“You paint a compelling argument,” Riley whispered. “Will I have a studio?”
“I know just the room already,” I thought wistfully. “On the west side of the house, with a great glass ceiling, where the sunlight catches just right no matter if you work at noon or sunset. The oranges and yellows of the horizon are so beautiful there, and you’ll have enough space for a small gallery in that room alone… and a raised platform for your work.”
“It sounds very beautiful,” Riley murmured, closing her eyes to picture it. “Are there any closets?”
“Several,” I answered, “clustered near the raised flooring. There’s plenty of shelving, several bookcases… and ample light. You can store absolutely anything that you need, and if it’s somehow not enough… I can always call out my contractors to install more space for you. Anything that you need.”
“You actually mean that, don’t you, Lex?”
“Absolutely.”
Riley considered this carefully, her fingertips still stroking along my bare skin.
“Can my friends come to visit sometimes?”
“I see absolutely no reason why not.”
She turned her face one last time, regarding me cautiously and carefully.
“Why me?” Riley finally asked.
I smiled. Answering that question something that didn’t require even the slightest ounce of brainpower… because I’d known the right response for a while now.
“Because you’re not like the others Riley… Your art… Your mind… The way you make me feel when I see you… I’m always left wanting more.”
“That’s a nice little speech there,” she chuckled. “Kind of convincing, too. Have you always been this silver-tongued?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about this.”
Riley seemed to accept that reply.
“You realize, of course,” she told me, “that in order for me to join you back abroad… I can’t just be your partner, or your girlfriend, or your friend with benefits. I need my art, Lex, and I won’t give up my business. Getting a work visa in the UK is nearly impossible. Even money can’t cut through all the red tape. It might be years before I can get the necessary paperwork, and the damage that would do… I can’t pursue my work there unless…”
“Unless you were my wife.”
“It’s not going to be that easy. I expect more from people who are asking me to make that plunge with them. You’re going to have to propose your ass off if you want any remote chance that I’ll agree to something this crazy. I barely know you Lex.”
“You could look me up, if you really wanted to,” I said quietly. It was all there online… My checkered history… My indiscretions…
“I guess I was just enjoying the surprises… A part of me didn’t want to know who you are,” she replied quietly.
“If you won’t look, let me tell you the most important thing.”
A faint, deviant smile crossed her lips.
“I love you, Riley.”
Riley
A couple of blissful afternoons later came the day that things finally came crashing down with Lex. Unaware of the things to come, I wandered into Connor’s record store with Reiko by my side, ready to answer a strange text message to drop by.
He was busy running some paperwork in the back, so Reiko and I perused some of the records. Even if he had a misguided jealousy complex, I couldn’t ignore the fact that Connor had extremely great tastes when it came to music.
Probably why he drew so much of the local talent… and the bigger names that passed through town, playing their venues. More than one legendary secret show had happened within the basement beneath this record store.
When Connor finally popped out from the back, his eyes immediately zeroed in on me. He called his assistant over and waved his hands around animatedly, clearly telling her off under his breath.
I could imagine why, although it didn’t please me that he was so hard on her. She was helping other customers, after all.
She looked absolutely downtrodden as she returned to help a pair of punks check out some vintage material. Meanwhile, Connor waved us both over, and we followed him towards the back of the store.
Passing through the beaded curtain along the doorway behind the counter, he guided us past a couple of storage rooms and to his main office. We leaned against the wall, avoiding the various tables that were buried under spare record sheaths and mountains of paperwork, while Connor slipped around the back of his small, beaten desk.
“What kind of favor did you need?” I asked him, crossing my arms.
“Actually, I just said that to get you to come over, although I was kind of hoping that we’d be… alone…” he glanced over at Reiko guiltily.
She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Why’s that, Connor?” I demanded, just waiting on him to fuck this up. What he did next… I could never have seen coming.
“So, I looked into this Lex of yours,” he started, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“You don’t have to say anything Connor. I already know he’s wealthy…”
“Wealthy is part of it… He’s a goddamned celebrity.”
“A celebrity?” I asked, my curiosity piquing.
“Yeah… he’s a huge deal in England, actually. He’s not just any soccer player, he’s basically the soccer player… captain of what they call the National team, sort of a football super-group that represents the entire country in the international World Cup Series.”
“Oh shit, seriously?” Reiko chimed in. “That’s wicked cool!” She elbowed me lightly in the ribs, a massive smile across her face. “What a fucking catch, girl!”
“I knew he played… But… The World Cup? Are you sure about this?” I asked, pensively.
“Yeah. He’s been playing with them for a couple of years now. Before then, he was in some of the major teams, so he’s what you might think of as a national icon. The audiences love him. He’s one of the best players in the world… handsome, charming… and absolutely great with the fans.”
“So, why do you care?” Reiko asked, tilting her head. “We all know that you’ve been pissed off about this guy for a few weeks… have you finally come around, or what?”
Connor’s face darkened.
“No, actually, becaus
e there’s more to it.”
“What, is he a fucking astronaut, too?” Reiko chuckled. “Does he play that sport on the goddamn moon?”
“No,” Connor gravely answered. “He stays relevant to pop culture for his skills, his charm… and his reputation.”
“What kind of reputation?” I asked.
Before he could respond, I was already dreading the answer. My stomach began to turn as he quietly hid the fact that he was relishing this fucking moment… that meant that, whatever I was about to learn?
It was going to be bad.
Really bad.
“Instead of telling you, I should probably just show you,” Connor replied carefully, reaching for a nearby manila folder. He scattered a couple of sheets off of it, retrieving it from a nearby pile of documents, and unsheathed a stapled stack of papers before handing them to me.
As I glanced down at what I was seeing, my blood began to completely boil.
Each page was a different printout of a British tabloid cover or interior article. On every page, there was a large snapshot of Lex Lambert in a compromising position, with a sensationalist headline that put his exploits front and center:
Lightning Lex Caught with Innocent Starlet!
Lambert Throws Destructive Hotel Orgy!
Lightning Strikes Again! Now with Two Co-eds!
Lightning Lambert’s Beach Sex-capades!
Lex’s New Record: One Night, Five Dancers!
I flipped through page after page of his sexual exploits, each one more ridiculous than the last. Paparazzi shots with tasteful blurring adorned the package of files that Connor had handed me, and I could barely make it two-thirds through before I just skimmed the rest and sank to the floor.
The two of them remained silent.
Reiko took the folder from my quaking hands and skimmed through the pages, and then sighed as she set it down beside my ankle.
“Well… I guess nobody’s perfect,” she mumbled. “I’m really sorry, Riley.”