by Cee, DW
"You Reids don't kid around with this whole family tradition, do you? I don't think we'll ever be getting married if I need to follow after Roland." I think Max was kidding?
"Many of these jewels date back to more than a century ago, and many others were added since. Some are expensive, many are not, but they are all a piece of my family history and precious to me. What your grandmother and I decided to do was to allow each female member of this family to come up and pick the jewel of their choice."
That announcement got Gimpy an even grander standing ovation than Jake got when he gave Emily more diamonds. Jewelry was not my thing, but if you'd seen all that glittered in that chest, any girl would have been tempted.
"We're going to go from oldest to youngest, starting with...Elizabeth."
What??? Why did that imp get to choose first? She's barely a girl.
"Yes, Elizabeth is a female member of this family, and since she has no idea what she's choosing, Estelle and I thought she should go first."
Jake strutted up to the stage with his daughter and had that annoyingly smug grin. "Princess, which jewel would you like?" Jake placed his daughter on the table in front of the treasure chest and she, just like her father, was in heaven with all the sparkly toys. "You can pick any one you like," he encouraged her.
She stood up on the table with her hands on the chest, and Jake caught her a split second before she fell into the chest, head first. That brought about a horrified gasp from the ladies, and a light chuckling from the men. When her head came out of the chest, little Ellie had chosen her prize.
"Damn! That girl picked the most expensive thing in the chest," I muttered.
In her hand was a glittering diamond tiara. Who the hell wore a tiara in this day and age unless you were royalty? Father and daughter had identical smiles as my brother crowned the tiara on Ellie's big head.
"Leave it to Jake's child to grab the grandest treasure in this chest. Well, done, Elizabeth!" Gimpy announced.
Everyone clapped for Ellie who showed her dimples, her two front and bottom teeth, and lots of gum surrounding the teeth as she smiled. I clapped too, kind of.
"Hey," Max whispered to me after I chose my cameo pendant, "I have a surprise for you. Let's get up to your room for a few minutes."
Ooh...I liked the sound of that.
There was an Amazon box waiting for me on my bed, and I had no qualms about ripping it open. What I saw made me blush - and I'm no blushing-type.
"What on earth? How'd you know about these? Did you read the book?"
"Hell no. Do I look like I have time to read erotica? Since you seemed to be so into this naughty-girl sex, I thought I'd be obliging and buy you a few toys. Shall we give it a test try now?" he said while taking out Mr. Ben Wa from its packaging and walking into my bathroom to wash it clean. "I believe Google told me to take each ball and insert it into your treasure chest?”
I was getting so hot and bothered; I started doing a little hop from one foot to another.
"Gem, I can't insert these into you if you keep hopping around. Now stay still," he ordered and slapped me in the ass.
This is the only man ever, to put his hand on my rear end with the intent to hurt (or pleasure). And damn, did it pleasure. He put both balls deep inside me and his fingers made sure (many times over) that they would stay there. Of course we couldn't just stop there, even with a huge party taking place underneath my bedroom window. There was no time to get undressed so Max lifted up my skirt, I unzipped his pants and gave the wall a thorough wipe down from my backside.
"I can't believe these balls stayed intact while I was having vertical sex."
"Did it do anything for you?"
"Don't know. The jury's out on this one. I'll let you know after we try it a few more times." We rushed to right ourselves before rejoining the Reid family. "I have a question for you..." I cringed at whether or not I should ask him this personal question, but I was curious.
"Yeah?"
"If you and Emily never had sex, was Jennifer your first?"
"Um...no..." He wouldn't expound.
"Then...who...was...it...?"
"Do we have to talk about this? Do you really need to know?"
"I don't have to know, but I'd like to know." Now that you're evading the question, I MUST know. "Why do you hesitate telling me who it was? I'll tell you who my first was if you're interested."
"I'm not interested in knowing the name of the man you lost your virginity to..."
"Well, I am interested in knowing the name of the woman you lost your virginity to...just tell me!" Then it dawned on me as to why he couldn't spit out a name. "Do I know this woman? Is that why you're so cautious about giving out a name?"
Max sighed. "Yeah, you know who she is. It was..."
March 14, 2013 Shocking(er) Confession‼
"Did you just tell me you lost your virginity to Hannah??? The girl living in your parents' house right now. The girl who hugged you back at the restaurant like you were the greatest thing since sliced bread, Hannah?"
"Yes."
"How old were you? You met Emily when you were 18 or 19, as a freshman in college."
"If you must know, Hannah and I were high school sweethearts and she and I started dating when we were 16."
"And...?"
"Gem, is this really necessary?" Max was super uncomfortable talking about his horn-dog teenage years. I was willing to wait it out the whole night to hear this story.
"Oh yeah, it's necessary, Buddy. You need to tell me all about you and Hannah."
He sighed some more. I didn't know what the big deal was. Lots of kids had sex in high school - not that I would want my high school son or daughter experimenting at that age.
"We had sex for the first time when we were in our junior year of high school."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it. What else is there to say?"
"What happened to her after high school? Did you drop her for Emily?"
"No. Her family moved away to Michigan the summer before our senior year and we just grew apart. By the middle of our senior year, we broke up."
"And that's it?"
"What else do you want me to say?" Now he was sounding upset, though I had no understanding as to why.
"Alright. I'll drop it...for now. Let's get back to the party."
"Jane, I don't want you to bring up Hannah and our past relationship again, okay?"
Geez...what's got you in such a snit? "Okay," I agreed reluctantly.
Max left for the hospital, and the party died down early as our 80 year-old lovebirds needed their beauty rest before their big day tomorrow. I thought more about Max and Hannah and before I fell asleep, I couldn't help wondering why Max was so agitated with me knowing about him and Hannah.
Saturday morning was glorious! The sun smiled on Gram and Gimpy as they said their vows, and the wedding breakfast got underway. We had more of an American wedding breakfast with lots of traditional English food items as well. We had biscuit cakes, scones, English pancakes, croque monsieurs, bread puddings, as well as frittatas, eggs benedict, and an omelet station. About 100 family members, friends and law associates attended the celebration.
"Hullo Jane. It's nice to see you again." Sea-foam goddess looked regal in her garden-cum-knock'em-dead dress, and matching hat. "Your grandmother and Roland are divine together."
"Yep. Divine...that's them." What a stupid answer! "Has Donovan convinced you to join our firm?"
She gave a hearty laugh. "Yes. Donovan was convincing enough...I believe I'll join the firm for the time being."
Yeah, slut! I'm sure Donovan convinced you plenty.
"There you are," Donovan called out to Kate. "The partners would like to speak with you. They're over with Roland right now."
"If you'll excuse me?”
I watched Kate walk away from us and was at a loss for words. How would I handle watching the two sex-gods working together?
"So Gimpy told me it was your job to bring Kate into our firm. I see you've succeeded."
"I guess you can say that."
"What's the story between you and this woman? You seem awfully chummy with someone who appeared out of nowhere. I don't think I've ever heard you or Jake talk about her."
Donovan smiled. I don't know how I didn't notice till this moment, but Donovan came dressed to the nine. He looked...dear God...he looked dazzling, delicious, debonair, James Bond-like, David Beckham at Wills and Kate's wedding-like, OMG-like! He had on the dark suit with a tail, a cream-colored ascot cravat with a pin in the middle, a dark colored brocade vest, and even a top hat.
"Who the hell dresses you every morning?" I blurted out.
Donovan smiled again. This was a smile that could make us all forget our spouses and significant others.
"Why...you applying for the job? I promise not to be too demanding if you choose to fill in as my valet."
"Shut up," I laughed. "I can't get over how good you look." What a stupid thing to say to a man.
"Why thank you Lady Jane. You look just as delicious," he flirted. How'd he know I thought he looked yummy?
"Should you be saying stuff like this to me? If my boyfriend doesn't kick your ass already, it may be Sea-foam who'll finish the job."
He gave me a confused look. "Who or what is Sea-foam? Never mind...I don't want to know. You asked about Kate? If your boyfriend will allow you to sit with me, I'll tell you about her."
Luckily, Max was occupied dancing with Ellie and James, so I freely plopped myself down looking forward to hearing about the goddess.
"Kate and I've been together, on and off, for about ten years."
What the hell? Why didn't I know this?"
"We started seeing each other my junior year in undergrad, and by the end of my senior year, I'd practically moved in with her and had asked her to marry me."
What the HELL?? Where was I during all this?
"What'd she say when you asked her to marry you?"
"She laughed at me and told me to finish law school, then get a job."
I didn't know how to respond to that comment.
"Kate was in her early 30s at the time, and on the fast track to success and stardom in the hedge fund world. She didn't need a strapping young buck holding her back. So we broke up, I went to law school, got a job, and we've been picking up where we left off ever since."
"In the young buck department?"
"Funny! I love your sense of humor, Jane."
"So she's back to pick up where you left off again? Are you so in love with her that you drop everything and anyone whenever she's back in town?"
He raised one eyebrow at me and my accusation. "She came back to ask me to marry her, if you must know, my curious Jane."
WHAT THE HELL???
"I see I've finally shocked you into silence."
"You gonna marry her?"
He shook his head no. My body shook in relief!
"I don't love her anymore, though the attraction is still there. Maybe what I felt for her back in college was a young buck's fascination, adulation, obsession. I don't know if it was love. Plus, there's somebody holding me back from wanting to explore anything with anyone new." My body now shook in expectation and fear. "I know you're with another man. I'm not going to take what's not mine. But I can't help wonder what it would be like to be with you...to laugh with you...to love with you.... A chance with you is what's holding me back from moving on.... There's my confession for the day. And now, I better get out of your boyfriend's seat."
Waltz...Tango...Foxtrot...!
March 18, 2013 Shocking(est) Confession‼!
"You nervous about meeting my family?" Max asked while we drove together to his house.
"A bit?" I think I was more nervous about seeing Hannah again. No matter how many times Max told me Hannah had moved on since their high school relationship, it did not look like it from where I stood.
"You have nothing to worry about. They'll all love you. Just remember that my family is not as jovial as yours. If you keep that in mind, all will be okay."
"Alright."
Max's family home was nice, really nice. Looking at his home, I realized how much he downplayed his family's wealth. It was a wonder why he was living on student loans rather than asking his parents for help. I suppose that was another question for another day...
"Hello," Max's mom and dad greeted us.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Thank you for inviting me. These are for you," I said handing them a bottle of wine and an orchid plant. "You have a lovely home." Now I sounded just like Emily.
"Thank you," Mrs. Davis answered politely. "Hannah, could you put these away for me?" She passed off my gifts without much thought.
There she was - the girl who popped my boyfriend's cherry, metaphorically speaking, of course.
"Hi Jane. Welcome to our home."
Last I checked, this wasn't your home but whatever...
"Thank you. Can I help with anything?"
"No, dinner's set. Let's all sit down and eat." His mom led the way to the dining room.
No cocktail hour, no conversation over a charcuterie platter, no get-to-know-you time...straight to dinner. Okay...
"Hope you like chicken. That's all I know how to make," Hannah said with a smile.
I hoped she didn't poison my plate.
"You made your baked chicken dish?" Max asked with a smile.
"I know how much you liked it in the past, and I thought you might still like it?" She gave my boyfriend a lovey-dovey look that I'm sure he didn't notice, but I sure did.
"It's been a long time since I've had it. I'm sure it'll be as delicious as always." He gave her a side hug. I totally felt like the outsider at this dinner table.
"Hello!" Two young Max look-alike men greeted me. "You must be Jane. I'm Garret, Max's younger brother, and this is Josh, the youngest of us all."
"Very nice to finally meet you."
I sat next to Max and his brothers, while Hannah sat on Max's other side with his parents. While Mr. and Mrs. Davis didn't say much, when they did, it was a question that led to a conversation between them, Max and Hannah. There was no room in their conversation for me. Max's brothers were cool .Catching on to what was happening on the other side of the table, they started a conversation that involved the three of us.
I learned that Garret was studying to be an architect and Josh was a dreamer.
"So Josh, you're going to take off for a year and live in Italy so you can paint?" I asked, a bit flabbergasted.
"Yeah. I've earned enough credits to graduate early so I think I'll use that time to explore my artistic side."
"That's kind of cool. Crazy, but cool," I commended. "No one in my family is that brave. My younger brother took a year off to decide which graduate school to attend, but he was working in a bio-chem lab in the meanwhile. My older brother went from undergrad to med school, I went from undergrad to law school - we're all pretty dull people. So where will you stay in Italy?"
"I don't know. I may go hang out in London for a while, then Paris, then eventually make it into Italy."
"My cousin Laney will be living in London as of June this year. You should befriend her and hang out."
"That'd be cool."
"You good?" Max whispered in my ear.
"Yeah," I whispered back, and was tempted to give his lips a kiss. "I just want to know what the hell this is that we're eating."
Max busted up laughing. "Hannah, Jane would like your baked chicken recipe."
Hannah broke into an uneasy smile that made me feel bad. "Oh, it's a chicken breast stuffed with rice-a-roni, smothered in Campbells' cream of mushroom soup, then baked for 45 minutes. This used to be Max's favorite meal."
"I'll try and remember to make it for him next time he comes over. Thank you," I grunted, trying hard not to laugh.
"So Jane, you're a lawyer?"
Max's mom asked. "And your brother is a doctor?"
"Yes. And my younger brother is in med school with Max."
"How did you and Max meet?"
How to answer this one.... There was really no un-awkward way around it.
"My brother Jake married Emily Logan."
"No way!" Garret called out. "I wanted to marry Emily Logan when Max broke up with her."