Page 73 of Forever King

I nod as if I agree, but after spending time with dear old Chase, what he seems to really need now is a good smack in the head. He may be a decent guy overall, but something about him makes me want to slap some sense into him. He has a beautiful, loving wife and a little girl. He should never have even thought about looking elsewhere for anything, even if he was lonely at times.

My phone vibrates on my desk, so I excuse myself to take it since I see it’s my sister. She’s visiting a client who got caught up in a sex scandal with a prostitute last week, so I’m surprised she’s calling me now.

“Ever, is everything okay?”

My sister sighs, which is never a good sign since she likes to keep her emotions under wraps as much as possible. A heavy sigh like the one that came through the phone tells me something happened.

“Well, not so much. My client decided to go out last night and hire another prostitute, so you might say we’re behind the eight ball now. I love it when men make my life twice as hard as it has to be.”

I look over at Cheyenne, who also has gotten a call, and whisper, “Someone saw him last night too? Does this guy send up the damn bat signal every time he steps out to be with a hooker?”

That makes my sister laugh. “Thanks for that, Salem. I needed something to make me smile. I have to go back into that hotel room and tell him we can help him fix this now. Personally, I’d love to tell him to forget ever getting his wife back because he’s a scumbag, but that’s not what we do, is it?”

I can tell she’s wishing we could do that with clients, but she and I are alike. We understand we don’t have to like our clients to do the job we’re hired to do. Sometimes, that means spending time with people we would never speak to outside of work.

As I try to make her smile again and hopefully give her what she needs to go back into that hotel room with the client, I hear part of Cheyenne’s conversation. I don’t want to eavesdrop, but she’s not trying to be discreet at all.

“Yes, I know. Don’t worry. I’ve got this. All I have to do is put on a brave face. From what I’m told, that’s all people want to see. Forgiveness and sweetness.”

She stops for a minute, presumably because the person on the other end of the call is speaking, and then says, “I know what I have to do. I’m not a fool. You forget I’m an actor too. Chase isn’t the only one who can pretend. I know what’s at stake here. Our business can’t succeed without the influx of cash that Chase is going to give us. I never forget that. Trust me. It’s the only thing that gets me through the day lately, so you can count on me to not blow it.”

“So much for true love,” I whisper into the phone.

Of course, Ever has no idea what I’m talking about, so she asks, “What do you mean? I never thought this guy was in love with his wife in the first place.”

“No, not yours. Mine. Let me go. I have to get back to my meeting. Try to stay calm, but tell your damn client to stop hiring women for sex, at least for a few days, for God’s sake!”

Ever sighs again. “Do you think I haven’t? I think I might have to go with the sex addiction angle with this one. He can’t seem to stop himself.”

“Well, I’ll talk to you later. Try to keep calm, even though I know it’s hard.”

That makes her laugh. “Was that a sex pun?”

“No. Goodbye.”

My back to Cheyenne, I screw a smile onto my face and turn around to deal with her again, even though I’m completely disillusioned by what I heard her say on her call. She’s no more in love with him than Ever’s client is with his wife. It’s a goddamned epidemic with these married people.

How Kellen thinks we should join the ranks of such lying sons of bitches is beyond me. I was right all along. Marriage isn’t some great achievement or sign you’ve grown up. It’s nothing but a sham.

And I have no intention of getting married, even to Kellen, who I love more than anything or anyone else in the world, if it means I’ll be grouped in with the likes of Chase, Cheyenne, and Ever’s sex-crazed client in that hotel room a few blocks away.

No thanks.

27

Kellen

Alone in myoffice after a long morning of meetings that I’m sure could have been emails, I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about marriage ever since Salem said she doesn’t want to marry me. I guess it’s supposed to be some consolation that she doesn’t want to marry anyone else, but it doesn’t feel that way.

It feels like the woman I love turning her back on me. On what we have. On us.

Then Marius and Ronan at dinner the other night didn’t help matters at all. Sure, they don’t seem to have anything I don’t have right now simply living with Salem, but damn, they seem happier than they’ve ever been before. I think that’s because they were married. The problem is they couldn’t tell me what’s so great about marriage that I could use the next time I broach the subject with her.

Last night, I considered bringing it up again, but when she came home from work, she seemed to be hating all things marriage and love. I know it’s because of that new client of hers,that actor from that show I used to watch years ago in college, but she usually doesn’t bring home problems from work. In fact, one of the parts of her personality I admire most is how she’s able to keep her professional life and personal life separate.

Let’s face it. If she didn’t have that skill, we may never have fallen in love. I never forget I was once one of her clients.

She stormed around the house for nearly twenty minutes before sitting down for dinner, and when I asked if everything was okay, all she said was, “God help me if I ever think of being someone like that husband and wife I met today. May I forever be saved from love like that.”