Chapter 45
The week sped by in a flurry of wedding planning and business.
When Etta wasn’t in her office, she was going over wedding items with Jamie.
Until then, she had little to do with the planning, outside of giving her opinion or confirming things with either Jamie or Jenny.
Now, however, it was coming down to crunch time, and she needed to confirm her final list of bridal members and what they would be wearing. Oh, and other things too.
Everything was ready now that Jamie had her bridal party and a wedding gown.
Appointments had already been scheduled for Raul and his styling assistant to come to the house on the morning of the wedding.
Contractors were in the backyard going over how to arrange things for the ceremony without upsetting the flowers.
The reception would be held in a luxurious community center right there in the hills that often hosted balls, galas, and private parties.
Jenny handled the details. Etta was paying her thousands right out of her pocket, and both she and Jamie were grateful to have Jenny’s expertise.
Flowers for the reception were reserved.
Photographers brought their portfolios, and the couple had spoken to their media photographer of choice.
There were only a few details left that Jamie wasn’t sure about, such as whether Etta’s mother would come, but she was still mum on the issue. She probably doesn’t even know yet.
Even the honeymoon was arranged. They received final confirmation for their reservations in Europe, although Jamie was more inclined to fantasize about Hawaii.
She finally went to her open-ended appointment at The Ruby Peacock and was fitted for new beach and lounge wear that could be used on the beaches of Hawaii or Italy.
By Thursday, she was excited, but still exhausted. Friday would be her only day of rest before Etta wanted to resume their kinky games on Saturday.
“If you had fun last time,” Monique said, after they discussed it at her house on Thursday afternoon, “then I’m sure you’ll have a good time tomorrow, too.
” Monique happily sighed, stirring cream into her tea.
“I’m rather jealous. I would love to do some role-playing, but there hasn’t been much of a mood for that lately.
” She pointed to her stomach. “This girl is determined to make sure I’m queasy half my days. You caught me on a good day.”
Jamie could barely believe her eyes. Had a woman not having twins ever been so huge?
Monique swore that her baby was average-sized, according to the doctor, but she was…
huge. It was absurd! How did she walk? Barely.
How did she sleep comfortably? She didn’t.
Monique wasn’t due for another two months, yet she looked like she was about to give birth to the first-place watermelon at the state fair.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I tell myself it’ll be worth it. That’s what I tell myself, at least.”
“What else do you tell yourself?”
Monique took her time pouring Jamie some more tea in the garden. “That I’m going to be a great mother while being the wife of a busy billionaire and running a halfway-to-illegal business peddling flesh.”
“Good goals. You put me to shame.”
“You’re doing fine. I hear you’re Kathleen’s number one helper on her new project?”
“Yeah. Go figure. I’m a bit behind right now, though.
People aren’t returning my calls, and Kathleen has been hard to get a hold of, anyway.
” She was still in Vegas and ignoring Jamie.
Probably on vacation with the partner. Can’t blame her for ignoring my existence.
Kathleen was the type of woman to block out the whole world around her if it meant taking a break with her romantic partner.
“Anyway, that’s one reason Etta wanted to do a role-play again.
It would be our last chance before the wedding and all the craziness that comes with that. ”
“I hear you.” Monique was already halfway through a stack of crackers. “Granted, Helen and I were playing games up until the wedding, but we’re like that 24/7. You and Etta are different. You have to plan it.”
“Makes it a bit anticipatory, doesn’t it?”
Monique grinned. “I bet. Etta plays good Domme games when she puts her mind and body to it.” Her smile disappeared. “I mean…”
“No. It’s fine.” Surprisingly, it really was fine.
Jamie was getting used to being surrounded by Etta’s ex-girlfriends wherever she turned.
If it wouldn’t be so weird, I wouldn’t mind hearing a story or two.
Although Jamie had a feeling Etta wasn’t hardcore enough for Monique’s constant appetites.
Her wife, Helen, always came off as the perfect lady, but even Jamie sensed the dominant undercurrent in the room when that woman was around.
She was a very different kind of Top from Etta, that was for sure.
If I were like Monique, I’d be melting around her, too.
Jamie was not like Monique, however. She preferred to keep the kink to specific, sparsely spaced times.
With a lot of warning. “I always get nervous, though. Last time she had me without underwear at a dinner with the Blakes.”
Monique’s eyes widened. “No.”
“Yup. I was the perfect wife in front of Francesca.”
“Is that why her tune has changed about you?”
“What tune?” Jamie’s ears perked up. “What’s this?”
“I was at the country club several days ago. She was telling some of her friends that she thought you might be a good match for Etta, after all. I thought I had wax buildup in my ears.”
“How about that?”
“Indeed. How about that.” Monique laughed. “Well, if you want my advice, of course, it would be to go with the flow and enjoy yourself. Trust Etta not to ask you to do anything totally out of this world. She has good judgment, even if she’s not the most social creature.”
“I always try to do that, but then I get hung up on the worst things. Like whether she is respecting me. I can’t help it. Sometimes she asks me to do things that make me feel....”
“Let me guess: then when you start getting into it, you can’t care about that anymore.
” Monique turned her head. “I know how you feel. There’s a delicate balancing act between the private and the public.
What you do in public reflects upon you and what your morals are.
But if you feel natural doing it, who gives a shit?
I do many things that people would say are hardly feminist. I don’t think about it like that.
I’m enjoying my life with my wife, and we aren’t hurting anybody.
If anything, our relationship – and love – is stronger because we express these things to one another.
It’s not for everybody, though. A lifestyle wasn’t for Etta, which is why it didn’t work out between us.
You’re different, though. You’re on the same wavelength as her, I think.
That’s why you should take the role-plays as an opportunity to express anything you’re feeling in that vein.
You don’t get many chances. If you spend your whole day not only distrusting your Domme but also feeling uneasy about your desires, then what good does that do?
All that does is breed resentment. As long as you know your limits and your safe words, it’s good. ”
“I suppose you’re right.” Jamie sighed. “It’s hard for me to let go, though. Even when I do let go, it’s not all the way. I’m still pretending in my head.”
“Well, you ended up in the world of kink because that’s what Etta asked of you. It’s not like you woke up one day with the realization that you wanted to seek it out. You know, like me.”
“That’s true. I only went along with it in the beginning because Etta paid me to. I was defensive about it back then, and I think some of that defensiveness has carried on to now. Deep down, I’m kinda scared that she’ll think less of me if I don’t act a little insubordinate.”
“Think less of you? If anything, she’s probably internally begging for you to give up more of yourself in those fleeting moments. I think you might be surprised at how much you do trust her if you, well, trust her.”
“She did say something along those lines when she instigated this whole thing.”
“Of course she would.” Monique rolled her eyes. “Well, my advice is to go along with it. Give it a try. Etta won’t steer you wrong. Now, show me a picture of this dress you got in Italy!”
They gabbed for the good part of an hour about the wedding, Monique offering her tips as she always did, and Jamie going on about the details she ate and drank like sustenance now.
The biggest shock wasn’t that Adele treated Jamie to a bridal dress, but that certain people had RSVP’d to the wedding.
“Really? The Saudi prince? What? That reclusive billionaire from the west? You really got him to come to your wedding? You sure you didn’t read that wrong? We couldn’t even get him to our wedding!”
Jamie shrugged. Should I know who that is? Crap. “Apparently, Etta has done enough business with him to make it happen?”
“You aren’t just having the wedding of the summer, Jamie.” Monique was still in awe as she sat back in her seat. “You’re having the wedding of the year.”
“I don’t know about that…”
“I’m not kidding. Anyone who is anyone around the world is coming to your wedding. Either it’s the most opportune time for them to come, or…”
“Or what?”
“Or Etta is a bigger deal than even I took her for.”
“Surely you jest!”
“Only half jesting here.”
Jamie departed Monique’s wing of the Warner Estate without an escort – someone was relegated to only a maximum number of steps a day. Instead, Jamie saw herself out, which meant there was nobody there to intercept the other mistress of the household.
“You!” Eve was in Jamie’s face, smelling of overpowering perfume and gleaming in hair product and shiny clothes. The woman did not understand the meaning of the word sensible. “You are the greatest person in the world, you know that, right?”
“What?” Jamie was too startled to move. She felt like a gazelle in the presence of a lioness. Hopefully, a lazy one.
Eve was quick to clap Jamie on the shoulder. “You’re an all right gal, even if you have that unfortunate stripper name.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Hey, if you need anything… like someone’s ass kicked, ahem, let me know. Between what you did for me and what you’re doing for Kathleen… and I guess being such a good friend to my dear sister-in-law… I feel like I’ve completely slept on you. Um, you know what I mean.”
Kinda. Sounded either innocuous or some code Jamie would never be let in on.
“Anyway, toodles. I’ve gotta be going.”
Before she could jet off into the distance, however, Jamie asked her one pertinent question. “You didn’t happen to go to Hong Kong recently, did you?”
“Oh, I go here… I go there…” The smirk on her glistening face was more than telling.
I knew it. Jamie wasn’t always on the up and up, but at least there was one relationship she knew about before half of high society. Granted, they probably didn’t care about it as much as she did, but it was a start.
“I love you,” Etta said that night, cuddling up next to her in bed. “Whatever goes on tomorrow, know that.”
Jamie didn’t think twice about letting her put the collar around her neck before she went to sleep.
When she woke up, she would belong to Etta, wholly and unequivocally.
Monique’s words echoed in her head as she drifted off to dreamland.
“I think you might be surprised at how much you really do trust her if you, well, trust her.”
Jamie would trust her fiancée. If she couldn’t trust Etta, then what was she doing marrying her?