Two: Deal

Malea
"What did he say?" I asked, folding the rag in my hand just to keep my hands busy. I honestly could care less about this dude, but as long as he leaves me a Benjamin for a tip, I'm good.

"He said I have to get married in under a month or else I'll never work in the Enterprise again. Basically meaning, I'll be fired and would have to be poor." 
He spat with animosity.

"Woah. That's some heavy crap." I replied. The music had changed to an electro-pop that sounded as if rusted metal gears were grinding against each other. Who would actually want to dance to this?

"I know. I just don't know how I'm going to find a wife al-" When he stopped mid-word, I snapped my attention back to him and not on the crappy music.

"Hmm? You were saying?" I scanned his face. All sharp angles and smooth planes. Stubble lined his chin and gave him a rough appearance. But his eyes. They were a gray almost the color of a blank sheet of paper. Almost. But not quite. Little flecks of violet spiraled around his pupil.

He pointed to himself, then to me.

He better not be thinking what I'm thinking.

"Let's make a deal-." He began.

"No freaking way. Never."

"Come on Malea. Just hear me out-"

"I said. No. Way."

"Am I really that repulsive?" He asked, running his hands through his hair. He did that a lot. He wasn't repulsive. He was far from it and he knew so too. He was the most handsome man I've ever seen but has the worst personality.

"I don't want to hear it, Suit and Tie."

"Please. I could make you my assistant. I could pay you more than you'd possibly imagine."

I froze. I could use the money. I literally have one week until my electricity turns off. "I wouldn't stoop that low."

He looked at me, totally exasperated. "Do you really think you could stoop lower than your current job?"

Ok then. "Well, that hurt." I pushed out my bottom lip in a pout.

"Please. Consider it." He fixed his icy eyes on me 

"Well, I like my job." I blurted. A lie.

He nodded dubiously. "Yeah. Sure. You love serving drunk imbeciles liquor and you love making less than 5 dollars an hour."

I hesitated. Then sighed. "What would I have to do?"

"Marry me."

That was when I began laughing. Laughing so hard, my stomach hurt and few people walking by gave me weird looks. "I never knew you could be funny, Suit-and-Tie."

"Stop calling me Suit and Tie and just call me Lucian." He replied, obviously agitated. "It's not like I have anyone better to ask."

I froze. "I won't marry you, but I do know someone who would do it willingly," I said after a minute.

"Who?" He grabbed my hands but then pulled back suddenly as if my hands were a burning flame.

"My best friend. Alesandra. She's basically had a crush on you since she was 16 and she even talks about being engaged to you. " I croaked. She was an odd person. "She basically knows everything about you." I rolled my eyes. Alesandra was probably going to call me crazy once I told her this. 

He looked uncomfortable as he scratched his neck awkwardly. "That's kinda much, don't ya think?"

I shrugged. "Guess so."

He then proceeded to ask a series of un-intelligent questions. "Are you serious though? You have a best friend who isn't a psychopath?"

"What would make you think I would have a psychopath as a friend?" I asked incredulously.

"You seem the type."

"Thanks. You sure know how to make a girl feel special." I scoffed.

"I need visual proof. Show me a picture of her." He demanded.

"Of course, your Royal Highness." I rolled my eyes before pulling out my phone and scrolling through a series of photos before landing on one picture Ales had sent me.

Lucian studied it for a while. "She's pretty."

"Yup." I yawned.

"I can't believe I'm so desperate-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't believe you're so desperate, you're contemplating marrying a bartender's best friend."

He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Are you going to accept my offer or what?"

"Fine. I accept." I drummed my fingers on the countertop. "I want to come into the office whenever I want to."

"Haha. Very funny. No way is that happening."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I won't do things that make me uncomfortable. I expect a nice office. I will not take crap from you. You have to treat me with respect and promise to never hurt Ales, whether it be verbally or physically. And if you do, you won't live long enough to apologize."

His eyes turned to slits as he mulled over my high demands. He's totally going to refuse them. Go big or go home right? "Fine. I'll give you my number. Talk to Alesandra and don't show up unless she's with you."

He pulled a business card from his pocket and slid it across the counter.  "Do you have a pen?" He asked.

I pulled out a pen from my front pocket and handed it to him. When he finished scrawling his personal number on the back, he stood up. Then shook my hands.

"I'll see you next week, Malea." He said, I could see a small smirk lift the edges of his lips only a little bit.

"Later, Suit-and-Tie." I replied teasingly, a scowl still on my face.

Before he walked away, he flattened out several bills onto the counter. 100 dollar bills. Then he began walking away and to the exit of the unfortunate Club. "My name is not Suit and Tie. It's Lucian."

Oh, I already know your name, Lucian.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It had taken quite a bit of time to bring up the issue of Lucian to Alesandra. 5 days approximately. Lucian had come to me about his problems on a Saturday night and now Thursday night, I glanced over at Alesandra anxiously. Thursday nights she and I would take time off work and watch old movies and catch up. 

Better now than never. She would probably think me crazy. "Hey, Ales. Could I talk to you for a second?"

Ales groaned and shoved another handful of M&Ms in her mouth. "Mali, we're at the good part." She motioned towards the tv. "Kerry is about to figure out if her husband's cheated on her with her sister."

"This is serious, Ales."

She turned to me then, her mouth still crunching. "I'm all ears."

It was quite easy to explain to her, as she soaked everything in quietly, only stopping to ask me questions here and there.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Alesandra clasped her hands together and frowned. "Please tell me you're not joking."

I jumped off the couch and headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

I picked up a sealed bag of sandwich ham and stuffed a couple of slices in my mouth, trying to balance the mayonnaise and bread in my hands. "I literally can call him now if you want."

Ales squinted her full amber eyes and surveyed me for a while before squealing in confirmation. "I've had a huge crush on him since I was 16, Malea. But back then it just seemed like a dream that would never come true. Why would Lucian King want to marry me when he could have any other girl he wants."

I mulled that over. Truly and honestly, I wasn't sure. Lucian did seem to have everything and everyone wrapped around his pinkie, so why would he be interested in someone like my best friend, or me. "Not sure, Ales, but I can assure you, it's because his father gave him an ultimatum."

She took a seat on the sofa and tossed her head back, her long black hair grazing the baby blue sofa. "So I'm supposed to believe a billionaire came up to you in a bar and confessed his life to you and then asked to marry me." She looked up at me then.

"Listen. I know this is really hard to believe and I'm not sure I even believe it myself. If you accept this, it'll make things so much easier for your family to get out of the debt you're in."

Alesandra's family had always been a little more than poor. With their highly accumulated debts, Alesandra had to move in with me and I had to pay more than half of the rent. But since she's my best friend, I've never questioned it once. If Ales agrees to this, her whole life could change for the better. Her family would no longer be in debt. She could be free and do what she wanted.

"but if it'll make you feel better, I'll call him for you." I reached for my phone on the counter, licking a glob of mayonnaise off my pointer finger. "Maybe you guys could talk a bit and you'll get to know what's happening right now."

She simply nodded and gulped, crossing the room back to where I stood.

It took about 5 rings before he picked up.

"Hello?" His voice came out a husky rasp as if he had picked up the phone while being half asleep.

Ales blushed. "Hello? It's me, Alesandra."

A rustle of sheets, the bed creaked. And then he cleared his throat. "Hi, Alesandra? Mind me asking, who are you?"

Alesandra's face fell. Then she scowled.

"This better be a joke, Suit-and-Tie." I replied back. How could he not know who Alesandra was? How could he forget everything we talked about?

A long silence. "Malea?"

"Great, your memory's back, now talk to her." I pressed the speaker and shoved the phone into Ales's waiting hands.

"Um hi. It's me, Alesandra." She said again.

"Yeah hello, Alesandra. I'm really glad you agreed to this and all, but it's like 3 am, and I really would love to sleep. So..."

Her face fell once more. "Oh sure. Could we maybe meet up on Saturday to talk and get to know each other?" She asked nervously, bouncing from one foot to the other.

A long silence.

"Sure, Saturday. Dinner. 6 pm. I'll send my driver to bring you to the restaurant. Just text me your address and phone number on Malea's phone."

Ales nodded eagerly, a crooked, goofy, smile spreading across her full lips. "Of course. Bye."

He hadn't even bothered to say bye before he hung up.