CAST
Mark Lewis - Our protagonist, an insurance company man who busts fraudsters.
Andrea Lewis-Hampton - A part time saleswoman and mother, Mark is convinced she is cheating on him.
Susie, Mark Jr - Their children.
Jake Lewis - Mark's older brother. A cross between a cranky cowboy and an engineer.
Mandy Lewis - Jake's wife and professional "bimbo". Not too bright... or is it all an act?
Margaret "Maggs" Fields - Andrea's best friend from college. Party girl and serial adulteress.
Frank Fields - Margaret's clueless husband.
Paul Jackson - Executive director of Sales and Marketing. Suspected of having an affair with Andrea. He's up to something.
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A Year and a Day - Chapter 3
Jake Lewis
I was choking down a bourbon at this overpriced Hawaiian resort bar - twelve bucks a pour, if you can believe it, when Mandy bounced over, looking like a Barbie doll on a mission. Pink dress hugging every outrageous curve, towering heels and blonde hair swinging like she was filming a Pantene commercial.
"Ready for some fun, honey?" she chirped with a wink.
I knocked back the last of my drink and rolled my eyes. She had her game face on, the one that made her a star online. Don't let the bubble gum vibe fool you, under all that sparkle and sex appeal, she's a shark. Maybe not a great white, possibly just a large pink fluffy shark, with glitter for teeth, but all the same, she's got a bite. Lord knows I've seen her chew up and spit out enough suckers, all with a smile on her face and a giggle on her lips. She's the best kind of woman, and the worst kind, if you know what I mean.
"Let's go babe."
I put my drink down and followed behind her - close, but not too close. We had a plan tonight, one that I thought had a pretty good chance of working. At lest better than when Mark dragged me into this mess months ago. We screwed that one up, well mostly Mandy and I screwed each other and barely managed to remember what we were there for. In the end, it didn't matter - Andrea wasn't even in Chicago, which in its own way was vindication of Mark's suspicions, but still not hard evidence of the affair he suspected.
We move from the casual bar, across the great hotel lobby and into the function area, both of us seeing the victim at the same time. Paul, Andrea's boss. A look was exchanged between us, the kind that only people who have been married practically forever would understand, and I made myself melt into the background while Mandy stepped on the gas.
Now, it's hard to understand the effect my wife has on people unless you've seen it in action. Think something along the lines of, trophy wife Barbie meets an exotic dancer, with twice as much tits and an ass that belongs in a rap video and you'd be in the right neighbourhood, but still not quite there. The best way I can describe it is by describing how people react - mouths hang open, wives slap their husbands, the phones come out and people forget all sense of propriety and just start filming. It's like they can't believe it, things like this don't happen in real life, women like that don't
exist
in real life.
And they're right in a way, but now we're starting to get metaphysical and complicated.
Anyway, all this happened just like I said it would, and I have to admit, even after seeing this a hundred or so times, it's still pretty amusing watching a room full of people wondering what the fuck is going on. Paul was no different - he saw Mandy approaching the bar and I think he almost dropped his drink in his lap.
This was the reason why we were here. A couple of months ago my brother Mark asked for our help and the three of us outlined this rough plan. Andrea had told him she was jetting off to Hawaii for an RBS sales conference. It was technically true if you tilted your head and squinted your eyes, but everything she left out was a lie of omission so big that it needed it's own zip code. Mark had a GPS on her, sniffed out a shady stash of cash, almost a quarter of a million dollars she shouldn't have and now he needed us to drive the stake through her cheating heart. Paul Jackson, Andrea's scumbag boss, was the target, and Mandy was the lure..
She was already working the mark, Paul was eying her up and down, showing off his veneers and buying her drinks when some RBS geek waddled up, eyes popping out of his skull when he saw Mandy. "No way, I know you! You're famous!"
Mandy, bless her bimbo heart, just giggled and said, "Well, I guess we all know what kind of porn you watch now!"
There was a brief discussion and tubby pulled out his phone and showed something to Paul. Mandy was commenting something and laughing, I couldn't make it out so I drifted closer.
Paul spun around, grinning like he'd hit the jackpot, and I could see the sleaze oozing out of him. "Love your stuff," he slurred, practically drooling. "Got an event tonight--fancy shit. You should come." Mandy giggled, twirling her hair like a cartoon bimbo. "Ooh, sounds so fab! Can my buddy Jake come too? He's, like, my photo guy--makes me look all pretty!" Paul squinted at me, suspicious, probably figuring I was some jealous lug ready to bust his nose.
"Photo guy?" he grumbled, scratching his gut. "Don't need some random jackass ruining the vibe."
Mandy pouted, leaning in with those big doe eyes and a peek of cleavage. "Aw, but he's super good at snapping me! Pleeease? I'll be extra nice!"
She fluttered her lashes, and I swear Paul's brain melted into his pants. "Fine, whatever," he muttered, waving me off like I was a fly. "Just stay out of my way."
I smirked, tipping my glass. Step one nailed--thanks to Mandy's rack and a little quick thinking. This was gonna be a hell of a show.
Mandy Lewis
Okay, so this "event" was at this gorgeous villa off the resort, glass walls letting in the moonlight, palm trees swaying all sexy-like, total rich-bitch heaven! Paul was all grabbing hands ushering me in, and I let him. He was oblivious of course, but I could feel the steam coming out of Jake's ears.
"Oh my gosh, this place is so dreamy!" I giggled.