Rich Man

“Eidetic memory.” The word rolled off my tongue as Lex and I took our coupled seats. For the night it would be Avery who would find herself alone and close to the glass. This allowed for the perfect opportunity to speak to Lex without having to worry about a third party. Only so far the conversation was angled toward her questions of me rather than my own of Blake. “It’s the medical term for photographic memory,” I explained. “It’s one of the reasons I’m so far and beyond the usual shrink, to put it simply.”

Nodding, she eyed me with caution. “So you remember like every detail of every day? And you can retain all of that information?”

“Yup. Exactly.”

Her view was angled to the puck drop, though it was soiled by something; a thought perhaps. This thought splayed an ache of longing across her features that I couldn’t quite identify yet was determined to pick apart. As always, that beastly competitor within my being rattled the cages of my mind. It was desperate for triumph, desperate to break the bonds of stealth and run rampant through this group’s lives. It wanted to openly tear them apart for information; to outwardly ask them the most prying questions all the while expecting truthful answer.

Its questions were the ones I always used. It was my methods that gave them answers.

Lex shifted in her seat, yelling what I picked up to be a half-hearted cheer. She was distracted by something, clearly mental, that I was convinced I had triggered. “Is there something wrong?” I asked simply, letting the inhuman side of my mind work its course. Like a machine, the cogs of my mind turned and paid no mind to anything else.

“It’s nothing… I’m just… A bit worried is all. You haven’t been able to meet Tera yet. She’s like afraid of you or something for some reason. I don’t know,” she instantaneously sent from quick staring at the moving figures on the ice to snapping at me urgently, “You have to meet her, Ray. You have to!”

“Relax, Lex… I’ll meet her with time. Everything is going to be alright. You need to have more faith,” I reassured the best I could. Still, there was something wrong. It may not have been that she was hiding something from me; she wasn’t that stupid. “What’s gotten into you?” I asked a tad quieter now that the play was under way. The crowd moaned and groaned as a penalty was called to Looch, but at the same time I wasn’t surprised. The replay showed a clear embellishment on the other man’s part. Wow, what ever happened to sportsmanship?

“Last night I spent the majority of my time in Blake’s room,” she almost squeaked out. There was confusion in her eyes; nervousness enough to make her appear almost sick. “He was talking about how he thinks that Tera could be playing him and he’s so sad… But at the same time, he should know by now that their relationship isn’t going to last! I’ve told him that a thousand and one times, but it’s like he refuses to see it. It just pisses me off to see my best friend in the world so torn up over her when we both know this isn’t going to end well.”

Nodding, I breathed a heavy sigh. “I told you from the get-go that I would see to it that he falls in love with her. I know that the deal itself has shifted so much since then. I’m going to do my best to fix this; to fix everyone’s issues here.”

Lex stared at me now, “But I can’t pay you for-“

“No,” I interjected, “This one is on me. Forget the fees, forget the payment. I don’t even want the money anymore to be honest. Look, last night, laying with Patrice, I got to thinking. I’ve worked so many people and a good handful of full groups, but I’ve never come across one quite like yours. You all practically live together, you care about each other like a family, and you’ve made me feel like I have one.”

Don’t ever let her realize that you’re second guessing yourself. You want this for yourself, not the money. Do this right then leave. Once you’re done, you’re already going to have done enough Damage to Patrice and Milan anyway. My mind was screaming at me. And to be honest, I was letting it. The entire plane ride, writing in my journal, all I could think about was Patrice and Milan. When I aimed to fix them, aimed to make them a stronger pair, I disregarded the idea that both of them could like me at the same time. A dark fear birthed at the pit of my stomach, one that I was slowly coming to realize: Instead of repairing the group with the intention of leaving like nothing happened, I was growing attached.

I was quickly becoming emotionally compromised.

Lex grinned at my shy statement and patted my shoulder. “I know you’re supposed to be like all hit and run with this assignment mission thing of yours, but we really do like you. Is there any way you think you can stay with us when you get Blake to come out with it?”

“So you do want him to tell everyone?” I questioned.

Inhaling, she nodded. “Yeah, I really think it would be best for him. He needs to choose between the secret girl and the boys… I guess Matt got really pissed at him right before we left. I never told you because Avery was with us like twenty-four-seven. Anyway, she told me that Matt got into this shouting match with him over ditching the group all the time and mysteriously disappearing at events. When Blake wouldn’t give a good reason as to why, Matt blew up. He never blows up, Ray… I’m really worried. He needs to either end it or just tell everyone…”

“You’re anxious,” I stated firmly. “You’d be surprised what your group can take. The support system is unbelievable.” There was a moment of hesitation during which my eyes focused on center ice, away from the ongoing play. My hand subconsciously rose to the locket dangling loosely around my neck. Stroking the smooth metal design, my fingers rose and fell away from the trinket delicately.

-

Postgame arrived almost too quickly. I had taken a cab back to the hotel along with the two other girls, where we all changed for an evening out. Seeing as my previous experience with the club didn’t go so well, we decided to break off into groups. One group would hit the club while the other would go grab a bite to eat and have a night in at the hotel swimming pool.

My group, obviously in store for some [hopefully] G-rated wet fun, went out for barbeque and came back about an hour later. Lucky for us, the pool was open twenty-four-seven because “an hour later” meant around eleven-thirty. I was graced with the presence of Blake, Lex, Patrice, Milan, Marc Savard, David Krejci, and Vlad Sobotka. To say the least, it was an entertaining mix.

While Blake and Milan proceeded to throw Savvy into the pool, Vlad and David started a splashing fight with two girls who were already relaxing in the water when we stormed in. I, on the other hand, joined Lex in soaking in the jacuzzi like normal human beings.

That was never meant to last long.

“Hey, ladies,” Milan hissed, sneaking up right behind me from the water. I nearly snapped my neck turning to face him and flying to the opposite side of the little oval connected to the big pool. The man laughed and hoisted himself out of the cold water and into the warm.

My brain nearly turned to mush the second he was waist-high above the water. His muscles tensed and flexed with the falling water droplets, scared of his brute strength no doubt. I sank a little more into the water and closed my eyes, trying not to focus on how huge his thighs were and how his biceps were practically the size of my face. However, in my attempt to think clean thoughts came another. I had to clear my throat and train my eyes on Lex before asking, “Hey guys, where’s Patrice?”

The woman lifted her finger out of the water and pointed to the ceiling. She then made a spinning motion with her index finger. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I looked up instead of around. Patrice had knelt down right over me with a crooked grin on his face, parallel to mine. At first I stared back dumbly. My mind hadn’t caught up to the fact that he was so close, that he was staring at me and that I looked like a complete idiot. That was, not until he had chuckled and slipped into the jet-rocked water directly at my side.

Soon Savvy had joined us as well as the other two quiet dorks. Blake had plopped right in across from Lex, Patrice and I and between the two Czechs to break up their foreign language gossiping. “This is the life, right?” he commented smoothly and let his head lull back. The jets seemed to kick up as if on cue, clouding the water white with bubbles.

That machine in my mind began working once more as a small splash from my side shot Blake’s eyes open. He retaliated immediately, flailing a wave of water at Lex, who stood up and fired back until everyone was in a splashing uproar. Milan had cleared the hot tub almost seconds later and began bombarding us all with freezing water. Before I knew it, I was ducking under the warmth of the hot tub to stay free of the spastic battle around me.

A tap to my shoulder disrupted a small thought that was being pieced together in my mind. Instead a childish impulse in me took over and I snapped my head to the side. Patrice was beside me under the power of the jets, examining me sideways with a playful grin. My heart thudded against my chest. His eyes were so serene in the artificial aquatic lighting. I wanted to get closer to him, to feel that grin of his under the weight of my lips.

And that absolutely terrified me.

I shot out of the water at almost inhuman speed, leaving him to watch my form dive into the larger pool to join the splash battle. The second the cold water hit my skin, I felt my fears melt away and my mind awaken. It was out of physical discomfort that the gears of my mind began turning and I sought out the latest focus of my thoughts. Only, the second I spotted them, I found myself in an extremely awkward position.

I had been weightless, fully submersed under the water when Milan swam up behind me and took my knees in his hands. He then hoisted me up on his shoulders and out into the warm air of the indoor facility. “You have to be kidding me!” I nearly screamed, holding onto the man for dear life.

“Come on, Ray! Live a li-” was all he could reply before a shove I took from behind left him stumbling forward. I looked over my shoulder as Blake bobbed toward the two of us with Lex on his shoulders.

-

The chicken battle hadn’t lasted long at all. Savvy and David tripped up Milan and Blake at the same time, which resulted in something of a tie game. No one really dwelled on the fact; we all simply declared that one thirty in the morning was a good time to head up to the room for a movie and room service.

A thought sparked an electric chain of suspicion in my mind as everyone claimed a spot on one of the two beds in the room. I sat upright against the headboard and rested my hands on the pillow in my lap. It was no surprise when Patrice eagerly claimed the spot directly next to me. However, that mattered not because of the spectacle I was witnessing.

The way she watches him so closely; the way she smiles at almost everything he says…

Something about the movie made everyone in the room jump. I hadn’t caught it, but what I had caught was a set of fingers on the bed to my right interlocking snugly together. And no one would have caught it in the way I was thinking because they all thought that it was real. Yet what it was a charade that had been added on for all to see. The charade that once protected Blake was now only a charade to him.

It’s not acting.

Lex actually loves Blake.