me out of my non-stop thoughts about the woman in the morning meeting. Stepping into the kitchen, Linda, my housekeeper and informal guardian since the age of thirteen, gave me an understanding smile. She handed me a cold bottle of Stella. When my parents moved to France without me, when I was a child, it was Linda that looked after my day-to-day needs.
Downing the beer, I listened to my friends talk major shit about me in the next room. Linda laughed, patted my shoulder, and headed toward the elevator. Weekends were her free time, she left on Friday to spend them with her family.
“I’m here,” I figured I should announce myself to my friends.
“You’re late!” Bryan snapped.
Bryan was the second person I met when I started at NYU and one of three of my closest friends. Unlike the rest of us, no one had to wonder how he felt because he wore every emotion on his sleeve. Otis said it’s what made his songs so powerful and him so annoying.
“Sorry.” I set my beer at my spot at the table. “Markus decided at the last minute to run a security drill on the new alternate secondary team. They failed. By the time he finished shouting at them that my safety is their sole responsibility, they both quit.”
“Is something going on?” Otis asked as he gestured for me to get him a beer.
“Not here, but my sisters’ security team had a couple try to get on their property, so Markus is on high alert.”
“So, same old, same old.” Otis accepted the beer I offered him. “How’s Rover?”
Jeffrey Otis was a box office darling to the world. To us, he was a risk-taking, loud-mouthed, loyal son of a bitch. The weekend hadn’t even started, and Otis was grinning as if it was the biggest pot of the night.
The breakfast nook had long ago been transformed for our poker game space. The rectangular table and its matching twelve chairs had been moved into storage and replaced with a large round table with six comfortable chairs. A banquet table was at the end of the nook for the finger foods that were prepared for game night. There hadn’t been many changes made since moving back into my parents’ house, but the poker room was definitely the most dramatic.
“Fine. He’s staying with Samantha for the night for monitoring.”
“Dr. Samantha is one hot lady. You could have invited her to stay here to keep an eye on him.” Bryan held up his hand, “Oh, I forgot the no women in your house rule.”
“Bed. No women in my bed.”
“I’m out.” Bryan tossed the cards, laughing as disappointment fell over Otis’ face.
Bryan was the second of our small college group to find fame, but he found his success in the music industry. After graduation, he headed straight into a recording studio. The second song he released made it to number two on the Billboard charts. From that moment forward, it became our goal to get all Bryan’s releases to hit the number one spot on the charts.
“You’re folding?” Otis scooped the chips and busied himself stacking the bounty in front of him.
“When is Eric supposed to get here?” Bryan asked as he walked past me to the food table.
I tossed a hefty stack of money onto the table in front of Otis and slipped into my usual seat closest to the kitchen. I clanked the base of my beer against Otis’ in our typical college bros greeting.
“When he gets here. What is up with you?” I stacked my chips in my particular method of higher to lowest denomination left to right in even stacks. “Shit. Make yourself useful and put some music on.”
“Not yours…” Otis and all of us joked, at the same time.
“Please.” Eric snapped from the doorway. “Bryan, I’m fucking here. Can you stop fucking texting me now? Jesus Effing Christ. Do you know I would block anyone else for sending me the number of texts you’ve sent me today? You better not be pregnant, man.”
Eric was the final member to join our group. He had grown up poor and had worked at least one job since he was eleven. Otis, Bryan, and I met Eric while we were at NYU. He did odd jobs around the school and started sitting in a couple of my classes with me. When I attended law school, Eric agreed to work for me in exchange for college tuition. We’d been in business together ever since.