Parallel World

Chapter 15

"Jack will soon dump you. He's fed up with you. It won't be long until I take your place. Jack told me himself."

She really believed that, which I didn't find surprising. There was something childish about her - she seemed to have a mental capacity of a five year old, curls that could rival those of Shirley Temple, a fedora with a baby pink ribbon, a light grey trench coat with a matching dress and Mary Janes. She was holding a small grey handbag and several shopping bags.

I just smiled - it wasn't the first time one of Jack's lovers had said it. After a while everyone he got involved with started to think that Jack would share his fortune with her and show the door to me. They didn't seem to understand the difference between personal and company money, and that Jack and I had a partnership.

"Oh, really? Did Jack also tell you that he only owns half? I created Slood and Renviro, he created VampNet. Together we created Glory & Shame and the clinic. Jack was worth about twenty million before he met me. He's doubled that over the years. Not much in comparison to our company's net worth but still, not bad," I said and grinned.

Lesley didn't like that at all. Her face instantly changed from angelic to furious now and she even stomped her foot. That attracted the attention of people around us. Sales assistants gave us a worried look. Bergdorf Goodman wasn't exactly the place for settling scores and having arguments.

"That's not true! You're afraid. Jack will dump you and you know it! You can keep those silly forty million dollars to yourself!" she hissed so quietly that only I could hear it.

Wow, I thought, Lesley knew how to do some basic maths. I did find it fascinating, though, that she had just called forty million bucks "silly money". OK, it was pocket change for me as Jack and I had earned almost one billion dollars in eighteen years but Lesley was clearly living in a fantasy world. Being with one of the world's most successful and influential vampires had gone to her head.

"Lesley, sweetheart, the sooner you get this kind of thoughts out of your head the better. You will be in Jack's life only for a short while whereas I will be by his side forever. You see, back in the day Jack and I made a little agreement - if he decides to ditch me, I will punish him. If I do that to Jack, he will punish me. And, if you're really that close to Jack, you know full well what the punishment is. If Jack crosses me, he dies."

I leaned closer to her as I said those words and my look had become menacing. Lesley opened her mouth but was stuck for words. I had gotten very fed up by now so I simply turned around and left. What a pity I had bumped into her now - I had found a lovely Donna Karan coat that I didn't have a chance to try on. I will have to come back another day.

                                                                                         ***

"I met Lesley today. She said you're gonna swap me for her and run our business empire together."

That made Jack laugh. He had just entered the living room. I was sitting on the sofa and, waiting for him to come home, had spent a while looking at the world go by - as much as it was possible given that we lived on the 25th floor.

"I hope you didn't believe her. We have a lot at stake here, if you pardon the pun."

I chuckled and showed him my hands.

"If I believed everything I'm told I'd have ruined our lives a long time ago. Besides, I'm used to all your lovers thinking that they're gonna take my place. Clare, Lucy, Catherine, now Lesley.... They're all the same. Where do you find such beautiful fools?"

That was one thing all of his lovers had in common.

"Right here in New York. Besides, I'm not the only here dating vampires with below-average IQ" he said. "How's Larry?"

"He's alright as far as I'm aware."

Larry was my most recent ex-lover. He was a man with dazzling looks and brains that were rarely used for thinking. His looks and happy-go-lucky nature was the reason why he was turned into a vampire. In the 1930s Larry was a young idler who spent his days sleeping till late afternoon and hanging out in bars and casinos at night, earning money by having affairs with rich women. One night he met two unbelievably beautiful women and followed them. The two vampires fancied a new toy boy and Larry seemed perfect. Some twenty years later they had had enough and threw him out on the street - Larry did look like a Greek god but he was completely dead above the ears.

"Can you explain why successful men often get together with dumb women?" I asked. I really couldn't understand it and Jack wasn't the only vampire doing that.

Jack crossed his arms and gave me a charming smile.

"I can. If you want to be successful, you have to clock in a lot of hours and keep your finger on the pulse. It means always being alert. Home is the only place where you can switch off and relax. Therefore, when I come home the last thing I want to see is someone sipping Slood whilst reading the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and willing to discuss them with me. Yes, Lesley isn't particularly brainy but when I arrive at her place after thirty-six hours I've spent doing VampNet maintenance work and planning improvements, I am glad to see her carefree smile and hear her chirping."

Wow, I had never thought of that.

"Men and women are more different than I had thought. Me, even when I have a fling I want a man who could match my intellect."

"So how does Larry fit into that?"

"Larry... He never worried, never complained about anything. He enjoys life and doesn't suffer from the vampire disease - the feeling that you've seen and experienced everything and don't have a clue about the future. Unfortunately, that couldn't compensate for his lack of brains. I had no option but to break up with him."

I didn't ask my lovers to be exceptionally smart, however, I simply couldn't stand anyone with an IQ below 80. It wasn't so noticeable in the beginning, however, after a while I realised that Larry didn't understand puns, in fact, he didn't understand anything that involved wordplay or a reference to historical events, politics or art. Eventually that made me feel uneasy in his presence.

"I think that's why people like watching children play," Jack added. "You work all day, come home exhausted and then see someone whose biggest problem in life is trying to choose which crayon to use. Someone who is just happy to see you. If I were a human I would have a smart wife and a bunch of lovely kids. But I'm a vampire so I have a smart best friend and thick lovers."

Now it was my turn to smile.

"You've got it all sorted then."

By the way, another reason why I had noticed Larry was because he resembled Jack a bit: blond hair, bright blue eyes and a wonderful smile. Come to think of it, all of Jack's lovers bore resemblance to me: they were of similar height, with light brown hair and blue or grey eyes. It was weird that I hadn't noticed it earlier.

Since nothing was off-topic for us, I didn't keep this discovery to myself.

"I wonder if it's intentional or unintentional," Jack said.

"Isn't it odd that we pick doppelgangers as lovers but can't be with each other?"

Instead of a reply, Jack and I averted our eyes.