I try to process. It’s actually so wasteful. Growing up, I always thought it was ridiculous when the pro hockey players chartered private planes for little things.
This is exactly the kind of thing that Gabriel would do and I would never do.
And it’s also exactly what I need right now.
“I would love to have dinner at Alyssa’s,” I tell him. “But we’ll have to go pretty much immediately. She likes to eat early.”
Between the motorcycle, the private jet, and the luxury car waiting for us near the runway, it’s amazing how quickly Gabriel got us from Boston to my best friend in New York.
The sun is setting when we arrive to her building. With Gabriel’s encouragement, I take another minute to move through the hard emotions from earlier. He holds me, not saying anything, and when I’m ready, we head up to her condo.
Alyssa greets us at the door. She’s in a teal top with her hair up, and she quickly pulls me and Gabriel both into a hug. It’s a bigger show of emotion than I usually expect from her, but when she holds my eye and gazes at me with concern, I know she’s thinking about my afternoon.
“Your heart okay?” she asks simply.
I nod, my arm around Gabriel’s shoulder. “Yeah. I’m sad, of course.” I look to my man and back to her. “But I’m okay.”
Alyssa smiles. “Good.” She points at Gabriel. “Thanks for keeping him happy.”
Gabriel shrugs. “The pleasure is all mine.” He winks at me. “Trust me.”
We make our way into the living room, and we all sit with a cocktail while we wait for the sushi to arrive. I’m grateful just to be here, so I put off talking about the difficult stuff, enjoying the warmth instead.
“How did your meeting with Marco go?” I ask. “It’s been a couple of days since your lunch together. Do you think you’re going to represent him?”
Alyssa glances at her nails. “He’s been tied up, actually.”
“Oh.” I frown. “That’s a shame that he canceled on you.”
“No. He didn’t cancel on me.” Alyssa looks up with a slight smile. “And he’s been tied up. His husband, too.”
It takes me a second, but Gabriel starts chuckling right away. “Sounds like Marco.”
What she’s saying clicks. “Hold on. You tied up your client?”
“Oh, absolutely not,” she says quickly, lifting her vodka cocktail again. “He shared with me as a matter of PR that he and his husband are poly, kinky, and not incredibly discreet about it. Things got heated after that, and I won’t be representing him after all.”
I chuckle, delighted to hear this. “And his husband? That sounds potentially serious.”
“Potentially. We’re still getting to know each other, of course, but we’re very compatible. They’re both at their home showering and recovering.” She smiles to herself. “I could invite them over later. If you feel like company, that is.”
I consider it. It would be nice to have some of Gabriel’s friends here, too. “Yeah, I think I’d enjoy that,” I say.
Gabriel leans back in his chair. “Fantastic,” he says. “Marco and Domingo are great guys.”
“I know,” Alyssa says confidently. “I researched the hell out of them both when I started to consider Marco as a PR client.”
“Now you’ll need another client outside the sports world,” I point out.
“Maybe,” she says. “I’ve been talking to Fox about how it was for him to launch his own label. Maybe instead of pivoting from sports to climb the ladder, I should double down and launch my own sports agency.” She shrugs. “I’m considering it.”
Gabriel raises his drink. “Love that idea.”
We go on talking for a while, sharing about each of our lives with soft music humming over the stereo. After saying goodbye to my father, this is exactly what I needed. Outside of the professional context, Gabriel and Alyssa still get along well, and I see the tension Gabriel’s been carrying since his meeting with Fox ease, too.
Before I married him, the idea of coming out would only remind me of what I’d lose. My father, my privacy, potentially my career. But now that I’m surrounded by people I care about, it’s clear that I gained something even better.
Marco and Domingo come over later, Marco in a collared shirt and torn jeans and Domingo sporting leather pants and a concert T-shirt. My friend is at ease with the tattooed married couple, and I’m grateful to realize that, instead of a room full of current and past relationships being complicated and stressful, navigating this situation is actually incredibly easy, natural.
