The Pleasure Set

by Lisa Girolami

  Laney had deliberately stopped drinking an hour earlier so she could fall right into bed and get a good night’s sleep.

  Morgan Donnelly and Candace Dooring plopped down on the sofa.

  “Laney, how are you?” Candace asked.

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  Candace bumped her knee into Laney’s. “Are you married?”

  “No. I just broke up with my girlfriend.”

  “Oh. I hate breakups. I had enough of them before I married my husband. It’s so much easier now. I mean, we have a nice life together and we do what we want. There’s no drama as long as he gets to have the fun he wants and I get to do the same.”

  Theresa had been talking with some other people but returned to sit on the sofa arm next to Laney. “Morgan owns an art gallery on Melrose. We rolled some of our investments toward the start-up money for it, and now she’s doing incredibly well.”

  “That’s fantastic,” Laney said.

  “It keeps me off the street.” Morgan smiled. “Well, sometimes.”

  “I really should get going,” Laney began, but stopped when Theresa bent down and whispered, close to her ear, “I have some questions about valuation discounted cash flows, and you’re the perfect person to answer them. Stay just a little longer.”

  Laney felt a light kiss on her ear, then a warm breath caress the side of her neck. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. This was certainly an interesting group and by far the most thrilling experience she had been part of in a long time. These confident, beautiful women had taken her into one of the most exclusive private groups in Hollywood. They were powerful and assertive. The mix intoxicated her.

  Leaving now was like turning down dinner with Angelina Jolie. She didn’t want to send the message that she wasn’t interested in this opportunity. Another hour wouldn’t hurt.

  *

  When Laney got home Judith was waiting on the front steps.

  Laney bristled at the surprise visit. “It’s a little late, isn’t it?”

  “I came to pick up the last of my clothes.”

  Laney stood there, contemplating what to do, then waved her head toward the inside of the house.

  Judith walked in and headed for the bedroom.

  “They’re not in the bedroom, Judith.”

  She turned, looking pained and hurt.

  “Dining room.”

  She disappeared into the dining room and reappeared with two black garbage bags of clothes. She walked toward Laney, who still stood at the door, hand on the doorknob. When she got a foot or two from Laney, she stopped. They stood there in silence for a moment.

  Judith sighed heavily. “I screwed up, Laney.”

  Laney didn’t respond.

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I mean, four years together. It’s been a great relationship. I made a huge mistake. And I went to get counseling. I’m seeing a therapist twice a week. I wanted to tell you that I’m taking full responsibility for what I did. I won’t say that I was bored or that you changed and that’s why it happened. It was me. I screwed up.”

  Judith’s face shifted to something that looked like sincerity, and Laney began to falter inside. She bit her lip to keep from saying anything that might show that she wished things hadn’t gone so badly. Laney knew Judith wanted some feedback, but she remained wary of what she might say and held out until Judith continued.

  “I had broken it off with her long before you saw those e-mails. I mean, you saw for yourself that the e-mails stopped weeks before. And when you and I split, I fell into a depression. Then…then I kicked myself in the ass and realized that you and I were meant to be together. I’ve recently been spending my nights either working or going to therapy or just journaling about my feelings for you. About us.”

  The more Laney heard, the more a rumbling pain welled up inside. She had been so dedicated to Judith, even when Judith started to pull away emotionally. And then she was not only gone, but in the arms of another woman. And now this regret from her? What else would Judith say?

  “Don’t get mad, but I called Hillary. She gave me hell, I’ll tell you! Ripped me a new one. I told her that I still love you and that I’m working my ass off in therapy. I’m so sorry to have put you through this. Can we please start over?”

  Laney processed all this surprising information. She had been cast aside, forced to send Judith packing while never really wanting to. But Judith had made her decisions and had flouted their agreement to be monogamous.

  “Laney, say something. Can we give it another try?”

  The anger that burned in the bottom of Laney’s stomach replaced her uncertainty. “She said you’d do this.”

  “Do what? Who?”

  “Come back with this bullshit.”

  “Bullshit? I love you!”

  “She said you’d say that, too.”

  “Who the hell are you talking about? Was it the woman who dropped you off?”

  “A friend, that’s all. A friend who’s been there.”

  “Who? Some friend you’re sleeping with?”

  Laney’s fury swelled, spreading up her body. Now was the time to break free from the unhealthy patterns of her past. Her ears grew hot and she took a deep breath. “I am done being a victim, Judith. I was crushed when your affair broke us up, but I’ve moved on.”

  Judith lowered her head and shook it. “I’m sorry, Laney. I screwed up. I want to make this work.” She looked up. “Please, can we get back to the relationship we had before? I know I shut you down emotionally. But I know how to fix that now.”

  How Laney had wanted to hear those words many months ago. Before the Internet called Judith away. So many nights she would have taken Judith’s offer. That’s all she had ever wanted.

  Obviously it had taken the shock of losing her to make Judith shape up. Laney knew she’d never let Judith dupe her again, but was that enough?

  “No, Judith.” Laney was on overload. She had too much to think about. “This is too difficult.”

  “Please just consider it. I want to have dinner with you tomorrow or the next day and explain some things. Just give me that, for now.”

  Chapter Four

  Laney knew it was late and probably impolite, but she had to talk to someone. She hated to call Hillary because, with the baby, they were most certainly already asleep. When Theresa answered on the second ring, Laney felt suddenly calmer.

  Theresa was right, Laney’s head kept repeating, she knew this would happen. “Theresa?”

  “Laney? What’s the matter?”

  Hearing Theresa’s poised voice made her feel remarkably watched over. “It’s Judith, my ex.”

  “What happened?”

  “We had a fight.”

  “Don’t move. I’m coming over.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  “I’m in West Hollywood, give me twenty minutes.”

  When Theresa walked into Laney’s house she took her confidently by the hand and led her to the couch. “Okay. Spill.”

  Laney recounted the conversation and added that she had acquiesced to Judith’s appeal for dinner.

  “I mostly just wanted the conversation to end. To get her out of the house. I don’t know what else I need to hear from her.”

  “Probably nothing, Laney. What does your gut say?”

  “I don’t know. I’m pretty confused. Mostly I’m mad at myself for allowing her to take advantage of me for so long and then betray me like that.”

  “Picture her back in your house. Living with you. Tell me now what your gut says.”

  “She’d be in the guest bedroom, that’s for sure. And she’d be skulking around trying to get out of the trouble she caused.” Laney shook her head. “That would make me pissed off and miserable. I wouldn’t like feeling that way at all.”

  “Then go have dinner with her and keep that in mind.”

  “Shouldn’t I cancel dinner?”

  “It’s up to you, darling. But remember, it’s not a one-way talk. It would
also be your chance to tell her the things you didn’t say tonight. And I’m sure, as you work this over in your head between now and when you see her next, you’ll come up with a lot of things. Use dinner to get them off your chest.” Theresa smiled and opened her arms. “Come here.”

  Laney fell against her.

  “I know she hurt you terribly, Laney. And I know how that feels. She started this, but you can end it by telling her it’s truly over. You’ll find the strength. Don’t worry.”

  As Laney lay in Theresa’s arms, the smell of spicy perfume enlivened her. Judith always wore flowery fragrances, but the days of those sickly sweet smells lingering in her bathroom were over.

  *

  Sunday crawled by and Laney hadn’t done a damn thing that was remotely productive. She had gone out to the Tire Store again the night before and gotten quite drunk. Theresa wasn’t there, which disappointed her, but she spent the evening with Kay, Morgan, Candace, and six other women. She remembered dancing passionately and laughing wildly and finally crawling into bed at six a.m. The whole day passed with a loathsome groggy sensation she hadn’t subjected herself to in a long time. She gave in to a long nap on the couch, and while she felt a little guilty about the unattended laundry and dangerously empty refrigerator, it had felt luxurious. All day long, however, Laney wavered between wanting to go to dinner with Judith and wanting to call off the whole thing. But if she canceled dinner, Judith would find another way to approach her.

  And Theresa had told Laney that going would give her the opportunity to get all the hurt and anger off her chest, which she really needed to do. Then she could truly end it.

  *

  Laney and Judith were an hour into their dinner, their meals having just been cleared off the table, and so far Judith hadn’t said anything different than she had the night she’d come over.

  Laney had listened to various versions of “I’m sorry” and “I screwed up” and “Please take me back” but nothing that explained why Judith had been so closed off most of the relationship or why she had been unfaithful.

  The more Laney heard, the angrier she became. It was too little, way too late. Finally, she took her turn. She’d never liked confrontations but had a lot to say about four years of being in an unsatisfying union that ended with an insensitive betrayal. And as she formed her words, she imagined how the self-assured Theresa would respond and knew what she needed to say.

  “Judith, I don’t care anymore about how crappy you feel. And I don’t care anymore about what you want.” And I’m sick of feeling vulnerable.

  Judith’s eyes opened wide. Rarely was Judith at a loss for words, but Laney’s newfound strength had stopped her dead. Emboldened by this reaction, Laney continued. “You treated me badly, then fucked me over. It’s done. It’s over. I’m not interested in taking you back. You blew my trust in you and that’s that.”

  “Well, this is nice, isn’t it?” Judith seemed to recoup quickly from her shock. “Courteous, quiet little Laney is now shoving it up my ass. I came here to tell you that we all make mistakes. I made a big one but I want to try to work this out.”

  Laney knew she had unleashed a firestorm even bigger than the harsh encounters she and Judith had in the painful days before they broke up. But she was pissed. It was time to conquer her old wait-because-it-will-get-better idiocy and face reality. She would never be the Laney she had been in that relationship. And it became amusingly apparent that someone else had also just changed. The nice version of Judith had disappeared.

  “And now you’re acting so high and mighty,” Judith said, “that you can’t see you’re throwing away four years together.”

  “Correction.” Laney could have been channeling Theresa. “You threw the relationship away. You walked all over me before that, shutting me out, getting angry and nasty when I tried to talk to you, then finally fucking around. I’m glad you had this nice dinner, Judith, but here’s something else to swallow. You’re out of my life.” And I refuse to let anything like that ever happen to me again.

  “Wow.” Judith suddenly appeared eerily calm. “I see your new friends have helped you with this little script, huh?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Theresa, the lawyer, and all her Hollywood celeb buddies.”

  “How do you know about her?”

  “It’s not hard to know about her. I recognized her face when she dropped you off that night and finally placed it. Everyone knows that she’s a royal bitch. So now you’re in the Pleasure Set with her. And them.”

  “The Pleasure Set?” Laney hadn’t been aware that the group actually had a name. “They don’t call themselves that.”

  “No, you’re right. That’s what everyone else in Hollywood calls them.”

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. Could you spit out your words just a little nastier, please?”

  “They’re a bunch of prima donnas who hang out in a secret club and act so exclusive that they have to raise the doorways so they can get their upturned noses in. They’re all about drinking expensive champagne, throwing money around to buy this and that, and not caring in the slightest what anyone else wants or needs. They’re just an elite bunch of rich women who feel exceedingly entitled and cherish getting their pictures in magazines. Great goal you achieved there, Laney.”

  “Why should I care what you think?”

  “Sure, why should you care? Because you’ve turned into a fucking bitch, too, that’s why. And it’s obvious all you care about is yourself. Jesus, Laney! You missed your godchild’s birthday party.”

  Oh, shit. Laney had forgotten about the party earlier that day. She had wasted the entire day recovering from her all-nighter. Hillary would be so disappointed. And rightly so. Laney felt awful.

  “You’ve got your head up your ass, Laney. What’s gotten into you?”

  “Judith, I really don’t need to sit here and have you berate me. What I do with my life now is none of your business.”

  “What happened to the nice Laney I knew?”

  “You mean what happened to the nice Laney who just shut up all the time and went along with whatever you wanted? She got cured, thanks to you.” The words came out sharply but she felt surprisingly good.

  Judith bristled and clenched her napkin. “I’m glad I found out about this side of you. Christ, I can’t stand to look at you anymore.”

  Most of Judith’s reaction obviously came from Laney’s abrupt shutdown, something she had never done. And the venom Judith spat out just then was truly uncalled for. What she did now was definitely none of Judith’s business.

  Laney stood up to leave. “Go fuck yourself.”

  Chapter Five

  Laney pulled herself into work quite late Monday morning. She was extremely tired from the weekend, and the bitter taste from her dinner with Judith still sat stale in her mouth. She’d called Hillary to apologize for missing Isabelle’s birthday, which had been so abnormal. But lately things hadn’t been normal. Hillary was, without a doubt, disappointed. Laney told her she’d make it up to Isabelle by taking her out for ice cream soon.

  Kelly called her on the intercom. “Laney, Detective Sandrine Girard is here to see you.”

  For the last few years, Detective Girard had handled all criminal issues related to Laney’s bank. Their paths crossed when there was evidence of stolen checks, fraud, credit card scams, or any of the other creative ways that people tried to make someone else’s money their own. Laney always called her when she noticed any of her bank customers behaving suspiciously, but she hadn’t seen the detective in four or five months.

  “Good morning, Detective.” Laney invited her to sit down and realized that she was even happier than usual to see her.

  “Good morning. And when do you plan to call me Sandrine?”

  “I suppose it’s about time.” Detective Sandrine was always very nice and extremely professional. And unlike Judith, Sandrine looked Laney directly in the eyes when she talked to her and paused to co
ntemplate what she had just said before responding. Of course, Sandrine was there on business, and her job required that she listen intently, but Laney was rather sure Sandrine also conducted herself like this even outside of work. It was a very attractive trait.

  “How are things in your life?”

  They had had enough casual conversations to discover that they were both gay. “Going fairly well.”

  Sandrine tilted her head slightly. “The picture of your partner is gone.”

  “We broke up.”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “Well, at first, I was, too. But it’s definitely for the better.”

  “Then I’m glad to hear that.”

  Laney smiled. She’d always had a good rapport with Sandrine. The tall, attractive woman had short, thick black hair and glowing green eyes. Her French accent had seemed to mellow in the years she’d spent on the Beverly Hills police force.

  “Thank you for coming by so quickly.”

  “Would it be unprofessional of me to say that I always put your messages at the top of my list?”

  “Not in the least.” Was Sandrine being friendlier than normal? Maybe it was because Laney was now no longer coupled and unavailable. Or maybe Sandrine was always this forthcoming but Laney hadn’t allowed herself to notice before. “I also have to admit that I’ve made my customers wait sometimes when I knew you were on your way over.”

  “Well, crime has to be dealt with promptly.” Sandrine grinned. “If that’s what you meant.”

  “Not really.”

  “In that case, you made my day.”

  Laney handed her some paperwork. “This is the information we gathered about the check kiting we uncovered. They deposited a bum check into the first account number that I’ve written down there.”

  Laney had seen check kiting in her bank before. Usually it was easy to detect. But because it typically involved depositing and drawing checks at two or more banks while taking advantage of the time it took for the second bank to collect funds from the first bank, the funds and the criminals were usually difficult to catch.