C.E.O x C.E.O

Ch. 32 - It's Always The Rooftop

James has bad memories of the roof now. He used to love coming up here and stargaze. But now that the memory's tainted by a man who's dragged him up to the roof for his insane monologuing twice, he couldn't even bare to look up at see the stars.

He barges through the door. Max stands near the ledge, Dmitri on the floor beside him, holding his bleeding shoulder.

"Dmitri!" James hurries to them, but is abruptly stopped by the gun in Max's hand being pointed at him.

"And there you go trying to play the hero!" Max says, fuming now. "I must look like the villain, don't I? I'm always the villain, huh? The one that's poorer, uglier, educationally stupider, is always so easily labelled as the bad guy!"

Dmitri scoffs. "Your words, not his. Nor mine."

"Shut up!"

"But he's right," James says to Max. "I never said those things to you, and I bet no one ever did. You simply pitted those stereotypes onto yourself because it's easier to blame society for your flaws than take responsibility over it yourself."

"Oh, and you think you're so perfect?" Max counters.

"I never said that either," James retorts. "But of course you would think I have, because the me inside your mind isn't the me you actually know."

"You're just spitting nonsense now," Max says, ignoring James' words. "Nonsense! Always nonsense!"

'Nonsense!' It strikes him. 'That's it!'

James may not know Max deep enough to truly grasp and understand why he's doing this, let alone know him enough to have even the most remote information of him in his mind. Not even his age, his interests, much of his job either. But one thing he does know about Max, is that he loves to run his mouth. It's his strength in a way, being able to make a speech out of something entirely uneventful.

But it can also be his weakness.

So, James finds an opportunity.

"Before you do anything..." James starts, putting on his pitifully fake concerned face, so blatantly fake that even Dmitri's face twists of confusion, but a very vague and very quick wink that Max definitely missed is enough to tell Dmitri that James has a plan and intends for him to roll along with it. "Tell me... if people like me truly are the bane of existence, what would you do if we didn't exist?"

He doesn't know where that question came from. He just thought of it at the top of his head. But he's glad that was what he came up with, because it's deep and high-end enough to pique Max's interest, and make him grin like the moustache-twirling cartoon villain he is.

"If people like you didn't exist - you sick, wealthy fucks who don't even use their money good... then I would take your place and be better, be someone you didn't even think to be, someone who would use all that fame and money for good, prove to everyone that I deserve love and respect, not wretched whores like you. If I were you, I wouldn't walk around like a damn peacock expecting people to worship me and my every step. I wouldn't go out of my way to sleep with people of the same sex and sin every night. I wouldn't use my money to buy and take advantage of helpless souls. No, I'd do good. And I'd be better than you ever will!"

James waits a few seconds, to make sure Max has finished his babbling, before saying, "But then you would be no different than me, because in the end, it's my position you still wanna hold."