Plots, Plans, and Dates

"Jay, get up!" Nathaniel said as he kicked his friend awake.

Jay had somehow now made it a habit of hanging out in Nathaniel's penthouse apartment.

Last night, after returning from the party they spoke and drank with Clark while they waited for news on the investigation into Gary Miller.

Jay had always been privy to most of the Miller family's secrets and he was well aware that Gary was hiding something.

It delighted Nathaniel to find a trove of information about Gary and the entire Miller family.

The entire time that he had been with Maya he had assumed that she was simply the daughter of high-ranking corporate employees. He was shocked to find that like him, the woman he loved was a prodigy.

"How did you not know?" He asked Jay as he held the full report in his hand.

"Know what?" Jay groaned as he pulled the sheets back over his head.

"Did you know that Maya is related to that Miller family?" Nathaniel asked as he pulled the sheets back off his friend.

"Ugh…Yeah…" Jay said as he slowly sat up from bed. "She never told you?"

Nathaniel rolled his eyes at his friend.

"She never did, all I knew was that her father worked as a high-ranking executive at some company, not their company," Nathaniel marched out of the room.

Jay was quick to take the cue, rushing to put on his clothes and chase after his friend.

"I presume you got the report back from Clark?" Jay asked as the assistant appeared in the dining room with a tablet and handed it to Jay.

"This morning, as soon as I woke up," Nathaniel said with a nod as a servant appeared and laid out a spread of breakfast and coffee on the dining table not far away. "Eat, you're my guest, probably the only guest I'll have over till Maya falls in love with me again."

"Again?" Jay chuckled as he looked up from the tablet in his hands. "More like until you get her to forgive you and admit that she is still in love with you."

Nathaniel couldn't help but smile at his friend's words. Maya still loved him, that's what mattered the most.

"This is interesting," Jay hummed as he looked through the information that Nathaniel's people managed to gather. "I didn't even know—"

Jay's phone began to ring, when he checked the caller ID he couldn't help but laugh.

"You guys are too in sync," Jay said as he showed Nathaniel the name on the screen.

"Put it in speaker," Nathaniel ordered in a deep and dark tone as if threatening his friend.

Jay quickly cleared his throat and did as Nathaniel asked.

"Maya, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he teased.

"Jay, I need your help," Maya said her tone urgent and clearly worried.

Jay raised and eyebrow as he looked at his friend. Nathaniel gave him an encouraging nod as if to signal that he would give whatever support he could.

"Oh, with what?" He asked his friend.

"Do you know how I can contact Mr. De La Rue?" Maya asked nervously. "I know you aren't that high up at DLR but maybe you can ask his assistant or something? You seemed quite friendly with Mr. Clark."

"Mute," Nathaniel mouthed, to which Jay quickly obliged.

"Will you meet with her?" Jay asked as he looked nervously at the phone, if he took long to give her an answer, Maya would be suspicious.

"I have a plan, just tell her you know someone on the inside," Nathaniel pointed at the phone.

"Jay?" Maya asked, she seemed to be worried about the way she spoke.

Jay could see Nathaniel's forehead creased in worry. He smiled and unmuted his phone, responding to Maya.

"I'm here, actually I can. I'll call you back," Jay said. "Don't worry about it Maya, I've got my own connections."

"Thank you," Maya said as Jay ended the call and looked at his friend.

"Did you do something?" Jay asked Nathaniel as he sat down and began picking at his breakfast.

"Nothing big," Nathaniel said with a shrug. "I let some information about Gary Miller hit the news today, and the idiot accused Alistair De La Rue of targeting him on social media."

"Shit," Jay cursed. "That idiot, don't tell me you went after the Miller family, because if you did, Maya won't be happy. Her grandfather, whom she loves and adores is at the helm, she would never forgive you if he got sick over this."

"All we let the public know is that Gary Miller has illegitimate children and mistresses, hardly anything that would damage his already shattered reputation," Nathaniel answered. "Maya was probably calling because her family asked for her help to solve the issue."

"So this was all part of your plan?" Jay asked thinking that his friend was too smart for his own good if he had managed to predict how the Millers would react.

"No, I'm not that smart," Nathaniel chuckled. "But I do admit this is playing out quite well."

Nathaniel grinned as he looked out to the distance as a plan formed in his head. Gary Miller had unknowingly pushed his cousin closer to Nathaniel, something Gary would soon regret.