Chapter 8
“Does Lara Know About It?”
Christmas at the Losers Estate really was just that.
“Low-siers,” Inid said to her youngest daughter. “It’s not pronounced like that word!”
No matter how much she tried, Inid would never escape her maiden name. Like Lara, she had changed it the moment she married years ago. Inid Rothberg, however, never anticipated having to explain such a maiden name to her small children years after the fact.
“Still sounds like Loser to me…” said Collette, the youngest Rothberg child. “Why would someone call themselves that so long ago?”
“Times change. It didn’t used to mean that. I think.” Inid patted her daughter’s head and herded her toward the dining room. “We’ve got dinner, Collie. Be nice to your grandmother.”
“I don’t wanna. She smells like gross.”
Lara tuned them out after that. She didn’t need to agree with her niece any more than she did. Mother does smell like “gross.” Which happened to be how Lara felt most of the time now.
At first, she blamed her period, which was unusually rough – probably compounded by stress, not that she could do anything about that at this time of year.
Except then she worried there was something terribly wrong with her, so she went straight to her doctor two days before they left for the Christmas holidays.
When he gave her the okay to travel, insisting that she was only “fretting,” Lara nearly threw the biggest fit she ever threw in the doctor’s office.
Kennedy was an utter doll through the whole ordeal.
Including now, as she stood behind Lara at the dining room table, massaging her shoulders while talking to her older brother.
At night, she would massage Lara’s back, taking extra care of her abdomen until the terrible cramps finally abated long enough for Lara to sleep.
Kennedy snuggled her. She kissed her. She never asked for the sexual things she sometimes did when they went without for a few days.
She was a model partner, and that worried Lara.
Is she being nice because she’s nice? Or is she being nice because she knows she’s doing something bad? How deep did Kennedy’s morality go? Would she feel bad about cheating on her wife? Shit, if she felt bad, she wouldn’t be cheating on her! Right?
Or maybe the woman misunderstood the boundaries of their relationship. Maybe she thought it was okay to fuck the maid because of the way their marriage was set up. Except she would’ve mentioned something by now. Said something stupid, like, “Maid’s got nice tits!”
I could also still be making it up. There was a reason Lara hadn’t confronted her… yet. She didn’t have the concrete evidence. Everything was conjecture. Damn good conjecture, but a pleasant conversation on the phone and hearsay from the chef didn’t make a confrontation.
So Lara chose to plow through life as it came. Right now, it meant tending to her family’s Christmas celebrations.
Even though Lara and Kennedy were by far the richest and most successful members of the family by every definition – meaning it was their families forced together – Lara’s parents had the most bedrooms to house everyone.
So, once a year, they packed their bags and headed upstate for a few days, relegated to the nicest guest room, even above Kennedy’s parents, because they were the golden children.
Everyone was there. Lara’s parents and her sister.
Inid brought her children and husband, all a very picturesque family, whom everyone agreed took the best holiday photos.
Then there was Kennedy’s family. Her parents were there, and her three brothers were happily as well.
One older, two younger. All but the youngest had a wife and children.
Altogether, nine children of varying ages had the run of the place.
Lara was the only “wife” at these functions who had no children, and her mother never let her forget.
Except for tonight, because Juliet Losers was too fucked up on benzos and cider to remember to give her daughter grief for not following her biological destiny.
Last time she told Lara it was her duty to breed because of how rich she was.
Who was that money going to go to? Hilarious, because Kennedy’s brothers sucked up to her for the sole purpose of sending their youngest kids to apprentice under her one day.
There were plenty of nieces and nephews to pick from.
Or maybe they would pick a kid off the street and change their life.
Lara thought these amusing things while she received her ongoing massage and fielded inane questions from her sister’s husband.
When Juliet made her appearance and sat at the head of the table next to her illustrious daughter, Lara decided that her niece was the smartest person in the family. Grandma definitely smelled like gross.
By the time dinner began, Kennedy had sat next to her wife and began telling tales from the crazy world of real estate. About half of them included her wife blowing up at some poor, hapless soul and busting his balls until he conceded to her demands.
Kennedy had an amazing way of making her wife sound like a total harpy, all while keeping a friendly smile on her face.
Normally, it didn’t bother Lara – especially if it meant her reputation preceded her – but tonight it only served as a reminder that even her spouse saw her this way at times. Who wouldn’t cheat on that?
She used to think that Kennedy wasn’t that kind of person. Who knew…
The unfortunate thing was that she had no one to confide in.
Not in her family, anyway. Usually, these nights ended with her confiding in her wife about her feelings regarding her parents and sister.
Kennedy was her best friend. Kennedy was her sounding board and the one who reassured her that she was beautiful, smart, witty, and a tiger in the sack. Who knew how that would go tonight?
In truth, Lara didn’t remember much about Christmas dinner.
There was food. Kids whined. Brothers-in-law laughed, and sisters huffed.
Mothers popped drugs. The in-laws insinuated that they wanted to go to Brazil for their upcoming anniversary, something that usually translated to a plea for money.
Lara ignored it. If Kennedy wanted to give her money to her parents, so be it.
“Lara.”
She snapped off autopilot sometime after dinner, when her partner leaned in and pointed to a maid carrying platters of pie. “Huh?”
“Pumpkin or blackberry, dear?”
“Oh. Pumpkin, please.”
After dinner, Lara was obligated to spend time with her mother and sister in one of the studies. There she got to hear all about her brother-in-law’s legal troubles at work. Something else she was expected to pitch in funds to help with.
“Perhaps, if you want to save money, your husband should stop harassing his help.”
Inid sniffed. “You know how men are. They chase tail. Be grateful you don’t have kids. Even Kennedy wouldn’t think twice about straying from you if she saw you as a mother.”
“Inid,” Juliet said sternly, the first thing she said in twenty minutes.
Lara pursed her lips. Her sister never stood a chance against her. “It’s not kids that would do it, sweetie. It’s the fact you haven’t had a personality since you popped out the first one.”
“Lara!”
Maybe this was why Juliet Losers was on so many benzos – raising these two assholes she called daughters. At least one is filthy rich, and the other gave her grandchildren. That’s all that mattered to a woman like her.
Lara didn’t have a chance for peace until later that evening, when she excused herself to go to bed.
The next day was Christmas, and although some in-laws would scatter to see other family in the area, most of the brood would be at the Losers Estate to exchange presents.
Lara wished she could remember what she got anyone…
“…She’s going to lose her mind when she sees it.
” Kennedy’s voice, in the library with her younger brother, Travis.
The two were always friends growing up, and things hadn’t changed now.
If Kennedy were to have a private conversation with anyone at a family gathering, it would be with him. “Chloe is already in love.”
Lara stopped in the hallway. Don’t listen, idiot. That’s what her common sense said. Her gut? It made her stand outside that door, one ear completely open.
“Who’s Chloe?”
“The maid. Man, listen for once. That’s what I’ve been telling you this whole time.”
“You sly bitch.”
Kennedy laughed. “Don’t I know it.”
“Does Lara know about it?”
“Of course not. Would spoil everything.”
“And this from the one who says the secret to a successful marriage is being open about and sharing everything.”
“Trav, if I shared this with Lara, I may not have a successful marriage anymore.”
“Good luck with that. I mean it. You’re a crazy fucker, but good luck.”
Lara moved on to the bedroom. I see. Kennedy was definitely keeping something from her. Something with Chloe. That if Lara found out about it? May mean the end of her marriage.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed when Kennedy arrived, all smiles as she said a chipper good evening to her wife and disappeared into the bathroom. When she reemerged a few minutes later, she had her hand clasped around a black box with a red ribbon.
“I know it’s not quite Christmas yet,” she said, sitting next to Lara on the bed. “But I wanted to give you this away from family eyes.”