Chapter 21: Was It Your Wife?

Nathan thanked everyone for coming to welcome Owen back, and then the two men took a seat on the sofa, with Owen on Nathan’s left and Amy on his right. Once they were comfortable, Amy took Nathan’s hand and asked him what he had been up to lately. “You have so much going on,” she said. “You must not have a lot of free time. Am I right?”

“Busy, busy, busy,” Nathan agreed, “but you have been busy too, yes? I saw your broadcasting show yesterday on TV. Who would have guessed that you would become a television anchor? I am proud of you. When will you introduce us to your boyfriend?”

Owen winked at Amy and said, “Come on. Be serious. Amy is a very popular television star. She can afford to wait for her dream man to come along.

Amy was somewhat embarrassed by what Owen had said, and she didn’t know whether she should deny what he’d said or admit that it was true. So, instead of saying one thing or the other, she remained silent and smiled instead. Of course, none of the other guests cared about this conversation. They were looking for their own opportunities to talk to Nathan. Unfortunately for them, Nathan was not a man that was easily cornered.

Owen handed Nathan a cigarette and lit it for him. “Are you in a good mood today?” he wondered.

Nathan nodded, but before he could reply verbally, the vice-president of Brilliant Group interrupted their conversation. “I heard that your company is about to make some big moves,” he said, “Will you be unveiling some new projects in the near future?” Brilliant Group was the leading enterprise in the country.

“Big project?” Nathan took a drag on his cigarette and exhaled the smoke from his mouth. “There is indeed a big project underway,” he said.

“Can you share some of the details with us?” the vice-president wondered. “It must be a great project. Otherwise, I am sure you wouldn’t be involved with it. At the very least, could you tell us how much you’ve invested in it?”

“Sure.” Nathan smiled. He shrugged and said, “It’s a four hundred and eighty-million dollar project, and I am the primary investor.”

The vice-president gasped, and then he called for everyone’s attention, “Hey, guys!” he shouted. “Nathan’s got a hundred and eighty million-dollar project underway!”

Nathan frowned, but everyone was so caught up in the excitement that only Owen noticed his mood shift. For Nathan, this project wasn’t as big of a deal as they were making it out to be, nor was his expenditure, and he would never have mentioned it to the vice president if he’d known that this is what he’d do with the information. Nathan had never been a fan of this kind of attention.

Amy put her hand on Nathan’s leg and said, “Nathan, congratulations on the success of your project. Cheers!” Amy lifted a glass of wine flirtatiously, took a sip, and offered a sip to Nathan. Much to her dismay, though, Nathan turned her offer down, explaining that he did not usually clink glasses with women.

The triumphant expression on Amy’s face froze instantly, but she recovered quickly. She put down the wine glass, pretending not to be embarrassed, and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know. It’s no wonder that everyone says you’re: a good man.” As she spoke, she noticed that Nathan’s sleeve was dirty. “Oh, Nathan!” she exclaimed. “Your sleeve is dirty. Let me help. you...”

Suddenly, everyone in the room turned to

look at Nathan’s sleeve. It was well known to all of them that he was meticulous about clothing and personal hygiene and that all of his suits had been hand-made and customized in Italy. Thus, they were surprised to discover that there was a stain on his sleeve.

Nathan pulled his arm away angrily, “Leave it alone,” he hissed.” Someone did this to me this morning, and I don’t want to talk about it!”

The room went silent suddenly. Who would do such a thing? - they were all wondering. They all looked at each other with astonished expressions on their faces. They couldn’t believe that someone would do such a thing to such an important man.

“Was it your wife?” someone suddenly asked. “Was your wife the one who caused the stain?”

When Amy heard this question, her face turned red, and she asked to be excused-and she went to the ladies’ room.

A few people chuckled as she left, and then they turned back to the question at hand. One of them said, “That’s impossible.” No one thought that Nathan was married, but they were all very curious to hear how he would respond to the question. He didn’t say anything, though, and the room fell into a long silence until one person turned to another and asked, “Is Nathan married?”

“If he is, it’s news to me,” one person replied.

One of the women gasped and said, “There’s no way our dream man could have gotten married without our knowledge!”

A second man said, “You guys are really behind the times. People like to call their girlfriends their wives all the time now.”

“Is that so?” a third man wondered. “But everybody says that Nathan doesn’t even like women that he’s a homosexual...”

A fourth man scowled and said, “Shh!

Watch out. He could hear.”

Owen was the last among them to speak. He looked at Nathan and said, “I didn’t know you were married. Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were friends?”

Nathan still remained silent. After a moment, Owen said, “Shit! Tell me it’s not true! Is she the girl in the picture? I only asked you for a painting. There was no need for you to make her unavailable so quickly. You didn’t even give me a chance... As he spoke, he glanced at Nathan’s dirty sleeve. “What the hell is that thing on your sleeve anyway? And why haven’t you cleaned it yet?

“It’s snot and tears,” Nathan answered casually. 

Owen was so startled by Nathan’s answer that he began to choke on his wine, and some of it shot out from his mouth and nose.