The Billionaire Assignment, page 10
How had I been? Good question. Job offers. Jennifer. Andrew. Life. Too many plates. One of them was going to fall…
“Oh fine. And yes, I’ve been busy. I just have a lot of plates spinning at the moment.”
“Sure,” he said.
As he was nodding, a blonde bombshell moved into view. Wearing a red dress that was very much failing to contain her huge breasts, she sidled into our conversation and placed a red gloved hand on James’s shoulder.
“James,” she purred, “I was wondering when I was going to see you again.”
“Natalia!” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “This is Suzie.”
She turned to look at me and narrowed her eyes, like a hunter assesses its prey.
“Natalia,” she said in a Russian accent, extending an arm towards me.
“Suzie,” I replied, wishing that I had a more exotic, sexy name.
She looked a lot like the girls who used to terrify me in high school. Who’d have thought that fifteen years later the feeling of meeting beautiful women was just as daunting?
“James,” called a man from another group. “Anthony wants to chat to you.”
“Sorry ladies,” said James, “will you excuse me?”
“Of course,” said Natalia, apparently speaking for both of us.
Before I’d had the chance to say anything, James rushed off, leaving me in the decidedly icy presence of Natalia. She was tall, meaning her aggressively huge boobs were almost in my eye line.
I could tell by the way she looked at me that she knew my apartment wasn’t big enough, that I had a broken couch that meant I watched TV at an angle, and that I used coupons to buy cat food. I was equally sure that Natalia’s apartment was probably full of vodka fountains, and sexy statues made from molten Kalashnikovs.
I fixed her with an icy smile of my own.
“So how do you know James?” I asked.
“Oh James and I go way back,” she said, laughing, even though I hadn’t said anything funny. “And you?”
I did my best to ignore the mental image of her bouncing on top of his dick. I’d known this woman for mere seconds, and I already hated her.
“We met, recently. On a…” I wanted to say that we’d met while I was out photographing New York, rather than meeting on a cruise for horny millionaires. “Cruise. We met out at sea. On the ocean waves.”
“Ahhh the cruise of the Golden Circle? How fun. I would like to do this also but as you Americans say, life gets in the way. How was it?”
“It was okay. We went riding, boating, that kind of thing.”
“You ride?”
Well, if you call being bounced up and down on top of a terrified horse ‘riding’ then yes Natalia, I do.
“Not really, but we spent a day on horseback, which was nice.”
I felt like I was being interviewed for a job that I knew I wasn’t qualified for.
“James loves to ride, and not just the horses.”
Natalia gave me a wink that made me want to throw my drink in her face, and watch her melt like an evil witch in a children’s tale.
“Well yes, he has a reputation,” I said.
“A reputation yes.” She glanced over her shoulder at him, as if to confirm her hypothesis. “Yes, he is real playboy. And playboys? These men, they never change.”
I wasn’t sure if Natalia was doing this on purpose, or if this was just her setting of ice cold Russia uber bitch, but this New Yorker wasn’t having it.
“I’ve always believed in people’s capacity to change.”
“Really?” Natalia asked, tipping her head back and laughing. “How funny!”
“I wasn’t joking,” I said, the temperature between us now well below zero.
“Honey, what is that saying? The leopard never changes the spots? James is going to be covered in the spots until the day he die. Trust me.”
She narrowed her eyes as if issuing a challenge, and it took all my effort to not to rip her dress off to reveal her giganta-boobs. Instead I just smiled.
“So I guess you’re a cynic?”
“No darling. I’m realistic. You have to… how you say? Wake up and smell some coffees.”
Was everyone who attended these functions as much as a bitch as she was? It made the thought of coupling with James much less attractive. I was wondering whether I should correct Natalia’s English when a gong sounded.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” announced a woman, “please take your seats at the tables. Tonight’s high roller game is about to begin!”
“It was lovely to meet you,” I said, lying through my forced smile.
“As you say, likewise,” said Natalia.
I walked over to James.
Everyone has the capacity for change.
I just wished I believed it myself.
James
I gave Suzie a kiss on the cheek as she sat down next to me, while Natalia took a seat on my other side.
It was at this point that I should have realized that trouble was likely. And I would have realized that if I hadn’t been so focused on my poker game. Because wherever Natalia goes, trouble isn’t far behind.
The dealer skimmed the cards across the green felt to our positions. I picked mine up and had a look at them closely, before throwing some chips into the middle of the table.
I had ace queen. Not the best hand, but not the worst either.
“Twenty thousand,” I said.
“Call,” said Natalia.
Two other people on our table of six also called, with only Suzie and one other folding.
Three cards were dealt onto the middle of the table, face up, as per the rules of Texas Holdem. A seven, a five and a ten. No good to me, but I decided to bluff.
“Fifty thousand,” I said, as I moved more chips in the middle, hoping everyone else would fold, leaving me free to collect the pot.
Natalia called. Everyone else folded.
“You must have good cards,” I said, turning to look at Natalia.
She looked stunning, her incredible body just fitting into a tight red dress, which she’d even complimented with long-sleeved red gloves. Her blonde hair shone, making her look like some kind of real-life version of Jessica Rabbit. I tried not to look too obviously at her cleavage, although her extremely low cut dress made that difficult. I reminded myself that I was here with Suzie, and that I needed to focus. If only my dick could just butt out of my decisions for once.
Another card was dealt. A two of clubs. I now held a pretty useless hand, but wasn’t in any position to give it up.
“One hundred thousand,” I said, pushing a generous amount of my chips into the middle.
“Raise,” said Natalia. “Two hundred thousand.”
She looked at me with her piercing blue eyes, her lips flickering into the faintest of smiles as I tried to read her.
“Did my raise scare you?” she said in her clipped accent.
“Not at all,” I said, “I’m just thinking of how much to re-raise you.”
I looked back at my chips, my heart thudding in my chest. I was caught in a bluff and she knew it. Few people other than Sean really knew me well, but Natalia was pretty close to being one of them. Some years ago our passionate fling had ended as explosively as it had begun. There had always been tension between us since then. When we met nowadays we enjoyed a flirtatious back and forth that was one part playful, one part wanting to win a victory over the other.
“I’m going to have to let you have this,” I said, throwing my cards away and pushing my chips towards her.
“Remember James,” she said, “you try push me around, this is what happen.”
“Guess I’ve learned my lesson then,” I said smiling to myself, as another round of cards were dealt.
“I’m going to powder my nose,” said Suzie, abruptly getting up.
Her voice had made me give a slight jump. In the midst of the game, I realized I’d forgotten all about her.
Suzie
I’d initially been happy that James had asked me to join him, but now, furiously powdering my nose in the bathroom, I was feeling less than happy to be there.
A blonde bombshell who had presumably been forged from the tears of insecure women, had arrived and was making the night less than enjoyable.
It wasn’t just the fact that she had worn a dress that pretty much announced her presence to the rest of the room. She may as well have set up a spotlight above her tits, while waving a sign saying ‘Attention! Blonde sex bomb here! Please flirt accordingly’. It wasn’t just the obvious disdain that she had when talking to me either. It was the effect she had on James, who seemed to forget that I even existed as he flirted outrageously with her.
Worst of all, I had a feeling that Natalia had been right when she warned me about him. Her warning suggested that they had a past, which made me think of them having sweaty animalistic sex, which made me want to vomit.
But worst of all, it made me worried that she might just be right. Did leopards change their spots? Would this be my future with James? Hanging off his arm at glamorous parties while I felt like a fraud? Playing games of poker that I didn’t understand, surrounded by people who clearly thought I shouldn’t be there?
You’re a damned good journalist.
Driers wasn’t one of my favorite people in the world, but at least she was honest, and at least she respected me for who I actually was, not who I pretended to be.
What did James really think of me? The next plaything? Someone to keep him warm before he engaged in a fling with Natalia? Would he leave me, just like Andrew did?
I could feel my heart rate getting faster, as anger surged within me. If I’d had a wedding ring I would have yanked it off right there and walked back out and thrown it at him. But instead I just walked out of the bathroom, and took my seat next to him, a million thoughts swirling around my head at once.
My thought process was broken by some cards being dealt to me. I picked them up. Two kings. Was that good? It seemed like it was. But who knew? This whole game felt a bit pointless all of a sudden, especially when James had paid for my buy in.
He thinks he can buy everything and everyone. Don’t let him think he can buy you.
When it was my turn to bet I shoved twenty thousand chips into the middle of the table without thinking. Everyone folded, apart from Natalia, who raised me.
“Forty thousand,” she said, looking at me in a way that suggested she’d happily rip out my spleen and put it in a glass display cabinet for her and James’s offspring to admire.
I shrugged.
“Eighty thousand,” I said, pushing more chips in.
“One hundred and sixty thousand!” announced princess ice-boobs to a few gasps from the table.
“Screw it, I’ll go all in,” I said, pushing all my chips into the middle.
“I’ll call,” said Natalia.
We both turned our cards over and waited for the deal.
Natalia had an ace and a two, both of spades. I knew enough about poker to know that she didn’t have a great hand.
“Wow, nice work Suzie!” said James, stroking my shoulder.
I ignored him, not looking away from the table, transfixed by the cards being dealt. It was as if this hand between me and Natalia represented our own battle over James’s heart.
Five cards were dealt out on the table, face up. The combination of the cards myself and Natalia held would be combined with the table cards to make the best hand. As long as she didn’t have an ace, I had her beat. I felt like I was back at school, awaiting the results of the maths test, to see if I’d finally beaten Taylor Fring, my arch nemesis throughout kindergarten.
One by one the cards were turned over, with everyone around the table holding their collective breath.
A jack, an eight, a three, a queen.
As long as the final card wasn’t an ace, I was home and dry.
The final card was turned over, revealing the ace of diamonds. The table gave a gasp, and the dealer pushed the chips over to Natalia’s place.
“I’m so sorry darling,” she said, looking at me in a way that suggested she really wasn’t sorry at all.
“It’s fine,” I said, giving her a tip lipped smile. “It’s all part of the game. I’m going to go for a walk.”
I got up, and gave James a pat on the shoulder. My ‘walk’ turned out to lead me straight to the bar, where I sat and allowed myself to be dazzled by the selection of drinks on offer.
It was like something out of a 1950s gangster film. Every surface of the bar sparkled, while a white aproned bar tender awaited my order.
“Good evening,” he said.
“Is it?”
“You had a bad beat huh?”
“What?”
“A bad beat. It’s when you get unlucky on the poker table.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“You know what they say, unlucky in cards, lucky in love.”
“What do they say to people who are unlucky in both?”
“I’d say they’re just waiting for their lucky break.”
I shrugged.
“Meh. I’d say I’d really like a Long Island Iced Tea.”
He started to mix the collection of liquors, delicately pouring them into the silver tube, before giving it an aggressive shake.
“So… are you one of those truth telling bartenders, who’s going to tell me to reach for the stars, believe in myself, and that I just need to trust my instincts to find my path?”
He thought for a moment as he poured out my drink.
“Do I get a tip if I do?”
I smiled as I took a sip of my ice cold, extremely alcoholic beverage.
“No, but you might get a tip for fixing me the best Long Island Iced Tea I’ve ever had.”
I slid a dollar bill across the bar, feeling cheap as he no doubt thought I was a millionaire like everyone else. I hastily slid another.
“Let me ask you,” I said. “You meet a guy, or a girl, or whatever, and you think they’re perfect. But there’s a little voice. Some little bird, or angel or devil, or whatever the fuck you want to call it, telling you something’s wrong. What do you do?”
“Hmmmm, I’d probably ignore the angel and look at the facts.”
“You see! You are one of those truth telling bar tender people!”
“The oracle has spoken,” he said, polishing a glass. “So what are the facts?”
I took a long slug of my drink and looked back at him.
“The fact is, I don’t deserve this.”
“That sounds like the devil inside speaking,” said the barman.
“Yeah, well if that’s the case, the devil is telling me he wants another drink.”
James
“Hey,” I said, joining Suzie at the bar.
I’d ended up crashing out of the poker tournament an hour or so after her.
I’d watched in awe as Natalia calmly took each and every man there down, amassing a larger and larger collection of chips, as she frustrated her opponents, in more ways than one.
“Hey you,” she said, eyeing me coolly, her eyelids drooping slightly, her mouth twisted into a slightly crooked smile.
“Could I get a beer?” I asked.
The bar tender put a cold bottle and a glass down in front of me, before exchanging a look with Suzie, raising his eyebrows and busying himself at the other end of the bar.
“Enjoying the night?” I asked, somewhat cautiously.
“Can I be honest?” she said, turning to look at me.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and I noticed she was slurring her speech.
“I don’t fit in here.”
“That’s not true.”
She held a finger up to ‘shush’ me, pressing it against my lips, and gently wiping it down my face.
“I am but a humble journalist. And you, and your gentrified fellowship of friends,” she gestured to the room, almost losing her balance as she did so, “are the upper echelons. I am but a humble peasant girl, outside the castle, looking in.”
She formed little circles between her thumb and forefingers and looked through them as if they were binoculars.
“That’s not totally true…” I began, only for her to cut me off again.
“I’m teeny tiny compared to you.”
She leaned forward and held her finger and thumb together, to demonstrate just how tiny she was.
“You’re not teeny tiny.”
“But I am,” she crowed as she planted both hands on my thighs, losing her balance as she did so.
She stood up, letting the stool slam against the floor behind her with a loud clang.
“I’m teeny tiny, and you’re a huge billionaire man! Which is why this can never work. Just ask Natasha.”
“Natasha? Do you mean Natalia?”
“Whatever. The Russian boob machine. She told me leopards don’t change their spots.”
“Oh. Wait, am I a leopard?” I asked.
Suzie nodded, her hair falling across her eyes.
“Look, maybe we should talk about this in the morning?” I said.
“The morning? When you’ll feed me croissants and orange juice, and trick me into feeling nice?”
“What?”
I had no idea what Suzie was talking about, and even though she was capable of looking adorable, as well as sexy as hell in almost every situation, in this one she wasn’t being either.
“You can’t put me to bed James. I am not your toy.”
She gave me a serious look, her hair swept across her face, her eyes a little glassy, her beautiful lips looking redder than usual.
“I didn’t say you were my toy.”
“We’re all toys in your world. Puppets on strings.”
She held her hands up as if they were wooden arms being moved by invisible strings, only to lose her balance again, catching herself at the bar.
“Are you okay?” asked Natalia, coming up to the bar.
My instincts told me that Natalia joining us wasn’t going to improve things.
“Oh, here we are! Miss queen of all things sexual. Miss lady in the red dress! Miss ice boobs herself!”
