“It does.” He was nodding. “It really does. So what’s complicated?”
“She lives in London. She has a boyfriend. And she has a not-girlfriend.”
Julian’s eyebrows shot up and he chuckled. “Jesus, Luisa. First person since I’ve known you that you’ve talked about and she’s already seeing two other people?”
“Don’t forget she’s in London.”
“London’s easy. You do some work in Europe and you can see her all the time. Her seeing two other people? That’s hard.”
“You think I’m crazy?”
“No.” He shook his head. “But I’m just about the absolute last person you should ask for relationship advice. Look, Luisa, I know you. You’re one of the most pragmatic people I’ve ever met. If you’re into this woman to the point where you’re telling me about her, I’d say it’s worth taking seriously and doing what you need to do to give it a chance.” He paused. “Does this mean we should stop this?”
Luisa thought about it. Her and Amy had agreed to be open, at least for now, and Julian was comfortable, familiar and uncomplicated in his own way. The two worked well together, for now at least.
“It’s too soon for that yet. Let’s see how things go?”
“I can do that. Just be open with me… I would hate for you to miss out on something with her because you don’t want to hurt my feelings.”
“I will, and I appreciate that.”
Julian checked his watch and groaned. “Shit, I need to make that call back. It’s been forty-five minutes already. And we need to start getting ready if we’re picking Maria up by seven.”
Luisa disentangled herself and headed back to the bathroom to dry her hair and start on her makeup. Julian’s voice floatedthrough from the bedroom, calmer now, his negotiation going better for a bit of time to regather and, she liked to think, because of what they’d done in the intervening period.
By the time her makeup was done Julian was dressed and helped her to zip up the dress she’d chosen for the evening, a sleek black number that hugged her body with a high slit up one thigh and a low back. She’d chosen it specifically for the party, knowing it would photograph well.
“You look incredible,” he said, and she could tell that the admiration was genuine.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said, and meant it… Julian looked really very, very good in a suit.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” Luisa confirmed, pushing all thoughts of Amy to one side.
They had a premiere to get to.
***
Julian had a driver that he used for nights like this, and the car was spacious and luxurious. Precisely the sort of car that one was supposed to arrive at a premiere in.
Maria was waiting outside her apartment building when they pulled up, looking elegant in a blue dress that matched her dark hair. She was beautiful in an approachable, real-person way, the kind that didn’t turn heads but made you want to keep looking back once you’d noticed. Next to Luisa’s model looks, Mariaoften joked that she was the ugly step-sister, but that was far from true.
“Finally,” Maria said, sliding into the back seat next to Luisa and leaning in for a quick hug. “I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me.”
“Never,” Luisa replied with a grin. “Julian was on endless business calls, you know how it is.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I get it,” Maria laughed, putting on her seatbelt as the car pulled away. “It’s a constant battle to have boundaries between work and pleasure in my job.”
“You look lovely, Maria,” Julian called from the passenger seat, twisting around to smile at both of them.
“Thanks Julian. Nice of you to let me crash your date night.”
“It’s not a date,” Luisa and Julian said simultaneously, then laughed.
As they drove, the houses grew progressively larger and more ostentatious. Luisa and Maria slipped into Spanish as they often did when it was just the two of them and they were chatting. They’d met during Luisa’s first week in LA, introduced by a mutual friend from back home, and Maria had taken Luisa under her wing, their friendship sealed when Maria had come along on a disastrous double date with two functionally brain-dead hedge fund portfolio managers and they'd fled into the night like partners-in-crime.
Maria knew about Amy, had been there in the nightclub on the night when Luisa and Amy had met… indeed going to the clubthat night had been her idea. But she steered clear of the topic, aware, Luisa knew, that Julian’s Spanish was pretty good and being sensitive to Luisa’s situation with him. Luisa was tempted to tell Maria that they could speak about it openly but held off… it seemed crass to talk much about someone she was seeing in front of him, despite it being well within the parameters of their ‘not-boyfriend’ arrangement.
