Chapter 17
Eden
If there was one good thing about being by herself for a week, it was that it forced Eden to focus on herself.
Not just her present, but her future. She stopped by the Ike & Sons office on Tuesday to do a deep dive into her finances and the options before her.
Her advisor – one of Ike’s sons, of course – highly suggested that she find some kind of employment, even part-time, that allowed her to stretch out the hundred thousand that she received once her remaining debts were paid off.
It wasn’t enough money to buy even a condo, though, and as Mr. Simmons reminded her, “HOA fees and property taxes are still a thing even if you buy your home outright.” His biggest suggestion was that she find employment to pay her bills now and put the other money away into a safe investment fund that would eventually buy her an early retirement in ten to fifteen years.
It wasn’t sexy advice. He didn’t think she should start a business if she didn’t have her heart set on something, and unless going back to school was guaranteed employment, she was still better off simply investing the money.
So, she aspired to put some in a high-yield savings account and invest the rest.
As soon as she got a job, anyway. Until then, that money would pay for her living expenses. Her lease wasn’t up until late summer, anyway.
Her friend, who worked at The Dark Hour, said there were no openings she qualified for.
She hadn’t been automatically invited back to the next weekend at La Mariposa, although it was still a couple of months away, and she wasn’t convinced she would say yes or no yet.
Guess it depends if I’m single again. Outside of agreeing to meet with both Benson and Liam Friday night, she didn’t hear much from them.
Nor did she send them flirty texts or pictures.
Man, am I PMSing again already? Everything kinda pissed her off, and she couldn’t stop eating pasta.
“There’s lots you can do if you’ve got the entrepreneurial spirit,” Blair said when they had lunch at a coffee shop on Wednesday.
Eden was supposed to meet the Mistress girlfriend, but Mira canceled at the last minute because she wasn’t feeling well.
Instead, Blair showed up with offerings in the form of free “sexcapade” party favors they had picked up at a bachelorette shindig the weekend before.
Where they had been part of the entertainment, of course.
In the bag were tiny, USB-powered sex toys, lube, and jokey shit that ran the gamut of boobie erasers and vagina-shaped popsicles.
Eden loved them, of course. The fact that Mira and Blair just took all the leftovers from the party home to give out to clients and friends was the best.
“Like what you do?” Eden asked as she nosed through three different sample-sized body lotions. “Because that’s a bit of a leap for me. Being a Butterfly once does not qualify you like the Summit does, apparently.”
“Plus, you’re still wet behind the ears.
I benefited from having a partner who already knew the biz.
No, I’m saying if you want to do sex work, there are a few avenues that don’t even require full service.
Like the Salon. I think someone is gonna put in their notice soon. I could get you an interview.”
“That’d be great…”
“You’d be fast-tracked because you’ve been a recent Butterfly. Monica is one of the owners of La Mariposa.”
“If you think it’s something I can do…”
“Get one of those boys to bring you by to see what it’s like. Just don’t tell them you’re thinking about working there.”
“Why not? Jealousy?”
Blair shrugged. “Men can be weird, I hear. More than one girl who works there had to break up with her boyfriend because he was more weirded out by her working there than as an independent escort.”
“Yeah, not sure I wanna go that route right now.” The thought of being an escort, either by herself or through an agency, was kinda terrifying.
I just wouldn’t know what to expect. At least in places like La Mariposa, the rules were heavily enforced.
The veneer of safety was stronger than if Eden simply “put herself out there.” Besides, that’s not something I should be doing while dating two guys…
But she hadn’t told Blair about what happened. She still wanted to see how that played out first.
The only thing she did tell her was that she was going on a double date with them, of sorts, but it was more about hashing out how things would work between the three of them going forward. Blair was not fazed.
“I’ve heard of crazier shit around here,” she said.
Perhaps it was apparent that Eden’s loneliness for female friendship reared its head, because before she left, Blair invited her to a luncheon featuring women who were in their lines of work and navigated the pratfalls together.
It wasn’t the same as the guild for submissive partners in high-profile BDSM relationships who relied on each other for friendship and “get out of jail” cards. Sometimes literally.
“I always knew stuff like that must exist,” Eden said with a chuckle, “but never thought I’d be involved.”
“That’s how they get you,” Blair said. “Those dominant types set their eyes on you, and that’s it. You’ve gotta be theirs.”
“Is that how it worked for you?”
“Sweetie, my neighbor literally recruited me, and thought it was because I was hot enough to do it, not because she was falling for me.”
It was at that moment that Eden received a text from Liam. At first, she wasn’t sure what a tiki bar had to do with anything, but that was the image appearing in her chat window. Tiki torches, pineapples wearing sunglasses, and bartenders in Hawaiian shirts.
The caption made her roll her eyes in amusement.
“Thinking of you while at the weirdest work lunch of the month.” A follow-up picture showed the top of Liam’s head as he gave a thumbs up in front of an Elvis impersonator playing the ukulele. Eden soon realized it was a reference to the tropical island that they had met on a few weeks ago.
“You ever have paradise follow you home?” she asked Blair.
“Not like you have. So, who are you gonna pick to be your long-term husband?”
Eden shrugged as she drank her latte. “Jury’s still out. I’m gonna make them work for it.”
She meant it, too.
Around noon on Thursday, she received a text from Benson to meet him and Liam at a local Indian restaurant. “Neutral territory,” he called it. Eden didn’t ask questions. Including what to wear. She figured that was in her court.
Benson will wear a suit. Liam will wear half a suit.
So, without knowing much about the restaurant besides what Google Maps provided, she wore a gray sweater dress with tights and a pair of black winter boots.
While spring was arriving, the nights were still drizzly and cold.
Which was why she also brought a handkerchief to wear over her head to protect both her scalp and hair from the light sprinkle falling from the dark clouds as she stepped out into the twilight.
She attempted to focus on what she’d get off the menu.
Biryani is always good. Her boots clacked on the sidewalk as she double-checked the route on her phone.
Benson had picked a place within walking distance of her, but it was still ten minutes with multiple turns.
Lamb vindaloo might be good. She stopped at the first crosswalk signal with a few other people, all of whom were either going home from work or heading out like her.
I haven’t had butter chicken in forever. Not from a proper restaurant.
Anything to not think about how that night might go.
Because she didn’t know what to expect. Benson might decide he couldn’t do it, and that would hurt. Liam might decide to fight him for Eden, and that would hurt. Or she could blow up at them for acting like children and withholding information from her…
Yeah, that would hurt.
So, she would go in with the assumption that everything was fine. She’d stay chipper and open to suggestions. Ultimately, she knew she could be happy exclusively dating either one for a long while. Maybe forever? No. She shouldn’t get ahead of herself.
Really, she just hoped they’d answer some of her burning questions.
Eden did question why they wanted to do this in public, but when she arrived and told the host who she was meeting, she was escorted to a small private dining room in the back. Oh. Right. They can do stuff like this.
She walked in, half-expecting to be the first one there since she was five minutes early. Instead, she was welcomed by both Benson and Liam standing up to greet her.
It was certainly a sight she never thought she’d behold. Well, here we go. With an affable demeanor and a desire to get this over with, she approached, opening her arms to them both with a little Woo! Party! before refusing to let either one help her with her coat or chair.
After all, they’d fight over it. And as much as Eden would like to see that, this was a Good Vibes Only dinner.
Which was why she happily revealed that her sweaterdress had a keyhole in the bust. All the better to taunt them with her cleavage.
Well, go on. She sat with her chin perched on her fingers, elbows almost knocking off her napkin. Show me what you got.
She loved the way they glanced at each other, as if they had not truly perceived Eden’s power over them until that moment.