Empire of Lies

Michael Before

“Hey, Mer! It’s me, Gillian.” A soft voice came over the condo’s messaging system several days later. “Jake & I just landed in Paris and I’m just returning your call. I can’t believe that you’re actually dating someone! An older man! Maybe that’s what you’ve always needed, huh? How many flowers has he sent you again? Oh, and can you please stop sending me detailed text messages about all the amazing sex you’re having and stick to emails? Little Jake just asked me what the phrase ‘tongued me down until I came on his face’ meant, so…Yeah. Call me back!”

Beep!

I tugged on a pair of gloves and walked over to the frames that covered Meredith’s living room wall. There were pictures of her playing around inside private planes with her best friend, pictures of her playing alongside her mother when she was younger, and countless photos of her posing inside of various fashion offices. Her cursive handwriting marred the edge of each photo, capturing the essence of the moment with short phrases like, “I’ll always love this woman like a sister,” “I miss you every day, mom,” and “Flying high with the best friend a girl could ever have.”

I was about to move on and look around the next room, but I saw a familiar image in the lowest frame. A photo of me. Me in bed, holding her against my chest after another round of sex.

What the…

I lifted the frame off the wall and stared at it. She was smiling with her eyes shut, her naked body flush against mine as I foolishly slept. Squinting, I read her cursive inscription: “This man said he’d ‘ruin’ me. Little does he know, he’s saving me…”

FUCK.

I returned the frame to its rightful place, and turned around.

The flowers I’d sent this morning were sitting on the glass table in her entryway. The ones from yesterday and the day before were holding guard in her reading nook.

I need to get this the hell over with…

I made my way to her kitchen and did a double take. This one room was twice the size of an entire basic condo in the building. Everything was immaculate and white—the appliances all designer grade, the countertops and shelves all grey granite. Even though she was a former heiress and was born into a wealthy family, this was the type of kitchen that belonged in a multi-billionaire’s condo. The type of kitchen that would never work for the type of scene I needed to create.

Then again, it was worth a try.

I walked over to her refrigerator and pulled out the tray of yogurt jars on her top shelf. She insisted on eating three of these a day, even though we’d once argued that she didn’t need to.

Pulling out the small red packet from my pocket, I double checked to make sure I had enough to fill each of her jars. The packet was full of dried and flavorless peanuts—the flavor so faint, she’d never see it coming.

She’d make it at least four scoops in before choking, and since I’d already filled her epi-pen with water the last time I saw her, her attempts to self-medicate would be futile. Just in case she tried to reach the paramedics, her cell phone wouldn’t be able to reach 9-1-1; I’d programmed her phone to reach mine, if she ever dialed it.

Housekeeping would find her in the morning, the job would be done, then. I’d be on to the next.

I unscrewed the first row of jars and opened the packet. I held it over the yogurt, and then I stalled. I counted to thirty seconds and vowed to pour the packet in forty-five.

But sixty seconds passed. Then another sixty.

By the time I looked at my watch again, an entire half hour had passed and all I’d thought about was that picture on her wall. That and the feel of her against me from last night.

This man said he’d ‘ruin’ me. Little does he know, he’s saving me…”

I tapped my fingers against the counter and decided to give it a few more minutes. I returned the yogurt to the fridge and decided to do the entire thing in five minutes flat, before the sun went down.

Maybe this is a bit too harsh…Maybe I should explore the carbon monoxide route, or the—

The sound of Meredith’s front door opening interrupted my thoughts.

She’s home three hours early?

I slowly moved into her parlor room once she hit the lights and walked into her bedroom. I stepped behind a bookshelf in her oversized library, quickly thinking about the layout of her condo.

She pressed play on her voicemail and immediately called Gillian once it ended, putting the call on speaker.

“Well, that was a quick call back,” Gillian said. “How the hell are you off work so early?”

Good fucking question…

“My boss sent me home since she’s about to um, how can I put this? Start a firing spree for everyone who’s left in the building today.”

“Lucky you.”

“I know.” Meredith moved into the kitchen, and I caught sight of her. “I’m sorry about the text message thing. I just got so excited. I swear this man eats pussy better than any man on the planet, Gillian. Like, I have never orgasmed so much in my life. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let him go.”

“This sounds so very romantic. I should put this in my next book.”

“You should!” Meredith laughed as she grabbed one of the yogurt jars from the refrigerator.

For some strange reason, my chest hurt with each and every scoop she spooned into her mouth.

“So, outside of the sex, do you like him?” Gillian asked. “Like, do you feel like you’re getting to know him as a person?”

“Yes and no,” she said. “I feel like he knows a lot more about me than I know about him. I mean, it could be because I talk a lot more than he does, and he’s always asking me more questions, but…” She paused. “This is going to sound bat-shit crazy, but I think I liked him from the first night we met, and I think he felt the same.”

Okay, time to go. The fire escape route is next to the guest bathroom.

I pulled a cap off a pen and tossed it into the living room. Meredith immediately walked in that direction, and then she plopped onto the couch—giving me plenty of time to make my move.

“I’ve never felt so comfortable with any guy before.” She was still talking. “Like, just being around him feels right, you know?”

“Yeah, but be careful. You literally just met him a few weeks ago.”

“I know, but I can’t shake the feeling that he might be the one.”

I gently pushed the emergency exit door open, quickly snapped the strings that would’ve signaled an alarm.

“I need to tell you something, Gil,” she said. “I need to tell someone, since I can’t stop thinking about this.”

She walked over to the windows that overlooked Central Park, giving me the perfect moment to leave, but I couldn’t help but linger and listen.

“Promise not to think I’m crazy?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“I feel like I’m falling in love with him already. Like, I know it’s really soon, but we have a lot in common and I promise that it’s not just sex.”

“It’s definitely just sex.” Gillian laughed. “It’s been that long since you’ve had some, and you’ve never ever had ten-star cock before.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” She was still laughing. “But hey, I’m willing to start looking at wedding dresses, if you want. At the rate this is going, I’m sure you’ll be gushing about a proposal soon.”

“I don’t think he’s the marrying type,” Meredith said. “Neither one of us is.”