AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, yeah. Sonia, you go with Farley, I’ll make the call to the repairman.”
Sonia nods, a placid smile on her lips I’d like to make disappear under mine. She goes with Farley, and the two of them leave the pool deck and disappear.
I stand there for far too long with my brow furrowed and hands in my pocket until someone kicks a little too hard during their freestyle stroke and splashes me with pool water, snapping me out of my funk.
Sooner or later, something has to break between Sonia and me, right? We either have to learn to hate each other or give into our instincts or…
My anger flares, thinking about her being taken by another man. It’s not fair of me. But I can’t help it.
She’s young and beautiful. She should date someone Nate’s age. Not me.
However, no amount of logic can contain my want.
After calling the sauna repairman, I retreat to my office and rub out this hard-on she’s given me.
Releasing into my hand, though, is pathetic compared to the real thing.
10
SONIA
“I know it’s small…”
Bridget looks around my tiny studio apartment and smiles. It’s a real smile, not a fake one of politeness.
Still, though, I can’t help being embarrassed inviting a woman who comes from so much money into my humble little apartment that is probably half the size of her closet.
“It’s cute. I like it.”
Cute, no doubt, is code for small.
“I’d say sit anywhere you’d like, but there’s only one possible choice,” and it’s the couch against the wall that faces the rest of the apartment so I can look over mydomain.
Smoothing out her skirt, Bridget sits on the couch with grace and care that don’t lend themselves to the Facebook marketplace sofa. “And it’s in Queens. I never make it out to Queens.”
“Thanks for making the trek up here, I would have happily come to you if–”
“Please, Sonia, you work way harder than me. It’s the least I can do.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t work harder. It’s just different. I can’t imagine doing what you do.”
“That reminds me, after you crack open the wine, I have some new sketches to show you.” Bridget grins, pulling her portfolio out of her bag.
Since meeting at the Lyons masquerade, Bridget and I have become fast friends. I kept her at a distance at first, not wanting to mix business with pleasure further than I had already, but she made it clear that she wanted to be my friend, and if I’m being honest, I can use all the friends I can get in New York.
Other than the club, I don’t have a network. And given how much I work right now, I don’t have the time to join any extracurricular activities. So, I’m grateful for Bridget’s persistence in our budding friendship.
“Oooh, what are you working on?” I grin as I take the two steps that take me into the kitchen and crack open the wine.
“Well, I’ve been really inspired by that new exhibit at the Met. You know, the Vivienne Westwood retrospective. And I want to do something inspired by that but with lingerie.”
I pretend to gasp. “Scandal!”
“I know, who would have thought?!”
Certainly not me. When Bridget told me she was a designer working on starting her own line, I would never have guessed that her focus is in lingerie.
I pour the wine, relishing the sound of it glugging into the glasses. “Well, I can’t wait to see.”
