Chapter 16
Molly
The following week
Darren and Michelle had an absolute mansion. My own family had been blessed with abundance, but no one in my family had a house that had been furnished and decorated like Darren and Michelle's. Everything was grand. The house itself was six thousand square feet of lavishness. Every fixture and detail looked like it had been specially ordered. The art was grand and everything was original. This house was millionaire minimalism at its finest. Michelle was into design, and they had no children and more money than they could shake a stick at, so the furnishings and details were simple, beautiful, and elegant.
They liked to entertain and they were always having people over. They knew a lot of people in Raleigh and they had a good reputation of being upstanding Christians. I had always been welcomed here and felt at home with them. The utter luxury didn’t hurt. It was nice having open access to such a wonderful home .
I was going over there at the moment. It was 6pm and Darren had just gotten home from work. It wasn't unusual for him or Michelle to ask for my help with some small project around the house. It only happened once every few months or so, and I didn't mind.
Darren had called yesterday saying he wanted to surprise Michelle by organizing his shirts. He said he had them mostly sorted but he could use my help finishing the job since he was slightly colorblind. He said it would be an hour's work, and I believed him because he was always good with time management and he was always honest with that kind of thing. I told him I would go over when he came home from work, and he called me when he arrived.
Music was playing on the main sound system as I walked inside. It was moody, soul music and it wasn't playing quietly. I called for Darren, and he came out of the bedroom wearing his work attire. He had unbuttoned the collar and sleeves as if he was about to take it off.
"Hey, Molly, I'll have you come back here in the closet," he said, motioning for me to follow him. "I'll grab my stuff to change and get out of your way."
I followed him down the hallway and into their master bedroom, which was perfect and pristine. It was all tans and greys with a giant rug and a bed that looked larger than a king size. Everything about their home was over the top .
Darren showed me to his closet. One side of it was packed and unorganized and the other was empty. I could see that it would take every bit of an hour to finish it.
"I'm going to change and order some dinner, and then I'll be back to help you. I was going to have sushi. I figured you'd want in on that. Should I get you a few rolls?"
"No, thank you. I was going to pick up a pizza later."
Darren cocked his head at me with a smirk. "You can still get pizza. Come on, who turns down sushi? You know I'll order from Tak. It'll be here right when we're finishing this."
Darren knew I loved sushi. Tak was a great chef. "I could probably eat one roll if you twist my arm," I said.
He smiled. He had ordered sushi for me twenty times and he knew what kinds I liked.
"Thanks, Darren. I'll just do 'roy g biv', and separate short sleeves from long if that's okay."
"That's great. You know what to do."
Darren came back ten minutes later and he stayed with me for the next forty-five minutes. He would say that he was helping, but he talked to me the whole time, and I honestly could have worked faster if he wouldn't have been there. He had been at work all day, and you would think he would want to relax and be by himself, but he stayed in that closet with me, talking and telling me all sorts of things about his personal life.
It wasn't my favorite way to pass an hour, but he and Michelle had done so much for me, and it went fast.
Before long, sushi had arrived. I took a short break to go get my roll from the kitchen and when I got out there, I found a feast. Darren had ordered eight or ten rolls and several pieces of fish on the side. I made a plate for myself, but I kept it small because I didn't want to be there any longer than I had to.
Michelle was out of town, and Darren must've been bored because he hung around me, talking the whole time. Every time I felt impatient, I would remind myself about my lovely apartment and the amazing kitchen I worked in every day.
"Does your dad know you've been seeing more of that carpenter boy?"
There were cameras on the property. I knew he was aware that Salem had been over. But this was the first he had said about it.
"He does," I said vaguely.
"What do your parents think about it?"
"They love Salem, they just don't know we're seeing each other."
"Oh, your parents don't know?"
"No sir, not really."
"Why not? Does your father not approve? "
"No, it's not that. They love Salem. It just complicates things that my brother is married to his sister. I’m going to tell them soon, I just haven't."
"I could see where you would want to hide it," he said. He shrugged. "And anyway, sometimes secret relationships are the best kind."
"Yeah," I said vaguely.
I glanced at him, and he smiled and lifted his eyebrows. "You don't have to marry the first guy you date, either. It's okay for you to explore and experiment a little bit. And I don't think you really need to tell your parents about all the people you're not marrying."
He was chuckling and saying it all so confidently that I laughed along with him.
"I might just marry him, though," I said with a shrug after I took a second to think about it and realized I should speak up.
"Na, you don't know that," he said. "You have no way of knowing that yet. You're in the same proximity as this guy because of your brother." He paused but then continued. "I hate to recommend a casual, physical relationship, but sometimes in life, that's what's called for."
I nodded because I thought it was rude to blatantly disagree.
"Just do it in secret. It's no sense is stirring the pot and getting your families upset."
"Yeah." (I didn't know what else to say. )
"It's different with people like Michelle and me. We don't need secrets between each other. We're both really open."
"Uh-huh," I said, not fully understanding what he was saying.
"I actually wouldn't recommend marriage, in the classic sense of the word, like most people think of it. Michelle and I have something different—something beautiful and unique. We make certain allowances to each other, so there's no need for secrets between us. Secrets from other people, now that's a different story. You can have all of those you want. I actually recommend it. Michelle and I are both open people, and so at the end of the day, there's no such thing as cheating at all. Just like… she's off having her fun tonight, and I'm not even worried about it."
"Hm," I said, making a noise since I couldn’t find any words to say.
I had started to feel awkward and nervous. My mind was working a thousand miles an hour to try to remember and decipher everything he had just said.
The tone of the conversation had made me suddenly anxious. My face felt hot and my heart was starting to beat fast. I jumped and gasped a little when I felt his hand touch my back. I stepped back, and when I noticed that he was smiling innocently. I gave him a smile because I felt like I had overreacted. It looked like he was just reaching for something .
"I was just going to take your plate," he said, reaching for my sushi plate.
"Thanks," I said. "I guess I need to go ahead and finish the closet."
I took off toward their bedroom, and he called after me to let me know he would be there in a minute. I felt like I was being chased—like I needed to hurry, couldn't get it done fast enough. I worked so quickly that I had most of the clothes in their new place by the time he came in there again. I had been a part of this family for a year. I had to remind myself of that. I thought for sure I was misunderstanding his intentions.
"It's going quick," I said, still hanging and straightening clothes.
He laughed. "It seems to go quicker when I'm not in here. Maybe I slow you down."
I laughed along with him, but I kept right on hanging and sorting. His shirts were ironed and starched, and I moved carefully but quickly.
I brought up the subject of the commercials. My oldest sister's husband, Lev, had made a name for himself directing commercials, and it was an interesting topic that I now brought up when I couldn't think of anything else to say. It was the most neutral subject that I could think of in a pinch, and I was thrown off at the moment.
I kept thinking of different commercials Lev had directed and bringing them up one after another. I was talkative the whole time so as to not give Darren any opportunity to interject. I was nervous and unaware of the time, but it took me a little while to get his clothes sorted and hung in their places.
I don't even remember what I said to him when I left. I pretended to just notice the time and say goodbye in a hurry like I was late for something. I didn't lie to him, exactly, or give specific details, but I did suddenly pretend to be in a hurry after I asked him the time.