“Where is that coming from, Kelli?” I asked out of curiosity.
“I’m over here so much it just makes sense.”
“To who? It would make sense if I’d extended that offer – and I haven’t,” I said sternly.
When Kelli burst into a fit of laughter, complete with clutching her stomach and all, I didn’t see the humor.
My emotions were bouncing back and forth between, what the hell is wrong with her? and how a blossoming friendship was about to be stopped mid-traffic, when it didn’t have to be.
“What the hell is so funny?”
“You’re funny, Gabriella!”
“Am I?”
“Yep, you are!”
An attitude had crept in, and I was growing angrier by the minute.
“Okay…whatever,” I snapped at her as I walked into the kitchen to make a sandwich, and hoping she’d be showing herself out soon.
“Gabriella!” she yelled after me, “I’m kidding with you, girl! Relax!”
I turned around and shot her a don’t fuck with me look, and the smile she’d been harboring across her face, disappeared.
“Dang! Why’d you take that so seriously? You know that I know better than anybody how much you crave your space. I’m not trying to move in on your territory. I just saw how you made a mad dash to the hottest topic each time it was brought up and thought I’d mess with you.”
I finally allowed my frown to turn upward.
“You are not funny, Kelli…at all.”
“We good?” she asked extending her hand for a truce.
I smacked her hand from in front of me.
“Now we’re good, you asshole!”
We got a good laugh out of it.
~*~*~
One day headed to our regular lunch spot for crepes, Kelli invited me to attend a party at her mother’s house. She’d invited me before, but always during a time where I had to get a paper written or some other deadline met.
From what Kelli told me, her mother was always throwing parties.
What consistently crossed my mind the times she asked, was who had parties during the week? They always seemed to fall on any other day, except an end of the week day.
I accepted the offer to attend because, for once, it was doable. I was excited to see what all the hype was about.
I figured it would be a great release for a brain on data overload, and as much time as Kelli and I spent together, neither of us had met the other’s parents yet.
CHAPTER 14
~*~*~
Usually when an event was impending, and excitement was brewing, the time seemed to drag, but I was happy that Friday evening came around fairly quickly.
Per Kelli’s instructions to not overdress for the occasion, I wore jeans, a cute fitted top, and a low-heeled pump. I made a bandana head band to keep my curls back off my face.
I picked Kelli up outside student housing at 6:45, and half an hour later, we pulled up outside her mother’s house in the gated community of Blackhawk.
I hadn’t been to Blackhawk before, but my parents were always there for dinner parties with friends. The place was amazing, and home to many of the Bay Area’s elite.
How ironic it would be if Kelli’s mom turned out to be one of my parent’s friends, I thought to myself.
I had no idea that she was living so large! Shit, I mean my parents lived nice, but that was two of them bringing in the big bucks. Kelli’s mom was on a solo mission and making it!
I wanted to be a single parent too! With no man of the house…and throwing fabulous parties!
You go, Lady!
When Kelli instructed me to park in the driveway, she never looked my way. I’m sure she knew that I was in utter shock.
The home was on a perfectly paved street and was so big, it looked to take up the space of two residences.
In a word, massive.
“Kelli…for real, this is how y’all are livin’? You never told me you lived in a damn mini castle! What the hell gives?”
She snickered, and said, “Uhhh, what was I supposed to say? Girl, wait ‘til you see my big ass house? I wasn’t keeping secrets, it just never really needed to come up. Not that serious, Gabriella. Lighten up, turn off the car and let’s haul ass!”
“You’re right. It’s not a big deal. But it kinda is a big deal, you nonchalant person,” I joked. “I’m just impressed that’s all. Mom’s got it going on for a single lady. I’m proud and I don’t even know her.”
~*~*~
When Kelli unlocked the front door with her key, I was flabbergasted at the sight of it all. She led me into the foyer, and had me wait there while she went in search of her mother.
I looked around at the décor in awe. It was amazing…nicely done.
I walked into the sunken living room that lay several yards ahead. It was decked out in a combination of white, and turquoise, and I instantly flashed back a couple of years to my first suite at Paraiso Belo. The color accents were the same.
The difference was that I had never in my life seen a turquoise furniture set, but there it was, up close and personal. All I could think of was how tranquil it all felt, and as bad as I wanted to sit on the sofa, it just seemed inappropriate to do so.
This woman’s got taste!
The chandelier hanging in the living room was shiny silver. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it was custom-made, probably in Italy or somewhere. There were sky lights in certain parts of the living room to give it a nice dimmed look.
Classy.
Outside was a large pool, submerged lights illuminating the indigo tiles beneath the water. The glass door separating the living room from the yard was so clear it seemed nothing lay between the carpeted floor and a quick dive.
Breathtaking.
My trance was interrupted when I heard the clicking of heels against the hallway flooring.
I turned to see Kelli and her mom approaching. What, was she like eight when she had her? They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter – both brunette beauties, with dark features, twin ponytails, and petite frames.
Her mother came straight toward me with open arms and the brightest smile. She smelled of Yves Saint Laurent’s Baby Doll – my favorite scent.
“Gabriella, this is my mother---”
“Hi, Gabriella!” she interjected, wildly energetic. “I’m Diana. But you can call me Di…you know, like ‘Lady Di’, for the purpose of enunciation only because I’m certainly not Lady Di---”
“Mom!” Kelli blurted out. “She gets it!”
“Sorry,” she smiled. “I tend to get a little carried away in my excitement. I’ve heard so much about you! It’s about time I get to see your pretty face. My baby girl says nothing but good things, so welcome to our lives, Sweetie.”
Tickled at her energy level, I managed, “Thank you, Di! I am glad to finally meet you too.” I gestured toward the pool. “I am obsessed with your beautiful home. The detail of it is amazing! Makes me want to ask if I can move in!”
“Awww, you’re so sweet!”
“Thank you so much for inviting me tonight.”
“Thank you for finally accepting. We missed you at all the others, but silly me entertaining on weekdays, I completely understand. But you’re here now. You’ll have a ball and get to meet lots of people.”
Before Di left to greet her incoming guests, she pulled me into one last hug before departing.
“So glad you’re here, Gabriella. Gonna see you in a bit.” And with that she was off.
Kelli and I headed to a part of the house she referred to as the Redwood Room. It didn’t take long for me to see why. It had a beautiful, long, redwood deck just outside of a sliding glass door.
The room was decked out with red and white balloons.
There was a large selection of hors d’oeuvres, a triple layered red velvet cake that I wanted to taste badly, and a slew of refreshments. Di had done a wonderful job of creating an extremely inviting environment.
As
I assessed the arrangement further, I saw a projector, and more than a few nicely packaged items strewn around.
Kelli had only ever told me that it was a ‘party’ and I never asked for any other information, because a party is a party. However, when I laid a more focused eye on the items, my interest was instantly piqued.
“This is nice, Kelli. Your mom really knows how to create an atmosphere of excitement.”
“That she does,” Kelli said with a chuckle. “She’s been a party-thrower since I was small. She’s in her element when she’s entertaining. It’s her time to shine and be the social butterfly. She is like the most hyper adult I know. She loves it. When I was growing up, I loved seeing her and her friends dressed up, sipping drinks, and swapping stories with one another. Those gatherings are some of my fondest childhood memories.”
A short while later, the last of Di’s guests trickled in.
By the time everyone had arrived, scattered about the deck and in the Redwood Room, I counted 32 women!
Any thoughts I had about meeting cute guys had flown the nest in an instant.
I had never seen that many women gathered in one place. Hell, we didn’t even travel in large crowds like that at Paraiso Belo!
With the large turnout, I had a feeling the best was yet to come.
Everyone seemed genuinely nice and made it a point to introduce themselves. More than a few greeted Kelli with hugs, as though they hadn’t seen her in a while.
As the chatter filled the room, I walked over to take a closer look at the decorative items that were placed around the table near the projector.
Hmmm…Nice. There were lotions, creams, flavored lubricants…some in provocative-looking bottles. And there were and a lot of pretty toys!
Some were made from silicon, some made from glass, but all plenty attractive.
I had been so preoccupied with admiring the house, that I hadn’t paid attention to what was directly in front of me. I instantly felt like I’d entered 6th grade sex education class.
Ohhh, Lady Di! You freaky woman!
Things were about to get really good, and I couldn’t wait. I’d never experienced toys.
I wasn’t aware that things used for such freaky acts could be so nice looking. For some reason, when I thought of kinky, my mind always ventured to handcuffs and blindfolds, and kind of stayed in that place. How behind the times I had been!
Boy, I felt closeted. I may have to turn things up a notch.
At the very least, I needed to leave with something that I could pleasure myself with during any short droughts I might experience.
I spotted a cute little thing with a label that read purple rabbit and immediately decided it would be my sole purchase at the end of the night.
Some of the items were beautiful. I wanted to yell out, “I’ll take one of everything!”
~*~*~
When the party officially kicked off, Di started with, “How many of you are here for the first time?”
A few of us raised our hands.
“Great, great…Well, I’m certainly glad you could make it. I promise it will be an evening you won’t forget.”
I didn’t know about the other first-timers, but a smile made its way across my face. A rather big smile.
I could feel Kelli leering at me as I watched in amazement while Di spoke in detail about the products.
She had an admirable level of knowledge. She knew what she was talking about, and she did it with poise. Yet another great businesswoman I was fortunate enough to come into contact with.
The presentation consisted of demonstrations on some of the dildo models, a few of the other toys, and how the stimulants were used. As an added incentive, and what I thought was a smart sales move, she took the discussion one step further, sharing ways to pair the items to make the experience more effective.
A large segment of the presentation was dedicated to education and how allowing toys into the bedroom could potentially serve as a great boost to a struggling sex life.
I looked around to see if I could gauge by looks or body language exactly who that information applied to. My curiosity was in overdrive. It might not have been had I never been introduced to something like Valentina’s thriving business.
When I first began going to the resort, I found myself wondering what brought our guests to Paraiso Belo. Were they cheating just for the hell of it, or were they seeking to fill a void left in their relationships?
Sitting there that evening, I thought about how real the possibility was that any of the women in attendance, could have a husband whose name was a part of that client list.
I turned to Kelli, and whispered, “Girrlll…this is so cool. I had no idea. You could have told me! Instead of sitting back while I got the shock of my life,” I kidded. “Are you a consultant?”
“First…why are you whispering?” she laughed at me, and I had to join her, because really, why was I whispering? “Second…Don’t you think you would know if I were, silly? I thought about it at a point, but the parties are too demanding. I get too involved with all these damn papers.”
“Those are excuses, Kell. You could do it if you really wanted to. Throwing parties to sell a product that easily sells itself? Where’s the labor in that?”
“Oh. Boy” she sighed. “You sound like you’re selling the product right now. I did not bring you with plans on recruiting you into the freak show. I really didn’t. It was strictly for fun, Gabriella.”
“It was fun! I had a ball. I’m still having a ball,” I stated cryptically.
Kelli squinted her eyes at me, and shook her head left to right, slowly.
“Tsk tsk tsk. You’re thinking about doing it, aren’t you?”
I offered her a smile as my response.
CHAPTER 15
~*~*~
When the presentation was over, there was a round of applause. I’d gotten an earful of useful information, and a new interest was sparked.
Di believed in her product – that was clear based on how effortlessly she addressed her guests during the Q&A session.
My mind was performing cartwheels. I had many questions, but I planned my time with Di for later, since my inquiries went beyond the how-to, and where do I get this, that, or the other?
“Ladies, I want to thank you for coming out tonight. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves and that I have answered all questions to your satisfaction. If not, please feel free to ask away. If your questions come to you after you’ve left, that’s fine, feel free to email me. I make every effort possible to respond within a 24-hour period.”
Instinctively, we all panned the room. There were no hands raise, and it may have been that the attendants were eager to move to purchasing product.
“Well, since there are no questions, issues or concerns, there’s plenty of food and drink. I don’t have any room in my fridge for leftovers, so dig in!”
The guests fanned out. Some went to eat; some mingled, while others ended up in the waiting area outside the private room awaiting a turn to place orders.
~*~*~
When Di resurfaced close to an hour later, after having seen the last of her customers, she made her way to where Kelli and I sat.
She gleefully placed an arm through mine and sang, “Ga-bri-el-la! Did you like? Were you a little surprised? Or did you already know what you were coming to? I didn’t embarrass you, did I?”
I looked over at Kelli who wore a fixed smile, obviously waiting to see how I would respond.
“A-hem! Please allow me to clear my throat,” I smiled. “Can you see me blushing, Lady Di?”
The three laughed together.
“I was definitely surprised. But, don’t get me wrong…in a good way, surprised,” I clarified.
“That is wonderful to hear! I’d hate to think you wouldn’t want to come around again because you’ve been scared off!”
“Of course not! I don’t scare easily. Besides, you already welcomed me to the family, so you’re kinda stuck with me.” I
looked over at Kelli before continuing to speak. “In fact…”
“Here we go…” Kelli mumbled.
“In fact…” I maintained, “I’d like to purchase that beautiful purple rabbit over there. I need that in my life!”
“It’s yours, on the house!” Di offered.
“Really, Di?”
“Consider it a gift. I’ll get you one from inventory in the back.”
“She’s not done, Mom…” Kelli announced.
“Oh?” she mused. “What’s going on?”
Again, I peeked over at Kelli who wore a half smirk that I was unable to read. Like she might laugh on the one hand, and like she might roll her eyes, on the other. I couldn’t tell, but proceeded forth with what I wanted to say to Di.
“I am really interested in talking to you about possibly becoming a consultant – whenever you have free time to go over logistics, that is.”
“Reeaallyy?” she squealed. “I would absolutely love to talk consultant logistics with you!”
We made plans to meet for brunch the following weekend, and I was ecstatic.
Kelli said that she chose not to become a Romantica consultant because it could potentially interfere with her schoolwork, but I believed it could provide a healthy balance for my life.
I was at the point where I was growing anxious for school to come to a close and with a year left, it could be a chance to make a name for myself.
After seeing Di connect with her guests and learning more than I ever thought I could about the correlation between toys and relationship enhancement, I couldn’t wait.
~*~*~
After bidding farewell to Di and confirming our upcoming meeting, Kelli walked me to my car.
“You are not serious, right?” she scolded.
“Shit! The hell I’m not! I don’t know why you won’t. Schoolwork, shmoolwork. You can swing it if you really wanted to, girl! You’re a scholar without even trying to be one. It’s a natural part of life for you. But hey, I understand it ain’t for everybody.”
Revolving Doors Page 8