by Amelia LeFay
“You know you’re a bit weird,” I said to her, snapping the clip in place.
“Direct. Not weird,” she corrected. “Now that your boobs are covered, or rather Max’s boobs, since he marked them up—”
“Irene.”
“Jane.”
Sighing, I grabbed my skirt from beside her and she took it back.
“Irene.”
She got up and poked her head outside the curtain. “The pink one, yep, and the…yes…she’s also going to need jewelry so have William bring everything.”
Spinning back around to me, she held a romantic soft pink lace cocktail dress with sleeves in one hand and in the other, a pair of beige heels.
“This is what you’re wearing.”
“Wearing to where?”
“To meet Max’s parents.”
“What?” It was a little soon to be meeting parents, especially after the first time I’d met Max’s mother.
“She called me five minutes ago, and the one thing you’ll learn quickly is to never say no to Elspeth Yates.”
“Watch me.” Reaching into my bag, I grabbed my phone.
“Jane, don’t. Max needs to focus on his story. You need to prove to him and everyone else that you can’t be messed with. The only way you can do that is to step up to Elspeth.” She stretched out her hands again. “The only way you have a chance of standing toe to toe with Elspeth is if you are dressed perfectly. She can pick at your personality, but she can’t speak ill of Vera Wang.”
“What’s wrong with my personality?”
“Jane, I’m trying to build you up right now. Come on, get dressed,” she said. I couldn’t believe her. She really did not give a fuck.
Taking the dress from her, I slid it on, but it wouldn’t zip up.
“Do Vera Wang’s models have boobs?”
“It’s not Vera’s fault, your body is disproportional.”
“I have boobs. I like carbs. Sue me! And can we stop talking about Vera Wang as if we know her?”
“I do know her,” Irene shot back before sticking her head out of the curtains again. Ignoring her as she commanded her troops, I turned back to the mirror.
C cups were good cups! I knew a dozen strippers that had to pay for what God had given me naturally. All these designers cut their dresses as if the women who would where them were prepubescent. At that rate, I was going to have to buy a size up and take in everything at the waist.
“Frowning gives you lines.”
“So does living,” I shot back, and she giggled.
“True. But really, stop frowning. You’re going to be fine. You’re strong and confident. Most women would have flipped out on me by now.”
“I’ve been doing that for the last five minutes. You just don’t seem to notice,” I replied, and for some reason, I couldn’t help but smile. I liked Irene. She did not believe in personal space and had no filter, but it just added to her charm.
“Ma’am,” someone said behind the curtain. Irene reached back to bring out a black and gold detailed jacquard dress with cap sleeves. Without arguing, I slipped the dress on. It fit like a glove, hugging every curve of my body, and stopped right above the knees. It was stunning.
“As always, Alexander McQueen to the rescue! God bless his soul.” She closed her eyes as if she were actually praying for the man. “Now shoes. Please tell me you can walk in heels.”
“I can walk in heels.”
She put a pair of stunning shoes in front me, and when I stepped into them, I really felt like someone important. Reaching up, I tied up my hair into a quick but messy bun.
“Brilliant. You have a knack for this.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Now, makeup.”
Oh, my god! It was never ending!
Eight bags of clothes.
Six bags of shoes.
Three bags of handbags.
All this and a credit card in Maxwell’s name damaged beyond repair, and we were done. Poor Roberts, the driver Max had with me all day, couldn’t even fit it all in the trunk. He had to call another car. What was worse was the fact that we hadn’t even gotten everything Irene said I quote ‘just needed’, so we had ordered the items to be brought to the penthouse.
“Maxwell is going to lose his mind when he sees the bill,” I muttered more to myself.
“We actually spent less than he thought we would.” She lifted up her phone and sure enough, Max had texted her.
‘The bank called me because of the spending you two have been doing. I’m glad. Make sure to order at least two of everything she likes in another color. Don’t show her the price.’
“He’s bossy even in text messages.” She sighed, throwing her phone back into her purse.
“What else do I need to know about your family?”
“You mean to impress them?”
“Yeah, that would be great.”
“I have no idea. I’ve been working on that since I was born.” She meant it as a joke, but I could tell she was really bothered by it.
Saying nothing else, I pulled out my own phone just as I got a text from Wesley.
‘Are you okay? Max told me he let Irene kidnap you.’
‘Save me. She’s relentless. :(’
‘If you’re really not having fun, I’ll come now.’
I smiled at that.
‘Thanks. But she’s taking me to meet Max’s parents.’
‘Oh…Max didn’t tell me about that.’
‘Yeah, his mother just summoned us. I’m sure she’s heard about the engagement.’
‘R.I.P.’
‘Not funny!’ I typed, even though I did laugh. ‘I just want to be back in our safe haven.’
‘Safe haven?’
‘The penthouse where we don’t have to pretend to anyone or lie or anything. When it’s just…simply us’
‘Me too.’
‘Before I forget, how was the interview? Is Chef Névenoé in awe of your greatness?’
‘Damn straight!’
‘How will we live with your ego now?’
‘Ha. We’ll find a way. But no, really, Chef Névenoé was great. He’s a great person to seek advice from. He’s made me think a lot.’
‘About what?’
“Jane.”
“Huh?” I glanced up at her.
“We’re here.”
“Shit, okay.”
I texted back quickly, and saw the three dots that meant he was typing. ‘Wesley let’s talk more when I get back home? Okay. Sorry. Gotta run, bye love you.’
“Oh my god!” I screamed, staring at the text I sent.
“Jane, what is it?”
“Tell me there is a way to take a text back!” I screamed at her, seeing that he still hadn’t read it…then he read it. “Kill me. Please kill me.”
“Jane, what is it?”
She reached for the phone, but I hugged it to my chest like it was bread at the last supper at fat camp.
“Jane, you’re being weird…weirder than normal.”
I looked back at my phone and he hadn’t replied. I couldn’t bring myself to explain the colossal fuck up I had just done. Love you? Not even ‘Luv’ but, actual love? Fuck me man! Ahh.
“Ma’am, would you like me to keep driving?” Roberts asked, and I thought he was talking to Irene, but he was talking to me. I was a ma’am now.
“Jane.” Irene put her hands on my shoulders. “Whatever emotional crisis you are going through at this moment is going to have to wait. Do you understand me? You are now going to go head to head with some of the most powerful women in this city, so you need to slay them down, like Khaleesi at Astapor.”
“I’ve only watched the first season of Game of Thrones, so I have no idea what that means,” I replied, and she looked insulted.
“How can you only be in the first season?”
“I work a lot.” Or at least, I did. Lately sex had been taking up a bigger part of my life.
“You and I are watching the rest later. Now c
ome on.” She took my hand and I let her as I tried to forget about my horribly embarrassing text.
Roberts held the door open for us, and I noticed we were at the Museum of Fine Arts.
“I’ll be here until you’re ready to leave, ma’am,” Roberts said to me.
“Thank you.” I nodded to him as I followed Irene up the stairs and into the building. It was past closing time, but there were dozens of beautiful people all dressed up, wine in their hands, laughing among themselves. Just like at the first party I had attended with Irene, a few of them gave her the evil eye while others ignored her altogether; however, this time she kept her head up.
“Ma’am, can I have your coat?” a server asked. I handed it to him as Irene did, but I was growing annoyed with this ‘ma’am’ shit.
“If it isn’t just Jane,” announced Archibald Saint James as he came up to me with his blond hair slicked back and a white scarf over his black suit jacket. Knowing what I knew about him from Max, I didn’t want to spend any time near him.
“Not for long.” I lifted the ring on my finger for him to see.
“Maxwell Emerson asked you to marry him?” he said in shock, and louder than I wished. It drew more than a few people’s attention.
“More like he wore me down. I’m searching for Elspeth, if you’ll excuse us.” I linked arms with Irene, who he didn’t even bother saying hello to.
“Wow them,” she whispered. I smiled as we walked alongside some paintings. When we reached the end of the portraits, we spotted Elspeth surrounded by a group of women. Her hair was pin curled and brought over to side, and the off-the-shoulder dark navy gown she wore was stunning. When her blue eyes met mine, she immediately came over to me.
“Jane, dear.” She kissed the sides of my cheeks. “I wasn’t aware you were coming.”
“When she heard about your event here, she was just dying to come.” Irene had lied! She had fucking tricked me again!
Eyes wide, I glared at Irene, who just winked and unlinked her arms from mine. EVIL, I mouthed to her.
“Elspeth, who is this beautiful young woman?” an older, slender woman with pulled pack gray hair asked.
“Ladies, please let me introduce you to my daughter-in-law to be…Jane Chapman.” She held me close to her, and I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling I was now in the twilight zone.
Daughter-in-law? The older woman gasped. “Young lady, how did you capture the elusive Maxwell Emerson?”
“We’re both passionate about the same things.” That being Wesley. “That’s all I can say. He really hates talking about his personal life.”
“He’s not the only one,” Elspeth added. “Ladies, give us a moment.”
“Of course.”
No, don’t leave me! They strolled farther down the exhibit, leaving me with her. She didn’t say a word but just kept heading out of the room. We walked and walked until we got to an empty wing of the museum. On the wall was an American colonial painting: a seventeen by fifteen foot canvas depicting George Washington, by Thomas Sully. In front of it were two black couches. She sat in one and I moved to sit in the other one opposite her.
“You must be a little confused,” she finally said to me, crossing her legs.
“What do you mean?”
“You came here expecting the evil mother who would disapprove of a nobody maid who was once a bartender at a strip club dating—no—being engaged to my son.”
Crossing my legs as well, I nodded, noting she had done a background check on me. “Are you saying I was wrong?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “Marry my son. I don’t care if you’re a gold digger or a just an innocent girl trying to get by. Either way, you help him and helping him is all I want.”
Twilight zone! The words flashed in my mind over and over again.
“So if I planned to marry your son and take him for half of all he’s worth, you wouldn’t care?”
“I’d say to wait at least a few years, maybe have a child before you do so. I’d love a granddaughter.”
This is a trap. Something felt wrong.
“Why?”
The smile on her face dropped. “If he’s with you, then that man will eventually leave.”
“What?” My heart started to race.
“Wesley. Right now he might be all right, but I’m going to make a big deal out of your wedding. I’m going to welcome you into the family with open arms. We’ll have family dinners and vacations, and each time Max will have to leave him behind. There is only so much of that any human can take. It will get worse, too, when you have a child. He’ll watch as a whole family gets built around him, and he’ll be stuck in that damn penthouse hiding away. Max is loyal. He’ll stay by you until the day he dies and then we’ll be done with this nonsense.”
I thought about it…no, I didn’t just think about it, I saw it: Wesley being was pushed to the side. Max was staying with me because he felt like he dragged me into this. The resentment, the pain—everything flashed through my eyes and my chest burned.
“Why would you do that? Why would you hurt him like this? He loves—”
“Stop.” She held up her hand. “Max has always been confused. He’s always sought out the attention of father figures to make up for the sorry excuse of a father he has.”
“That’s not what—”
“That is exactly what this is. We didn’t show him the right way. Alistair and his constant infidelities and lack of regard affected him. My ambition did not help. We overlooked Maxwell and he became twisted.”
“Do you hear yourself right now? Loving people is not twisted.”
“It is, Jane.” She nodded to me while getting up. “He should be happy that he’s found someone as understanding as you. I’m sure you can turn a blind eye to any slip-ups he might have. However, Wesley is a four-year problem I’ve been trying to fix. So, Jane, get married and save me the headache.”
She walked past me and I was stuck and unable to move.
“Oh,” she added. “I apologize in advance that Alistair is currently fucking some whore and won’t be making it tonight. We’ll be having dinner this weekend, so please come down to Washington. I’ll send the jet.”
With that, she left, and if Irene had been sitting there, she’d have said the only slaying that had happened was of me and everything I thought I was doing.
I sat there quietly until I got a text. I thought it was Wes, but someone else was dealing out punishment on me today.
‘Break it off with Maxwell…before I show him what you really are. –Scarlet’
Attached was a picture of Wesley and me at the playground kissing.
How? was my first thought.
Fuck them all was my second.
The door opened and she rushed in.
“Jane?” I watched as she didn’t look at me but instead headed to the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors and go for her neck. “Jane! What bloody hell are you doing?”
“Get it off!” she screamed at me while trying to cut the material.
“Jane, calm down—”
“Off! Get it off me! Get me out of this thing! I want it off!” she kept screaming and I moved to the zipper, which was stuck.
“Wes,” she sobbed.
Taking the scissors from her, I cut up the back and the sides. I tore and tore until she was free. She gasped for air before hunching over the table to cry.
“Jane.”
Wiping her face, she moved to the wine cooler. She didn’t care what bottle it was, she just pulled it out and stabbed the cork with the opener. When she got the cork out, she drank straight from the bottle.
She drank and drank and drank to the point that I was amazed she didn’t need air.
“Ahh,” she gasped out, hitting her chest.
“Jane, use words.”
“I’m no Khaleesi,” she said, drinking again.
“Okay. Let’s try using words that make sense.”
She glared at me with puffy red eyes. “I’m making sense! I’m no K
haleesi! I thought I was. I thought I could be this huffy, puffy, rich bitch and stand beside Max. But I can’t. They’re all cruel and I hate them!”
“Jane.” I walked over to her, putting my hands on the sides of her face. “My beautiful butterfly.”
“Don’t try and make me feel better,” she grumbled, putting her head on my chest. “They all want to hurt us. We didn’t do anything to them. We just want to live our lives the way we want to, and they try and hurt us. Why?”
It was times like this where I really saw the innocence in her. Hugging my arm around her, I kissed her forehead.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t let them push you away,” she muttered against my chest. “You and Max have something real…something special and beautiful. Don’t let them hurt you.”
“Why are you crying for us? We’re still here,” I replied, feeling her warm tears on my chest.
“Because…”
“Because?”
“Because I’m just a good person!”
I smiled at that. “So it’s not because you love me.”
When I said that, she jumped out of my arms like a scared cat and the bottle of wine slipped from her hand. I caught it before it hit the ground.
“That was a mistake!” she said quickly, holding her arms out. “I was typing really fast and I was just not thinking. The only people I’ve ever texted were Mary and Allen, and they’re like family, so I guess I was on autopilot. I’m not one of those crazy girls who sleep with guys and thinks we’re going to be together always or get married or something. Well, I am engaged to Max, but that’s different, and I might not go through with it. His mother is evil. Not in your face evil, but the type that creeps up on you and gives you nightmares—”
“Jane, please breathe before you lose consciousness.” Watching her ramble was hilarious, but she looked like she was verging on hysterical tears. “I understand. Don’t worry, okay. Just tell me what happened tonight. What did Elspeth do?”
“She hugged me,” she whispered.
“Hugs are good—”
“She hugged me because she wants to use me as a wedge between you and Max. She knows about you, too. She’s known for a while and she wants me to have a big wedding and a big family. She wants me to make a life for Max and shut you out. So I’m not doing it.” She reached up to pull the ring from her finger, but it was stuck. “The moment I get this ring off, I’m going to throw it at her.”