CHAPTER 2: Maybe Not So Nice
Okay, so maybe these masks aren't as useful as I think.
They're supposed to remove bias from one speaker to the other, but they also may have caused me to lose the most important deal of my life. The big guest for tonight's gala has been talking with me the whole time, and I haven't recognized him once.
If the floor can swallow me whole, please do.
But what the person I'm speaking with is saying gets me. Either he has never seen my face on the internet, my mask is good at hiding my identity, or I'm just that forgettable.
But I'm too relieved to be offended. I've made a blunder but may still leave this gala with a deal. I just have to be careful.
"I'm so sorry for not recognizing you sooner, Your Majesty," I bow. "Our conversation has been so immersive that I've focused on the topic matter more than the person who has suggested it. Please forgive me! It won't happen again."
The Vampire King pinches his nose. "Forgive me as well for not recognizing you sooner. I had also been so distracted; I didn't realize who you were."
I don't know which to ask first: what was distracting him or why he's apologizing? The latter is getting more of my attention, now that I think about it. Why is he apologizing too? Compared to him, I'm an ant he can crush before I see the shoe above my head.
The man standing before me is the wealthy and powerful Andrew Hendercort. He sells and rents out various properties around the world and makes even more money through his investment firm: Hendercort Investment Group. If that isn't intimidating enough, he's, of course, the Vampire King. Vampires are at the top of the food chain—hardest to hurt and almost impossible to kill. Why they haven't taken over the world as the dominant species yet baffles me. Then again, if their king is the richest man in the world with properties around the globe, then this world may already be theirs.
I'm amazed King Andrew is even here tonight. How he finds my email out of the millions he gets is a miracle.
So, I shouldn't waste the opportunity.
"Let's start over then," I offer my hand. "I'm Princess Maybelline Chastain of Isle Kingdom, but you may call me May."
King Andrew accepts my handshake. "Andrew Hendercort, but you may call me Drew."
"Drew," I test. I don't know why I can address him informally but won't push it. "I'm honored to meet you, Your Majesty. My staff and I have spent many weeks getting this event ready for you and the other guests. I hope you're enjoying your time here, despite our earlier confusion."
Drew crosses his arms. "Honored, so I reckon you'd like me to invest in your foundation?"
"It would be an honor to have you work with us, Your Majesty! Not only will your support help those in need, but the successes of those we help will also generate great returns!"
"How so?"
With that, we get into the technicalities of our work. I tell him more about Allistar and what we offer, explain how he can get his money back and more, and answer his questions. It's a conversation I've practiced many times with other investors. A difficult one to hold at first, but after lots of practice, doable.
Besides, I've always loved performing for a crowd. Sure, negotiating isn't the same as dancing, but it's still an art others can behold.
Drew seems pleased with my answers. I've yet to draw a blank on a question, and each of my replies hints at outcomes that favor him as well as my foundation.
In the end, though, Drew doesn't look ready to add to his portfolio. Instead, he almost painfully declines my offer. "My apologies, May, but I cannot invest in this project."
My heart cinches. "How come?"
"What you're asking me to fund is higher education for humans. Do you know how expensive higher education is, much less approval for humans to acquire it?"
"I do understand the costs, Your Majesty, but as I've explained, educating the people will generate returns that will pay those costs back! Most humans in my kingdom are working low-income jobs because they don't have the education for higher-paying careers. But if they have what they need to do more, they'll get paid more. And if they get paid more, our economy will—"
"I know basic economics, Princess. You don't need to explain it to me. But my decision still stands. The project is too costly, and the risks are too high."
"Risks?"
"Knowledge is power, and the last time humans had power, they nearly destroyed our planet. I've invested in companies that are still cleaning up the damage that the humans have caused. I won't invest in a project that will undo that progress."
I'm so angry, I don't speak. I usually don't talk when I hear something like this, but that's because I usually hit those dumbasses instead. But because this is the Vampire King I'm talking to, I wisely stay still. "You can't…King Andrew, with all due respect, most of Isle Kingdom's citizens are human, and we haven't caused any damage to the areas outside our borders!"
"That's because you don't have the knowledge—the power—to do so, but that will change if I fund your project. You'll have to find another investor; but if I were you, I would drop the project altogether. Most species on the planet are still hesitant to get along with humans because of the humans' history of abusing power. If they see a group of humans trying to regain that power, they may react…unpleasantly."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a warning. It will serve your best interest to heed it," Drew's eyes narrow. Even from just one question, he's clearly being challenged by it. I wonder how many people dare to stand up to him.
Not many, I assume. Or maybe there are a lot, and they've been silenced. You can never know with someone who has as much as Drew does.
Still, I'll swallow my words and stand down. As much as I want to clobber Drew for his speciesist attitude, it would be dumb to make an enemy out of him. If I can't get his money, I can at least leave this conversation alive.
"Have a good night, Your Majesty."
"Likewise."
I plaster a saccharine smile until my back is turned to him. Only then does my scowl come out, and I pretend to adjust my skirt while shooting a discreet middle finger in Drew's direction. I know speciesism towards humans is rampant around the world, but if the most powerful figure in Nua also subscribes to that bullshit, then humans have a bigger problem than we think.
Most of the humans who live in Nua are poor and uneducated. My brother, Max, frequently travels as our kingdom's ambassador, and the stories he tells me are the same no matter where he goes. Humans are the least privileged species because the other species blame us for the near downfall of the planet—which used to be called Earth, according to Max. But it's not like we can verify those statements. Subjects like science and history are incredibly limited for humans. All we can rely on is hearsay, which isn't reliable at all.
But there are stories I've heard from hearsay that inspire me. Stories such as humans trying to save the planet instead of letting it die. Stories such as humans trying to stop wars between nations because they believed it's better to forgive than to retaliate. These stories, whether true or not, inspire me to do better—be better. And if I can do it, so can others.
That's why I can never believe all humans are as corrupt as everyone else says. Sure, there are pieces of shits that even I have to put up with, but they don't nearly make up the demographic as those who are more or less decent people. If we are as terrible as others say, then we would have killed each other by now. But we're still alive, so we should have some credit.
It's never good to generalize. It blinds you to the rest of the picture.
Like the picture of me persevering through this rejection. Having the richest man on Nua would have gotten Allistar to places I can't imagine, but other people's money can too. It will just take more time and work.
Which I'll do later. I need a drink.
I sneak out of the banquet hall and into a bar scarcely occupied by patrons. Auctions should be starting by now, so most people are gathering around the stage. I usually stand by to support the activity, but not now. Champagne is not nearly enough to get me through the night. I need something stronger.
"Can I have scotch, please?" I request when I finally have the bartender's attention. "No ice."
The bartender gives me the neat whiskey, which I quickly ingest. The smoky fruit tones burn my insides but relax my muscles, delivering its purpose.
I drink as my mind begins to wander. What would Brendan, my ex-boyfriend, think after I've struck out with Drew? Knowing him, he would probably give me shit for laughs before saying that the rejection is a stepping stone to something better. He always had an optimistic, positive outlook despite growing up in a poor neighborhood and working an unsafe, low-paying job at a fabric mill. You would expect him to be angry at the world for handing a good person like him shitty circumstances. Hell, maybe he had been angry and was just using positive affirmations to cope. I'll never know now; he's dead.
"Here's to you, Brendan," I mutter. "Sorry to disappoint you."
If Brendan had been alive today, he and his neighbors could have gotten higher education and more profitable jobs. But Drew says no to that, so my Baby Possum would have had to wait a little longer. Brendan never took my money, no matter how many times I offered. Like me, Brendan didn't like handouts. He had emerged from a childhood filled with bullies and bad grades on his merit. He wanted to do the same in his adulthood too.
But I couldn't save him that fucking night, so he only knew misery until he died at the age of seventeen.
Fuck it, I've already talked to a lot of investors tonight—including that piece of shit, Drew. I deserve a reward for sticking out for this long. "Another scotch please!"
I'm still wearing my masquerade mask, so the bartender may not know that the princess of the kingdom is getting hammered at his bar. I giggle at this secret while drowning my anguish in whiskey. I'll feel it tomorrow, but right now, I don't care. If I'm going to feel worse in the morning, I may as well have fun tonight.
"May?"
I curse as Drew storms up to my spot at the bar.
"What are you doing here?" he demands.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I wave my glass. "It's my event. I deserve to have fun like everyone else."
"You're drunk."
"And you're nosy," Boy, this scotch is making me bold, but that's fine. The Vampire King is a dick, and I no longer have an incentive to play nice with him. "Why are you even here if you don't like humans, Drew? This kingdom—this party—is filled with humans. I'm surprised you're not cowering in fear. Or calling an exterminator to kill the pests."
"You've had too much."
"That's none of your fucking business."
That gets a proper reaction out of Drew. The Vampire King has been towering over me like a protective dad like he has the right to even do that. Not even my real dad does this, but that's mostly because, like Mom and Brendan, he's also dead.
"Get a glass of water," Drew orders.
"Or you'll what? You won't give me the money you didn't want to give me in the first place? I don't know why you even showed up tonight. There's no way you didn't know that Isle is practically a human kingdom. Did you just want to insult me in person? Did you want to watch us disgust you in real time like we're animals in a zoo?"
"You need to stop talking."
"No, you need to stop talking! Our conversation and any business with each other ended after our negotiation. I don't like spending time or working with speciesists, especially those who let a whole demographic suffer because they believe they're somehow beneath them. I don't need your money or your patronizing orders; I can take care of myself. I was doing just fine until you came here and started bothering me."
Drew clenches his fists and growls. Yeah, this guy isn't used to people standing up to him. Well, too fucking bad! I'm not used to entitled rich boys asserting themselves in situations that don't involve them. Okay, that's a lie, I have too much experience with people like that. But I don't want to add to that statistic tonight! I want to stop hating myself for disappointing the people I love. It won't happen, but I can pretend to with scotch.
"Let me finish drinking, and then you can have someone kill me for hurting your feelings," I turn back to the bar. "I'm not afraid to die and I'm not afraid of you. After everything I've been through, you may even be doing me a favor."
I can feel Drew fuming behind me, ready to erupt like a volcano, but I don't turn around. I haven't been lying when I said I'm not afraid of him nor of him killing me. I've been through too much to fear death at this point—my life is full enough. If I die tonight, then I can join Brendan and my parents in the afterlife. I've done enough good to join them in a good place if the afterlife or anything like that even exists.
Eventually—gratefully—Drew leaves the bar. I smirk as I drink from another glass. It's a shame that Drew is such a shitty person. He's still handsome despite that discriminatory shit. If he was anyone else, I'd probably fuck him. Nothing distracts someone from deep, existential misery more than the blinding throes of orgasm.
But Drew is Drew, and I have to accept that. It's best if we don't see each other again anyway. I don't know what will happen if we do.
