Meant To Be

by Karen Stivali

  “I gotta go,” Justine said. “You home for dinner tonight, or you doing the theater thing again?”

  “Home. The next theater day is Monday.” The five days suddenly seemed much longer.

  Chapter Seven

  “Is there anywhere decent to shop around here?” Justine asked Marienne as she carried the platter of fruit into the family room. “Someplace that doesn’t involve the hundreds of malls?”

  They had finished dinner, and Marienne was setting up so they could enjoy chocolate fondue while they watched a movie on the new big screen TV. Daniel and Frank had spent the entire afternoon putting the sound system together, mounting speakers on the walls, hooking up cables. It was Frank’s dream entertainment center. They were bringing the last of the empty packaging into the garage while Justine and Marienne laid out the dessert.

  “Depends what kind of shopping you mean. What are you looking for?” Marienne reached under the fondue pot and adjusted the Sterno lid.

  “Nothing in particular, I just want to shop somewhere that doesn’t have a million identical stores where a million other people are buying the exact same thing.”

  “There’s always New Hope,” Marienne said. “It’s about an hour away, right over the Pennsylvania border. It’s full of galleries and shops. It’s a great walk-around town.”

  “You want to go? Are you free Sunday? I’ll drive.” Justine sounded excited.

  “Sure. We can shop and have lunch.” Marienne smiled, thinking it would be nice to spend a day getting to know Justine better. “Be right back.” She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a huge bowl of melted chocolate. She was pouring the silky, molten liquid into the fondue pot when Daniel and Frank wandered back into the room.

  ****

  Daniel stopped and stared at the chocolate as it cascaded into the red enameled pot. He hadn’t realized quite how much he missed having dessert. Justine never kept sweets in the house, saying they were too much of a temptation. Other than the occasional candy bar he grabbed between classes or on his ride home, Daniel almost never ate anything sugary anymore. The sight of the chocolate, creamy and inviting, made his mouth water.

  “I forgot the marshmallows,” Marienne said, as she placed the spoon back into the bowl.

  “I’ll get them,” Daniel said, hands extended, offering to take the bowl back into the kitchen for her.

  “Thanks.” She handed it over. “And yes, you can lick the bowl.”

  He laughed. It was like she’d read his mind.

  He headed into the kitchen and was standing at the counter, licking the chocolate-covered spoon, when he heard someone behind him. He turned to see Marienne smirking at him.

  “You look very at home licking a big spoonful of chocolate. I take it this is not your first time.”

  “Hardly. My mum baked all the time and I was the official spoon and bowl licker. Good work if you can get it.”

  “I know. Frank’s not big on desserts, so I’m usually the one left to clean out the bowls.”

  “Well, I live right there.” He pointed toward his house with the now clean spoon. “And I’m available for all sorts of baking bowl emergencies.”

  “Good to know.”

  Daniel tipped the bowl toward her. She swiped a finger full of melted chocolate and quickly brought it to her mouth before it dripped. His breath caught in his throat. It struck him that she seemed to have absolutely no idea how sexy she looked. There was something so natural about her. It attracted him to her in a way he knew it shouldn’t.

  “Oh, the lighter.” She reached past him to grab it. “That’s why I came in here. I got distracted by the chocolate.”

  “Happens all the time.” He was still thinking about her sucking the chocolate off her finger. He shook his head to clear it.

  “Finish up so we can start the movie.” She threw him another playful grin as she headed back to the family room, lighter in hand. “And don’t forget the marshmallows.”

  He ran the spoon along the side of the bowl, scooping up one last mouthful. She was licking chocolate, you idiot, she’s not trying to seduce you. Get a grip. He scolded himself, but the image remained in his head, and it stayed there the rest of the night.

  ****

  It was a cool, crisp summer morning. Justine had told Marienne to come over at ten o’clock, and she was right on time. She knocked, and Daniel opened their door. He smiled and let her in.

  “Coffee?” he asked.

  “No thanks. You working?” She noted the stacks of papers that covered the kitchen table.

  “Yep. First major essays for both of my classes. Not good thinking on my part to have them due at the same time.”

  Justine swept into the room, putting in an earring as she walked. She looked impeccable, as always. Her golden hair was brushed into a low ponytail. She wore dark jeans and a cap-sleeved, tailored shirt that accented her hips. A chunky silver pendant rested right below her collarbone, and the matching earrings dangled from both ears. She looked as though she’d just stepped off the pages of an Ann Taylor catalog.

  Marienne felt disheveled in comparison. She’d left her hair down, so it hung around her face, long pieces of bangs occasionally falling across her eyes. She also wore dark jeans, but she’d paired them with a tie-dyed v-neck t-shirt with a flared hem, and a pair of black Converse Chucks. Justine looked every bit the together career woman while Marienne felt like an awkward teenager.

  “You ready?” Justine grabbed her purse from the shiny black countertop.

  “Mmmmhmmm.” Marienne murmured.

  Justine leaned down and gave Daniel a quick kiss. “See you.”

  “Have fun grading papers,” Marienne said as she followed Justine.

  ****

  Justine wove through the highway traffic. “So, what kinds of stores do they have?”

  “Lots of galleries, local artists, artisan jewelers.”

  “Cool,” Justine said. “I need things for the house and for work.”

  “There are tons of antique shops, too.”

  Justine crinkled her nose. Marienne knew antiques weren’t her taste. “What about restaurants?” Justine asked. “I didn’t eat breakfast. I’m starving.”

  “We can grab something at a café.”

  “Perfect.” Justine glanced at Marienne’s hands as they rested on her lap. “Cool bracelet.”

  “Thanks. I made it.” Marienne rolled the bracelet with her fingers. “I went through a jewelry making kick a few years ago, a friend of mine worked at a bead shop. Whenever I needed something to match at outfit I’d pick out beads and put them together myself.”

  “What a great idea.” Justine sounded impressed.

  Justine found a parking spot on a side street and parallel parked with ease.

  Marienne was awed. “It would have taken me ten tries to squeeze into a space that small and we still would have wound up with the car crooked and a foot from the curb.”

  “I’ve always been good at parking.” Justine grinned.

  They walked straight to the nearest café. The tray of oversized muffins seemed to be calling Marienne’s name. She reached for a blueberry one. “Want to split this?”

  “Sure.” Justine surveyed the rest of the choices and grabbed a large fruit salad. “Let’s get this, too.”

  Marienne nodded and grabbed two forks from the glass jar on the countertop.

  They each ordered a coffee; a small, light and sweet regular coffee for Marienne, a large, fat free latte, no sugar for Justine. They paid, and then took a seat at one of the outside tables.

  “Tell me more about Just in Time,” Marienne said. “Frank told me you have some investors interested.”

  “I have two potential investors, but they have different ideas of how they’d like to see the company expand. I want to be the one to make that decision. It’s my company, and I won’t work with anyone who’s going to forget that.”

  Marienne listened intently. Justine was so vibrant and animated. It was easy to see
why men found her attractive. Aside from the obvious, which was that she was beautiful, she exuded confidence. What Marienne didn’t see was any softness. Daniel was kind-hearted and thoughtful, yet she saw no hint of sentimentality in Justine. She wondered if perhaps Daniel brought out her gentler qualities when they were alone.

  Justine made notes on a small pad as they wandered through the shops. She said she wanted to make sure she’d examined all her options before she made her selections.

  Marienne picked up a handmade change purse at one store, and a set of pewter cheese knives with inlaid stone handles at another. She found a shirt she liked, a rich plum colored v-neck with delicate beadwork along the cuffs of the sleeves. She held it up and looked in the mirror, then hung it back on the rack.

  “You should get that.” Justine stopped her. “It’s you.”

  “Really? It’s not too much?”

  “You can totally pull off that look, it’s a great color for you, and you’ve definitely got the boobs to make the v-neck work. Trust me.”

  Marienne shrugged, but bought the shirt, feeling flattered by Justine’s statements. Women like Justine didn’t usually compliment her. It felt good that she had.

  They stopped for lunch at a restaurant with tables that overlooked the river. Justine ordered a Cobb salad, dressing on the side, no croutons then began rereading her notes.

  “What did you order?” Justine asked when she finished perusing her list.

  “The Italian panini. I’m in the mood for something cheesy and melty. Besides I like saying the word panini.”

  “I try to eat as little bread as possible, and I already had that muffin today.” Justine returned the notepad to her purse. “So, how long have you and Frank been together?” She appeared eager to chat.

  “Almost four years. We’ll be married two years in January.”

  “January? That’s an uncommon month to get married.” Justine took a sip of her unsweetened iced tea.

  “I was still in grad school, so that was when I had time off from classes.”

  “How did you two meet?”

  “Frank was good friends with my college roommate’s boyfriend. They were at Wharton together.” Marienne had the distinct impression that Justine was hoping for more details, but she wasn’t certain how much she wanted to share. “What about you and Daniel?”

  “We met our junior year. Everyone was talking about him because he was on the cover of The Village Voice.”

  “He was?”

  “Yep. When I saw the photo, I decided I had to meet him. He was totally freaked out by all the attention he was getting, and none of the girls who were following him around were getting anywhere with him, so I found out his schedule and arranged to bump into him. Accidentally on purpose.” A wicked grin tugged at her lips. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right?”

  Marienne nodded, unsure what to make of Justine’s confession.

  Justine lowered her voice. “He was totally worth the effort. He’s fucking fantastic in bed.”

  Marienne laughed. All she could hear in her head was Daniel saying, “I got better.” Apparently he was right.

  Justine took Marienne’s laughter as encouragement. “Seriously, I slept with a lot of guys, and most of them didn’t know what the hell they were doing. Daniel’s another story. He’s very intuitive, and he’s got some serious skills. I just wish he’d be more aggressive sometimes.” She frowned. “He’s too sensitive. I don’t always want to make love, sometimes I just want to fuck, you know?”

  The waiter walked up to the table, carrying their food. Justine looked at him with the most innocent smile imaginable. She sat back so he could place her plate in front of her.

  Marienne had to make a conscious effort to keep her jaw from dropping. She hadn’t expected Justine to make more than small talk and here she was telling her the intimate details of her marital life. Not that she wasn’t interested, but it was bizarre. And the concept of a guy being ‘too sensitive’ in bed, or anywhere else, was not one Marienne was familiar with, at all. She wondered briefly about the photo, but Justine interrupted her thoughts with another question.

  “So what’s Frank like? Conservative? Or a total animal? You never can tell with those Wall Street boys.”

  Marienne laughed. “I guess it kind of depends on the day. He’s definitely a take charge guy.” Marienne was pleased that she’d managed to answer the question without really answering it. She didn’t feel like following up Justine’s declaration that Daniel was great in the sack with a confession about how her own sex life was usually less than satisfying. Although Justine was being extremely open, Marienne couldn’t help but think about how she was bragging about having tricked Daniel. She had the distinct feeling that Justine would sell out anyone to get what she wanted.

  When they finished eating Justine checked her makeup in a small compact while Marienne signed the credit card slip.

  “We’d better hit the shops before they close,” Justine said.

  ****

  By the time they arrived back home, it was getting dark. Purple clouds streaked the sky and the hum of crickets filled the air. Marienne gathered her packages as Justine pulled into her driveway.

  “We’ll have to shop together more often.” Justine looked pleased.

  “I’d like that.” Marienne smiled.

  “You guys up for dinner and pool on Friday?”

  “Absolutely.” Marienne waved as Justine drove down the block then went inside. Frank was sprawled on the couch watching baseball. She set her bags down in the hallway and walked into the family room.

  “How much did you spend?” Frank asked, not looking away from the TV.

  “Not much.” She scowled. “Justine on the other hand….”

  Frank’s eyebrows went up. “Why, what the hell did she buy?”

  “Two paintings and some fancy desk set. She bargained the prices down on the paintings, but still.”

  “How much?” Frank was always interested in money.

  “It was almost $800 for the two of them. Would have been over $1000 if she hadn’t talked the guy down.”

  “Not surprised. I bet she can talk any guy into doing whatever she wants.” His admiration for Justine was apparent. “At least art usually goes up in value. What was it like spending the day with her?”

  “It was nice.” Marienne was glad he asked.

  “I’m glad you had fun. And I’m glad you didn’t come home with $800 worth of paintings. Daniel’s got his hands full with that one.”

  “You ate?” she asked, taking in the crumpled white bag and paper plate on the coffee table.

  “Yeah, I grabbed some pizza.”

  “I’m still full from lunch.” She realized he was no longer listening; he’d gone back to watching the game.

  She sighed and wandered into the kitchen to put away her new cheese knives. She glanced out the window toward Daniel and Justine’s house and her mind wandered back to the comment about how Justine had arranged to meet him. It bothered her more than she knew it should.

  ****

  Daniel sat in the living room, in the oversized chair, his legs stretched out on the ottoman. He was half-heartedly reading a book while he waited for Justine to arrive home. He sipped a beer and wondered what Justine and Marienne’s day together had been like.

  They didn’t have a lot in common, but they had both seemed excited about this day trip. Daniel thought it would be good if they became better friends. He didn’t want any tension among the four of them. He’d already grown fond of the times they were all spending together.

  He also hoped that Justine had played nice. He hated the thought of Justine saying anything hurtful to her, even if it was unintentional. Daniel knew all too well that Justine’s words could inflict pain, without her realizing what she’d said.

  He heard the garage door open and listened as Justine entered the kitchen, tossed her keys on the countertop, and filled a glass from the water cooler. He thought about going into t
he kitchen to greet her, but he didn’t want to seem too eager.

  “Did you have a nice time?” he asked the second she stepped into the living room.

  “I did.” Surprise was evident in her voice. “Marienne is really nice. And she’s a lot cooler than I expected.”

  Daniel knew both of those things. “Cooler how?”

  “She’s got this very relaxed, easy-going way about her. She could use a bit more self-confidence though.”

  Uh-oh. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I had to talk her into buying this blouse that was perfect for her. She seemed to think it wouldn’t look good.”

  “And what did you say?” Something nice, something encouraging…

  “I told her it was a great color for her and that it would make her boobs look awesome.”

  “Oh my God.” He groaned then laughed. “You really said that?”

  “It was true,” Justine said. “It was the perfect color for her, she’s so freaking pale it really brightened up her complexion, and she’s got great boobs.”

  Daniel was not about to argue. Plus he was distracted, as he couldn’t help but picture Marienne’s breasts.

  “She bought the shirt?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course.” Justine smiled, straddling his lap. “I can be very persuasive.” She took the book out of his hands and placed it on the end table next to his beer. She swiveled against him, and leaned in for a kiss.

  He ran his hands up her spine. “I’m glad you had a good day.”

  “Me too.” Her eyes darkened. “I also told Marienne that you’re a fantastic fuck.”

  “What?” He was gobsmacked.

  “You think only guys talk about that stuff?”

  “You’re unbelievable.” He was unsure whether he should be flattered or embarrassed, and felt a bit of both. He wondered what Marienne’s reaction had been to hearing that statement, but he knew he couldn’t ask Justine, and he felt fairly certain Marienne wouldn’t mention it either.

  “I’ll show you unbelievable.” Justine pulled him off the chair and onto the living room rug.

  Things progressed quickly. She was clearly in the mood. Daniel had no trouble matching her enthusiasm. His hands worked across her body as he undressed her. She wasted no time undoing his pants.