"I'm going to be a very rich man, Daisy," he told her.
"You're already a rich man," she said, her voice flat.
"Yes, but after this deal, I won't be buying houses and cars anymore. I'll be buying hotels and skyscrapers. I'll be a real player in the fucking game!" He howled, and the table followed again. He tried to kiss her, but she turned her head just in time. He was too blitzed to notice her reactions to any of this. He just kept moving his hands all over her, causing her and I both to squirm.
He leaned in, licking her ear. She grimaced, but he held firm as she tried to move away. His hand went under the table and I stopped blinking. I couldn't see or hear or think about anything but his hand, his words, and what was going through his mind.
"Nuh-uh-uh, my darling Daisy. From now until I leave on Monday, your body is mine."
Chapter 40
Gatsby
Using the party below,and the dinner hidden upstairs as an excuse, I threw myself into cleaning up Sunday to keep me from thinking of Max's words. He and Daisy left shortly after he declared they'd be spending their last day together in bed.
She wouldn't. Would she? She told me she didn't love him, and I'd chosen to believe her. But would she break under pressure? Would she allow him to violate her body, my temple, to not arouse suspicion about us? No.
Now that she knows I’m here, ready and waiting for her, she wouldn’t do that. Not my Daisy.
I did everything I could to hide the horrible thoughts trying to force themselves on me. Normally, I never involved myself in the cleanup, but today I found myself in jeans and a band tee-shirt, tossing finger bones into the fireplace and mopping every inch of the floor with all the different cleaners I was handed by the staff who normally did this.
It was a whole process. In the extremely off chance authorities came to investigate, we couldn't let it appear that we'd mopped up blood with bleach. By the time my cleanersgave me the thumbs up, I'd been in there for six hours, and my muscles ached. I wasn't used to this kind of labor anymore. I showered, ate dinner, and went to my bedroom earlier than usual, prepared to take a sleeping pill and try again tomorrow.
Max would be leaving early in the morning. He wouldn't be returning for months, and only once he was on that fucking plane could I finally rest. But then what? What would Daisy and I do with our time?
I laid in bed, forgoing the sleeping pill to plan out our time together instead. I wanted to make up for all the time we missed. I wanted to... date.
It felt absurd to want something so innocent, but it also felt absurd to not do it. We were both still so young. Why were we acting like we were adults heading toward the ends of our lives?
We weren't like the original Daisy and Gatsby. We had time for all these good things.
I climbed out of bed, now determined to woo her. Not just claim her as mine from before. Or to seduce her into my bed. No, I wanted her to fall in love with me, the me she met all those years ago online.
I went to my office and began a list of ideas. What did an average person do for a date? Movies, dancing, dinner? All of it seemed too average, not exciting enough. I wanted to wow her. I needed to see her face lit up with excitement, not just because I was here, but for what I could give her. I needed her to see the life she could have with me.
The idea came to me over the course of the evening, and I went to bed with the plan firmly in place. The moment I woke up, I began calling.
"The price is fine," I told the man on the other line as I booked our entertainment for the evening. As soon as I was off the phone with him, I called Daisy.
"Hello," she answered, her voice calming all my nerves like sliding into a warm bath.
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?"
"Tonight? Nothing, I suppose. What are you doing tonight?"
"I am... taking you on a date." I swallowed.
"A date? What do I wear?" She giggled.
My nerves returned the moment I hung up with her, and I spent the rest of the day on edge as I finalized everything. I showered, putting on an emerald tuxedo and brushing my hair back. As I walked out the door, I grabbed the box of black roses I'd ordered earlier. Dewayne drove me around to her home, and I removed the flowers from their packaging as we reached our destination. I stepped out of the car with shaky feet, and taking a deep breath, strode up her stairs and knocked.
She answered a moment later, looking ravishing. Her black dress was strapless and framed her breasts in a heart shape. Her waist was tight, and the skirt was made from the same material her tutus were made of, tulle. It went to her ankles, revealing green heels matching my suit.
"These are for you," I offered her the roses. Her dark caramel eyes lit up as she took them from me. "I've never seen black roses in real life," she exclaimed. I stood outside while she took them in, and then she returned, a giant smile on her red lips.
"Where are we going?" she asked when we got into my car.
"The Tennant," I said.
