"I know. I hate fighting with you."
"Well, then sweetheart, I'm glad it doesn't happen very often." He kissed my head and rested his cheek on it.
"I can't believe you still want to be with me after all I've done. All I've kept from you."
"When you love someone, you have to look past their flaws and mistakes. I know who you are in here, Maya. That's all that matters." His hand rested just above my heart, and I felt a fresh wave of tears filling my eyes.
"Thank you," I choked out and blinked rapidly to dispel the unshed tears. At that point, I had cried enough.
"You want to go out for dinner or you want to stay in?" He gave me a smirk, letting me know he was changing the subject for me. It made me even more grateful to have him as my husband.
"Stay in."
"I'll order some Chinese takeout for delivery then. You going to be okay if I get up?"
"Yeah. I'm better now. Thank you." I kissed his lips lightly and moved to get up. His arms tightened and his head dipped so that he could hold my eyes. "You and me. Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Finally alone, I took a deep, shuddering breath and put my head in my hands. I had made a real mess of things. I didn't know how I got so lucky to find Travis. Not many men would have dealt with this situation as levelheaded as he did. Not many men wouldn't hold it over my head for the near future. Travis was different though. He said his peace and then moved on. He was quick to forgive when I made a mistake, and he loved me regardless. And I loved that about him.
I just hoped this was the end of our drama.
Chapter Seven
"James, I'm here." My voice rang out in the small space as I made my way through the entryway into the kitchen. My arms were laden down with bags from the drug store as it always was whenever I came to visit our offbeat client, James Melchior.
"O... Oh good. I wasn't su... sure if you go... got my email," he stuttered as he shuffled into the kitchen. I found his stutter completely endearing. It was something I learned through conversing with him that he struggled with his whole life. I thought it made him unforgettable and was quirky rather than annoying, like some people might think.
"Sure did. All three of them, actually. So here are six bottles of shampoo, six bottles of conditioner, four tubes of toothpaste, eight toothbrushes, and two hairbrushes." I ended on a flourish like Vanna White. As you can see, James prefers things in multiples. And when he tells you what he wants—always via email—he, without fail, explains what he means when he writes a multiplier next to the item, like I have no idea what 'x' followed by a number means. And this right here was his monthly order. I'm not sure how he uses so many of these items in just thirty days, but apparently he does. Consistently. It was just one of those things that I'd never understand.
Not all of our clients were crazy, demanding, bitchy imbeciles. Some were rather lovely, they just had some odd requests. James was one of those.
"Great," he muttered as he began scooping up the bottles of shampoo and shuffling back out of the room, presumably towards the master bathroom. As he went I studied his hunched shoulders, graying hair and slow gait. I often wondered if he was ill with the rate in which he seemed to be aging as of late. I shook my head and grabbed the rest of the items, following after him.
"How is everything, James?"
"Go... good. B... busy. You?" Ironically enough, James was a big time author. I'm sure none of his fans had any idea how much he struggled to communicate verbally when they knew how eloquently he spun the written word. I read all of his twelve mystery novels since taking him on as a client two years ago. They were some of the best books I had ever read.
"Same. Elizabeth has been sick so I've taken on a few more of her clients. Nothing I can't handle though. Any update on the deadline for His Dark Secrets? I'm itching to get my hands on this one. I can't wait to find out what the deal is with Rinaldo. He was such a question mark in the last book," I babbled on as I arranged his purchases just the way he liked them in the bathroom linen closet.
"Not until Ja... January." He shook his head and gave me a shrug, letting me know it was out of his hands.
"Well, can't you give me a little hint? Just a glimpse into the next book? I won't tell anyone."
"You kn... know I ca... can't."
"Come on. I'll guess and you can just tell me if I'm right or wrong. My first guess is that he and Rochelle are top secret spies for the government."
He shook his head. Whether it was in the negative or because he thought I was nuts, I didn't know. I went on guessing regardless.
"He's a murderer?"
Another shake.
"A drug king?"
"No m... more. Pu... please."
I gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "Fine. I'll wait on pins and needles with the rest of the world I suppose. Even though I did think I was special." I winked and shut the closet door. "Okay. I'm going to get going. I have another stop to make before the end of my day. You need anything else?"
"No. Go." He gifted me a smile, and I couldn't help but respond with one of my own. I really did enjoy James. He was a constant reminder that this job was totally worth it.
"Okay. See you soon. And be sure to email me if you need anything," I called out as I headed out of the bathroom.
A stop at the dry cleaners and then I was off to have dinner with Elizabeth and Grant. It was a nice way to end a great day.
* * *
"This lasagna is delicious," Travis said around a mouth full of food. I sipped my wine and wrinkled my nose at how barbaric he could be.
"Yes, Elizabeth. You've truly outdone yourself," Grant chimed in. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and kissed Elizabeth's cheek.
"It was nothing. I had to do something being home all day," she responded to their compliments with a rosy blush covering her cheeks.
"How are you feeling?" I asked before taking another big bite of food. It really was delicious.
"Better."
Grant cleared his throat and shot her a pointed look. When he arched his eyebrow, showing her he meant business, she finally turned to me and said, "About that thing I wanted to talk to you about a few weeks ago."
"Thing?"
"Yeah. Remember on your anniversary when I said there was something I wanted to discuss with you, but then you had to leave?"
"Oh right. Sure what is it?" I took another sip of wine while I waited her for her continue.
"Well, see... I'm pregnant."
I set my drink down slowly and blinked at her. This wasn't something I had expected her to hit with me. I mean, sure I knew they wanted more kids, but all the times I talked about fertility treatments and whatnot, she never said anything.
"That's great, Lizzie." Travis nudged my leg under the table, and I snapped out of it and leapt up, rounding the table to give my best friend a hug.
"I'm so happy for you! Why didn't you tell me? When are you due?" I rattled off as I squeezed her tightly, tears filling my eyes with happiness for both of them.
"Thank you. I'm due in March. I wasn't sure how to tell you. You guys have been trying for so long and I was afraid you'd be upset." Her eyes were downcast when she admitted that, and it made me feel like shit that she thought she needed to hide something so important in order to spare my feelings.
"I could never be upset about this. It's a baby. Your baby. I love her already."
"Her?" Travis asked me with a chuckle.
"Well, I hope it's another girl," I admitted.
"It's a boy," Grant informed me with authority.
"You know that already?" I tilted my head to the side as I waited for him to answer.
"No."
"Then how can you possibly say it's a boy?"
"I just can." He shrugged and turned to his own wine.
"I forgot, what Grant says goes," I joked. "You hear that little one? Your daddy said you better be a boy." I leaned down so my mouth was near Elizabeth's stomach to make sure she heard me.
"Don't say th
ings like that to our child," Grant scolded me. "What if it's a girl? She'll think her daddy doesn't love her."
"Ah hah! So you admit it could be a girl." I was practically jumping up and down knowing I had him.
"I suppose there is a chance."
"A fifty-fifty chance I'd say," Travis chimed in and we all chuckled.
"Travis? Why don't we go out on the balcony and celebrate with a cigar?" Grant suggested, clearly done with the conversation.
"Sounds good." With a quick peck on my lips, Travis followed Grant out of the room.
I settled back into my chair and looked at my friend. She was glowing and I felt tears prick the back of my eyes. They were mostly happy tears for her, but there was still a small part of me that was sad. I am only human after all.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me. And I can't believe you thought I wouldn't be happy for you," I said after the men left the room.
"It wasn't just that. I've been kind of sick with this one. Worse than I was with Vivi and I wanted to make sure it stuck before I told people. Although Grant was ready to take out an ad in the New York Post to let everyone know."
"Sometimes I forget he wasn't around for your last pregnancy."
"I know. He is so enamored by the thought of his child being inside me. It's adorable. So I guess I kind of wanted to enjoy this time with just us too." She gave me a shy smile and pushed her silverware around her plate in a nervous gesture. I couldn't understand why she would be nervous.
"So you're feeling better now? Like really better? Because you were sick almost until the end with Vivi."
"I am doing a little better. My doctor put me on medicine to help with the nausea so I'm optimistic. Grant is being optimistic too. He says he misses my mouth." She let out a little giggle and patted her mostly flat stomach.
I spit out my wine and coughed several times. "Gross. I do not need to be thinking of your mouth and why Grant misses it."
"You used to love to hear the nitty gritty details about my love life," she reminded me.
"Yes, well that was before Grant became like a brother to me. There are only so many details I can take before my ears burn off and I need bleach for my brain."
"Fine. There is actually something I need to run by you still."
"What's that?" I looked at her expectantly.
"We've been talking about moving out of the city, and—"
"You're leaving me?" I cried out incredulously.
"Not leaving you leaving you. Just moving a little further away," she said carefully. "We actually found a really great house in Scarsdale that needs a little bit of updating. Grant put an offer in on it today."
"Oh my God. I can't believe this is happening." I sat back in my chair. My mouth might have been hanging open. It's all rather fuzzy. The only thing going through my brain at that moment was that she was leaving me.
"It's a really great house. There's even extra room for you and Travis to come stay sometimes. You know my kids need their godparents close by. As long as traffic isn't ridiculous it only takes thirty minutes to get there. And I'm told it only takes forty minutes by train." She tried to make me feel better, but I was still in a stupor.
"I also want to turn the business over to you."
"What?" I shot out of my chair, knocking Travis' empty glass over.
"I want you to take over Your Personal Concierge. Grant is already working on the papers to turn it over to you. With this baby coming, I want to stay home and raise the kids."
"What about Jennie?" Jennie was their nanny. She had been with them since shortly after Vivi was born.
"She's great and we're still going to keep her on, but I want to do most of the work. Grant grew up being taken care of mostly by nannies and I had my parents. I think our kids need a balance. She'll just be there to make it a little easier on me and to give us some alone time when we need it."
"Does she know?"
"Yes. She is moving with us. There are staff quarters and a guest house."
"Am I the last to know?" I was slightly offended this had all been set up without me even being aware she was pregnant. For so many years it was Elizabeth and me taking on the world. We helped each other through so many big decisions. Now I felt a little like an outsider. Hypocritical considering I hid my relationship with Travis from her and she still didn't know my biggest secret? Definitely, but again I'm only human.
"No. We haven't told a lot of people. My mother and Jennie are the only ones that know. Unless, of course, Grant ran his mouth at work like I forbid him to do."
I laughed at that. There was no forbidding Grant from doing anything. The man was a force in and of itself. There was no stopping him once he set his mind to something.
"Okay. So let's discuss me taking over the business. How much money are we talking?" I still couldn't believe she was offering me her business. This was just too much to wrap my head around in one night.
"Nothing."
"Nothing? Are you crazy?" I semi-shouted.
"No, I'm not crazy. It's a gift. You deserve it."
"I've heard of pregnancy brain, but this takes the cake. You can't just give someone a business. You give socks, spa gift certificates, or a nice necklace if you're being giving. A business is an outrageous gift."
"Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth, Maya. You're being awful bitchy!" Elizabeth had an offended look on her face and some of the wind left my shell-shocked sails.
"Well, excuse me. It isn't every day someone tries to give me a business."
"Look. My clients need someone. I can refer them off to someone who can't get always the job done. Someone without our reputation. Or I can give them to you. I know you'll do great, sweetie. I've been slowly shifting my work to you for the last three months and you haven't even blinked an eye. Plus, I've been turning down the more high maintenance clients that can shit in a hat for all I care. So what do you say? Will you keep my dream alive?"
I thought about it for several minutes, while she patiently waited. I didn't need to work. Travis had made that clear. Being home with nothing to do day in and day out didn't intrigue me in the slightest. If I didn't do this though, what would I do? Being an actress wasn't an option. And I wasn't really trained for anything else, unless you counted my short stint waiting tables in college.
Then of course there was E's speech about keeping her dream alive. How the hell could I turn that down? It would crush her, and I did have the means to keep the business going. I enjoyed what I did most days. It was often more fun than it was a job.
"Well?" She asked after returning from bringing Grant and Travis a round of scotch. I hadn't even realized she left the table I had been so lost in my thoughts.
"I'm interested, but I wouldn't feel right accepting until I talked to Travis. And I want his lawyer to look everything over before we sign. It isn't that I don't trust you or Grant, but if I'm going to be responsible for your dream, I want to do it right."
She squealed and gave me a tight hug. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," she chanted over and over again.
"Don't thank me yet."
* * *
"What do you think?" I had just finished filling Travis in on everything that had happened during my conversation with E. We were lying in bed after making love, our limbs tangled both together and in the sheets, and my head rested on his chest.
"I think you should do whatever is going to make you happiest. If that's continuing on as a concierge, then do it. If it's selling Mary Kay, then do it. If it's sitting around the house eating bonbons and planning charity events, then do it." He ended his pronouncement on a shrug.
"Bonbons? Do you want my ass to spread?"
He grabbed my ass and squeezed, making me yelp. "Okay maybe that isn't an option. I do like your ass just the way it is."
"That's what I thought."
"Have you considered going back to acting and just avoiding working with Ashton?"
"Not. Going. To. Happen." I punctuated each word a little sharper th
an was necessary.
"Enough said. You could do something though. Maybe teach acting classes or something along those lines. You were phenomenal on that stage. You blew me away. You have a lot to share with others."
"You really think so?" I cursed myself for feeling so needy of his praise in that moment. Leaving acting was a hard decision to make. I felt like a failure a lot of the time because of it. Hearing he thought I was amazing and could do great things helped me not feel so horrible about it.
"I know so."
"Maybe," I hedged.
"I think Elizabeth would understand if you wanted to explore other options. Or if you asked her for some more time to think it over." His fingers ran through my hair, caressing my scalp and soothing me.
"I know. I just feel bad making her wait. And I feel like I owe her for taking me in and helping me out after everything went down with Ashton. She was my saving grace. Even if she doesn't know it." I felt my chin quiver with impending tears.
"You have to do what's right for you. I'll stand by you no matter what that is. You are one of the smartest, most talented, and most inspiring people I've ever known. You'll make the right choice."
I had no idea how I deserved a man who thought so highly of me. I was sure I didn't, but I wasn't about to give him back now.
"You'll really love me no matter what?" I asked teasingly, grateful that the tears were starting to subside.
"Absolutely."
"Even if I grew a mustache?"
"Would you at least bleach it?"
"I guess."
"Then yes."
"Even if I gained weight and it hurt to have me sit on your lap?"
"Even then." He chuckled.
"Even if I decide to stop waxing my vagina in a stance towards women's lib?" I propped my chin on the hand that rested on his chest and looked up into his face to get his reaction.
His eyebrows shot up and he asked, "Are we talking a completely wild bush or a trim and tidy bush?"
"Somewhere in between."
"I guess I'd learn to pick pubes from my teeth then." He kept his face completely straight when he said that. The only thing that showed he was joking was the twinkle in his eyes.
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