Gathering of Flowers: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: New Beginnings, New Problems

Michael was not exactly a heavy smoker, but today he could not help himself as he endured the long, legal banter between his father, the lawyer, and the consigliere. The other men, except for a few of Fat Tony’s bodyguards, had been dismissed for the day. He glanced across the table through the cigar smoke, where his future “wife” remained calmly seated as the lawyer started to ask her questions, to which she gave equally-as-calm answers. Something about receiving money up-front. Brother and sister in jail over drug dealing? Michael barely remembered the baby Simpson, but he was mildly interested in what had happened to the older brother. Guess Bart Simpson did live up to his “badboy-wannabe” lifestyle ...

Then suddenly, all eyes were on him. The lawyer had asked Michael a question, but he had not heard a single word. Would he be so kind as to repeat it?

“Michael S. D’Amico, by signing this document, you are hereby agreeing to the following terms and conditions.  Are you of sound mind and body?”

He slowly nodded. “Yes.”

“Section One. ‘Terms’. You agree to stay married for a minimum of one fiscal year before…”

As if he didn’t know how to read. Michael sat back and let his mind wander as the lawyer recited the document to him. As subtle as the tobacco crept up inside him, he started to think back to what had happened earlier in the day.

“What are you doing here?” she asked rather unexpectedly. It was a little strange ... why should she be so surprised he showed up at her door?

Michael shrugged it off and pushed his way inside. “I know you said you’d call later…but I couldn’t wait. Do you have a minute?” He sounded nervous.

Jessica closed the door and turned around with an air of mild annoyance. “You want to sit down for a bit?” she replied with an air of resignation.

But Michael continued to pace around restlessly. “My dad is trying to break us up again. I’ve had enough of his bullshit.” After a long inhale, he spoke again. “Let’s run away together.”

“What?” Jessica was justifiably confused by this sudden proposal. She studied him closely to see if he was joking.

He lit a cigarette. “My dad basically wants to disown me for being in love with you. I don’t know why. And I don’t care. I don’t care about anything else except being with you. He’s threatening to cut me out of his will if I don’t leave you. Says he’ll leave me nothing after his death.”

Jessica raised her eyebrows dubiously, but Michael never noticed as he took another drag from his cigarette. “As if that’s gonna stop me. Hah! None of that matters to me, as long as I have you!”

“I’m surprised your dad would react this way. He always seemed so caring. But,” she dropped her sweet voice into a somber whisper, “how will you survive? I mean, what parent would throw his only child out onto the streets with nothing!”

“Section Two: Force majeure. In the case of unexpected events prohibiting the fulfillment of this contract such as war, insurrection, act of God ….”

Michael’s thoughts were briefly broken by the lawyer again, but he nodded as his mind drifted back once more.

“Don’t worry, Jess. I still have a lot of my own money saved up. Of course, I’ll probably have to get a part-time job so that we’ll continue to have support. But I got it all planned out.”

Jessica seemed to be unconvinced – especially at the phrase “part-time job” – but she listened on.

Michael looked out on the balcony meditatively as he held his fading cigarette. “I’ll find a job as a chef. Take classes in the evening. I want to go back to school. Maybe I’ll take up food science … or get another degree, but in chemistry this time, like my mom. I would've double majored anyway, if it wasn't for my dad ... Either way,” he stopped grumbling and walked towards Jessica again, “we can make it work. Or I can make it work. For me, for both of us. So … what do you say, babe?”

Jessica kissed him gently on the lips. “It’s a wonderful idea, “ she began, “but Michael … I can’t bother seeing you mistreated like this by your own father. Your own father, for God’s sake!” She stroked his hair sympathetically and gazed deeply into his eyes. “You really can’t let him do this to you.”

Something about her eyes always made him freeze and fall into a magic spell that seemed to hold him for hours, even long after she turned away or was no longer in the room. Michael was once again held in the palm of her hand as she pursed her lips before speaking again. “What would happen if we didn’t run away…and if we didn’t break up?”

He stared at her with a blank look across his face. Such an idea had never occurred to him, but how could they pull it off? The explanation came out in a somewhat broken manner, but Jessica wisely remained quiet as she listened to Michael. After a pause, Jessica pulled him closer.

“So … if you do go through with his ‘plan’, then … everything stays the same?”

He nodded, and then she smiled.

“Call his bluff, baby.”

Now it was Michael’s turn to be confused. “You mean…I should play along with his game?” He sounded incredulous.

Jessica placed a finger on his lips, as to keep from shouting. “It’s the only way to show your dad that you won’t be pushed around like this.”

Michael still looked unsure. He turned around to the wall mirror as Jessica crept up from behind and wrapped her slim arms around his waist.

“You deserve to have the world. But your dad is keeping you away from it. Don’t let him take your world away, Michael.”

“Michael, are you even listening?” Fat Tony demanded. He was more than a little annoyed with his half-awake son.

Michael glanced up in the same dazed manner at his irate father. “Yes, Dad.”

The lawyer gathered up the papers together in a single, swift movement and placed them before Michael. He then presented a shiny ballpoint pen and clicked it open for him.

After Michael signed, the paper was then turned over to Lisa, who at first looked like she was caught up in a reverie of her own. She was wide-eyed when the lawyer called her name the second time, and she clutched at the pen.

Lisa stared at the dotted lines before her and took a deep breath. ‘Just for one year. You can do it, Lisa. Technically…they’re not asking you to do anything illegal, except to work for them for a year. What’s a single year out of a million problems that have piled up since now?’ She lifted the heavy pen. It felt like picking up a pound of lead. She quickly signed, lest she changed her mind at the last minute.

---

“So how much did my dad bribe you with?”

Lisa looked up with a start. She had not been expecting anybody to talk to her while everybody was getting up to leave.

“I’m sorry?” She was unsure of what he had said.

Michael smirked as he put on his trench coat. “You don’t have to play dumb with me. Aren’t you supposed to be the town nag? I’m sure you didn’t agree to this out of your own ‘good nature’. Guess even the most straight-laced prude can be moved by a couple of dollar signs.” He lit a cigar.

Lisa watched the smoke spread out around him like wildfire, much like the rage she was now starting to feel.

“Yes, I am doing it for the money,” she coldly began, trying to control her anger, “but when your brother and baby sister were incompetent enough to be taken advantage of by some conniving thugs like yourselves and are facing criminal charges because of them, there really is no other choice but to fight fire with fire.”

“It’s their own damn business getting mixed up with the wrong crowd.” Michael rolled his eyes, a little annoyed at her emphasized use of the word ‘thug’. “What’s it got to do with you?”

Lisa wrapped her scarf around before answering. “My family. So of course it is my ‘damn business’ too.” She was then escorted to a car by one of Fat Tony’s men.

Michael shrugged to himself and got into his own car. Fat Tony remained behind with Johnny Tightlips and his bodyguards, having watched the rather interesting dialogue between the two future partners with much amusement.

---

The drive back home from the precinct was a blur. Bart and Maggie sat in the back exchanging silent glances at each other, while Lisa was in the front passenger seat beside the big, scary-looking driver. Nobody said a word until they arrived home. Lisa was the first to break the silence with a short “Thank you” to the man, and the other two stumbled out of the car following Lisa.

Maggie had had enough of the tension, so she gave it a shot. “Oh, Lisa! I knew you couldn’t stay mad at us forever!” She held out her arms awkwardly for a hug, only to find Lisa remaining stiff and unwilling to return it.

“Here’s how it’s going down,” she spoke in an indifferent voice, “Bart, you were on-call for a graveyard shift at the construction site. And Maggie, you spent the night at Aunt Patty and Selma’s studying with Ling. I trust that you are at least able to put up an act for Mom’s sake, despite your shortcomings in ‘import and export’.”

“Thanks, Lise. I guess we really owe you one,” Bart replied meekly as he stared at his shoes. “But who was that guy? And how did you get the money to get us out?”

Lisa unlocked the front door and opened it. “I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, all you need to know is that both of you are scot-free of any charges, so you can go back to your lives just as before.” She stepped inside. “You can help me out later in return.”

---

Maggie nervously waited in front of the school as she smoked a cigarette to calm her nerves. She suspected her boyfriend had been ignoring her calls ever since she came back home, and only now was she able to get a hold of him. Gerald always came to school a little early. They had no classes together, so this was her only time to catch him. A dark figure approached from the distance as she rushed up to meet him.

“I’m so glad to finally see you.” Maggie quickly stomped out her smoke as she leaned in to kiss him. But instead of getting a kiss back, he glared at her silently.

Maggie generally felt guilty whenever he was upset about something…even if it was not her fault. But today, she too felt a growing resentment. Surely he could not care more about ‘business’ than the well-being of his girlfriend?

“You know I put everything on the line for you.” she whispered darkly, without beating around the bush.

“Yeah. Including me.” retorted Gerald as he tried to push past her.

She desperately clung onto him, immediately falling back on her guilt – as well as with every intention to get something she now felt she needed from him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Look, they decided to stop the charges so we’re both gonna be okay. Even if they hadn’t…you know I would never mention your name! I…love you,” Maggie was a little hesitant with the last three words. She had not said them for a long time, and as of late, she started to wonder if she truly did live by her statement. Mostly because he had never repeated it to her.

Gerald finally relented and turned around as Maggie flung herself onto his rigid body. He had to admit, she was such an eager, submissive little thing when she wanted to be. It gave him a sense of twisted pride that he had such power over a girl who was otherwise known to others as a ‘tough bitch.’ But he could not show her that he had forgiven her just yet. She still needed to be punished for giving away his prized possession in the first place.

“Do you?” he coolly replied.

“Yes,” Maggie adjusted herself as he remained still instead of receiving her into his arms. “Which is why I’ll take up on your suggestion about that…job…you mentioned before. It’s the least I can do for you…” She smiled weakly as he raised his eyebrows at this sudden announcement. It had been a while since he last asked her to do it, so he was rather surprised she had changed her mind, after being so adamantly against it.

Gerald broke into a smug laughter. “Hey, I guess you do love me after all.” He slapped her butt rather aggressively as they headed inside.

---

Maggie knew deep in her heart that she did not want this. But at times of adversity, one could not be so complacent as to pick and choose her choice of careers – like Lisa was proving. She studied the rather gloomy-looking wooden exterior against the evening waterfront background – it reminded her of a sad saloon of the Wild West that had been uprooted and misplaced in front of an emotionless, urban beach. If it had not been for the large, shady-looking group of men loitering at the front, she would admit that it was sort of a charming, unique place. The faux climbing ivy and the little yellow lights that decorated the railings of the patio seemed to alleviate the surrounding, dark atmosphere, but the general lack of streetlights and the abundance of empty-looking warehouses in the area overpowered any hint of warmth. She held her breath to remain steady and not make any eye contact as she passed by the men, who looked at her curiously.

The interior was also dimly lit, but it had a warmer feel than the outside. The patrons were mostly men dressed in suits, with a few nicely-dressed women accompanying them. Nobody ate, burped, or talked too loudly, which kept up the rather upscale appearance. Each table had its own burning candle, giving it a romantic look. The décor of more faux ivy and dark red rose vines added to its sensual surroundings. Maggie could not figure out why she would describe it as ‘sensual’, until a young woman with long, flowing hair wearing a low-cut, black mini dress walked by with a tray of empty martini glasses towards the bar. It was the shortest dress she had ever seen…and it augmented the woman’s entire body, with a small white apron tied at her waist that contrasted with the black. It seemed to emphasize her cleavage even more.  

Maggie was staring wide-eyed after her when another girl approached from behind.

“May I help you?” she demanded in an unfriendly voice.

Quickly, Maggie broke from her gawking and turned around to face the hostess. “Yes. I was…uh…sent here for a…possible job opportunity?” She struggled to speak as the girl continued to stare down at her…even though Maggie was taller. “I’m Maggie Simpson. Nice to meet you!” she hurriedly added, and held out a nervous hand.

The hostess did not take her hand, and only continued to eye her suspiciously. “Follow me.” Without waiting for Maggie, she started her way towards a dark corner of the room. Maggie quickly trailed after her.

Upon walking into the office, the girl viciously called out to a group of people sitting around a coffee table, “Hey! Who ordered the underage ugly duckling for delivery?”

Some of the men snickered at the cruel joke as they glanced over at Maggie, who was turning pale with shock and horror from such an unexpectedly rude reception. The girl also laughed and turned to her again. “What’d you say your name was?”

“Maggie.” She replied, after recovering her wits and words. One of the men signaled for her to come closer, to which Maggie would have refused if it had not been for the hostess pushing her along. The rest of the men started to gaze at Maggie, from top to bottom. She started to sweat uncomfortably, as if their sneering eyes were burning her like a witch on a stake.

“Can you turn around…slowly...in a full circle?” one of the men suddenly asked, after what seemed like a long moment of silence.

“What?” Maggie gasped, confusedly. Did she hear them right, or was she just light-headed from the overwhelming heat of the restaurant furnace? She glanced at the man, who was gazing at her in a creepy, menacing way.

“Turn around, he said.” The hostess girl loudly repeated. “Are you deaf?”

Somehow, the authoritarian voice of the girl prompted Maggie to comply – even though normally, she would have fought back at such a bully. Some of the others chuckled as Maggie slowly turned around in a circle, afraid of what would happen if she did not.

“I’m sorry, but I just don’t see why this has anything to do with a job interview.” Maggie managed to utter, after another uncomfortably long silence.  

The girl let out a short, contemptuous laugh. “Well, with an attitude like that, I’m not sure if you’re even hirable.”

“Now hold on,” spoke one of the men, “isn’t this the girly that punk ass picciotto was talking about? Jerry, Jerome, uh…”

“Gerald?” Maggie’s eyes lit up in anticipation.

“Yeah, that’s his name. You’re like, his main slut, aren’t you?”

Maggie did not know how to respond to that. And what did he mean by ‘main’?

“She looks awfully young, though.” worried another. “Hey! How old are you anyway?”

“Ah, Jess can take care of all the legal matters if anythin’ comes up. Now if we hire you, don’t you go runnin’ your mouth about this gig to your little friends or family.  Capiche, sweetheart?”

“N-no, I won’t…” stuttered Maggie. She was still emotionally recovering from the word ‘slut’.

“I don’t know…” The hostess girl shook her head as she watched Maggie’s squirming. “She looks like the type to squeal. Like a pig.”

The man with the creepy gaze got up and walked towards Maggie. “No, she’s fine. I like her. Has a very ‘innocent’ look to her, you know? Don’t worry, darling,” he turned to her, “You’re gonna enjoy workin’ here. Gerald told us good things ‘bout you, so you’re definitely hired. Cristina here will show you the ropes. You got nothin’ to worry about.”
Maggie soon found herself outside the office, once again trailing after the hostess girl who handed her a paper-wrapped package. “Just show up tomorrow wearing your uniform around 3 or 4. You’ll start your training right away.”

Maggie looked reluctantly at the package, knowing exactly what it would be, which Cristina caught and sternly warned her, “If you don’t like it, you can always quit. Nobody’s stoppin’ ya.”

The latter quickly shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I…just want to thank you for hiring me.” She smiled at Cristina as she clutched onto the uniform.

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t have to bullshit me. See you tomorrow, and don’t be late.” She led Maggie out the door and went back in before she could say anything else.

---

Later that night, Lisa stopped by in Maggie’s room on the way to bed.

“So, how did that job interview go today?” Her older sister smiled.

Maggie gripped the book she was reading. She had not wanted Lisa to know. ‘Last time I’ll trust Bart to keep a secret,’ she thought. “Great! They hired me on the spot, haha…” she replied casually.

“Well, that’s good news.” Lisa was genuinely surprised. “I think a lot of places don’t hire people so quickly these days.”

“Unlike yourself?” quipped Maggie as she turned a page. When she was met with only silence, Maggie sighed.

“I’m sorry, Lisa. How is it going with Fat Tony and the crew?” She closed her book as Lisa sat down on her bed.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be,” Lisa seemed meditative as she replied. “Learned to do lots of paperwork so far. Still building the foundations of the company, but I think we’re making progress each day.”

“Was that young, dark haired guy Fat Tony’s son?” asked Maggie, as she recalled a time when she went to pick up Lisa from work. “He doesn’t look much like his dad. Certainly not fat like him!” Maggie giggled. She expected Lisa to laugh too, but again – she was met with silence.

“Are you okay?” Maggie was forced to ask.

Lisa quickly broke from her reverie. “Yes, of course. And yeah…Michael is certainly not like his dad, either. Or at least…not like how Fat Tony used to be.”

Maggie continued to study Lisa’s facial expression. “When’s the wedding again?” She asked nonchalantly, opening up her book. She figured it would take some pressure off her sister if she made it look like she did not really care about the upcoming fake wedding.

“Haven’t set an exact date yet, but we’re hoping to get more people hired and trained before next month – so it’ll probably be held then.” Lisa started to pick at her thumbs.
“You like him, don’t you?” Maggie suddenly asked.

“Is it that obvious?” retorted Lisa. It was no use trying to hide it with her baby sister. Maggie never minced words in such matters of the heart.

“It’s natural to start liking someone you work with, I guess.” shrugged Maggie. “But something tells me that he’s not all too pleasant to work with?”

“Well…it’s not exactly that, but he definitely isn’t the most humble one…nor the nicest one…so yeah, you’re right.” admitted Lisa in her circular reasoning. “But I just can’t help feeling so….attracted to him. Despite him being a bit of a jerk. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She tossed her head impatiently and looked at Maggie. “What’s wrong with me?”

Her baby sister adjusted her glasses as she continued to flip through her book. “I think you’re just lonely…and haven’t gotten laid for a while. So naturally you’re so uptight about it.”

“Maggie!!” Lisa angrily grabbed at her book.

“What?” Maggie struggled to talk amidst her laughter. “It’s true though, isn’t it?”

Lisa haughtily got up and started to walk towards the door. “Thanks for taking me so seriously.”

“All right, I’m sorry.” Maggie closed her book and patted at her bed. “But I had to break this tension a little. Here, come back and we’ll have a sisterly heart-to-heart, like the good ol’ times.”

“He has a girlfriend and all. It feels rather unfair for her, but Fat Tony was pretty adamant that we get married, at least for one full year. I’m thinking he doesn’t like the girlfriend, whoever she is. Michael must feel extremely stressed out about it.” commented Lisa as she sat back down.

“My guess is, he figured that the only way a woman as smart as you would ever work for him is if she was married to his son, so he forced you into it. Sounds like a typical, scummy Mafia thing to do.”

“You’d think so. But I’m actually starting to enjoy working with some of them. And Fat Tony is really not that ‘evil’ as a human, I don’t think. At least, he seems much more lenient than that Johnny Tightlips guy when it comes to making mistakes.” sighed Lisa.

“So the mafia guys aren’t as awful as they seem. Heh, what an inspiration. I hope that proves the same for my bosses,” Maggie started to think out loud by mistake when she caught Lisa’s eye. “Not that…any of them were mean to me today. Haha, no siree….”

“Where do you start work again? I don’t think you’ve told me that yet.” Lisa started to walk around the room, examining various knick knacks that were scattered around.

Maggie quickly pounced on her answer. “Starbucks! My first day is actually tomorrow. I’m so excited to join the incredible world of…coffee brewing.” She recalled the coffee shop that was several blocks away from the restaurant…and was not sure if it was indeed a Starbucks or not.

“Oh! Good luck tomorrow. Do you want me to drive you there and pick you up after?”

“No!” exclaimed Maggie unexpectedly, causing Lisa to jump and look at her in surprise.  “I…it’s my first day, Lisa. If I showed up with my older sister in front of all the older kids, I’d be a complete dork. Come on.” She laughed sheepishly to ward off any suspicions. “Plus, my training starts at 4pm, I think. I’m gonna go there right from school.”

Lisa finished tidying up Maggie’s desk as she walked towards the door again. “Well, all right. Be careful, and don’t be so stressed about your first day. And,” she added as she grabbed the doorknob, “don’t forget about your studies either. I’m sure you don’t want to work in a coffee shop for the rest of your life.”

“Hah! Of course not…”

“Gosh, I can’t believe it. You and I are the first to start a new job. ‘A new beginning!’ I just hope Bart will be able to find something soon too.”

“Don’t worry. He’s not all that big of a screw-up anymore. He’s changed ever since you left for college…changed for the better.”

“Goodnight, Mags.”

“ ‘Night, Lisa.” Maggie watched her sister close the door, and then turned onto her side. She had not told Lisa all about her progress in school. At this point, Maggie figured she’d be lucky to just finish this school year. With a hopeless sigh, she switched off her lamp.

In her young, inexperienced life, Maggie was fighting against the darkness of oblivion and uncertainty, but her older sister was starting to flourish in her newfound career. Her project with Cecil was on hiatus at the moment, but Lisa never felt more assured with herself as the paycheques she brought home were more than enough to cover both her family’s debt as well as save up for her future plans. It did not, of course, come to her easily. She had been placed specially under Johnny Tightlips’ tutelage, who proved to be more than just a man of few words. In fact, he spoke so little that he explained things only once – and expected her to learn and understand everything right away. At one point, poor Lisa was reduced to mindless tasks such as fetching coffee and other refreshments for a high-powered meeting between potential business partners and her tough-as-nails mentor. She was not ‘ready’ to sit in such a meeting yet, he had gruffly decided.

Despite that, she was able to make major decisions along with Michael and the rest of his father’s men for weekly meetings. One of the first official meetings she had was when they were discussing what their company goal would be.  

“Seeing as how most of the money comes from ‘protection’, perhaps we can expand this as ‘insurance.’ Instead of using blackmailing and savage beatings to protect others, we can provide them financial support or reimbursement for any losses they may get from negative circumstances.”

“Huh. I guess we can’t blackmail or beat them into joining our in-shur-rah-prazoot or whaddaya-call-it either?” sniffed Kenny the Problem.

Lisa choked back a sudden desire to laugh. He had spoken in complete earnest…but the ignorance of these old men was ridiculously comedic. Almost sad, too, because it showed that a lot of them knew nothing about the real world after living in their own for so long.

“No, I’m afraid not.” Lisa replied in a weak voice.

“If we focus on mainly insurance, what should we do for the other things?” inquired Legs.

She cleared her throat. “The best way to merge everything together is if you offer shares to the public.”
“You mean…let other people get in on our profits?” Louie raised his hands in disbelief.

“We will retain the majority of ownership, of course.” Lisa quickly added, “But we need to secure extra support from angel investors before we can safely incorporate the rest of Tony’s businesses.”

Michael sat quietly for a minute to think about this. “I have to agree. The company is still pretty ‘young’. An IPO might be just what we need.”

“We need more employees first,” said Johnny Tightlips, for the first time since the meeting had begun. “We’re too small of a company for the public to have any faith in us. Not to mention that the number of other businesses we own outnumbers the workers. Who’s gonna look after the construction firm, the mining and refining business, the farmlands…?”

The room fell silent. Fat Tony sighed as he realized the uneven ratio himself. Who would want to work for such a man as himself, let alone a company that came from the roots of organized crime?

Lisa was the first to speak again. “I…uh, have taken the initiative to gather some people who might be interested in working for us…” She nervously tugged at her pen as she realized everybody was staring at her now.

“Who do you recommend?” asked Johnny, the second to break the silence.
Encouraged by this, Lisa smiled and sheepishly pulled out a list of names.

---

“I’m pretty impressed how well you’ve been able to herd them together.” commented Michael as they walked down the street. “Don’t you find them intimidating at all?”

“Well, I do. But it’s not like I can show that I am scared of them. How will they ever listen to me then?” She laughed softly.

Michael smirked. “You can always get my dad to give them a ‘word or two’ if you don’t get your way, I suppose.”

Lisa nipped a smile in the bud, as she felt his arrogance getting on her nerves again. “Seeing as your dad has bribed me to work for him, I guess he has more faith in me than you do.” She pulled up her scarf with an impatient jerk. The sunny Spring day suddenly felt cold. “You don’t think I can hold my own?”

Michael stopped to open the door to the café. “Don’t get so offended now. But you don’t know what kind of people you’re dealing with. I think that, as the son of a criminal, I know more about all this than you do. You’re just a young, innocent girl from the suburbs who happened to waltz her way through Mount Holyoke and sold a few Girl Scout cookies for Darfur here and there.” He held the door open, and stood waiting on the side. “After you.” He motioned with his other arm for her to go in.

Despite the fact that this was the first time a guy had held a door open for her, Lisa was more annoyed than touched by this unexpected act of chivalry. Just before he followed her inside, she pushed back the door and turned around to face him.

“First off. I went to Wellesley. I may have had a full-ride scholarship, but at least my dad didn’t have to pay off anybody at the admissions office. Second, I’ve been building schoolhouses in Darfur since high school while you were, no doubt, engaged in such debauchery like puking your brains out at parties from all that booze and ecstasy pills that apparently has affected your head today.”

Michael stared blankly at her before breaking into a hearty laugh. “You’re saying I’m dumb? That’s the fanciest, long-winded, saddest attempt at an insult I’ve ever heard.” He put his hand on her shoulder as they walked in together. “At least your effort is admirable. I like it.”

As Michael read out a list of coffee and pastry orders to the cashier, Lisa noticed that many of the young female patrons were eyeing at him – and then at her, with an unmistakable light of envy. She could not help but feel a growing sense of silly pride over this sudden attention. In all her girlish life, Lisa was the last girl to be envied by other girls – except in terms of grades and awards. But most often than not, she had wished to be admired for something other than her brains or her achievements. She grimly recalled a cruel joke that was printed in her old high school yearbook – being voted as “The Next Crazy Cat Lady” or “Most Likely To Be Single Forever” were questionable attributes that she could not get rid of when she was editing for the yearbook club – but now! Evidently, these women thought she was his wife, as they were both wearing the gold engagement rings that Fat Tony had made them wear in public. They looked at her with disappointment, as if she was the last person to be with someone as handsome as Michael.
Lisa tossed her hair with contempt and a renewed sense of superiority, as she smiled at one particular young girl who was staring intently at her. Lisa slightly raised her eyebrows at her, as if to silently say, “Jealous? I know!”

Michael, who had been busy making sure that the barista had got all of the coffee orders correctly (because the old farts that worked with his dad were grumpy and hard-to-please), glanced at Lisa, who was still engaged in the silent staring war with the stranger girl. “Are you okay?” he asked, turning to the direction of where Lisa was looking, but failing to spot what she was looking at.

Lisa quickly turned around, hoping to hide what she had been really doing. “Yes, of course! Are we…are we ready to go now?” She grabbed one of the drink trays and grinned at him.

The walk back to the office was another adventure for Lisa. Michael, who was carrying a big paper bag of baked goods under one arm and balancing a large drink tray with the other, made sporadic comments about regretting not having driven to the café instead. Lisa casually murmured a reply in between, reminding him several times that walking was a good exercise for them after sitting at the meeting all day. She carried her drink tray with an absent mind, barely paying attention to what Michael was saying, but again noticing that so many girls were gazing at him – and again, feeling that superficial sense of pride.

He was indeed, very handsome. Though he was not too tall, his gorgeous black-brown hair and broad shoulders set him apart from the rest of the tall male population. Michael had large, dark doe eyes that still retained quite a bit of his childhood melancholy, on closer inspection – and when his face was set to an unsmiling, neutral state, he looked rather cold and perhaps even unfriendly. Lisa secretly felt that he looked exactly like, “One of those guys you would see passing on a street, or at a shopping mall, or on a train – and he’s so beautiful; you can’t take your eyes off him…but you’re not lucky enough to have met him…nor lucky enough to ever meet, because you just know that a guy like him would never be interested in a girl like you.” She sighed as she recalled one of her late-night crisis talks with Maggie.

Michael, however, seemed to be blissfully unaware of his physical beauty  –  or, he was already used to it that he no longer noticed that he turned the heads of many young girls and women alike whenever he was outside. Clearly he was focused on more important things in life. Despite his small bursts of arrogance towards her, Lisa felt herself increasingly attracted to him, more and more each day. He was also surprisingly well-educated - from Princeton, as his dad had proudly boasted – and had great, innovative ideas of his own for the company. And when he had kindly opened the door for her earlier…but Lisa had to stop thinking like this. It was nothing more than a business relationship, and it was about to be put into legal writing in a few months or so, too. Nothing more. It also did not help that Michael apparently had a serious relationship with another girl. Even though Lisa felt guilty as a fellow woman for going along with Fat Tony’s obvious plan to wreck his son’s relationship, she also felt a rather strong, nagging sense of envy herself towards this other woman.

“All right, gentlemen. Buon appetito!” Michael exclaimed as he and Lisa returned from the café, setting out the baked goods onto a large plate. The old men mumbled with satisfaction amongst each other as they dug into the pastries and sipped complacently on their drinks. Just as Lisa was reaching for a muffin, she received a text message from an unknown number.

'Hey, Lisa. It’s Nelson. I got your number from Maggie. Heard you’re back in town, how have you been? I miss you. Call me sometime, if you want.'

Lisa felt her heart beating wildly not with the excitement of possibly reuniting with an old boyfriend, but with confusion. She had not spoken to him for several years now. They had had such an emotionally draining, on-and-off relationship since middle school that they had finally decided to break up when Lisa was in her Sophomore year in college. Well, actually…it was Nelson who had left her for one of the Mackleberry twins. Sherri…or was it Terri? Lisa sipped on her coffee rather anxiously. She was not sure if she wanted him back after what he had done. But Lisa was also very lonely…and it had been so long since she had even went out on a date. As she watched Michael laughing on his phone with his girlfriend, Lisa shrugged and decided to text back. Perhaps they could have coffee together, just for old time’s sake?

---

Fat Tony had been vastly pleased with the progress they had been making. Even though Lisa had no previous related-work experience, he truly appreciated all her contributions as they turned out to be very well thought-out and precise – something that he had needed for his company. Johnny Tightlips, albeit being the only senior member in the Family to have a higher education besides his son, could probably not have done just as well. Or rather – even he could, Fat Tony would never let him have any more power than he did now. Tightlips was intelligent, quick-thinking, and strong-willed. He was also extremely loyal… too loyal, to at least one other person besides Fat Tony. If Tightlips still held resentment against him after what had happened to Anna Maria ----

But he quelled those quivering thoughts. Tony got up and walked over to the liquor cellar, fetching himself a shiny, emerald bottle of absinthe. He held the spoon with shaking hands as he watched the ice cold water gently pouring over the delicate sugar cube. Suddenly, he lost the grip on the spoon and the sugar drowned itself into the green. Tony angrily threw the glass across the dimly-lit room, the sound of shattering glass echoing back to him in the darkness of a corner somewhere.

He took the bottle upstairs to his study, and took a small sip – as he crashed onto a nearby couch. Tony closed his eyes, reaching for the bottle once more when his desk phone rang. He did not want to pick it up, but the ringing seemed to continue on forever. Reluctantly, Fat Tony pulled himself up and walked over to it.

“Hello.” Tony took another sip of the bottle as he waited for the caller to speak.

“Good evening, Fat Tony.”

Bettina was a petite Italian lady who was the only housekeeper on duty that night. She had just finished cleaning up the broken glass in the wine cellar when she happened to walk by the study – and heard another loud crash. Rightfully alarmed, she peeked nervously inside the room, where Fat Tony had his back turned towards her. The broken pieces of glass under his soaking, wet slippers seemed to sparkle in the glimmering pool of emerald.

“Signor D’Amico…?” she whispered. Bettina was rather afraid to get closer to him.

Fat Tony did not know she was there, so he made no reply. He was glued to the phone, slightly shaking.

“You think you can easily threaten me?” He asked in a low voice, trying to hide his emotions.

“Obviously you are already feeling threatened. Why didn’t you just cut him out of your precious will already instead of playing silly little games like this?”

Tony did not know what to say. But his shaking was getting more violent – he held onto his desk for balance.

“You are quite clever though, for someone who never went to college. I almost got pulled in by your bullshit scheme. But you better watch yourself, now that I have the upper hand.”

“What?” Tony whispered.

Jessica Lovejoy laughed slowly in her breathy voice. “I know what your son and his fake fiancée doesn’t know – what the rest of your goons don’t know – not even your clown of a consiglière, Johnny Tightlips, knows about it. And trust me – YOU don’t want them to know about it either.”

Fat Tony felt himself struggling to breathe. He accidentally tumbled onto the floor, prompting Bettina to rush over and hold him up. He managed to gasp out his words.

“What…do…you…want?”

Jessica sat back calmly into her couch, and lifted her legs up onto an armrest as she listened to Fat Tony’s heavy gasping on the other line, who was clearly in distress. She then glanced over at her bed, where she could hear Michael’s gentle breathing as he slept in a deep, peaceful slumber, pathetically unaware of his father’s suffering.

“I want, “Jessica twirled her hair complacently, “to work for you.”

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End of Chapter 4.