Thursday, March 17, 2022 Charlie’s flat, TriBeCa, Manhattan, New York, United States

Ella woke up and panicked, reaching for a handgun that wasn’t under her pillow. After a moment, she oriented herself and remembered she was at Charlie’s, and the handgun was on the nightstand.

She pulled out her phone but knew what it would say, a nice ‘04:00’. She groaned. Her head hurt a little bit from drinking, but it wasn’t too bad.

She forced herself up and began digging through all the random clothes which she hadn’t worn in forever. The Lycra felt strange after all of the military fabrics – too smooth and tight and lightweight. Across the hall, Charlie had converted one of the bedrooms into an exercise room. Ella hopped on the exercise bike and spun up a live class.

She zoned out, listening to the instructor and music through the headphones and just going all out. It was nice and refreshing, and more than a bit weird to not have fifty pounds of gear on. And, more to the point, to not have Zaidu hissing imprecations at her. The spinning instructor’s optimistic attitude was just weird and artificial seeming.

Ella was shaken out of her reverie when she heard her name called. The instructor had called her out at being at the top of the board. And it wasn’t by a little bit.

What the hell? Was Charlie’s bike mis-calibrated?

Charlie had apparently kept up a bit on the weightlifting as there was a power rack and some weights. Ella limbered up a bit and went to squat. Warm ups went smooth but then she started lifting and she started wondering if she was having trouble converting from the kilograms at the compound to the pounds of Charlie’s weight set. She shrugged and just went by feel.

But the time she was done it was a little past six and she went back to the bedroom and into the private bathroom to hop into the shower. It almost felt a bit weird not to be able to chat with anyone while washing, but she took the oppportunity to soak in the warm water. She decided to wash her hair and just took her time - it felt amazing to not have to rush.

After Ella got out and dried off, she got dressed in civvies and even put on some makeup. She felt out of practice.

Then there was time before the other woke, so time to do a bit of studying. It felt almost meditative. Her classwork had been suffering. She really needed to get a better balance between her two lives.

Jade rolled over in bed. Outside wasn’t quite bright, but spring was on its way, and it was lighter than she expected. Jade had begged off when the two of them had headed to the hot tub. How much wine had she drunk last night? Her head was killing her.

Last night, Charlie had vacillated between concern for Ella and nervousness about her father coming. Charlie had said her father had never visited her before: not once at Yale, and not in New York either, even when he had come up multiple times on business.

And Ella? Ella was on edge, just a complete mess of nerves. And she just didn’t stop — the crisis Ella’s life had become had exacerbated her natural obsessive tendencies. Jade had woken up briefly when she heard Ella move around early on the morning to work out before going back to sleep.

Charlie woke up feeling great. She should be nervous. Her dad was coming to see her. But in some ways the balance had shifted.

Her father had never had much use for other people except as a measuring stick for how far he exceeded them. He rarely spoke to her except to tell her how much better he was than others.

Charlotte, the best do not need to brag or self-aggrandize. Those who matter know.

Charlotte, the world is divided into winners and losers, the haves and the have-nots. Being a have-not means you are nobody. Being a have means you are a winner. Being a have who becomes a have-not is the only unforgivable sin.

Charlotte. You should have take a stronger position on tea instead of lemonade. Your net margin is terrible.

Charlie had been six when he had shared these particular pieces of wisdom.

Charlie was self-aware to know why she went by Charlie instead of Charlotte, why she still sought her fathers approval, and why she wanted to exceed him and show him up. It wasn’t rocket science to figure out her own psychology. Drunk girl with daddy issues, a tale as old as time. She grinned sourly.

But then she thought about the gift that Ella had given her. Her father thought she had entered his game, high finance and hedge funds, the arena that he thought mattered. But he had no idea about the true game being played. Ella had given her the ultimate gift, that of one-upsmanship. Because… well because… fuck him.

Were those pancakes she smelled? Damn. It was going to suck drinking her kale smoothie instead of eating those.

“Charlotte. We need to speak about Thomas Xu.”

And there he was at the door, Alistair Harris. As usual, no preamble. His presence was unassuming, a stocky man with a square jaw and parted silver hair. Impeccably turned out in a gray suit that he only wore because it was expected of him.

Charlie had spent all day deciding whether to be flippant or respectful, changing her clothes, making Ella and Jade change their clothes, multiple times.

She had decided to start respectful. One, because this was her home and she wanted the advantage, and two, because it was easier to descend in propriety than climb it.

“Father. So wonderful to have you here! I am sure you remember Ella, and this is Jade, my other roommate.” Okay, not being an asshole hadn’t lasted, the syrupy falsetto in her voice was over the top. Charlie knew her father had never met Ella.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. “It has been so long since you have visited, let me give you a tour of the changes since the last time you were here.”

Her father took it all in without an expression. They both knew he had never been here before. He had bought the buildings sight unseen and hired someone to decorate it without caring. His paternal duty complete. Along with several ’tenants’ downstairs to keep an eye on Charlie.

But Charlie couldn’t help but slip in these barbs.

Ella took the opportunity to introduce herself, “Eesha Jindal-Witten, sir. But please call me Ella.”

“Jade Ndereba. Pleased to meet you.”

Alistair’s eyes flickered over them. He motioned to the burly man with a buzz cut and loose fitting sport jacket standing behind him in the hall, “This is George.”

George nodded and then unfolded a small tripod stool. The stool looked like it wouldn’t be able to support George’s weight, but he sat on it comfortably right there in the small hallway that led to the elevator. Ella got a glance in his jacket where the expected holster was. Ella felt naked without hers. But this ridiculous… dress with suede jacket and matching boots was straight out of Southern Living and didn’t have much room for anything besides her boot knife.

Jade had a long loose linen type outfit that Charlie had stuffed her in to compliment her dark skin.

Both of them had refused to let Charlie do their makeup, but had compromised in putting on more than they were used to. Charlie looked caked in it. And her Savannah accent was on in full force, it was jarring.

Her father said nothing and took a seat in the formal parlor that they never had used before.

“Your usual Amrut.” Charlie set a strange angular crystal tumbler down with a large sphere of ice in it and brown liquid.

“Ella, Jade?” Charlie said brightly.

They demurred and sat their awkwardly.

“Thomas Xu.” her father said again.

“Why yes father. He is my boss!” And Charlie gave her a bright sunny smile.

“Charlotte.” He said in a warning voice. “You two. Go away.”

“Father! How rude! You don’t dismiss people in my home.”

Now Ella and Jade felt even more awkward. Jade fidgeted with her hands.

“It’s quite alright Charlie. We will go sit over there as we have some stuff to chat about.” Ella said. And because she had faced death and that asshole Zaidu, she turned to Alistair Harris and said, “Charlie is quite right. That was rather rude. I expected more.” And she grabbed Jade’s hand and they walked to the adjoining casual living area.

“What the hell was that?” Jade whispered once they seated themselves.

“Oh nothing. Now I am trying to listen so shush.” Ella’s eyes took on a bit of glow as she tried to do something she had failed at this far.

“Interesting,” was all Alistair Harris had to say as Ella walked off. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he turned back to Charlie. And he waited.

“What do you want to know about Tommy?” Charlie was resigned.

“Thomas Xu is a dangerous man. Not all of his money comes from sources I can identify. His hedge fund is a rabbit hole of shell companies. Why did you leave physics and take this job?”

Alistair Harris had known when Jade had moved in. He had also known when Ella had disappeared for several weeks and when she had returned to move in with his daughter. There were things afoot.

However, Thomas Xu was his main problem. Alistair Harris had invested with Xu as part of club deals occasionally but only peripherally.

And now, when his daughter had taken a job with this man, he had done some real diligence, and he did not like what he saw. He especially did not care to find out that Tommy Xu was, for lack of a better word, more successful than he was.

Charlie stared at him, her eyes intense with a maelstrom of emotion. “I never loved physics. I did it because I was really good at math and Ella, my best friend, was doing it.” She hesitated but today was the day, “and because it wasn’t something you would approve of.”

If Charlie had blinked, she would have missed it. He quietly said, “And how would you know what I would approve of?”

Charlie could unpack the implications and admission in that statement later. She stood up and walked over to the bar cart and poured herself a glass of whiskey neat and drank it down.

“I decided to let it go. And do what I want. What I’m best at.”

Her father sat there. And he was looking at her. For the first time she could remember, Charlie felt him actually looking at her as if weighing her. A look he reserved for his business partners and never his family.

“And why Tommy Xu?” Charlie went on to answer the rest of his questions. “Because he wasn’t you.” She smiled ruefully as she poured another whiskey, it was an admission that she hadn’t really let it all go.

Dinner that evening was Chinese food out of the paper containers. Charlie had realized something, the southern manners, the formality, all the rest… her father didn’t care about it at all. He did it to meet expectations.

He sat there quietly. Ella kept up polite conversation with Jade and Charlie, but Alistair didn’t say a word. Just held his container and jaggedly broken apart chopsticks and ate.

On his way out, Charlie couldn’t help herself, “Do you even like golf?”

Was that the barest hint of a smile? “No” and George shut the door.

“Well that was fucking awful.” Jade said in relief.

But Charlie wasn’t sure. She still poured herself another drink.