What Can You Not Buy With Money?

“Why don’t we go out tonight?” Burgess was on his laptop in his office, typing away with his reading glasses about to fall off the tip of his handsome nose. He seemed immersed in his work, yet he continued, “I’m thinking Italian.”

“Oh,” I bit my lip and shrugged as I tried to lay down the truth as gently as possible. “I’ve got this movie night I’m going to after work... with Lucy, Walker, and Vern.”

Burgess looked up from the monitor, taking off his glasses as he coldly stared at me, his face full of arrogance. “Break it.”

“No,” I shook my head, making sure I remained firm. “I promised them I’d go. Lucy just bought a rare Nightmare on Elm Street DVD and Walker’s cooking…”

Burgess’ eyes flashed at the mentioning of Walker. He commented, “He’s a decent cook.”

Cringing, I curtly nodded but I could feel the dust in the air—Burgess was being that intense and unsettling demon that caused shivers to run down my spine.

“Fine. I’ll come along then.”

My radar exploded at that moment. Imagine a scene where shattered glass was flung all around while electricity crackled violently and with such power that you could smell the energy surge in the atmosphere. I was terrified of the idea of blending my romance life with my friendship life. Those two worlds had to remain separate.

“What’s with that look?” Burgess raised an eyebrow, amused but at the same time disgruntled.

“Why would you want to go? You hate Walker.” Selfish as I was, I was just making up excuses for him not to go. But then I realized he must have been lonely, and he just wanted to spend some time with me. “But…”

“I’ll behave,” Burgess smirked. “Far better than your friends.”

“If you’re going to hang with them, you’re going to have to be nice to them,” I scolded as I went to bat his shoulder playfully. Despite not getting what I wanted, I was glad he was interested in the other parts of my life. It made our relationship seem that much more structured and secure.

Besides, it wasn’t like the world was going to end.

>

“Hey,” I came in with Burgess behind me. My legs were trembling secretly in my pants but, thankfully, my hands were strong as I waved at the group.

“Mary,” Lucy smiled as she had two bottles of beer in each hand. “Thank God it’s Friday.” With the little quote out of her lips, she handed me a beer but paused with a frown of disbelief at my guest. “And what the hell is he doing here?”

“I never resist a Freddy Krueger film.” Burgess smiled through bright white teeth as he took a beer from Lucy’s hands confidently and strolled passed her.

Letting out a breath of relief, for Burgess hadn’t thrown any biting words around, I pulled my hair back and shrugged half-heartedly. “Ben wanted to come. He promised he’d be good.”

“Alright,” Lucy sounded skeptical and almost disappointed. “But the only problem is… Vern and I are going to probably be sucking face. And if you and the rich guy’s here to do the same… won’t that make Walker a fifth wheel?”

I joined in the frowning match as I nodded. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that.” But I decided that I wasn’t going to partake in anything risqué or overly affectionate toward Burgess. This was strictly a friend get together—not an orgy. Quickly, I started back into attention. “Is Walker in the kitchen? I smell something good.”

Lucy nodded as she handed me the remaining beer. “Yeah, why don’t you go help him? We’ll keep your boyfriend entertained. Heh,” Lucy had a mischievious grin as she quickly turned on her heel toward the living area. “Oh, Vern? I need a word with you.”

I darted into the kitchen, just in time to see Walker pull out a giant pot from the oven, his hands protected by large Pokémon oven mitts. He looked adorable, serving food with a delicate smile on his face. “Need help?”

“That’d be great,” Walker was busy at work, his hair pulled back in a messy ponytail as he couldn’t take his eyes off of the cuisine. He muttered without raising his eyes, “Could you get the—”

“Mary,” Burgess opened the kitchen door, his voice echoing off the linoleum like a cruel chord, “Do you have anything… not cheap to drink? Everything tastes foul.”

Walker’s head twisted like a flash of lightning at the intruder, his blushed face now stone cold. “What is he doing here?” Walker quietly asked, his tone so dangerous that I thought I’d die of the lethal venom in his sound waves.

“He wanted to come, so I brought him along.”

Walker’s eyes darkened, his frown deepening. “I’m not spending tonight stuck with him.”

“No one’s forcing you to stay,” Burgess held the door open to wait for him to leave.

“Fine. Enjoy the meal,” Walker tore off his mitts and threw them on the counter as he stomped off.

“Wait, Walker!” I called out as I ran to prevent him to leave. Already I felt my heart beginning to thud painfully at the fear that our companionship would be ruined.

“Leave him alone,” Burgess grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

“No, you stay here Ben. Understand?” I pointed to the ground as though ordering a dog, but I was too impassioned and desperate to care. I forced myself free from Burgess’ grip and quickly ran out of the condo after Walker. “Wait!”

“Forget it. I’m not in the mood for horror movies right now, anyways.” Walker shrugged off as he was unlocking the door to his apartment.

“I’m sorry,” I softly added and my face was contorted with remorse at letting Burgess come. I should have put my foot down and said no to him but instead of avoiding getting one man angry I just hurt the other.

Walker stopped fiddling with the door, took a deep breath, and exhaled. “You know why I always look forward to our movie nights?”

I paid attention and shrugged so he would answer his own question.

“Because it’s one of the few moments we ever spend time together.” Walker’s eyes moved as his head bobbed in frustration. “We’re always working, and since you spend all your free time with him it just makes it harder to see you. And I miss you.”

I cocked my head to the side and I timidly broke apart his words. “…You’re jealous?”

“Yeah. But it’s not…” Walker paused, as though he had cotton in his throat. “I… forget it.” He looked back to his door and opened it, staring dully at the darkness of his home.

Saddened, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his slender shoulders as tenderly as I could. I rested my chin on one of them and squeezed him gently. “Walker, you’re one of my best friends.”

“Yeah, I know.” He muttered this, almost as though he didn’t want to be friends at all. I was hurt at his tone, but I closed my eyes and kept squeezing his thin form. He joined in, hugging me while rubbing my back. “You’re the most important person to me.”

All the stressful pain that stung my heart evaporated and turned to a soft mist of joy. “I’m glad.” I pulled away, looking back at him with a wide smile. “Hey, how about tomorrow I treat you to a movie? I heard Avatar is the next biggest film since Titanic.”

“I’d like that a lot.” Walker grinned back and sheepishly added, “Sorry about acting out like that. I'm on my period.”

“Don’t worry about it, same here.” I took his arm and turned to lead him back into the small party. I stopped when I saw Burgess in the hallway with his arms crossed. From afar, he looked haunting and the frown on his lips filled me with dread and worry.