The Wives of Beverly Row 1: Lust Has a New Address (2 page)

And then something happened that Ariel hadn’t expected at all. She never would have dared imagine something like it would happen. She was so surprised she didn’t even react. She just stood there.

Jake Medeiros slapped her gently on the butt.

For a second Ariel wondered if she’d imagined it but then he did it again. His hand definitely came down and cupped the cheek of her butt through the skirt of her dress. His hand was large and strong and lingered on her butt as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She looked up at him and then instantly looked away. Her face flushed red. She was shocked. She hurried after Becky and Zola and didn’t dare look back at Jake. She just prayed no one had seen what he’d done.

What kind of a neighborhood had she come to?

II

Z
OLA MEDEIROS WAS MORE NERVOUS
about her new neighbors than she cared to admit. Two single women, a mother and daughter, it was her worst nightmare. If she’d been married to a loving, caring husband who was loyal to her she would have been more than happy to welcome some newcomers to the neighborhood. But that wasn’t who she was married to at all. She was married to Jake Medeiros and he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off of them.

She was crushing ice when Ariel and Becky arrived. She swallowed as she looked up at them. They were as pretty as pictures, the two of them in their sweet sundresses looking like immaculate virgins. The mother, Ariel, was a little older than Zola was, early thirties she guessed, but she looked so great it didn’t matter. It was amazing to think that the woman had a sixteen-year-old daughter. She must have had her when she was still a child herself.

Jake led them through the kitchen like they were some new prize he’d bought for himself at the mall. Zola just knew he’d be all over them as soon as he got the chance. It made her shudder to think of it. That would be Jake’s absolute fantasy, a mother and daughter pair to seduce. She could already see it all happening. The way he was standing there, looking at the two of them, she knew he was flirting. He had a way of pushing his chest forward and straightening his back when he tried to pick up women. It made him look taller and thinner and more muscular than he was.

She’d seen him go through so many mistresses, he’d had so many affairs, that the stages of the process were as familiar to her as anything in her life. When she confronted him about it he’d said he was a sex addict. She hadn’t known how to deal with that. Of course he was a sex addict, that was the problem, but the way he said it, he made it sound like it was a legitimate illness and she was the one being insensitive. She even had to go to support group meetings to learn how to take care of her husband’s
illness
. It made her sick. He wasn’t ill, he was a cheat! No matter what they called it, no matter what sort of support groups they created, her husband was a cheat and it was as simple as that. And nothing ever changed. He was rich and handsome and he fucked whoever the hell he wanted and there was nothing she could do about it.

Except cry. She could watch what he did and she could cry. She had no choice. She’d come into the marriage penniless. He was the owner of a design company that created iPhone apps and cleared a hundred grand a month. He owned their house, he earned all their money, she was his trophy wife. He hadn’t married her for love, he’d married her so that he could add her to his list of possessions and show her off to his business associates. He wasn’t going to change his life for her. And the worst part was that she’d known all that when she’d married him. She’d denied it at the time, she’d told herself she was in love, but if she’d been honest she would have had to admit it was a lie. She was marrying for money and she was allowing herself to get sucked into the role she found herself in now. She didn’t feel like she could complain about it. She didn’t feel entitled to complain. Jake got what he’d wanted and she’d entered the marriage knowing full well what the bargain was. She got to live in the hills overlooking the city, she drove a Mercedes and lived in a million dollar home, and he got to fuck whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

The fact that it hurt her every single day seemed beside the point. That was irrelevant to the bargain they’d struck. And now her husband’s philandering was going to turn her against her new neighbors too, two women who in all likelihood were perfectly nice and could have been her friends.

That was what she was thinking about as Jake called her over to meet Becky and Ariel.

*

Z
OLA LED HER NEW NEIGHBORS
up the stairs and into the bedroom. She thought it was ironic that she was the one leading them into her bedroom for the first time. Jake would be doing it soon enough. She knew she was being paranoid, she had no reason to judge Ariel or her daughter or to feel threatened by them, but after everything Jake had put her through she just couldn’t help it.

She turned to face them. They both looked so sweet, so innocent.

“You really don’t have to go to any trouble,” Ariel said.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Zola said a little stiffly.

Ariel looked like she’d been blushing. Had Jake made a move on her already? Zola doubted nothing when it came to her husband.

“Nice room!” Becky said.

“Thank you.”

“I mean it. This is a gorgeous bedroom. It’s like out of a movie.”

Zola felt flattered that Becky was so impressed. She had been just as impressed when she’d first seen that bedroom. She couldn’t believe it was going to be hers. The floor was Italian marble and opened onto a sweeping balcony overlooking the pool. There was a hot tub on the balcony made from the same stone. Above the bed was a dome built high into the ceiling with a round window looking up at the sky. It was fabulous. At night she could look up at the stars as she fell asleep.

“It’s stunning,” Ariel said. “I can’t believe this is where you sleep.”

Zola smiled. The two of them were genuinely impressed and Zola was surprised that they were being so complementary. Maybe she’d had her guard up too high. Any time she’d shown her home to her family or friends from her old life they’d always been too jealous to give her any complements. Now two white girls, her neighbors, we’re being kinder to her than her own childhood friends had been.

“Your home is just as nice as this,” Zola said.

She’d been in the house Ariel had just bought and it was pretty impressive.

“No kidding,” Ariel said. “We can’t believe that either. All of this is a far cry from the life we’re used to.”

“We lived in a bungalow in Pomona before this,” Becky said.

“That’s quite a ways,” Zola said.

“It is,” Ariel said. “We still can’t believe we live in a place like this.”

Zola looked at them. They were honestly amazed to be there in Beverly Row. She could relate to that herself. She’d come from East LA and when she’d first seen where Jake lived her jaw had literally dropped. Seeing how genuinely impressed Ariel and Becky were, she started to feel kinder toward them, more affectionate. They weren’t the rich, stuck-up women she’d expected them to be at all. They were friendly and open and uninhibited. They were nice. They were even humble.

Zola had been toying with the idea of giving them the worst fitting and least flattering bathing suits she could find but now she changed her mind.

“Ariel,” she said, “what size are you?”

Ariel looked at Zola’s breasts and then down at her own.

“Here,” Zola said, “try this on.” She handed Ariel a blue and white Lacoste bathing suit that might actually fit her nicely. She grabbed a more daring triangle top for Becky.

“You’ll wow Kyle in this,” she said as she handed it to her.

“Who’s Kyle?” Becky said.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Zola said with a grin.

Becky looked at her mother.

“Go ahead,” Zola said. “Put them on. Don’t be shy. I’ll go wait on the balcony.”

III

“W
HAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING?”
Becky whispered to her mother. “This is insane.”

Becky felt like she’d stepped onto the set of some wacky television show. Everything was so different from what she was used to. Normally on a Saturday afternoon back in Pomona she’d be at the Montclaire Plaza right now with her friends, checking out all the hot guys at the mall. The last thing she’d expected was to be brought up to the bedroom of some sexy Latina wife and told to try on swimsuits.

“I know, honey. Let’s just get through it, okay.”

Her mom seemed as rattled as she was.

“Are you alright, Mom?”

“I’m fine, honey.”

“You seem embarrassed.”

“I guess I am, Becky!”

Becky nodded. They were in this together. She pulled off her dress and got into the bathing suit. It wasn’t a bad fit. Her mother went into the bathroom and came back out a moment later. She looked beautiful in the Lacoste bikini. Becky knew her’s was the sexier outfit but she wished she could have worn the Lacoste. It looked so elegant, like a paparazzi shot of a famous actress lying on a yacht on the French Riviera.

“Mom, you look fantastic!”

“Oh, honey, you’re so sweet.”

“You really do.”

“You look great too.”

Becky looked at herself in the mirror above Zola’s vanity. She looked hot and she knew it. It was a shame there wasn’t anyone to impress at this party. It was just neighbors, a bunch of married men and their wives, she imagined.

“Híjole,” Zola said as she came back in from the balcony. “You two look hot.”

Becky saw her mother smile. She was actually proud. That was all it ever took with her mother, a few complements and she was right as rain.

“Thank you for giving us outfits that actually fit,” Ariel said.

“You’ll be a lot more comfortable now,” Zola said. “Trust me. You never want to be the only girl at a pool party without a bathing suit.”

Becky looked at her and smiled. Despite the strangeness of the situation she was pretty sure she liked Zola. At first she’d pegged her as a bimbo and a trophy wife but now that she had a chance to see her more closely she could tell that there was more to her than that. She seemed sensitive, vulnerable even. It wasn’t difficult to see why. She was young and Mexican and she was probably as amazed at all the wealth on Beverly Row as Becky and her mother were.

Becky tried to imagine what it would be like to marry an older man like Jake Medeiros and have him take her into this world of glamor and glitz. Would she feel like a princess who’d been rescued by her prince charming? Or would she feel like property that had been purchased? Would she feel that she had to do everything her husband wanted to keep him happy? She wasn’t sure.

IV

A
RIEL LOOKED AT HERSELF IN
the mirror. Becky and Zola were ready to get back to the party.

“You two go ahead,” Ariel said. “I’ll be right down.”

“Are you alright, mom?”

“Sure, honey. I just need a minute to collect my thoughts.”

Zola smiled at her. “Don’t worry about a thing, Ariel. I remember how nervous I was to meet these people when I first came here.”

“When was that?” Ariel asked.

“It was about two years ago. I lived with my mother in East LA before that. I guess me and my mother were like you two,” she said, looking at Becky.

“That can be a nice arrangement,” Becky said, smiling at her mother.

Ariel loved it when Becky said things like that. She’d gone through a period of guilt after her divorce. Becky’s dad was a good father and she knew Becky would miss living with him. But Becky understood the reasons for the divorce and once she got things clear in her head she’d been nothing but supportive.

“It was nice,” Zola said. “Sometimes I miss it, even with all this wealth and comfort, I miss the ratty little apartment I grew up in. Funny isn’t it?”

“Not really,” Ariel said. “I can understand that.”

“Does your mother still live there?” Becky said.

“Oh, no. She died a few months after I left.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Becky said.

“It was very sudden. Very unexpected. I felt so guilty at the time. I’d left her alone to rush off and marry a rich gringo and then she died. I felt like I’d abandoned her.”

Ariel put her hand on Zola’s shoulder. She felt like comforting her. Ariel felt strangely protective of Zola. It was weird considering they’d only just met. There was something about Zola that Ariel could relate to. She could see herself and Becky in Zola’s face. Zola was just a few years younger than Ariel but Ariel almost thought of her as being closer to her daughter’s age. She seemed somehow alone in the world and that made Ariel want to look after her.

*

A
RIEL WATCHED ZOLA TAKE BECKY
down the sweeping staircase and then went back into the bedroom. She gathered up the dresses she and Becky had taken off and then touched up her makeup using the mirror above Zola’s vanity. She knew she was just stalling. She’d been so embarrassed when she arrived and she needed a few minutes to compose her thoughts.

What the hell was up with Jake Medeiros? How had a sweet girl like Zola ended up with a man like that? Sure, he was rich and good-looking, and she knew as well as the next girl that those two things could be a powerful combination, but he was so
smarmy
. That was the word that came to Ariel’s mind. She still couldn’t believe he’d actually patted her butt right there in the kitchen where anyone could have seen. He seemed to be one of those entitled men who thought the whole world and everyone in it was his for the taking.

*

W
HEN ARIEL GOT DOWNSTAIRS SHE
felt just as shy as she had earlier. She looked through the kitchen doors out to the patio and there weren’t actually that many people out there. She’d felt so overwhelmed earlier and that had made the party seem bigger than it was. She stood there in her bikini, praying she looked good.

“Ariel,” Zola said and came over to take her arm.

“Thanks for this bathing suit,” Ariel said. “I really like it.”

“You look great in it. Better than I do.”

“Oh, I doubt it,” Ariel said but when she looked at Zola she really seemed to mean it.