Chapter 21
Mateo
"Let me see it," Noah prods, holding his hand out. I snatch my bag away from him and shove it into a drawer, like that'll solve the problem.
"It's not a big deal. I've already contacted my attorney. He's contacting Delaney later today." Beyond mildly infuriating, when I got home from work last night, there was another package waiting for me at the front desk. The doorman said a standard courier service dropped it off, and since I wanted to find out who was fucking with me, I passed the information on to Noah. He's good with computers, I'm sure he can at least help me figure out who paid for it.
He's not a hacker, he's a code writer. He makes video games and plays in the creative arts. But he was still able to track down when the package was paid for and out of which courier office by his investigative powers of picking up the phone and calling the company.
But since I needed his help, I had to admit another disturbing photo of me showed up, gift wrapped. It's hard to tell if it's meant to be threatening to me or someone has a weird obsession. In the first, I was posing nude. Not me, but a superimposed me. In yesterday's gift, it was some variation of one of the pictures that got leaked of me and Delaney, only this time, the female model wasn't her. I was balls deep in some anonymous, pale, busty woman, the image cutting off the face. Not that that means anything, it was likely just a stock model, like my body was.
This is so fucked up and irritating. I've got calls from Singapore I need to deal with tonight, I don't need to be distracted by this shit.
"It is a big deal, Mateo. It's obviously fucking with your head."
" Esa puta. No quiero esa mierda. "
"I don't speak Spanish."
"I don't need this shit right now, man. And fuck, why haven't you learned Spanish yet."
"I speak binary code. And I know, that's my point. Let me and Silas help you."
"Lucy will be home soon. I don't want her to know about this. Just… let me just see what my attorney says. I don't want to get the cops involved. They're just pictures."
"They're escalating."
"Actually, I think they're de-escalating. The first ones were published publicly."
"And these ones were delivered to your home."
"Hey guys!" Silas comes running down the hall, sliding on the hardwood on his socks like a cartoon character. He's wearing a massive grin, phone in one hand. "Check this out."
Two voices trail out of his speaker, and I recognize one very well.
"Stop it!" She giggles. "Okay. Yes. Fine, Portia. Hey, y'all. You might remember me," she says self-deprecatingly, coyishly glancing down at the ground before bringing those beautiful blue eyes back up to the camera. "This is Lucy, or as you might know me, ZenInTheCity. I'm here with Portia from QueenStruck95. I know I haven't been online in a while, but I just got my hair done because this bitch made me." There's a thud and an oof , followed by massive giggles. It's the most relaxed Lucy's sounded in weeks.
My fractured heart fills with the joy of hearing her laughter. These past few days have been hard. Being separated from her, before that, separated from my friends. We've been on a tentative, albeit positive, path for only a couple of days and I didn't realize how much I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, that this potential chance at happiness might all disappear, until I heard that laughter. Lucy's finally feeling like herself again. Of course she needed her friends.
She wallowed alone in the apartment for too long. I feel like an idiot for not noticing how off she still sounded, because I didn't realize it until right now.
" Any way, I do miss y'all and I'll see you again real soon." Then she puckers her lips and kisses the camera, before the feed drops off.
"I didn't notice her hair being any different," Noah shrugs. I lightly punch his arm and head into the kitchen. Without asking, a routine we'd established years ago, we begin making dinner. Silas pours the drinks, Noah pulls out a pan and starts seasoning the meat, I prep the vegetables. When it was just me and Lucy here, she cooked dinner most nights because she was always home before me. I never asked if that was okay with her or if she preferred it that way.
I never asked her a lot of things.
I try calling her, but it goes straight to voicemail. Silas sees what I'm doing and says, "She must have been on her friend's phone. Hers is still here." Sighing, I tuck my phone away.
I pull out extra veggies because I know she won't eat the meat. She's not a vegetarian but she doesn't eat a ton of meat, and she won't like it the way Noah's preparing it. I should tell him, but I selfishly like knowing this small piece of information about her that they don't.
Because they've only known her for a few days, and they've already infiltrated her life. It's so natural and easy for them. It's not like that for me, I don't know how to connect to other people, even to those closest to me. It takes time. I have to get to know someone, catalog their likes and dislikes. It's not natural for me to just know the way that they do.
By the time dinner's done cooking, the door rattles and Lucy walks in. She looks light. Happy and carefree.
I greet her first, pulling her into a massive hug. She presses her head against my chest and lets me hold her. Maybe it's the creepy fucking pictures that keep showing up. Maybe it was seeing her go live again. But I'm feeling unsteady, like I need some reassurance we're okay.
She gives me an extra squeeze, and when we pull back, she's grinning. "I went live, Mateo," she whispers, like she's sharing a secret.
"We saw. How did it feel?"
"Honestly? Totally normal. I didn't freak out at all. Portia kinda sprung it on me. Making me regret ever logging in on her phone before since she could easily toggle to my username," she says wryly before entering the kitchen.
Noah kisses the top of her head. "You did your hair?" He comments, feeling her locks in his fingers.
She nods, "Just touched up the roots. And I, uh… I got rid of the extensions. I mean, I got them removed. And didn't replace them."
She glances down before opening the fridge and pulling out a half-empty bottle of white wine. I'm not sure why not putting in extensions makes her feel weird, but I can tell it does. Just another thing I don't really understand about her world.
Maybe Silas gets it, because he cuts her off, running his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. Her eyes drift shut. "It looks good, Lu. You didn't need them. I like it this length."
"It was really more about volume."
"Just use some salt spray, or something."
"How do you know about salt spray?" She muses, pulling out of his embrace to pour a glass of wine.
Silas shrugs, "I know things. Like that white-blonde color you dye your hair compliments your skin well. You're more of a soft-summer palette. It shouldn't work, but for some reason, it really does."
She pauses the glass in front of her lips. "I get it. You went to art school."
"I did. I know color. And beautiful things," he tacks on, stealing her wine glass and going in for a kiss. She moans into his lips before he starts kissing down her neck.
"No sex before dinner," Noah teases. It's so fucking weird. I feel like I'm borrowing Lucy's anxiety, because this? This perfection? It's too good. It's too natural, too easy.
This feels like family.
Silas lets go of Lucy, bringing her over to the table while Noah and I make up the plates.
"You guys cooked! This is amazing," Lucy gushes from the dining table.
"There's no meat on that—"
I cut Noah off, "She doesn't like steak. She'll eat carnitas tacos, and some beef in other forms. But she wouldn't eat a piece like that."
Noah nods, "Okay. Good to know."
He sounds dejected, so I nudge his shoulder. "She prefers veggies. We like meat. This meal is perfect. I wouldn't have done anything differently, and neither would she if we cooked with her. This is perfect for the four of us."
"Okay. That makes me feel better." We carry the plates over to the table and pass them out. Lucy lightly claps her hands together and compliments everything, making Noah blush.
We settle into easy conversation, and at one point Noah grills Lucy on what meals she likes most. She tells him about all her, admittedly, neurotic routines, which involve a ton of meal prep so she can eat healthy. Her smoothies stocked in the freezer. Her juice cleanses.
She hasn't talked about those things in a while, not without sounding like she's ridiculing herself, so it's nice to see her settle into her old self. Or maybe this is some version of a new Lucy. A little bit of before and after. Whatever it is, I like it. I like when she's not hard on herself.
Noah and Lucy spend the last few minutes of dinner teasing Silas relentlessly because, while he'll happily enjoy a healthy home cooked meal, he'll also eat convenience store hot dogs and microwaved burritos and anything dyed an unnatural color, without prejudice. It's funny, and I find myself laughing more than I have in ages.
Silas and Lucy clean up. We try to help, but they insist, so Noah and I settle in the living room and try to find something to watch to let our stomachs settle. I find a movie I think all of our tastes might tolerate, something between a rom com and an action flick. Lucy settles on the couch between me and Silas. She leans against me, and I hold her hands, while her feet end up in Silas's lap. He absently caresses her feet while working on his tablet. Silas is not a workaholic by any means, but he's extremely creative, so he draws a lot. Since it also happens to be his job, he's just really productive. It's one of the reasons his and Noah's company is so successful, small as they may be.
Toward the end of the movie, the two main characters go through their obligatory will-they-won't-they angsty separation, which looks to be leading toward a graphic sex scene.
I didn't think Silas was even paying attention to the movie. Without looking up, he says, "Lucy, did you have another video you wanted to try out?"
Lucy stiffens in my arms, pulling her feet out of Silas's lap. "Umm, hah… I'm not… I don't think…"
Silas sets his tablet down, snags her feet and pulls them back into his lap. Her breath quickens as she squirms against me.
Searing into her, his eyes eat up the length of her body. "Did you tell Matty about your videos? How curiosity got you spit roasted and covered in come?"
I try my best not to grin. If she gets any tenser in my lap, I may have to roll her out of here.
"Lucy…" I prompt. "Did you let my friends fuck you? Did you let them come all over your pretty tits?" I rub her nipple through her t-shirt, feeling it pebble between my fingers. I already know what they got up to when I was at work. We didn't discuss it, because there's no need. It's no secret, and I'm glad they've been intimate and that they felt comfortable enough to brag.
But Lucy's still reconciling my friends with me, thinking of us as two separate entities. Noah and Silas, who came on scene late, helping her relax and find her way again. Me, her rock, the one she can always fall back on. But if this is going to work, she needs to see that we're working in one relationship. She can have sex with us however she wants. Solo. Together. It doesn't matter.
My sweet little Lucy looks up at me, eyes a little dazed. "Umm… Well… See, there was this video…"
I actually don't know about whatever video she's talking about, so my eyebrows lift, prompting her to continue.
"Well… okay, so I kind of got talking to Portia—"
"You told Portia about us?" I ask, astonished.
"Yeah. Shoot, was that not okay?"
I pull her into my lap, fusing my lips with hers. "Yes. It's great. I wasn't sure you'd be ready this soon."
"Me either. But she didn't think it was a big deal. And she, uhh… sent me a couple of videos."
Silas laughs. "Yes, but we only got to watch one. Was there another you wanted to try out?"
"Let me get this straight," I say. "You watched a video of things you wanted to try out? Like, sex positions?"
She bites her lip, but I tug the bottom one out from her teeth with my thumb. "Answer me, mi corazón ."
She nods slowly. "Yeah. I was curious how it all worked… I mean.. It's a lot of bodies, you know?" She says innocently, like she really, honest-to-god wasn't sure how it would all work. How we'd all fit together.
I glance up at Silas. He's already put his tablet away and is climbing out of the couch. He reaches a hand out to Noah who shakes his head, amused, and takes it, pulling him out of the chair. Then Silas stands in front of Lucy. He's already hard, judging by the tent in his pants, which unabashedly juts out nearly eye level with Lucy's face.
I chuckle, pushing her up into his waiting arms. Clutching her hips, he aggressively tugs her close so her pelvis presses against his. "Are you nervous?"
She shakes her head.
"Want to watch another video?"
She glances down at me, just to be sure. I nod my head encouragingly and she looks back at Silas. "Yes," she whispers.
He gives her a feral grin. "Excellent."
Then he leans down, throws her over his shoulder and stands tall. She squeals then laughs as they head down the hallway to our bedroom. Noah and I share a look and trail after them.