Love Is Only an Illusion

The moment Sutton and Jack entered the apartment, they realized the arguing had ceased, but the interrogation was about to begin.

“Where the hell have you been?” Henley exclaimed, jumping up from the chair and running toward Sutton. Sutton cringed as her cousin’s perfume engulfed her nostrils in the trapped hug.

“Your mother and I were worried sick!” Merritt added, placing his hands on his hips.

Henley rolled her eyes as Jack said, “Just picturing that is making me nauseous.” He held his stomach as he groaned.

“Sorry, Dad,” Sutton laughed, escaping Henley’s hold. “Jack and I were annoyed with the three of your arguing.”

“Speaking of three, where’s Danny?” Jack questioned.

“He locked himself in Sutton room,” Henley mumbled.

Sutton’s eyes grew. “My room? Of all places?” Merritt and Henley nodded. “Why not yours?”

“Did you really need to go there?” Henley cringed.

Sutton rolled her eyes. “I guess I’ll need to kick him out.”

Henley snorted. “Yeah, right. Like you have a bad bone in your body. The best thing you can do is call someone names.”

Sutton sent her daggers as she traveled to her room. Turning the knob, she slowly pushed the wooden object, peaking through the crack slightly. Danny was set comfortably on Sutton’s messy bed in between the many pillows. His laptop was open, entrapping him in the plan, which no one but him has seen fully.

Clearing her throat, Sutton entered her room. Danny jumped slightly, noticing her presence.

“Geez, Sutton,” Danny responded, placing his hand on his chest. “Do you really want to give me a heart attack?”

“I’d love to, Atlas, but I don’t think I need the police here.” Sutton mentally patted herself on the back for that one as she closed the door.

Danny shook his head at her attempt and drew his attention back to the lit screen. Knowing she wasn’t getting anywhere with him, Sutton curled herself up on her bed beside him. Danny stiffened slightly at her closeness, but barely skipped a beat as he continued to scroll through the plan.

After a few minutes, Danny mumbled, “They want us to rob Arthur Tressler.”

“’They’ who?”

“They, them, it, whatever gave us these plans,” he stuttered, annoyed with her inability to comprehend his comment.

Sutton brushed his annoyance off. “Who’s Arthur Tressler?”

Danny pulled up a webpage with the name “Tressler Insurance” at the top. The main heading read, “Founder: Arthur Tressler” which was followed by a biography and a picture. From what was written, he sounded normal. However, Sutton’s opinion changed quickly as Danny said, “Whoever gave us the plans points out that he stole from thousands, including the victims of Hurricane Katrina.”

Sutton took her opinion of Tressler back. Anyone who stole from the helpless didn’t deserve to be memorialized. She whispered a profane word at the awful man.

Danny chuckled. “Did you expect him to be a saint?”

“Not exactly,” Sutton admitted. “Come on, Atlas. Let’s go out with the others.” Sutton rose from the bed and walked toward the door, Danny following closely behind.

“About time,” Merritt exclaimed, sitting up on the couch.

“What the hell did you do to her, Danny?” Henley yelled, getting close to the frightened man’s face.

“I-I-I did nothing,” he explained, looking at Sutton for help.

Sutton sighed, sitting down at the table. “He was telling me what he found out from the plan.” Jack and Merritt stood and made their way over to the table to hear more. “We need to rob Arthur Tressler.”

“He stole from thousands,” Danny continued. “The guy literally has no soul.”

“Oh, then you’ll have something to discuss over coffee,” Merritt joked. All laughed except Danny, who scowled at the mentalist’s joke.

“It looks like they want us to steal the money, and return it to those it belongs to,” Sutton explained.

“Wait a second,” Merritt interrupted. “Whoever this is wants us to steal from the rich, and give to the poor? Like a Robin Hood effect?”

“In essence, yes,” Sutton agreed.

“Count me in! Maybe next we go after my thief of a brother.”

Sutton giggled as Danny added, “We’ll need to trick Tressler into agreeing to be our benefactor before the plan can go into full swing.”

“That’s easy,” Henley said, placing her hands behind her head and pushing her chair back onto its back legs. “Sutton and I will just need to dress in tight dresses and we’ll be right in.”

“I doubt that is appropriate,” Sutton and Danny said in unison. The other three stared at them as they tried to brush off the awkwardness.

“Anyway,” Henley broke the silence, “I’m sure if we go to his insurance company’s website, we will be able to find out where he will be.”

“The girl’s right,” Jack confirmed, turning Sutton’s laptop around to face the group. Sutton grimaced at him as if to ask, “How did you get that?” Jack smirked. “He’ll be at The Met Gala next month with his wife Jasmine who is part of the committee.” He rolled his eye. “I am so not buying a suit for this.”

“Well, you aren’t going, so you won’t need a suit,” Danny reassured.

“Excuse me?” Merritt blurted. “Do you expect us to believe that you’ll go in there by yourself and actually get a deal with Tressler?”

“Of course.”

The other four looked at one another and burst into laughter.

“You cannot be serious!” Henley laughed. “You need someone to keep your big head from inflating.”

“Fine,” Danny huffed. “Do you want to go?” he asked Henley.

“With you?” Jack asked.

“She’ll kill you,” Merritt confirmed. “Take Sutton.”

Sutton’s eyes grew wide. “I-I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Oh, come on, Sutton,” her cousin smiled. “When was the last time you got dressed up?”

Sutton sat and thought about it. “Prom,” she whispered.

“Prom?” Danny, Merritt, and Jack exclaimed.

“You mean to tell me a beautiful girl like you hasn’t put on a dress since prom?” Merritt asked. “What was that, two years ago?”

“Six,” Sutton mumbled.

“Six? Oh my, woman, go with the jackass and have some fun.”

Sutton looked up at Danny through her eyelashes. He was flipping a playing card between his fingers, deep in thought. She watched as his jaw clenched and unclenched, his facial features becoming more prominent with each clench, causing something deep within her to turn.

Henley huffed at her cousin’s unwillingness to agree. “Danny?”

He unclenched his jaw. “If it’s okay with Sutton.”

Sutton was about to respond when Henley squealed, “She’ll do it!”

“Kill me,” Sutton mumbled.