Shoot Your Shot

Chapter 18

"Sorry, he's not taking any new clients right now." Pentious heard Gregory turn the woman down from the other room and sighed.

"Are you kidding me? I can pay him loads of money to do this! I just need the one thing and he thinks he's too good for that?"

"I never said that. I simply said that he's not signing any new contracts at this time. If you'd like to try again in a month or so, that's fine." The woman made an indignant sound.

"I've never been so insulted in my life! I'll bet if he sees me and talks to me, he'll take it. You're just an arrogant little piece of shit who's in my way." He didn't wait for the woman to finish to leave the drawing room and head to the front door. Pentious arrived just in time for the woman to raise her hand. "Get out of my way you waste of space!" Catching her wrist before she could swing down, he held her in place easily. She looked up at him and tugged on her arm. "How dare you lay a hand on a lady!"

"I would never, madam. You, however, are no lady." He threw the woman out the door and watched her trip down the walk to fall on her butt. "The next time someone tells you "no" you should thank them for their time and leave, and maybe then you can be called a "lady". As it stands, you're nothing but a nuisance. Leave at once." Without waiting another minute to listen to her drivel, he closed the door and locked it behind him.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I should have been more forceful." Gregory followed after him and he waved it away.

"No, she should have been taught manners. Her parents failed her and everyone else by refusing to do so." Sitting back on the couch, he opened his notebook once again and continued drawing as he had been before the woman had come. Gregory stood in silence for a moment before glancing around the room.

"I'll go make us some tea. What would you like?"

"Jasmine, please." The man nodded and started to leave. "And Gregory? Thank you." His assistant gave him a small smile and left the room, closing the pocket doors behind him so as not to disturb Pentious. Once he knew he was alone, Pentious turned a page back in the journal and continued the piece there instead. No matter how many times he'd drawn him over the past month, it could never compare to the real thing, but he knew it wouldn't. Immortalizing Arackniss on paper definitely didn't help the pain, but it helped him remember the pleasure over and over again. The shape of the other man's jaw, the feel of his skin beneath Pentious' finger tips, the sound of his voice, it was all memorized. And he couldn't help but long for it every day.

He swore this had been the longest month of his afterlife, and he didn't appreciate it in the slightest. When the door opened again, he flipped the page back and continued adding to that. Considering the details on the picture of Arackniss he'd been working on, he didn't want to risk Gregory seeing it. The rat came over and poured them each a cup before sitting down in the chair to the side of him. "Have you seen the news today?"

Sipping at his tea, he glanced at the man. "No. I haven't been particularly interested." The rat hummed and he set the cup down. "Why?"

"They're saying that there's a possible shortage or shipping issue in the Sloth ring for drugs." Pentious tilted his head. They'd never had a shortage of drugs in Hell, even before he'd died, and there'd hardly been any discourse with it. Now, admittedly, the last Overlord of Drugs hadn't been able to get a handle on the right organization for shipping to everyone, so there had been misproportions, but never shortages. "They say that all of the shops run by the Family closed their doors and have been emptied out. There's nothing in them."

"That doesn't sound right. It's almost like they're simply closing business in the Sloth ring."

"Who knows. They might be. I can't see sloth being much for profit, you know?" Pentious shook his head.