Elite (12 page)

Jordan sat and contemplated for a moment. He had told her all of the details he could about the Misters Blank and Richfield, leaving out the emotional reactions that led him to each encounter. He presented the situation to her with matter-of-fact, making sure not to involve any emotion. He hoped this level headed approach would lead her to give him her honest opinion on the matter, without any emotion of her own becoming a factor.

“How much would they pay you?” She asked.

Ah yes,
Daniel thought. That was a detail he had left out intentionally. This was because the pay structure Richfield had laid out before him was somewhat complicated, and depended on a number of different factors. On top of that, the amount of money was so great that it might arise more suspicion within Jordan, and he was afraid that if he got too deep into specifics that it might cause him to say something he shouldn’t.

“It’s substantial,” Daniel compromised. “Depends on my level of success, but even if things don’t work out the way they hope, I still get a good amount of money.”

“Like, how much?” Jordan inquired.

He hoped she wouldn’t pry, but he knew that she would. Jordan knew the importance of money just as Daniel did, and she wouldn’t leave it alone until she had some idea of what level of wealth Daniel would be obtaining.

“A lot more than I’m making now,” Daniel countered, trying to shut her down.

Jordan just stared back at him for a few seconds, and Daniel tried to make it clear that he was done speaking. Then she widened her eyes and gave a slight shake of her head, letting him know that she was dissatisfied with that response and was waiting for something more specific.

Daniel took a long sip of his drink, swallowed, and finally gave in.

“Six figures,” he said.

Jordan instinctively let out a “Whoa!” Then she took a few more long seconds to stare at Daniel, a smile on her face, as if trying to read his thoughts on what he had just revealed to her while simultaneously sending her thoughts to him. It was something she did quite often, and because of how well the two knew each other it was generally effective.

“That’s really good!” She said, breaking the momentary mind-meld and switching back to verbal conversation.

“I know,” he said flatly. “Almost makes it seem worth it.”

“Totally!”
She responded instantly. “So why don’t you do it?”

Now Daniel was in trouble. There were two answers to her question. The first was that Daniel didn’t want to be locked away for several months of training, leaving her all alone in Chicago with only Gordon
Demérs. Jordan wouldn’t like that answer, and would insist that Daniel not make any decisions based on her.

The second, more substantial reason that Jordan
would
agree with, was top-secret. If he told her the details he would be acting outside the law. It wasn’t that he was so afraid of legal action, but that it would also give Richfield cause to have him killed, and Daniel believed that he could do it. In fact, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Richfield or one of his men was listening in on this entire conversation right now.

He surveyed the outdoor patio of the bar. For all he knew, any of these people could be working for Richfield. Just because they were body guards didn’t mean they couldn’t also operate as spies on the side. Richfield recruited from all kinds of organizations. Some of his people were bound to be spies.

“I would have to go away,” Daniel finally said. He knew what this line of conversation was going to amount to, but he didn’t see much choice. He had to give her something.

“Go away?” She inquired.

“For training,” he elaborated.

He took another sip from his drink and continued.

“They would basically lock me away in the training facility for several months and train me to be a lean, mean, protection machine,” he said with a smirk, hoping she would find his quip at least somewhat witty. “I don’t know that I would want to be gone for that long.”

“Yeah, that would be tough,” she concurred. “But totally worth it I think. You would be in such good shape, and you would be making great money. You can’t pass that up.”

It sounded so simple when Jordan said it, except that she didn’t know the true details.

“It would be dangerous,” Daniel countered, trying to include the danger aspect in his argument without giving away the details he had sworn to keep under wraps.

“Very true,” Jordan said. “Didn’t think about that. Maybe you shouldn’t do it. It’s some good money, but it’s not worth you risking your life I don’t think.”

Not worth risking your life.
Those were the words Daniel was looking for because he agreed – It wasn’t worth dying over.

“That’s why I’m not going to do it,” he said with a half-hearted smile, genuinely happy that she had reinforced his decision.

“So what are you going to do?” She asked.

He finished his drink, set the glass down on the bar, and took a deep breath. That was the question, wasn’t it? His options seemed limited.

Able to sense his disappointment Jordan moved closer to him and put her arm over the back of his neck and began rubbing his far shoulder. She placed her other arm on his bicep.

The intention was to comfort her friend, but in reality she had only made it worse. Daniel now felt an intense surge of emotion that brought him to the verge of tears. It was cliché, but he loved Jordan so much that it quite literally created a pain within him. He had waited so long for moments like these to be common place, and now that she was here, he was going to have to leave.

“The easy answer is to go home.” It took some effort, but he managed to force out the words.

“There is no shame in that,” Jordan responded in an attempt to soothe him.

“What if I can figure something out?” He asked, picking up his head and looking Jordan in the eye.

“Like what?” She asked
, trying to sound as though she believed there was potential in what he was saying.

“I don’t know,” he said, looking up at the sky as if searching for an answer. “I could probably get a job at a restaurant or something. I wouldn’t make as much and it wouldn’t be easy, but I could get a roommate. Lots of people manage that sort of thing.”

Jordan continued rubbing his shoulder and tilted her head to the side. “Yeah,” she said, “but you don’t want to live like that. I know you don’t.”

Daniel threw his head back and to the side with dissatisfaction.

She continued, “You didn’t get a college degree to work in a restaurant. You need to find something better. You deserve that.”

Daniel brought his head back to meet her gaze.

“But I want to be here! I won’t be happy back in Indiana either, no matter what I’m doing.” Daniel’s tone was beginning to make him sound like a child arguing with his mother over having to finish his vegetables before getting dessert.

“You’ll find your way back here eventually, “Jordan offered. “I know you will.”

Daniel hung his head once again, defeated. He was stuck. There was no way for him to spend the summer with Jordan in the city, acting as a buffer between her and the fantasy man that was Gordon Demérs.

“I won’t be happy without you—knowing that you’re here and I left. I’d do anything to stay here with you,” he finally admitted.

“You can come visit me,” the tone in her voice went up as she said this, as if it were the perfect solution to all of Daniel’s problems and he was silly for not having thought of it already.

“I don’t want to come visit you in the city I waited for you in for a year, just so you could move here and date Gordon
Demérs while I moved away!” He said. It was all on the table now, there was no holding back. “I want to
be
with you. I will make sacrifices to do that.”

Jordan’s hands had now been removed from Daniel and she leaned forward on the bar, displeasure on her face. That had been the last thing she had needed to hear tonight.

“I never asked you to wait for me,” she said. “In fact I told you not to.”

“I love you,” Daniel countered immediately, leaning in toward her and pointing all five fingers on both his hands to his chest. “I don’t want anyone else. Waiting wasn’t a choice, it just happened.”

“I wish…” Jordan began, “that you didn’t feel that way. I really do. And I am so sorry that I don’t feel the same way Daniel. You know how much I care about you—you’re my best friend.”

Daniel’s heart sank, as it did every time Jordan told him they couldn’t be together.

“But I’m no Gordon Demérs,” Daniel said, finishing Jordan’s thought for her.

“It’s different with Gordon,” she tried to explain. “I am so drawn to him. He makes me laugh constantly, and every moment I’m with him I just feel like such a fun person. Of course I love the way I feel with you, but I have
urges
with Gordon that I don’t feel for you, and I think that is so important.”

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to keep any tears from becoming visible to Jordan, or more importantly any of the other people around them.

“I understand if you hate me for that,” Jordan concluded.

Daniel rolled his eyes. She loved to play the “hate me” card. The truth was that Jordan almost hoped he
did
hate her because it would make things so much easier on the both of them. He would no longer long for something she couldn’t give him, and she wouldn’t have to feel so guilty for not being able to give it.

“You know that I will NEVER hate you,” he assured her. “But yes, it is very hard to hear that.”

They both sat silent for the next minute or two – Daniel wasn’t exactly sure how long. They ran their fingertips along the outside of their glasses and both stared up at the TVs behind the bar—Daniel contemplating what he would say next and Jordan preparing herself for an apologetic response.

“So even if I find a way to stay, we wouldn’t date?” He asked her.

“Daniel, we’ve already talked about this,” she said with exhaustion in her voice.

Daniel sat and stared at the TVs for another moment. He knew what he wanted to ask next.

“Are you going to date Gordon after I leave?” He had decided that at this point there was no reason not to ask.

“I’m not sure about anything with Gordon right now,” she retorted. “All I know is that I don’t feel the things with you that I should. I wish I did, but I don’t.”

Daniel hung his head again and began giving half nods of understanding, his chin hitting his chest.

Jordan finished her drink and pulled some cash out of her purse and threw it up on the bar. “I’m sorry, but I need to go. I have school in the morning,” she said.

Daniel sat up in his bar chair and got to his feet. “Walk you to a cab?” He offered.

“I would love that,” she accepted.

Daniel both loved and hated when she did that. She would break his heart and then act like he was the most important thing in the world to her and was constantly pleasured by his company.

There was little conversation between the two of them as they made the short walk from
Margaritaville to the front entrance of Navy Pier. When they reached the circle drive in front of the entrance Daniel hailed a cab for Jordan. He opened the door for her and she climbed in the back seat.

“See
ya when I see ya,” Daniel said leaning over the door and peering into the back seat.

“Yep,” she said with a forced smile.

He shut the cab door and she was off. Even though he was broken, he hoped he would see her again very soon. He would try not to text her for the rest of the night, though it would take a great amount of effort on his end.

Daniel stood in place and looked up again at the city skyline. It was dusk and the lights on many of the buildings were just starting to come on.

I’ve lost my soul mate either way,
he thought to himself.
But I don’t have to lose you too.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone.

“Don’t bother,” he heard a familiar voice say from behind him.

Daniel slowly turned around to find both Richfield and Blank standing about fifteen feet behind him, side by side, both looking directly at him.

Richfield continued with an explanation. “Don’t worry, we weren’t spying on you or anything. We were just having dinner at Harry Caray’s here, and we saw you walking by—saw the expression on your face.”

Daniel just dropped his head and laughed. He couldn’t help himself. How convenient that the two of them happened to choose to have dinner at the pier tonight – and after Blank had just spoken to Daniel a couple hours ago. Then again, he supposed Richfield didn’t expect him to believe it was a coincidence. The fact was
, they were there at the most opportune moment.

Daniel threw his arms out to the side, “I’ve got nothing left,” he half yelled to the two men.

“You’re wrong Daniel,” Richfield said as the two men began walking toward him.

Richfield put his arm on Daniel’s shoulder and smiled. “I think everything you want is right in front of you.”