Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
M arise ushered Kathleen inside, and when she was quickly claimed by a colleague, she slipped away.
She crossed the floor slowly, her eyes scanning the room for Darlene.
She found her near the bar, holding court with a man in a grey suit and a portly woman in a flowing gown.
Darlene looked so comfortable amongst these people that Marise suspected there must have been something academic in her background.
She waited until the portly woman walked away toward the restrooms and the man answered a call before she moved in.
“Hello,” Marise said softly.
Darlene turned her head, lips curling. “You’ve got a nerve. Coming back in here like nothing happened.”
“Did something happen?” Marise asked, lifting her glass. “I must’ve missed it.”
“You’ve become picky with your clients,” Darlene said. “Not a good move for someone so overpriced.”
Marise smiled faintly. “Yet you are happy to pay it. So, might I add, is Kathleen Knowles. And she’s not so demanding.”
“Demanding?” Darlene sipped her wine, eyes narrowing slightly. “I merely expect performance for payment. That’s fair. You’ve been ignoring me, yet you accept her money.”
“Not everything’s about refusal,” Marise said enigmatically. “Some things are just... inconvenient timing.”
Darlene gave a low, amused sound. “And here I thought I was the inconvenient one.”
“Oh, you are,” Marise said. “But that’s half your charm.”
A pause. That was enough to soften Darlene’s edges. Her mouth twitched. “I see you’ve decided to get back into the game,” she murmured. “How serious is our brilliant little star?”
Marise leaned against the bar, her posture casual. “Enough to bring me to this.”
“But not serious enough to keep you at her side,” Darlene said, tilting her head. “Tell me something. Are you bored already?”
Marise gave her a slow look. “You know how it is. Genius on paper, dull in practice. Also, she’s high maintenance.”
Darlene hummed. “I suspected she’d be too needy.”
“She is,” Marise said. “But it’s not only that. It’s the earnestness. The idealism. You can’t say anything offhand without her reading too deeply into it. She’d have a nervous breakdown if someone moved her coffee cup.”
Darlene laughed, genuinely this time. “Well, I suppose someone has to put up with it. Might as well be someone who’s good at pretending.”
Marise let the jab slide. “It’s not pretence. I’m playing a role. Same as always.”
Darlene glanced around, then leaned in slightly. “What is that, exactly? The supportive friend? Or friend with benefits.”
“I’m whoever I need to be,” Marise said. “Though you already know that.”
“Oh?” Darlene sipped her wine, tilting her head. “You looked rather domestic out on the terrace with Miss Goody Two-Shoes.”
“She’s sweet in her own way,” Marise said, the word almost an apology. “And she hired me for the night.”
Darlene raised an eyebrow. “Why did you take her on as a client.”
Marise frowned. “Elise doesn’t like us refusing.”
Darlene’s smile curled. “Yet you knocked me back.”
“She’s Elise’s favourite. Kathleen comes first,” Marise said lightly.
“The woman’s infatuated with you, Veronica. It was plain as day on the terrace.”
Marise let that hang before answering. “I like people who understand what something is, and don’t try to make it more than that.”
Darlene gave a soft laugh. “Now that sounds familiar.”
“You, on the other hand, are a woman of the world,” Marise said. “No fantasies. No clinging. No strings.”
“I was a client,” Darlene replied, eyes gleaming. “Not a schoolgirl.”
Marise smiled faintly. “Exactly.”
Their eyes met. It wasn’t flirtation, it was recognition—a mutual awareness of roles, and of how easily people like them could slip into and out of character.
Darlene took a slow sip of her wine, her gaze flicking toward Kathleen who was talking to a man in a tweed jacket. “She’s pretty in a mundane sort of way.”
Marise’s voice was even. “She is. Not like you, though.”
Darlene tilted her head, clearly enjoying the response. “No. I’m different.”
She reached out and lightly touched Marise’s arm, barely there, but deliberate. “We can’t have you bored now, Veronica, can we?”
Marise lifted her glass, the faintest smile on her lips. “What do you propose?”
Darlene’s eyes glinted. “I’ll be waiting for you at the hotel after you ditch her.”
Marise gave her a measuring look as if making up her mind.
“You understand that I won’t be coming as an escort to service a client.
I want out of this business and a lot more out of life, nor do I expect to be a kept mistress to be hidden away.
I have much to offer someone as a partner,” she paused for a minute before going on.
“And I haven’t any qualms when it comes to making money.
If that’s not what you want, then we’ll part ways now and no hard feelings. ”
Darlene gave a brittle laugh. “You’d be joking, darling. You’re acting as though you’re my equal. I give you this…you’ve got balls.”
“I’m not a na?ve young woman, Darlene, I’m not going into this blind. I’m in my mid-thirties and need security. I’m ready to settle down with someone who thinks like me. I’m well enough off, but I’m ambitious.” Marise shrugged. “Perhaps I read you wrong.”
Darlene frowned. “How exactly do you read me?”
Marise leaned forward and lowered her voice.
“I see an attractive woman a little past her prime, who has everything except passion in her life. She’s had two husbands who didn’t satisfy her as much as a woman could, and she seeks that fulfillment.
Desperate for it. I also think you’re a manipulator and a wheeler and dealer with few scruples.
You have money but you crave more. Wealth is power.
That’s what you want more than anything.
For all that, you need someone to share your life.
” She stepped back. “I’ll see you around. ”
As she turned to go, Darlene grasped her arm. “Wait. If you’re with me, you’ll be exclusively mine.”
“Of course, that’s a given. We’ll look after each other.”
“What about Kathleen?”
“I won’t see her again.”
“Better still, I’ll make sure she gets the message.”
Marise went still. “She’s not to be hurt.”
Darlene raised an eyebrow. “Nothing so crass, darling. I’ll have a talk to her mother before I go.
Edith says she’s a doctor, an upstanding citizen of New York.
I’m sure she’ll be horrified her daughter’s date is a paid escort.
I imagine Edith will be too. For all her liberal ideas, she’s a staid academic who’s remained in a cloistered society all her life. ”
Marise swallowed back the bad taste in her mouth—Darlene really was a nasty piece of work.
“I’ll see you at my hotel. Don’t leave me waiting too long.” With that, she turned and slipped back into the crowd, leaving behind a trail of scent and suggestion.
Marise’s stomach churned. She stood with her empty wine glass and let the noise of the party swirl around her.
She had what she needed but the bitterness was nearly overwhelming.
A few minutes later, she saw Darlene approaching the Knowles who stood near the entrance to the terrace.
She moved quickly around the edge of the crowd and slipped into the shadows on the terrace.
From there, she could see and hear the conversation.
Darlene stood talking with Rhonda and John Knowles, gesturing elegantly with her hands as she said, “I imagine this has been a thrilling night for you both. Your daughter has become quite the rising star. And so photogenic, too. I saw the university’s press release earlier. That dress is a knockout.”
“She cleans up well,” John replied, pride in his voice.
“She’s always been gifted,” Rhonda said, smiling. “It’s lovely to see her finally being noticed.”
Darlene let out a low, cultured laugh. “Her companion, Veronica has such poise and style.”
Rhonda gave a nod, her mouth tightening slightly. “We haven’t had much of a chance to speak to her.”
Darlene tilted her head as if in confidence. “She’s... interesting. I met her through a friend some time ago. She works in a very particular kind of consulting. High-level companionship. Very exclusive and discreet.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Oh,” Rhonda said. Quiet and tight. Her gaze drifted slowly across the room, trying not to betray anything.
John cleared his throat. “She seems nice enough.”
Darlene smiled as if the conversation had simply passed through her. “Kathleen’s always had an eye for the unconventional, hasn’t she?”
At that moment, Kathleen stepped into the circle, holding a glass of white wine, oblivious to what had been said. “Hi. What are you all talking about?”
Darlene turned to her, radiant. “Merely telling your lovely parents how striking you looked tonight. And that your friend Veronica is quite the mystery. Not many women can wear two faces so well.”
Kathleen blinked. “What do you mean?”
Darlene’s smile tightened. “Only that she presents one way here and another elsewhere. That sort of duality takes practice. Or training.”
Kathleen’s eyes narrowed. “Darlene…”
Rhonda touched her daughter’s arm gently. “Sweetheart, can we talk for a moment.”
“No,” Kathleen said sharply. Her voice dropped. “Darlene, what did you say to them?”
“Oh, nothing scandalous,” Darlene said, lifting her glass. “Only a few quiet truths. You’ll thank me later.”
“No,” Kathleen said, more forcefully now. “You don’t get to decide what I should know.”
Darlene’s smile finally cracked. “Some people are born into worlds with rules. Others pay to pretend.”
Kathleen stared at her, stunned. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And you,” Darlene said, brushing a hand along Kathleen’s bare shoulder, “are very young.”
Without waiting for another word, she turned and glided out the door.
Kathleen stood, colour drained from her face. “Mom?—”
“We’ll talk about it later, Kathleen,” Rhonda said firmly. “Not here. Now it’s time your father and I went home. We’ll say our goodbyes to our hosts and be off.”
As soon as they moved off, Marise hurried to Kathleen side. “I heard what she said,” she whispered.
Kathleen looked at her accusingly. “What did you say to her to make her such a bitch,” she hissed. “I thought you were supposed to flatter her. Get her to ask you out again. Instead, she outed me to my parents.”
Marise opened her mouth to placate her when the shit really hit the fan.
Ted’s voice broke through the tension. “Kathleen! There you are. I finally found you!”
He strode across the floor with the energy of someone who had arrived late. Hair rumpled, collar slightly askew, he carried a rolled-up program in one hand and an open beer in the other.
“I wanted to say congrats.”
Kathleen turned, and offered a forced smile. “Thanks, Ted. I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I changed my mind. I wanted to celebrate with you.” He glanced around at Marise and his eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing here, Cass?”
Kathleen blinked at him. “Who?”
“Cass. The girl I told you about. From the movies.”
Kathleen stared at her “She’s... she’s your Cass ?”
Ted laughed, confused. “Yeah. Why are you dressed like that, Cass?”
Marise desperately tried to think of something to minimise the damage as Ted blundered on. “How did you get an invite?” he asked, brows drawn. “What the hell is going on?”
Marise opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Kathleen was already turning to her, voice low and shaking. “I know her as Veronica, Ted. She played us both as fools.” She looked Marise in the eye. “Who are you?”
Marise hesitated for a second, but it was enough.
Kathleen’s face went cold. Her hand came up—not to strike her, but to push her toward the terrace doors. “Outside. Now.”
Marise followed, silent, the air thick with judgment as they passed through the doors.
The terrace, cooler than before, did nothing to temper the heat in Kathleen’s voice when she finally spoke. “I let you into my life,” she said, “I let you meet my parents. I brought you here. And all this time, you were playing some other part with Ted.”
“It wasn’t—” Marise started.
“No.” Kathleen snapped. “Don’t. Don’t lie to me now. Not when it’s all falling apart anyway.”
“It was part of the job.”
Kathleen’s eyes blazed. “Which job? The one where you pretended to care about me, or the one where you dressed up and made friends with my assistant to see what you could steal?”
Marise swallowed. “Kathleen, please?—”
“No,” she said, voice raw. “I don’t even know your real name, do I?”
Marise remained silent.
Kathleen stepped back, as if staying too close would contaminate her. “Get out of my life.”
The words landed like lead.
Marise didn’t move. Couldn’t.
Kathleen’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Please. Just go.”
Then she turned and walked back inside.
This time, Marise knew it was final. Although she knew this might happen when she concocted the plan, it still hurt like the devil.