Sadie’s face pinches at the sound of her name, and I hate that as much as I loathe her voice. “Sorry, Mr. Archer,” she calls out as I turn my back without bothering to respond, leaving to walk the length of City Hall to the Mayor’s office for our meeting.
Dan Hawthorne sits in an overly large leather chair, with reading glasses perched on the end of his nose staring at his computer as I barge in.
“Eyes messing with you old man?” I joke, slipping into the seat across from him.
“Just you wait, you're only a year younger than me. One morning you’ll wake up and realize you can’t see a damn thing unless you hold it a foot from your face.” He pulls the glasses off his face and tosses them onto the desk. “Do you have the report?” he asks, holding out one hand and scrubbing the other down his face.
I drop the packet in his waiting palm and then flip mine open to the first page. Dan mimics my movement, and without missing a beat, we dive into the new policies being implemented in Cupid come February first. A standard meeting of a long list of never ending appointments.
One look at my work calendar would send most people into a spiral until they quit on the spot. Somedays that exact thought crosses my mind too, but it’s nothing compared to the responsibility of being CEO at Archer Enterprises, so I make do. And it was either City Manager in Cupid, or running one of the non-profits in the Midwest, and I can’t bring myself to fall that low quite yet.
Like clockwork, we’re done within the hour. “The report was well done, did Sadie put it together?” Dan asks out of nowhere, setting off an internal bell. Since I’ve been back, he’s brought up Sadie more than anyone else at City Hall. I’ve gone through three secretaries, and not once did Dan ever bring them up in conversation. I’m not sure he even knew their names.
A disapproving grunt came from my chest. “No, it wasn’t Sadie. Also where did you even find that girl? All her lights are on, but no one's home.”
Dan barks out a laugh, shaking his head as he gathers up his briefcase and computer bag. “She’s the daughter of oneof Sherry’s friends from the club. Her father is big in real estate development.”
“Real estate?”
He hums in response.
One thing about Dan is nothing is done by accident. He’s brilliant, but lazy, which is why he never left Cupid. Cupid is as small as it gets, leaving Dan the biggest fish. A big fish that’s been talking a whole lot about plans for the outskirts of town since I showed up.
“I also knew she ticked off a couple of your boxes so I thought it would’ve been a good match.” A downfall of the mayor being one of my longest friends is he thinks he knows me.
“Well you thought wrong, and you have no idea what I even go for. So please for the love of God, don’t try and set me up again.”
He stands from his desk, powering off his computer. “Oh, I know your type. Young, hot, tits big enough to drown in, does that sound about right?”
Okay, maybe he does know, but it feels strange coming out of his mouth when there’s a particular woman in this building who fits that description and it sure as fuck isn’t Sadie.
I shift uncomfortably on my feet before following him out of his office.
“Come on, man, you’ve been single for how many years? Why not give her a chance?” he says before lowering his voice “It’s got to be better than paying for it.”
“I don’t pay for sex, dick.”
He halts me with a look. “You don’t belong to Midnights?”
I don’t answer.
“Exactly. You’re sitting on a fucking fortune, I’ll never understand why you pay to belong to a club when you can get any woman you want.”
I’m not about to stand around and spell out all my kinks for him, but I have reasons. For one, I pay a membership fee because once I’m inside those doors, my fortune has nothing to do with why women are with me. Most of the time, at least.
“Have a good night, Archer. And don’t work too hard, it's not like you’ll get a raise and we both know you don't need it.”
“I won’t,” I call after him and watch as he walks out of the glass front doors as a desolate winter sky blocks any sliver of sun. January is cruel but what’s worse is being heir to an almost billion dollar company, losing your position, only to be exiled somewhere you never wanted to come back to so you can’t cause problems.
Cupid’s small, so small that someone with my…proclivities would have a hell of time finding the right outlet. Women here only seem to want the same thing—a husband, two-point-five kids, and a golden retriever. Then I showed up, and all the unwed women ages nineteen to twenty-four seem to be everywhere I go with dollar signs in their eyes when they look at me.
Luckily, Midnights is situated between my last penthouse residence in the Bay Area and my much less conspicuous house on the outskirts of Cupid, so continuing my membership was an easy decision. It’s far enough away and the monthly fee is more than the median household income here, so it’s doubtful I’d run into anyone I know at the club.
Even if my schedule only opened up to where I go every few weeks it’s still better than nothing. I have an outlet, and none of the women expect me to call afterwards.
My phone chimes and as I reach for it in my pocket I turn and head back to my office. The mayor might be able to leave at the same decent time every day but that’s a life I know nothing about.
As if she has a direct line to my thoughts, Maxine's name pops up with a message.
