Starr Nothing Personal

1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84344-516-6
Verlag: No Exit Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 256 Seiten

A hilariously dark thriller about two very different New York couples. The DePinos are miserable, living in a tiny rundown apartment above a deli on Tenth Avenue. The Sussmans live in a posh building on the Upper East Side. When Joey DePino loses his job and is threatened by his bookies and loan shark, he involves the Sussmans in a sick, desperate plan to pay off his gambling debts. But ad exec David Sussman has his own problems, trying to stop his suddenly psychopathic Asian mistress from ruining him, and won't go down without a fight. As the lives of the DePinos and the Sussmans become increasingly intertwined, Joey and David plunge their families into a moral-less world where anything is possible and nothing is personal.

Jason Starr is the author of Cold Caller, Nothing Personal, Fake I.D., Hard Feelings and Tough Luck followed by Lights Out, The Follower, Panic Attack, Savage Lane and his latest novel, Too Far. He was born in Brooklyn in 1966 and still lives in New York City.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Starr, Jason

Leseproben

2 “COME HERE,” DAVID Sussman said, unzipping his pants. Amy Lee put down the bottle of Bud Light she’d been drinking and started kissing David hard, pushing him back onto his desk. A few nights a week for the past month or so, David and Amy stayed late at the R.L. Dwyer Advertising Agency on East Fifty-first Street, where they both worked, and had sex in David’s office. Like the other flings he’d had during his marriage, David had figured that he and Amy would fool around a few times and then the affair would end painlessly. But David’s previous affairs had been during business trips, far away from New York, and he hadn’t anticipated all the complications of an office romance. He had to keep seeing Amy every day, smelling her perfume, and then there was the Chinese factor. David had always fantasized about having sex with an Asian woman and, although Amy was born and raised in Astoria, Queens, David still thought of her as “exotic.” But lately his exotic image of Amy was wearing thin. He’d been feeling more and more guilty, thinking about his wife and ten-year-old daughter at home, and he’d decided that after tonight he’d definitely tell Amy the affair was over. Although he went running three mornings a week and did sit-ups and crunches every night before bed, David still felt that he could stand to lose a few inches off of his waistline. He was six-one, had a long, gangly body, and dark curly hair. The summer before he’d left for college at Albany, he had gone to a plastic surgeon in his home town of Dix Hills, Long Island, and had excess cartilage removed from the tip of his nose. By the next summer, the nosejob had “caved in” and he thought he looked worse than before the operation. The surgeon couldn’t guarantee that additional surgery would solve the problem so David continued to go through life obsessed with his appearance. “Shit, it’s after ten o’clock,” David said, unconsciously sucking in his stomach as he pulled on his boxers. “Come back down here,” Amy said, grabbing his leg. Wiggling free, David said, “Seriously, I have to get out of here. I told Leslie I’d be home by nine.” “Are we ever going to spend a whole night together?” “Just get dressed,” David said, finding his pants on the floor. He wanted to break the news to her now, but he wanted to make sure the words came out right. He’d always had trouble breaking up with women. He’d met his wife in college. Before that, he’d only had a couple serious girlfriends, and he never broke up with any of them. Either he would get dumped or he’d just start acting like an asshole until the girl finally got the message. “My mother wants to meet you,” Amy said. “Your mother?” “She asked me if I’ve been dating anybody lately.” “We’re not dating,” David said. He held up his hand, displaying his gold wedding band. “See? This means I’m officially unavailable for dating.” “I told her I’d bring you home to Queens sometime.” “Very funny,” David said, hoping Amy was joking. “Come on, let’s get a move on.” “You’re so sexy when you’re nervous.” David looked down at Amy, still lying nude on the floor. He couldn’t help noticing her flat stomach and the way no fat hung off of her twenty-six-year-old thighs. “I think we should talk.” “I’m not in the mood to talk.” “How long has this been going on?” “Fuck me again.” David loved it when Amy talked dirty. It usually gave him an instant hard-on, but this time he tried to hold back his excitement. “I’m serious,” David said, buttoning his shirt. “I’ve been thinking—maybe we shouldn’t do this anymore.” It was a relief to finally get those words out. In a way, he felt as if just saying this negated the whole affair. It had never happened and now he had nothing to feel guilty about. “I know you don’t want to do that,” Amy said. “It isn’t a matter of what I want.” “You see, that’s what I don’t understand about you. When you’re working you’re so confident. But as soon as the workday ends you’re always talking about your wife—your wife this, your wife that. What about you? Are you going to spend your whole life being miserable just to make someone else happy?” “Who ever said I was miserable?” “What if you weren’t married and there were two doors? I was behind one door and your wife was behind the other? Which ever door you opened, you’d be with that person for the rest of your life. Which door would you choose?” Thinking that he probably wouldn’t choose either door, David said, “I don’t have time for this.” “I’m making it easy for you,” Amy said in a breathy, Marilyn Monroe voice, spreading her legs farther apart. “My door’s already opened.” “Put on your clothes,” David said seriously. He wound on his tie and started stuffing papers and folders he was bringing home into his briefcase. Amy didn’t move off the floor. “Come home with me.” “You know I can’t do that.” “You mean won’t.” “Whatever.” “Don’t you want to fuck me in my bed?” The dirty talk wasn’t a turn on anymore. “Just put on your clothes so I can lock up in here.” Amy was staring at David, her lips parted slightly. “You know, the thought of you going back to your wife every night really upsets me,” Amy said. “I think about us, how we were, and then I think about you with her and I can’t help it—I get very angry at you.” “Look, it’s over, all right?” David said. “I hate to put it like that, but it’s the truth. We had some fun, but now we have to go on with our lives. That’s just the way it is.” David looked away from Amy, toward the blind-covered window. He hoped she would just leave—end this thing nice and cleanly. Amy said, “I thought you said you wanted to marry me.” “What?” David said, turning around suddenly. “How the hell did you get that idea?” “You proposed to me last week.” David wondered if this could be true. It was possible he’d said something to Amy about marriage—maybe that night last week when he felt confused—but it definitely wasn’t a marriage proposal and he definitely hadn’t meant it. “I never said I wanted to marry you,” David said. “I said ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we got married someday?’ There’s a big difference.” Amy glared at David. David felt like they were strangers on the street, looking at each other for the first time. Amy said, “This is a joke, right? You’re gaslighting me.” “Come on,” David said, “let’s try to be mature adults here—” “Why would you lie to me like this?” “I didn’t lie to you,” David said. “Maybe you misheard me.” “I know what I heard—I’m not crazy. You were standing right where you are. You said, ‘Will you marry me someday?’” “But I’m already married. Why would I say that?” “That’s a good question.” David looked away from Amy then he looked back at her and said, “Come on, get dressed. It’s past eleven already.” “So let me get this straight,” Amy said with a fake smile. “You don’t want to marry me. I suppose you don’t love me either. And what else did you tell me that night? Oh, that’s right, that I’m ‘the most beautiful, most exciting’ woman you’ve ever met. I guess you didn’t mean those things either.” “I never said any of that.” Amy had started to cry. David stood next to his desk, looking down at her. She was still on the floor, naked, her head between her knees. David watched...