We continued chatting for a bit, watching the DJ come in to the party to set up some music. When the music started we all headed back in, knowing that we’d been away long enough.
I was no sooner in the door when Marshall came up to me. “Is everything good?” he asked.
“Yes, just talking with my friends. It was great to catch up with them.”
“Is there anything you need, Becca?”
“I’ll take a refill on the champagne, I guess, but it’s your party and I should be waiting on you,” I offered.
“If it’s my party I should do what I want and right now I want to take care of you,” Marshall retorted.
“Well, far be it for me to argue with the boss,” I said, laughing.
As soon as Marshall left, Sylvain came right up to me and asked if I wanted to dance. At first I said no thank you, but he was insistent. I agreed to one song.
On the dance floor the music was fast and it was fun to move around a bit. I was starting to feel the champagne and hoped this would help wear off that slight buzz I sensed was coming. Then it turned to a slow song and without thinking twice about it, Sylvain pulled me into his arms and we began to slow dance.
“You really are so beautiful and sexy, Becca. You know that though, don’t you?”
“That’s a bizarre question to ask,” I said, not willing to answer him directly. I knew that men were always drawn to me, but I didn’t necessarily flaunt it; or did I?
“Not really. I can see why Marshall enjoys having you work for him. Hopefully I can persuade you to come help me with some legal matters.”
“Sure, set up an appointment at my office and I’d be glad to get over there or send an attorney from the firm who might be more equipped for your line of business than I am.”
“Aloof…interesting.”
“Not really. I…” My words got cut off by Sylvain suddenly being yanked away from me. I saw that it was Marshall and he was raging mad.
“Leave her alone!” Marshall shouted. Before Sylvain could even respond Marshall went off and smacked him one across the jaw.
“Marshall, stop it,” I shouted. “He’s not doing anything wrong.”
Marshall’s disruption had cleared the makeshift dance floor in an instant and Sergio and Andre were at his side, pulling him away from Sylvain, who was still on the floor trying to figure out what had just happened to him. There was a trickle of blood on his lip, which must have cracked from the unexpected punch.
I stood there, shocked and embarrassed by the scene, and Sergio and Andre pulled Marshall away, making him go outside for some fresh air.
Sylvain got up and had a flock of people tending to his needs. His jaw was bruised, but I sensed his ego was even more so. It really had been unwarranted by Marshall and I couldn’t help wondering what his angle was. As a friend he shouldn’t be so agitated if I chose to date or dance with someone. It really wasn’t his business, plus I’d had Sylvain in control. He was good looking, but I wasn’t interested in him in any other way than just a friend—a legitimate friend.
* * *
“Marshall, what the hell is wrong with you?” Sergio asked. “You’re acting like an irrational fool.”
“I don’t know. I just had too much to drink I guess.” Marshall rubbed his hands through his hair, acting as confused about his actions as everyone else had been.
“Look, I’m going to state the obvious,” Andre began. “You obviously have it bad for Becca and you’d better just admit that before you go off the deep end. Stop being so damn stubborn, thinking that you can never love anyone again. Go for it. You take risks with business all the time and succeed. Risking it with Becca seems to be a safer bet. It’s obvious that you two are nuts about each other.”
“You’re wrong. She’s just a friend and very valuable to me. I don’t want to see her get hurt by anybody,” Marshall said.
“Or let anyone else have her apparently,” Sergio added.
“Well, if you two will excuse me, I have to go make amends with Sylvain for clocking him one. Hopefully he doesn’t want to clock me back. He’s a strong bastard.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, not that we could blame him if he wanted to,” Sergio said.
“Just remember—stop acting like a caveman and get your act together,” Andre added.
Marshall turned to look at the two and walked back in to his party, feeling a bit foolish about what he’d just done.
* * *
“I cannot believe that just happened,” I said, looking at Sophia and Mandi. I was so confused and honestly, getting more concerned about Marshall’s mental stability. He was so on and off constantly, making it hard to gauge what was going to happen at any given moment. There was good spontaneity and then there was the bad kind—what he’d just done to Sylvain definitely fell into the bad kind.
“If he’d just stop denying that he’s in love with you, things like that wouldn’t happen,” Mandi said.
“And Mandi’s talking from experience about that one,” Sophia said.
“What do you mean, Mandi?” I asked.
“Sergio did the same thing and I went back to New York early from Italy. Leroy had given me a ride back and we were…well…starting to get intimate and he finally came in and confessed. It had been driving me crazy too. I have a hunch that Marshall’s pulling a Sergio,” Mandi said.
“Maybe, but he’s just a friend to me,” I said. There was no way I was going to get my heart stomped on by Marshall, especially if he wouldn’t just come clean with what he was feeling if it was more than friendship.
The rest of the party was fun and rebounded back into a lively celebration, but I couldn’t help but be distracted by what had happened. It was so confusing and I just didn’t get it. I knew that I was not going to be a part of games like that. I wasn’t good at playing them.
The party ended with plans for all of us to get together at Marshall’s house on the studio lot on Sunday for some fun. It sounded like a nice plan, but I had to make sure I was home early and well rested. Monday would be the day the merger was supposed to take place and I still had a few hunches to follow-up on before that meeting; particularly since it was to take place in the morning.
Chapter 17
Sunday afternoon came quick enough and I was enjoying hanging out by the pool that was in the back of Marshall’s house at the studio. The day was bright and sunny, making the temperature relaxing and ideal. My mind was already a bit distracted with the merger meeting tomorrow, hoping that I’d done everything I could to give Marshall an out if it was in his best interests, which it was. Thankfully he agreed with that too. That didn’t mean it would be easy to just cancel it on the spot.