Hail Caesar

He watched her for a moment, taking a sip of the detox fruit water – which was surprisingly good – and when he sat down the glass he was speaking before he could stop himself. “I fit that criteria, by the way,” he laughed, genuinely amused by what she said. “I’m definitely not dull. I’m a little rusty, but I know what fork is meant for salad and what fork is meant for desert and all that ridiculous shit. I’m also charming as fuck, thank you very much.” He paused before he laughed again. “Oh my God, wait, you don’t know who my family is, do you? I’m not from around here, but I guess that’s reasonable, but you have heard of a little place called Windsor, England, right?”

Marcella thought to dismiss the man entirely. She did not keep up with the politics of England as much as she should, Christ, who had the time? She was running a Forbes Fortune 500 company for crying out loud. But then she heard the name Windsor and finally it all clicked.

He stretched his arm to pull the glass closer to her, still lazily leaned over the counter. His eyebrows twitched as he frowned. “Why don’t you just call off the engagement?” he asked. “You don’t have to make anything public. There are– there are a lot of eligible bachelors out there who would kick themselves silly for a shot with you, and I bet none of them will cheat on you. If he doesn’t marry you, he loses med school. I think that’s the deepest you can cut him.”

“Plus, if I do not marry Hal, I lose his parent’s support, which is still important to following through with what my father wanted. And I lose-” him. She still wanted to be with him. She no longer liked him, or really wanted to be around him. But she still wanted to be with him. How wretched a man to make her feel at all, much less feel love or desire. He wondered why she had hidden away her emotions for so long, and this was not her original reason for doing so. “-I lose the man my father thought was the most suitable partner for me. I’m not sure if you ever met him, but my father was a very, very wise man.”

“The world’s gonna know your name!”

“There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait…”

“In New York you can be a new man”

“We are waiting in the wings for you”

“The world will never be the same”

“That depends, who’s asking?”

“I’m at your service, sir”

“I have been looking for you”

“I’m getting nervous”

“He looked at me like I was stupid, I’m not stupid”

“Of course, I’m an orphan”

“God, I wish there was a war!”

“While we’re talking, let me offer you some advice”

“Talk less, smile more”

“Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead”

“If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?”

“Who is this kid? What’s he gonna do?”

“I probably shouldn’t brag”

“I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal”

“I have learned to manage”

“Don’t be shocked when your history books mentions me”

“You and I, do or die”

“You keep out of trouble and you double your choices”

“I never had a group of friends before, I promise that I’ll make y’all proud”

“This is not a moment, it’s the movement”

“I’m past patiently waiting”

“When our children tell our story, they’ll tell the story of tonight”

“Let’s have another round tonight”

“Raise a glass to freedom, something they can never take away”

“No matter what they’ll tell you”

“Daddy said to be home by sundown “

“Daddy doesn’t need to know “

“Daddy said not to go downtown “

“Like I said, you’re free to go “

“The revolution’s happening in New York “

“Remind me what we’re looking for”

“There’s nothing like summer in the city”

“Your perfume smells like your daddy’s got money”

“You disgust me”

“Ahh, so you’ve discussed me”

“I’m a trust fund, baby, you can trust me”

“So men say that I’m intense or I’m insane”

“You want a revolution? I want a revelation”

“Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now”

“We just happen to be in the greatest city in the world” 

“Don’t let them lead you astray” 

“They’re playing a dangerous game” 

“It’s hard to listen to you with a straight face”

“Honestly, you shouldn’t even talk— “

“Look at the cost of all that we’ve lost“

“My dog speaks more eloquently than thee”

“If you repeat yourself again I’m gonna scream”

“You say the price of my love’s not a price that you’re willing to pay”

“Why so sad?” 

“Remember we made an arrangement when you went away”

 “Now you’re making me mad”

“Remember despite our estrangement, I’m your man”

“You’ll be back”

“Soon you’ll see”

“You’ll remember you belong to me”

“Time will tell”

“You’ll remember that I served you well”

“You say our love is draining and you can’t go on”

“You’ll be the one complaining when I am gone”

“No, don’t change the subject”

“And I’ll love you till my dying days”

“When you’re gone I’ll go mad”

“So don’t throw away this thing we had”

“Can I be real a second? For just a millisecond?”

“But the elephant is in the room” 

“Any hope of success is fleeting”

“We put a stop to the bleeding”

“Watch the blood and the shit spray”

“I cannot be everywhere at once” 

“I think that I could be of some assistance”

“I have some questions” 

“Your excellency, you wanted to see me?”

“We keep meeting”

“Close the door on your way out”

“ Have I done something wrong, sir?”

“It’s alright, you want to fight”

“I was just like you when I was younger”

“Head full of fantasies of dyin’ like a martyr?”

“Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“We are a powder keg about to explode”

“I need someone like you to lighten the load”

“You need all the help you can get”

“We’ll need some spies on the inside”

“But what do we have in common?”

“They delighted and distracted him”

“Look into your eyes and the sky’s the limit”

“I’m helpless”

“I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight”

“Then you walked in and my heart went ‘Boom!’”

“Yo, this one’s mine”

“What’s she gonna do?”

“I’m through”

“Then you look back at me and suddenly I’m helpless”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you”

“Thank you for all your service”

“If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it”

“I’ll leave you to it”

“Now my life gets better, every letter that you write me”

“I’m just saying if you really loved me you would share him”

“I’m dying inside”

“And I’m trying not to cry”

“Be true”

“I don’t have a dollar to my name”

“All I have is my honor”

“Your family brings out a different side of me”

“No stress, my love for you is never in doubt”

“I’ve been living without a family since I was a child”

“But I’ll never forget my mother’s face”

She let Marcella finish speaking before placing a mug in front of her filled with steaming tea. “I’m sorry, that people got caught in the cross fires of this, including you. I am.” She didn’t say that she wasn’t sorry that she did it though, even Beatrice wasn’t that stupid. “But maybe you should be saying this to Hal. Because he’s the one who kissed me, brought me back to his room and from what he said it sounded like he didn’t think you would care at all.” 

“Oh I’ve already told Hal how I feel about this, and will continue to do so until I feel like he’s atoned. Believe me, he’s not getting off of the hook so easily. But it is also unfair to treat you as an unwilling participant in the events that transpired. The fact that he wrongfully believed that I would not care does not justify the actions that occurred.” 

He cleared his throat, laughing slightly. “I should probably go for the detox fruit water, yeah,” he replied, leaning over the counter as she poured her drink. He winced at the mention of Beatrice, scratching the back of his neck with an awkward shrug. “Not really a mutual friend, no, but I know a lot.”

“No, no, your opinion does matter-” She trailed off as she quickly re-wrapped her head around the new development in the situation. “-dumping him in a river isn’t a terrible idea-” her father had done it to several of his enemies. Perhaps he would do the same to Hal if he had not been murdered. Or perhaps her father would tell her to grow up, get a grip. People did shitty things.

She handed his glass to him and took a sip of her own water. “I could crucify him for this. I don’t think he understands that. Revealing everything would make me look sympathetic, which would give me even more leverage over Antony. Plus it would ruin his career. No woman wants their child looked after by known-cheater.” She sighed. “But alas, we’ll cross the Rubicon if it comes to it.”