Chapter Nineteen - Chella
“You look tired today,” my assistant Michell says as I make a cup of coffee in the employee break room at the gallery.
“I was out late for a Christmas party last night.” And getting fucked sideways. Not to mention the mind games, courtesy of Smith, which kept me up all night long with the video.
“Oh?” she says, sipping her coffee and peering over the rim of her mug, eyebrows waggling. “You were on a date? Why, Marcella Walcott, I do believe you’re keeping secrets from me.” And then she lowers her mug and gives me a stern look. “Tell. Me. Everything. Right now. I can’t believe—”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I say. And I can’t talk about it, especially not to Michell. Our fathers are friends. I’ve known her for twenty years, ever since she was four years old. And good God, now isn’t the time to bring that complication into the mix. No, I cannot say too much. I need to downplay everything. “Just a date,” I say. “That’s all. Nothing happened. Nothing will. Let’s talk about work. You know, because we’re working right now?”
“Hmmph,” Michell says. “No second date on the calendar?”
I need to be very careful about my lies. How long will this all last? It could be over tomorrow. It could last for weeks. Or months. Or what if—what if it lasts for years, like it did with Rochelle? I wonder what she told people. Did she have friends? I don’t really have friends, I have acquaintances. Like Michell. And Kathryn, the dock manager. But we don’t go out together like girlfriends. Kathryn is mostly just a co-worker. And I only see Michell socially when she invites me to her family cabin every now and then.
Still, if Bric comes around—or God fucking forbid, Smith—I will have to tell her something. They are important men. Men with power and money. Men who make you want to gossip. I don’t really have to worry about Quin much. We’re together on my days off.
“I’m actually dating a couple of people,” I say, trying to make this believable and yet wholly untrue at the same time.
“What? Girlfriend, how dare you keep this from me?”
“It’s no big deal. Just… looking around, you know? Exploring my options. I’m thirty. My chances of finding true love are dwindling day by day.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Michell snorts. “You’re Marcella Walcott. You’re a catch and every guy who comes in here wants to ask you out. But you have this air about you, ya know?” She makes a wide arc with her arms and says, “Keep away. No touching. Unavailable. I’ve watched you turn down dozens of men over the past few years.” She stops talking to catch her breath. “So,” she continues in a low, sultry voice. “These guys you’re dating must be something pretty special.”
“It’s just dating, Michell. In fact, one guy is only about Christmas parties.”
She raises her eyebrow at me again. “Men take women to Christmas parties because they want to show them off, Chella. They take them to meet the important people in their lives because they like them. So who is this mystery man? Hmm? Is it Matisse?”
“What?” I almost choke on my coffee.
“My friend said she saw you with him last week. After delivery day.” She’s looking very smug.
“Which friend?” I ask, trying to be innocent about it.
“Just some girl I went to school with back east. Vanessa Sterling. She was asking about you, in fact.”
I try not to react, but I’m pretty sure I fail. “Why? When?”
“Last week. That’s how I know you were with Matisse. She said she saw you at the Turning Point Club having a midnight dinner. You know what that place is, right?” She makes air quotes with her fingers as she says, “A gentleman’s club. But I’ve heard what happens there. It doesn’t surprise me that her husband is a member. I’ve heard rumors that they’re into the whole swingers thing.”
I do choke on my coffee now. “What?”
“Yeah. Turning Point is a swingers’ club, Chella. Wife-swapping? You ever heard of it?”
“No,” I lie. But holy fuck. I had no idea this was a well-known fact. If I had, I’d never have gotten involved.
“Sometimes I wonder where your mother hid you all growing up. You’re so clueless. Everyone knows about that place. And my friend said you had dinner on the private side. What was it like? Were people groping each other and shit?”
“Michell! No. It wasn’t even dinner. I went over there with him and we were going to eat, but I got sick and left. I was there for like twenty minutes, that’s all.”
“Damn,” she says. “I’ve always wondered about that place. And that guy who came with Matisse? Smith Baldwin—”
Oh, good Lord. I’m screwed. It’s like Michell has the pieces to my secret puzzle laid out in front of her and all she has to do is start putting it together.
“—I hear he’s one of the owners.”
Is Smith an owner? “I thought Elias Bricman owned that place?”
“See?” She cackles. “You did know what it was. You filthy liar.”
“Anyway, I’m done talking about this stuff. We have work to do.”
“What work? We’re practically on vacation, sister. This Matisse installation will be here for three months. Our job is to smile at visitors. We don’t even have to sell the pieces because—”
Shit.
“Oh. My. God. That’s right,” Michell says. “Elias Bricman bought it for the Mountain Ballet courtyard. Did you meet him?”
“Um, well, of course. I had to talk to him about the sale.” I’m going to hell for lying. But whatever. I’m already going to hell for so many other things, it hardly matters.
“He’s so fucking hot. What is he like? Is he a dick like Smith Baldwin?”
“No.” I laugh. “He’s nice, actually. A lot nicer than Smith.”
Michell just stares at me for a few seconds. “You know Smith too, don’t you?”
Fuck.
“You know all about Turning Point Club. Chella!” she exclaims. “I need for you to spill, honey. Are you dating…” But she puts it together before she can finish her sentence. “You are, aren’t you? You’re dating both of them.”
“Michell—”
“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. I wondered why they were both talking to you last week for the opening.”
“Michell,” I say, setting my coffee down and walking over to grab both her shoulders. “Listen to me, OK? I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why?” she asks. “This is the most exciting thing to happen to me since Jordan Wells fucked me at a concert last summer.”
“I have no idea who Jordan Wells is, but—”
“My friend knows him. Holy shit. I think he’s a member of that Club too and I bet my friend is swapping with him—”
“Michell,” I say, squeezing her shoulders harder, giving them a shake for good measure. “Listen to me. I don’t want people to know about it, OK? I’m uncomfortable dating two guys at once.”
But it’s like she’s in a trance. She just stands there, gazing off into space as she imagines all the sordid things I’ve been doing on my days off.
No. Stop, Chella, I chastise myself. She doesn’t know any of that.
“Will you introduce me?”
“Absolutely not,” I say. “Smith Baldwin really is an asshole. I don’t think I’ll be seeing him again.”
“Then just Bricman? Can you introduce me to—”
“Did I just hear my name?”
Yes. Hell has come to claim me early. Because Bric is standing in the open door of the employee break room looking—looking like a goddamned God in that five-thousand-dollar suit, that subtle stubble all over his perfectly square jaw, and wearing a smile that might knock Michell over dead.
He’s staring into my eyes like he wants to fuck me right this second. And Michell does not miss this. Her mouth is open and she is finally speechless.
“Mr. Bricman,” she says, snapping out of it before I can even be thankful she stopped talking. She walks towards him with her hand out. “So nice to properly meet you. I’m Michell Stadington, Chella’s assistant.”
Bric, being the hot motherfucker with all the moves that he is, takes her hand and brings it to his lips. “So very, very nice to meet one of Chella’s friends, Miss Stadington. Tell me, you’re not related to Victor Stadington, are you?”
“Yes! He’s my father.” Michell beams.
“Well, this is all very special,” I say, moving towards Bric. “But Mr. Bricman is here to talk about his purchase.” I shoot Michell a stern, back-away glance. “You remember, his fifty-million-dollar purchase?” And then I look at Bric. “Why don’t we take this conversation up to my office, Mr. Bricman? And we can sort out the details.”
I press my hands on his chest as I scoot past him through the door and do not look back to see if he follows.
But he does, excusing himself politely from Michell, whom I imagine is standing there looking at him like he’s meat.
I finally look over my shoulder when I get to the bottom of the stairs that lead up to my loft office, and yes, Bric is right behind me. I ascend and let him follow.
“Your ass looks fuckable in that skirt today, Chella,” he whispers softly, so the gallery visitors can’t hear him.
“Shh,” I hush him as we climb. My office is not nearly private enough for any conversation I might have with Elias Bricman, but it seems exceptionally open right now as I take a seat at my desk.
Bric settles into one of the two chairs in front of my desk and crosses his legs, like he’s gonna be here for a while and he might as well get comfortable.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“My purchase.” He laughs. “I need to sort out the details.”
“No, really, Bric,” I say, looking down the stairs to see if any visitors—or God forbid, Michell—are listening. “Why are you here? It’s not your day.”
“Is that a rule?” he asks. “We’re not allowed to see you? On our days off?”
“I don’t know, but it seems logical to me.”
“Because it keeps things… simple?” Bric asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Exactly. Simple is far better than trying to explain my plural relationship with three men to my co-workers.” Three very hot, well-known men, I don’t add.
Bric just smiles.
“My assistant said one of her friends saw me at Turning Point Club with Matisse and Smith that night he took me there for dinner. Vanessa Sterling. ”
“Is this a problem?”
“It is when everyone knows that Turning Point Club is for well-to-do swingers, Bric!”
“She won’t say anything else, take my word on that. I will make a personal phone call after I leave here and make sure of it. She would never risk her husband’s membership. She’s having too much fun with her new toy, Jordan Wells.”
“Oh, great! Well, Jordan Wells is an old fuck buddy of Michell’s, Bric. This is all getting very… very…” I can’t find the right word.
“Uncomfortable for you,” Bric finishes.
“Yes!” I say. “Exactly. Uncomfortable. I don’t want people talking about me again.”
“Again?” he asks.
“Ever,” I say, trying to hide my slip-up. “I don’t like it, Bric.” My hands start shaking and he leans across the desk to hold one.
“It’s OK, Chella. I promise. I’ll handle it. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. We won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Bric has a thoughtful look on his face and I count my blessings that it was him and not Smith who just showed up during that conversation with Michell. But that reminds me. “Why are you here? Does Smith know?”
“Do you want him to know?”
“I don’t know. I guess not.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want him coming over and starting a scene. He comes across as the type who likes to make scenes.”
“He would never embarrass you that way, Chella. But I am here because of him.”
I wait for it. But Bric continues to smile as he keeps silent. “Well? What does he want?”
“Did everything go OK last night?”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about that stuff?”
“And I told you, I’m in charge of your wellbeing. As Number Three, it’s part of my job description to make sure you’re OK at all times.” He stops to wait for me to say something, but I don’t know what to say. “Are you OK, Chella? You’re looking a little tired this morning. Did you have a rough night?”
I smile at his smirk. “Well, I did go on a date that had a lot of dirty sex involved.”
“True. But it’s what happened after I dropped you off that concerns me. I’m fairly certain the dirty sex we had isn’t the problem.”
“He didn’t come over.”
“OK,” Bric says. “Anything else you’d like to tell me?”
Like… Smith practically demanding that I let him watch us fuck next week?
No, I decide to leave that out. Who knows what will happen between now and then, right? The whole arrangement could fall apart and I’d never have to have that conversation at all.
“He made me watch us fuck. On the TV. All night long.”
“Ah.” Bric laughs. “So that explains it. You spent the night masturbating to the little sex tape we made?”
The words ‘sex tape’ strike fear through my whole body. “He would never—”
“No, Chella. He would never show those to anyone. Ever. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Whew,” I say, making an exaggerated gesture of wiping my brow with my hand.
“Did you masturbate to the sex tape all night long?”
“Yes,” I say, blushing a little. But I leave out the best part. That it was my fantasy of Smith watching us fuck that got me off.
“Well, he called me this morning and told me to let you know he won’t be around this weekend.”
“No?” I ask, wondering why that is. “Did he give a reason?”
“He said you’d know why. Which had my mind working overtime.” Bric leans forward, both my hands in his now. “I’m just here to make sure he’s not fucking things up, that’s all. I like you. I want this to work. And Smith can be… challenging to manage at times. Don’t let him ruin what we could have. Like I said last night—you can cut him out completely. Keep him on the other end of the cameras. He’ll stay away from the apartment if you don’t let him watch in person.”
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“Because we’ve done this before. We’ve been One and Three before. It’s not an ideal situation. In fact, Smith is always a challenge. But we can manage him, Chella. If you refuse to let him watch, he will leave you alone. Just like he left Rochelle alone.”
I think about this for a moment. Do I want to cut him out completely? Do I want Smith Baldwin to leave me alone?
“Think of Friday through Sunday as your days off. Can you do that? Just stay at your own house and come back to the Club Sunday midnight for Quin. Quin is easy to manage. He’s fun, right? He can fuck you all he wants without the games. Be a good friend.”
“And you?” I ask, wondering where he’s going with this idea.
“I can fuck you all I want too. As long we have a camera for Smith to watch us later. We can pretend he’s not there. We can pretend it’s just us. I’ve done it before, Chella. It will work if you allow it to work.”
He lets go of my hands, stands up, and walks around the desk until he’s towering over me. He’s hard just from the talk. His huge cock is outlined in his pants and he grabs it for a second, like he’s trying his best to make it shrink.
I look up at his face, doing my best not to beg him to fuck me right now.
“Is this what you want?” I ask. “For me to cut him out?”
Bric just shrugs. “You only have three choices. Cut him out. Let him join us. Or walk away. I just want to make sure you don’t walk away.” He reaches for my hand, pulls me up so I’m standing, and then kisses it lightly. Gently. His soft, full lips lingering for a second before he pulls away and looking me in the eyes. “I’m enjoying you very much, Marcella Walcott. And I’d like to keep enjoying you for as long as possible. So make your choice. Whichever one is best for you. And I hope that it’s the one I suggested.”
“Why?” I ask, my voice small and timid. “Do you want me all to yourself?”
“I’ll never have that,” he says. “I’ll always be sharing you with Quin, no matter what. But I certainly wouldn’t mind having you without Smith. It’s just not my decision to make. So we work with what we have.”