Eruption - Chapter 19
Friday
James was hanging out with his friends tonight.
Normally I'd be watching T.V. with Tyler, but I hadn't heard from him or Melissa since Tuesday.
I wasn't going to push them. Fridays were the one night a week that James and I usually didn't spend together.
And just because two of my best friends weren't speaking to me, it didn't mean James had to skip his night out.
So instead of going to Tyler's, I had made plans with Bee.
When James hung out with his friends, it usually meant Mason was also a part of the shenanigans, which left Bee free to hang out.
Most Fridays Bee came over and hung out at Tyler's with me.
They had known each other back at the University of New Castle too.
And apparently Tyler had never liked Bee's ex fiancé, which made them bond instantly.
But sometimes Bee would hang out with her other friends.
So tonight I was crashing her girls' night at a bar near her advertising agency.
I had spent time with Marie and Kendra before.
And despite the fact that they were both really nice, I always felt a little out of place.
Like Bee, they were super successful women and I was just a girl who had been given her first marketing job. Maybe they'd have some advice for me.
I stepped out of the subway and made my way up the stairs.
James hated that I used the subway. But he also refused to let me drive any of his cars while we were in the city because he deemed it unsafe.
Which didn't bother me at all. I had no desire to drive through the crazy busy streets of New York City.
The thought scared me too. However, Ian was our only driver, which usually resulted in me saying James could take the car.
I didn't mind the subway. I had gotten used to the smell of urine and the random homeless people sleeping in the corners of the subway cars.
Besides, it made me feel like a normal New Yorker.
All week long I had tried to tempt James into seduction.
Apparently I wasn't great at being sexy, because he hadn't caved yet.
But he had said he'd have me begging by the end of the week and I couldn't wait to see what he had in store.
I silently laughed to myself. He had successfully turned it into a competition despite me sincerely thinking it would be good to wait till our wedding night. He had already gotten his way.
Every now and then I found James' behavior frustrating.
But for the most part, I liked that he always knew what he wanted and what was best for me.
I knew that from the outside looking in, it may look like I was a pushover.
That wasn't how it felt though. We both gave and took a lot from our relationship.
Just because I wasn't rich and successful didn't mean I didn't have anything to offer him.
And even though people judging me bothered me sometimes like James' control issues, for the most part I had learned to ignore it.
I didn't care that people didn't understand why James wanted to be with me.
The important thing was that I knew he wanted to be.
I opened up the door to the bar and stepped inside.
The air conditioning was on full blast and it made me shiver.
James and I had never gone this long without having sex and strange things were turning me on.
I swallowed hard and reminded myself that the shivers weren't from him but from cold air.
Hopefully James was as amped up as I was and tonight he would confess that he couldn't go another day without having me.
Especially since tonight I was planning on pulling out all the stops that I was too tired to last night.
The thought made me smile as I made my way over to Bee, who was waving her arm in the air to call me over.
"Hey!" I said and sat down in the empty stool.
"Girl, I can't wait till your wedding," Kendra said with a huge smile. "So what's the situation with the single guys that are going to be there?"
I laughed. "You mean like how many will be there?"
"Mhm."
"There's a bunch of James' friends from college that are coming that I've never met. I think most of them didn't say they were bringing a plus one. And a few of his colleagues who I know are single. I can't remember, have you already met Rob and Matt?"
"What, is that like a gay couple or something? I'm talking about straight, single guys here, Penny."
Bee laughed. "She's met them. Matt is Mason's younger brother and Rob is James' younger brother. They were at my birthday party." She paused for a second. "Now that you mention it though, they would make kind of a cute gay couple."
"Oh, those two." She rolled her eyes. "You're right, I have met them. They're too young for me. But the other options sound promising. I am so getting laid."
Marie laughed. "Okay, now that the important question is out of the way...are you getting nervous?"
I took a deep breath. "I'm not, actually.
" I had thought after Isabella's threat that she would have been horrible all week, but I hadn't heard from her.
And James' parents hadn't contacted us at all.
Those had been the only two things I was stressed about.
The wedding itself didn't make me nervous.
It felt like I had been waiting forever to marry James. "I'm just so excited."
Marie smiled. "That's good. God, I was so nervous the week before I got married. I just kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Like tripping down the aisle, or..."
Bee lightly pushed Marie's shoulder. "Don't make her worry. It's good that you're excited, Penny. We're all so excited for you."
A waiter came by and dropped off four cosmopolitans. Bee and her friends always ordered them when they went out. It gave the whole night a Sex in the City vibe, although Kendra was the only one that was single.
"How's the new job going?" Bee asked and took a sip of her drink.
Luckily my bruise had faded so I wouldn't have to talk about being called Fight Club. "It was a weird first week. Having to tell the other interns that I was basically just handed the job was embarrassing. You're all so successful. And I..."
"Okay, you can stop right there. Marie and Kendra, absolutely," Bee said. "But you know how I got my job. James only gave you an internship. You still have to work your way up. You still get to prove your worth."
I laughed. "I forgot about that, actually."
"And everyone's going to forget that James gave you your first marketing job. It's not a big deal. Besides, you're marrying him. You're taking his last name. People are going to automatically respect you."
"Do I sense a hint of jealousy?" Marie asked.
Bee laughed. "Mason and I are enjoying the here and now. And we're too busy to get married."
That's how I had felt while I was still in school. Bee and Mason were growing their business together. They worked all the time.
"Mhm," Kendra said. "So when do you think Mason will pop the question?"
Bee shrugged. "Sometime before we have kids? I don't know."
"Are you seriously thinking about having kids soon?" Kendra asked. "Ugh, they're always so sticky."
Marie laughed. "Sticky? Actually, that's a pretty good way to describe the little monsters."
"Not soon soon," Bee said. "Like I just said, I'd want to get married first. So it's a few years out. We have talked about it though."
"I'm thinking pretty soon myself," Marie said with a smile.
"Nooooo!" Kendra yelled. Some people in the bar turned to look at us. "You can't have kids yet. None of you can. I'm not ready."
"You're not ready?" Marie asked. "You're not the one whose body is going to turn into a watermelon."
Kendra laughed. "True. But I'll be an unofficial aunt. Which means I have to agree to the when. And I say not yet. I need these girls' nights. I can't have you guys all fat in here. How will I ever pick up men that way?"
"But you'll look so good in comparison," Bee said.
"No. Pregnant women have that whole glowing skin thing going on. You're all trying to ruin my life." Kendra turned to me. "And you're awfully quiet. Does that mean you're going to start popping babies out right away too, miss soon to be missus?"
"Oh, I...no, I don't know if that's...well, probably not." I took a huge sip of my cosmo. God is this strong. I coughed and looked back up. They were all staring at me.
Kendra's face got a little softer and she glanced at Bee.
Bee gave me an encouraging smile. "What, James doesn't want a million little kids running around?"
I looked down at my drink. "We just haven't talked about it much." I knew he was worried about being a bad father. But he was stronger than he realized. He wasn't going to break again. His life was good now. We were good.
"Isn't that kind of something you're supposed to talk about before getting married?" Kendra asked. "Ow!" she yelped. I looked up to see her giving Marie a death stare.
"You're so young," Marie said. "You two have plenty of time to figure it out. Besides, you're just starting your career. You'll probably want to work for several years before starting a family."
"Mhm." I wasn't so sure about that. But I was young. Being with James always made me try to act older than I was. I had plenty of time to convince him that it was a good idea, though. Right now I just wanted to focus on us.
Bee pulled out her phone. "Oh, no." Her face drained of color.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Bee looked up at me. "I thought you said you'd tell James to not let Mason throw his bachelor party? You said you'd talk to him."
"James said he didn't want one and then he never mentioned it again. I figured it didn't matter. I meant to ask you about that, though. What's wrong with Mason throwing it?"
Bee's face went from pale to bright red. "Ummm...well..."
"I'm really sorry, I kind of thought you were just joking around about it."
"I wasn't joking, Penny. This is a disaster."
"I mean, I can talk to James tonight if it's that big of a deal..."
"It's too late. They already left."
"What?"
"They kidnapped him." She tossed me her phone. It was a text from Mason:
"I hope you had a good day at work, baby. Also...we kidnapped James for the weekend. We'll all be back late Sunday night. And we stole James' phone. So tell Penny so she doesn't worry. I love you! P.S. Don't be mad. I promise to make it up to you Sunday night."
I couldn't help but laugh, but I immediately stopped when I saw Bee's face. "Bee, they'll have fun. Don't worry about it. Plus it sounds like you're going to have a fun Sunday night."
She snatched her phone from me and started texting Mason back.
"Will you just tell me what's bothering you?"
"Mason used to be a man-whore," Kendra offered.
"Kendra! Penny is marrying his best friend. Don't tell her that." Bee looked so embarrassed.
I laughed. "Bee, I already knew that. And I don't see why that matters. He used to be is the key there. He's not now."
"Wait, you knew about his side business when we first met and you didn't tell me? A little heads up would have been nice." She laughed and instantly seemed a little more relaxed. But I had no idea what she was talking about.
"What side business?"
"You didn't know? What is wrong with me?" She put her face in her hands.
I looked over at Kendra and Marie but neither of them seemed to want to say anything now. I didn't care what Mason's embarrassing side business was. "If you're worried about him cheating on you or something, you have nothing..."
"Oh, God, no. Mason wouldn't do that. At least, I can't picture him doing that."
"He wouldn't," Marie said. "He's head over heels for you."
"So, it's fine," I said.
"No, I mean, I'm worried about James. Mason isn't good at...pacing himself." She drew her eyebrows together.
I knew Mason knew about James' problems. But I hadn't realized that Bee knew. It made sense though. I knew that Mason was a man-whore because James had told me. And she knew about James because Mason had told her.
"James knows how to pace himself." I didn't want to be having this conversation in front of Marie and Kendra.
"It's going to be fine. They're just gonna have fun.
" Now I was trying to convince myself. I thought about what James had said yesterday when we were playing two truths, one lie.
One time he was with Mason he had gotten so drunk that he blacked out and lost a ton of money gambling.
That was probably a long time ago, though. James didn't do that kind of stuff now.
Bee nodded. "But I don't know what kind of place Mason's taking him to. It could be really bad. Mason's really good at doing stuff like this. I'm worried he's going to take it too far."
I swallowed hard. I still didn't really understand what she was getting at, but I had an unsettling feeling in my stomach.
I hadn't had sex with James all week. He was just as horny as me.
And Mason had just taken him God knows where.
"I'm just going to call him real quick." I pulled out my phone and pressed on his name, even though I knew Mason had said they had taken his phone.
It went straight to voicemail. "Where do you think they went?
" I tried to make my voice sound normal as I put my phone back in my purse, but I'm pretty sure I sounded panicky.
"I don't know," Bee said.
"What's Mason's side business?"
"He doesn't do it anymore. He's retired." She gave me a small smile, but it was far from encouraging.
"Bee, please just tell me."