Arthur's phone rang. He ignored it and kept doing so until the third time that generic iPhone ringtone started. He looked at the caller ID, sighed, and answered. He didn't say hello.

"What." It wasn't a question. He listened for a couple of seconds while tapping this thumb against his lips. "I can't."

He got up. I watched him pace around the room, not knowing if he was angry or just bored by the conversation. 

"No, no. Listen," he said. "I told you to listen. Jesus, just shut up for a second. I'll try and see what I can do. This is only your fault." Arthur sighed and circled the coffee table, taking things in his hand before putting them back.

"Yeah, because you're dumb," he said as if he was an older brother judging the mistakes of a younger sibling. "See you in a few." He pocketed the phone and sat back on the couch.

I allowed him a couple of seconds to calm down before talking. "I'm guessing I'm getting cock-blocked again."

"We," he corrected me. "We are getting cock-blocked. Tony decided to skip his shift."

"Oh." This picked my interest. "The guy from the club? What did he do?"

"Got caught." Arthur smiled at me, he knew something I didn't, and it pleased him.

"Drugs?" I asked.

"Oh, no, no." He shook his head, placing his hand on my knee. "None of that. He's just stupid. Well, not dumb in the head. Stupid, as in … he gets caught."

"You're like a politician," I told him. "You talk a lot, and you say nothing. What happened with Antonio?"

"He got caught." He laughed, and I rolled my eyes, exasperated.

"Fine."

"Don't get mad." He chuckled, leaning back towards me. I could feel his warmth close to my body. "I'm just messing with you. But there is more to the story than just this part. And I have to go bail him out before my future brother in law has an aneurysm. I'm fairly sure he's pissed."

"Can I come?" I asked, confident that he'll say no.

"Yeah, sure." He shrugged. "We can both watch Sam go boom." His answer took me by surprise. "I'll drive."

We got in the car, and Arthur took the time to turn on the radio. I didn't know what kind of music he liked. He seemed like someone familiar with Wagner's most obscure works and someone who knew all the lyrics to all the mainstream songs. Maybe he was both. The channel he picked didn't say much since most of the time; the two curators were just bantering about some new TV show and the weather. Arthur didn't seem to be paying much attention to what they were saying. Maybe he just liked having background noise.

"Will you tell me what's happening?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I should, shouldn't I? Well, I think you're quite familiar with the concept of racing, yes?"

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes. And my brother in law – future brother in law - is a cop. He's respected and all that, and I kinda get a free pass because I'm able to provide certain information."

"What information?" I asked.

"Irrelevant," he said and glanced up at a traffic light. "But I usually like my employees to have a couple of benefits, you see. One of them is that I try to keep them out of jail."

"That's kind of you," I said.

"It's not kindness. It's business. A twisted kind of business, but good help is hard to find. And I like my help; they know how things work."

"I'm new," I told him. "I don't know."

"You're learning." Arthur turned left. "Plus, I like you. That's another free pass you're getting."

"A free pass for what?"

"To harass me with questions."

I laughed. He smiled and shook his head. The radio buzzed in the background for the next twenty minutes or so. Arthur wasn't in a hurry, maybe because he liked for people to wait for him. I took the time to relax in that expensive car. I fixed my eyes on his fingers, long and a little bony, full of rings and pale. I imagined him being anemic growing up. I imagined him having braces in middle school. I wasn't sure if he got bullied or not. It could've gone both ways. He was charming and had a way with people, but he was also slightly odd. Kids could be mean, but maybe his particular brand of odd had the opposite effect. I wondered what his relationship with his sister was. How well he got along with his parents. He took after his mother, that much was clear. But his father? I didn't know anything about his friends, except Yeong-Gi and Elsie, who was not French, but Belgian. That much I remembered. Yet it had been easier for me to ask about his illegal activities than those personal things. We barely knew each other. That was something I had to remind myself every time I had the feeling that I was getting too familiar.

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked, eyes on the road.

"I like your nose," I said. He puffed a laugh.

"And I didn't get a nose job," he said and glanced at me for a second. "I'm sorry the night didn't go as expected."

"Oh, please. I doubt things go normally with you."

"Sometimes they do," Arthur said. "Sometimes you get to have a nice dinner at an Italian place where it takes six months to grab a table. And sometimes you gotta drive in the middle of the night to bail out an illegal racing bartender."

"Sounds fun," I said.

"Yeah…"

Arthur stopped his car, and it looked like it was the middle of nowhere. He got out. The night was chilly, the lights of the city far behind us. It all felt like an old movie, where most of us had jeans instead of suits and hats.

I thought that he might be cold, wearing just a black button-up. He left his jacket in the apartment. The only people there were Tony and Sam-the-Cop. Sam was standing next to a police car – his car most likely -, and Tony was lying on top of it, looking at his phone.

I followed Arthur outside, and even in the headlights, I noticed how both men looked at me. Sam was irritated, and Tony was amused. In their heads, Arthur and I were already screwing. I had no idea what that meant to them.

"Sam." King smiled. "Thank you for waiting."

"You took your time."

"Can I have my man back?"

Antonio pushed himself into a sitting position. "Yeah, can he have his man back?"

"Arthur, you can't keep letting this happen. You know how hard it is for me?"

"No," Arthur said. "Because all you have to do is stand aside. But you refuse. You could stop being so…" He waved his hands, thinking of a word.

"So what?" Sam asked, standing in front of Arthur. He was taller.

"Self-righteous. You're getting promoted because of me. Because of what I offer you. All you need to do is turn a blind eye once in a while."

"We need to talk," Sam told him.

Arthur didn't look impressing. "So talk."

"No." Sam grabbed him by the arm. "Alone, I need you to come with me."

"I can't. I have a date." He smiled.

"Your guy here can drive him back home," Sam said. "He works for you, right?"

"That would be rude."

"Listen, Arthur –"

"I'll go," I said. "It's fine. I don't mind."

I could see Arthur grinding his teeth a little. He managed to force a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He wasn't happy.

"Alright." King finally said. "Tony, be a darling and take Tristan home. It seems Sammy wants to have a little chat," he said. He didn't even try to hide the irony in his voice, and it worried me.

Antonio shrugged and got off the car. "Come with me," he said, and I followed. His car was a dark blue BMW X1 if I remembered the commercials correctly. I took the passenger's seat, and Tony sat at the wheel.

His short hair, leather jacket, and the cross around his neck made him look like an unusual type of Catholic. He was probably an odd fit during Mass.

"Weren't you feeling sick?" he asked.

"No."

"Figured that much. Listen, I need to be somewhere in ten minutes."

"Didn't you say you'll take me home?"

"I'll do it after. It's important. If I win this, I get ten grand, easy money."

"What about Arthur?" I asked.

"King doesn't need to know." He turned towards me and flashed a smile. His eyes were green. Very green.

"Well…" I looked out the window. Arthur was in the car with Sam. "It's not like I have anything better to do…"

"Brilliant." Tony started the engine and drove off. He wasn't a careful driver, yet it seemed he knew what he was doing. "Just don't tell King. Seriously."

"I'm not going to tell him," I said. "Afraid he'll fire you?"

"No," Tony said and shook his head. "I don't think he'll fire me."

He took a sharp turn, drifting a corner like it was nothing. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.