I’ve had coffee with my friends many times, but always at my father’s place. Never somewhere else. Somewhere where I can be a customer and fully enjoy the company without thinking about the preparations, patrons, bills, and everything else.
We take a table on a patio. The small coffeeshop is lovely, the coffee is delicious, and the company is great—if not a little nosy.
The freedom is intoxicating.
“Are you going to make us pry it out of you?” Saar asks.
“We gave you two weeks, but I’m dying to hear what the hell is happening.” Celeste peeks into the stroller. “First, are you happy?”
I blink a few times, because the question takes me by surprise. How fucked-up it is that I have to pause to think about the answer? But my smile stretches because the answer is unanimous.
“I’m very happy.”
“Good sex will do that to you.” Saar smirks.
“And let’s face it, we all started in a marriage of convenience and…” Celeste shimmies her shoulders. “The rest is history.”
“Yeah, but it’s different with Xander.” I take a sip.
“How?” Saar asks.
“Even if we ended up having a genuine relationship, in a few years he will want a family, and I will be forty by then. There is no way this has a chance of surviving beyond a year or two.”
The truth silences our little table.
“The way he looked at you when we came to your apartment, I don’t know, I think the man is ready to compromise.” Saar shrugs.
“Did you talk about children?” Celeste asks.
“No, of course not. It’s a fake marriage.” I shake my head.
“With real sex,” Saar whispers, but the couple near us gives us a look.
We giggle like schoolgirls. “Yes, very, very real,” I say dreamily.
“Again, I think the way he looks at you…” Saar shrugs.
“Maybe he’s ready to settle,” Celeste says.
“If that’s the case, I’m hardly the best candidate. I’m ten years older.”
“I think you’re making too big a deal of your age gap,” Saar says. “From what you told us, he’s taking you to introduce you to his parents. Not to remind you of all the women he’s been with, but any of them would look like a better candidate… on paper… young, and with a single goal of landing an eligible bachelor—”
“Stop. I don’t want to compare myself to the long-legged blondes.” I fold my arms across my chest.
“But that’s the point. You don’t need to compare yourself. He chose you.” Saar shrugs.
“For a fake marriage,” I mumble.
“Still, Cora, he had options,” Celeste says. “I don’t think the age gap is an issue for him.”
“I know it isn’t. That doesn’t change the fact thathe will need more than I can offer down the road,” I argue.
“Let’s not talk about down the road, because right now, you’re honeymooning.” Saar bites her lip with mischief. “How is the interruption of your celibacy?”
The smile might split my face. “No complaints at all.”
“Then stop worrying about tomorrow and enjoy today.” Celeste raises her cappuccino to toast to that. “Besides, when a man is with a younger woman, it’s not an issue. So let’s just fuck the double standard, and enjoy fully.”
