chapter 6
“LET ME GO!” Lucy hollered, grabbing hold of the knob of a passing office door for leverage. Four inch heels were never good for putting on the breaks in.
Luvici looked back at her. His eyes had turned back to their previous glaring mode. “We have to hurry, princess.”
Okay, that’s it! Now he’s calling me that too...
“Get off me, you freaking troglodyte!”
Luvici let go of her arm like she’d burnt him. He rounded on her and stood there, practically nose to nose with her. His breath was making Lucy’s eyes water, but she wouldn’t back down. This guy was just a big bully, and after all, who’s the one doing the blackmailing around here?
“I—am—not—a—caveman!” He looked so pissed Lucy thought he was going to strike her. “I went to Stanford, just like your old man.” Suddenly his face seemed to crumble, and she saw that his eyes were getting glassy.
“Are you going to cry?”
“NO!” Luvici roared. But his face was starting to look like he was indeed getting ready to cry.
I really don’t need a blubbering fool right now.
“I’m not a caveman, the missing link, or a freaking giant...” He hands were out, palms up, beseeching. “I’m just big boned, for crying out loud!”
Lucy shook her head, and then switched to nodding in agreement. “Sure...I totally see that.”
“Then why’d you say that?” The hurt in his eyes made Lucy cringe. Where was the nasty, lecherous weasel that was checking her out just ten minutes ago?
“Everyone said that,” he grumbled. College...even my goddamn wife calls me a Cyclops!”
“Oh,” Lucy couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Okay, his eyes were a little close together, but with a little creative eyebrow plucking...
A tear was threatening to leak out of his left eye. Lucy couldn’t take it if he started to cry now.
“So, where is this place, where we’re meeting creepy phone guy.”
Luvici got back that annoyed look on his face. I can handle annoyed, just not weepy.
“We don’t call Mr. Enoch creepy phone guy. So remember that. He’s rich and powerful...hell the entire family’s rich and powerful. They all work for the company. Hell, they are the freaking company.”
“Okay, Okay.” Lucy put up her hands in surrender. “He’s now only known as Mr. Enoch. So where are we going? And why were you in such a hurry?”
This elicited Luvici to check his watch, groaning and swearing under his breath as he gestured again for me to walk.
“We’re meeting Mr. Enoch and his nephew at Caulderon’s.”
Lucy smiled. Her father had taken her there the day she’d passed her driver’s license exam. And he’d said they’d go again when she got accepted to Stanford. It was expensive. They didn’t even serve tap water, only fancy French and Italian stuff with bubbles.
“Excellent!” she chimed.
Luvici started moving down the street with some real speed. Now that he wasn’t dragging Lucy behind him, she suddenly had a hard time keeping up with him.
“Caulderon’s is just a couple blocks away,” Lucy yelled after him. “Why are you in such a rush?”
He stopped abruptly and turned to face her again. Looking down at her he said, “We have to dress you.”
Dress me? But I’m not naked...
But then it hit her. Jeans and a frumpy top weren’t going to impress people that were rich and powerful, or that frequented Caulderon’s. And then Lucy remembered that creepy phone guy—er…Mr. Enoch—had said he was looking for a “suitable young lady.”
Definitely, I need something else to wear.
With a sudden desperate tug at her heart she realized she didn’t have enough money to even buy underwear in the shops they were passing by, no less a dress.
“I can’t afford these shops.” Lucy said, grabbing hold of Luvici’s wrist as he jerked toward a boutique’s entrance.
Luvici rolled his eyes. “It’s on me, kid.”
“Thought you were broke?” she groused, stopping in her tracks, hands on hips.
“I can’t afford your little blackmail scheme, but I can tote the bill for a dress.” He looked down at Lucy’s shoes. “Maybe we can find something that will go with those shoes.”
Maybe, she thought as she followed Luvici into the boutique. Lucy had to stop. She turned and breathed in the scents: Designer clothes, Italian leather, silk, Egyptian cotton. And all of it new...
She suddenly felt a little light headed.
“Lucy!” Luvici shouted, tearing her out of her reverie. “Get in here.”
He was holding open the door to a changing room.
She stood there and just stared at the big man.
“Get in here and strip.” he said. “I’ll pick something out.”
Lucy shook her head. There was no way this overgrown slouch could pick out something pretty, refined and appropriate. Just look at Darla.
Luvici caught her by the arm and shoved her into the five by five, mirror clad changing room. “How are you going to pick me out something?”
Silence.
“I mean, not that I’m doubting your fashion sense,” But, oh god I am. Look at the way you dress. “You don’t even know what size I am!”
Suddenly something flew over the changing room door and dangled from Luvici’s meaty fingers until Lucy finally reached out and took it. It was a dress, ivory colored silk with a delicate pattern of exotic flowers. Gold thread was woven into the fabric. And low and behold, it was her size.
I hate that everyone seems to know what size I am now!
But just touching the soft, soft silk, and holding it up against her, looking in the full-length mirror in front of her, she couldn’t deny the big oaf had incredible taste.
“Thanks...Frank.”
“You’re welcome. Now try it on.” Lucy could hear him pacing outside the little room. “If we hurry, we can get you manicured and your hair done...maybe some demure makeup.”
Lucy had to agree. Her makeup was overdone. She’d been aiming for sultry with a side of dangerous. But that didn’t go well with the dress. And her hair and nails really needed work.
He had a good eye.
“And please tell me those shoes match the dress.”
Lucy looked down at her shoes and smiled. “Perfectly. Where did you get such a good eye?” Then Lucy remembered that Luvici liked girls and guys. There had to be some gay/bi-sexual fashion gene in there, somewhere.
There was a long silence, but just as she started pulling off her top Luvici started talking.
“I was going to be an art major, in college.”
“You’re an artist?” She couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.
“Not good enough to be a professional...but I really wanted to own a gallery someday.” She heard him chuckle unhappily to himself. “But the family—my father—insisted I go to law school.”
She recognized the edge to Luvici’s voice. His father hadn’t approved of him, and it still cut him like a knife. She could relate.
She slipped into the dress, easily zipping herself up, then inspected her reflection in the panorama of the mirrored walls. The dress was a knock out; elegant, yet fresh and young.
Lucy came out into the store with a flourish, turning in a grand gesture, smiling up at Luvici.
“Not bad.” He handed his charge card to the rather intimidated looking sales clerk.
Moments later he was ushering Lucy into a small beauty parlor with oriental decor, and an all oriental staff.
He walked right up to the gorgeous woman standing behind the counter. Her hair was like black glass, not a fly away or split end anywhere, and her skin was flawless.
“Ming Na…my friend here needs a manny-peddy, a trim, styled—maybe a twist—and makeup.” Luvici gave the woman that raised eyebrow look Lucy already hated.
“Sure thing Luvici,” The woman sounded like she hated that look too. “Why don’t you ever bring in that secretary of yours? She needs a lot more work than this one does.”
Luvici smiled. “I like Darla just the way she is. Now can you hurry? We’ve got...” He looked down at his watch. “Forty-five minutes.”
“It’ll cost you, dog.” Lucy almost didn’t catch the “dog” reference. She’d said it so matter-of-factly. Lucy suddenly wondered how many women Luvici was cavorting with. Or was he just that infamous?
The woman named Ming Na whisked Lucy back to the sinks and scrubbed her hair with the most enticing smelling shampoo. Exotic essences of flowers and fruit enveloped Lucy’s senses. Then she ushered her into a salon chair, and as she snipped away all of Lucy’s damaged ends, two other women started work on her hands and feet.
“No fake nails!” Lucy and Luvici said simultaneously.
“Just make them even, and match the dress.” Luvici finished.
By the time they were done, her nails and toenails shined a lovely pale pink, and her hair had been flat-ironed to perfection. It was almost as glassy as her hairdresser’s. Two minutes later Ming Na had washed and moisturized her face, and was already making quick work of Lucy’s make up.
As she walked out of the salon, Lucy had to admit, besides being ten pounds overweight, and that her shoes were designer rip offs, she’d possibly never looked so good.
Finally, Lucy sighed to herself with relief as she looked in the salon mirror. Mirrors love me again.
~*~
Walking into Caulderon’s, Lucy felt more than good, she felt fabulous. She hadn’t felt pretty in a very long time, and now she felt absolutely beautiful. No. She felt stunning and gorgeous, and she knew without a doubt that every head in the restaurant was turning to look at her.
She felt the self confidence return to her step. She suddenly felt powerful.
Luvici stopped at the maître de’s podium, and after only a moment’s pause to take in Luvici, the host’s face turned warm and inviting as he beckoned them into the restaurant.
The place seemed larger to Lucy, now. Even though she’d only been there the once, she’s taken it all in with an air of entitlement. Now, she knew that your life could be changed, leveled to dirt and mud—and special sauce—so now she was taking everything in with much more care, savoring the moment.
But something in Lucy decided she didn’t like the way she was feeling. An expensive dress, a quickie salon experience and getting to enter a high priced eatery weren’t things she had ever imagined she would be thankful for.
What’s wrong with me?
Luckily, Lucy didn’t have time to ponder this. In seconds the host had shown them to what was most certainly the best table in the house. Center stage, two waiters and two assistant waiters stood like sentinels, waiting to act on their customer’s every command and wish.
Okay, this is nice, Lucy thought as one of the wait staff pulled out her seat and then gently pushed it in once she sat down.
Lucy was so taken with this formality that she almost didn’t notice the two men that had stood to greet her. They were still standing, looking down on her with matching looks of mild irritation.
Lucy shot up out of her chair, and thankfully didn’t knock anything over in her haste.
“I’m so sorry,” Lucy said, suddenly feeling clumsy and rude—though she wasn’t quite sure why.
The older man spoke, extending his hand, “Not at all.” It was creepy phone guy, aka Mr. Enoch. “I’m afraid I should be more…flexible. Regrettably, I’m old and set in my ways. Please forgive me, Miss. Hart.”
Okay, his voice may still be kind of creepy. She took his rather warm hand, but he really couldn’t be any more handsome and ingratiating. She could well imagine him holding court with royalty, and she was sure he and Shirley would get along perfectly.
She smiled to herself just thinking of Shirley chatting him up on her bus. The idea was preposterous.
Mr. Enoch released her hand, giving her a tiny dip of his silver haired head in salute. Then he turned to the other man at the table.
Wow! Lucy thought, looking up into his handsome, dark featured face. Dark chocolate brown eyes you could get lost in. His lips were kissably thick, with just a touch of pink. And his bone structure was perfect; Prince charming in the flesh. Not to mention how his suit was tailored to hug his lithe body to utter perfection. The chocolate and caramel in the suit only accentuated his dark skin and hair.
Oh, and his eyes—drowning deep. Can’t get overt those eyes.
But then she noticed the look on the handsome younger man’s face. It was a look she’d never seen coming from a man. Usually men looked at her with admiration and longing. That she was used to. But this guy, he looked at her with clear distain. Lucy had never had a perfect stranger look at her with such pure contempt.
“This is my nephew, Gabriel Enoch,” Mr. Enoch said, introducing them. “Gabriel, this is Lucy Hart.”
Lucy beamed her brightest smile at him, thinking that maybe he was uncertain of her, or that he was just shy. She offered him her hand.
He looked upon it like he didn’t know if her hand was clean enough to touch. Obsessive Compulsive disorder? There were no less than six kids in her old school that had extreme cases of the illness. She almost sighed with empathy. Those kids were a mess, and miserable as all get out.
But then Gabriel Enoch reached out and took her hand. He was hot. Not as in visually appealing, which he was. His hand, his flesh, was hot to the touch. He shook her hand and then suddenly let it go, looking at his own hand as if it had been infected or something.
“She won’t work,” he said to Dante Enoch.
“Gabriel?” The Lawyer’s voice was smooth as silk, but there was irritation there too.
“It won’t work. She’s so…” He was glaring at Lucy with loathing.
“She’s Beautiful,” Dante tried to finish for his nephew.
“Shallow and greedy, I’d say.”
Luvici cut in. “She comes from a good family. That is what you were looking for.”
“Not that good,” Gabriel said. “Not if she’d do this for money.”
Both lawyers stood there with shocked expressions on their faces. Gabriel turned to Dante. “I’m sorry, Uncle, but I have things I need to take care of.”
Lucy knew she should have been hurt. Any other girl in the world would have been pushed to tears by the words that fell from Gabriel Enoch’s lips. But she wasn’t like any of those girls. She’d already had every kind of degradation visited upon her in the last six months. She needed this, no matter what kind of jerk she had to work with.
Lucy blocked his escape by walking up to him and laying one of her freshly manicured hands on his chest. The gesture was intimate, as was the smile that she knew would bring out her dimples. This made Gabriel gulp, which was good. It meant she had his full attention.
“I might be shallow and greedy, and I may be the sort of girl that would do…” She gave him a slow, dismissive up and down look, “this for money. But you need this just as much as I do.”
He scoffed.
“Come on, Gabe…” His eyes flashed angrily at Lucy nicknaming him. Interesting. “What is it anyways?”
“What is what?”
Lucy noted how his irritated tone suddenly shot down in volume.
“Well, from your lack of an accent, I’d say you don’t need a fiancée for immigration purposes, so this all has to do with the object of your affections.”
Gabriel scowled, anger glowing in his gaze.
“So what’s the what? Is your family racist or something, so you can’t bring your non-Anglo Saxon girlfriend home to meet the folks? Or…” Lucy laughed and rolled her eyes. “I get it. I get it.” She sat down and took a sip of the ice cold bubbling water that sat at her place setting. “I’m going to be your beard.”
“You’re going to be his what?” Dante looked completely confused.
“His beard,” Lucy answered. She looked up into Gabriel’s scorching gaze. “So you’re gay and you don’t want your family to know. Well, I wouldn’t have guessed. Course, it’s hard to tell nowadays.”
“I’m not gay,” Gabriel said flatly.
“Not that it’s any of my business, but I think trying to hide that kind of thing from your folks isn’t good for you.”
Gabriel looked taken aback.
“I mean, stress like that can ruin your complexion. Not to mention put lines on your face before their time.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Gabriel shook his head and Lucy saw that his fists were balled up. “I’m not gay. But there’s nothing wrong with being so.” He shot her through with his eyes. “Only low people still find homosexuality something to hate or be embarrassed about.”
Whoa…this guy is serious as a heart attack, Lucy smiled. More interesting. And kind of likable, if you ignore the whole “low people” barb.
But, Lucy peered up at Gabriel Enoch’s exacerbated face, I like yanking his chain.
“So, Gabe…then your family’s a bunch of bigots?”
The look on Gabriel’s face turned downright scary. He bent down, one of his fists on the table, lowering his face to mere inches from Lucy’s. “My family is none of you goddamn business.”
Lucy felt a stab of fear. But instead of leaning away from him, she leaned toward him, her smile still in place but her eyes turning cold. That wonderful annoyed heat was building in her head again. It was such a relief, how that feeling seemed to clear her head and make her calm. Well, calm wasn’t quite the word for it.
Determined maybe? That heat seemed to let her see where she was supposed to go, what she wanted, and what she needed to do to get it.
“Then my family and my motifs are none of you goddamn business either. And I’m not a prostitute, so quit looking at me like I am!”
A smile flickered across his lips. There was something, suddenly, passing through the air between them. Be it something sinister of simply a trick of hormones, but whatever it was made Lucy’s toes curl and the back of her neck tingle.
He smells so good…
But he is such a jerk!
The heat evaporated from Gabriel’s expression as he straightened to his full height. He was smiling and shaking his head. Lucy didn’t like his smile. She liked him better when she was pissing him off.
“She’ll do,” he told his uncle, and then he nodded to Lucy as he started to walk away.
“Gabriel?” Dante said. “Where are you going? There is much to discus.”
Gabriel spoke as he walked to the door: “You know the terms we need. I’m certain you can handle things from here.”
And with that Gabriel Enoch was gone out the front door, disappearing into the bright Californian daylight.
Luvici sat down and pawed through the menu. Dante turned and looked at Lucy. She couldn’t stop smiling. Had she passed the test? What came next? She was seeing the sparkling diamond at the end of her journey again. And this time, it was twice as big as before.
Dante sat down, shaking his head and then looked up at his lunch guests with a weary look in his eyes. That look extinguished when Luvici called out an order for a bottle of Chateau Margaux 1995, and an appetizer of oysters.
“Very well, Francis.” Luvici glared at Dante, but didn’t say anything back. “Shall we order? Then we can talk business?”
“Fine by me.” Luvici went on to order a huge and exurbanite meal. French onion soup and a Cesar salad—as if his breath needed any help being disgusting. Then he ordered a porterhouse steak (rare) with provolone cheese and scampi shrimp on top. Throw in a baked potato with butter, sour cream, bacon bits and chives, and Lucy thought she was going to throw up if she was going to have watched him eat all that.
But since this was her fantasy restaurant, she wanted to order something really good. She’d been eating mostly her grandmother’s cooking and McDonalds, so eating at a high class eatery was an event.
Her mouth watered as she looked over the choices. Everything on the menu looked good, especially since there weren’t any prices on it. Maybe a combo platter of a little of everything…maybe the size of the table?
Then she thought of how she hated feeling so thankful for being there. Being like that, feeling that way, it just made her mad. How had she gotten this far down?
“I’ll have the grilled chicken and a spring leaf salad with honey mustard dressing on the side.” She was going to trim down to her old size—she’d just decided. And she was going to demand weekly trips to this very restaurant in their negotiations. That way she’d get over this whole “thankful for things” phase.
~*~
Negotiations went well until Luvici asked for too little money. Why he’d decided to low ball the other lawyer made no sense to Lucy. All she could think was, That’s not enough. That’s not even half what I need.
“I’m sorry Mr. Enoch,” she interrupted, “but Frank misunderstood what amount I require to do this…bit of acting.” This made Luvici flinch, and made Dante squint at Lucy like she was out of her mind. “I need at least three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. And that’s just at the end of the job. What I need now is a charge card for shopping.”
“Shopping?” Dante squinted even harder at her.
“Shopping…you know? Every young woman’s favorite past time. I need a whole new wardrobe…that is if you want Gabriel’s parents to believe I come from a good family. I imagine since you’re their lawyer that you’ll keep my father’s legal problems, and my family’s money problems, from them. You’d handle that sort of investigation for them, right?”
“Well, yes…” Dante said, looking surprised.
“So, I’ll need to shop to pull off the rest of it. And I’ll need use of a car.”
The look on Dante’s face was wide eyed surrender. Lucy had to smile.
“Well, I can’t be expected to take the bus to go shopping, or to go wherever it is I’ll end up having to go during this hoax.”
“This isn’t just some childish prank, Miss Hart.” Dante’s tone was scolding, and his expression could be taken as the beginnings of a heart attack. He looked stressed and weary as hell. “This is a very important, very serious matter. Gabriel’s father…everyone in the family must be convinced that you are Gabriel’s betrothed.”
Lucy leaned forward and instinctively took Dante’s still very warm hand and smiled reassuringly. “I can do this. I promise. I’ll make even you think that I’m in love with that arrogant jerk. So no worries, okay?”
A sudden understanding passed between them. They knew that they needed each other, and that they would both uphold their part of the deal.
“Done,” Dante said pulling his hand gently from Lucy’s and straightening his tie and suit. “Three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars at service end, use of a car and a credit card for shopping purposes.”
“And some mad money.”
“Mad money?”
“And a cell phone. I’ll run through the minutes on this thing in no time.” She held up her little pre-paid phone and waved it at Dante.
“Maybe you’d like a computer too.” Dante said wearily, yet with definite sarcasm.
“No,” Lucy said, sticking out her lower lip, thinking. “Just make it an iphone. Then I can do whatever I need, internet wise, through that.”
Luvici coughed and turned away in his seat so Dante wouldn’t notice he was laughing.
Dante smiled as Luvici’s oysters, salad and soup arrived. Then he turned that smile on Lucy. “Gabriel is going to have his hands full with you, isn’t he?”