“What are your lunch plans, Lucy?” she asked as we walked to the limo.
“I don’t have plans, I have to go and check on your brother,” I was sure she wanted to have lunch and I really didn’t want to have a one on one with her because that meant that we would have an awkward moment where she would mention that morning’s incident.
“Good, I’ll go with you I haven’t spent time with him,” She shook her head as we got in the limo “he had been so busy lately,” she eyed me suspiciously.
“Yeah the MBU project takes most of his time,” I nodded while looking at my phone. I had a text from him asking if I was making it to lunch. I replied letting him know that I was, indeed, making it to lunch but that he had a guest. He sent a weird emoji that I couldn’t decipher.
Thankfully, Regina talked a lot about a new guy she was dating and the party so I didn’t have to make up stupid answers to some of her inquiries. I mean, it was pretty suspicious whatever she saw that morning.
Once we got home I went directly to the kitchen and she went to the office to see Patrick.
“Hello Miranda,” I said going into the kitchen and sitting down on the breakfast bar. I opened up my laptop “Regina is staying for lunch,” I said while working on some spreadsheets I was a bit behind on.
“Of course,” Miranda nodded “would you like some lemonade, Lucy,” I looked up and smiled “Yes, please,” I said and she poured some for me. I tried really hard to work on whatever I had in front of me but I was distracted thinking about whatever it was that happened in the morning. We had been careless and it wasn’t working for us, for me. We needed to be more careful and less obvious, maybe. I mean we weren’t hugging or kissing in public but things like the ones that happened at the pool house couldn’t happen anymore if we knew there’s going to be people around. It would be easier to end the whole thing but truth was I didn’t want to. I had so much fun with Patrick, this kind of arrangement was working for both of us and I didn’t want to give it up. We just had to be careful.
I heard voices and ran to check if the table was set for lunch.
“You’ll have to ask her,” said Patrick when he saw me and Regina smiled. Wide. I knew she was going to ask for something that I wasn’t going to like.
“Lunch?” I asked as they both sat down and nodded. I was about to go to the kitchen but Regina asked me to sit down for a bit.
“I need to ask you something,” Regina said and I sat wondering what on earth was she up to.
“So,” she began placing the napkin on her lap.
“As you know, I’ve been dating this guy,” she smiled. Yes, I knew, she talked about it during our ride home. I just nodded.
“And I asked Patrick if you guys could come and meet him,” she smiled wider.
“Why me?” I asked confused, she looked even more confused.
“Because I care about your opinion,” she said.
“When are we meeting him? Is he coming here?” I asked super confused. Patrick and I weren’t a couple. Oh!!! She thought we were that’s why she was asking.
“Today. In a Gala,” she said whispering. Every thought about her thinking of us in couple terms flew out the window.
“What?” I asked. Maybe I misheard her.
“A Gala,” she smiled.
“Oh! Hell no, Regina,” I said getting up and going to the kitchen as I heard Patrick laughed “She really hates galas,” said Patrick still laughing.
I let Miranda know that they were ready for lunch and went back and sat down as Miranda set down their crab salads.
“Where’s your food?” asked Patrick with a frown. I’d decided that I was going to eat in the kitchen with Miranda to stop being obvious about the kind of thing me and Patrick had going (I refused to call it a relationship, even if it was, a friendship is a relationship).
“I’m eating with Miranda and Sarah,” I said really quick and looking back at Regina “A gala, tonight?” I asked and she nodded “Is it themed?” I was hoping it was so I wouldn’t be able to find and outfit but she shook her head “So that’s why you are asking me to go? Because you know that your brother won’t go to a gala by himself?” I asked making sure we didn’t have a relationship
“Ok, yes,” She nodded. What was with the Ok??? Was I overanalyzing? “Fine,” I sighed and she clapped and smiled. I was about to get up and get to the kitchen when Patrick grabbed my hand “Miranda,” he called for her. I immediately took my hand from under his hand. Miranda appeared looking worried “Bring Lucinda’s food, please. She’s been childish,” he said glaring at me.
“Yes, Lucy, you are family,” said Regina smiling at me as Miranda placed the salad in front of me. I smiled at her and she smiled back.
“So, this boyfriend of yours?” said Patrick eating the salad. “He’s going to be at the gala because of his parents, brothers, grandparents?” he asked. Regina shook her head.
“Just for fun? Who goes to galas just for fun?” he asked looking at me and I just shook my head.
“It beats me,” I managed.
“No, it’s for his Leukemia foundation,” she chewed looking down at her plate. Something was off. She didn’t look like this when she told me about the guy.
“Impressive, so involved at his age,” said Patrick talking like a parent while he gave a sip of white wine. Regina just nodded. Something was off, very off. Patrick frowned noticing.
“How old is he, Regina?” he asked and her eyes were wide as the plate where our salad was served. “How old is he, Regina?” he asked again. Crap! He was older, much older. This was bad.
“28,” she finally said.
“What?” said Patrick getting up from the chair and I got to grab his hand to calm him down.
“Calm down, Patrick,” I said as Regina looked at me with pleading eyes.
“How can I be calm, Lucinda? She is dating a guy 10 years older than her!” he was red, very red.
“I know but maybe you should listen to what she has to say,” I said using my calm voice. The one I used on him when he was stuck or when deals weren’t going as he planned.
“Do you have anything to say?” he asked looking at Regina “First, he is not my boyfriend, we have been on a couple of dates,” she said and before Patrick could say anything else she continued “but I really like him Patrick,” she did, I could tell.
“Of course you do. He is a fucking 28 year old dude,” Patrick tried to take a few deep breaths.
“I like him and I want you to like him too,” she said.
“Do mom and dad know?” he asked and Regina shook her head. Patrick ran his hands through his hair. “Why haven’t you two showed up in tabloids?” I had no idea what he had in mind but it wasn’t anything good because he was about to spit fire.
“We’ve hid it. There are ways to have a date without going out,” she said blushing “Are you sleeping with him, Regina?”
“Patrick,” I finally raised a bit my voice. He looked at me and calm a bit.
“You want me to meet him today so I can help you with mom and dad,” he didn’t ask. He knew.
“Please,” she said holding his hand “They will listen to you. You’ll see he is a good guy, Patrick,” she was pleading. That was new. Regina Maynard pleading.
“I’ll go,” he said “We’ll go,” he said looking at me and I nodded. I had to be there to prevent murder “but I won’t lie to mom and dad; if I don’t like him I’ll say just that,” he said and Regina nodded.
“Thank you, really, thank you, Patrick. This means a lot,” she said jumping from her seat and hugging him.
“I just want the best for you, Gina,” he said stroking her hair.
“I know, but he really is the best,” she pulled back and smiled at him “We’ll see about that,” he said sighing.
“Yay,” she clapped and grabbed her purse. “I gotta go but I’ll see you guys later,” she ran to my side and hugged.
“Thank you so much,” she whispered to me and I just nodded. Just like that we
saw her leave.
“I’m gonna kill him,” said Patrick looking at me.
“No, you won’t,” I said while finishing my salad. It was delicious. I heard him sigh but didn’t turn to look at him. I was waiting for him to be in a better mood.
“What was that I’ll eat in the kitchen shit?” He asked and I turned to look at him and shrugged but he stared.
“After what happened this morning I thought we could be less obvious,” I continued to eat my salad.
“Eating fucking lunch with me it’s not obvious,” bad mood. Very bad mood.
“Well I thought it was,” I said grabbing mine and his plate and took them to the kitchen. I heard him leave and then the door to his office. I knew it was his office because it was closed hard enough to make every single window in the house shake.
“What happened?” asked Miranda while I sat in the breakfast bar to have a coffee.
“Regina is dating a guy 10 years her senior,” I said and Miranda looked shocked.
“I know,” I shook my head “he is in a horrible mood,”
Forty five minutes later I took a cup of coffee to Patrick to his office.
“Here,” I said placing it in front of him. He still looked like crap and I didn’t want to rock the boat so I just decided to leave.
“Lucinda,” he said as I turned around “my tux,” he said and I nodded.
Wow, he was in a terrible mood but I knew that it was more that he was worried of what kind of guy was the man his sister was crushing on (maybe more). I trusted in Regina’s instincts but Patrick knew her better so I had no way of knowing if she had the potential of choosing a douche bag or a gentleman. The gala had an early start time so that meant we had to hurry up to get ready. Well mostly me, I had to hurry up.
I arranged the tuxedo how Patrick liked and walked back to the pool house just to find him in the swimming pool. I shivered because, even though the pool was partially covered and heated, it was freezing! He must have been in need of some time to think. He only did laps when he needed to think about something. I sat on a chair and saw him go from one extreme to the other. I guess he sensed I was watching because he stopped and looked at me.
“You need to relax,” I said leaning on my hands and watching as he got out of the pool and dried himself.
“I know but just the thought of some idiot’s hands all over my sister,” he shook his head “an idiot who is 10 years older than her,” I got up and went over to him.
“I know,” I smiled at him “you should give this guy a chance before making any judgment,” he looked at me and leaned in for a kiss but I took a step back.
“What the hell, Lucinda?” he asked confused.
“Someone could see us, Patrick,” I said looking around.
“You need to relax,” he said mocking me. He grabbed me by the waist.
“Patrick,” I warned him.
“Pepper,” he warned me back.
“I need to get ready for the gala. I know that it takes you 5 minutes to be ready but for some of us it’s a more complicated process,” I said trying to get out of his arms.
“Can I watch?” he asked and I saw a twinkle in his eye. He looked like a horny dog.
“No way. We’ll end up having sex,” I said and he laughed.
“Ok, later tonight,” he said as I walked towards the house’s door.
“We’ll see,” I said and he frowned.
Twenty One
The only good thing about themed galas was that I hadn’t run out of dresses to wear for regular galas so I still had a few choices for that night’s gala. I went with a halter type top in gold and the skirt was ample and flowy in black. I did my hair in a half up do and heavy make up with red lips. I put on some golden pumps and I was ready.
I went into the house only to find Patrick having a drink. He was actually drinking over his sister’s boyfriend.
“So Regina sent you into an alcohol craving?” I walked towards him.
“Not really,” he said placing his glass on the coffee table on the living room “Come over here,” he said and I walked over and sat next to him on the couch “no,” he shook his head “here,” he said pulling me over his lap.
“Patrick,” I said and he tightened his grip on my waist.
“Don’t Patrick me,” he said really serious.
“Someone can see us,” I said resting my forehead on his.
“I don’t care, Lucinda.” He said closing his eyes. I sighed and let my fears disappear for a moment “Why are you drinking?” I asked. It was weird to catch Patrick having a drink in the middle of the day just because.
“I’m stressed,” he shrugged still with his eyes closed.
“Don’t be,” I tried to look over his watch “It’s getting late,” I said and he finally let go of my waist and decided that we needed to leave. The ride to the gala was uneventful we talked and I tried to distract him from the fact that he was about to meet Regina’s boyfriend.
I was thankful that the gala was small (small in the sense that there was no red carpet and crazy paparazzi) so we went in immediately with no stops. It was elegant all in black and white and I was happy that my dress matched the colors. Once we were inside I wanted to linger near the door and wait for Regina to come and get us but Patrick with all the self esteem and self confidence always walked into any event, place or meeting with his chin up and looking at everyone like he owned the place. Of course, sometimes he did own the place. So there we were wandering around the gala; I was holding on to his arm in hopes that I would be able to stop him if he wanted to punch someone. Everyone recognized him and some came to introduce themselves. Most of the people in there were nice so I thought that maybe Regina’s guy was going to be a nice guy after all.
“Patrick,” we heard Regina’s voice and I felt Patrick tensed as we turned around. I had a fake smile plastered on my face as oppose to the very genuine frown that Patrick had. “Lucy,” she said and hugged me “beautiful dress,” she said looking at it.
“Thank you,” I said still with my fake smile on. Regina hugged Patrick but Patrick barely hugged back mainly because I was holding on to his arm but also because he was waiting for the introduction.
“This is Samuel Henderson,” she said grabbing his arm “Sam this is my brother and his….” She lingered on the introduction and I am sure that my smile fell for a second “assistant,” smile back on “Lucinda Stuart,” she finished.
Sam was a good looking guy; he didn’t look 28 but didn’t pass for an 18 year old kid. He was the opposite of Regina he was as tall as Patrick while she was more on the petite side (just like me, thank you) He was blond with icy blue eyes. I bet their babies would be beautiful although that was a thought I had to keep to myself.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Stuart,” he said shaking my hand.
“You can call me Lucy,” I said with my fake smile.
“A pleasure to meet you Lucy,” he smiled.
“And it’s great to meet you Mr. Maynard,” he turned to extend his hand to Patrick who was carefully assessing the guy. I gave a tiny nudge to Patrick and he shook Sam’s hand. At least he wasn’t completely rude.
“Thank you for the invitation, Samuel,” said Patrick. He didn’t ask him to call him Patrick. I guessed he wanted the superiority shown.
“Regina, come, I need to tell talk to you about the chandeliers in the party,” I said after the silence turned awkward. Regina nodded and we left towards the bar where Regina ordered some champagne.
“They need to talk without us women there,” I said. She offered me champagne and shook my head.
“Thank you, Lucy,” she said turning to look at them “Maybe Patrick will realize that Sam is a great guy.”
“They seem to be talking in a civil manner,” I said looking at them. Patrick asked something and Sam talked for an extended period of time and then Patrick would ask something else. At least he was letting him talk.
After a while Patrick and Sam walked towards us an
d we immediately engaged in a stupid conversation about cake pops.
“Yeah, so, the purple wasn’t good enough for me,” said Regina while I nodded furiously like it was the most important thing in the world.
“Ladies,” said Patrick as he stood behind me and grabbed my waist. I tried, discretely, to take his hand away but he tightened the grip.
“The food is about to be served,” said Sam not even trying to hold Regina’s hand. He was being respectful and I was sure that Patrick would appreciate that.
“Let me put my hand around would you?” he whispered in my ear as we walked to our table.
“We are in public,” I said with my fake smile back on.
“So? I’m tired of hiding, Lucinda,” he finally said what I knew he had been waiting to say.
“Could we not talk about this tonight?” I pleaded and his expression softened.
“Fine. Let’s try to have fun tonight,” he said and I smiled at him. A real smile this time.
We did have fun; we were in the same table as Sam and Regina with some of Sam’s friends and it was a bit awkward because they all seemed to know each other but in the end we got to know a bit more about Sam and we had a nice time.
“You have to admit they look happy,” I said to Patrick while we watched Sam and Regina dancing. Apparently they both knew how to dance. Good for Regina she found someone to dance with, her brothers all hated to dance.
“I don’t know,” said Patrick and I just shrugged. He was grumpy and I didn’t want to make him angrier by stating the obvious: They guy genuinely cared about Regina. “Do you want to go?” he asked and I nodded. Things had gone great but that didn’t mean I was going to stay at a gala.
“You know what I think you need?” I said as we both got in the car.
“What?” he said still in a mood.
“Sorbet,” I nodded and I could feel Patrick’s mood changing.
“Sorbet sounds good,” he smiled “Mike, let’s go get some sorbet,” and there we went. I let Patrick pick the flavors and they were weird: Peanut Horchata and Michelada. I accepted because he needed the comfort of sorbet but I was afraid that we wouldn’t be eating much sorbet that night. The mere thought of the flavors made me gag.
Unstuck Page 30
