The Scarlet Letter Society (8 page)

BOOK: The Scarlet Letter Society
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“So how are things going with your man?” asked Maggie.

“I can’t believe I broke my own law and dated an actor,” said Wes with a sigh. “As a theatre director, I know better than anyone that they’re all whores and emotional disaster zones.”

“But he’s hot,” said Maggie.

“Alfred is so fucking hot that when he walks down the theatre aisle toward the stage, I literally get goosebumps. And I swear to God, having a hot affair inside an empty theatre is the sexiest thing ever. We’re all kinds of
Gay Phantom of the Opera
up in this house. H-O-T.”

Maggie laughed, “Hilarious. Could the two of you please stereotype yourselves a little bit more? You’re like gay cliché central!”

“I know, right?” said Wes. “And don’t care. He is a stunner, and I swear to God, a keeper. This is the longest I’ve dated anyone—ever. Six months! The whole thing is positively mythical.”

“I am so, so happy for you,” said Maggie. She’d never seen Wes so serious about a guy, and she didn’t want to jinx how happy he was by talking too much about it. She secretly hoped this was the one for Wes—like herself, at the end of the day, he just wanted someone to curl up and watch bad movies and drink good booze with.

The pair ordered their bento boxes and hot teas and took in the scenery of the passersby on the waterfront. They both loved people-watching.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” said Maggie.

“What shit, baby?” asked Wes.

“My hip joints were killing me for days after my little stairwell romp with Ted,” she said. “And starting another fling is making me wonder what the hell is going on with me.”

“Oooooh, yeah, what’s the latest with you and Dr. Feelgood?”

“I haven’t told anyone but you that the professor is a woman! We’ve seen each other a few times. I really like her. I positively get the whole girl thing now; it’s a totally different world sexually. I mean, I don’t think I’m a lesbian, because at the end of the day, seriously, just give me a dick.”

“Word!” said Wes.

“It’s almost like finding a new best girlfriend that you’re just more intimate with,” said Maggie. “I have generally never felt very close to other women. I hate cliques and all that, so the idea of having a single best girlfriend is something I’ve always wished I had. Kate is filling a void that I guess I’ve always had and didn’t even realize.”

“Sounds like you sure are getting your void filled, honey. And awww. How cute are you girls? Painting each other’s toenails, watching
Heathers
together, and sucking each other’s tits.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that, exactly. Although I do have to say after a lifetime of wondering what it would be like to be with a girl, I can say it’s much easier than I imagined. Everything just happens sorta naturally. Girls are softer. Their hair is so soft! Everyone must use better conditioner than I do. And the curves…wow. It’s far different than a guy.”

“Oh I’m sure, not that I’d know about the whole girl thing,” said Wes. “I practically gagged in 7
th
grade when we played spin the bottle and I had to make out with this cheerleader. All I could think about was that I wanted to play on the turns where it was only guys in the circle. It was her football player boyfriend I wanted to make out with! So, have you told Ted about the good doctor?”

“Sort of,” said Maggie. “Wasn’t sure if I should tell Dave about it.”

“Husband number one! Say what? What is the deal with you two, anyway? How do you still manage to be friends with him after all the marriages the two of you have been through?” asked Wes.

“There haven’t been that many marriages,” said Maggie. “I’m only just divorcing my second husband, and Dave divorced that idiot girl he married after me within eighteen months.”

“So what’s the deal with Ted, then, since you said you don’t have any plans to marry him?” Wes asked.

“Aw, he’s just a filler,” said Maggie.

“And what the fuck is a filler?” asked Wes.

“You know, just like when you have a guy to keep your mind off the fact that you don’t have
the guy
,” said Maggie. “When I realized how miserable I was with
Matt and that I wanted a divorce, Ted was just sort of there to be a lovely distraction. He’s sweet, and fun and low maintenance.”

“And hot! I guess I was wrong thinking you might be in love with this guy,” said Wes. “And I certainly understand being in a place where you have a guy to keep your mind off not having
the
guy. Don’t miss that.”

Maggie thought for a second. “Who the fuck knows about any of it,” she said. “I have for sure learned a lot about what love is and what it isn’t over the years. There are different theories on whether you find it once or you can find it a hundred times, and. I am starting to think I had my shot at love in my first marriage, blew it, and now I’m just sort of going to be doing the filler thing.”

“Oh, Jesus, let’s just not even go down the ‘love’ road,” said Wes. “What a bunch of greeting card industry-fueled bullshit that is. It all comes down to who makes you feel good about yourself and pays attention to you. That’s what I’m getting out of the actor right now; he makes me feel sexy. Call it love, call it lust, call it whatever. I just want more of it! And not to be sentimental about the whole thing, but when I am with him I feel like I’m home.”

“Yeah,” said Maggie. “I want more of something, too. I want to feel home. I’m just not there yet.”

As she said headed back to her shop after lunch with Wes, Maggie’s phone rang. The noise startled her, and she didn’t even look to see who was calling before she answered it.

“Hello?” said Maggie.

“It’s just me,” said the voice on the other line.

“Well of course it’s you,” said Maggie, smiling. “Who else would call me on the actual phone?”

“How is everything going?”

“Well, fine, I guess. I’m about to go through a divorce and I’m cheating on my soon-to-be ex with both a guy and a chick. So I guess I’m pretty busy. How ‘bout you?”

“The same. Old buildings still falling. Trying to keep a few of them up,” said Dave.

Maggie smiled. “Old buildings still falling” was the standard answer whenever anyone asked her first husband how he was doing. Dave was an architectural historian for the National Historic Preservation Association in Washington, D.C., working out of their regional Keytown office. His passion for old buildings had fueled a career that included several books, speaking gigs around the globe, and the very thing he loved most and did best: doing anything in his power to save beautiful historic buildings from being torn down.

“I know there are a few old beauties out there still on the planet thanks to you standing in front of the bulldozer,” said Maggie.

“Maybe one. Okay, maybe two,” said Dave. “I thought I’d give you a call to talk about Lilith’s graduation party.”

“Aw, I’m too tired to tell you about it,” said Maggie. “But can you believe our baby is graduating already? Let’s have lunch tomorrow and we can go over it all then, ok?”

“Sounds good. I’ll come by your shop?”

“Sure. You know I’m always hungry by noon, so I’ll see you then.”

“Perfect. See you then, Maggie.”

“Bye, Dave.”

from:
Lisa
[email protected]

to:
Ben
[email protected]

date:
Monday, June 11 2012 at 7:09 AM

subject:
Logos

Thank you again for the lovely lunch at the Provence. Their crepes are to die for—and I’m picky about crepes. I appreciate you sending over the logo samples. They look fantastic. Would you like to meet here at the bakery to discuss them?

Lisa swallowed as she hit send. Oh, geez, this was going to be it. Inviting Ben directly to the shop after the incredible sexual tension they’d shared at their lunch was a bold move; one that would make the SLS proud if they had any idea all she was doing was flirting.

How am I even thinking about cheating on Jim
? she wrote in her journal. But it was right underneath the words “EYE FUCKING” in huge letters, with a cartoon eye drawing surrounded by squiggles. Other than his ridiculous foot fetish, Jim really wasn’t that bad of a husband. He had been by her side when she went through heartbreak after heartbreak trying to get pregnant. She flipped through the journal pages, seeing the dates and times written down in the margin. He would drive home from work if it was ovulation time, go to doctor’s appointments with her, bring dinner home when he knew she’d had a long day at work.

In the beginning of their relationship, undoubtedly when he was trying to play it down, she hadn’t thought the shoes obsession had been that big of a deal. Lisa wasn’t someone who had cared what the hell she wore on her feet—if it were up to her, she’d be in flip flops every day at the bakery. But she now had a custom built closet full of the most expensive, most gorgeous shoes on the planet. Carrie Bradshaw would have fainted at the sight of this obscene closet. They actually called it the “Shoe Room” because it used to be the house’s smallest bedroom.

All I want is a baby
, she wrote,
and all I have are shoes
.

She heard the soft
ping
of her laptop that meant a new message had arrived.

from:
Ben
[email protected]

to:
Lisa
[email protected]

date:
Monday, June 11, 2012, 7:16 AM

subject:
Business meetings

Perhaps needless to say, I would absolutely love to meet you at your bakery to discuss your logo. I want you to be happy. Whichever mock-ups you like, we can change until we achieve exactly what you want.

May I be so forward as to say that I really very much enjoyed our lunch as well. You looked gorgeous in the outfit from Maggie’s shop. I was sorry to have to leave town for that conference and not get to follow up sooner. As always, I am looking forward to seeing you again.

Ben

Lisa smiled, wondering what would happen at the meeting. She re-opened her journal. While many times she could fill three pages without even blinking, sometimes she’d write only a word or two with the date. Today, she scrawled the date and the words,
Design THIS
.

July 2012

“We’re undercover passion on the run

Chasing love up against the sun

We’re strangers by day, lovers by night

Knowing it’s so wrong, but feeling so right.”

-
Part Time Lovers
,
Stevie Wonder

Monthly meeting of the Scarlet Letter Society
.

Zoomdweebies Café

Friday, July 6, 2012

5:30 a.m
.

Attention, ladies! We’re terrible at being a book club. This month make sure you have read Erica Jong’s
Fear of Flying
(stay up all night if you have to, Eva!)
.
It’s my favorite book, so I’d love to actually chat about it
.

“The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared

not tread.”

-
The Scarlet Letter
,
Nathaniel Hawthorne

At 6:00 a.m., Eva checked the email reminder of that week’s book club meeting as the notification came up on her iPhone. Knowing she was going to catch crap from Maggie, she had at least read a few chapters of this one. It certainly was an easier read than that Victorian snoozer she’d blown off. At least this one took place in a period of time during which they’d all actually been alive.

Eva rolled over in the luxurious, ridiculously high Egyptian cotton thread count bedding in her two-story suite overlooking Central Park.
God
, she thought,
I love it here
. And how could she not? This top-notch suite was compliments of her hard work and dedication to her corporate law practice, and she had earned it. She
rolled her eyes at the thought.
Okay, that was all kinda bullshit
. She knew full well the room upgrade was compliments of her chef lover. She used to stay in a normal person small suite, not this place, twice the size of her mother’s island cottage, where actual presidents had stayed.

BOOK: The Scarlet Letter Society
4.82Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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