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“It went beautifully; we wrote them a check for twenty grand.”
“Was that enough?”
“More than enough; we raised twice as much as we expected to.”
“Sounds great, babe. Do you need anything from me?”
“No, your assistant gave me everything I needed.”
The party was set for the following Saturday and the texts that week were all about why I was the one making plans for the party. Jessica seemed a bit put out that I was still in the picture and bemoaned the fact that things weren’t going quite the way she’d expected.
There was a lot of reassurance of things to come and how things were bound to change for the better. I tested this on my end by dropping hints about a summer trip to Europe, which Mark seemed very receptive to. If I didn’t know better, I would swear that he was enjoying all the new changes in our relationship and all the time we’d been spending together.
So, was he just leading her on? He hadn’t been to her apartment in all this time and there was no time in between where he had spent time with her. If not for the texts, I would be inclined to believe that I had misread that embrace, but what the hell else could be going on?
I answered a call from Mark’s assistant asking for approval to contact me on the day of since they wouldn’t be at the office after four the day before and wanted to make sure we had covered everything so they could be available if I needed any last-minute help.
I appreciated the attention to detail and even mentioned to Mark how professional his assistant was, which he agreed with. This assistant had been with him for a couple of years now since the old one had retired and had worked out perfectly.
There never seemed to be anything unachievable, and there were never any complaints. But that could be because they were overpaid for their position, which is something my husband takes pride in doing with his employees.
CHAPTER6
In the end, there wasn’t much that needed taking care of, and there were no loose ends to tie up except for the floral arrangements, which I took care of, but I did Venmo some cash to the assistant for working on their day off.
That day was busy with hair and makeup, as well as my stylist who came by to show me a few dresses to choose from. I went with something a little bit risqué, which I had asked to be added to the lineup.
For years, Cynthia, my stylist, had been trying to talk me into trying new styles, anything except the Jackie-O-inspired style I was prone to. The embroidered crepe couture Valentino evening dress was completely backless with floral double spaghetti straps and a deep vee in the cleavage.
I chose a shawl to cover myself in the chauffeur-driven car on the way to the venue because I wanted Mark to be just as surprised as everyone else was sure to be. His colleagues and associates have become more accustomed to my matronly style over the years and though I could care less what they thought, I was very interested in my husband’s reaction to this drastic change.
He stood next to me as I passed my shawl to the coat check person or, in this case, cover-up checker because the evenings were still cool enough for a spring shawl but not cold enough for a mink.
“Wow!” I looked over my shoulder at his exclamation and saw the appreciative look in his eyes. “I’m not letting you out of my sight this evening. Stay close.” His hand was warm on my back as he led me into the room where the party was being held.
We weren’t the first ones here, but neither were we the last. As the hosts of the evening, it wouldn’t have been good etiquette to be too fashionably late. We made the rounds greeting the guests who had already arrived before I stepped away to check in with the catering staff to ensure that all was well on their end.
As more and more people arrived, I started to relax with the help of a glass of champagne that helped calm the nerves in my tummy. I saw Jessica arrive and surreptitiously watched Mark out the side of my eye for his reaction. He didn’t even seem to notice.
It wasn’t long before she made her way over to us, which wasn’t unusual in itself, but what was was the nervousness I detected in my husband. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but when he placed his hand on the small of my back possessively and, the way he kept addressing me as his wife during the five-minute conversation left me confused as hell.
The night did not produce the results I was looking for other than the fact that Jessica seemed fixated on me throughout the evening, and Mark seemed to go out of his way to avoid her. Not in the sense that he had something to hide, but there was something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
As promised, he never left my side, not even when someone tried to draw him away. He kept me with him at all times, which I noticed seemed to frustrate her. And she didn’t seem too pleased at the attention I was getting from the rest of the staff, some of whom I have known for years and had been in and out of my home for celebratory occasions.
One of the junior colleagues made a comment during a conversation that caught me off guard. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said the boss must’ve really liked this place after our lunch meeting here a couple of months ago.”
“Oh? Lunch meeting?”
“Yes, it was a meeting for all the new hires that was supposed to take place weeks earlier but kept being put off from time to time. It was our first time here, and everyone was wondering why we had to come all the way out here, but I have to admit the food is top-notch.”
“Whose idea was it, do you know? To come here, I mean.”
“I’m not sure exactly; I just never asked. But I’m glad to be here again. It has a kind of old-world ambiance to it.”
“Hmm, I like it myself. So you’re one of the new hires. Who else is new? I see some familiar faces, but there are a few that I don’t know, and I’m terrible with names.”
