Breve Series: Date at the Water Grill

Untitled Part 5

                                                                                     -9-

Eddie was sitting in his office. He called this place office but it was basically just a garage with some shelves, a table with mismatched chairs, and a faded sofa that somebody had thrown away and he found on the street last year. He was staring at his cell phone, hesitating what to do. Ginger was lying on the sofa, reading a magazine. She was still wearing the red dress.

"Are you sure he didn't have the money?" asked Eddie.

"I told you already!" snapped Ginger. "All he gave me was this stupid rose! And I asked him about the chocolate and he said he didn't have it with him. He said next time! So just leave me alone and call this idiot instead of bugging me."

"Shut it!" said Eddie "I'm just about to call him."

He picked up the phone and punched in John's number.

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Once John was out of the restaurant, he called his office and told his assistant that he'd take the rest of the day off for family reasons. He needed time and a peaceful place to think this crazy situation over again. He drove directly to the beach, which wasn't too crowded at this time of the day. He parked the car and walked down to the water.

He sat down in the sand and took his shoes off. He forced himself to not think of anything, just enjoy the nice hot sun, the warm sand between his toes, and the best music in the world, the soothing sound of the crashing waves. He stared at the horizon and took a deep breath. He had to figure out a game plan, he couldn't afford to keep on paying this blackmailer, definitely not without drawing his wife's attention. Maybe he should tell the whole story to George. George was his best friend, who had known him forever. He would believe in his innocence and maybe he could help him with some useful advice.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply again, when his phone rang. Oh, please no, I couldn't deal with any office crap now, he thought and glanced at his phone. He didn't recognize the number but it wasn't his office. He hesitated for a few seconds and finally decided to answer it.

"Yes?" he asked.

"John?" Eddie asked.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"No need to know my name. I thought we'd agreed on something and hoped you'd just pay this damn 25 grand and we'd be done. But no, you wanna play hardball, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" asked John and he felt his hands starting to tremble.

"What am I talking about, John? You're asking me what I'm talking about?" John heard a forced laugh from the other end of the line "I'm gonna tell you John, I'm talking about the photos of you canoodling with a woman who's not your wife. And I'm talking about sending those naughty little photos to your wife, because you decided to play games instead of paying as we agreed! That's what I'm talking about! "yelled Eddie.

"Wait, wait... Are you kidding me? I paid as we agreed!" exclaimed John.

"Am I kidding? Looks like you're the one kidding, but it's not a good game, John. You say you paid but where is it then? You think I'm a fool? Don't play with me John, and don't you play the fool either, because you'll come to see a very, very bad end, I guarantee you!" Eddie was now shouting at top of his lungs.

Ginger jumped up from the sofa. She quickly sat down on the table in front of Eddie and started to make wild hand gestures as if playing charades. She was trying to make sure Eddie believed that she really didn't get anything.