Because the Night

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.


~Chapter Five~

“What am I supposed to do, Gen? It’s obvious that the man is as rich as Croesus—“

“Who the hell is Croesus,” Genevieve interjected.

“What?” The question caught me off guard.

She shook her head. “Who the hell is Croesus? Everyone else says, ‘Rich as Midas’, or some other comparison we’d all recognize. Not you. You say, ‘Rich as Croesus.’ So who the hell is Croesus?”

I shrugged. “Croesus was king of Lydia in Asia Minor from 560 to 546 Before Common Era. The Lydians were believed to be the first people to mint coins.” At Genevieve’s shocked look, she replied, “I read a lot. One of my favorite writers always says ‘Rich as Croesus’. I guess I just picked it up from my reading.” I raised my voice. “Does it matter who the hell Croesus is?”

Gen smiled. “Of course not. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I can’t believe you knew that answer. Still, it managed to get you off topic for a few seconds.”

“Oh, ha ha.” I blew a raspberry her direction. “Like you’d rather be doing anything else. You were likely on pins and needles waiting for me to get back.” I rolled my eyes. “Now, listen to me. This is important.”

She folded her hands innocently in front of her on the desk top and batted her eyelashes. “I am all ears, my dear.”

My nose crinkled. “If I had something that wouldn’t hurt, I’d throw it right between your eyes.” I mustered the worst whiney voice I could. “What should I do?”

Gen’s dark eyes pierced holes in me where they stared. Her well-manicured nails beat a staccato on the desk while she churned over my words.

“What should you do about what, Cici? What makes you so nervous? Is it that the man who holds your interest is an exotic dancer?”

I barely got my lips parted. She didn’t wait for me. She supplied the answer on her own.

“No, that’s not the problem. You’ve dated dancers before. You know what to expect. So, is it the money?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she stopped me again.

“Nope, that’s not it, either. You don’t care about whether a man has money or not. So, what is it that has you so worked up?”

I didn’t even bother trying to speak this time. Once Gen was on one of her rolls, she wasn’t likely to let anyone get a word in edgewise.

“It could be simply that he appears very much interested in taking care of you.”

“But I don’t—“

“You don’t need to be taken care of? Is that it? Are you worried that care equals control? I know you, Cici. You’re terrified of relinquishing the emotional helm to anyone for any reason. You’ve worked hard to gain the upper hand, and you’re not about to let it go. You’ve taken care of yourself, and everyone else who has come along, for too many years. You’re horrified that by letting someone else handle the worries and concerns, it’s like you’re selling who you are to the highest bidder, equating you to a prostitute. You’d rather die alone than turn over control and just enjoy the ride. You’re also worried about this whole mobility thing, and the idea of saddling someone with an invalid. By letting anyone close to you, you know that they’ll have to make the decision to help you, or abandon the ship when it starts to sink. You’re terrified that you’ll get addicted to them, then they’ll choose to abandon ship, and you’ll be left to pick up the broken shards.”

I know my eyes were huge. My lips stumbled when I spoke. “Wow. That’s quite a revelation.”

Gen just shrugged. “It needed said. I just had to wait for the right moment. Otherwise you’d get all defensive and angry. This way, you’ll actually think about what I’ve said. Then you’ll analyze the shit out of every aspect of your life, and by the time you go to sleep tonight, you’ll have worked through it on your own.”

As much as I knew the woman was right, her words still hurt. That was a hell of lot of harsh statements to have to review before nightfall. Because she was right. I would analyze these ‘insights’ to death. I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I’d thought through all of them. And if she’d left anything unsaid, I would have caught it and still analyzed it to death. Then I’d have questioned her about why she left it out. She was saving us both time and energy by throwing my emotions in front of the proverbial bus.

I huffed and slouched in the seat. “I hate you. You know that, don’t you? I thoroughly hate you. That was enough to keep me wide awake all the way through the week, and I apparently have a seriously hot date who has put the reins in my hands regarding how fast we move. In order to maintain control over those emotions and make it through the date with my integrity intact, I need to have somesleep, you know? You didn’t have to torture me mentally right away.”

She rolled her eyes this time. “Go home, Cici. Do your thinking thing. We’ll all feel better once you do. And you’ll still have time to rest up for your date. I’m putting in for a vacation day for you tomorrow. If I see you anywhere near this property, I’ll personally escort you back to your flat, handcuff you to the bed, and call Lisimba with explicit instructions regarding what it will take to free you.”

I gawked open-mouthed. “You wouldn’t!”

Gen raised her eyebrows at me. “Do you really want to find out just what I would or wouldn’t do?”

***