I smiled more wildly and clapped my hands. “Tea?”
I took the back stairs down to the greenhouse and laid myself down on the chaise in front of two lounge chairs, a low glass table, and an oriental rug of pale greens. I stretched out a lazy pinkie to swipe up the remaining white powder on the glass from earlier that day and was rubbing it thoroughly against my upper gums as Shay and Kane entered the greenhouse, Benson fast on their heels with a silver cart.
“Perhaps you’d like to explain what just happened, Ronan?” Shay asked as he seated himself across from me, smoothing down the front of his black vest over his red chequered shirt, which was rolled up to his elbows.
I shrugged as I lit a cigarette and blew a long exhale straight into the air.
“Some learning curves are steeper than others,” I said.
Kane, who had remained standing behind his chair as Benson arranged the tea in front of us, arched a dark eyebrow.
“I wasn’t sure it was possible,” he said, “but you’ve made her even more crass.”
“More rude,” Shay added.
“More foul-mouthed.”
Kane leaned forward, resting his arms against the back of the chair, and said with a pointed look at me, “More classless.”
I flicked the end of my cigarette. “Haven’t you heard that you have to take two steps back to take one forward?”
Shay paused while reaching forward for his cup of tea. “Don’t you mean one step back to take two steps forward?” he asked.
My head lolled lazily to the side to eye him, squinting just slightly. “What did I say?”
Kane rolled his eyes with an irritated sigh and came around to his chair and sat with one leg crossed over the other.
“Well, I can’t say that I’m exactly surprised,” he said before nodding at Benson, who handed him a cup and saucer of Earl Gray. “Thank you, Benson.”
Shay added his thanks and Benson nodded once more.
“Anything else, sir?” he asked me.
I drummed my fingers against the top of the bottle of whiskey. “Umm, in regard to my… my…”
“Swim instructors?” Benson supplied, cool and calm as always.
“Yes, of course,” I said, eyes avoiding Shay and Kane. “Are my swim instructors still… measuring the pH of the pool?”
“They are, sir.”
“I see,” I said, still fidgeting with the glass stopper of the whiskey bottle. “Would you inform them that I’ll be a little late to our afternoon session?”
Benson inclined his head toward me and said, “Of course, sir.”
Benson then left and I busied myself pouring a healthy shot of whiskey into my cup of tea. I slowly lifted my eyes to find Shay with his arms crossed disapprovingly across his chest and Kane staring at me unblinkingly.
“Learning how to swim then, O’Hara?” Shay asked.
I smiled. “Never too late to learn,” I said, sipping at my tea. “The statistics on pool-related deaths would astound you, I’m sure, Shay.”
“Especially when alcohol is involved,” Kane added.
I laughed and threw a sugar cube at him. He let it bounce off his fine slate-grey suit without flinching. I pouted at him and rolled myself up to an upright position.
“You seem grumpy,” I said. “Is this about the bet? Because if it’s about the bet, I tried. I really did.”
Shay chuckled as he leaned forward to pluck a grape from the large crystal bowl of fruit on the glass table.
“You tried?” he asked.
“I did.”
“How did you try, Ronan?”
I gave a bored sigh as I assessed the end of my quickly disappearing cigarette. “Well, let’s see,” I started, doing my best not to give myself away by cracking a smile. “I tried to show her a classy bedroom and I tried to show her a classy bed and I tried to show her a classy co—”
“We get it,” Shay said, holding up a hand to stop me.
“I was going to say cuckoo clock!” I said, grinning like a mischievous kindergartener.
Neither Shay nor Kane seemed amused as I munched on a cucumber sandwich. Kane brushed away what was left of the cocaine on the glass table and cleaned his fingers with his silk handkerchief.
Sighing, he said, “Like I said, I’m not at all surprised. I never expected you to take it seriously, Ronan. Just like with everything else. You’ve always been too afraid of failing to ever try.”
Shay shifted uncomfortably in his chair next to Kane; he had always been the Good Cop to Kane’s Icy, No Fun, Grumpy, Mean Bad Cop. I laughed and threw a sugar cube straight up into the air to catch it in my mouth.
I crunched down on it and, grinning, said around a mouthful of sugar, “Don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, mate.”
I winked as well to make sure they saw that I was in on the joke, too. That it didn’t affect me. That I didn’t care about what Kane just said about me.
But it stung.
It stung that vulnerable part of my heart I couldn’t numb with alcohol, forget about with drugs, smother in tits. And I knew deep down that it only stung because it was true.
“I think you know exactly what we’re talking about,” Kane said.
I ignored him, snatched up the bottle of whiskey, and raised it up, eyeing Kane and then Shay.
“Eh? Eh?”
Kane just shook his head, but Shay leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
“Ronan, aren’t you supposed to be at your company’s board meeting right now?”
Since neither of them was going to have a drink, I poured their portion into my teacup, which no longer had any tea in it. I blew on it nonetheless, earning an irritated roll of his eyes from Kane.
“No,” I said to Shay. “That’s on Thursday.”
“It is Thursday.”
I snapped my fingers and said, “Oh, darn”, before tossing back the contents of my teacup. Shay and Kane had been trying to get me to be more involved with my company, always telling me silly things like “You’re the CEO” and “You’re smart and have good ideas” and “You can’t just drink and do drugs for the rest of your life.” I knew they were just trying to be good friends, but they were often a massive pain in my ass.
I just wanted to squander my wealth and public image and whatever remaining brain cells I had left in peace and in quiet. Was that so much to ask? The world didn’t need another spoiled brat dressing up in Daddy’s suit and pretending he was anything but a spoiled brat who’d done nothing at all to deserve his silver spoon.
“We could drive you over,” Shay offered, already reaching for the keys in his back pocket.
“Hmm, I would,” I said, shrugging like I really was sorry. “I really would. But there’s my swim lessons…”
Shay mostly hid his disappointment, but Kane wasn’t so subtle.
“How’s Anna?”
I smiled, but my eyes surely betrayed my annoyance as I turned my head to face Kane. “That didn’t work out.”
Kane’s face remained stoic as always before he asked in a low tone, “But you tried?”
My easy, carefree smile came a little less easily and felt a little less carefree this time. “Always.”