***
Sinclair
For the next hour, Jesse showed me around the luxuriously opulent home, pointing out designer wall hangings and furniture pieces that singly cost more than my entire childhood. Most of the décor was contemporary, with white and black as the main color scheme, plus a handful of blue or burgundy pieces thrown in. With all of the white furniture and even whiter, plush carpeting throughout the house, I was afraid to sit, stand, or step on anything.
“Nice and crisp, huh?” remarked Jesse. “That’s what comes to mind whenever I visit. You know me – I prefer bright colors, comfortable furniture, and plenty of eclectic pieces. My mother and I have far different tastes.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” interrupted an older woman’s voice.
We were in the library, the whitest library I’d ever seen, and both of us turned to face a tall, thin woman with a silver bob.
“Hello, mother,” smiled Jesse.
She walked over to him, grabbed his hands, and air-kissed both of his cheeks. “Jesse, darling. I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Me, too. By the way,” he said, putting an arm around my waist and reeling me in. “This is my girlfriend, Sinclair Jeffries.”
“Yes, you were telling me about her. Very nice to meet you,” she smiled, although her dark blue eyes regarded me shrewdly. “I’m Mimi Eddington.”
I accepted her cool, heavily jeweled hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, as well, Mrs. Eddington.”
“Oh, just call me Mimi. So, Jesse tells me you’re a Cosmetologist?”
“Well, yes,” I said.
“Do you own your own business, then?” she asked.
I stared at her mouth in awe. She had, what appeared to be, a permanently puckered look – reminding me of someone who’d just tasted a lemon or smelled a bad fart. Staring at her lips, I tried to keep a straight face. “Not yet, but I’m hoping to open my own shop, someday.”
She patted her silver hair and smiled. “Well, my stylist, Gigi Sparks, owns a shop in Beverly Hills. She’s very successful, although most of her clients are famous, and obviously, that helps.”
I smiled. “I’ve heard of Gigi Sparks, she really is a phenomenal stylist.”
“Mm… yes, I agree. Anyway, it just goes to show that anyone can become successful if they work hard and put their mind to it,” she said, turning to Jesse. “How’s your career going, by the way? Still with that quaint, little firm?”
“Blake Designs? Yes, mother, I told you that on the phone last night.”
She sighed. “Oh, that’s right, I’m sorry. There’s so much going on right now, I don’t know which end is up.”
“Don’t worry about it, mom. So, where are Dad and Reed?”
She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Well, your father is still at the office, and Reed, well, he should be flying in sometime tonight.”
“Unbelievable. I still can’t believe Reed is making an appearance.”
“Your brother is engaged, you know,” she said. “A model named Sela Royce.”
Jesse’s eyebrows shot up. “No fucking way! She must be one good cock –”
“Jesse, please!” gasped Mimi.
He chuckled. “Oh, come on, mom. Reed isn’t exactly the marrying type. Is she pregnant?”
Her eyes darted to me and then back over to him. “Of course not,” she answered with a disapproving look. “At least,” she paused, biting her lower lip. “I don’t think so.”
He glanced at his nails and shrugged. “Well, you said she’s a model? I guess if he was going to settle down with anyone, it would be one of those.”
Mimi walked over to a book that was sticking out too far on a shelf and pushed it in. “Unfortunately,” she said, turning back around, “we may not have the pleasure of meeting her this weekend. She’s at a photo-shoot in France. Reed said she was going to try and fly back here sometime today, but I haven’t heard from either of them.”
“So, you haven’t met her either?” he asked.
Mimi moved a hand up to her pearls and began twirling them around her finger. “Well, I’ve spoken to her on the phone before, but other than that, no. Reed has been too busy these last few months. He is a lawyer.”
I wanted to ask why that was relevant, but it wasn’t my place and I didn’t want to offend anyone.
Jesse didn’t care, however. “Well, shoot. If I can make it back here the first weekend of every month, Reed should certainly be able to fit you in, with all of his resources and money.”
She pointed to him. “You live less than an hour away and he lives in New York. You, dear boy, should be over more than once a month.”
He put his hands on his hips and scowled. “My schedule is busy too, mother. I work over sixty hours a week, you know. It’s hard for me to get away, as well.”
Right.
Jesse was dating the owner of Blake Designs and the only thing hard for him on the weekends, was Alex.
“Well, that’s good,” she replied. “A hardworking man stays out of trouble.”
“Oh, I’m still trouble,” he smirked. “Right, Sin?”
I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Definitely.”
She turned to me with her puckered look and studied my face. “You know, you look very familiar, have we met before?”
“I don’t think so,” I answered. I’d never forget a woman with a permanently sour expression.
She raised her finger to her chin and nodded. “I know what it is – you look like that actress, Sophia Loren, when she was a young woman. Are you Italian?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I was adopted.”
She cringed. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry.”
I raised my eyebrows. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to be sorry about,” I said. “My adoptive parents are wonderful. They’ve always treated and loved me like I was their own. I’m very blessed to have them in my life.”
“Well, that’s fortunate. Then you don’t hold any hostility towards your birth mom?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. How can I feel anger towards a woman I’ve never met? I’m sure she had her reasons.”
“Okay,” interrupted Jesse, “enough digging into Sin’s life. When’s dinner?”
“Oh,” said Mimi, checking her watch, a diamond-clad Rolex. “Dinner is in an hour. Did you bring something appropriate?” she asked, glancing at my rose-colored peasant blouse and white Levis.
I looked at Jesse. He’d never mentioned anything about a formal dinner on the first night. I’d packed a dress for the party tomorrow, but had selected something more casual for this evening.
“Of course she did,” he said, grabbing my arm and stirring me towards the door. “I’m going to show her to one of the guestrooms and we’ll meet you down in the dining room at eight o’clock.”
She nodded. “Very well. Don’t be late.”
“Good going,” I whispered as he led me away. “You didn’t mention I had to wear anything special tonight. I thought this,” I waved towards my jeans. “Would be appropriate enough from the way you were talking.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. So, um… what about that little black dress you have? I thought you said you were bringing it?” he asked.
“I did, but it’s for the party, tomorrow.”
He sighed. “We’ll go shopping in the morning. In fact, since you’re helping me out, I’ll even buy you a new dress to wear to the party.”
“That’s fine by me,” I said. “Rent is due next week and my credit cards are almost maxed out.”
“If I’m buying, however,” he said. “I’m picking out the dress, sweetheart. If you’re going to be my date, it has to be sexy and over-the-top. I want the other women in the room to be pissed off and the men walking around with gloriously raging hard-ons.”
I laughed. “Why does it sound like you’re really getting into this?”
He touched the top of his spiky hair and smiled. “Because, even though I’m not going to get laid this weekend, I want everyone in the room thinking that I am.”
“You’re a nut.”
“Damn right I am,” he smirked. “That’s why we get along so good, Sin. I’m completely nuts and you need that in your life right now.”
“I won’t argue that,” I said.
Without Jesse, I’d be alone in my apartment, arguing with my cat, and searching for batteries for my vibrator. This was definitely going to be much more stimulating.
I hoped.