Another shout out to my copy editor/co-writer, the lovely and talented (and oh, so sexy) Mandibularfossa. Thanks for the inspiration and edits!
*****
Susanna Foster was angry. She wasn't sure what her idiot step son had done, but she was pretty certain she didn't have the time or inclination to travel to bail him out. She'd already spent enough to get him into the damned placeβall he had to do was stay out of trouble. He would get the degree, she could tell her friends that her stepson went to the most prestigious school on the West Coast, and her husband could keep fucking that little bitch from his office. Ok, maybe not that last one, she thought.
"Get out of the way, you stupid ho!" Susanna yelled at a pedestrian in the crosswalk. "Dumb bitch," she muttered when the woman gave her the finger. She turned the wheel of her S-Class and swung the car into the parking lot of the hotel. She had questioned
The reason for meeting in a hotel, but the woman who called her had insisted that it was for the privacy of the students. Stepping out, she adjusted her pink Gucci sweats, grabbed her Prada handbag, and walked inside. She rode the elevator upward and looked for room 524.
She knocked, and a chubby, mousy girl opened the door. "Just exactly what has my stupid stepson done now? Just tell me he didn't get somebody pregnant."
Tina closed the door behind them. "Hi, Mrs. Foster. It's lovely to see you again."
"Have we met?"
Tina exhaled. "I helped you get your son into the program," she explained. "Have a seat."
"I need to know what's going on. I have things to do."
"Have a seat, Mrs. Foster. I insist." Tina threw the lock and turned away.
Susanna wasn't used to that tone. Most people deferred to her. She was married to the owner of the state's most successful brokerage firm, and she was used to people treating her with respect. She'd need to speak to this woman's manager. She looked around for the first time and realized that, in addition to the mousy woman, there was another person in the room.
Aditi Devi sat quietly in the corner of the room, sizing up the other two women. She knew Tina. The greedy bitch had held out her palm and took nearly $100,000 to get her daughter Divya into university. She'd been willing to go higher, though she wouldn't have had to if Divya had applied herself instead of spending her time eating her way through Southern California. The other woman, in her overpriced sweats, waving around her expensive purse, was everything she hated about Americans. Fat, lazy, pretentious.
She took a deep breath and smoothed her skirt over her toned thighs. Aditi kept herself in shape, running several times a week and working out every day. It was part of her routine: get up, work out, get to the office by 6am. She'd worked hard to build the business after her husband died, and she was determined to be the country's top importer of Indian goods, and she was equally determined to push her daughter to be successful.
"What are we doing here," she asked impatiently. "I have things to do."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Devi. We were waiting on Mrs. Foster to get here." Tina took a seat in a chair opposite the couch. She was wearing her best suit and her favorite heels. Her nerves had gotten the better of her, and she'd taken a Xanax which was giving her a nice warm feeling. She was still nervous, but the shitty attitudes of her companions had given her a shot of courage. She looked down at the coffee table and the folder of photocopied documents. She pulled out her phone and sent a short text.
"Do you want more money? Is that what this is?" Aditi snapped at her.
"Yeah," Susanna chimed in. "What gives?"
"It will all be explained in a moment," Tina said. "In the meantime, why don't you look at these documents?" She slid the folder across the coffee table. Susanna grabbed it first and started leafing through it.
Aditi didn't bother. "You took money to put my lazy daughter into university," she said. "I assume this is proof."
"It is," Tina said. "I took $150,000 from the two of you."
"But you told us it would be a secret." Susanna looked confused.
"I thought it was well hidden," Tina dropped her head. "He found it." The door opened silently behind the two older women.
'Who?"
"Me." The door clicked closed and Jim walked around and sat next to Tina. "I found out that you bribed a university official to put your kids into school."
"So? Everybody does it." Susanna didn't seem to understand the situation.
"Well not everybody gets caught," Jim said. "And the ones that do go to jail. I'm guessing 3-5 years, based on how pissed people were the last time this happened. I'm going to try to help you stay out of prison."
"No one is going to prison," Aditi snarled. "How much do you want?"
"I don't want your money," he replied. He looked to his left. "Tina, take off your top."
The younger woman never looked up. She kept her eyes down, shrugged off her jacket and started unbuttoning her blouse.