Chapter 4
"Fuck!" Randy cursed, hopping on one foot, his other foot throbbing after stubbing it on the doorframe.
Adrian and 'David' roared with laughter. Randy fell into the big armchair and rubbed his tender root, glaring angrily at the two men laughing at him. "Fuck you guys, this hurts like a bitch!"
"You're such a baby. Dave, you know how long it took this guy to meet Jack? Take a guess."
Elliot shrugged. No one had given him any kind of timeframe, so he had no idea what a normal length of time was. "Dunno," he said.
"2 years. Followed us around like a pup with his tongue hangin' out." He laughed again.
"Shut up!" Randy shouted. Elliot and Adrian both laughed again.
"Alright, children, settle down," Jeremy came into the hotel suite dressed in his usual business suit. He was a bit smaller than Elliot but Elliot doubted he could win in a fight against Jeremy. He was small, but everything on him was solid muscle. Not only that, but he was much smarter than Elliot. And unlike many men like him, he didn't need to win at all costs. He knew when to fight and when to walk away and no matter what the outcome, Elliot had no doubt that he always won when it counted. Elliot wasn't scared of him, but it was as close as he'd ever come to fearing someone.
The scariest part about Jeremy wasn't the actual person, but the fact that he was only second in command. He was Jack's right-hand man. Elliot couldn't imagine what kind of man Jack would have to be to control someone like Jeremy, and he suspected if he came this close to fearing Jeremy, he would truly be afraid of Jack Kritzer. "What's goin' on, Jer?" Adrian asked.
"Jack wants to see our little fledgling in action. Come on, we're going out." He smiled and Elliot felt a hint of dread building in his stomach. He had no idea what Jeremy had in mind, but judging by the smiles on Adrian and Randy's faces, he doubted he would like it.
Elliot followed Jeremy out of the hotel suite and into the back of his limousine. They sat facing each other. Jeremy stared at Elliot curiously the whole drive, but Elliot remained cool. When they got out they were at a nightclub. The limousine drove off and the bouncer didn't think twice about letting Jeremy and Elliot through the doors. "So what is this test?" Elliot asked Jeremy, shouting over the music.
"The boys told me you have a real problem with asking questions. Normally we don't take too kindly to men who question us, but you're different, Dave. You seem like a man who knows what he's doing, who knows when to think for himself and when to submit. Of course, that's just a suspicion. I've never really seen you in a situation that forced you to submit, other than your initiation, perhaps, but that's not about submitting. So I want to know for sure that you're going to do what I tell you when I need it to be done. So don't over think tonight, I don't want to know if you can figure out the answer, I want to know what you're going to do in a real situation. So just do what comes naturally, alright?"
Elliot couldn't stop his mind from racing, trying to figure out what Jeremy could possibly be looking for. Did he want Elliot to follow his orders no matter what? She he question Jeremy? Should he refuse to do what he was told? What exactly was Jeremy hoping for? Did any of the other guys have to do this? From what Jeremy had told him it didn't sound like the other men had done this, but he couldn't be sure.
"What's your type, David?" Jeremy asked.
"Type?"
"Blonde, brunette, redhead, skinny, curvy, what do you like?" He clarified.
"Brunette, subtle curves," Elliot said. He actually didn't care, but if he had a type he thought that's what it would be.
"Just enough to hold onto, huh?" Jeremy said with a smile and a wink. Elliot returned his smile. Jeremy nodded his head to indicate something behind Elliot and he turned around. Jeremy pointed out a woman on the dance floor, no more than early twenties. She was just what Elliot had described. "Not bad, huh?"
"She's alright," Elliot said with a shrug. He really didn't want to be at a nightclub hitting on women. He tried to suppress his instinct to twirl the wedding band that he had taken off his finger for the purpose of his assignment.
"High standards? Alright, what about her?" He pointed out another woman.
"What's the point of this?" Elliot asked.
"I want you to pick someone."
"Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yeah, it does." It felt good to be standing up to Jeremy, but he wasn't sure it was what he should be doing. He hoped if he failed this 'test' he wouldn't have to scrap his whole operation.
Jeremy smirked. "I want to see how you interact with women."
"Are these the kind of women you guys normally deal with?"
"No, but that doesn't matter," Jeremy said.
"Sure it does. Those girls'll throw themselves at just about anyone. They're asking for it. Where's the fun in that?"
Jeremy smirked. "You're right. Let's go."
