Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
JULIETTE
H udson has one arm around my waist, holding me so close that I can breathe him in, and while his other arm rests on my shoulder as we dance. Strangely, I feel secure in his arms, all troubles matter little here, in the moment. I think we are doing more of a performance than actual dance because the Dubois have their eyes on us, watching our every move, tracking all motion, and looking for God knows what.
“How did the meeting with Frank go?” I ask Hudson, who looks a little distracted, knowing what reply to expect.
“Not so well. But we’re not done. He’s invited me to their ranch house here in Manhattan. We’ll be spending a couple of days with them.”
“What?” I ask, almost screaming. He pulls me closer to cover up for the scream. “We’ll be staying with them? I don’t want to do that.”
“We have no choice. It’s not like I like it myself, but I believe if I spend some more time with him, he might change his mind.”
“What about Phillipa? The whole family? I don’t want to be under constant scrutiny. Look at them, they hate me already.”
Hudson smiles, places his hands on my cheeks and pulls me closer. For a while, I want to pull away, but then I realize we are outside. This is part of the contract. I let him kiss me.
“For seventy thousand dollars, you’ll do it,” he says, his voice cold and detached. He doesn’t care how I feel about spending a couple of days with the Dubois. And why should he? I signed my freedom away to him when I signed that contract.
“You’ll be fine,” he adds after a while.
I don’t know about that; I think to myself. “Who else will be there with us?” I ask him.
“Alison will be around, but she’ll be so busy you won’t even notice her. The ranch should be fun for you. There are a lot of things to do there.”
“Fun? If you call an anal probing the Dubois will subject me to like I’m an alien fun, then sure, I’ll have fun.”
“Come on! Where’s that go-girl attitude of yours? We really need that now!”
I want to kick him in the nuts, but that, I know, isn’t a fiancée-like attitude; instead, I throw him a terrible look that tells him to shut up.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see the girl who came up to me earlier walk past us. The angelic Jasmine has a young boy’s hand in hers and they start to dance. The boy, who looks no older than ten, has a big smile on his face, so happy to have such a beautiful woman dancing with him. I wonder who she really is. She doesn’t have the boisterousness I’ve noticed in most of the woman here, who are so quick to show off their wealth or their husband’s wealth. Her gracefulness is her most alluring and enticing quality, and it seems like something she picked up naturally, not something money instilled in her. Her clothes aren’t the most expensive at the party, but she’s found a way to make them the most attractive. Simple touches with pieces of jewelry in her hair, ears and fingers make her appear like some earthy goddess. I can close my eyes and picture her sitting before a cauldron preparing a witch’s potion.
“Who is she?” I find myself asking Hudson. I am very curious.
He turns around to see who I’m referring to, and I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t like it that I’m asking about Jasmine.
“Don’t tell me to forget about her,” I say before he speaks. He sighs resignedly.
“That’s Jasmine.”
“I know her name. Who is she? Why is she at this party? Does she have a rich father, husband, or her own company?”
“None of those things. She’s Frank’s mistress,” he tells me.
Mistress. I feel a little disappointed at that, but it passes. If this lady feels like the best position she can achieve is that of a mistress, who am I to be disappointed by that? She looks satisfied with life, and I can tell it’s because she isn’t the type burdened with earthly endeavors.
“Does Frank know you’re fucking his mistress? I ask him, getting a gasp from him. He places his palm on my mouth, looking around to ensure no one heard me.
“Watch what you say,” he hisses.
“So, it’s not a lie.”
“It’s nothing. It’s none of your business.”
“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?”
“Frank isn’t an idiot. He knows to separate business from pleasure.”
“Have you seen her? She’s the type of girl you destroy worlds for.”
He chuckles, spins me around and pulls me closer. “Jasmine won’t stand anyone destroying anything for her. People see her as Frank’s mistress, but she sees herself as something else.”
“I see,” I say, watching her. Jasmine catches me staring at her, and she smiles. I smile back, not sure why. I have a seething feeling that I’m supposed to despise her. This is the woman my fiancé is having an affair with. I’m supposed to despise her, yet I can’t find it in me to do that. It’s not because Hudson isn’t really my fiancé, but because Jasmine isn’t the kind of person to hate.
“She knows the engagement is a ruse,” Hudson confesses after a while.
“What? How? Did you tell her?”
“No, she figured it out. She’s quite intuitive,” he says, but I can tell he’s lying. He must have said something she picked up on.
“What did you say, Hudson?”
“Nothing big. I told her I can’t wait to be rid of you in seven days.”
“Ouch,” I mock.
So, that was what she was referring to when she said she understood how I had him in a bind. Do I really have him in a bind, or does he just want to have sex with me? I am something he can’t have, so he wants me even more. Maybe there’s not much difference between Frank Dubois and Hudson Sinclair.
“It’s something we’re both thinking,” Hudson hisses back at me. “This relationship is artificial and is having a strong impact on us that we’d rather not have happening. So, in six days, it’ll all be over.”
“You’re not the one who is about to spend those six days with a family that absolutely despises you.”
“You’ll be fine,” he tells me.
“Hudson.”
I hear a voice call to him from behind, and I turn around to see who it is. Phillipa stands with her hand out, asking for a dance.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she says to me, smiling. I see no sincerity in that smile, and the sweet girl I saw earlier who looks hurt is gone, replaced by one with the cunning look of a serpent. I look beyond Hudson and to the table, not surprised to find Elizabeth watching us keenly.
“Of course not,” I say.
Before I pull away from Hudson, I kiss him brashly on the lips,
I don’t look back at them as I go outside the hall, intending to get some fresh air. I won’t have them thinking they’ve gotten under my skin or that I fear that they’ll steal Hudson from me. I don’t walk past the family to get to the balcony overlooking the beach. Just as I step out, I get another glass of champagne.
It’s nice to be away from the crowd and noise. Phillipa can have Hudson for the rest of the night. I like this peace and quiet. It doesn’t last long, though. The door to the balcony opens, and I turn around to see Elizabeth walking towards me.
Oh, come on, give me a break.
I don’t acknowledge her but continue to watch the lapping ocean.
She joins me and rests her back against the railing while watching me, studying my face.
“When I was younger and my dad bought this beach house, I’d bring boys here on the weekends when I knew he was out of the country,” she starts, but I keep my eyes focused on the water, hoping she’ll take the hint that I want to be alone and leave. She continues. “We’d have sex everywhere in the house, and sometimes, I’d leave evidence of my transgression lying around for him to find so that when he does, he’d get so mad at me. It happened so many times, I wonder how long it took him to know I was doing it intentionally. But that didn’t matter; he was still always mad at me, and then he banned me from the house.”
Why is she telling me this? I’m not interested in your teenage shenanigans.
But I cannot keep mum. I’m supposed to show them they do not terrify me.
“We all do stupid things as teenagers.”
She chuckles. “No, I wasn’t being stupid. I was sending a message to my father. You think I liked those boys I brought here? A good number of them irritated me, but I wanted to get my father to see me.”
“I’m sure he does now.”
“You think so?” she scoffs and turns around. She takes a pack of cigarettes out of her dress and a lighter. She offers me one, but I decline. She lights it and smokes before she continues. “I run a major part of his company, keeping him afloat, but all he talks about is his Phillipa. Phillipa this, Phillipa that.”
What is this? Is this her way of befriending her way into me to find a way to pull me away from Hudson? Does she want me to become her friend?
“Every father wants a solid marriage for their daughters. You found a husband. Phillipa is still a spinster.”
“My father hated Andrew so much. Almost didn’t come to our wedding.”
I don’t know what to say to that. Why is this girl trauma-dumping on me? It makes me uncomfortable.
“I feel a little joy that Phillipa won’t get what she wants, and if I didn’t have a stake in this drama, I would have congratulated you.”
Now we’re getting to the reason she’s here.
“But we need the deal with Hudson, and you’re getting in the way.”
“Hudson tells me he has a good offer for your father. Convince him to take that.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” she says dismissively. “Do you know my father? He doesn’t do deals. He takes. We need Hudson to lay his head down and let himself be defeated.”
“Well, that isn’t going to happen.”
“Yes, because of you. There is only one person who could have made my father agree to a deal, and you’ve come and taken her place. You’re causing more pain and loss than you realize.”
“I think the pain and loss are all your father’s doing. He’s not unbeatable, and he isn’t God. The faster he realizes that the better for the whole family and company.”
Elizabeth takes another drag and shakes her head. “You don’t know my father.”
“I think I do. I think for all your protests as a teenager, you never really outgrew him. You still can’t stand up to him to tell him the truth. If you could, you wouldn’t be in this mess now.”
“What are you saying? That I’m a failure?” she sounds angry now, ready to pick a fight.
“You’ve achieved more than I’ll ever dream to achieve in my life. You’re no failure. But at heart, you’re still a little girl terrified of her daddy.”
She’s silent for a while.
“Is your father alive?” she asks finally.
“No. He died when I was a child.”
“So, you have no idea what it’s like to have an overbearing father with such control and power. So, don’t talk like you know me. You have no idea what my struggles have been about. You have no idea what it’s like to be me!”
She’s screaming now, so I know I’ve hit a nerve. I also know living with these people for the next five to six days is sure to test me. How I wish there was a way out of this.
“Now, let’s talk about you,” she says, moving closer. How did you get a man like Hudson, and how has he kept you a secret for so long? My father has kept tabs on him for a long time, and I’m sure if he had a girl, he’d have found out a long time ago.”
“Your father isn’t God,” I tell her. “And how Hudson and I met is none of your business. We love each other, and we’ll start a family together, and you and your family can do nothing about that. Hudson isn’t a weak man who’ll cower to your father.”
Elizabeth sighs and drops her cigarette to the floor. She picks another and lights it.
“It should be fun having you around,” she says and turns away. She smokes for a while longer before she turns around and heads back in, leaving me infuriated.
What is the problem with this family?! It is so dysfunctional.
I remain on the balcony for a while to cool my head off. When I get back inside, I can’t find Hudson, but immediately, Jasmine finds me and pulls me to a corner. There is a look in her eyes that I can’t place.
“I need to talk to you,” she says.
I point at the balcony as a place where we can get some privacy.
“You need to be careful,” she tells me. “Hudson says you’ll be staying with the Dubois for a while.”
“Yes,” I tell her.
“You need to be careful with them. They are a crazy family. You should be wary of them.”
“I know. Elizabeth, she?—”
“No, not Elizabeth. She’s the most sensible and balanced of them all. Phillipa is the one you should be worried about. She’s crazy.
I find that hard to believe. Elizabeth has been aggressive and invasive since I got to the party.
“Don’t let the sweet face and sweet voice fool you. Frank wants her married off and away for a reason.”
“And how would you know that?” I ask, even though I know the answer already.
Jasmine stares at me. “You know why,” she answers. “Anyway, someone will miss me at the party soon. I just wanted to warn you. You’re messing with vipers. Hudson made a mistake bringing you here, dragging you into this mess of a family.”
“But you’ve dragged yourself into this mess of a family yourself.”
She smiles. “I’m like a moth to a fire. I can tell fire isn’t good for me, but I can’t help my nature. I’m attracted to what I’m attracted to.”
“Men with power. It’s the same reason you’re sleeping with Hudson. You like that he has power.”
“Are you jealous?” she asks with a sleek smile.
“Why would I be? I don’t care about Hudson.”
“You two really are playing this game well,” she says, shaking her head. I hope no one comes out of it utterly destroyed, and I hope for your sake it isn’t you. Hudson, he’s strong, he’s hardheaded. He’ll throw himself into some other venture and heal through it. What about you? What do you have to throw yourself at?”
I have my bakery; I think to myself.
“You're playing a dangerous game yourself.”
“The thing with Hudson and me, it’s carnal, nothing more. Hudson knows that.”
“This thing with you and Hudson, is it just carnal?”
“To me, it is,” she says.
“But Frank doesn’t think so.”
“He won’t let himself think so. He likes control so much that he’s convinced himself there is nothing he can’t control. Do you see why I say this is very dangerous for you? There are so many avenues for things to go wrong, so much mess waiting to explode, and here you are smack in the center of it all.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Hudson will protect you,” she tells me. “He doesn’t acknowledge it yet, but he won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
“What about you? Will you be fine?”
Jasmine smiles. “I have always been able to take care of myself.”
She leaves me, and I have no urge to leave the balcony this time.
What have I gotten myself into? I should be scared. I should find Hudson and tell him that I can’t keep up this charade and that I want to go home. I should forget all about the seventy thousand dollars. There are other, safer ways to make money.
But I don’t do anything. I watch the beach, and my fears dissipate. For some reason, I want to be here. I want to see how all this plays out.
So much time passes before I finally walk back into the hall. The party is waning out already, and Hudson walks towards me.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asks me, watching my face.
“Out there, on the balcony, getting some air.”
“We have to leave.”
“Did something happen?”
“No. The Dubois are heading home. We ride with them. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I tell him. “I’m fine,” I repeat to reassure myself.