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TORMENTED BILLIONAIRE'S TROUBLE
CHAPTER1
Elijah. Thursday
I was enjoying a perfectly good roast beef sandwich when I got a phone call that almost made me choke on it.
Coughing and sputtering, I took a swallow of my iced tea which enabled me to choke out his name as I answered. “Kane?”
“Yeah, man, it’s me,” he said. “Hey, guess what?” He was talking as if nothing had ever happened, as if there had never been any trouble at all. It was unbelievable that he could sound so carefree, but here he was, talking as if the past was just a lark.And, my day had been going so well, damnit, I thought. When Kane said, “Guess what” about anything, it was not a good sign.
“How’s it going, Kane?” I said, not really wanting to hear the answer and wishing he had lost my number.
“I’m moving back home, Elijah!” Kane announced as if it was the best news since Apple put out the iPad.
I flinched, and I tried my damnedest to hide from my voice the physical reaction I was having. Suppressing a groan at the “great news” from my old friend, all I managed to say was, “You are?”
“Sure am,” he replied, jovial as hell. “Just making my moving arrangements, and I’ll be there before you know it.”
I winced. I thought of things that “get there before you know it:” tornadoes, tsunamis, premature ejaculation. None of them were the kind of thing you really want.
“Is that right?” I said, flatly. “Well…that’s awesome.” It wasn’t really, but what else could I say?
With his familiar laugh that I used to associate with good times, but was now a reminder of things I wanted to leave in the past, he continued, “As soon as I get myself set up again, you and I ought to go out and remind Cincinnati what it’s been missing.”
I rolled my eyes. Cincinnati needed Kane and me back together the way it needed one of the aforementioned tornadoes. I scrambled in my head for a reason not to see him, but couldn’t come up with anything except,Kane, you’re bad news and I wish I could forget about everything we ever did.But, I couldn’t just come out and say that, and I cursed myself for it.
So, all I ended up telling him was, “Okay. Just let me know when you’re back. We‘ll have a drink or something.”
“Especially ‘or something,’ eh?” Kane laughed again.
The bite of my sandwich that I’d just taken tumbled in my stomach. “Right,” I said, trying to sound something like the person I used to be not so long ago, probably failing miserably. Of course, Kane was so self-absorbed, it was unlikely that he noticed.
“See you soon, buddy,” he said — which, coming from him, was more like a warning than a promise.
“Yeah, see you soon,” I replied, with a numbness that I was sure Kane wouldn’t notice. Ending the call was the only thing that made me feel anything like relief.
I put down my phone, put my elbows on my desk, and put my face in my hands. It wasn’t just my day that was going well up until this phone call — it was my life. I had started over and was starting to make everything better than it had been, including myself. I’d been feeling like a new and better person than the guy I once was. I honestly believed I’d made a break with the past.
And then, Kane called and showed me that the past wasn’t quite done with me. My heart sank.He was actually moving back to Cincinnati, I thought.What the hell could I do?
Part of the change in my life was that I was now very successful in business, in a way that a lot of people would envy. I’d worked damn hard to get where I was. I lacked for nothing, wanted nothing except to make myself a new path in life, had more money than I could ever spend. They say money doesn’t buy happiness, and that may be true. But itdoesbuy possibilities, choices, and options. I seriously entertained the option of paying Kanenotto settle in Cincinnati again.
How much money would it take, I wondered,to persuade him to restart his life somewhere else?I was even willing to buy out his new lease with his landlord, wherever he was going to be living. It would be a drop in the bucket for me and would go towards my peace of mind.
But, what would Kane think of a proposal like that?I pictured his reaction. I saw a sour, wounded, insulted look coming over his face. Coming from Kane, that expression would be painful to look at.
Kane reminded me a lot of the character Eddie Haskell, the friend of the older brother, Wally, in the old sitcomLeave it to Beaver. Eddie Haskell acted like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth when he was in the presence of someone’s parents, but when there weren’t any authority figures around, he was surly and disrespectful of everything, and was basically trouble waiting to happen. Kane was the “Eddie Haskell” of my life, and much of the trouble he’d gotten himself into, he’d gotten me into along with him.
I could imagine him taking my offer like an insult or a rejection from a brother. I could see him acting stung to the heart and making me want to squirm with guilt from suggesting such a thing. And, I wouldn’t put it past Kane to want to put the emotional screws to me for trying to buy him off.
But, the question remained…could I talk him into it?
The reason I wanted him not to be here also happened to be the reason he might take the offer. The guy had no principles, no scruples, no standards, except for whatever he thought was good for him. That was why I needed to get away from him and build another life — a different life from that of the guy who had been friends with Kane.Could I count on his self-absorption and lack of principles to be the way to get rid of him so I could have my new life in peace?
I didn’t know. But at this moment, the roast beef with Swiss, baby spinach, and horseradish, side of fries and bottle of iced tea on my desk, the stack of work lying near them — all of which would ordinarily have filled me with pleasure and satisfaction under any other circumstances — were not that appealing after the unwelcome surprise of hearing from Kane. I was going to need something else to make me feel better now.
Sticking the uneaten part of my lunch in my office mini-fridge, I went for my coat and headed for the door.