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  A tiny alarm started going off in my head, now this sounded strange. I wasn’t stupid enough to fully believe Xavier but something in my gut definitely registered as a sign.

  “In any case, theirs was a strange relationship, she was volatile as any.” He said. “Hot blood, like me! This is par for course, how you say, so I am sure you have nothing to worry about. You are a nice girl and I think he must like you.” He let out a polite smile.

  Gee, thanks.

  “Oh, one more thing.” He raised his finger. “Giselle is coming back into town soon so I thought you should know the story.”

  What?! My heart dropped to the floor. I tried to, but it wasn’t easy to dismiss the speech as empty intrigue.

  Shell shell shocked, I muttered, “Do you know when?”

  “Well, yeah.” He said out of the corner of his mouth, “Tomorrow.” He saw me looking down at my feet. “But really, don’t worry about it, I think these two have sailed their own ways. In any case this is supposed to be a celebration dinner.” He poured more wine and continued on eating like nothing important was said.

  It was all important to me. I sat there staring at my plate, unable to process what I just heard. Jace’s ex, his supposed love obsession, is coming back tomorrow and I never even heard a single word her it from him? Has he really moved on or is he keeping me away from his past on purpose? The realization that he had been hiding such a big part of himself lingered with me as if someone poured a bucket of water over me and I was taking in the feeling of cold soaked clothes on my body. Only that happened an hour ago and I just noticed how cold I was.

  Xavier shifted in his seat and concentrated on me. “You know Kate, I have some very important negotiations going on this week, and after that I am going to Europe for contract agreements. This is the next big step for Bevy, for me, and hopefully for you. You’d get a more important position and double your old salary. Very soon we will be one of the biggest names in the fashion world and you would be near the top with me, rubbing elbows with everyone who matters from Milan to LA.“

  I was forcing myself to shift my thought to his offer. It sounded a bit too good to be true.

  “Xavier, that sounds incredible, but am I qualified for this?”

  He swallowed a piece of steak and pointed at me with a fork, “Dear Kate, that is for me to judge and you certainly proved it so far. As I said I know good talent.” He looked down and started cutting another piece on his plate, “There is one thing, though. You would need to come with me to Europe for the meetings, but it is just a couple of weeks.”

  I felt like everything raining down on me at once. Too much to handle and my umbrella was not working. My newly found love, Olivia leaving, Jace’s ex rushing into the picture, a new job offer, school, Europe. This was a hell of a start to the summer.

  “Give me some time to think about it.” I massaged my temples. The pressure was building up too fast.

  “Sure, I am busy with negotiations for the next couple of days as it is, why don’t you come to my club Saturday and we’ll talk?” he said.

  “Cream, on Rush street?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Great, I’ll give ya a call then. Now let’s drink!” he poured me another glass.

  We finished dinner, although I barely made conversation. It didn’t worry Xavier one bit, as he launched into a story after story of his celebrity run-ins. After dinner he paid the bill with his card which didn’t seem to work and made him give a small speech on the waiter’s incompetence. He pulled out cash from his wallet and stood up quickly ready to leave.

  Once we pulled over by my apartment he turned to me and smiled. As I walked to the door his words kept ringing in my ears.

  “Opportunity of a lifetime, Kate. I hope you sleep well on it.”

  Chapter 12

  ~~~~~~

  Jace pulled up to Cream in his white Bentley convertible. He planned to head home after the business meeting when Xavier called asking him to stop by for something important. He wouldn’t say what, except that it had something to do with Kate Simms. Jace made his way to the club, which was still a good half hour from opening for the night. The bar manager greeted him and led him inside. Xavier was standing by the bar, talking to a sharp dressed man in a blue suit. The two were arguing over something, and pointing to documents laid out on the bar in front of them. Upon seeing Jace, Xavier interrupted the man and shook his hand. The man gathered the documents and walked out.

  “Hey Jace, thank you for coming. Have you been here before?” said Xavier as he approached.

  “I don’t think so. Nice place you got here.”

  “Yeah, she is one of the better ones in this town. Just let me know whenever you’d like to get a table.”

  “Thanks,” shot Jace. “You said this was about Kate?”

  “Related to her, yes. Please follow me upstairs to my office where we can talk.” Xavier motioned to the marble stairs ahead.

  They walked upstairs past the VIP area, which was soon to be littered with a variety of fake breasts and tight muscle shirts. Through the private door was the office that looked more like a king size hotel suite. A big black leather couch guarded one corner while a large desk posed in front of a gigantic one way mirror that overlooked the club. From here one could see everyone and no one could notice.

  Xavier sat down behind the desk and lit a cigar.

  “So what is this about?” Jace asked looking at his watch.

  “My friend, I am sure it had been a long day for both of us. Please, let us have a drink to relax a little. I had just gotten my hands on some very rare scotch dating back two centuries. This kind of stuff you will not find easily. My treat.” A bottle appeared from under the desk and Xavier filled two glasses. It was smooth and woody, much smoother than the blue label Jace usually preferred.

  “Where did you get it?” said Jace.

  “I had some friends in Europe ship me a bottle as a favor.”

  Jace looked at the bottle’s inscription on the bottom. “Year 1891. That must have been a hell of a favor.”

  “Let’s just say it’s good to know people in high places,” smiled Xavier, “but then again who am I talking to, Mr.‘Chicago Marketing God’.” He laughed.

  “Midwest, Xavier.”

  “Oh yes, I am forgetting myself. So, why I brought you here.” He finished his drink and focused on his guest.

  “Yes?”

  “You see, Kate Simms is one of my best employees and I think she has a bright future here. With due time she could one day manage the company if she continues to work hard. Unfortunately there is one thing in her way.”

  “What do you mean?” said Jace.

  “We, how shall I put it, have been experiencing a down market for some time in this country, and with the economy like this, the popularity of fashion shows and designer clothes has dwindled. It is still present in the larger markets, but at this point the small boutiques go out of business. The smart ones, on the other hand, have this unique opportunity to become very successful.”

  “And which one are you?” nonchalantly replied Jace.

  “Oh, you try to make Xavier excited! No, of course not,” he muttered to himself, “you are smart businessman.” Xavier took another puff.

  “We are lucky to be in the second category. And we have something in the works. You see, the small modeling shows will go out of business, but not before I can buy their models from under them. Once the company is bust, the talent will be left to scramble anyway. Sure the top ones might be poached, but that is a small number of models. However what we offer is the buyout of the whole talent list, with everyone on board. This way we become the largest company with the most talent. The increase in size puts us as a dominant force in the field, gets us more clients. Not to mention the new models will be paid less than they were getting before, but because they have no other choice, they will sign on the dotted line. It’s a win/win, you see?” he winked.

/>   “Well, this is an interesting strategy, but what do you need me for?” said Jace.

  “Very good, you see you ask the right question. I love straight shooters. At this time we are illiquid, our money is tied up, you know? Fashion runway locations, models, advertisement. We need to cut a piece of the pie for these other contracts, just a little before the PR machine can work the news coming on Bevy becoming the largest.”

  “Uhhmm, and this piece you estimate, is how large?”

  “Oh, you are talking money, my favorite subject.” Xavier rubbed his hands. “Money itself no good unless it makes more money, yes? So here the money works really good - you put $500,000 and in a year your return doubles!” He showed off his whites, studying Jace. He, in turn, looked up at the decorated ceiling, thinking it over. After a few moments, he looked back at expectantly delighted hustler.

  “Xavier, the answer is ‘no’. Let me entertain you as to why I would never do this deal. First, I already know you are going to cut every model except the top ones from under the contract, under some provision of ‘not getting enough client work’. It would not make sense to keep them on payroll if shows are not getting booked as it is. Second, if your company is already illiquid, that means you don’t know what you are doing, otherwise you’d find a way to make this deal work, as you said it would be getting talent at a great discount. You’d know this, so it tells me there is something wrong with how you structured Bevy that you can not leverage or mortgage a part of it for this deal. And finally, there is one more reason.”

  “Which is?”

  “I just plain don’t trust you. You told me this was about Kate, yet here you are just using her to save your own skin.”

  Xavier’s lips tightened. He started at Jace, and then relaxed his face into a small smile.

  “I am disappointed but I understand. Your muse is marketing, mine is fashion. Sometimes you have to know industry to play the money. I will find other investors, I know. And you will see us go to number one, may be then we do little business. In the meantime, let’s not worry. By the way, Kate is coming by in half an hour pick up her last paycheck. I have one more treat for my dear friends. The authentic pirate Caribbean rum. This I trust you can’t find anywhere in the world but some very private collections. Best you can try, please allow us a taste while we wait?”

  “Sure, fine.” Jace figured even if Xavier is full of it, this rum might give him some ideas on what to invest in next.

  Xavier walked towards the door, and stopped to look for something in his pockets. He turned to Jace, “Could I have any sort of debit card from you, I need to ask my bar manager to swipe one when opening the bar vault for security, you understand.”

  “Don’t you have a card on you?” asked Jace.

  “I apologize, I don’t. No one here is allowed to come to work with cards for security measures, we don’t want someone to open the vault and drink the good stuff, then bounce the card. We require everyone to leave them at home.”

  “Fine. Don’t lose this one please.” Jace reached and took out a black Centurion card out of his pocket. The heavy titanium card was an impressive statement at every occasion, declaring that the owner was able to spend a small fortune using it each month.

  A few minutes later a waitress came by with two glasses full of brown rum. Xavier cheered with his glass. It tasted like shit for something supposedly so exclusive, thought Jace as he downed it.

  ____

  “Jace… Jace..” The voice was calling him from somewhere, although Jace had trouble focusing on it.

  “Jace… It’s me.” The echo bounced inside his skull, from one eardrum to the other.

  “Wake up baby, it’s me.” Jace slowly opened his eyes, and the blurred vision made it impossible to see anything.

  “Jace, how I missed you!” Squinting hard, Jace could make out an outline of something in the front of him.”

  “Hmmmrpff…” - He tried to speak but as his tongue felt glued to the inside of his mouth.

  “Wake up, sleepy head.” The shadow in front of him morphed into the outline of a woman. As far as he could tell, she was sitting on top of him.

  “K…Kh…Khatee?” he slurred.

  “Come on Jace, there we go, good boy.” The voice replied.

  “Kate?” repeated Jace, rubbing his eyes as he tried to get them focused.

  “Nope, silly, who is Kate?” his eyes opened so fast he couldn’t control it. The bright light shot through him, blinding him for a second. Upon opening them again a few moments later, his double vision came into focus on the dark blond hair in front of him.

  “Giselle?!” - His jaw dropped as he realized who was in front of him.

  “Hola Papi! I missed you!” She leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips. “Did you have a good time?!

  He stared at her unable to speak. Unsure if he was still asleep or hallucinating, he just looked at her.

  “Well, don’t just look at me, kiss me!” She placed his hand on her hip.

  “What…what are you doing here Giselle?” his voice still slurred.

  “You call me, and here I am!” she said triumphantly.

  Jace shook his head and squinted at her, “What… what are you talking about? What happened to me?”

  She took up a dramatic tone, “Oh papi you were a mess. You got so drunk you bought many drinks, and kept drinking and buying another bottle of some expensive something. You must have spent a lot of money because Xavier was concerned, and then you passed out and he carried you here and then I came and found you and now you’re with me!”

  Jace lifted his arms and tried to shield himself from her incoming kiss. “What, what the hell are you talking about? I don’t remember any of that.”

  “Well of course, papi, anyone drinks so much he blacks out won’t remember nothing. You were calling me name that’s when Xavier called me!”

  “I…I called you?!” He paused, still confused. “And Kate? What happened with Kate?!”

  “I don’t know any Kate? There was mucho drama. I came later. Now kiss me, papi, I miss you!”

  She leaned in and made her lips in a bow, waiting for him to return the favor. Jace looked down and saw that his shirt was unbuttoned. He sat up and lifted the seductress up, moving her to the other side of the couch. She looked at him with a slight curiosity as he struggled to get up.

  “Where is Xavier?” Jace asked as he carefully stood up and buttoned up his shirt.

  “No se, gone, club is closed now. He said you better rest here.” She twirled her hair and checked her reflection in the mirror. Jace walked up to the one way mirror window and looked down on the dance floor, the club was empty.

  “Look, Giselle, I don’t know what the hell is going on but I have to go.” He started for the door.

  She lunged after him, “Oy papi, don’t tell me you didn’t miss me!?” her brows puckered in a way Jace had seen many times before. He was waiting for something to crush his insides, to suck the air out of the hole she left in his heart. Surprisingly, the feeling never came. He stood for a moment until he realized there was just one thing on his mind, and she wasn’t here.

  He looked squarely at her, “Giselle, you left me and I thought my heart was broken. It felt awful and I hid myself deep inside, afraid to open up to anyone again. There were times I would give anything to be with you again. I thought I missed you. But now, seeing you here, I just realized what missing something really is. I don’t miss you any more. I hope you have a good life. Good bye.” He kissed her cheek and turned around.