Page 76 of High Society

CHAPTER 38

Holly didn’t plan the appointments in any particular order, but she’s relieved that Simon is the first client to arrive for ketamine therapy since JJ’s death. If anyone in the group can handle heavier doses of psychedelics, it has to be him.

Still, Holly’s heart flutters as she slides an IV into his veiny, tattooed forearm. And her guts are knotted with guilt and worry. She feels as if she’s on the verge of betraying her grandfather’s legacy, but for the life of her, she can’t think of a way around it.

“Ah, it’s good to be back in the old recliner!” Simon bellows, and pulls the blindfold over his eyes before Holly suggests it.

Holly doesn’t even ask Simon if he minds her playing the music over the speakers instead of the usual headphones. And as she launches his perennial choice of songs from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Simon settles back in the recliner and sighs contentedly. “I’d avoid Roger Waters like the plague if I saw him at a party, but there’s no other album I’d rather trip to.”

“Are you ready, Simon?” Holly asks, realizing it’s evident he is.

“All systems check, Captain.” He guffaws. “Ready for liftoff, Ground Control.”

“Set and setting,” Holly reminds him as she slowly injects the ketamine into his arm, adding 25 percent more than his previous dose. “Go to that happy memory, Simon. Somewhere safe and warm.”

In less than a minute, a dreamy smile crosses Simon’s lips as he begins to hum along to the music.

“How are you feeling, Simon?” Holly asks.

“Awesome,” he says, sweeping his free hand toward the ceiling. “Stars and planets and moons and asteroids… I see them all. A whole galaxy. Like I’m in a goddamn planetarium.”

“Good,” she says soothingly. “Go with it.”

He breaks into song, singing along to the soundtrack.

“Simon?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel about everything that’s happened to the group?”

“Not exactly ideal, is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

His smile fades. “I can’t believe there’s another one.”

“JJ?”

“I can’t remember her name. Kyla? Maybe.”

“Kyla?”

“She came forward for the money. Just like her friend, Brianna. Fleeced me dry. Greedy bitches.”

“Simon, who is Kyla?”

“They begged to come on tour with me,” he mutters. “They crawled into my bed.”

Simon has alluded to similar accusations of sexual misconduct in the past without going into specifics. Then again, Holly has never interviewed him under the influence of ketamine before, only afterwards, during their debrief.

“I told them…” he mumbles. “I got their consent. Always do. The restraints, the gags, the chains, the hoods… they were into it. They said it was super-kinky.”

“And now they’re accusing you?”

“The second one is, yeah,” he grumbles. “Brianna already won the lottery at my expense!”

“You reached a settlement with her?”