A Summer to Remember

chapter Seven

I wanted to laugh yet again but I kept up my poker face for the time being. “And why doesn’t this surprise me? Insider trading? What is he doing and how was he so incredibly stupid he got caught? Wait, don’t answer that—Kevin was never the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“Jude and I discovered it by accident really. He’s been telling his friends about when a stock is going to hit the roof and they in turn buy up a bunch of this stock before it goes absolutely berserk. He has also been informing his buddies about when a stock is going to go south and they of course dump it before the shit really hits the fan.

“For a minute there, Jude and I just thought he was getting lucky but it just so happened all three of us were working late one night. We work in different departments but I was about to enter the cafeteria area to grab a cup of coffee when I heard him on the phone. With the permission of upper management and based upon our observations, we were allowed access to all of his activity within CDG and we found out there was a pattern. It’s too much of one to be a coincidence and then you combine that with what I heard him tell his friend…”

“Why didn’t he just text the guy?” I wondered before I sliced off another piece of my gyro and slipped it into my mouth.

“Probably because our phones are monitored and he uses some sort of code. It was easy enough for me to break because I know what to listen for but…others…they might not have been as quick on the uptake. Except Jude of course because he would have known in a heartbeat,” Paul explained before he began to eat his gyro again.

“Hmm, an unfortunate situation for him indeed. I can’t really say I feel sorry for him because I don’t. As far as I am concerned, you and Jude can take his ass to the cleaners. Get him fired and you two better damn make sure he never gets a job at any blue chip investment company again. I don’t care what happens to him to be honest because he means less than nothing to me.”

Paul finished up his gyro in several bites before he wiped his mouth. “I just don’t understand it. I mean, I clearly get the whole ‘he means nothing to me’ part but…you aren’t the least bit concerned he will probably serve some jail time over what he has done? Since the whole banking fiasco of 2008, insider trading is taken seriously now more than ever and there are no guarantees—even with all the powerful connections Kevin has in his personal arsenal—he’s going to be able to weasel out of this situation.”

I threw my napkin on the remainder of my gyro before I swallowed what was left of my wine. “I don’t care because what he did to me was far worse. Perhaps he needs to spend some time in prison reflecting upon all the wrongs he’s done against other people. However, I know Kevin, and as far as he’s concerned, what he has been doing is a victimless crime.”

“Ha! Tell that to all the people holding worthless stock he sold them after his friends dumped their shares. The man is a bottom feeder and a first class cretin. Personally, I think there is a special Hell reserved for a*sholes like him but I’m not one to judge so…oh well.”

I stood and looked down at my watch. I had approximately five minutes to get back to the gallery to meet Dr. Winters. “It’s been great. Why don’t you stop by this evening with Jude and we can talk more about this then? I really need to get back to the gallery to meet that arrogant bastard or there will be hell to pay.”

Paul smiled before he kissed my cheek chastely. “We’ll see each other again real soon. Take care of yourself.”

“I will,” I called off before I began to walk towards my gallery and prayed I would be on time for this meeting with Dr. Winters.



Much to my amazement, not only was I on time but the cheap ass neurosurgeon ended up buying two very expensive paintings which would be very nice for my bank balance indeed and the gallery as a whole too.

I arrived home to find Talia on the sofa scribbling furiously in a notebook. Jude had arranged for her transfer but since she was still paying rent on an expensive apartment in West Los Angeles, we agreed she should take the spare guest room.

“Hey, how was your day at work?” she greeted with a smile on her face.

“Great. I actually did really well and Paul came by to see me and took me for lunch,” I responded I sat beside her. All in all, it was a very good day.”

Talia’s smile faltered a bit before she plastered it back on. “I wish I could say the same. Why didn’t your brother tell me when I was transferred here I would have to work with Scarlet Fever? I don’t mind writing rock anthems but changing every poetic word into something dirty just doesn’t feel right.”

“Example?”

“Well, I wrote this great hook for a love song. Slow tempo so the lyrics were perfect. ‘Tonight is our night…when tomorrow comes nothing will be right…so give me a hint or a clue…I want to know if I’m gonna be loving you.’ Beautiful, right? They made me change ‘loving’ to ‘f*cking’. I swear to God these hard rocking musicians have no freakin’ taste!” she exclaimed before she set her notebook aside and weaved her hands through her hair.

I curled up beside her and whispered, “Well at least you get to work with all types and Scarlet Fever is certainly no band to sneeze at. They have been around for a while and have four albums under their belt with you helping them polish the fifth which is due out in a couple weeks. Hell, I already pre-ordered the mp3 from iTunes. I’m sure they are honored to work with someone as talented as you.”

She shook her head in exasperation. “Listen, I had to Skype with Kaz and Jaden since they aren’t here in New York—the whole time we’re chatting, Jaden’s society girlfriend, Faith, shot daggers at me as if I were trying to ‘steal’ her man! Let’s not forget these guys weren’t interested in me like that but apparently my panties are supposed to get soaked or something because I am in the presence of these great, sexy rockers with too many tats, sculpted abs and killer bodies. I swear, women can be so dumb sometimes.”

I yawned out loud before I stretched out and let my head fall in Talia’s lap. There was nothing sexual about my actions what so ever and it was as natural as if we were sisters for her to massage my scalp as we talked.

“Most women fall for those type of bad boys. Give me a guy with an Ivy League degree, a respectful job and who can f*ck me sideways, and I am a happy woman. But not everyone thinks the way I do and how boring the world would be if they did.”

My best friend was silent for a moment and I knew why but I wasn’t sure whether I should broach the subject or not.

“Are you still having wet dreams about Seth Delvecchio? Believe me, if you said yes, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

“I don’t want to talk about Seth any more than you want to discuss Kevin.” She sighed and began to finger comb my hair. “Besides, he is everything I detest: a tattooed rocker on the verge of super stardom with his stupid band, Winter’s Regret.”

“Do you really think he named the band after you? Your middle name is Wynter after all?”

“Oh, Christ on a cracker, Jerrica, God no! Besides, my mother must have been high when she decided to give me such an unconventional middle name. Why couldn’t she settle on Heather or Elizabeth?”

We both burst into giddy laughter as we heard the front door to the loft open. My heart began to beat a little faster and my breath came out in short small bursts until I heard female voices interspersed with Jude and Paul.

Neither Talia nor I bothered to move as Jude walked up the stairs followed by Paul and two identical looking ivory-skinned women. The only difference was the one who clung to Paul had long auburn-brown hair while the other had fiery red hair with blondish highlights interspersed throughout.

“Oh? Did we interrupt anything?” the ginger-haired chick inquired in a thick, upper-class Oxbridge accent.

“No, you didn’t because my sister isn’t a lesbian. Imogen, this is my sister, Jerrica, and her best friend, Talia. You two, this is Imogen, Ashley’s cousin from London.”

It was Ashley who moved out of Paul’s arms and walked over quickly. “Hello! We didn’t get a chance to meet the other night. I’m Ashley, Paul’s girlfriend, and Imogen is my cousin from jolly old England.”

I sat up before I stood and held out my hand. “Very nice to meet you. I’m Jude’s sister, Jerrica, and this is Talia—”

“Yes, I know. Talia and I met the other night.”

Ashley was absolutely perfect but I wasn’t convinced she didn’t have a fake bone in her body. She was a nice person with a warm smile and a beautiful disposition but something about her eyes made me feel like her attitude was forced and unnatural. It didn’t seem fair because I hated her on sight and from the way her eyes kept darting my way, I wasn’t entirely convinced she liked me either.

Perhaps I wanted her to be a stuck up, stick-up-her-ass bitch so I wouldn’t feel too bad about lusting after her boyfriend but she was so f*cking nice, I instantly felt guilty about everything. I couldn’t help the feeling I was projecting my own emotions onto her to make me feel better but instead, I only managed to make myself feel envious and petty because she had Paul and I didn’t.

Paul and I shouldn’t have shared that intimate kiss in the Hamptons. This young woman deserved better because she was probably an infinitely better human being than I could ever be and that pissed me off to a certain degree.

She didn’t deserve the way Paul had taken me out to lunch like we were old lovers instead of family friends. He didn’t speak to me in a way that friends did and it secretly pissed me off because he was taking this gorgeous young woman for a ride.

I knew why he was attracted to her and why she would be a perfect addition to their family. Everything about her was polished and she was just so damned sweet. She deserved a man better than Paul.

“It’s nice to finally meet you and put a name with a face,” I said in an awkward fashion. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to freshen up.”

I walked out of the sitting room and directly to my bedroom where I shut the door and began to pace back and forth.

I was completely and totally f*cked. No way would Paul give up that prime piece of ass for someone like me. It just didn’t happen and if I was being honest with myself, it shouldn’t happen. I didn’t deserve him—she did.

I was the classic manipulator and although I could never pull the wool over my brother’s eyes, my parents still thought I was their little angel. They didn’t realize what had happened to me at Vassar or that I was ruined goods. Mom and Dad still considered me a perfect candidate for the Social Register and knew I would be the one with the main story in The New York Times Sunday Wedding Announcements Section when I decided to tie the knot. They weren’t concerned about me in any way, shape or form because I was tough, I owned my own business and underneath all my bad ass persona, I could melt for a man as quickly as the next woman.

There was a light knock before door opened and Paul walked inside. He closed the door half way before he continued toward me.

“What are you doing here when you have that beautiful woman downstairs, Paul? What the hell is going on between us?”

“I know Ashley is perfect and you wouldn’t be surprised to know she’s like that in private too. But perfection does not equal love.”

I sat down on my bed and was surprised when he joined me and sat next to me. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that. You have a great ‘sweetheart’ downstairs and I can’t even lick my wounds in peace.” I turned toward him and held his face with my hands. “You don’t want to risk her…not for me.”

“F*ck this because I will not be manipulated and played for a fool.” He snatched my hands away, stood, walked over to my door, shut it completely and locked it for good measure.

My heart thundered in my chest so hard, I could feel the vibration in my ears. Although I knew he wasn’t truly capable of any real violence, I’d finally pissed him off with my tip-toeing around a subject that I was too ashamed to talk about. I could honestly and freely admit Talia wouldn’t know if she hadn’t been the one who had accompanied me to the hospital.

I patted the space next to me and he walked over in long strides with a panther’s grace. He knew he hadn’t scared me but perhaps his temper had scared himself. Paul was the type who always wanted people to perceive him as a gentle soul with a killer instinct. Therefore he kept his bad language to a minimum and there was really nothing all that bad boyish about him unless you counted a few tattoos in strategic places no one who wasn’t intimate with him would ever be able to see.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. That was completely uncalled for but I really think you need to stop playing games with my heart. I want to know what happened to you. What turned you into this cold, callous woman who feels like she isn’t worth anything to anyone? I need to know. You owe me that much if you’ve worked out a plan to make me dump Ashley and start a relationship with you.”

I stood just as he sat down and walked to my floor-to-ceiling picture window. Below was the traffic common in New York City along with thousands of people mulling about. This city was so beautiful and extraordinary but it was also very tragic and sad. There were more than eight million stories in the Big Apple and mine was just one of them. How sad was that?

“Listen, even if I tell you what happened to me, I don’t expect you to dump Ashley. She’s perfect for you and you’re like a big brother to me. I want to see you happy and perhaps there is someone out there for me too but I have a hard time believing it is you. What kind of cruel God would dangle a man as wonderful as you in Ashley’s face and pull him away at the last minute? He sounds like a piece of shit if you ask me,” I explained in a soft and even voice.

“What kind of God dangles a man like Kevin in front of you only he turns out to be the a*shole of the century and ruins your life and the person I once knew? I don’t like what he did to you.” Paul sighed before he continued in a whisper, “Truth be told, I never liked him. I always thought there was something a bit…shifty about him.”

I turned toward him as the light from the setting sun graced through my windows and threw off hues of orange, red and gold. “You’re a great judge of character—too bad you didn’t let me in on how you felt when I started dating him. If he’s capable of what he did to me then he’s capable of insider trading and every other underhanded deed a person can do.”

“So, why don’t you come over here and tell me this story. I don’t think I want you standing up for this and I need you to be seated…next to me.”

I walked over slowly, my mind so focused on the past, I felt like I was in a dream sequence of my own making. When I sat beside him again, I looked toward him yet I had yet to face those gorgeous crystal blue eyes of his.

“Where do I start?” I wondered out loud like a lost child not sure of her bearings.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened…from the beginning?”

I inhaled a deep breath and exhaled as slowly as possible. This was definitely a time I would have to remind myself the trick about life was to keep breathing.