Nobody was there, and that meantnobody. When Jamie worked for her fiancée, she often came here to find someone Etta needed to talk to and couldn’t get a hold of in the building. There were always at least half a dozen people making use of the grand gym, and that didn’t account for the people on the indoor courts or in the locker rooms. So, Jamie deduced, that did mean Etta was somewhere around there because every time the CEO came to work out the whole place was cleared out for her. Etta liked her privacy when she exercised.
Jamie turned a corner in the gym and saw her, in a gray T-shirt andblack gym shorts, tearing up an elliptical machine with a TV screen set to Bloomberg overhead. Before she could say hello, though, she saw someone else pacing back and forth in front of her – Adele, dressed in a black Ralph Lauren shirt dress and with her dark hair pulled to the side of her head and wound in a loose bun. Her heels created a dent in the carpet beneath the hanging television as she spoke candidly to her ex-girlfriend.Excuse me, current business partner.
“…Hyacinth Winston is one of the most prestigious names in the country, let alone this God-forsaken city.” That’s what Jamie heard as she hid behind a folded-up treadmill. So far, neither Etta nor Adele had seen her. Etta was too busy focusing on her workout, and Adele was too preoccupied with ramming Etta with whatever this was. “To deny her invitation is hubris beyond even your capabilities. Etta, I can’t keep courting her as an investor myself. I need you to do it too. I know how much you hate formal luncheons, but it can’t be helped. She won’t touch us unless we both leave a positive impression on her. I’ve done everything I can. Time for you to actually be my partner.”
She stopped in front of Etta’s machine, arms crossed and face set like stone. Etta slowed down her workout, toweled off some sweat, and drank from her water bottle before responding.
“Fine. I’ll go with you. You’re doing all the talking.”
“Etta Anne…”Uh oh.She was busting out the middle name. Good to know that Adele did that too when she was fed up. “Would you read your fucking invitations? The plus one isn’t for me. It’s for your fiancée.”
“I know. We’ll both go stag and say our SOs couldn’t make it.”
“It doesn’t work that way! Hyacinth Winston has invited us for lunch to woo her and her wallet, and she wants us to bring dates! Now, who gives a fuck who I bring as long as they can handle it, but she’s going to expect Jamie. You’re having one of the biggest weddings of the year, and naturally, you’ve invited her. She’s going to expect to meet Jamie beforecondescending to attend your wedding. Don’t be stupid. Bring her. Make sure you tell her how serious it is.”
When Etta bowed her head and smashed her feet against the pedals, Adele scoffed.
“Is that the problem, here? You don’t want her embarrassing you in front of Hyacinth.”
“What are you talking about?” Etta cut in. “Jamie only embarrassed me… twice. Those were both a long time ago. Honestly, Adele, if I can survive her making a mockery of my business meetings not once, but twice, I can handle her using the wrong fork at one of Mrs. Winston’s fancy luncheons.”
“That’s not the problem and you know it.”
“Then what is the problem, Adele? I’d love for you to come out and say it.”
“Say what?”
“That Jamie embarrasses you and everyone else in this stupid fucking universe.”
Much to Jamie’s horror, Adele did not deny such a thing. She stood there, smirking as she leaned one arm against the handlebars of the elliptical machine and crossed her ankles. “She does embarrass everyone. It’s amusing, really. She tries so hard to be a good girl in this ‘stupid fucking universe,’ but the more she tries, the more she fails. People would probably rather she go ahead and be the naughty little uncouth tramp they think she is than try so hard to be someone she’s not. Face it, Etta, you may love the woman, and I’m not going to say don’t marry her, but you’ve got a consistent business issue on your hand by having her so close.”
“Don’t hold back, Adele. Tell me how you really feel.”
“Oh, I am holding back. Look, I like Jamie. She’s a sweet girl who makes you happy. Great. Good for both of you. As your former girlfriend, let me congratulate you on your love and happiness. As your business partner? Gofuck yourself. Admit it, Etta, you needed me to sweep in and save you and subsequently your company because you were losing important contacts. Not just ones who had more loyalty to Jacqueline Love than you. People who got tired of being associated with a woman who fucked her assistant. One thing for everyone to know you secretly did that. You kept that under the table. To actually go public with one? You’re a giant stereotype of new money, and you know it.”
“Because no woman born with money has ever fucked her personal assistant. Let alone married one. Didn’t Donovan Mathison start the whole craze thirty years ago?”
“Men with old money can get away with murder. Because they all take care of each other.” Scoffing, Adele turned away. “I should know! I’ve fucked a lot of them and got to hear the nasty pillow talk!”
“Oh, I know you have.”
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
“And don’t insult my fiancée like that!”
Etta had stopped her workout, towel flinging around her shoulders the moment she roared at her business partner. Although Adele’s demeanor remained unchanged, she stepped back.
“If you think I’m insulting her? Imagine what’s going to happen once you’re actually married to her. Nobody will say it to your face as long as you’re worth doing business with, but they will say it behind your back. Endlessly. Unless someone comes along and saves you from their derision – which you shouldn’t count on happening anytime soon – you’re going to have to fucking deal with it. I know you can handle it. You don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of your personal life. What about Jamie? How do you think she’ll take to being ostracized any more than she is right now? Trust me. Maybe she’s not telling you about what’s going on, but she’s feeling it. It will get even harder if you two decide to have kids.”
Etta stepped off the elliptical. “What is the argument here,exactly? How did we go from Hyacinth’s invitation to insulting my innocent fiancée?”
Adele turned her nose as if Etta’s sweat offended her. “You’re going to that luncheon, and you’re taking Jamie with you. And you’re going to let me give her a rundown on how to behave beforehand… without fucking her in public this time, thank you. If you can get Hyacinth to say, ‘Oh, that Jamie was nice. Where’s my tequila?’ then we’ve done our job since her opinion carries so much clout in her social circles. We might get her money.”
During this exchange, Jamie ran a gamut of conflicting emotions. She was angry that Adele was saying these things about her; sad that she was reminded of how she didn’t fit in with most of the rich women in the area; concerned that Etta didn’t do much except yell in Jamie’s defense, as good as it was. The only bit of happiness she felt was that her fiancée didn’t think twice to defend her. Everything else? That sucked.
So by the time Etta opened her mouth to tell Adele to fuck off again, Jamie couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped out from behind the folded-up treadmill and approached the business partners as if she hadn’t been listening at all – even though it was painfully obvious she had been.
“Shit,” Adele muttered, turning away. She wasn’t even going to pretend she had been saying nothing but nice things.
