––––––––
Rei sighed as she stepped into her apartment, flipping on the light in her living room and trying to figure out how the hell Bethany had managed to convince her to go shopping for wedding dresses.
It was one thing to help Justin make plans, it was another to hang out with his future wife like they were the very best of friends. Rei wondered if there was any way that she could get out of it, but figured that Bethany would come looking for her if she didn’t have someone to tell her how lovely she looked in everything she tried on.
The only upside was that she’d managed to swing by the office that morning before coming home. Now her arms were full of the paperwork implicating Stanly for embezzlement and spent most of the day going through it all and highlighting the pertinent points, faxing her findings to Detective Warren.
It was with bleary eyed surprise that she looked at her desk clock only to realize that it she was supposed to be meeting Bethany in half an hour. The woman had called her a few hours ago to let her know what time to meet her at Antonio’s. Apparently Bethany wanted lunch before they left to meet the dressmaker. Antonio’s was more expensive than Rei was used to and she was both pleased at the thought of eating there and apprehensive about spending the money that a decent meal would cost.
This was why she didn’t like hanging out with people who were used to spending money. Their version of a good time was often above her pay grade and there usually came the awkward moment in which Rei had to explain that she couldn’t afford eating out and shopping and etc. on a regular basis.
Rei didn’t think that Bethany would accept such an explanation. She seemed like the kind of person who expected the women around her to keep up with whatever whim struck her fancy whether it involved money or not. Rei was going to have to ask Justin for a raise if Bethany was going to make a habit of dragging her places.
She pulled up outside of Antonio’s fifteen minutes late. She hurried into the intimate bistro and glanced around nervously. Trying to juggle her purse and straighten her clothes all at the same time occupied the nervous fidget in her fingers as she walked through the restaurant in search of Bethany. A flash of sapphire blue caught her eye and Rei looked past the occupied tables to see the future Mrs. Reese waving enthusiastically in her direction, floppy blue sun hat like a neon sign.
Rei walked briskly towards her, surreptitiously trying to check her reflection’s appearance in the windows. Her image was a little blurry, but she saw enough to know that she looked presentable enough. She sent Bethany a smile of apology as she pulled up a seat.
“Sorry I’m late.” She said with a sigh, tossing her purse in the chair beside her.
Bethany’s eyes tracked the motion and her lips pursed momentarily before she put on a bright smile.
“It’s perfectly fine. I haven’t been waiting that long. I hope you don’t mind but I went ahead and ordered for us both.” She shrugged, “We are on a bit of a time schedule after all.”
Rei did mind but she only smiled stiffly in response. “I understand. What will I be eating?”
“The smoked salmon with a house salad.”
Rei’s nose wrinkled in distaste.
“I’m allergic to fish.”
Bethany blinked. “Oh. Well there’s still the salad at least.”
“I’m a reverse vegetarian.”
“Reverse vegetarian?”
“I’m a carnivore. Strictly meat.”
Bethany stared at her and Rei let the silence grow uncomfortable.
“I was joking.” She said, completely deadpan and Bethany’s eyes narrowed.
“Funny.”
They looked away from one another and didn’t speak again until the food arrived. When the waitress set Rei’s plate before her, Bethany waved a fork in her general direction.
“Are you really allergic to fish?”
“Severely.” Rei stated shortly.
Bethany grinned and took a large bite out of her New York strip.
“Bon appétit.”
********
“What do you think about this one?”
Bethany was standing on a platform in the center of a semicircle of lighted mirrors. The gown she was currently modeling was white (of course) with a line of diamonds along the back of the bodice that drew attention to the lace up design. It was a beautiful dress but Rei’s eyes kept going to those diamonds. The dressmaker was a tall, slim woman in a skirt suit. Her hair had been pulled back in a no nonsense bun and she was currently trying to pull off ‘gracious’ and ‘interested’ but with her sharp features and thin mouth only managed to look constipated.
“Are those real?” Rei asked, indicating the multitude of shimmering jewels.
The dressmaker, whose name was Leanna, scoffed and lifted her nose in the air. “Of course they are. My dresses are made from the finest materials and I would only offer to the best to Justin Reese’s lovely fiancé.” As she spoke she stepped forward to touch Bethany’s hand and they smiled at one another.
Gag.
Rei barely refrained from rolling her eyes.
“The dress is beautiful Ms. Marcus but isn’t it a little...”
Rei hesitated, and slowly Bethany turned on her platform to glare at her.
“A little what?”
“Gaudy.” Rei finished, shrugging in apology at her choice of words but unable to think of a replacement. “Heavy.” She continued. “Uncomfortable. You’re going to be stuck in that dress for hours. Do you really want diamonds digging into your back the whole time?”
Bethany’s expression morphed from blistering ire to honest consideration and she ran her hands over her hips, fingers absorbing the weight and feel of the dress.
“She’s right.” She finally told a red faced Leanna. “Let’s try another.”
The dressmaker nodded stiffly and turned away, leaving to go into a back room that housed all of her creations. The next dress was black. Well, half of it was black. The top part of it was as white as the driven snow and about midway down it began to darken as if the bride had walked through ashes.
“It looks dirty. And what is it supposed to represent anyway? That she’s some sort of sullied bride? The guests are going to think it means she’s a slut.” Rei told them both, uncaring of the rage that was making Leanna’s lips even thinner than they were. Bethany on the other hand, rather than looking irritated as Rei had expected, seemed delighted.
Leanna drew herself up to her full height and indicated the dress as if it were on display before a crowd of admirers instead of for one obviously unimpressed African American.
“This dress says that the Bride is a woman and not some paragon of virtue that society demands she must be. She has been touched by her own share of hardships but has been able to rise above them. That,” she finished with obvious satisfaction, “is what this design of this dress means.”
Defiant, Rei crossed her arms over her chest and muttered, “Or it could mean that she’s a slut.”
The dressmaker made an unintelligible sound and Bethany laughed out loud.
“Bring me another please.” Bethany ordered imperiously and Leanna stomped out of the room without a word.
The third dress was a disaster. The first words out of Bethany’s mouth as she stared at herself in horror was, “Ew.”
Exasperated, Rei threw up her hands. “Is she a chia pet? Get that the hell outta here.”
The fourth dress had so many ruffles Bethany could have easily been mistaken for a poodle and both women shook their heads in silent denial before Leanna could even finish carting the behemoth into the dressing area.
It was strange, but by the time the flustered dressmaker had carted out her fifth selection, Rei thought that she might just be having fun.
If she wasn’t mistaken, Bethany was experiencing the same conundrum and both women frowned at one another. Displeased to find that they were getting along when both wanted nothing more than to do the opposite. Rei’s cell phone rang and while Bethany pulled off her current dress to try on the next, Rei looked at the caller ID to see that it was none other than Detective Warren.
Her heart leapt as she answered.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Donovan?”
Indicating that she would be just a minute, Rei got up from her seat and left the room. “What is it Detective? Did you get the files I sent over?”
“We did, but that’s not why I was calling.”
“What’s wrong now?”
“I just wanted to let you know that we went to pick up Mr. Williams for questioning but none of my men have been able to locate him.”
“You mean he’s missing?”
“I mean he ran and you should probably keep an eye out in case he decides to pay you a visit before he hops a plane.”
Her lips felt numb and it took her a second to calm her nerves before she was able to respond.
“Do you really think he’d try to hurt me again?”
“It’s not likely, but I wouldn’t put it past him. If he’s angry enough there’s no telling what he might do. If you don’t mind I’m going assign one of our uniforms to keep an eye on you until further notice.”
“No, I don’t mind at all.”
They talked for a few minutes more and then Rei disconnected.
When she stepped back into the dressing room she found Bethany finishing up a call of her own. The other woman noticed her and hung up on whoever she was talking to without saying goodbye.
Rei frowned.
“Everything alright?” she asked.
Bethany shook her head. “Not really. Something came up. We’ll have to cut this short.”
“That’s too bad.” Thank god. Now Rei could get back to the office and get some real work done. Maybe talk to Justin about everything that was going on, assuming that the police hadn’t done so already.
“It’s alright. We’ll reschedule.”
Rei’s shoulders slumped and Bethany smirked.
“Thanks for coming today.” She continued. “You were a big help.”
“Anytime.” Rei assured her.
“Really?”
There was something in her eyes, some spark of mischief that made Rei suspicious.
“Yes really.”
“I’m so glad you feel that way. You see, I was hoping you’d agree to be my Maid of Honor.”
Rei blinked.
“What?” the question came out more rudely than she’d intended but Bethany didn’t seem to notice as she started gathering her things together and putting on the clothes she’d come in with.
“I have to run the idea past Justin of course, but I thought you could help me plan the wedding and get everything together. I’m awful at things like this and I figured if you could keep a man like Justin on track then you’d do wonders for me.”
Rei almost said it. Almost told her, ‘I’m sleeping with your fiancé and I have no intention of stopping.’ but common sense reared its head just in time. What finally came out of her mouth was much more politically correct.
“That...would be nice. As long as Justin doesn’t mind of course.” She amended quickly, hoping beyond hope that Justin would find the idea repellent for some reason and forbid it.
“As if it would matter even if he did mind.” Bethany confided. The woman's laugh was indulgent and Rei felt her optimism dying a slow and painful death. She tried laughing along with Bethany but was pretty sure that the sound came out sounding strained. Maybe even a little crazed. Rei was relieved when a few moments later, Bethany thanked her once again, hugged her, and left. Rei followed soon after, wondering if being a Maid of Honor would be as awful as she imagined it would be. For some reason, Rei was afraid that the experience would prove to be much, much, worse.
********
Stan never made it to the airport.
Further proof that his luck was taking a nosedive.
By the time he’d left his apartment the police already had people out looking for him. His picture was plastered all over the television and any hope Stan had of doing things the easy way went out the window. So instead he hunkered down, and tried to bide his time. He was sure that the heat would die down soon, even if it was only long enough for him to cross state lines. What he would do after that was a mystery, though Stan was confident that he would figure something else out by the time he was ready to make his next move.
********
Rei stepped into Justin’s office only to find him sitting motionless at his desk. She knew just by looking at him that he’d found out. The knowledge weighed heavy on his shoulders, brought a dull kind of anger to his eyes like an old penny that had been worn smooth with constant handling. He looked sick, pale but flushed all at once.
Behind the anger as if using it like a shield, was hurt.
Rei could see it all very clearly. She knew those feelings. She struggled with them more often than she liked to admit. So it was easy for her to see it in someone else. For her, the hurt and the anger were written all over his face and embedded in his skin. It was probably why he was hiding out in his office rather than facing the rest of his employees. Because the wounds were too fresh to cover up.
“How long have you been sitting here.” She asked softly, stepping into the room without checking to see if her presence would be welcome.
“Since I found out.”
“How long, Justin?”
“An hour.”
She shook her head sadly “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”
Slowly, he raised his head to look at her. There was suspicion there, disbelief.
“You knew didn’t you?” He demanded, “This whole time you knew what was happening and you didn’t say anything.”
“I didn’t think you would believe me.”
“Is that all it was?”
“What are you implying?”
He fell silent, as if unwilling to take that final step. To say the words that both of them knew he was thinking. Then his eyes narrowed and his face grew hard with distrust.
“I’m saying that maybe Stan wasn’t working alone.”
His ire is what she had been trying to avoid by keeping the truth from him. But now, because of her silence, he thought she had been Stan’s accomplice. Rei had to admit, she did seem suspicious. The man embezzling money from you convinces you to hire his goddaughter the same day you find out you’ve gone bankrupt? Yeah, Rei could see how someone could pick up conspiracy theory from all of that. Even the attack on her life seemed suspect in light of Stan’s disappearance. To Justin it must seem as if Stan had tried to get rid of her to either silence her or to keep her share of the money. Maybe even both.
However, even though she could see where he was coming from, it didn’t make the pill any easier to swallow. She found herself fighting back tears of outrage, her jaw working and her shoulders going tight. Rei wasn’t sure if she wanted to yell at him or try desperately to defend herself. She was afraid that attempting one would be impossible without the other.
In the end, she waited too long to decide on a course of action. His face twisted and he turned away before she could see the hurt finally overpower the rage.
“Get out.” He said hoarsely.
“Justin-” She began uncertainly.
“Get. Out.” He roared, voice vicious and cold, eyes unyielding as he turned to stare her down. She jumped at the sudden outburst and came to her feet without thinking. She looked down at him for a moment more before turning and hurrying from the room.
********
They were all alike.
Bethany, Rei, Stan, all of them, they were just the same.
Lying, manipulating, gold diggers.
It was almost ironic when he managed to think about it clearly. The woman he couldn’t stop thinking about had pushed him into the arms of the woman he’d never wanted to see again. All because of money. That’s what everything boiled back down to. No one cared about Justin Reese because of who he was. They cared about what he could do for them, how much money he could spend on them, how much of his heart they could rip out and spit on. Without his money, he wondered if anyone would bother staying around him at all.
Why was it that everyone ended up turning on him? That they always managed to throw him away as if he were nothing without his bank account? Was he so undeserving of love? Of loyalty? Of common decency?
It pained him to think that maybe, just maybe, he was.
But it was like the saying went.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
People were always going to try and use him, the only way to get by, to find any type of happiness or peace, was to return the favor. After he’d gotten back from dinner with Rei he’d done a little digging. He’d gotten some names, looked at some numbers, and spent most of the night doing research on a handful of companies and stocks that looked promising. It was why he’d been at the office so early. In reality he’d never left. All because he’d been searching for some way to get out of the wedding agreement with Bethany.
He’d succeeded. He’d done what he hadn’t in years and looked at the research personally rather than having a second or even third party handle the details. His instincts told him that they would work. That they would give him the support his company needed to gain it’s feet again and that in the next few years they’d end up paying off exponentially.
It was just a feeling he had.
It was that same feeling that had helped him become a multimillionaire and he knew that if he ran with it, if he listened to his instincts, he would no longer need Bethany, her father, or their advice and insider knowledge.
But why bother?
Sure there were plenty of other fish in the sea, but if all the other fish were just more versions of Bethany and Rei, why go through all the trouble? It was time for him to stop being so naïve. There was no such thing as true love and happily ever after. There was just money, power, and the people who could help you get both. Bethany could do that. Help him to become a name to be reckoned with. She may not make a good wife, but she was ruthless enough to make a hell of a business partner.
So he no longer had to go through with the wedding, but saw no reason why he should call it off. Especially now that Rei had shown her true colors.
Rei.
What would he do about her?
Reveal his suspicions to the authorities. Stop sleeping with her.
That’s what he should do. But the idea of never seeing her again, of cutting her so completely out of his life left a bad taste in his mouth. Besides, if he was going to start using people for his own gain, why should he deny himself such a sweet piece of ass?
No. He’d keep her around. Fuck her until he got bored, and then get rid of her. She’d keep him busy until his wedding. Maybe even after. There was a button on his desk phone that would connect him directly to his secretary. He pressed it and spoke into the intercom.
“Rei? Could you come in here please?”
There was a long moment of silence before she responded.
“Yes sir. I’ll be right there.”