Allure: Mike

by Sarah Monte

  “What do you want it to be?” asked Mike.

  “I have no idea,” said Jennifer. “You are the one that came up to me at the club, you are the one that asked me out to coffee after you surprised me by turning out to be the guy that owns the entire company that I work at. What is this? What are we doing here?”

  “I don’t get what you are trying to ask me right now,” said Mike.

  “Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m asking,” said Jennifer, “you just get off at the fact that people are struggling to understand your motives so I’m going to put it plainly for you. Is this a date? Is this a casual get together? Is this work related? Spell it out for me. What are we doing here and where is this going?”

  Mike sighed and said, “I honestly don’t know, Jennifer. I am not very good at expressing myself and for this I am ever so sorry. But the fact of the matter is that we are here now, and I am pretty sure that I am not the only one that wants to be. So just sit down with me, have some coffee, let’s talk. We don’t have to think about what this is or where this is going. I can assure you that I am not intentionally trying to take it anywhere if that makes you feel any better, and I can also assure you that after this I am never going to pressure you to meet me again or do anything of the sort. I will remain entirely professional and I will always strive to ensure that you remain as comfortable as possible.”

  Jennifer looked at Mike and saw a little crack in his metaphorical mask. He was being honest with her right now, and she felt like this was enough for the moment. She felt like this was all she would need in order to enjoy this afternoon at least.

  She sat down at a table with him and he ordered them a couple of coffees. They both ordered espressos.

  “I see you like things straight up, just like me,” said Mike.

  “Yeah,” said Jennifer. “I mean, I feel like coffee is the sort of thing you take to stay as active as possible. You take it so that you can remain energetic throughout your day, and the best coffee to help you do that is obviously espresso. Nothing is added or mixed into it, it is what it is. I really appreciate that about the drink. I also really like the flavor, which a lot of people find odd.”

  Mike laughed and said, “They find it odd because espresso is bitter. We are all of us supposed to gravitate towards the obvious. People are naturally attracted to sweet things, so that is the obvious choice to go for when you want to taste something nice. When someone likes a bitter food or beverage that goes against what people are used to and they end up feeling confused. I, for one, feel like bitterness is a taste that is often underrated. You can get a lot of character from bitter drinks. You are able to taste the undertones of the beverage, whereas sweetness is so all encompassing and cloying that it masks the whole flavor of the drink you are trying to enjoy until all you taste is sweet.”

  “I actually agree with you on that,” said Jennifer. “I honestly feel like people need to be a little more open to bitter flavors and drinks. There is a whole world out there that we often right off just because we don’t understand it!”

  “So what else do you like apart from bitter beverages?” asked Mike.

  “That is a difficult question to answer,” said Jennifer. “Our likes and dislikes can’t be adequately summarized in a single answer. I like many things, everyone does. But I guess a simple enough answer would be to tell you what I like to do when I’m not working, and the answer to that is I like to listen to music and read.”

  Mike laughed and said, “A vague answer to a vague question. I suppose that fits. What do you like to read, then? And what kind of music do you enjoy listening to?”

  “I enjoy reading mystery novels,” said Jennifer, “and I love listening to jazz music.”

  “Very interesting,” said Mike. “I like how both of your interests seem to coincide. Jazz is a very mysterious genre of music. The chords that are use, the way that dissonance often seems to resonate no matter how impossible it may seem. The most dissonant notes seem to harmonize and you don’t really know how it’s happening but you love it at the same time. You are full of surprises Jennifer!”

  Jennifer laughed and said, “I never thought of it that way. What do you like to do?”

  “Honestly, my interests are not all that different from yours,” said Mike. “I love jazz music too, but the books I prefer to read are a little more philosophical in nature. I am currently reading the works of Kierkegaard.”

  “Really?” asked Jennifer.

  “Yes,” said Mike. “Why does that surprise you?”

  “It’s just that…” said Jennifer, her gaze moving down to Mike’s tattooed arms. Mike laughed and said, “I don’t look like the sort of person that would enjoy philosophy, do I?”

  “Not exactly,” said Jennifer, “If I’m being honest I would have pegged you as the kind of guy that enjoys motorcycles and loud music.”

  “I do enjoy motorcycles,” said Mike, “and if the music is jazz I wouldn’t mind turning it up and making it loud. But come on, you of all people should know not to judge people by their covers! You are a beautiful woman, I am pretty sure that a lot of people assume that you are just a pretty face. They assume that you are not all that career oriented, even though you are the most competent new employee at one of the most prestigious financial institutions in the world.”

  “That is true,” said Jennifer, “I can’t argue with that. And by the way, your interests complement one another quite a bit as well!”

  “Really?” asked Mike, “How so?”

  “Well,” said Jennifer, “to start off with, Jazz is an extremely philosophical genre. It is a genre where the idea of music transcends its laws. Jazz musicians frequently color outside the lines just to see what it looks like. They often set a framework for their music and then end up ignoring that framework completely. It is quite a remarkable thing. If one follows logic, jazz should not make sense at all, for it breaks all of the rules it has invented. But that’s the thing about philosophy, right? It’s the eternal quest for truth. According to philosophy, nothing is really true. Reality is what you make of it. Music is music because we call it that, it does not have any objectively observable physical qualities. We can listen to a dissonant chord and enjoy it for what it is even though it’s breaking all of the rules of music and technically should not sound good at all. Hence, I feel like your love of philosophy and your love of jazz music are quite closely related!”

  “That is very, very interesting,” said Mike. “I never thought that anyone would be able to surprise me this much. I am quite an intelligent person, even though my tattoos and piercings might make people think that I am just some kind of thug or criminal. When I think about things I tend to cover all ground and understand concepts in their entirety. This, however, this is something that I never even considered.”

  Jennifer smiled mysteriously and said, “You should know by now how full of surprises I am.”

  “Oh yes,” said Mike. “I am starting to realize.”

  “So,” said Jennifer, “what made you want to start a capital management company?”

  “My talent,” said Mike. “Like I said before, I am a very smart person. I wasn’t born in a rich family but I learned as much as I could about how money works and before long I was able to learn a great deal about it. Hence, I was able to invest what little money I had and multiply it a great deal. The only problem was that I did not have a lot of money to invest. However, when I went to Harvard I met a lot of rich people and made a lot of rich friends. These people had a lot of money but most of the time they did not know what to do with it, so they gave it to me and I invested it for them. I kept twenty percent of any profit I earned them and that’s how I started my business. I realized that I could use my talents to earn everyone some money, so I established this company and some of the richest people in the world started giving me their capital in the hopes that I would make them even richer than they already were. You see, Jennifer, I had enough money to live comfortable for the rest of my life ten year
s ago when I was twenty six but I kept going. Do you want to know why? It’s because money is power. My company holds billions of dollars invested by some of the most powerful people in the world. I am personally worth over forty billion dollars, but my company holds over three hundred billion dollars invested by many people all over the world. That money is under my control and that makes me powerful. Above all else, I desire power.”

  Jennifer was in a reverie while she was listening to him. All this talk of power was actually arousing her quite a bit. She had to snap herself out of it and try to focus on what he was trying to say. If she wasn’t careful she felt like she might end up falling for the man that owned the company she worked at, and this really would not be a smart thing to do at all. It would end up creating a very messy scenario that she would have quite a bit of difficult getting out of.

  Hence, she tried to stay a little detached for the rest of her coffee hangout with Mike. However, the board was set and the pieces were moving. Both she and Mike had no control over how there were going to feel about each other over the next few months.

  Chapter Five

  Mike was quite stressed out. Over the past month the only thing about his life that had actually made sense and given him a semblance of satisfaction had been Jennifer, but he obviously could not spend all of his time with her. Both of them were extremely busy people who had a lot to do over the course of their days, and Mike had to deal with the various things in his personal life that needed his attention as well.

  He made his way to the warehouse district where his cousin David was waiting for him. This had become a regular part of his week and he hated it to no end, but he had no choice to go through with it if he wanted his cousin to stay safe.

  He got to the warehouse district and made his way between the empty alleys until he eventually saw his cousin sitting by the harbor front looking out towards the sea. He felt a twinge of remorse for the situation his cousin was in right now, but then he remembered all of the grief he was being put through because of David’s idiocy and the remorse quickly dissipated. He walked up to the bench David was sitting on and wordlessly sat next to him.

  “Do you have it?” asked David.

  “I do,” said Mike, “but I don’t know how much longer I am going to be able to do this. David, you need to fill me in about what’s going on. Don’t you want me to help you? Don’t you want to get out of this situation?”

  David laughed a surprisingly bitter laugh and said, “You have always been very naïve, Mike. You are so smart and you try to make yourself out to be this detached asshole who doesn’t care about anything at all, but the fact of the matter is that you don’t know the first thing about how this world works. Finance, business, these things you have a great deal of expertise in I have to give you that, but the world I am in right now is far outside your comprehension.”

  “Then maybe you should help me comprehend them instead of being a condescending piece of shit,” snapped Mike, his annoyance cutting through like a knife. “I am the one that’s helping you out, after all. I am the only person in the world who even talks to you anymore. You have cut everyone else off pretty thoroughly.”

  “Are you really going to make this difficult for me?” asked David. He looked at Mike and the expression his face was one that broke Mike’s heart. So much grief, so much sorrow, how could his gentle cousin be feeling this way? It just didn’t make any sense.

  “I am not trying to make this hard on your,” said Mike. “I just need some information. You know what I do, Dave. You know that I’m a powerful man. These people that you owe money to, maybe I know some of them. It’s possible that a few of them have invested in my fund, we accept all kinds at my company no matter where their money has come from. If these people are involved with me I might be able to apply some pressure and get them to ease up on you a little bit. This could help you to get a little breathing room, maybe buy you some time to help you get back on your feet again.”

  “It’s way too late for any of that,” said David. “The mistakes I made… they were far too egregious for anyone to be able to help me now. Now all I can do is buy myself enough time so that I can get my affairs in order and then I will accept my fate and take it like a man. I am done running away like a coward, I am done trying to hide behind people.”

  Mike sighed. David looked at him again and the sorrow in his face seemed to radiate in waves until Mike felt suffocated by it. “I am sorry, Mike,” said David. “You have always been a good man. You always were the person that I could rely on. I really wish I could tell you more, but there is nothing more to say. If you want to stop helping me you can, I won’t hold it against you. I am not going to pretend like this is easy for you. The money you are giving me…”

  “Fuck the money, David,” said Mike. “I don’t care about the money. You know I have far more than I am ever going to need. If there is anything I am willing to spend money on it’s keeping people… people like you safe. People that matter.”

  David laughed a bitter laugh and said, “You are still shit at conveying emotion. You just can’t say the words, can you? You can’t say you care about anyone. That would be breaking character, and this is a character you have struggled to build. I know why, I know that you need to make yourself about to be someone cold and calculating, someone ruthless.”

  They were silent for a time. Mike started to think back to happier times when he and David had been like brothers. Neither of them had any real brothers and their families had been close so they had found in each other that fraternal love that every man craves but few ever truly find. David was one person that Mike truly cared about and he would do anything for him, this was why he was so willing to let go of all of his questions and instead just trying to help his cousin out as much as he could.

  “Look,” said Mike, “if you don’t want to tell me what’s going on you don’t have to. I am not going to pretend like I understand, I am not going to pretend like this isn’t fucking annoying, but at the same time if you won’t tell me what’s going on I am willing to help you in any way you let me.”

  He took out a thick envelope and handed it to David. “Twelve thousand dollars just like every week. It’s been over a year that I have been giving you this exact amount week after week. I know that you don’t spend any of it on yourself, you look like shit. I know that you’re not into drugs either. With the amount of money I am giving you, you would have died of an overdose a very long time ago. Just take the money and do whatever you do with it, and just try to remember that I am always here for you.”

  David took the envelope without a word and resumed his contemplation of the still waters of the river. Mike joined him in his silent contemplation and began to think about days gone by again.

  “You remember that time we save up, bought fireworks and saved them in your bedroom?” asked Mike.

  David smiled, the first sign of true joy Mike had seen in his cousin in months, and said, “Yeah, I remember that. Your dad was the one to find him. He had suspected that we had been smoking weed and when he couldn’t find any in your room he decided to come over and look through my things. I don’t know if it would have been any worse if it had been weed. In fact, I think weed would have been better. At least with weed we wouldn’t have been doing anything that would put our actual physical wellbeing in jeopardy!”

  Mike laughed and said, “Yeah, dad had been really, really angry. He was amazed that we would save up for something so stupid. Neither of us had been very rich and he assumed that we would save up for something worthwhile but no. We were just trying to go for cheap thrills like always.”

  “I liked that,” said David. “I like that we never tried to get all that profound. We found joy in simple things. We had been planning to set up the fireworks and watch them go off with our girlfriends at the time. We had been planning to take food and everything.”

  “And beers,” said Mike, “don’t forget the beers. From old Billy Corrick’s shop.”

  “Old B
illy Corrick,” said David, a wistful look upon his face. Mike welcomed this change of expression. It was miles better than the resignation and grief that had been etched across his cousin’s visage for so long now.

  “I haven’t thought about him in years,” David continued. “Whatever happened to him? His old man never found out that he was selling beers to minors otherwise I am pretty sure he would have gotten a marvelous ass kicking.”

  “I think he moved to California,” said Mike. “I am not quite sure, I didn’t stay in contact with him after I went off to college.”

  “Yeah,” said David. “I didn’t either. I guess that’s just what happens. Life gets in the way and you end up forgetting the people that made your life what it was not that long ago.”

  The cousins let out a wistful sigh. After some silence, David said, “Thank you for doing this, Mike. Thank you for… not being angry. I mean, I know you are angry, I know you are frustrated, but you’re still here, talking to me and making me remember things that come from a happier time. It means the world to me.”

  Mike looked at David and half considered probing him about his circumstances once more. However, he had a feeling that doing so would be a grave mistake as it might just end up alienating his cousin and making him feel like he couldn’t be vulnerable around his only connection to the world anymore. Mike knew that if he stayed calm and collected, he would remain connected to David. He would have more time to try and figure out a way to help his cousin out and get him out of whatever situation he was in.

  “Are you going to go now?” asked Mike.

  David sighed and said, “I suppose I’m going to have to. This… this has been really nice. I’m glad we talked. I wish I could stay longer but I have… things that I need to do.”

  “Alright,” said Mike. “I’ll see you here same time next Sunday?”

  “Yes,” said David. “Yes you will.”

  “If you need to talk to me or meet before Sunday, just give me a call okay?” said Mike.