Chapter 9

"So what did he do?"

"He lost his house in a game of poker."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. We're going to talk to the man who won his house and bargain with him. Then, Mr. Artman will pay us back."

I was in the back of the car with Lafayette, Emilio was driving. We were on our way to Mr. Rick Solanzki's house because he's the one that won the house. It was my first time actually witnessing Lafayette take part in his underground business. I saw him read a letter (he didn't use calls or emails, anything traceable) and I saw him talking to Emilio about stuff before. Though this was the first time I got to actually take part in it. I wasn't going to say or do anything, but I was just there, sort of as a witness.

"Now, when we get there, you have to be very calm and collective. Rick Solanzki is a tough guy. He's not physically strong, but he's smart street wise. He's been to prison before. He likes to pick on people. So if he says anything to you then I'll interfere and make sure he doesn't change the subject," Lafayette told me. "Look at the way Emilio stands when we're in there. Rick Solanzki is an awful man, to say the least."

"Alright. What're you going to bargain?" I asked.

"Well, there's always the option of money, but since I have companies that manufacture many things I can offer him some cars or other objects."

"What if he declines them all?"

"I can walk away, or Emilio can persuade him."

"What does that mean?"

"When the time comes, Em."

We pulled up to a huge, gated off mansion with a fountain in front of it. The gates opened and we drove inside. A man with a thick beard and a gold tooth came down the stairs to smile and greet us. He was wearing a blue, pin-stripped suit without any shoes, though, a silver toe ring clenching his toe. He was a very skinny man, short with diamond earrings. "Ah, Lafayette," he greeted, shaking his hand. "Very nice to see you again."

"Hello Rick," he greeted. "You know Emilio."

"Yes, Emilio, how are you?" he asked, shaking his hand.

"Quite well," Emilio said, but didn't smile. He was standing tall and didn't take his eyes off of Mr. Solanzki. He was intimidating.

"And this Emerson Lane, a good friend of mine who has taken of Donald's job."

"Well nice to meet you Emerson," he said, smiling and shaking my hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Nice to meet you, too," I said, trying to stand tall, but I couldn't pull it off like Emilio.

"Come in, come in," he cheered, us following him into his mansion. A woman handed him a pug and he draped the dog over his arms, petting him. We walked through the marble foyer and into a living area that had a large window showing off his huge pool. He sat down in an arm chair, Lafayette and I sat on the couch, and Emilio sat in another arm chair, still staring at Mr. Solanzki. He was freaking me out and yet he wasn't even looking at me. Mr. Solanzki just ignored him completely.

"So, why did you plan this meeting today?" he asked.

"Well, one of my associates, Mr. Artman, lost his house to you, right?" Lafayette asked.

"Right, right. About a week and a half ago. He has the worst poker face. He should know better than to bet his house. Was his wife mad?" This guy was extra and fruity. He elongated his words, talking like a Dr. Seuss character.

"Extremely. Now, I'm here to get the house back."

"Oh you are?" So. Extra.

"Yes."

"How much do you want?" Emilio asked.

"Well he said it cost three hundred million dollars." Oh me oh my...

"Do you even want the house?" Lafayette asked.

"No. I much prefer my mansion. I just felt like keeping it to teach him a lesson."

"A lesson?"

"His wife told him he has a gambling problem. Everyone knows he does."

"So now that his wife has sent him to rehab to fix said gambling problem, do you think he's learned his lesson?"

"Absolutely."

Lafayette crossed his legs, knowing he was going to be difficult. "Then I think it's your obligation to return his house so Mrs. Artman doesn't divorce him."

"Well, why bother giving it back for free, when I know that I can get something out of it?"

Lafayette sighed, and Emilio continued to glare.

"How much?" Emilio asked.

"I don't want money," Mr. Solanzki said.

"Then what do you want?" Emilio asked.

"Well, I know you're a man who can get anything he wants, but what do you want, Mr. Jeff?

Lafayette glared at him. He wasn't here to play games but Rick was. He glanced over at me and then back to Mr. Solanzki. "I don't want anything, Rick. So tell me what you want."

He tilted his head, thinking. He made eye contact with Emilio, stared him up and down, and then glanced at Lafayette, and finally looked at me. He looked me up and down, and asked, "Emerson, how old are you exactly?"

"Uh, I'm-"

"He's none of your concern, Rick," Lafayette said, his voice hard. They held the stare for a few, until Mr. Solanzki eyed him up and down, smirking, everything going on in their silent conversation going over my head. Lafayette turned to me and asked, "Em, can you go out to the car and find my lighter?"

I went out the house and back to the parked car. I opened up the back door and searched for a lighter. I looked between the seats and in the back and on the floor but I didn't see it. So I crawled up front and looked in the glove box and all around until I finally found it in the cup holder on the passenger seat side. I walked back inside to find Lafayette standing up and shaking hands with Mr. Solanzki. "Well that was quick," I said and tossed him the lighter.

Mr. Solanzki smiled and said, "Negotiating is always fun in the end."

"Well, thank you for having us over. I'll tell him you'll be giving the deed of his house back over to him," Lafayette said.

"Thank you for coming over Lafayette. Emilio, Emerson, hope to see you in the future."

I grimaced a smile and we headed out. Well, at least I didn't have to see Emilio beat the shit out of him. We got in the car and Lafayette looked annoyed and tired. He leaned back in the seat and rested his head against my shoulder, closing his eyes. "That was annoying," he said.

"Then why do you do that?" I asked.

"Because otherwise I wouldn't have a job," Emilio said, smirking in the rearview mirror at us.

I laughed, Lafayette cracking a smile. "You could be, like, his butler or something. You could wear a cool uniform."

"Would my uniform be as tight as yours?"

I laughed again and Lafayette cozied in on me, half asleep. Unlike me, though, he's a light sleeper and so he wasn't out of it all the way.

The following day, I was sitting at my desk when Lafayette came out of the flat in black pants and a white button-up shirt. He looked different, but not really. His pants were tighter and his shirt showed his chest more. He also had his sleeves pushed up and he had recently showered because I could smell his manly body lotion that was addicting to the nose. His hair was damp and his regular style was messy. Bottom line was - he looked so sexy.

"Got a date?" I asked, trying to smirk to look like I was jealous of the lucky bastard that would get to stare at him.

"No. I just have a meeting," he said.

"And you're dressed like that because...?"

He smirked. "I just might be working it because it might help me in the end."

I leaned back. "Who's the meeting with?"

"Mr. Solanzki."

"You just had a meeting yesterday."

"Yes, well, he decided to change up our deal and so now I have to persuade him differently. He's going to give the house back but he just wants something different, some computer product, and that's something that I can't do. So you can stay here, everyone can stay. I'll just put on the charm a little."

"So he is gay? I kind of thought so yesterday."

"Yeah, you couldn't tell by how he checked everyone out?" He put on his winter leather coat and said, "I'll be back soon."

"Bye," I sighed and he was out the door.

I got bored shortly and went out into the workroom where Michael, Emilio, and Vince's desks were all at. They were eating supper since it was five-twenty, sitting on the couch. "Hey bonito," Emilio said, through a mouth full of pasta.

"Hi," I said, plopping into a seat.

"Your boyfriend leave ya huh?" Vince asked.

"He's not my boyfriend," I groaned.

"Oh we definitely know he's not," Emilio said.

"Especially considering what he's doing now," Michael mumbled.

"What's he doing?" Vince asked. "He didn't tell me where he was going."

Michael and Emilio looked down, not answering him.

"What?" Vince and I asked.

Michael looked at me over his glasses. "Did he not tell you?"

"He said he was going to have a meeting with Mr. Solanzki."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh..."

"What's he really doing?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Well, if he didn't tell you, then there must be a good reason why and so we can't say," Emilio said.

"What? Tell me. It's not a big deal is it? Surely I'd know sooner or later," I said.

Emilio and Michael exchanged looks. "Well, just promise not to bring it up with him," Michael mumbled.

"Alright," I said.

"Solanzki is a millionaire and he didn't want money and he didn't want any material objects. At first, he wanted to sleep with you because he thought you were cute, and he Lafayette said Rick knew he cared about you so he wanted to mess with him, but Lafayette told you to leave to look for his lighter and that's when he told Solanzki that you weren't a part of this and so Solanzki said that he wanted to sleep with Lafayette and that's where he's at now."

"Wait, Lafayette's sleeping with him just so Mr. Artman can get his house back?" I asked.

"And so Lafayette can receive a lot of money from Mr. Artman, but this isn't the first time he's slept with someone for profit. He's done it before, and it's not like your regular prostitution. He takes them on a date and wines and dines them but then they go back to their place and do the deed. It's like a one-night stand but he gets something out of it."

"So whenever someone offers him money for sex he just says yeah?" I asked.

"No, not everyone," Michael said. "Just people he thinks are attractive enough."

"Now I can see why you said he's not his boyfriend," Vince said. "Lafayette could never do that while being in a relationship. He is quite loyal."

Emilio snorted. "Oh yeah, he's so loyal. You can totally tell by the number of relationships he's had."

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked.

"Lafayette has, like, been in two relationships. Three maybe? I don't even know how long. There was a secret boyfriend in high school when we were seniors, but they broke up after, like, four months when we graduated. Then there was that one bitch in college who cheated on him. That lasted for, like, a minute."

"A month," Michael mumbled.

"And then..."

"Marcus."

"Oh yeah..." Emilio said, a gross look on his face. "He dated a guy named Marcus for almost a year. It was when the company was just starting. Marcus was one of our friends and things didn't go too well after a while. He felt like he was the CEO or something and wanted to do all these stupid things. Lafayette finally had to fire him and Marcus went ape-shit. They were yelling at each other for hours. I mean, he got his share of the money we had made but he was crazy. What happened to him again?"

Michael just glared at him, and a realization came over his face. He looked really guilty all of a sudden. "Right," he murmured, and the three of them had this sad, nostalgic look on their faces.

"So what happened to him?" I asked. "You don't have to tell me. I'm just curious is all."

"Well, a few weeks later, he jumped off of a building, but he somehow managed to survive. He's been in a coma ever since."

"So how long has he been in one?"

"Eight years. He started working here a year after the company was started, in 2004, and that's when they dated and everything but they broke up and he jumped in February 2005."

"We'd visit him often, but after a while we never got around to it. Lafayette visited him for a while, but once the company was becoming bigger he didn't have time and then we just stopped."

I didn't say anything, not sure what to say in a time like that.

"I have a picture of him," Michael said. "If you wanna see what he looks like."

"Oh, uh, sure," I said.

Michael stood up and walked to his desk. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a planner that looked really old. He came back over and opened it up. I noticed that the calendar said 2004. There were a pile of pictures in the fold and he pulled them out, scooting closer so I could see.

The first one was of Michael and Emilio looking really young and different. Michael's hair was actually down to his shoulders and he looked like a huge hippie whereas now he looks like a cute nerd. Emilio had a lot of piercings back then, too. The next picture was of Vince and Donald, also looking much younger. Vince didn't have a shaved head and Donald, well - he kind of looked the same. Still classy and still smoking a pipe.

The next picture was of Lafayette and Emilio. Lafayette didn't look that much different, just younger. His hair was a lot more messy and he had some earrings in. His tattoos looked new, too, because his skin had that redness to it. He was also wearing a white t-shirt and a holey jeans, and I had never once seen him wear jeans. They looked like the regular, early-2000's college guys.

The next picture was of Lafayette and another man, sitting on a couch with a bottle of beer. He was tan with brown shaggy hair and glistening green eyes. I was instantly jealous of his smile because it was really cute and perfect while mine was weird looking and made me look stupid. He was really attractive and my self-esteem might've went down looking at him. He was strong and cute with nice hair, nice eyes, and a nice smile.

"Were you friends with him in high school?" I asked.

"No," Michael said. "Lafayette went to college with him and after he dropped out and started the company they started dating and he worked here."

"I don't think he was ever that stable," Vince added in. "He went to a therapist for a very long time and was on many different kinds of drugs. Ran in the family"

"Because his mother killed herself," Emilio mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"Yes, Lafayette thought he could help him or change him, but it was a mistake."

"I don't know if Lafayette ever actually like him," Vince said. "It was toxic."

I eventually returned to the flat, getting tired and wanting to just shower and go to bed. I felt compelled to wear something modest, and so I put on my black silk pants and kept my underwear on. I really didn't want to wear a shirt but I put on a black tank top and crawled into bed, sleep sounding so incredibly good. Though due to the fact that there were many thoughts on my mind, I couldn't manage to fall asleep.

The fact that Lafayette was having sex was still in my mind and I was jealous that I wasn't having sex but I was mostly jealous that I wasn't having sex with Lafayette. Though the thought that he was doing this for profit was confusing to me because he didn't have to do that but then I never had a problem with prostitution and it's his choice in the end, plus it is kind of like casual sex since he makes a choice of whether or not to sleep with them.

Then the image of Marcus was stuck in my mind as well because I wish I could have his smile. I was also thinking about how Lafayette probably felt like he was the reason why Marcus tried to commit suicide. It must've been a horrible feeling and time in his life, and I'm sure no matter how much everyone told him it wasn't his fault he still didn't believe him. One other thought though was how Marcus worked for Lafayette and that they dated at the same time. Meaning, Marcus dated his boss, Lafayette.

Hence, I could possibly date Lafayette because clearly he didn't have a problem with it, but after hearing about all this today I figured he wasn't interested in dating anyone, especially an employee.

I wasn't asleep when Lafayette came home at around midnight. I stayed quiet and pretended to be asleep, considering I was still struggling to sleep. I heard him walk about the room, get into the shower, and come out, me glancing to see if he was in a towel or not. He crawled into bed with me and spooned up right behind me. He felt my tank top and decided that he'd instead stick his hand up my shirt. I couldn't help myself when I said, "That was a long meeting."

"Yeah," he sighed, sounding tired.

I waited a few minutes before asking, "Why didn't you tell me the deal was you were going to sleep with him?"

He waited for what seemed like all night before he said quietly, "I didn't want you to think I was pathetic for belittling myself like that."

"I wouldn't think you were pathetic. I don't think prostitutes are pathetic."

I heard him chuckle quietly, sounding like he was drifting off to sleep which is a first considering I'm always asleep before him. Unfortunately, all sorts of thoughts wouldn't leave my mind that night.

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The next day, Lafayette said he had to go to his house because his parents were there and they were getting ready to leave for vacation, so he had to go to one last get together, but he said I really didn't have to go and I gladly took the chance not to. Instead, I went down to the 23rd floor. I went to the 23rd floor everyday after I put the flower in his vase and told him what meeting he had to go to. I'd check with everybody and see what was needed. Though it was a Friday, and it was six at night.

I felt that I could hang out with everyone like I use to. Lucky for me, everyone was going to Shiley's, which was a small bar that was a lot like the bar in Cheers. It was just a small party, kind of. Shiley's was never that busy and so it was the perfect place for us that night. Everyone was glad I joined them, at least they said they were glad, and I had really missed seeing them everyday.

More customers came into the bar around eleven and so we all flocked together in the corner table, talking about work and home and what we were going to do for the holidays. They were doing Secret Santa and they offered to let me be a part of it but it was a 23rd floor type of thing, and I wasn't a part of that floor anymore. I was still welcome to stop by their Christmas party, though.

The night wore on, and I noticed some cute guy by the bar checking me out.

"You should go talk to him," Mark said.

"I don't know," I replied. "He looks kind of like a douche."

"Ah, just go for it," Terry peer-pressured.

"Maybe you could finally get a boyfriend. He might be the one."

"I don't want a boyfriend."

"Alright, just hook up with him. Do something with yourself for once."

I rolled my eyes, but I hadn't had sex in about eight or nine months, and he was really cute and totally checking me out. I finally decided to go up and talk to him. His name was Kyle and he was a soon-to-be lawyer. That's all we exchanged before we snuck off to the bathroom and went into a stall. He was a really great kisser. He had his hands on my hips and his tongue was really nice. I just had this thing with tongues I guess.

I kissed down his neck and down his torso, undoing his belt and zipper and giving him a blow job, something I hadn't done in forever. He was groaning and it sounded like he rather enjoyed it. It didn't last incredibly long, and I most certainly did not swallow. I turned around and spat in the toilet. Then I went back up and kissed him again. Then the most unbelievable thing happened. He opened the stall door, gave me a wink, and walked away.

I gave him a blow job, and he didn't bother giving me one back. It's common courtesy to give one back! I was so pissed off. I slammed the door shut, locking it, got rid of the hard-on in my pants and then left the bar, texting Terry that I had to go. I called a cab to drive me home and went upstairs to the flat.

Lafayette was sitting on the bed, balancing his checkbook. I grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to change, coming back out in my trunks and a white shirt. He could see that I was pretty pissed, and asked, "What's up with you?"

"Isn't it, like, common knowledge that if you get a goddamn blowjob that you give something in return?" I asked.

"Like give one back?"

"Yes! Isn't that what you do?"

"Yeah. It's not just about me."

"Exactly. So I don't understand why some dumbass doesn't understand that." I groaned and fell onto the bed.

"I'm assuming that happened to you tonight?"

"Unfortunately."

He laughed. "Sorry to hear that."

"That's why I don't like one-night stands. I like dates, but I've been on one date in my entire life and otherwise it was just one-night stands, but since I don't like them then it really doesn't happen. I mean, this guy was such a great kisser. I was so looking forward to this, but no. He's a dumbass. God. I really do enjoy being wined and dined before sex, but I haven't gone on one of those in forever."

"What's your ideal date?" he asked.

"Well, I like unconventional dates. I've never been on one of those, but I read about fun date ideas. I guess I'd want it to be an all day type of thing. Like, I wake up, there's a table next to the bed with breakfast. There's a note telling me good morning. I eat and then go to the bathroom and there's new clothes for me hanging up, nice day wear clothes, good for going out. I get changed and my date has scheduled us to go to the spa where we get massages and sit in a sauna or something. Then we go out to lunch somewhere fun, hit the town and do a lot of fun things like go to the Statue of Liberty or see a play, rent a boat. Then him and I would take a nap and we'd go to a fancy, romantic dinner and we'd just talk all night until later when him and I would come back to his place. We'd sit on the couch, drink a glass of wine, and we'd just have one of those really amazing talks about great things. We'd slowly get closer to each other and he'd ask me a question about something personal, like the future, love, sex, something intimate. Things would start to get a little hazy as we just looked at each other and finally he'd kiss me, at first gently and slowly, but the passion would rise and we'd cling to each other tightly, stumbling to his room and bed. It'd get sweaty and the clothes would be thrown and then he's just doing what he's doing best and he's being so dominant and loving and passionate, face to face, and it'd be amazing and wonderful and just perfect." I sighed, disheartened because I knew no one goes on all day dates and that they don't treat people that wonderful unless they're married.

"Sounds romantic," Lafayette said.

"Yeah, I'm a hopeless romantic. Or, a sap is more like it."

He laughed. "Nonsense. Just a romantic, and not even a hopeless one. You never know. Maybe one day some guy will decide to treat you the way you want."

"Yeah, in my dreams."

"Now you really are sounding hopeless."

I laughed and sighed again, getting tired. "I'm tired. Turn off that light."

"You manage to sleep during the day with the windows open but you can't manage to sleep with the light on?"

"No."

He rolled his eyes, smirking, but turned the light off. He put his checkbook and statement aside, into a drawer for the morning and tossed the blanket over us.

"Night Lafayette."

"Goodnight Em."

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