Chapter 38

Nick hadn’t meant to fall asleep before getting on the bus to the plane to Milan. He’d known that the party for Lev and Arwen’s engagement would run late into the night and that he’d probably be up even later talking to their relatives about things he could help out with financially. He’d even made plans with Tanvi, Zola, and Ainsley for how to gracefully extricate himself if he was still listening to financial requests when they had to leave. In the latter, he’d been surprised to find that the last of the requests had wrapped up just before midnight and the requests had been very reasonable.

Working shoulder-to-shoulder with Ainsley for almost two hours, then suddenly being left alone with her with hours to go before anyone expected him anywhere had made him keenly aware of her physicality. Just as he was formulating a suggestion that they retire to the bedroom, she’d perched on the edge of Nick’s big oak desk and told him that Art had fetishized fucking her over his own antique desk and that, while she’d shared the fetish, Art had been past his prime for such activities and had to give it up after he strained his lower back.

Nick knew an invitation when he heard one and it wasn’t long before he had Ainsley sitting naked on his blotter, ankles locked behind his back, urging him deeper inside of herself. The tiny chance that they might be discovered like that had been just enough to add to Nick’s arousal, not at all enough to deter him. When Kiki had discovered them, it had led to an encounter with both women Nick never would have imagined and which he still didn’t understand Ainsley’s motivation for participating in.

Afterwards, he’d laid in bed with Kiki talking, thinking the whole time that he would get up any minute. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he woke up, Kiki was gone and Tanvi was gently shaking his shoulder, telling him that the bus would be there for him in about twenty minutes.

He stumbled through a quick shower, trying to keep his eyes closed as much as possible against the harsh overhead light. He estimated he’d gotten about two hours sleep. In his estimation, two hours was the absolute worst amount of time to sleep - even worse than none at all. Less than that could be a pleasant nap. Two hours left him feeling like he’d gone to bed for the night, but been forced to wake up.

He’d considered begging off the shower to nap for a few more minutes, but decided he didn’t want to find out what the experience of a whole day stuck on buses and planes without washing up after sex was like. When he emerged from the en suite bathroom with a towel around his waist, Tanvi was waiting in the bedroom with a collection of his clothes for him to choose to wear.

As he collected his clothes, he looked over to the stripped-down bed. He’d woken up with a sheet covering him from the waist down. To Tanvi he said, “I don’t remember getting under the covers last night.”

Tanvi gave him a knowing smile. “You didn’t. I covered you before waking you.”

Nick frowned. “So you saw me naked then covered me before waking me up?”

“I did,” said Tanvi. “If you’d prefer I not cover you before waking you next time, I can make a note of that.”

“Uh, no.” Nick looked around. “Just ... uh, sorry. I guess.”

Tanvi gave a faint shake of her head. “As a field agent for SSCS, I’ve been trained to go where I’m needed. Nudity doesn’t offend me.”

“Uh ... good to know, I guess.” Nick said, but still waited until Tanvi had left the room to drop the towel.

When he’d been planning on staying up until the bus arrived, Nick had thought he would sleep on the bus and the plane. He’d made that assumption based on his one trip on a private jet, but hadn’t considered that this wasn’t two sleepy people content to cuddle up and doze the whole way. It seemed like half the people on the bus hadn’t slept at all and had no intention of doing so anytime soon. Emily was so pleased to finally be on her own two feet again that she’d spent most of the party dancing with anyone who asked her or even looked like they wanted to dance with her. The twins were still dressed in their party clothes. Max was engaged in an animated conversation with Casey. Only Kiki seemed content to sack out as soon as she climbed onto the bus.

Even if Nick had been able to ignore all that, he’d offered a ride to three of Jazz’s models that he didn’t know very well. He’d met Gwen, the dark-skinned Englishwoman at Jazz’s apartment the night of their one official date. Esta and Lucerne he’d never met. All three took the opportunity of the ride to the airport to meet him and thank him for the ride. Once they’d arrayed themselves around him, none of them seemed inclined to move away again.

Nick couldn’t help but notice that Esta looked enough like Jazz to be her sister and told her so. Esta smiled. “I’m her cousin actually - on the Abdul side, not a Stone. She says I’m a twofer.”

Nick was willing to play along. “A twofer?”

“Two for one.” Esta filled in. “The IBJ slogan is ‘lingerie for women of all sizes and colors. I’m brown and curvy. Both of those are unusual for a model.”

“Even a lingerie model?” Nick asked.

“My particular proportions, yes. Even lingerie designers would rather work with a specific set of measurements. I’m too short and...” Esta made a gesture of cupping her hands in front of her breasts. “ ... big for most designers’ standard sizes. Jazz makes everything I wear on the runway custom.”

“She makes everything for the runway custom.” Lucerne said in an accent that sounded French. “I am too slender for even much regular runway and Jazz is the only lingerie designer who’s booked me so far.”

Nick could see what Lucerne meant by being too slender. In a loose hooded sweatshirt and skinny jeans, her figure looked rather boyish, particularly compared to the other lingerie models he knew. He wasn’t about to say that out loud, though. Instead, he asked. “Have either of you been to Milan before?”

“I hung out in Rome for a few days with some friends once,” said Esta after Lucerne and Gwen gave head shakes. “I never made it to Milan.”

Nick turned to address Tanvi. ““We should get some local guides.”

“Support from the local SSCS office will be waiting for us when we land. I’ve requested they be native.” Tanvi said smoothly. “Anything they don’t know about Milan, they’ll know who you can hire to tell you about it.”

Nick raised an eyebrow, looked at the models, then back at Tanvi. “So there are no surprises? What if I want to wander the city without knowing where I’m going?”

“If you want to wander the city lost, we’ll be happy to blindfold you, drive you around in a van, and drop you off at an undisclosed location.” Tanvi said. “We’re here to facilitate what you want to do, Nick.”

Nick gave a mirthless chuckle. What he wanted was to get some more sleep, but that wouldn’t be coming any time soon. Even if everybody on the bus left him alone, there was too much of a convivial atmosphere for him to fall asleep. He tried to remember if there was anywhere on the plane where he could sequester himself for a few hours, but hadn’t explored much when he flew to and from Montana and didn’t know if they’d even be using the same plane this time.

As they passed through the Holland Tunnel and traveled the mostly-silent interstate, Nick chatted amicably with the three models. They were pleasant enough company, but he found himself thinking that he really needed to start making some new friends who weren’t models. He didn’t know much about the world and, if Gwen, Esta, and Lucerne knew anything useful, he wasn’t smart enough to ask the right questions.

“I’d like to meet some ordinary Italians while we’re in Milan.” he told Tanvi. “Maybe have a day where we can just be tourists and nobody knows who we are. Can we manage that?”

“Your faces aren’t particularly well-known. I’ll double check to make sure that holds true in Milan.” Tanvi offered. “If you go out and only use first names, you could probably stay fairly anonymous. If we want to improve the odds, we can use disguises.”

Nick shook his head. “I don’t want to actively deceive people - just a day when we don’t volunteer any information. If somebody recognizes us...” He shrugged.

“Pretty much everybody in Rome wore sunglasses - even when it wasn’t sunny.” Esta offered. “I don’t know if Milan is the same.”

“Sunglasses are a good compromise.” Nick acknowledged. “Let me pitch this to my friends. If they just want to live the high life going forward, I’m not going to make them play Odysseus with me.”

Just then, his phone chirped. Pilar had texted him, “The palazzo has a real dungeon, but they won’t show it to me - only you or Jazz. She’s crazy busy. Can you tell them to let me see it, please?” The message ended with a kissy face emoji.

Nick showed the message to Tanvi. “Can you take care of that?”

Tanvi nodded and was soon speaking in a low voice on her Bluetooth headset. When she’d done, Nick asked, “Do you speak Italian?”

“Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin, passable Korean, some Khmer.” Tanvi said. “I have only a passing knowledge of the romance languages. But we have a local agent on-site in Milan. She’s fully assigned to your team while you’re there.”

“Should I be speaking directly to her instead of relaying everything through you?” Nick asked.

“You can. Once you’re on the ground in Milan, you probably should.” Tanvi answered. “I can have her call you directly if you want to start making plans together sooner than that.”

“We’ll be there soon enough.” Nick shrugged. He thought he’d heard an off note in his personal assistant’s words, but couldn’t be sure. He had no intention of replacing Tanvi, but had noticed how competitive SSCS employees could be with each other. Partly to reassure her, he said. “Can we get the team started on putting together a strategy for cultural institutions - libraries, museums, parks, performing arts? I don’t imagine they’ll be central to our giving strategy, but Arwen’s aunt reminded me they existed tonight. She’s a professional fundraiser for the Met museum.”

“Certainly.” Tanvi typed something out on her iPad. “Which aunt was that?”

“Aunt ... Mel.” Nick pulled up the name from memory. “Her stepmother’s sister.”

Tanvi took more notes. “Do you have any details or a budget in mind for this strategy?”

“I was thinking a million dollars a year for New York based institutions - spread it out so that underfunded institutions get proportionally more.” Nick nodded thoughtfully. “I did promise the Met sixty thousand this year, though.”

Tanvi nodded and typed. “A lot of institutions have a threshold for organizational membership. Should we structure your giving around that?”

“That depends on what organizational membership is.” Nick said.

“It means that everyone who works for the ACCD Trust would be treated as a member of the institution - free admission, special events, sometimes the ability to book space for their own events.” Tanvi said. “If you wanted to hold a wedding at one of the big museums, an organizational membership can make that possible.”

“Take it into consideration, but don’t give it too much weight.” Nick said. “ACCD isn’t supposed to be that many people. Is it?”

“Roughly two hundred within two years.” Tanvi said. “Not including consultants and trainers.”

“Two hundred?” Nick raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to need two hundred employees in order to give money away?”

Tanvi gave a faint head shake. “Giving the money away is easy. You and I can do it without anybody else involved. Knowing who to give it to based on your own values and worldview is the real trick. About half of those employees would be working in discovery - building up that database you told me you wanted. Once the organization matures, it wouldn’t need to be that large.”

Nick nodded thoughtfully. He’d only really talked with Tanvi about having a staff of discovery agents as a half-formed idea, but it was the most solid plan he’d made. He shouldn’t be surprised that Tanvi had based some projections on it. “How much is that much staff going to cost?”

“There are a lot of variables, but I’ve estimated somewhere between fifteen and twenty-two million dollars a year at peak.” Tanvi didn’t glance at her pad for those numbers.

It sounded like a lot of money to Nick, but he’d trained himself to stop thinking about money in terms of actual numbers and started translating them into time. All the money he’d put into Nepalese earthquake relief amounted to four days’ income. This whole trip to Milan was costing him about twelve hours’ income. Maintaining a two hundred person organization would cost between five and seven percent of the money coming in each year - less than a month.

On the other hand, the idea of having two hundred people working for him sounded like a ridiculous number. He hadn’t even been sure he was going to be able to handle his own career back when that had been a concern. Being responsible for all those people...

“Are you really giving away millions of dollars?” Gwen asked.

“Billions eventually, I hope.” said Nick.

“You’re not giving away all of your money. Are you?” Gwen looked mildly horrified.

“That was my first thought,” admitted Nick. “I might do it yet. But for the time being, I’m just planning to give away most of the income all that money generates or use it to solve ... something. Right now, I’m focusing most of my effort on figuring out how I can do the most good.”

“Couldn’t you ask your cousin Jesse what he’s doing and do the same thing?” Esta suggested. “Jazz says he does tons of charity.”

“I might end up working with Jesse ... or on the same things he is.” Nick acknowledged. “I’m hoping to talk to a lot of philanthropists and experts and people on the ground where things are screwed up. It’s entirely possible I’ll spend years studying and realize that Jesse is already doing exactly the same thing I think I should do. That’s part of why I’m trickling donations out before I really know what I’m doing. I’d hate to get to the end of this and find out I wasted time when I could have been helping.”

“That’s so noble.” said Lucerne.

Nick winced. “I hope it turns out that way. I could still colossally fuck it up and end up doing more harm than good.”

He hadn’t meant to put a damper on the conversation, but that seemed to do it. Or people might have gotten quiet because they were pulling into the airport where the plane was waiting for them. Nick’s friends craned their necks looking for the plane for a couple of minutes before Max said, “It’s on the other side of the airport. We’ve still got like ten minutes before you’ll be able to see it.”

“Max is the airplane expert now.” said Simon evenly. “He’s been on one once.”

“Twice, but fine. Stare like a tourist until your neck gets sore next time.” said Max without malice.

“Nick, can I borrow your plane next?” Simon called out in the dark.

“What for?” Nick called back.

“So Max can’t lord it over the rest of us that he got to use it and we didn’t,” said Simon.

“No.” said Nick. “But if you have a good reason, probably.”

“How about if I want to deliver some kudzu to Australia?” Simon suggested.

“What’s kudzu?” Emily asked from near the front of the bus.

“An invasive plant species that blankets most of the southeastern US.” said Casey.

“Simon, no delivering invasive plant species to closed ecosystems.” Nick said, feeling tired. “And it’s not actually my plane. It’s part of a timesharing thing.”

As the banter flowed around the bus, Nick leaned in towards Tanvi. “Please tell me there will be plenty of coffee available on the plane.”

“There is. But ... wouldn’t you rather get some sleep?” Tanvi answered carefully.

“I’d much rather get some sleep. It’s not going to happen.” said Nick. “Everybody’s pretty wound up about the flight and it’s already really late. If I haven’t fallen asleep by two, I might as well power through.”

“So you’ve said.” Tanvi said. “If that’s what you want to do, I’ll make sure there’s enough coffee for you to mainline it all the way to Italy. But, I have prepared a number of options to help you sleep if you prefer.”

“It’s ... probably a wasted effort.” said Nick uncertainly.

“Will you let me try?” Tanvi laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve talked to SSCS’s sleep specialists and may have resources you haven’t considered.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “SSCS has sleep specialists?”

“We have a network of medical specialists in all sorts of fields.” Tanvi amended. “They don’t work for us full time.”

Nick wanted to say no. He’d tried so many remedies for his sleep problems that didn’t work, he swore he wasn’t going to bother with any more. But he hadn’t been rich before. Maybe there was a way to apply money directly to the problem. He sighed. “I really don’t like taking anything that knocks me out if I’m around people.”

“I haven’t planned for anything heavier than melatonin.” Tanvi promised him. “Is that okay?”

Nick ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t think there’s really anywhere soundproof on the plane. I don’t want to put a damper on everybody’s fun...”

Tanvi nodded. “It’s pretty late for everybody. Can we try it after people start to fall asleep?”

“All right.” Nick said doubtfully.

The bus pulled right up onto the tarmac next to the plane. A small swarm of handlers took their luggage across leaving Nick, his friends, and the models to walk across a couple hundred feet of empty space.

“Nobody’s going to carry me?” Simon complained.

“They could, but then they’d stow you in the hold with the other baggage.” said Nick.

“Tanvi, did you hear him threatening an employee? This is a hostile work environment.” complained Simon. “I want to file an HR complaint.”

“I didn’t hear a thing.” Tanvi offered him a sweet smile.

“Besides, this is a hostile vacation environment.” Nick pointed out. “Work doesn’t enter into it. If I decide I want to juggle your balls this week, I suggest you lie back and think of England.”

“Ah. I knew power would corrupt you, Coyle. It was just a matter of time.” Simon smirked at him.

“If it does, it’s your fault. I hired you to keep me humble, Patchface.” Nick shot back.

They bantered back and forth, exchanging words that would have started a fistfight between strangers as they boarded the plane. Monica stood waiting at the top of the gangway for them with two other air hostesses a step behind her. Nick winced and looked back at his friends. “Uh ... pay no mind to anything you just heard. We’re really...”

Monica smiled broadly. “I have brothers. I know.”

Nick smiled back. “Okay ... Are we ready to take off?”

“We’re ready to taxi once everyone is aboard and secured.” said Monica. “The tower will tell us when we can take off, but there shouldn’t be much delay. Traffic is usually pretty light at this hour.”

Nick thanked her and headed towards the back of the plane. There was an “executive area” back there with two facing couches across a table from each other. Tanvi hovered for a moment before he remembered that she would do that if she wasn’t certain where Nick wanted her to sit. He gestured to the seat next to himself. Tanvi settled in and strapped on her seatbelt.

As she did, Casey came down the length of the plane and indicated one of the seats facing them. “May I join you?”

Nick nodded. He hadn’t seen much of Casey since the Fourth and hadn’t formed the kind of bonds he had with Emily, Pilar, and Kiki with her, but he was hardly going to turn down a chance to sit across from the beautiful platinum blonde for a while. “Of course. How was LA and Hall?”

“LA is gorgeous. You should see it some time.” Casey smiled broadly as she sat. “And it was the first time Hall and I got to spend more than two nights alone together, so that was pretty special. Kiki says you and she and Pilar are getting along awfully well.”

“Does she?” Nick looked for Kiki, but she hadn’t boarded the plane yet. “I like to hope we are, but your roommate isn’t always the easiest person to read.”

“That’s true.” Casey acknowledged. “But she talks about you two constantly. You’ve apparently made quite an impression.”

“She has too. We’re never sure if she’s coming back from one night to the next, but we’re always glad to see her when she does.” Nick leaned forward as the woman in question stepped onto the plane, but she was deep in conversation with Emily and didn’t even glance towards him before following the statuesque Australian forward to another set of seats. “I know this poly thing is supposed to be about negotiation, but I have no idea how to negotiate with someone who says she doesn’t want anything except for me to have no expectations about what she’s going to do next.”

Casey shook her head. “That sounds like graduate-level polyamory to me. I’m in the special remedial class for people who run away from their first poly relationship and have to be coaxed back like a kitten up a tree. You should ask Cat. She’s my guru.”

“I did. She said, ‘That’s a tough one. The best you can do is look for signs that she’s willing to talk and take advantage of those times, but do it gently.’” Nick chuckled. “I think the best I can hope for is to enjoy what we have and hope that it doesn’t end too badly.”

They were interrupted by Monica and the other air hostesses announcing they would be taking off shortly and explaining the plane’s safety features along with other amenities. When that was done and the plane was moving, Casey said. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thanked you for helping Cat, Hall and me get back together. That really ... it sort of defines my life now and all for the better.”

Nick felt himself blush. “I wish I could take credit, but it was really serendipity. I had no idea you and Hall knew each other. I just knew I wanted to work with you and I wanted to work with him. I’m glad it worked out, but...”

Casey smiled. “Even so, thank you. People will blame you for plenty of things that aren’t your fault. If they want to thank you for something you did by accident, let them.” Her smile turned into a smirk. “Sorry. That’s one of the colorful things my Texas grandfather told me that sounded like wisdom. It’s not mine.”

“I like it.” Nick said. “I’ll be sure to credit your grandfather when I steal it.”

“Hiram Osbourne is his name if that helps.” Casey looked back as the plane started to pick up speed, then back at Nick. “So, you really wanted to work with me specifically? That wasn’t just a good story for the video?”

Nick shook his head. “No. I don’t think we talked about it in the video. It still seems like kind of a vulgar display of power, honestly. I mean, who gets to...” He trailed off.

Casey tilted her head to the side, looking amused. “Who gets to what?”

Nick hadn’t really stopped blushing, but decided now was as good a time as any to admit his dirty little secret to Casey. With the engines running loud to gain altitude, it was just the two of them and Tanvi. And Nick had been trying to get used to the idea of not letting Tanvi’s knowledge of his dirtier secrets embarrass him. “All right. If you repeat this to anyone...” He shook his head. “I probably won’t do anything, but it’s embarrassing.”

Casey made a gesture of sealing her lips.

Nick nodded. “One Thanksgiving, I’m at my grandparents house - my father, his two sisters, my cousins are there. It’s after dinner and my father and his father are talking about posters they had in their rooms growing up. My father had Heather Locklear. His father had Farrah Fawcett. And then my cousin says he has Kate Upton and his brother has Selena Gomez and they’re going back and forth over which one is hotter and I’m just trying to be invisible because I only have one really obvious cheesecake poster in my room. And my father, rat-bastard Judas that he is, knows this and deliberately turns and asks me. “Who’s that girl on that big poster in your room, Nick?”

Casey leaned forward. “Was it me?”

“Yeah. And if I’d known your real name at the time, I might have gotten through unscathed, but I didn’t.” Nick closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “I had to say ‘Sylvanas Windrunner.’”

Casey sat back and laughed. “You know, that was one of my first professional cosplay shoots. It was for this little con in upstate New York years ago. How long did you have it?”

“Since before that con. I still have it. It’s in a tube in my apartment.” Nick admitted. “It’s a really good poster.”

“You know, I never really thought of that as a cheesecake shot.” said Casey. “There wasn’t really an inch of my skin showing. Everything the costume didn’t cover was painted blue.”

“To my very impressionable fifteen year-old mind, it was a cheesecake shot.” Nick said. “It didn’t need to show skin. It showed your shape and you had this bad-ass bow and this look on your face like you were going to conquer the world.”

Casey sat back and considered him, not speaking. It probably wasn’t for very long, but it was long enough to make him want to squirm. Finally she asked. “So, I was your Heather Locklear?”

“Much more iconic than that,” admitted Nick. “You were my dark blue Farrah Fawcett.”

Casey smiled. Without any body paint, she looked like an All-American girl, but he noticed for probably the thousandth time that there was a sensuous fullness to her lips that suggested something more. Her smile really highlighted it. He looked away to avoid staring.

“Nick, can I ask you another favor?”

Nick looked back at her and tried to imagine what she could ask for that he would deny her right now. “Sure.”

She leaned in. “Do you think we could get some selfies together for my Instagram?”

Nick laughed. “I don’t think that’s me doing you a favor. I think that’s the other way around.”

Casey’s smile faded a little and she spoke more quietly. “No. It really would be a favor for me. I ... haven’t been able to tell my mom about my relationship with Cat and Hall. I’ve been letting her think that you and I are ... like an item.” She winced at the end.

Nick laughed. When he looked at Casey, she looked worried and that made him laugh again. “You want to post pictures of the two of us to your Instagram account so you can pretend the two of us are dating?”

“I wouldn’t have to say we’re dating. Just ... if she could see us together...” Casey stammered.

Nick laughed again and tried to wave away her concern. “Casey, I would be honored to be your fake boyfriend. But, I’ve kind of been telling everybody that Pilar is my girlfriend.”

“My mother knows about Pilar. I don’t think she would be cool with me and Hall and Cat, but with you ... she says, ‘He’s young and good looking and rich. Of course he’s going to see a lot of girls. But you’ve got to be in the mix if you want to come out on top.’”

Nick smirked. “That’s. Uh...”

“Moral relativism at its finest?” Casey offered. “Hypocrisy? Whatever it is, it’s opened the door to talk to her about polyamory and bisexuality and I don’t want to knock it.”

“I don’t think I was going to say either of those things.” Nick admitted. “Whatever it is, I’m happy to help. Tanvi, you don’t mind switching seats with Casey for a bit. Do you?”

Tanvi was up in the space of three breaths. “Of course not. I have a camera in my carry-on. It’s a snapshot model, but if you want something better than selfies, I can use that.”

Casey rose from her own seat. “Would you? That would be awesome.”

Tanvi retrieved her camera and stood waiting. Casey unzipped her hoodie revealing a black athletic tee underneath, then grabbed her carry-on and started reapplying her makeup. Five minutes later, when she started working on her hair, Nick said, “All that for a snapshot?”

Casey considered her hair in her compact. “This is for my Instagram. Have you seen my Instagram?”

“I ... may have checked it out once or twice.” Nick hedged.

“You don’t think those are candid shots. Do you?” Casey prompted.

“I’m guessing no?”

Casey turned and looked at him. “Have you ever seen genuine candid shots of models? Like Gigi Hadid on her way out of Starbucks or something?” When Nick nodded, she went on. “And what looks better: her candids or my Instagram?”

“Your Instagram.” acknowledged Nick.

“And who’s actually better looking?” Casey prompted.

“You are.” Nick answered.

Casey laughed. “Sweet, but wrong. Gigi is a supermodel who doesn’t get out of bed for less than ten thousand dollars. I’m just...”

“I don’t remember which one is Gigi and which one is Bella.” Nick interrupted her. “But neither one of them is my Farrah. They may be perfectly suited to what they do, but getting paid more doesn’t make them more attractive.”

Casey looked like she wanted to argue, but she settled on sitting down next to Nick and continuing to primp her hair. “Well, everything I put out in public is carefully planned. A model is a product and social media is advertising. I hope this isn’t ruining the magic.”

Nick shook his head. “The magic is just fine.”

Casey put her mirror away and leaned in closer. “Put your arm around me?” When Nick did, she added. “Like you like me?”