Chapter 6 #2
Right then she had eyes only for the bathroom… marble floor, huge tub, and a magnificent walk-in shower with a rainfall showerhead. It was so much better than the bathroom in her own studio apartment, and a huge perk from going out with him that night.
The hot water felt incredible on her sore muscles, and she stood under the spray, eyes closed, letting the heat work out the tension from Kai’s workout that morning. Julian’s voice carried through from somewhere in the house, still negotiating.
She’d just finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair when she heard the bathroom door open and saw him leaning back against the vanity, looking in her direction.
“Still on hold,” Julian said over the sound of the water. “Third time.”
“That bad?” she called back. They’d been naked together so many times that she had absolutely no qualms whatsoever about being naked in the shower while they talked. This was what they did.
“That annoying.” He paused. “How’s the shower?”
“As perfect as ever. You might never get me out.”
“You say that every time.”
“It’s a genuine risk…”
Luisa turned off the water and reached for one of Julian’s very thick and very nice towels from the heated rack. She wrapped it around herself and stepped out to see Julian still looking at her, phone still at his ear, an expression on his face that she recognised.
“…yes, I’m still here,” he said into the phone, his eyes not leaving her. “Actually, something just came up. Can I call you back in thirty minutes? Great.” He ended the call and put the phone down. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Luisa replied, suddenly acutely aware that she was wearing only a towel and not a very long one at that.
This was the complicated thing about her and Julian.
They weren’t a couple, that was very clear and well understood.
They each had their own lives and their own expectations.
It was an arrangement that benefited them both.
But there was also genuine affection and genuine attraction.
The liked each other a lot, and they had fun together, and sometimes, when the timing was right for them both, they fell into bed together in a way that felt completely natural.
Like now, apparently.
“You know,” Julian said, pushing off the vanity and walking towards her. “I’ve got half an hour before I need to call him back.”
“I know. I heard you tell him.” Luisa was smiling. “That’s not very long.”
“Efficiency is a virtue.” He stopped in front of her, close enough that she could smell him… as ever he smelled expensive. His fingertips traced their way along the edge of the towel wrapped around her chest. “What do you think? Are you feeling virtuous?”
Luisa thought for a moment… because she could absolutely say no and Julian wouldn’t push.
She wanted to say yes, because uncomplicated physical intimacy was exactly what she could do with right now.
For a moment she thought about Amy, but they’d been very clear with each other that whatever they were was open…
it had to be when Amy had a boyfriend she lived with and, apparently, another woman she was seeing too. This was allowed. This was fine.
“Half an hour?” she asked.
“Give or take.”
“We should probably make it count then.”
Julian grinned and kissed her, and Luisa let the towel drop to the floor.
***
They really did make it count.
Afterwards they lay tangled together and Luisa found herself thinking of Amy again, which was ridiculous… she’d just had sex with someone else and now, a little guiltily, her mind was straight back to Amy.
“That’s very loud thinking,” Julian teased, his voice coming to her as much through the vibration of his chest against her cheek as anything else.
“Sorry.” She realised she’d sighed which he must have noticed.
“Don’t be. Just curious what’s going on in that head of yours.” His hand stroked her hair. “You’ve seemed a bit distracted when we’ve seen each other the last few weeks.”
Luisa smiled to herself… there were times where she wondered if her and Julian were in some kind of relationship, because they both knew each other so naturally and intuitively by now that they could spot when something was off with the other.
But then, because they weren’t in a relationship, they could be honest with each other about what was going on in their lives, completely honest without fear of consequences.
“I met someone.”
“Ah.” He didn’t sound surprised or hurt, just curious. “Someone serious?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“When is meeting someone ever not?” His hand kept on stroking her damp hair, the pace unchanged. “Does this someone know about me?”
“She knows about…” Luisa turned her head to look at Julian. “I told her I’ve got a not-boyfriend.”
He found that funny. “Not-boyfriend? I like that one.”
She grinned. “It captures you and me pretty well.”
“It does.” He was nodding. “It really does. So what’s complicated?”
“She lives in London. She has a boyfriend. And she has a not-girlfriend.”
Julian’s eyebrows shot up and he chuckled. “Jesus, Luisa. First person since I’ve known you that you’ve talked about and she’s already seeing two other people?”
“Don’t forget she’s in London.”
“London’s easy. You do some work in Europe and you can see her all the time. Her seeing two other people? That’s hard.”
“You think I’m crazy?”
“No.” He shook his head. “But I’m just about the absolute last person you should ask for relationship advice.
Look, Luisa, I know you. You’re one of the most pragmatic people I’ve ever met.
If you’re into this woman to the point where you’re telling me about her, I’d say it’s worth taking seriously and doing what you need to do to give it a chance.
” He paused. “Does this mean we should stop this?”
Luisa thought about it. Her and Amy had agreed to be open, at least for now, and Julian was comfortable, familiar and uncomplicated in his own way. The two worked well together, for now at least.
“It’s too soon for that yet. Let’s see how things go?”
“I can do that. Just be open with me… I would hate for you to miss out on something with her because you don’t want to hurt my feelings.”
“I will, and I appreciate that.”
Julian checked his watch and groaned. “Shit, I need to make that call back. It’s been forty-five minutes already. And we need to start getting ready if we’re picking Maria up by seven.”
Luisa disentangled herself and headed back to the bathroom to dry her hair and start on her makeup. Julian’s voice floated through from the bedroom, calmer now, his negotiation going better for a bit of time to regather and, she liked to think, because of what they’d done in the intervening period.
By the time her makeup was done Julian was dressed and helped her to zip up the dress she’d chosen for the evening, a sleek black number that hugged her body with a high slit up one thigh and a low back. She’d chosen it specifically for the party, knowing it would photograph well.
“You look incredible,” he said, and she could tell that the admiration was genuine.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said, and meant it… Julian looked really very, very good in a suit.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” Luisa confirmed, pushing all thoughts of Amy to one side.
They had a premiere to get to.
***
Julian had a driver that he used for nights like this, and the car was spacious and luxurious. Precisely the sort of car that one was supposed to arrive at a premiere in.
Maria was waiting outside her apartment building when they pulled up, looking elegant in a blue dress that matched her dark hair.
She was beautiful in an approachable, real-person way, the kind that didn’t turn heads but made you want to keep looking back once you’d noticed.
Next to Luisa’s model looks, Maria often joked that she was the ugly step-sister, but that was far from true.
“Finally,” Maria said, sliding into the back seat next to Luisa and leaning in for a quick hug. “I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me.”
“Never,” Luisa replied with a grin. “Julian was on endless business calls, you know how it is.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I get it,” Maria laughed, putting on her seatbelt as the car pulled away. “It’s a constant battle to have boundaries between work and pleasure in my job.”
“You look lovely, Maria,” Julian called from the passenger seat, twisting around to smile at both of them.
“Thanks Julian. Nice of you to let me crash your date night.”
“It’s not a date,” Luisa and Julian said simultaneously, then laughed.
As they drove, the houses grew progressively larger and more ostentatious.
Luisa and Maria slipped into Spanish as they often did when it was just the two of them and they were chatting.
They’d met during Luisa’s first week in LA, introduced by a mutual friend from back home, and Maria had taken Luisa under her wing, their friendship sealed when Maria had come along on a disastrous double date with two functionally brain-dead hedge fund portfolio managers and they'd fled into the night like partners-in-crime.
Maria knew about Amy, had been there in the nightclub on the night when Luisa and Amy had met…
indeed going to the club that night had been her idea.
But she steered clear of the topic, aware, Luisa knew, that Julian’s Spanish was pretty good and being sensitive to Luisa’s situation with him.
Luisa was tempted to tell Maria that they could speak about it openly but held off…
it seemed crass to talk much about someone she was seeing in front of him, despite it being well within the parameters of their ‘not-boyfriend’ arrangement.
The driver turned into a private road, joining a line of similarly expensive cars heading towards a mansion that looked implausibly grand and opulent, all white stone and columns, lights illuminating the palm trees that lined the driveway.
“Wow,” Maria whispered. “This is where the premiere is?”