“No, not at all! Luxury is relative,” he said looking quite disdainful. “Sometimes I wish I could enjoy the simple pleasures of life but all this was dropped on me,” he said, extending his arms out to his sides.
“You’re talking like you’re dead. We can totally just hang out with some Bud Light, pepperoni pizza and Netflix at my apartment one night if you like.” I laughed out loud at the thought of him coming to my apartment. Yeah, that was totally going to happen. It was polite to ask, still.
“What is that? Some kind of recording device?”
I stared at him in utter confusion for almost a whole minute before it hit me and I burst into a full-blown laughter. Zayden Sinclair, CEO of the entire South National Bank empire, was asking me if Netflix was some kind of a recording device. What planet did he live on?
“It’s,” I started out to explain but felt another fit of giggles coming on, which I quickly turned into a cough because he began looking somewhat offended.
“It’s this website that stores hundreds of thousands of movies and T.V. shows, and you pay like 10 bucks a month to be able to stream all their content online.”
He twisted his mouth in a comical fashion. “I’m just joking Aria,” he laughed. “I’d rather just purchase all of the movies and shows though.”
Well, he gave me a good laugh anyway.
“It would probably cost over a million dollars to try and purchase every title that’s on Netflix though,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “It’s just a cheap way to find entertainment for regular people like me.”
“I see,” he frowned, clearly not liking the concept and purpose of Netflix.
He was rich, so buying a Netflix subscription wasn’t something he would understand.
I raised my champagne glass to change the subject. “What are we drinking to?”
“To digital innovation,” he said, deadpan.
“Ha, ha,” I said, not laughing.
“Seriously though, to these next six months,” he said, clinking his glass to mine.
I sipped the bubbly drink and it tasted like a mixture of white wine and orange soda, something that sounds gross on principle but my god was it delicious. I closed my eyes letting the sweet, fizzy taste sink into my taste buds. This was why everyone made such a big deal about champagne.
“You like it then?” Zayden asked with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
“It’s a step above Bud Light for sure,” I smiled at him, and took another huge gulp.
“That’s a shame,” he said looking at the butler. “You went through so much trouble locating the perfect bottle for no reason, Mark. Her standards are at Bud Light—you could have picked up anything bubbly from CVS next door and it would have served nicely.”
“Noted for next time,” Mark joked back.
There was something inherently pleasant about the way Zayden was so relaxed and friendly with his staff. Aren’t men like him supposed to be complete dickheads?
“To both of your disappointment, I now am spoiled to be partial to nothing but the best,” I said sipping some more of the goodness.
“Time for appetizers,” Mark said, removing the lid from one of the silver containers to reveal succulent looking sushi rolls. “Spicy tuna rolls. Sean had the fish transported from Japan only a few hours ago. It was practically fished this morning, so I hope it’s fresh enough.”
I felt a rush of excitement flood through my veins. Spicy tuna rolls were among my absolute favorite foods. What were the chances?
“Nah, I am sure it can’t beat the 5 dollar rolls from China Garden across the street that I’m used to,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant, even though I was dying to taste one.
When I did, I could just about cry with happiness. Perfectly soft, slightly crunchy and so, so spicy. I let out an involuntary moan.
“Tasty?” Zayden asked, looking delighted by my reaction. “I’ll stick to plain old California rolls. I’m the victim of mundane taste buds.”
“Suit yourself,” I said between mouthfuls. It made little sense, though. Why would he ask his chef to make spicy tuna rolls if he couldn’t handle some spice? I couldn’t be too bothered about it, however, as I was too busy putting one sushi roll after another into my mouth. I had already gobbled up an entire portion in less than five minutes. I probably looked like an uncivilized moron. Just one more…
I had sufficiently devoured two whole portions, when I heard Zayden, “I will take it from here for the entrees, Mark. Thanks for your help tonight.”
He handed him what looked like five 100 dollar bills and added, “Share it with the guys and thank them for me.”