What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,57
to bat, I never miss.
By the time he finally managed to get free from his father and his partners, it was after ten. He'd planned on spending the morning at the gym, and then had a massage appointment at eleven before he had to meet some clients for lunch. The gym was definitely out of the question, and he wasn't sure he had enough time to get to his appointment in rush hour traffic.
He pulled out his phone to reschedule, then stopped moving and stared at the screen. He had three missed calls from Harper, and twenty-five new text messages. After not hearing from her the day before, he'd assumed she'd finally digested their break up news and accepted it.
Apparently fucking not.
“Ari! My man!”
Startled, Ari glanced up to see Derrick Schimmer walking down the hall towards him. He was the grandson of Glen and he was interning during his final years of law school. He was a shitty lawyer, and an even shittier human being, and Ari couldn't wait for the day he was in charge just so he could fire the idiot's ass. Until that day happened, though, he was forced to play nice.
“What's going on, Derrick?” he sighed, putting his phone away and sliding his arms into the sleeves of his coat.
“Not a whole lot, not a whole lot. Were you at Caché last night?” he asked.
Ari paused and stared at the younger man. Derrick was grinning like an idiot, so there was clearly more behind that question than he was saying.
“I stopped in for a minute, yeah,” Ari was honest. “Why?”
“And you were there the night before, too, huh?”
“Flattering as it is to have a stalker, I just don't think it'll ever work out between us, Derrick,” Ari said, and Derrick guffawed loudly.
“Fuck off, I'm tryin' to become a regular there, that's all.”
“Good for you.”
“And by the looks of it, you're tryin' to be a regular, too.”
Again he detected a smarmy, know-it-all tone. If Derrick kept using it, he was going to get his teeth shoved down the back of his throat.
“I find it all a little childish, to be honest,” he said. “But yes, some of the amenities are worth coming back for.”
“Yeah, some of the amenities are good. Like the ones that are five-six, got great perky tits, an ass that don't quit, and will blow you for a ten spot. Those are my favorite kind of amenities.”
Ari felt the vein on the side of his neck start to pulse.
“As charming as this conversation is, I think we're done here. I like the scenery at the club, but that's it. Goodbye, Derrick.”
And before the kid could respond, Ari strode away down the hall, his coat billowing out behind him.
SATURDAY NIGHT PASSED by fairly uneventfully at Caché. Del put Valentine on front door duty. Angel was going to move up in the world and train to be an escort. So Val sat at the podium and held her breath every time someone came in, always hoping it would be Ari. He'd texted her that afternoon and told her he'd be busy all weekend researching a new client, but still. Maybe he'd show up – he'd paid for the night, after all.
He didn't show up.
When Angel finally drove Del nuts with her mindless chatter, he switched them again, putting Angel back on the door. Valentine gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, leaving a bright pink stain behind.
“Always bustin' my balls, kid. Get outta here.”
She danced with a lot of people and lightly flirted, and even gave a few free tips and tricks to a wild bachelorette party. It was nice, just hanging out without any pressure to make someone spend time with her. She cruised around the dance floor, lost in her own little world, until someone tapped her on the shoulder.
“What's your rate?” a voice said loudly.
“Excuse me?” she asked, turning around. She groaned when she saw who it was behind her. The guy from a couple nights before, friends with Ari and Richard. What was his name? Derrick.
“I said, what's your rate,” he repeated himself, leaning in close. She frowned and stepped back.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
She would never, ever, ever be hosting Derrick – not for any amount of money.
“C'mon. You took care of my buddy Richie, then you took care of Ari. It's my turn to go into that crazy water bed room with you,” he said, then he put his hands on her hips and