“Does that excite you?” I asked him, smiling slightly.
“It absolutely does.”
“I’m starting to think you like me just for my power.”
“I like you for your body,” he said, whispering into my ear. “The power is jut secondary.”
I blushed slightly then he took my hand. We walked together through the lobby, down a back hall, and found the ballroom.
It was just like every other charity fundraiser that I’d been to. Rich people were milling about, sitting and talking, drinking too much, and generally acting like nothing in the world mattered. Which, to them it probably didn’t. They had no real problems to speak of, and these little charity things were more like social events than anything else. It was an excuse to flaunt their checkbooks.
Wyatt worked the room like a professional. We went from table to table, and he introduced me as his friend and colleague every time, though I was sure nobody was buying that. Still, he was masterful, always flattering people and never making any promises while always seeming to promise the world. He was a true politician, and I instantly understood why he rose to such a prominent position so quickly.
“Michelle,” he said, using my fake name, “this is Roger Waters.”
I took the older gentleman’s hand, shaking firmly. He smiled at me.
“Pleasure,” I said.
“Pleasure is all mine.” He looked back at Wyatt. “Where’d you find this one?”
“We work together.”
“I’m sure you do,” he murmured. “Michelle, what do you do?”
“I’m a lawyer specializing in constitutional law,” I said.
“Impressive.”
“What do you do, Roger?”
“Oh, nothing much,” he said.
“Roger is being modest. He owns the largest construction business in the world.”
“Used to,” he corrected. “These days I’m just one board member among many.”
“I’m sure you’re more important than they are.”
“Of course,” he beamed. Wyatt gave me a smile.
“Excuse us, Roger,” Wyatt said. “We have some pressing business to attend to,”
“Be careful, you two young people,” he said. “There are a lot of important people in here.”
“Of course.” Wyatt smiled and led me off.
We went over to the bar together. “Is this what you do all day?” I asked him. “Shake hands with old men and flatter them?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s a lot easier with a beautiful woman on my arm.”
“I hate it,” I said. “I really do.”
“I know. I hate it too.”
“These people. They don’t understand anything.”
“Of course not. Would you?”
“Yes,” I said seriously. “I would. I am one of these people, remember.”
“So you are.” He shrugged. “Most people when they get that rich are living in a bubble. They can’t understand the common person’s plight because they’re so far removed from them. They live on a completely different planet.”
“It’s grotesque.”
“It is,” he said, getting us both a glass of wine. “But we’re going to change that.”
I nodded and sipped my drink, but something wasn’t sitting right.
I had hoped that this was going to be fun. I hoped we would shake hands and laugh and joke, and we were. Wyatt was being as attentive as he possibly could, and yet I still felt like I was having an awful time.
I couldn’t quite figure it out. We moved back into the fray, talking to person after person. Dinner was starting soon, and so people were slowly filtering back to their seats, and I had this rock in my stomach.
What the hell were we doing here? Why would I leave the city for this? There was too much at stake back home for me to mess around with Wyatt, and yet I had left everything to Kasia and run off to be with him.
“This is absurd,” I said softly as we headed back to our table for dinner.
“What?” he asked.
“This. It’s absurd. Why are we here?”
“Securing donors.”
I suddenly stopped walking as it hit me. “I can’t be here,” I said.
“Louisa. We talked about this.”
“No, it’s not that. I can’t be around these people, Wyatt. I despise them. I despise myself for shaking their hands and smiling and nodding at their idiotic comments when all I want to do is strangle them, steal their cash, and run off with it.”
He blinked at me, and then nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“Really?”
“Let’s go. Fuck this place. Come on.”