3. Miquela #2
June didn’t offer her any pampering. This wasn’t an appointment. She wasn’t on her best game, and she didn’t have to be. Nevertheless, Miquela quietly followed her upstairs and to her room, the bouncer glaring at her for as long as he could be seen.
“If you’re here about the photos, I can assure you that I had nothing to do with them.
” June perched on the edge of her sofa and motioned for Miquela to sit wherever she liked.
She chose the bed, facing June. “Discretion is one of my greatest policies. If your lawyer needs convincing otherwise, she can talk to Monique and me. We’ll set up an appointment. ”
“So you saw the photos?”
June rolled her eyes. “What, do you think I’m cut off from the world up here?
I get decent phone reception, and we have Wi-Fi.
Of course, I saw the photos. I woke up yesterday morning to a gaggle outside my door, giggling and marveling over your…
enthusiasm. I daresay, if you ever decide to move on from me, you’ll have every other girl lining up to try you out. ”
How could I want to move on from you?
“I don’t think you have anything to do with those photos,” Miquela said quietly. “In fact, I wanted to apologize to you and also say that I had nothing to do with them…”
“I’m sure. Don’t worry about it. I don’t think anyone knows who I am, and if they do, they’re not talking. Besides, there are plenty of pics of me floating around the internet already.”
“June, I…”
“Of course, it’s highly dated by now, and not the best quality.”
“Damnit, June, I don’t care about that.”
“Then what do you care about, Miquela?”
Miquela reached to take her hand, but June pulled it away, securely folding her arms.
“I care about you,” she said. “I care that you’re not hurt and not mad.”
“I am neither, rest assured.”
“Good.” Miquela folded her arms as well. Might as well build more barriers for them to tear down later. “Now… I wanted to talk to you about the other woman…”
June tried not to grimace, but failed.
“I know who she is.”
“Of course you do. There were pictures of her, too. I don’t doubt you did your homework the moment you saw. You types always do.”
“No, I mean I know her. We met right before the photos came out. Her close friend owns the yacht next to mine down at the marina. And we…” No, never mind. Now was not the time.
“It’s a small world.” June sighed. “So?”
“Is there a reason you’re keeping up the bids? You know I’ll give you any amount you want. That’s how much you mean to me.”
June’s walls grew higher with every word.
“It’s up to Monique. You heard her terms. Put in your final offer. Sounds like the woman with the highest bid will win, Ms. Bolivar.”
What was that polite shit?
“I don’t believe for one second that you, with your second-in-command rank and close relationship with your boss, can’t go up to her and say, ‘I want Miquela to be my patron.’”
June continued to gaze at Miquela as if she were nothing.
“I could, honestly, but I won’t,” she said. “Because, first and foremost, I am running my own business. I have to do what is in my best interest. Since you and Dr. Christie are both perfectly fine patron material, I will let money be the deciding factor. A girl has money to save.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want!”
“What makes you think she won’t, either?
Look, Miquela…” She softened, but it was more for Miquela’s benefit.
“We have fun together. I like you. More than most of the clients I’ve had.
Last I checked, I had slept with hundreds of people.
Many of them blur together at some point.
I know more about Peter, our bouncer, than I do some of my long-term clients. ”
Miquela tried not to bristle. As long as she’s been clean this whole time, it doesn’t matter.
At all. Right. Haha. Miquela could tell herself that until she was blue in the fucking face, but she was still a woman in love.
Why the hell wouldn’t she be all over June, dreaming of monogamy and everything they could share with only one another?
I don’t care about your past. I only care about your future.
“But?”
“But,” June continued, “I like her, too. This job is always complicated. I count myself lucky that I have two good women vying for my best position. If she does get it, so what? Patronage isn’t monogamy. I’ll still be offering the same services that I always offer.”
That wasn’t the point. That was never the point.
“I could never take you out again. I would always be at her scheduling whim.” Just the thought of Sette taking June to somewhere like the French restaurant where she had wined and dined the woman with oral skills of a Greek deity… Jesus…
“That’s true. That’s the business here. Besides, Miquela… you need to remember. I’m not your girlfriend, regardless of how you introduce me to your family.”
“That was a cover!”
“I’m sure, but you need to keep that in mind. I’m your mistress, not your girlfriend. There’s a reason I have to draw that line.”
What was she doing? Alluding that Miquela was forgetting what they were at the end of the day?
Service provider and client… what a clinical way of looking at it.
Wasn’t that how she used to see it, though?
The whole point of paying a woman for superficial affection was to keep annoying things like emotions and expectations out of the picture.
Look how that had backfired.
“You don’t feel anything for me at all? You said…”
What a fool she was. June hadn’t really meant it when she said she loved her, too. That was an act. Miquela had paid her for that. At no point had June been anything more than a glorified mistress. There was a reason she was one of the best in the world.
A fool. Such a fucking fool.
June stepped forward, taking Miquela’s hand in hers. Such a soft, warm touch. Miquela almost believed there was trust and desire in it.
“Anything I feel for you besides respect and friendliness is irrelevant. I have a job to do. Going forward, I need you not to be jealous. Do you understand?” She said it so gently that Miquela almost missed out on the meaning.
“I understand. I’m sorry if I ever gave you reason to doubt me or my intentions.”
She said it, yet the words were jumbled in her throat. Only years of thorough practice at orating during meetings allowed her to say those words clearly and confidently.
“You’re special to me, June. That’s all.”
She managed to keep herself together… until June embraced her. Then every bet was off.
Had she intended to seduce her? Was this a job still, or did she really want to be with her? Did it matter when June was in her arms, kissing her, touching her where it mattered most?
Miquela hadn’t intended to make love to her. She would’ve been content with a mutual understanding about what they wanted from their arrangement. Because that’s all it was, right?
So why did Miquela swear she felt nothing but love emanating from her?
Maybe she really was that pathetic.
Pathetically in love, that was.