Man of the Year (Drake Story)

Chapter Fem

Amanda called me the next morning.

I’d forgotten about her. She, really, was the only reason I was here, and if only she knew that I only spent my time flirting with another girl while trying to dig up secrets about my uncle with yet another girl—me being slightly infatuated with both of them—she would probably be terribly upset at herself. That’s why I didn’t tell her.

I didn’t pick up the phone.

What could I tell Amanda? I had a lot to say to her, sure, but not yet. My head wasn’t clear enough for that yet. Once I figured out what to do about Belphoebe, Cyrus and my uncle, then I’d have time to worry about my love life. Until then Amanda would have to wait for an answer from me. If she was smart enough she would leave a compelling message that would probably persuade me to call her back.

I doubt it.

The first order of business for the day was to find out something. Anything. I’ve been too deprived of too much information for too long to keep going like this. It could be something that I didn’t even necessarily want to know, but I had to move forward. Belphoebe wouldn’t want me to just me stuck here like this, making no progress whatsoever.

At ten o’ clock Haley walked in, fresh towels and new sheets in hand. By the way things were going, I was almost sure Drake would open up the hotel after we left. It did really feel like a hotel, the way we were being waited on and fed. But I knew it wasn’t that simple. Not with all we’d uncovered, me and Bell. There was still Cyrus to deal with, and Jeffie, and Drake himself.

“Good morning, Master Aubrey. How did you sleep?” Haley asked.

“How did you sleep?”

“Um, fine. Nothing much to report. I don’t have interesting dreams like you do,” She laughed. She didn’t look me in the eye; she knew I wanted to hear more. I asked her how she slept every single day, and not nonchalantly. I wanted to know exactly how she slept, and the other maids too. Now was her time to tell me. So she did.

“There’s one room.” Haley started. “It’s in the basement. Well, not the basement you might know of. I’m talking about the second house we have; it’s underground. I’m not even supposed to be telling you about the mini-mansion, but just know that they are many, many people down there.”

“I know about the mini-mansion.”

“You do?”

I nodded. “I’ve been down there, as a child. I forgot exactly what we were doing down there, but I remember it having a bad smell. My uncle had been discussing something with my father, a deal that Pop didn’t want to take. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen it.”

Haley’s face took on a solemn, dark expression. She looked away from me and began to gaze out of the window. I even saw her eyes become a bit cloudy; was she crying?

“Aubrey…I can’t tell you too much.”

“Yes, you can!” I stood up, blocking the window and forcing her to look at me. “You can. I’m tired of everybody keeping secrets from me. Tell me exactly what you want me to know. You and I both are in danger. I can help you. Help me help you, Haley. Nothing bad will happen to you if you do.”

Now she was crying. Tears streamed down her face and she didn’t bother to wipe them. She couldn’t. I was holding both of her arms to her sides, preventing her from moving at all. I couldn’t let go. If I did, she would give up and run out of the room. That’d be it. We would never talk about it again because I would feel bad for making her feel like she was against a wall, and she would be concerned for both of our safety. That wasn’t an option. Not this time.