Steph stands a few steps into the doorway, looking the two of us up and down as though we don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her. She wears a skintight red bodycon dress with a plunging neckline. It seems like a little much for a summer afternoon, but I guess this is a strip club. Even if she isn’t a dancer.
“Bastion isn’t in his office. Do either of you know where he is?” She looks between the two of us with a bored expression.
“Was he expecting you?” I surprise myself with the challenge in my tone.
One quick glance at Renee tells me she finds this interaction amusing.
“Yes, in fact he was. We have a meeting.” She crosses her arms.
“He must have forgotten. He’s out of town.” I smile nicely, trying to mask the annoyance swirling in my chest.
She stiffens. “Where did he go?”
My head tilts. “I’m not at liberty to say. I assume if he wanted you to know, he’d have told you.” I use my sweetest voice, but her eyes narrow.
All I can picture when I look at her is her with Bast, and it makes me feel sick to my stomach. I keep telling myself it was before I came here, but that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s then I realize that I haven’t asked Bast whether he’s been with her since I started living with him, since we… no. He wouldn’t do that. Sure, he told me that one night I drank a little too much that he hadn’t, but what about since?
Even if you don’t have any agreement to keep things monogamous between you two?
The thought hits me before I can stop the train, and I have to force the smile to stay on my face in front of Steph.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I ask before Steph can respond to my last statement.
She gives me the once-over again. “Not with the business we take care of in our meetings.”
Her meaning is clear, and my short fingernails push into my palms when I clench my fists. Steph glances down at my hands, then meets my gaze with a soft giggle and an amused grin.
“I’ll be sure to tell him you came by.” I turn back around and open the other cupboard to grab the hot chocolate packet.
“No need, I’ll just call him. Maybe he’ll want to meet up after hours at his place.”
I clench my jaw and take the plastic lid off the hot chocolate container.
“Bye, ladies.”
Neither Renee nor I say goodbye back.
“God, she’s such a bitch,” Renee says.
Rather than respond, I make my hot chocolate.
After a few moments, Renee leans in closer to me. “Hey, you all right?”
My chest is tight, and I’m so angry, I fear fire could come out of my mouth if I open it right now. I don’t know why I let her get under my skin. I’m the one sleeping in Bast’s bed every night.
That’s a lie, I do know. Because she’s everything I’m not. She fits in here. She’s glamorous and beautiful and dresses sexy. I’m sure Steph is confident and seductive and knows exactly what she’s doing in bed.
“I’m fine. She just annoys me.”
Renee barks out a laugh. “You and everyone else. Okay, I have to go get ready to be on stage. I’ll text you the details, okay?”
I nod. “Sounds good.”
The reminder that Renee wants me to meet her son lifts my mood a little, and I decide to focus on that rather than whatever Bast and Steph had going on. But that only lasts as long as it takes me to walk back to the office, because as soon as I get inside, I see a hot pink sticky note in the middle of Bast’s desk. It wasn’t there when I left.
I know exactly who wrote it before I even pick it up.
Sorry I missed you.
