Chapter 7
Anna drove back from the university, bubbling with ideas she couldn’t wait to try out on the pictures she would be taking this weekend. She liked how empty the campus had been; it made it easier to park when she came for her extra-credit photography course, even if it was only offered during the summer. Sure, it limited the number of hours she could work part-time as a clerk on campus, but if she found the right sugar daddy, she wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. She stopped when she noticed her cellphone buzzing. Her friend Rachel had just texted her.
Rachel: I got us a table in the back.
Anna shook her head. Rachel acted like they didn’t eat at the same table religiously. It wasn't like that table had done them any favors. It was the table where they had met, and for some reason, they kept coming back to it.
Rachel had a face of perfection. Her nose was thin and straight, a perfect model for what someone getting plastic surgery might ask for. Her eyebrows were thin and rounded and on her small, pert face; it was no wonder she had such success as a sugar baby. She was slender, not curvy like Anna, and tall. She was great eye candy.
When they first met, Rachel had dumped her bags down on the bench and shoved her way in, the Starbucks was packed and there was nowhere to sit. Anna decided to uninvite herself from the table. Why would someone like Rachel want to sit with someone like her?
Or so she thought.
“What? I know I don’t stink.”
It had made Anna laugh and had been enough to break the ice between them. They had found out they went to the same college and worked different shifts in the library. It was an easy friendship, and now it was one of mentorship as Rachel had introduced her to the SB life.
“Finally, girl. I was debating if I should wait for you or stand in line.”
“You should have stood in line. You see how long that line is.”
“Fine,” Rachel said, snatching her purse from the table. “Don’t even,” she said, cutting off Anna before she could talk. “I know what you want. You don’t even try to be spontaneous.”
“Well, get me a blueberry scone. How’s that for spontaneous? I’m hungry.”
“And who’s going to pay for that?” she said over her shoulder, and walked to the line nonetheless.
“You got a daddy now. Splurge a little,” she called just loud enough to make Rachel snicker as she walked away.
Rachel returned with tea hot enough to burn all her taste buds and an iced coffee, plus a lemon scone for Anna. “They didn’t have blueberry.”
She wasn’t picky, and she tore into it without waiting, finishing it in four bites.
“Damn, girl. Please tell me this appetite is from an increase in physical activity, and by physical activity, I mean sex, not any more of those hiking trips for pictures.”
Anna blushed. Damn. Did Rachel have to say everything she thought out loud?
“I’ll take that as a no.”
Well, not by choice.
“Well, I’ll have you know I did meet somebody.”
Take that. You’re not the only one who can get a man.
She clapped and leaned forward. “Someone from the site?”
Unfortunately.
“No.”
The disappointment was clear in both their frowns.
“Well, where then?” Rachel really struggled with the art of storytelling; she always pushed all the details so she could talk.
I’m getting to it.
“In the woods.” She rolled her neck. “On one of my hiking trips for pictures.” She spoke with more bite than she meant to, but Rachel took no offense.
“And?”
She rolled her hands in the air for her to hurry up.
“And,” she said, sighing. “I hit my head. Dom found me, and he took care of me for the night until the next day when he dropped me at my car, and I came home.”
“Dom,” she moaned. “He sounds sexy. Please tell me he’s sexy.”
She didn’t have to exaggerate even a little bit. “He is.”
He really was. Anna lost herself for a moment, daydreaming about him. He didn’t say much, and she wished for the fifth time that day that she could go back and say something to him. Get his number or something. Anything to guarantee they would see each other again.
“Oh. Little miss thing has a crush. I can tell by the dreamy look in your eyes.”
“I mean… he was really cool. He was smoking hot, but it was more than that. The way he cleaned my head wound and cooked for me… and the attraction, it was just burning up. I felt like there was a fire in my veins and I was dying for him to kiss me. I don’t know what else I had to do for him aside from lay out a red carpet.”
“Okay, so go back to his house. Say you left something there and then operation knocking boots is a go.”
If only it were that easy.
She laughed more from the wording than the scenario. “I can’t do that,” she huffed and stirred the whipped cream into the brown beverage. “I don’t even know his full name. I just know him as Dom, and I couldn’t even remember how to get to his place if I wanted to.” She stared down into her cup with dejection. “I have to face the facts, Rach. I’ll probably never see him again.”
“Ugh, you are one Debby downer.”
Downer? Maybe but it was better to be a realist than an optimist.
“Well, cheer me up then. Tell me about you,” she said, knowing full well that this was the intro Rachel had been waiting for.
Rachel talked about everything. Her current situation, how she met her current daddy, her monthly allowance, the new car and sweet apartment he rented her, and the agreement to exclusively date him. She was halfway listening, struggling to stay in the present instead of reminiscing of that past with Dom.
“You agreed to that?”
“Girl, yes. I sure did. I took down my SB account, and I won’t be reactivating it until our agreement is severed.”
“Damn. I mean, the money is good.”
“Good?” She slammed her cup down without a scene because it was now empty. “The money is great! I've never felt this carefree in my life!”
“And all of this for the company?”
She smiled smugly. “Yup. We haven’t fucked yet, but I’m warming up to the idea. He’s not ugly.”
“I thought you said you didn’t have to have sex in a SB arrangement.”
“You don’t. It’s your arrangement. You both decide and agree on the terms. I didn’t say I wouldn’t, but I only offered my company. He’s hinted at it, but he doesn’t pressure me. So far, just dates to fancy restaurants, events, and fundraisers. He flies me out on the weekend, to New York, where his company is.”
“What’s he doing down here then?”
“He’s an oil tycoon. Struck gold somewhere Syria maybe? And since then he’s been basically a billionaire without trying. He travels wherever he wants. He’s addicted to skiing though, so he travels here pretty often.”
“Well, I’m really happy for you,” Anna said with a fake smile, though jealousy cooled her blood. When was something like that going to happen for her? She was so looking forward to being able to just focus on her studies and not being stressed about making rent. Not including money for food or textbooks or a fuck wax job in case she had a date for a prospect daddy.
“Oh shit,” she said, ducking her head.
She’d only just caught sight of a man at the Starbucks entrance, but the face was too familiar for her to be wrong. If it was who she thought it was, she needed to stay out of sight. Today was supposed to be a good day.
“What?” Rachel turned to look in the direction Anna cringed from. Seeing nothing, she looked back again to see Anna’s head on the table with her hands over her head. “Seriously, are you five? What is this?”
“Don’t look.” She glanced up, hoping it wasn’t too late, but he saw her.
There was no doubting it by the way he spoke to his friends and turned to walk their way.
“Who’s that cutie coming our way?”
“My ex.”
Well, that was it. She couldn’t hide, and she wasn’t a coward, so she couldn’t run. Instead, she combed through her blonde hair, hoping she looked alright. Even if he was her ex, she wanted to look good.
“Anna? I thought that was you. You look different.”
No, she didn’t. She looked the exact same, and so did he. With his heart-shaped face, long eyelashes, and floppy strands of dishwater-blond hair, he looked more cherubim than like a grown man. The platinum-blond peach fuzz that refused to grow into a beard made the look even worse. She thought he was so cute in his constant attempts to be “manly.” His brown eyes bore acute sadness as he took her in. No, they both were the exact same. The only difference was she was single now and no longer his.
“Um. Right. Hey.”
She felt so awkward and embarrassed.
“Haven’t seen you in a while. How you been?”
Of course he hadn’t seen her in a while. They had broken up last semester, and he didn’t have the same major as her. The pre-med building was on the opposite end of campus from the business admin building. It wasn’t like she was going to go out of her way to talk to him. She knew it would be difficult to endure, like this moment.
She could tell from Rachel’s face that this was as painful to watch. “Great. Ethan, this is my friend Rachel.”
Rachel held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you as well,” he said, shaking her hand, though he was only staring at Anna. “I didn't mean to interrupt, but I just had to say hey. I hope you’ve been well.”
“I’m great.” She’d already told him that. “Thanks for asking. I hope you’re doing well, too.”
Well, enough to go back to his friends and leave her alone. Their parting words should have said it all, “Good luck.” She never said, “I hope we can stay friends.” She knew that would have been impossible, and considering how strange she felt talking to him, she knew she was right. This was painful.
“Yeah,” he said under his breath, as if thinking of something more to say.
“Well, I’ll be off then. Friends are waiting on me.” He glanced back at the three boys staring from the Starbucks line.
“See you around.”
No, she wouldn’t.
“Bye.”
“Oh my god, pulling teeth was better than that,” Rachel groaned as soon as Ethan was out of earshot. “Please tell me what the hell that was about.”
Where to start? It was such a long story.
“That’s Ethan.”
Ethan’s presence left Anna feeling bereft and guilty. Even though they had broken up months ago, she still, in a way, felt bad.
“He told me that already.” Rachel leaned forward, ready for a juicy story.
“We broke up.”
Rachel rubbed her hands down her cheek. “Really? I got that much when you said the word ex, Anna.”
“I broke up with him,” Anna said, still staring at his back where he stood in line. She could tell from his stance that his friends were doing the same thing Rachel was doing – probing for information. His friends peeked at her from the corner of their eyes and she resisted the idea to cover her face again.
“Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Why?”
Why had she broken up with him? To him, it seemed like the breakup had come out of thin air. But to her, it was like finally coming up for air. He hadn’t done anything wrong per se. He was a gentleman and had tried to make her happy. He just didn’t make her feel butterflies in her stomach when she saw him.
She sighed with relief, watching Ethan walk out the door with one parting glance her way.
“He didn’t excite me.”
She waited for the criticism that most women gave. They usually asked something like, 'Did he cheat on you?' or 'Was he bad in bed?' and when she said no to both, those answers made them suck their teeth and call her crazy. Something like, 'Girl, you’re dumb throwing away that good man,' or 'More for me.'
“I get that.”
Rachel nodded with understanding in her eyes.
“You do?” Her voice lifted with optimism.
“Hell yeah, I do. Life is worth living. No time to be wasted on someone who bores you.”
Well, it wasn’t that simple, but sure.
“Thank you,” Anna said, standing up and collecting her trash.
Rachel slung her arm over Anna’s shoulder as they walked out. “For what, girl? Being your hot SB guide?”
“Sure,” she said, laughing. “For that, amongst other things.”