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THIRTY-FOUR
NED
I’ve been to countless events in the Beverly Hilton ballroom, but none as dazzling as this one honoring IMAGE as Agency of the Year. It’s a glittering spectacle of gilded chairs, crystal, candles, and flowers. Everyone who is anything in Hollywood is here, and if I had a dollar for every carat in this room, I’d be six figures richer.
Seated at our table on either side of me is my partner, Gabe, and my stunning nanny, Marley, and on either side of them, the heads of the Japanese company that wants to invest in our agency. The conversation is lively. I’m surprised by how well Marley interacts with our Japanese guests. I never formally introduced her, but they all assume she’s my wife.
I leave it at that. Only Gabe knows who she really is, but plays along.
More wine is poured, the first course about to be served, when I catch sight of an unexpected familiar figure heading our way. At first, I don’t recognize her all dolled up, her petite body shrouded in an ivory chiffon gown, her glossy black hair blown straight behind her diamond-studded ears. But it’s unmistakably her. I rarely forget a face.
It’s Dr. Ouchi, the pediatrician. What is she doing here?
A smile lights her face when she arrives at our table. Her onyx eyes bounce from me to Marley. “So nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair.”
Marley smiles back at her while Gabe gives me a quizzical look.
I gulp, fumbling for words. “I must say I’m surprised to see you here.”
“My uncle invited my husband and me. He had an extra pair of tickets.” Her eyes drift to the bespectacled Japanese investor sitting next to Gabe. The head of the consortium. Adjusting his thick-lensed black glasses, he stands up, and they hug. Then he bows to me.
“Mr. Tanaka is your uncle?” I say, unable to hide my surprise, when he sits back down.
“Yes. My father’s older brother…a small world, right? Oh, and congratulations on your award.”
I’m so in shock I forget to thank her and focus on Tanaka, who says something in Japanese to his niece that I don’t understand.
She replies. Tanaka looks pleased. He steeples his hands and nods at me. “Very nice.”
“What did you tell him?” I ask his niece.
“I told him about your postnatal visit…that you and your beautiful wife are the loveliest couple and have a beautiful baby girl.”
While I give a slack-jawed Gabe a keep-your-mouth-shut kick under the table, Marley beams. “Why thank you! It’s so lovely to see you again.”
“The same.” Dr. Ouchi swivels her head and looks over her shoulder. “Well, I’d better head back to my table. Looks like they’re serving dinner. Maybe we can catch up later…and you and your husband can meet my other half.”
“Maybe you can all come to my house in Kyoto when deal all done,” says Tanaka with unbridled enthusiasm before his niece, the pediatrician, pivots on her heel and disappears. “We celebrate with best sushi and finest sake.”
“That would be amazing!” says Marley. “But right now, would you please excuse me as I need to use the restroom…and to check up on the baby.”
“No problem, as you Americans say.”
My eyes stay on Marley as she sashays out of the ballroom. She takes long strides in her sparkly stilettos like she was born wearing them, her hips swaying rhythmically to the background music. She moves with all the aplomb and grace of a supermodel. It’s a shame I can’t convince her to let me make her a star. She’d light up a screen with neon-green dollar signs. And she’s a good actress judging from tonight’s performance. I fight my urge to follow her.
The only award I wish I were getting tonight is a piece of her.
“Ned, what the hell is going on?” hisses Gabe, breaking into my lurid thoughts. He leans into me, his voice muted so Tanaka, who’s now chatting with one of our top music executives, can’t hear him.
I tear my gaze away from Marley and turn to face Gabe. His blue eyes bore into mine. After a gulp of my wine, I tell him about my trip to see Dr. Ouchi, the pediatrician. How she mistook Marley for my wife and we didn’t correct her.
He palm-slaps his forehead. “Jeez, man. What were you thinking?”
I remain silent. I know what I was thinking…This feels right. I could be married to this gorgeous, caring woman. Even raise a child with her.
Gabe seems to be reading my mind. It’s his superpower.
“Whatever sick game you’re playing, it’s got to end. We have a multimillion-dollar investment at stake.”
