Alicia didn’t mind staying home on Friday, even though she knew she was of better use in the office. There were meetings to prepare for. Profiles to memorize. Algorithms to calculate. Of course, she could’ve done these things at home, but her and Danica’s mutual goal of trying to create a work-free sanctuary meant Alicia spent most of her time reading or watching TV. She wished she had something better to do. Nobody could come visit her because they were too busy.
On Saturday, she knew it was time to make an appearance. Not to mention the cabin fever driving her bonkers. So she grabbed Dee and went down the street to a cozy café where she could catch up on some work. She didn’t need Abby, who was currently helping Danica at the main office. All Alicia needed was a cold drink and her binders and tablet.
Liv Smith, 0.5% shares. Might sell.
Something caught Alicia’s attention from the corner of her eye. She glanced up. A man, dressed in all black and sitting at the coffee bar, slyly snapped a picture of her with his phone.
Dee saw him too. “Be right back. Gonna fuck that pap up.”
Alicia ignored the confrontation between pap and bodyguard. She was more focused on the blond woman sashaying into the gourmet coffee and tea café as if she owned the place.(As Alicia later came to discover, Lara Anderssendidown this café.)
“Well, well!” Lara stood between Alicia and the pap. He managed to steal a picture of them both before Dee landed him on his ass outside. “Look who’s here! I had heard you were in the hospital. Good to see you’re well.”
Alicia motioned to the chair on the other side of her table. Lara took a seat without having ordered anything – yet a barista walked right over with a latte. A cute heart swirled in the foam. I want coffee. I want tea. Fuck me.Alicia decided the moment she accepted she was probably pregnant to stop drinking “bad” things. There went her coffee addiction.
“Had a small scare. Nothing serious.”
“Good!” Lara glanced at the binders Alicia quickly shut and shoved to the side. “Working on a Saturday? Girl, even I don’t do that anymore. Then again, I’m what, ten years older than you? Sheesh. You’re so young.”
Alicia would’ve been shocked, but the profile she had said the real estate mogul was right at forty. Now that she studied the woman’s appearance, she could see it. Lara looked to have had minimal work done, but her makeup and hair were perfectly planned to hide as many wrinkles and blemishes as possible. Someone took great care of her skin, though. One day, when Alicia had settled into her role as a billionaire’s wife and business partner, she would start asking around about beauty regimens.
“I was set back after my health scare on Thursday. Need to find a way to catch up.”
“Ah, yes, I heard all about you and your wife’s new hospitality ventures. Restaurants and clubs, right?”
Alicia sat back. “You heard that?”
“Of course I did. It was all over the business page by Friday. Besides, my partner and I are in real estate. You think we weren’t the first ones called by your assistant to start setting up appointments to see properties?”
It truly was a small world, wasn’t it? Or at least on this level. “That’s kind of you.”
“Kind? Pshaw. Hate to break it to you, but we’re set to make millions off you two. That makes us better friends, though.”
Alicia did not doubt that’s how it worked.
“So! Pardon me for jumping right into the gossip, but this girl is merely on break and has to meet someone in a bit. Anyway, Monique Warner and I were having a little chat last night, and she mentioned that you stopped by her place to talk babies and BDSM.”
“Babies?” Alicia almost forgot the jokes flying about Annabelle Warner and the unborn Moreau progeny.
“Don’t look so shocked. As a woman, the moment you look at some fleshball, everyone starts gossiping. I’ve found out no fewer than ten times from the papers that I’m pregnant. According to them, my partner and I have had enough children to man an army. Oh, and we’ve both had illegitimate children from here to Timbuktu. Actually, I think we might have more out-of-wedlock children than children together. Fancy that.”
Alicia looked to where the pap had been sitting only a few minutes ago. “I can’t wait.”
“And I can’t wait to get to personally know you and Danica Moreau better over these next few months. Say, why don’t you come over soon? We would love to be the first to host the now infamous Moreaus.”
“Infamous?”
“Honey.” Lara stood with her latte, purse strap slipping down her arm. “When you’re a nobody who gets suddenly hitched to one of the richest bachelorettes in the country, you’re infamous. But I love me some infamous women. Tootles.”
“What was that about?” Dee asked as soon as Lara Anderssen and her huge cat-eye sunglasses exited the café. Did she take the latte cup with her? Ah, well, when one owned the whole building… “I turn my back to take care of a fly, and I’ve gotta swat another.”
“No swatting necessary.” Alicia opened the binder at the bottom of her stack. Didn’t take long to get to the As.“Lara Anderssen. Owns 3% shares. May sell.”“I quite like her.”
Dee shook her head. The more people did not approve of her cavorting with Lara Anderssen, the better. That meant she was probably on Alicia’s side.
Danica was not wont to speak of work when she returned from her business dinner that evening. Instead, conversation revolved around the state of Alicia’s womb and if she had made decisions about the nursery.
She had been afraid of this. Not just her wife getting ahead of herself, but her identity switching from wife and business partner to mother of children. While Alicia agreed that any possible offspring would take precedence over other matters, or at least in the first few months, she would like to talk about other things as well.Don’t be too hard on her. She’s excited.Danica was good at keeping a neutral façade, but once they were in private, her smile broke, and she spoke more to Alicia’s stomach than her face.
