Lydia
We were buying a house. My name was going to be on the ownership, I would be able to set up a nursery now and I could really start getting prepared for the homebirth. I felt like this milestone was bigger than anything else in our lives, even the wedding didn’t have the same sort of feeling. Part of it, I assumed, came from the fact that we would all have some stake in the house but we couldn’t all sign one marriage license.
For what it was worth though, we were all excited about it. Patrick put the bid in and we had nothing left to do but wait and continue on with our lives.
My hands were officially off the book, all I had now were various interviews on book blogs. Not that I needed morepublicity, I had more than enough after the Let’s Talk! segment. Jordan had kept his distance from me after a scathing phone call where I accused him of leaking the tip about my pregnancy. He didn’t deny it.
I ended up hiring a social media team to take over my posting and keep me from having to read about what a raging whore I was. Allie delighted in reading a lot of it out loud, especially think pieces written by old men that had nothing better to do with their time. It prompted me to start writing again, this time in a private digital journal, about my experience with being pregnant in a polyamorous relationship and in the spotlight at the same time. Allie agreed that I should keep that to myself and look for an agent to represent me to other publishers. But today my focus wasn’t on my writing, it was on getting ready for hell on earth with my future mother-in-law.
I ran the straightener through my hair again, watching it fall perfectly just below my bust. Chopping off several inches was devastating but necessary, it was becoming way too much to style. It looked sleeker when I tied it into a neat ponytail, and it felt lighter too so that was a bonus. I finished fastening my earrings and stepped back to admire the dress Lucy and I had bought over a month ago. She’d promised it would still fit, and by some miracle she was right. Two rows of large black buttons trimmed the dress from collar to hem, making it almost look like a jacket. The lapel was pinned back to reveal two gold buttons at the top and it was sleeveless. It flared out slightly at the waist, giving me a perfect figure as I turned and assessed myself from every angle.
“Lydia, mum’s in the lobby!” Patrick called to me from the bedroom.
Alright, deep breath. I gave my dress one last brush down the front and strode into the bedroom where the men were relaxing together. Jon had a collection of papers in front of him that he was going for his interview and Pat was focused on his laptop.
“I’ll walk you out,” he said without looking up. “Are you ready?”
“Pretty much.”
They both looked up, noticed that I was fully dressed and clearly decided I didn’t need another time management lecture. Again. For the millionth time. Seriously, they acted like five minutes was the end of the world but when I used to wait on them it was “to be expected.”
I rolled my eyes and gestured to my shoes.
“Which ones, the booties or the knee-high?” I asked, modelling the two different pairs.
“Knee-high,” Patrick answered as he got up. “Now let’s go, I don’t want to keep mum waiting.”
“Wait, come here,” Jon said, beckoning to me. I pulled on the other boot and went to his side, he pulled me down to the bed beside him with a squeal and kissed my cheek. “Have a good day, dove,” he whispered against me.
“You too.” I kissed him back. “I’ll be back soon.”
He waved to us and we made our way down to the foyer together. I slipped my hand into his while we waited for the elevator, Pat gave me a reassuring squeeze. He was doing a lot better since our confrontation, but there were still moments here and there that made it clear that this would be a long road. He was good about things with Jon, gleeful actually since he seemed to live for the crowds of people speculating about his sex life. There were just some days were Pat was a little quieter than usual and he would spend more time working with his mom. I doted on him more than Jon lately, it was necessary to make sure he knew he was cared for.
Patrick’s thumb brushed back and forth over my knuckles as the elevator carried us down to the ground floor. I leaned into him and gave his shoulder a soft kiss. Part of me hoped that if I was affectionate enough he would cave and tell his mom that I was sick so I could avoid this party and spend the evening with them. I mean, come on, how was it fair for them to fuck each other silly while I had to go eat gross rich people food in front of a bunch angry women? And I really did mean gross, no amount of raving about how good it was could convince me to eat caviar or foie gras.
The elevator dinged and the reflective doors opened up to the lobby. Lucy stood at the front desk chatting with one of the security guards, her long white coat was open and I could just see a sliver of her matching white dress. She glanced over at us as we made our way over and beamed, throwing her arms wide for Pat.
“Are you bothering the staff?” he asked as he hugged her.
“Oh, come off it,” she complained, pulling away.
He smirked and pulled me to his side next, I leaned up and gave him a quick goodbye kiss. “I’ll see you later,” I promised. “Stay out of trouble.”
He winked. “I’ll make no promises”
I rolled my eyes and glanced to Lucy but she just chuckled and pulled a folder out of her purse to hand him. “Here, it has all the reports, try not to make a mess of them.”
“I won’t.” He tucked the folder under his arm and took a step back as she and I headed toward the doors. “Have a good day!”
I blew him a kiss as I was tugged away toward the car by his insistent mother. It was snowing still, it had been all day, and the fat flakes cast the street into a gray and white mix that made me long for Aspen and the magical sleigh ride all over again. I pulled my coat tighter around myself and leaned into Lucy as we went down the slick stairs. The private car she had wasn’t like Jon’s Maybach, hers was a Rolls-Royce Phantom that didn’t have the privacy division like Jon’s, and only seated two in the backseat. It was still spacious, and her driver was already waiting, eager to open the doors for us.
I slid in next to Lucy and tucked my bag into my lap, a few moments later the driver was pulling away from the curb and heading towards Soho.
“Have the jitters set in yet?” Lucy asked suddenly.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” I laughed and started fiddling with my rings again. “Me and Patrick are both feeling it lately…”
“Any more fainting spells?”
“Two,” I answered sheepishly. “Yesterday I thought one of the housekeepers sliced her hand open, but she just spilled a jar of maraschino cherries.” There was also the blowjob incident in the shower the other day, but she didn’t need to hear about that.
Lucy laughed and patted my knee. “Don’t worry about it, I was squeamish too. Runny eggs got me more than once.”
I snickered to myself and relaxed back in the seat. Allie was always my go-to person to talk to, but the pregnancy stuff was uncomfortable for her, so I tried to keep it to a minimum, only really bringing up the fun stuff and little milestones. We took turns comparing the baby to the various fruit it was the size of. She sent me a little meme this week declaring he was approximately the size of a grapefruit. I had to admit it was more fun in the beginning when I didn’t really think about how it would feel to push out in the end, a baby the size of a cherry seemed ideal. Plus, I was now at a point where my belly was officially unmissable, that really helped hammer the reality of everything home.
“Was it hard?” I asked Lucy quietly, trying to ignore the fact the driver could definitely hear us. “Having Pat?”
“Well…” She sighed and shifted in her seat. “Yes, but not for the same reasons. It was difficult with Aleksy not being in the picture, and then there was this unease I had because a lot of other lesbians didn’t take me seriously. It was ostracizing. My mother was wonderful, very accepting, she was really the only person I had, I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
I nodded and tried not to show my own dismay at the fact that my mom wasn’t a part of this journey. “That must have been nice.”
I loved Michelin, she would always be my mom and she’d already come with me to follow up appointments and to meet different midwives, but I still missed Danielle. I wonder if she misses me too…
“You know you can call me mum now,” Lucy whispered with a nudge and a gentle smile. “I’ve been waiting for a daughter for thirty-seven years now.”
I couldn’t help but giggle and look away. “And what would you have done if Patrick married Jon instead?”
“Immediately tried to steal Maritza from Christine, and if that didn’t work, then bombard them with pamphlets from every adoption agency I could find.”
I gestured to my belly. “Well, I hate to break the bad news, but this is a boy.”
“Did they already determine that?”
“No, I didn’t want them to.” Jon’s disappointment had been palpable, but it wasn’t like I had that much longer to go.
“Then you can’t be certain,” she declared happily. “And there’s plenty of time for the baby to make up their mind about such matters, not to mention having another.”
I swear I could hear the driver snicker from the front seat. I blushed and tried to look everywhere but the rear-view mirror. I missed the luxury of the Maybach or the control of driving myself now with the Escalade.
“Can I ask you something personal?” I whispered to Lucy.
“Of course you can,” she replied, sound almost offended. “You can ask me anything.”
“I know but this is…inappropriate I guess.” I paused and swallowed the lump in throat that was trying to prevent me from asking rude questions. “You have more money than someone like Jon or the Bower’s, right?”
Lucy had been watching me with a look of concern, suddenly her face brightened with relief and she let out a loud, startling laugh. She tossed her short, copper hair back and grabbed my hand, still grinning widely. “Sweetheart, don’t be afraid to ask those types of questions, not to me. I’m not shy about that sort of thing, so yes, I don’t mind letting you in on that secret. The Bower’s wouldn’t know what to do with my kind of wealth.”
“Then, um, why don’t you have a privacy partition?” I pointed discretely to the driver’s seat. “Jon has the Pullman, so it’s always a little weird getting in here with you and it not being closed off.”
“Jon is new money,” she remarked with a shrug. “I don’t need that sort of thing in my life, but he was quick to go out and buy those luxuries when the company started bringing in more.”
I laughed. “He went to private school and had no debt from college, I wouldn’t really call that new money.”
Lucy smirked and leaned across the console as if she was about to tell me a secret. “His father was the dean, Jon’s education was almost entirely free, he got into Yale on a scholarship through nepotism and good grades. There was a reason that he needed our help financially.”
Oh… I knew little about his family outside of Christine and Maritza, I knew he had siblings, but he didn’t talk to them, and his parents died years ago. Everything else was a bit of a mystery to me because he’d never really talked about it or indicated that he really, well, cared. He wasn’t like Patrick where he wore his trauma and burdens on his sleeve, Jon just left it behind and didn’t talk about it again.
“How did you meet Jon?” I asked her. “You clearly knew his family…”
“Oh, of course, I met Daniel and Annalise when Patty was just finishing up elementary school and I was looking for a private school closer to home. I remember Mari must have been about two and he brought her into see Daniel right before I was supposed to come for a meeting. He had much longer hair then.”
The thought of Jon with long hair made my smile and combined with hearing her call Patrick “Patty,” I couldn’t help but giggle again. I wasn’t pretty sure Pat had no idea that I knew all about the nicknames his moms had for him, one day I would just casually slip one in to see his reaction.
“So, he was working at Bower and Son’s at that point?” I asked.
“I think so, I remember Daniel telling me he was set to be the next big shot, but they didn’t care much for Christine and he actually asked me to keep my eye out for Jon’s resume.” She shook her head. “I didn’t really intend to, but I kept an eye on him and gave him a little nudge in Pat’s direction when he was looking to expand.”
“I don’t know why, but I always thought that Jon just approached Pat because your office was doing so well,” I mused out loud. “I guess I don’t know as much as I thought.”
She waved my remarks off. “Don’t worry about it, there were a lot of machinations behind the scenes to get that merger through. I don’t think Jon knew how close Norm was to losing the company, Patty didn’t even know that I had been trying to offload ours for years.”
If there was one thing in this world that would continuously intrigue me, it was the way wealthy people networked. They mingled at elite parties, sure, but behind the scenes there was a lot of introducing someone to another person for personal gain, sometimes it was at a meeting with the dean to a private school, other times it involved enrolling at Ivy League universities to meet the children of the wealthy.
I hadn’t grown up with that, and it still shocked me to have moments where I was introduced to someone who had a lot of social or financial power. Michelin had been the first to bring me into that world, and without her and Lewis’s help I never would have gotten into Berkeley. But the fact that Lucy could just casually talk about merging two multi-million-dollar companies was just mind boggling. My dad struggled getting a job for years, and the knowledge sat heavy in my chest that he was held down by a system not built for him but for people like Lucy and Patrick.
And now me.
I looked out the tinted window to try and stop myself from tearing up at the thought. I’d never be able to escape my guilt around money or the way I lived now compared to how I grew up, the foster homes I’d stayed in for months at a time, and the way a lot of people I knew back home still lived.
At times, it was just hard to reconcile that the thing that was so out of reach years ago I now had in abundance. I was wearing a Versace dress, but I still remembered Danielle teaching me how to layer the bras that I tried on so that we could sneak them out of the store. I remembered the feeling of her and dad bringing me to McDonalds and not getting anything for themselves because we just couldn’t afford it.
I could usually tune it out, pretend it wasn’t a problem for me, but just hearing Lucy say all of that without a care in the world really hammered home how much of an outsider I felt like in this community at times. It didn’t help that I was going to spend my day surrounded by wealthy women who would sneer at me.
Lucy continued chatting about her and Nora, telling me about their plans to go back to France for the summer and inviting us along with them. I thanked her, but I wasn’t really prepared for taking a newborn to an entirely different country for the time being.
A short while later we were pulling up in front the building. Dozens of arched windows stared down at us from crème colored stone, the ground floor had a set of large iron and glass doors that opened onto the street. There was no signage anywhere to indicate what this building was for except for the elegantly embossed swans on the door handles and the matching ones carved into some of the stone.
The first time Lucy brought me here I expected that we would actually be leaving the city to go to a country club, and then when I actually saw the building, I was kind of let down. It didn’t really stand out and it wasn’t even in a particularly nice looking building, save for the fact that it was marginally cleaner than others.
The driver got out and opened the door for us. I thanked him and Lucy gave him a gentle pat on the hand as we headed inside. A continuous flow of people weaved around us, paying no mind as we crossed into the marble lobby. The white and silver marble floor matched the pristine white walls, the smattering of couches on ground floor, and most of the women inside. I couldn’t help but notice it was a little Aryan Nation in here. There were some pops of color at least, a few painting sprinkled around, but the star of the show was directly ahead.
In the center of the building, as if to help distract from those uncomfortable thoughts, there was a massive greenhouse that carved a significant chunk of the room out. It was a garden with iron and glass furniture for us to have lunch or breakfast together. There was even a domed skylight above, and every floor could easily look down into the fountains and rose bushes to find about three dozen women in designer clothes while eating some awful food that they want to convince me is actually delicious. Like the caviar. I was getting shivers just thinking about it.
We only stood there for a moment before a young woman who looked close to my age smiled brightly and hurried over to take our coats.
“Mrs. Rosing, it’s lovely to see you again,” she greeted, folding the fox fur jacket over her arm. “Most of the ladies are already here. Do you need anything before you join them?”
“No thank you, dear,” Lucy said, brushing her hair back.
The girl bowed her head and scurried back off. I brushed the front of my dress and reached up to touch my hair self-consciously. “Do I look alright?” I whispered to Lucy.
“You look lovely, you’re glowing,” she soothed, taking my arm. “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, I would have killed to look that good while pregnant – I blew up like a balloon.”
I had to say, one of my biggest fears was that I would start packing on the pounds, but whether it was because I was in regular therapy sessions or because I was in a stable environment now, I wasn’t actually gaining a lot of weight. Either way, I was incredibly thankful that my body wasn’t taking too badly to this experience.
We walked together around the glass partition to the intricately designed iron doors. They were open, and among the flowers and various plants, women were mingling with each other, laughing, smiling, paying little attention to us.
“Oh, there’s Eleanor,” Lucy said excitedly. “I’ll be right back; you go find us a table.”
Don’t leave me here! I wanted to scream for her to stay but she was already gone in a blur of yellow fabric. Immediately I felt like I was being watched, I kept my head down and smiled politely as I wove through the crowd, brushing against a large fern and trying to hide myself in the orchids. A server stopped and offered me an ice water that I took and had to fight myself not to chug in front of everyone.
Patrick and his mom had high hopes that one day we would have a daughter that would join the Swan Society, I was starting to think that I would rather gnaw my own arm off rather than let my kids join into a place like this.
A trilling laugh across the garden caught my attention and I looked over to see Christine talking with two other women, one looked like Allie’s ex, Vicki. Christine’s long dark hair was pulled into a tight knot at the nape of her neck, the two white locks were loose and framed her face. Her poppy red dress stood out among the winter jewel tones, and like I always was, I was instantly jealous at how effortlessly put together she looked.
We hadn’t spoken since the divorce, we weren’t exactly friends, but I still felt that she was probably the second least hostile person toward me in this room. I took a sip of my water and decided to go see her when someone stopped me.
“Leah, isn’t it?” A woman asked with a wide, toothy smile. “I’m Leanne.”
“It’s Lydia, actually,” I corrected casually. “Nice to meet you, Leanne.”
I half reached for her hand but she either didn’t notice or purposely ignored it. I chose to believe she didn’t notice. Her name sounded familiar, she even looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her anywhere. She was pretty, with curly strawberry blonde hair, a round face, and big brown eyes that made her look younger than the Botox told me she probably was. Then again, I’d noticed girls my age with Botox, so I guess that wasn’t much of an indicator.
“Oh, we met already!” she told me with a giggle. “You remember Natalie, don’t you? Nat, come here!”
My stomach sank and I quickly drank the rest of my water as the other woman came strutting over. Natalie Hannover. So, Leanne was probably Lee Wright. Both were Patrick’s exes, both I’d met in passing, and both had been invited to our engagement party on New Year’s. Natalie had a penchant for getting touchy-feely with my fiancé while Leanne like to stare from a distance.
Natalie came around the shrubbery and beamed, waving at me as if we were friends. Natalie was my worst nightmare. She was a model that owned a makeup line, she was nearly six feet tall and all long legs with a defined waist, and chocolate brown hair that hung to her lower back in delicate waves. She was exactly the kind of woman I would expect to see Patrick with, in the same way that it made little sense to me for Jon to not be with Christine.
There was just something about Natalie that made me revert back to my high school self, desperately trying to compete with the popular girls for some boy’s attention. It didn’t make me feel any better that she was wearing a tiny A-line dress that made her look like a princess while I was nearly six months pregnant and showing it prominently. They chose me for a reason, I reminded myself sternly while forcing a happy smile, now fucking act like you deserve it.
“Natalie, hi,” I greeted. “How have you been?” Besides trying to grind on my fiancé.
“I’ve been great,” she told me with a little coquettish smile. “Lee and I leaving tomorrow for Haute Couture Week in Paris, so we’re sorry that we won’t actually be at the wedding. You’ll have to give Patrick our condolences.”
I didn’t even know they were invited, but then again, Pat and I had basically thrown a sheet of paper at Michelin and Lucy and ran, telling them to come up with a guest list instead of harassing us about who should come. That’s how we ended up with three-hundred people RSVPing to the wedding. I didn’t even think I knew two dozen to invite, but I guess anything was possible.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but thanks for letting us know.” At the last possible minute…
“You’ll be having another ceremony, won’t you?” she pressed. “Once you’re no longer so rushed.”
“Um, no I think one is enough.” I forced myself to laugh and take a step back, preparing to run back to Lucy. “Pat and I agreed on a winter wedding for our own reasons, I wouldn’t really want to do the cliché thing and have a summer wedding somewhere else.”
“A summer wedding at the Plaza,” Lee said dreamily. “You could even have the baby as the ring bearer or flower girl.”
“It would help clear up some of those rumors,” Natalie added. “Those ones about Jonathan Harris and whatnot.”
“I don’t really think there are any rumors left,” I argued. “I think we made things pretty clear in the interview and everything that was said later on.”
“Lots of people think you’re just a surrogate for them,” Lee told me. “It would just be a reaffirmation of your commitment.”
Natalie nodded. “Exactly, it would help people see you as more than just a baby mama.”
“Considering I already have a ring on my finger and the wedding is in a week, I don’t think I qualify as a baby mama,” I snapped. “And if I was really that concerned then I don’t think I would have stepped back out into the public after everything that happened.”
I knew I was reacting exactly how they wanted me to, that giving them any sort of reaction was what they wanted. Yet, I couldn’t help but hit back.
Lee looked horrified. “You should be concerned. It’s not just you that you need to worry about—”
“It’s Patrick too,” Natalie cut in smoothly. “He doesn’t deserve that sort of treatment.”
“I never said he did.”
“No, but you’re not acting like it either.”
Resentment bubbled up inside me, I tried to keep a straight face, but I knew I was starting to crack. “Are you mad because Patrick’s marrying me, or because he chose to fuck his intern instead of you?”
“Why would I be mad? I wasn’t the one that decided to whore myself out.”
I could see several other women inching closer, trying to listen in without making it obvious. I was just entertainment to them, I wasn’t even a person, just someone else to poke and prod and laugh at. I pushed past Natalie and Lee without a word and continued as fast as I could out of the gardens toward the bathrooms. I swear I could hear them laughing, I ignored it and pushed myself through the swinging door just as the tears started to burn.
I don’t know if it was because I was upset or if it was because I could smell whatever awful dish they put together, but as soon as I reached the vanity, I was vomiting into the trash bin.
I sunk to the floor with a handful of paper towels and sniffled as I wiped my tears away. My rings and bracelets glittered under the lights and I wanted nothing else but to run home to the guys.
It would never matter what I did, how many designer dresses I bought, what sort of manicure I paid for, or even whether or not I earned money by doing anything. It would never be enough, and I would never be one of those glamorous women that looked effortlessly beautiful and fit perfectly into these events. As much as I wanted to, and no matter how much Real Housewives I watched, I would never be enough for them. Pat and Jon didn’t see it or they didn’t care, but Lucy wanted me to and I wanted to have a good relationship with my mother-in-law.
The door swung open suddenly and I flinched, prepared to have Natalie goading over me when Christine walked in and stopped in front of me.
“Don’t tell me you let them get to you that easily.”
“I can’t help it,” I mumbled, not looking at her. “I don’t have thick skin.”
She scoffed. “Clearly.” Pausing, she pushed the door shut and flipped the lock. “What did they say?”
“They just called me a baby mama and a whore…”
“You let them speak to you like that?” she demanded. “Christ, I thought you would have some backbone.”
“You’re saying you wouldn’t be at least a little bit upset that someone called you a whore?” I snapped. “Or insinuated that your boyfriend only wants you for a baby?”
“Obviously I need to work on my reputation if you think I’d be crying about some man,” she replied dryly. “Come on, you can’t let them see that they got to you.”
She hauled me up off the floor and led me over to the sink. Without even asking, she began gently blotting my cheeks with a cool cloth and pulled my hair back.
“It happens to everyone,” she told me as she worked away. “It’s just how they are. They want to protect their own.”
“It feels like they hate me.”
“They do, you stole him right out from under Natalie’s grip. That’s essentially treason.”
“No one told me before I fucked my boss that I would be right back in high school,” I muttered to myself.
“You never leave high school. Plenty of people will tell you that there’s a real world out there where people don’t act petty and mean, but the truth is right in front of you. We don’t grow out of it; we just find better ways to hide it.” She paused and smirked at me in the mirror. “But I think you probably knew fucking your boss wasn’t going to make your life easier.”
This was true, but I could still hope. “I didn’t expect you of all people to be laughing about that.”
She shrugged and stepped back, admiring her handiwork. “It is what it is, and I can’t stop Jon from making those choices even if I think he’s a complete idiot.”
I didn’t say anything, just watched myself in the mirror while I adjusted my earrings. I didn’t expect her to warm up to me overnight, hell, I definitely hadn’t expected her to be helping me right now as it was.
“You do understand that it’s not a slight against you, right?” she asked gently. “I don’t want you to think that I’m upset with you, because I’m not and that was never my intention.”
I turned to her suddenly. “No, actually, I do see it as a slight because you went out of your way to deceive me when we met and now you’re standing here telling me that you think your ex-husband is an idiot for moving on. I don’t see how that isn’t directly about me.”
“I just wanted to get a feel for you without it feeling like it was the old cat meeting their replacement. I didn’t think Jon was going to show up like that and I didn’t have any intention of even telling you who I was because I didn’t want it to be awkward.” She sighed and glanced down for a moment before meeting my gaze with a bored expression. “I’m old enough to know when to apologize, so, I’m sorry for going about that the wrong way.”
Holy shit, an actual apology. “Thanks,” I replied, my voice almost cracking from the disbelief. She really just swallowed her pride and apologized without flinching. “While we’re on the topic of apologies, do you have anything to say about Patrick?” Alright, that might have been pushing it.
She rolled her eyes and turned back to the mirror to wash her hands. “I’m not apologizing for offering Patrick the job, I worked very hard to convince my father that he should be brought back to the company. It was a foot in the door. Jon should have understood that.”
“You can’t really expect me to believe that.”
She shrugged. “Lydia, I don’t really care if you do or don’t. I was just being nice; I didn’t come here to explain myself.”
She was right and if she was adult enough to apologize, then I needed to be as well. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that it was rude…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Christine said dismissively. “Maritza told me you asked her to be a bridesmaid. That was nice of you.”
“I just wanted her to know that she’s always included,” I admitted. “We’re on pretty good terms right now.”
“I heard, thank you for that.”
Awkward silence fell between us and I couldn’t stop fidgeting with my rings. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her. This was probably the longest time I’d spent near her since, well, Plaisir. But, I guess if she was willing to mend bridges, I should be too.
“I know you probably don’t want to come to the wedding,” I began slowly. “But Mari, my mom, Lucy, and a few other people are hanging around for a private ceremony afterward. It’s um, a commitment ceremony for the three of us… You and Jon go way back, and you’re his family too, so if you wanted to come, the invite is always there.”
“Oh…” Silence. “Um… I appreciate the invitation, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to crash that sort of event.”
“Sorry, I just—”
“No, I get it,” she interrupted with a lilting laugh. “It’s very sweet of you, I just don’t want to be there to bring down the moon.”
I laughed and turned to her shyly. “I guess I just got ahead of myself.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she repeated. “You’re going to Plaisir Interdit sometime soon, aren’t you? I thought I saw your name on the list.”
“Yeah, we’re doing a bachelor party for the guys,” I answered, now fighting off a blush. “The Club put together this whole event for us so we’re spending the night there.”
“Well, maybe I’ll see you then,” she offered. “But I need to get back to my friends, so…”
“Oh! Yeah, no worries. Thanks again.”
She waved and unlocked the door. “Don’t mention it.”
Christine left me standing there and all I could think about was that she had unquestioningly helped me when she didn’t have to. I didn’t even know how to process her comment about Plaisir. What sort of ominous fucking warning was that? Was I going to see her in full Domme mode? Without pausing to think about it, I pulled out my phone and fired off a text to Jon.
2:32 PM Me
I think your ex-wife just propositioned me.
Maybe I was just reading into things, but I hoped that text gave him a good laugh. At least one of us would have a good afternoon.