What Can You Not Buy With Money?

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hello?” Walker’s voice brought a cascade of joy into the bleak night as I tightened my grip on Slater’s home phone. Despite the happiness I felt, he sounded downtrodden. He was still in the hospital, though he sounded as though he was breathing all right.

“Walker, hey, it’s Mary.” I bit my lip as I waited for his reply.

“Oh, hi Mary, how’s France?” I thought I heard a vindictive tone, but I decided to ignore it.

“Like a fairytale. Look, I’m sorry,” I had to stop to think up the right words. “I didn’t know that I’d be going until last minute… I should have visited you at the hospital and told Burgess to screw off—” I mouthed ‘sorry’ to Slater who was silently laughing in bemusement. “But I didn’t. Are we still friends?”

“Of course we are,” Walker’s voice made it sound matter-of-factly. “I don’t care—I get that you had more important things to deal with.” There was still a definite tone of malice that hurt, but I took it. I was far from forgiven.

“All right, how can I make it up to you?”

“You, me, the Ill Niño concert tomorrow night at nine in the venue, Soma. I’ve got an extra ticket.” I could hear the excitement and eagerness begin to return in Walker’s voice.

“Sure,” I nodded. “But… on one condition.”

“I don’t think you’ve got a say in conditions,” Walker returned to its cold hiss.

“You’re right—a favor,” I looked at Slater one final time before taking the plunge. “I’ve met Mrs. Slater, and she wants to visit you.”

Silence and then, “Madame Slater?” for clarification. Besides the discomfort in his voice, he sounded relieved. “If that’s all, it’s fine. But you’ll have to buy me dinner afterwards.”

The easiness of it all brought warm and unfamiliar relief. “Thank you,” I then gave him my best regards and promised to see him the next day.

“He was always the agreeable type. So I’ll accompany you on the flight to the States?” Slater was examining her nails and avoided my relaxed stare.

“You’ll have to speak to Mr. Burgess about that,” I cleared my throat. “So you’ll make the deal?”

“Of course,” Slater stood up and stretched. “Why don’t we pop into Ben’s room.”

“Wouldn’t he get… angry?” I grew wary that Slater would invoke the wrath of Burgess.

“It’s not like we’re interrupting any sleep,” Slater was already walking out the door. “He’s probably pacing his room and wallowing in his insufferable angst.” She quickly turned around to grab my arm with a great deal of might as she half dragged me down the hall.

Though I was being purely neurotic, I felt massive empathy for small animals as they were captured and held in captivity. Slater’s tight hand squeezed my wrist so intensely that I was sure I’d develop gangrene in seconds. She stopped in front of a door and excitedly began beating the splinters out of it.

Ben swung the door open with a face of pure hate and turmoil, his hair slightly askew. Slater was right—the bed behind him was untouched and he still wore his evening attire. He didn’t look surprised until his eyes gazed at me.

“Wha—” His eyes narrowed as he tried to muster words out of his mouth.

“Oh, shut up and shake my hand you silly boy!” Slater released her death grip from me and placed its attention upon Burgess’ right hand. After one swift shake, she let go and rested her elbow against the frame. “There, go and celebrate your victory. You will take me to San Diego tomorrow and I’ll freeze Ruse-Berra’s assets so you’ll be able to buy the majority of stocks. Consider their corporation dead. Oh," Slater bowed her head in a humble surrender, "And... the remaining issues are now your responsibility."

More astonishment and confusion exploded onto Burgess’ tired face. But it was the relief that seemed to bring the tingling discomfort in my stomach.

“Thank you,” Burgess quietly said and then looked down at me as he continued, “And good night, Madame Slater.”

“Yes, yes,” Slater crossed her arms and took a step back while prodding me forward, closer towards the man. “I’ll be turning in now—sweet dreams!” And she exited back into her room.

I stepped back to that I’d copy her, but Burgess’ hand landed on my shoulder to stop me. “We need to talk.” Burgess closed his door and locked it. I began to shy away from him as he continued to approach me. I found myself cornered, literally, and he was too close for comfort.

“What did you do?” Burgess asked as I could see shadows dancing on his face. He was so close I could see small pores on his smooth face.

“I—asked—her—to—change—her—mind.” Lust continued to taunt me and my face began to scald bloody red.

Burgess looked dissatisfied at my answer, but he let it go. “Thank you,” he murmured before giving me some space. For a split second, I thought he was going to kiss me, and I wanted him to. But instead of lips, he took a step back and held out his hand.

Though it was only a respectable handshake, there was something almost caring in the way Burgess’ eyes seemed to give off. Instead of him looking at me as though I was inferior there was a hint of admiration. I hoped this meant that the hostility between us would finally smother.

>

I awoke to the bright lights of morning caressing my skin through the laced curtains. My tongue was dry and my throat had an itch that I couldn’t cough away. When I sat up and tried to open my eyes, they were caked shut in eye sand. A slight pain was beginning to pulse through my temple.

Taking steady breaths, I left the room while rubbing my eyes.

“Mademoiselle!” A maid with a dishcloth in hand stepped away from a window she was cleaning. “La salle de déjeuner est une la gauche des escaliers. Chacun attend en bas.” She pointed to the stairs and gestured for me to go.

A fleeting thought that I was keeping everyone waiting passed by as I descended down the unfamiliar staircase. I insecurely tried brushing my fussed hair with my fingers and I turned into a large kitchen where two cooks were tussling away over the stoves.

“Mary,” Pierre was monitoring the chefs, dressed in a less formal but business appropriate suit. “Kudos to you,” he took a gracious bow with a silly grin on his face. “Our superiors are in the other room with smiles on their faces. You’ve made Madame Slater very happy.”

“Thanks…” I didn’t want to meet Burgess so soon and I pulled at my bathrobe in discomfort.

“The breakfast room is this way,” Pierre gently pushed my shoulder to guide me to a closed door.

I entered the room to see Burgess and Slater sitting at a corner of the table. Burgess no longer had the heavy circles in his eyes, showing that he had a good night's sleep for once. And as he sat so relaxed in the chair, it seemed as though he was a regular teenager. Slater mentioned something in French and he let out a merry chuckle that made my heart skip a beat. Hearing his laughter was like holding your very own baby in your arms and having him giggle for the very first time. Weird, but beautiful, you know?

“Ms. Hall,” Burgess was dressed in a new suit and I wondered how he managed to obtain one so soon. Craig and his posse never returned my clothes and all I had left that was mine was my birthday present and the Smartphone. Burgess checked his watch and avoided my imploring eyes. “We’ll be leaving in two hours back to San Diego, which our arrival time will be around four pm.”

“All right,” I sat across from Burgess and next to Slater. “So that gives us enough time for Slater to see Walker?”

“Yes.” Burgess paused as servers rushed in to provide breakfast. “But right after they have their little chat you need to hurry back to my office.”

“I can’t—” I quickly shut my mouth as I tried to think up an excuse in hopes of not stroking any envy. It was arrogance at its finest, but I was worried he'd be jealous if he knew I would ditch work for Walker. But I had another motive. I couldn’t ditch Walker this time, especially if it was for the same reason as before.

The light hearted glow in Burgess’ face darkened. “Why not?”

My mother once told me, ‘Better to speak the goddamn truth than spew shit from your mouth!’ while on a drunk escapade. Though it was vulgar there was a hidden earnest quality in the exclamation. Did I dare lie to him? No, I wouldn’t—and I wouldn’t lose my job because of it. He owed me, and I realized it.

“I promised Walker I’d go somewhere with him tonight. If I didn’t agree, then he wouldn’t meet with Madame Slater,” I threw a hopeful look at her hoping she’d back me up.

She sat back in her seat, obviously enjoying the sudden rush of conflict.

“You’ll just have to cancel.”

I shook my head and my lips were curled in disbelief. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. And, last time I checked, you work for me. And in your line of work you’re expected to let the job take over every bit of your life.”

“That’s horrible,” I softly protested. “What do you need me to do tonight that’s so important?”

Burgess paused with his face trained to keep glaring at me.

My temper grew at his silence. “Can’t think of a reason? I—” I covered my mouth in shock at the sheer idiocy and loss of self control I just displayed.

“Mary!” Slater’s eyes grew in shock and her lips grinned wickedly. She looked surprised and excited.

Burgess rose up to his feet and leaned over the table. He towered over me and I shrank in my chair.

“If you care about keeping this job, you’ll be at my office by eight tonight.”

The doors opened and Pierre came in with a binder clutched in his grasp. “Burgess, stop throwing your weight around and sit down!” Pierre quickly stood beside Burgess and tightly grabbed his shoulder. “You’re behaving like a monster. Treat your employees like that and you’ll lose their respect.”

Burgess looked at me with deadly eyes as he slowly returned to his seat.

I let out a heavy breath, stood up and quickly left the room and tried to calm my shaking self.

“Hey!” Pierre darted in front of me to block me from going any further. “It’s all right,” he tried to soothe me.

I looked behind to the door that blocked Burgess and I. “No, it’s not. He’s being so selfish.”

“Because that’s who he is. He’s a selfish guy who doesn’t think about others. But he’s not the type of guy who’s going to lay a finger on you.”

I scoffed. “He looked like he was about to hit me.”

“You know about cats, yes? That they puff out their fur when threatened? That’s what Burgess just did. You challenged him and he reacted. You should have expected that.”

“But you forget that the cat will carve your face out with its claws,” I huffed and I wondered if I should begin looking for a different job; a ride that wasn’t a rollercoaster of high pay and no freedom. “This is too much.”

Pierre paused then pulled out of his pocket a business card. “I understand that our line of work involves much time consumption and passion… something that you need to gain more experience and help from. Whenever Big Ben gives you a hard time, give me a call—say it’s for business—or leave me an email. I’m all ears.” He took my hand and nudged the laminated paper into my palm. “And I’ll give you advice. You can call collect.”

I took the card. “Thank you,” I swallowed and looked at the card.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for you. Working as a right hand of people like Burgess or Slater is almost mythical. Don’t throw it away because of the stress. And though it’s early, I think you’ll be a positive influence on Burgess.” Pierre looked to the door of the other room. “He’s a complex boy. And I don’t think a heavy hearted common lady such as yourself would risk hurting him, would you?”

“Me, hurt him?” I smirked in humor. “It’s not like I’ve become a major part of his life.”

“Au contraire,” Pierre’s accented voice was sounded richer than chocolate. “Trust me, you’re very important. He can’t do half of the work he does now without someone to keep things in order. Without you, he’d be a mess—just as Madame Slater would be without me." There was no pride in his voice, only a sad confession. “Thank you, for helping Madame Slater decide on making the deal. As colleagues, I feel you have the right to know that Slater Enterprise has noticed a steady decline after the young Terra Slater took over a large sum of the company’s stocks. With Burgess Incorporated as our new skeleton Madame Slater won’t be ruined.”

I nodded, not sure why he was telling me this.