As soon as Quaddra said the word ‘babe’, Mary saw the glance that Carol gave Rachel, silently communicating that that would definitely be a topic for discussion once they were by themselves, but they weren’t alone in their communicating glance. Quaddra also sent one Mary’s way and his came accompanied by a very subtle bottom-lip biting that clearly said – ‘I’m so sorry about this’.
Mary gave him an almost invisible smile that replied – ‘Don’t worry, honey… I’ve got this’.
‘We were just asking Mary how the two of you met,’ Rachel said, smiling at Mary, who easily understood the importance of the question. That, right there, was a tight group of friends. Some of them had probably known each other since kindergarten, with that circle remaining pretty small throughout their whole lives. Joining that ‘elite’ group was a task that, most who had tried, had failed, Mary was sure of it. But Mary also understood where they were coming from. They were simply trying to look out for their friend.
‘We met at an indie art exhibition, in the Dogpatch,’ Mary replied, as she dropped a small dollop of plum chutney onto her plate.
‘What actually happened was…’ Quaddra quickly took over, before the onslaught of questions began. ‘We were both swinging from left to right and angling our heads in front of a black canvas.’
‘What?’ Brian, Rachel’s partner, asked, though everyone frowned at Quaddra at the same time.
Quaddra told them the story.
‘After that,’ he added, ‘I sort of acted like some creepy little stalker, I’m afraid to say.’ He lifted his hands at the group,as their questioning stares settled on him. ‘At the exhibition,’ he explained. ‘I missed the chance to ask Mary for her phone number, so I…’ He glanced at Mary and smiled.
She smiled back.
‘Had to pull a few strings to find out how I could get in touch with her,’ Quaddra continued. ‘Luckily, Mary was friends with one of the artists who were exhibiting that evening. I managed to get a message to that artist, who kindly passed the message to Mary.’
Mary knew exactly why Quaddra had added those details. He wanted all of his friends to know that he was the one who had chased Mary, and not the other way around. That would certainly give them all food for thought.
Just seconds after Quaddra finished telling his story, the doorbell rang.
‘That’ll probably be Megan,’ Carol said, nodding at Quaddra. ‘She’s always fashionably late – French style.’
‘That’s for sure,’ Quaddra agreed.
There was something in the way that Quaddra said those words that made Mary frown at him, but the mystery didn’t last long because Carol wasn’t about to miss such a great opportunity for a quick dig.
‘Quaddra and Megan used to date,’ she said.
Next to her, Rachel nodded before adding, ‘For quite a while.’
‘It wasn’t that long,’ Quaddra was quick to counter.
‘You guys dated for about a year,’ Carol said before looking at Mary. ‘For Quaddra, that’s a hell of a long time.’ Those words were followed by another silent communicating glace between her and Rachel, but this time everyone in the room could read it. It clearly said – ‘Let’s see how long this one will last’.
Fifty-Three
Quaddra didn’t have ‘live-in’ staff. He never thought it necessary. He lived alone and traveled so often that the house would be empty on average at least two to four days every week, but it was a very large house, with ample outside space, a swimming pool, a beautiful garden and a pool guesthouse. He certainly needed help to keep all that clean and organized, and the help consisted mainly of three people, four times a week – Antonia and Gabriela (mother and daughter), who attended to the main house, and Jonas, who took care of the pool, the garden, and was pretty accomplished when it came to anything DIY.
For the cheese and wine party, Antonia and Gabriela were helping with everything kitchen wise, the cleaning and welcoming the guests as they arrived. Gabriela was the one who opened the door for the new and final batch of guests, and Carol was right, it was Megan, a woman who Quaddra had dated a while back, together with her best friend, Kristie, and Kristie’s husband, Tyler, who also happened to be Quaddra’s best friend. They’d known each other since lower school.
From the second that Mary was introduced to Megan, Mary could already tell that Megan didn’t like her.
‘Wow!’ Megan had said, taking a step back to look at Mary from head to toe. ‘Just look at you. You’re gorgeous.’ Her eyes bounced over to Quaddra for a split second. As they did, Marycould practically see a drop of venom start to blob up right on the corner of Megan’s lips.
‘Thank you,’ Mary said, returning the fake smile. ‘So are you.’
That was no lie. Megan really was a stunning-looking woman. She also held herself with the self-confidence of a CEO. Mary wasn’t at all surprised to see that all the other women in that room, in one way or another, seemed to look up to Megan. To that group, she was, without a doubt, the Queen Bee.
The evening preceded just as Mary had predicted it would. Every time she was far enough away from Quaddra, one of the guests would, all of a sudden, magically appear by her side, and it would, almost always, be one of the girls.
More than once, during the course of the evening, Mary caught Megan staring at her from a distance, and those were the sole definition of the “what-the-fuck-does-she-have-that-I-don’t?” looks. Mary didn’t have to be an expert in body language to see that Megan still had feelings for Quaddra.
At the drinks table, Mary poured herself another glass of red wine, but as she was about to walk over to Quaddra, an arm looped through hers, steering her in a different direction.
‘So c’mon, Mary,’ Megan said, making a beeline to the French doors that led outside, and dragging Mary with her. ‘Tell me a little about yourself. I’m so curious. I hear that you’re from New York, so how come you ended up in San Francisco?’
