Page 23 of The Wedding

A million scenarios ran through Jamie’s head, from Etta shrugging it off to sobbing to accusing her of being cruel and lying. Since she knew her girlfriend well enough by now, Jamie also knew the first scenario was unlikely to happen, especially when she was already stressed out. So, this meant Jamie’s hyperactive imagination and hormonal paranoia sent her into overdrive imagining the latter scenario, where she was clawing on Seena or Natasha’s door and crying because she had cancer and wasabandoned.

And her therapist! That poor woman!

Was this normal? Her brain was nothing but “exit plans.” What would she do if Etta abandoned her? What would she do if she had no money? What would she do if she had nowhere to live?Don’t do this to yourself.Etta would never… dump her without compensation. Etta was generous with compensation.

The sun had set outside the panoramic windows in the kitchen by the time Jamie set the dining room table with candles and a bouquet from the garden. A kitten ran underfoot, batting around a grape he got from God knew where. Beatrice liked the cats, but she often complained that this one in particular was always in the kitchen getting into shit. Who knew where Barbarossa was?Staying far from the children because she’s a staunch, spayed spinster.

Jamie lit the candles the moment Etta texted she was five minutes away.“Looking forward to your dinner,”was the last thing she said. Jamie irrationally hoped that it wouldn’t be the last nice thing she said.

“Where’s Harris?” That was the first thing Etta asked when she came through the front door. The butler was usually there to help her with her things. “This house feels empty…”

“I gave them the night off.” Jamie brushed something off her coat before taking Harris’s place. Etta eyed her suspiciously, turning around and letting Jamie help take off her large coat. “Just you and me tonight.”

“I didn’t realize you had that sort of authority around here,” Etta said.

Even though she knew that was her usual humor, Jamie still clammed up. “Well… it’s my place too.”

“Indeed, it is. What’s for dinner? I made sure to save room.”

Jamie led her to the dining room, where Etta brusquely made comments about the candlelight and the romantic atmosphere it cast. She sat in her usual chair and picked up a fork. Jamie barely had time to bring out the gravy from the kitchen before Etta was already eating.

If she thought it was mediocre, she didn’t say. Not that she didn’t say anything at all. Quite the contrary. Etta was a bigger chatterbox than usual, going on about the incompetent investors at her meeting that morning and a big fuckup that occurred when Amanda lost some important papers and Natasha had to bend over backward to retrieve them – while still doing her usual job. Etta didn’t say it in any way that implied she had to fire her assistant, but she was not pleased, and Amanda found out the hard way.

Jamie nearly choked on her chicken.

“What?”

“It’s just… that usually means you spank ‘em.”

Etta scoffed. “You know it’s not like that.”

“I know. I’m just saying.”

“Anyway, then I had lunch with a potential partner…”

Jamie barely had time to talk about herself. Funny. Theone time she didn’t want Etta to dominate the dinner conversation, and she wouldn’t shut the hell up. She was hardly animated, and it took her forever to eat her dinner because she talked so much, but apparently, Etta had built up a treasure trove of topics to hash out with her girlfriend.

Suffice it to say, that finding the opportunity to tell her the weird news did not come easy. Jamie had to turn to other tactics, like silencing Etta when she slid her hand over her knee and brushed against her thigh. Etta stopped what she was saying mid-sentence and regarded Jamie with a cool disposition.

“You trying to tell me something?” She cracked a smile. “Oh, is that what this dinner is about? Well, I guess we haven’t done anything special recently. I’m sorry about that.”

Jamie shook her head. “It’s all right. There was the wedding, then I was sick…”

“Are you feeling better?”

“Feeling? I suppose…” Was this her opportunity? Her hand searched for Etta’s to squeeze. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you…”

“Remind me to email a guy named Gerald later. I need to thank him for setting up my lunch today, though that guy is not compatible with me at all. Maybe I could get another lead…”

“It’s rather serious.”

“Oh, fuck it. I’ll go do it right now.” Did Etta not hear her? Apparently not, because she got up, piled her silverware and napkin on her empty plate, and patted Jamie on the shoulder on her way by. She disappeared, going upstairs to her office computer and leaving Jamie with the dirty dishes.

Good thing she didn’t want something actually romantic tonight! Good thing she wasn’t bored and needy. Good thing she wasn’t scared or something! Jamie tossed her napkin onto the table and let out a grunt of disapproval.

After doing the dishes, Jamie found Etta in her office, talking businesson the phone.

Was she or was she not taking some time off? Or did it not count until Sunday?