Lunch with a narcissist.

Aden knows time is pressing, so he takes a single day to find Rick Benning's workplace, and to follow him around for a bit. He watches the asshole go through his daily routine, watches him shit on various people. Watches him gloat as he shoplifts a two-dollar candy bar from a convenience store. Watches him flirt with a young waitress and an intern from his office, both little blondes much like Anne. By the time he's watched the guy for a full day, he's disgusted with the man, wanting very badly to just break both the guy's legs. But Anne was very clear she wants no ****, so the first approach will have to be as gentle as Aden can make it.

So today, when Rick leaves his office and heads down the street, whistling happily, Aden waits until the man reaches the restaurant where the subject is going to have lunch, and has chosen a table outside on the street. Then, without any warning, he sweeps up and takes the seat across from Rick, smiling cooly.

"What the fuck are you doing here, faggot?" Rick growls. "Come to suck my dick?"

"For a man who claims to be straight, you certainly seem stuck on that," Aden says, tone pleasant.

"Fuck you."

"More brilliant repartee," Aden says. "I'm here to talk to you about Anne, and the Cambridge."

"I have nothing to fucking say to you, asshole."

Aden shrugs. "You might want to reconsider that. We have an issue here that could brew up and affect a lot of people negatively. Yourself included."

Rick laughs, and looks up as the waitress walks up. Like most narcissists, he can be quite charming when he wants to be. His whole demeanor changes as she places his food in front of him. "Thank you so much, Lisa," he says, cheerful. "How's your little boy doing?"

"Really good, thanks, Mr. Benning," she answers, looking to Aden. "Does your friend want something?"

"Oh, he's fine," Rick says before Aden can speak. "And I told you, Lisa, you need to call me Rick."

"Okay, Rick," she says, brushing her hair from her cheek self-consciously. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

He reaches out and touches her arm, smiling benevolently. "You let me know if YOU need anything, all right? I can help you out if you need me to. It would be a pleasure." As the smiling girl walks away, totally convinced he's just a helpful and friendly guy, Rick looks back to Aden and smiles evilly. "I'm gunna be tapping her ass within a month, you see." He takes a drink of his iced tea, then makes a dismissive motion toward Aden. "If you liked pussy, I might even give you some tips."

Aden has to breath for a moment; the monster is screaming at him. When he gets his temper under control, he leans forward and stares into Rick's eyes. "You made it clear you want to hurt my friends. You're also trying to **** Lazlo with his sexuality, and your ex-wife with her kids."

"The court says they're my kids." Rick is grinning, pleased with himself. "It's not my fault the judge decided her porn habits aren't healthy."

"And you making girls crawl through thumb-tacks is?"

Rick chuckles. "Whatever you're here for, the answer is fuck you."

Aden's face goes cold. "I would truly like to just kill you, Rick." He sighs. "But Anne has asked me to try being polite and come to some sort of agreement with you. So what will it take to make you go away?"

Rick leans back in his chair, looking through the window at the waitress Lisa. "Bet she'd crawl through broken glass for my dick," he says, then looks back to Aden. "You could do anything in the world, it isn't gunna help you. I work in a fuckin' construction firm, buddy-boy. The kinds of people I make deals with every day, they make a lot of money from me. They aren't gunna like it when they hear you threatened me. And I'll tell you another thing: I'm gonna dime out Lazlo to the press and I'm gonna keep those kids from Anne because she doesn't get to leave me and keep them. I told her when she started whining and crying about our marriage that I wasn't some little pussy she could jerk around. I told her I would make her life Hell, and that she was never gonna get to be free of me."

Aden's cold, the monster watching through his narrowed eyes. "You need to be careful, Rick."

"Oh, fuck you. You bark a lot, but you don't scare me. You never did. You had your shot, and you pussed out. So fuck off." He grins. "And tell Anne her visitation with the kids this week is cancelled. And any time I see you or any of your faggot friends, I'm gunna cancel it again. Goodbye." Rick is pleased as punch with himself, feeling brave and in charge. He thinks he's got Aden under control. For a micro-second, Aden's hand drifts to the pistol holstered in his waistband. One shot could solve this problem. But it's a public place, and he can't be sure he could walk on that, even with his connections.

Aden stands, staring down at Rick. "You'd better hope nothing you said actually happens."

"Whatever," Rick snorts, interrupting him. "Not listening to your bullshit any more."

Knowing this meeting has failed to do anything at all, Aden turns and walks away, trying to keep his anger in check. What he doesn't see as he leaves is Rick's face, deep in thought, as the man considers what to do. With an evil smile, he picks up his cell phone and makes a call. When the guy on the other side answers, he smiles. "Hey, Paulie, I have a guy who's causing me some trouble. And I need someone to send him and my ex a message."