contract Mr. Hayes,” she said as soon as she closed the door behind her.
“Do you have any idea why I haven’t been able to speak to her or get in touch with her? This buyout issue has nothing to do with me, it’s my brother, and I’m trying to figure out what to do here.”
“Mason, we all have skeletons in the closet and they all come out at some point,” she said.
“What are you talking about?”
“I need you to leave the premises now please,” she said, opening her office door.
“Is she here?” I asked.
“No, she’s taking a leave of absence.”
“Serena, I need to talk to her, please.”
She shook her head. “Goodbye Mr. Hayes.”
I left the spa and I had that awful heavy chest feeling again. I was trying to make sense of what Serena had said and the only conclusion I could come up with was that someone had been talking shit about me to her. So my next stop was my brother’s office.
I bypassed his executive assistant and marched into his office. He was in the middle of a phone conversation when I grabbed him by the lapel of his sport jacket and pushed against the wall.
“What the fuck did you say to her?”
“Who?”
“Riley, my girlfriend, what did you say to her?”
“I haven’t seen her since the funeral, get off me,” he said pushing me back.
“She knows something Tanner, she won’t see me, won’t talk to me. And this fucking takeover probably fucked up things even more.”
“You should have been upfront with her,” he said.
“Tanner, if I find out you told her something I’ll fucking kill you, I swear.”
“I’m telling you right now bro, I have not spoken to her,” he said looking me in the eye.
“Christ, then who? You’re the only that knows about us.”
“I don’t know and I don’t really care. What I am concerned about is the fact that you have not come back to me with a price. I need your shares. Remember, the deadline is tonight at midnight. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do,” he said opening the door to his office.
I didn’t know any of her friends and I’d ran out of places where I could find her. Tried calling, and my texts were now bouncing back which meant she had blocked my number. Suddenly everything I had done in the past was coming back to haunt me. I was a fool for thinking I could have a normal life. For thinking I could love someone the way I love her and have her love me back for who I am and not who I was.
I drove around the city for a while and went back to work. The public announcement of my official takeover was supposed to happen on Tuesday and I had several meetings in the afternoon
, as well as interviews with the media. I had to do my best to keep my shit together.
I stayed late after work, not because I had to, but because I didn’t want to go back home to my empty life. I was still trying to make a decision with the shares but my mind was so clouded, I just didn’t care anymore.
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you Mr. Hayes?” asked my assistant coming into my office. Not sure what arrangement she had with my father but she leaned over my desk, her blouse opened nearly halfway revealing her black lace bra.
I sat there staring at her. The gorgeous brunette had done everything in her power today to get my attention and was now practically throwing herself to me. My father was right indeed.
“Yeah, you can actually. Go home,” I said going back to the documents I was reading.
She cleared her throat and started buttoning up her blouse. “I’m sorry Mr. Hayes. Your father had certain expectations,” she spoke softly.
“I’m not my father,” I replied. “But let me ask you something. What’s the worst thing you’ve heard about me or my brother?” I asked looking into her big brown eyes.
She smiled nervously. “I’m not sure I follow Mr. Hayes. About what exactly?”
“What do you know about me, aside from working for me?” I said “And don’t hold back, I won’t fire you if I don’t like what I hear.”
She took a deep breath and looked at me with fear in her eyes. “Just stories mainly. Your sex life mostly. Orgies, stalking, the games, objectifying women mainly,” she said.
“I see.” I swallowed. “Where did you hear this?”
“Friends mostly. They warned me when I told them I was working for your dad. I quickly learned that I had to do certain things to keep my job. They told me to expect worse from you.”
I began to feel nauseous. “Thank you, I will see you tomorrow,” I said, checking my phone again to see if she called back. But she didn’t.
It was nearly seven p.m. and suddenly I realized there was one place and one more person that could help me find her.