Lies and Weddings(112)
Gopal Das said, “As you wish, Lord Greshamsbury,” and turned to leave the room without further dissent.
“No, Papa, nooo!” Bea cried. “Rufus, stop him!”
Rufus scowled at Bea. “Why didn’t you come to Eden’s defense when Mum was spreading all these lies about her?”
Bea started to sob. “Oh, Rufus, you have no idea what I’ve been through! I’ve been so scared and panicked and I’ve had to hide this so long so I wouldn’t upset Mummy! Eden, I’m so sorry!”
Eden glanced over at Bea, unable to mask her hurt.
Luis Felipe began to laugh maniacally. “Eden, you’re way too good for these fuckers. I thought this dinner was going to be tedious as shit but this is the most fun I’ve had all week! You people treat me like I’m not good enough to set foot in this house, but it turns out you’re just a bunch of lying hypocrites!”
“What are you talking about? We’ve done nothing but roll out the red carpet for you!” Arabella shot back.
“Oh yeah? You’ve been so fucking condescending, insulting me at every opportunity and thinking I’m too wasted to notice.”
“You are wasted!”
“I’m wasted because I have to look at your putrid face! You’re nothing but a sad broke bitch married to a pathetic loser with a mediocre wine collection. Well, guess what? Your pee is still gonna stink of asparagus just like mine, and your daughters may call themselves ladies but they’re really nothing but whores.”
Before he could help himself, Rufus bolted out of his seat and decked Luis Felipe right across the face, sending him tumbling backward in his chair and onto the ground. His bodyguards stationed by the door of the dining room didn’t even have time to react.
“You fucker! You broke my nose!” Luis Felipe raged as he got up, holding his hand to his bloody nose.
“You can insult me all you want, but I draw the line at insulting my family!” Rufus yelled back.
“Yeah? You can go rot in hell with your fucking family! I want all my loans repaid within thirty days. Every single penny! Otherwise, I get this house, and the first thing I’m going to do is throw all of you out on your bony royal asses!”
Skip Notes
* “Dead ghost! Dead ghost!” in Cantonese, an insult directed toward Gopal Das that would be the equivalent of “Monster!”
XIV
The Enterprise
WALTON STREET, LONDON ? ONE WEEK LATER
“There she is!” Rufus said to Eden as he spotted Martha entering the restaurant. He waved to her from their corner banquette at the back of the room. As Martha wove through the lunchtime crowd, looking like a Chinese Georgia O’Keeffe in her starched white blouse, camel prairie skirt, black fedora, and vintage silver squash blossom necklace, Eden got up and greeted her with a big hug. “So lovely to meet you at last!”
“You’re real! I’m so relieved! I was half suspecting that Rufus had made you up so that he wouldn’t have to marry me!” Martha said.
“Go for it—he’s all yours!” Eden replied as both of them laughed heartily.
“What a charming place—the food smells amazing! Sorry I’m late, I couldn’t resist a bit of shopping,” Martha said as she tried to find space to stow her heaps of shopping bags.
“Ooh, you went to Egg!” Eden said.
“You know it? I thought I was the only one who knew about Egg!”
“It’s one of my favorite shops!” Eden replied.
“See, I knew I was going to like you!” Martha said with a wink as the waiter approached their table to take her drink order. “I’ll have a dirty martini.” Martha glanced at her lunch companions questioningly. “Too early?”
“Not at all. Make that two dirty martinis,” Eden said.
The waiter nodded and looked at Rufus. “Refill on your beer?”
“I’ll switch to a martini as well,” Rufus said.
“Wait, Rufus, will you please do me a favor?” Martha jumped in. “Will you please say ‘I’ll have a vodka martini…shaken, not stirred.’?”
Rufus stared up at the ceiling in embarrassment. “Okay, here goes: I’ll have a vodka martini…shaken, not stirred.”
The waiter chuckled as Martha clapped. “Perfection, I think I just jizzed in my pants. Don’t you love his accent, Eden?”
“Rufus has a great voice, but you know how it is, the grass is always greener on the other side. Personally, listening to a Southern gentleman gets me weak in the knees. You know, like Sam Shepard. Or Matthew McConaughey.”
“Oh no, not me. He sounds overly medicated to me. Speaking of which, dare I ask…is the countess still barricaded in her room?” Martha asked.
“Day seven now,” Rufus replied. “She went upstairs the moment Luis Felipe left the house and has refused to talk to any of us since.”
“Classic move. My mom does it all the time, except she checks herself into her favorite Buddhist monastery and throws away her phone. It’s her way of letting me know she’s mad at me.”
“That’s not very Buddhist of her,” Eden commented.
“Exactly what I tell her!” Martha said. “How’s everyone else holding up?”