Etienne and Money walked out of the packed bar and leaned against the cool brick wall outside. Money said something, but Etienne was unable to hear it; his attention was focused on GoGo's now condemned club across the street.
Money nudged him, "Dude, did you hear what I just said? The whole time you were gone, Christina was waxing poetic and damn near singing soliloquies about how much she missed you, how special you were, how you were one in a million. You should have taken her out instead."
Etienne smiled, "What did you not miss me? I thought you'd be bawling your eyes out."
Money's posture shifted. He shifted his to-go cup from hand to hand and looked out across the street.
He shook his head, "No, you were right. I was for months. I thought I lost my best friend."
Etienne slammed his head back into the wall. He bit the inside of his lip, struggling to think of what to say.
"Sorry that was insensitive of me."
Money closed his eyes, "You're the only person I can confide in. I love the girls but it's not the same. I always got the feeling Gio never really liked me and Christina was indifferent. And I got that confirmation after you went missing. I never really talked to the two of them unless we were helping Gabe with your affairs."
Etienne nodded his head along slowly.
Money continued, "I retreated into myself. And after a few weeks, my father convinced me to throw myself into our work."
Money turned to Etienne his eyes full of tears, "Prince, our work hurts so many people. We could heal so many ailments, and we could research how to fix so many more, but all we do is chase profits. And even when I become head, I don't know if I can change that."
Etienne stared into his eyes but said nothing.
Money cried out, "I-it feels like this guilt is punishment for taking my happiness for granted."
Etienne finally spoke, "So what are you going to do. Quit? Run away?"
Tears ran down Money's face. He looked down at the ground and shook his head, "No. On the contrary, I actually want to stay for as long possible. I found a good use for the money I'm making. I've been putting it into your parent's charity, the Fellows. But recently, a new faction has been growing."
Etienne scratched his chin, "A new faction? Tell me about them."
Money wiped his face, "It's weird. They haven't done anything wrong yet. And they're friendly enough…but I just feel like I have to walk on eggshells around them. I feel some…silent judgement from them. They've become our biggest contributors, but its obvious they have different ideas about the direction the Fellows should head in. And their self proclaimed leader, Julian Mason…"
Etienne put his hand up, "I get it. I'll be there Sunday to support your side, but I don't want to support Lionel as the chairman. Have you given any thought to taking over the position?"
Money laughed, "Me? Come on Etienne, be serious. Look I know you and your cousin have some beef…"
Etienne stared at him, the smile disappearing from his face, "I don't think you know how deep it goes Money. I hate him. But you, you're a natural born leader! And that guilt you feel—"
A muffled buzzing interrupted Etienne. Money reached in his pocket and pulled out a fancy slide phone.
He immediately began talking into it and walking away. He turned back before he got far and put his hand over the mic of the phone.
"Thanks for hanging out with me, Prince. I'll call you later."
Money scurried off into the night and was quickly out of view.
"And off he goes," Etienne thought to himself, "I guess his father still has a hold on him like back in high school. No, based on what he just told me, it might be worse now."
He looked back over at the condemned club and sighed. Etienne pulled a small earpiece out of his pocket and put it in his ear.
"Gabe," He called out as he paced back and forth on the sidewalk.
There was static in the headset before Gabe's voice chimed in, "I'm here. I'm with P.I's tech guy now and we've almost decrypted the files on the laptop you got."
Etienne stopped pacing, "Finally, I thought that was going to take days not weeks. While you two are finishing that, I'm about to patrol for a few hours. Set me to active on your end."
There were loud keyboard clicks on the other side of the headset.
"Done. Are you sure you don't want to take up one of these assignments though? With all the meta incidents happening recently, there are way more requests than usual."
Etienne put his hands in his pockets, "I'm too exhausted tonight, I'll get started on the assignments tomorrow. But you are right about the meta incidents, there's been at least four this week alone. Do you think it's GoGo trying to reemerge?"
Gabe scoffed, "GoGo, I'm so tired of hearing that name. There are much bigger fish to fry in this world than GoGo."
Before Etienne could respond, there was a loud beep in the earpiece. Etienne stopped walking for a second and listened as Gabe tapped away at his computer.
"There is a hero for hire nearby who needs some assistance. According to this ping, they're near Arcadia Beach. If you won't do an assignment, at least help them out."
Etienne thought to himself, "Fine, I'm heading over there now. And keep me posted on the laptop."
Etienne ducked into an alleyway and jumped up onto the top of a building. As he sprinted across them, he grabbed his stomach. He thought to himself, "Is that what that feeling is? Guilt?"