Angelo whispered, “I’ve never stayed in a place like this before. I’ve only seen this kind of hotel in those crazy reality shows Tony loves. How many gallons of water do you think it takes to operate that fountain?”
I said, “Honestly, I don’t care. Right now, they need your identification at the desk.”
Leaning over Angelo’s shoulder to see if I could glimpse the photo on his driver’s license, I caught the scent of his cologne. It was light and citrusy again and an excellent choice for his personality. I saw the photo as the clerk handed the license back. I barely recognized the man in the image as Angelo.
As we stepped back to let Blackmoor finish up the payment arrangements, I whispered, “Wow, are you sure that’s you? Let me see it again. I don’t recognize the guy with the short hair.”
“Okay, but I get to see yours, too.”
We exchanged driver’s licenses. As I looked closer, it was unmistakably Angelo. The nose and smile gave him away. Still, the hair was a shock. I was into the long, shiny, silky hair that tumbled down over his shoulders.
I asked, “So why in the hell did you ever cut it off?” I finally had an excuse to touch it and reached out to run my fingers through a few strands of Angelo’s hair. It felt like I expected, and I swallowed hard. A vision in my head of Angelo kissing me in bed appeared while his hair tickled my bare skin.
Angelo pulled back against my touch and said, “I cut it because I wanted to. I’ve had long and short hair at lots of different points in my life.”
“Well, honestly—and save this compliment because I know that I don’t give out too many of them—your hair is fantastic. I love it. Long hair on guys is one of my things.”
Blackmoor turned his attention back to us. He said, “Let’s get checked into our rooms, and then I have to meet an old business connection for dinner. The two of you will be on your own. Let’s plan to meet next for breakfast, and late tomorrow morning you’ll give your presentation.”
Angelo groaned softly. “I’m nervous as hell about that.”
Blackmoor reached out and rubbed a spot on Angelo’s back right between his shoulder blades. “You’ll knock it out of the park. I have full confidence.” His thumbs burrowed into the flesh and then ran up into the base of the neck.
Angelo smiled weakly in response, and we both followed Blackmoor to the glass elevator that rose up in the center of the atrium. Angelo stared out through the glass as the elevator began to rise. A second later, he stepped back and said, “Whoa, I can’t do that. It’ll make me nauseous.”
I asked, “Do you have a fear of heights?”
“No, it’s just something about the movement. I guess you’d call it basic vertigo.”
As Blackmoor handed us our keys, I saw that we had three rooms in a row. Blackmoor was 815. Angelo was 816, and I had the key to room 817. I bit my lip as I thought about spending the night in a nice hotel next door to Angelo. We both had beds and a beautiful view, and we had all night away from Blackmoor. Calm down, Jamie. Relax.
Angelo and I considered going out for dinner. From my experiences while growing up in the city, I knew several great places to eat close to downtown. Olvera Street, the downtown Mexican neighborhood, was another great option, but Angelo nixed all of them.
“I’m kind of tired. I saw that the hotel has a restaurant. Would it be alright? I’d rather stay here for tonight.”
Concentrating on Angelo, I tried to figure out whether he was really tired or being out on the street in a strange city made him nervous. I couldn’t read the answer to my question in his expression, so I said, “Sure thing. Maybe tomorrow after our presentation, we can find a good meal at a great restaurant.”
We both had drinks with our dinner, and I watched Angelo start to relax when the alcohol began to have an impact. He’d been a little edgy throughout the whole trip so far, and I was happy to see him finally start to calm down. We both needed Angelo on target at the presentation in the morning.
As he downed the last bite of steak on his plate, Angelo asked, “Can you believe we’re even here? It all still blows my mind. Who would have known we’d win the competition. I knew guys that were betting against us. They literally used their money to wager that we were going to lose.”
“Seriously? Who?”
I was a little too energetic in my response. Angelo pulled back. “Just some of the guys. I’m a little bushed, Jamie. I think I need to head to my room soon. It’s important to get some good sleep for tomorrow.”
I told myself that I knew an activity that would ensure that we both slept well, but it would require some serious work at persuasion. While Angelo followed Blackmoor’s instructions and told the server to charge the meal to our rooms, I mused about my next step. I wanted to invite Angelo to my room to cap off the night, but the time wasn’t right. We had an important presentation, and I couldn’t risk the problems my offer could cause.
Instead, I fell back onto a more comfortable topic of conversation. “Do you think we need to go over anything tonight, or are you fully prepared for tomorrow? We don’t want to overdo it, but it’s best not to forget anything, too.”
“Can you ever be completely prepared for something like tomorrow’s presentation? I didn’t mess with anything the night before our contest, and I’m a little superstitious. I think we’ve got all the bases covered well enough, and I’m not going to mess with anything.”
I scratched my head. “So, on the first night of your first trip to one of the top cities in the world, you’re just going to head to your hotel room, watch a little TV, and go to sleep?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. It sounds relaxing to me. What about you?”
“Oh, I’ve got some phone calls to make to my family. My mom would kill me if I spent time out here in L.A., and I didn’t at least call. I’m still not sure that we’ll have time to meet up with them, and I need to tell her that, too.”
Angelo pushed his chair away from the table. He brushed his hair back over his shoulders and said, “Goodnight, Jamie. I’m exhausted. The dinner was great, and we’ll kick ass tomorrow. Wait and see.”
My cell phone rang before I got the chance to make a call. It was my oldest brother, Mason. I heard music in the background while Mason raised his voice to make sure that I could hear him.
“Hey, little brother. I hear you’re in L.A.! At least now you’re only a couple of hundred miles away.”
“Mason, what’s the music in the background? Are you up there at a concert in the mountains?”
He laughed. “Oh, no, I’m not. Can I share a secret with you? I mean, of course, I can, you’re my brother. I just don’t want this coming out as public knowledge, at least not yet.”
“Let me guess. Kyle joined a band. He’s not satisfied with the success of his previous ski career, and now he wants to be a rock star.”
Mason laughed again. “No, we’re rehearsing wedding bands. This one’s pretty good. They play 90s rock songs as well as all the regular wedding stuff. Listening to these songs makes me feel like a little kid again.”
I decided to tease out more story details from Mason. “So, who’s getting married? I didn’t receive an invitation.”
Mason whispered into the phone, “Most of all don’t tell anybody I told you. If you have to leak the information, feign innocence about where you heard it. I don’t want Kyle or Tate coming after me in my sleep.”
“Okay, enough about how your life is in danger from the blood lust of your husband and our brother. Who would I tell in Dallas anyway?”
“I guess that’s a good point. Well, Kyle and I are getting married. That part isn’t a surprise. We got engaged quite a while ago, but what’s new is that we’ve set a date for the wedding. We’re getting married here in the mountains in the fall. Are you ready for the biggest news about the plans?”
I said, “You’ve got me on pins and needles, Mason.”
“Tate and Simon are getting married at the same time! It’s a double wedding! Isn�
�t that the best? It’s all so fucking romantic.” I heard a sniff. “Damn, it makes me get all emotional when I think about it. Fuck, Jamie, I don’t ever cry.”
It was the same old Mason. His language landed in the toilet when he got excited. He spent the next twenty minutes telling me all the details about how he worked the deal out with Tate. First, they’d decided to get married a month apart, and then Mason complained because his wedding would be second after Tate’s.
I said, “You know that you can’t let that happen. You have to be first.”
My tease went right over his head. Mason said, “Oh yeah,” and happily launched into the next subtopic.
After the call ended, I punched in the number for Mom and Dad. She answered, and it sounded like she was in tears. Scrunching up my nose, I asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, but we’re watching one of my favorite romantic movies. It gets sad in the end. I finally convinced your father to sit down and watch it with me. I was fine until he got all misty-eyed, and then I started to lose it, too.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “Mom, that is so funny.”
“Well, the movie isn’t. It’s gut-wrenching, but that’s part of what makes it so good. We all need a good cry now and then.”
When the phone calls were finally over, I left a trail of clothes across the hotel room floor to the shower. I picked them back up again as I returned and headed for the bed.
After setting the alarm on my cellphone, I clicked on the TV and wondered what was happening next door. I wished I could be part of whatever it was.
While some silly sitcom played out on the TV screen, I smiled. It was a smile with a reason behind it, and I quickly figured that out.
I was happy. It wasn’t the fleeting sense of well-being that comes after eating a particularly good meal or having a great fuck. It was much deeper than that.
With Angelo at my side, I’d proven that I was talented, and I was great at my job. I set out on the fast track by standing on my own two feet and rising to the occasion.
I often disappointed my parents and myself as a student in college. Benji was brilliant, but I barely skated by to earn a degree. I was too busy enjoying everything about college life but the classes.
Those days were behind me. I got the job at Star One on my own, and I was climbing the ladder with my skills. It was a tremendous feeling, and I couldn’t wait for success in the future.
14
Angelo
I couldn’t believe how loose and relaxed Mr. Blackmoor appeared after our presentation ended. Smiles spread across the faces of the potential clients. They left the room saying that we’d hear from them very soon.
As soon as the door closed, Mr. Blackmoor raised both hands and declared, “Give me five, gentlemen! You two were great. I’m sure that I’ll have a contract in hand before we leave Monday morning. Working with the two of you is gold.”
I smiled and began to gather up my visual materials while Jamie closed his laptop. I said, “Thank you so much, Sir. I appreciate your enthusiasm. You’re an awesome mentor, too.”
He stepped up close and lowered his head to place his mouth near my ear. Before he said anything, I felt his warm breath exhaling onto my neck.
In a voice that was barely loud enough for Jamie to hear, Mr. Blackmoor said, “Call me Charles, please.”
Charles’s big right hand landed on my shoulder, gently massaged for a moment, and then made its way up the side of my neck. His index finger lightly brushed an earlobe before he pulled it away.
I wanted to step back as quickly as possible and recoil against the violation of my personal space, but I was supposed to be celebrating. I didn’t want to steal the excitement of the moment away, and I didn’t want to alarm Jamie. Using the motion of tossing my messenger bag over my shoulder, I managed to create some distance between Charles and me.
“I’m taking you both out to dinner to celebrate at one of the very best steakhouses in the entire city,” said Charles.
He then walked up to Jamie and wrapped an arm around his shoulders like a coach congratulating his best player. The gesture was different from his approach to me, but I told myself that perhaps I was overly sensitive in my reaction. I didn’t think I would ever completely get over Walker. The experience left a scar.
Jamie said, “I’ve only been there once. That was for my high school graduation, and you’re right. It’s one of the best steakhouses in the country. At least that’s the reputation. I can’t wait. My stomach’s rumbling already.”
Jamie gripped his laptop sleeve in his right hand, and I stood by the door waiting. Charles asked, “Are we ready to go? This is my favorite thing about working with contest champions.”
Jamie’s forehead furrowed as he asked, “What’s that?”
“Helping outstanding young talent celebrate. You’ve done a phenomenal job, and I want to offer you the dinner to help the scope of your achievement sink in.”
The steakhouse food came in waves. Just when I thought it was almost over, some new dish crashed ashore. We had an amuse bouche to start, one spoonful of incredible flavor. Next was an appetizer and then a vegetable course. I think something else followed before we finally got to the main course.
Jamie excused himself to go to the restroom while I leaned back and sipped the last drops of my second glass of wine in the dinner. After he left the table, I said, “I hope he’s feeling okay.”
Charles shrugged. “He looks fine to me.”
To my surprise, while Jamie was gone, Charles reached across the table with a small envelope in his hand. He said, “This is for you, Angelo. I don’t want you to open it now. Wait until you’re back at your hotel room. Then you can look inside.”
Handing someone an envelope and telling them not to open it was like handing over a present on Christmas morning while saying, “Don’t open it until New Year’s Day.”
He asked, “Do you promise?”
Whatever it was, Charles didn’t want Jamie to know. Otherwise, he would let me open it at the table. The situation was odd, and it made me slightly uncomfortable, but I feared what would happen if I turned it down. It was possible that it was as innocuous as an offer for an art-related project that had nothing to do with Jamie.
I reached across the table. “Yes, I’ll keep it to myself until later tonight.”
Charles smiled warmly. “Good man.”
When Jamie returned, we all finished up with two desserts at Charles’s insistence. I was stuffed by the time we stopped eating. I couldn’t handle another bite.
Finally, about two and a half hours after we’d arrived at the restaurant, Charles said that he needed to go for the rest of the evening. He told us he was meeting for a drink with a business connection.
After glancing around the restaurant looking like he feared spotting someone he knew, Charles leaned partway across the table and said, “We’re hoping to steal a few contracts away from another top firm. I’ve got some screenshots from your work on my phone to show him. It is stunning. I might have another new client in my pocket.”
Jamie asked, “Our work? You aren’t just teasing us, are you?”
“Not at all. The two of you are on the fast track forward in the business. I’m proud to be here at the beginning of the story.”
As he rose from the table, Charles handed Jamie a wad of cash. I couldn’t see for sure how much he offered, but I noticed a twenty wrapped around the rest of the bills.
Jamie’s eyes opened wide. “Wow, what’s this for?”
“It’s cab fare back to the hotel. Rides don’t come cheap here in L.A.”
“Oh, okay. We’ll give you the change in the morning, and should I get a receipt?”
Charles shook his head. “No, as long as you don’t report on it to anyone, you can keep what’s left over with my compliments. Star One owes you a whole lot more than that.”
Jamie glanced at me, opening his eyes wide. I shrugged. He stuffed the cash in his pocket and smiled up at Charles
again.
“It’s been a wonderful day, men. Mark this one down in your journals. I think that the presentation was a game changer. Congratulations.”
As I watched Charles exit the restaurant, I exhaled for what felt like the first time since halfway through the dinner. Perhaps the day would be a game changer. Some of it was a blur, and some of it I still didn’t understand. I held an unopened envelope, and I knew that Jamie held a wad of an uncounted sum of cash.
Looking Jamie in the eyes, I asked, “What just happened? Should I pinch myself to make sure that all of this is real?”
“Heh, I’m not quite sure, but he handed me a serious wad of cash. I think there’s more than two hundred here.”
I shook my head. “We probably should give the change back. What if someone digs through the records on Blackmoor later and figures out he handed us a wad of undocumented money? There could be trouble.
Jamie smirked. “I think you’ve been reading too many corporate espionage novels. This is chump change to a guy like Blackmoor. He can probably pull that much out from between the cushions in his living room. I’ve got an idea about how to put a chunk of it to good use.”
Raising one eyebrow, I asked, “Do I want to know?”
“Aw, come on, Angelo. Don’t you trust me yet? We’ve been on this incredible ride together for weeks now, and has either of us let the other one down yet? I’m on your side. Remember?”
Jamie had a valid point. I was favorably impressed by almost everything that he did. Since he had close relatives high up on corporate ladders, he was also good to have around when I found myself in unfamiliar surroundings with people who held a lot more power in the Star One organization than me. Jamie knew the corporate environment like the back of his hand. He knew how to make people feel good about hanging out with him.
Winner: The Mathesons Book 4 Page 9
