FINDING PAUL ALLEN
I was wandering through the streets of New
York still shocked by what I had done to Linda. What should
I do now? I had ruined my only real chance to do something
with my life. What would I tell Selma? For a moment, I thought
about the possibility of running away with Linda, without
Selma. Maybe there could be a chance. I knew she felt something
for me. She must have. I knew I was still well regarded. Although
I wasn’t the second richest man or the most powerful man,
I had some raw charm of a real alpha male. At least I thought
so. Then, I touched my cheek that was still bleeding and was
well aware that I was just delusional. There was no way she
would even speak to me after everything that just happened,
let alone do anything else. Not in a million years. Not even
drunk. Having sex with her… I couldn’t even explain how I
managed to get that far. Although I thought I could write
a book on the psychology of seduction, with Linda I felt like
an absolute beginner. So, how did I do it?
Then I remembered that she said that there wouldn’t be any
celebrations in New York. She was wrong. She wanted to cover
it up. That couldn’t be the reason. No it wasn’t possible.
Finally, my male-ego left some space for sense. The meeting
with the Microsoft guys, now that it wasn’t happening, what
would they do next? What should I do next? Paul Allen. Paul
Allen. Paul Allen was in the hotel! That could be enough.
But why would he come to the Waldorf if the celebration was
in California? To get engaged? Yet Allen didn’t know Linda
was in New York. Oh yes, the message in the Ferrari. That
was why he came. What was going on here? If I could understand
the game I could still turn it to my advantage.
Questions and answers were racing in my mind while I was turning
left to East 59th Street.
***
“Was Paul Allen there?” Daniel was really
curious to find out how the story ended.
“That was really key for everything. Was he in hotel? And
even more importantly what other things did Linda and he agree
to, apart from engagement.” As I pronounced the word ‘engagement’
I felt a flush of some bizarre jealousy race through me.
“I don’t see how the engagement fits in with the Paris plan.”
“I did not think about that then, but yes, you are right.
Yet at time I wanted to know what was happening. I ran back
to hotel to find out everything.”
“You were a brave man. Going back to Linda’s room must have
been very tough after what happened between you two.”
“I realized that halfway to hotel.”
“So what did you do?”
“I decided to cut out middleman.”
“What do you mean?”
“I decided to talk directly to Paul Allen!”
***
I was running towards the hotel, but soon
got out of breath so I began walking. Along the way I passed
a bar, and thought how I wouldn’t mind a drink, so I decided
to enter. I found a stool at the bar and ordered a double
straight whisky and soda. As soon as I got the drink, I drank
the spirit bottom up, asking for a second double whisky only
a minute after the first one. The second double whisky didn’t
last long either, but I did manage to put a finger in the
glass and cleaned the cut on my face with alcohol before I
drank it. After the third glass, I wasn’t thinking about the
plan, or finding Paul Allen or anything else. All I was thinking
about was Linda. That bitch. She didn’t even know what good
sex was.
If I were looking for a starfish, I would go fishing. Bloody
pretty girls, just lie down and spread their limbs thinking
that being beautiful was all it took for good sex. I knew
very well that bad sex was proportional to a woman’s beauty.
That is why I never discriminated against ugly chicks. I had
some really ugly gals that did wonders in bed, with a couple
of bad exceptions that just proved the rule. On those occasions
I simply drank myself drunk immediately after they left just
so I could forget about them and everything that happened.
Booze usually worked for me in those situations, but now,
I couldn’t forget what had happened to me.
After the fourth drink I ran out of cash, so I realized that
I had to go back to my hotel room for some more money. But
Selma would be in the room. And what was Linda doing? Getting
married to that rich, ugly pig, that’s what. I had better
talk to him – to tell everything to his face!
I headed back to the hotel, and headed straight to the reception.
I forgot all about checking about plans to move to Paris.
I was too focused on approaching Paul and having a man-to-man
chat about Linda. I would tell him everything that had just
happened and convince him to leave Linda alone.
***
“Paul Allen? You must be crazy! You went
to talk to him, about sending you to Paris?”
“Yep. I was drunk.” I was making excuses.
“He’d never even met you!” Daniel was amused by the story.
“Even worse, I was going to tell him about me and Linda.”
Daniel laughed.
“I know; I was crazy and drunk. I hated her, but at same time
I couldn’t stand her getting married to him.”
“You must have been out of your mind!” Daniel was completely
astonished by my admission.
“What can I say, I was drunk.”
“I know that. Still… Tell me, how did you plan to find Mr.
Allen?”
“I went straight to reception.”
“And what did they tell you?”
***
“I am sorry, sir, but we cannot disclose
that kind of information,” a cute receptionist politely answered
with a big smile.
“Oh yes you can. I know he is in the hotel and I am an old
friend, and would really like to catch up with Mr. Allen.”
“I understand, sir. Are you a hotel guest?”
“Yes, I am,” I said with pride. “Room 913.”
“And your name is?” She was typing the details down into a
computer which was hidden behind the reception desk.
“George Divac.” We naturally didn’t provide hotels with our
real personal details.
“George?” The receptionist was surprised at the mismatch between
my name and my accent.
“That’s correct.” Naturally, I didn’t want do explain anything.
“OK, that’s fine. I can pass your message and room number
to Mr. Allen. Just tell me in which room is he staying?”
“That’s why I came to see you. I don’t know which room he’s
in.”
“I understand, sir, but really, I can’t help you. Why don’t
you call him on his mobile and check which room he’s staying
in? That’s certainly easier.” She smiled again and the lamp
on the reception desk illuminated her white teeth, which contrasted
her darker, probably Hispanic skin.
“Listen, lady, I wouldn’t be asking you for a favor if I had
his number. This is a surprise for Paul, but I really have
to find him.”
“Sir, as I said I can’t help you.” The girl was losing her
patience.
“Natalie,” I read her nametag. “If you don’t help, I will
be forced to knock on every single suite you have in your
hotel until I find him.”
“Sir, if I were you, I wouldn’t do that. I will be forced
to call security. Please go to your room and rest.” Now Natalie
was trying to prevent an incident.
“I need to see him.”
“OK, I will have to call my manager. Maybe he can help you.”
While Natalie turned her back, I ran for the lifts. I needed
to find Paul, but I felt vulnerable without money. Therefore
I decided to take money quickly from the room. Being under
the influence, I completely forgot about Selma.
When she opened the door the first thing Selma looked at was
my cut. “Crni Zoki, šta je bilo? 27”
“Ma ništa, kucka ce nas zajebati. Moram brzo da nadem Pola,
da se s njim dogovorim. 28”
I continued talking in Serbian, being afraid that Linda might
hear my lies.
Selma looked as though she knew that this was going to happen.
“E pa nece moci to tako. Sad cu ja njoj sve da objasnim. Ne
može ona tako s nama. 29”
“Selma!” I tried to stop her, but Selma stormed out and was
already knocking on Linda’s door.
“Linda, we need to talk!”
I was lingering behind Selma. The alcohol in my blood was
slowing me down. However, the stress forced me to think. What
would happen next? I tried to stop Selma, but she was already
knocking hard on Linda’s door.
“Linda, please open.”
At that moment a cleaning lady was approaching with her trolley
through the lobby. I finally saw the usefulness of having
rooms cleaned twice a day.
“Excuse me, miss, can you please help me for a moment?”
“Yes, sir.” An African-American maid smiled. She must have
been sixteen years old, or she was just petite, but I was
sure that I would easily handle the matter.
“Can you please open this room?”
“Is that your room, sir?”
“It is friend’s room. Open it, just to check something.”
“Sorry, sir, I cannot do that. It’s against regulations.”
“Please, miss.” I turned to Selma. “Daj mi 20 dolara. 30”
Luckily, Selma had the wallet and gave me a twenty-dollar
bill from the wallet. “We have a friend in that room and she
is not answering the phone.” I suddenly felt sober. The pressure
was pumping fresh blood to my head. Selma also stepped in.
“Yes, we were supposed to go on a tour and we don’t know where
she is. If everything is OK with her.”
“Sorry, ma’am, I can’t do that.”
“Listen, lady, we are not asking anything illegal from you.
Just go and clean this room first, and check if anybody is
inside and you will get twenty dollars just for doing your
job. OK?”
The girl thought for a while. “OK, but for a hundred.”
“A hundred? You must be insane. Even twenty is too much.”
“Well, I have to keep to my schedule. I’m starting from that
side. Do you see it? Some fifteen rooms before I reach this
one. Probably a good two hours. And even then, you won’t know
if your friend is in that room.”
“Fifty dollars.”
“It’s nice being appreciated.”
The girl casually took the twenty-dollar bill and waited for
Selma to give her thirty more. After she got her fifty bucks
the girl put them in her apron, pulled out her master key
and opened the door. She just looked inside and said. “Oh
God!”
***
“What was in the room?” Daniel was curious
to find it out.
“It was hard to say who was more shocked, the girl or us.”
“What did she find? A body?”
“No. She saw a room in complete mess. Somebody trashed the
room, like burglars or…”
“Or the Secret Service.”
“Or Secret Service,” I repeated. Although, at the time, my
first thought was that Linda had staged a rape scene, but
then I realized that the whole thing would go too far. The
Secret Service search was a more logical explanation.
“What did you do?”
“What we did? We fled the scene. They could be also after
us.”
“But they didn’t search your apartment?”
“Well…”
***
27 - Poor Zoran, what happened
with you?
28 - Nothing, but the bitch is trying to
play us out. We have to find Paul ASAP to cut a deal with
him.
29 - I will see about that. I am going to
talk to her.
30 - Give me twenty dollars.
