Private Relations (7 page)

Chapter 13

The subterranean pool was one of the mansion’s best-kept secrets.
           

To get there, one had to not only make it past the five-floor sex show on the upper levels, but also have the proper credentials. As with the front door of the mansion, a uniformed bouncer stood guard before the entrance to the pool, where he personally ensured that only those on the VIP list could enter the pool.

“Jesse,” I said to him. “Jesse Lockhart.”

He swiped his finger across the iPad, mumbled my last name two or three times. Then, he nodded, and stepped aside to let me enter.

This was no ordinary swimming pool. Hell, it was even larger than the one Bianca and I had been to the Parker Meridien. Twenty-five feet in length, it shimmered like a turquoise jewel, the light rippling off the brick walls as steam rose into the air.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each like a cluster of fallen stars. A small sofa and matching white chairs were placed in front of the fireplace -- and that’s where I found Vanesa. She sat alone in front the marble hearth, arms folded across her chest, gazing into the crackling flames. What was she doing here? Had she joined Eric with the idea of letting him have his fun while she found a man or two of her own?

“Mind if I join you?” I asked her.

I’d frightened her out of her pensive gaze. Once she saw it was me, her face softened. A ghost of a smile spread across her lips, and it wasn’t long until she’d stood up and wrapped me in the warmest -- and tightest -- hug I’d had in a long, long time.

“I was wondering if you’d show up to this thing.”

“You shouldn’t be here. This isn’t your scene.”

“I know, Jesse. Believe me, I know.”

Several thoughts crossed my mind. How did she manage to get herself on the VIP list in order to enter the pool? And how did this slice of underground decadence manage to stay empty when there had to be at least a hundred people scattered throughout the mansion? Something wasn’t adding up, and I needed answers.

“Why are you here?” I asked her. “Is it because of Eric?”

“Another one of his adventures, yes. Seeing you have sex with me seems to have whet his appetite for something more.”

“I don’t follow…”

“He wanted to try a three-way with another man,” Vanessa said. “But I told him no. I’m just… I’m done with this. I need out.”

“And yet you ended up on the VIP list?” I said. “Pretty impressive for someone who doesn’t even want to be here.”

The door opened behind us, and Autumn stepped inside.

“Why am I not surprised you had something to do with this?” I said to her.

She smiled, gave a quick shrug. It all made sense now. Autumn, the woman behind this entire event, personally oversaw all of the applications
and
the final guest list. Surely, she saw Eric and Vanessa’s name, address, most likely a photo of them as well. And, as a former lover and close confidant of mine, she knew everything about me -- up to including my relationship with Vanessa.

My guess? She allowed Eric and Vanessa to attend the orgy for one reason: It would give Vanessa and me a chance to reconnect again.

If only she’d known that we’d had our own little reunion at the W Hotel just a few nights before.

“Call me sentimental, but I couldn’t resist the idea of you two getting back together again.” She looked at Vanessa and added, “You see, honey, Jesse is still in love with you. Even after the abortion -- he still couldn’t help but hope that one day, you and him would get back together again.”

“You told her everything?” Vanessa said to me.

“Why wouldn’t I? We were seeing one another for a while.”

“Yes,” Autumn agreed. “That is, until Jesse found out I was an escort and broke things off. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be too upset. One month later he ended up joining me in a foursome. And, as they say, the rest is history.”

Vanessa visibly recoiled at the thought. Her eyes glared at Autumn in a vengeful, almost bitter gaze. She hated the fact that I sold my body for cash -- hated that I’d robbed myself of the kind of Happily Ever After she thought I deserved.

“Autumn, I think Vanessa and I can handle things from here,” I said. “But thank you for facilitating all of this.”

“Don’t mention it, doll.”

“So, do you spread your legs for cash as well?” Vanessa asked her. “Or do you just take a cut of your girls’ earnings?”

“Careful, sweetheart,” Autumn replied. “Wouldn’t want to end up falling in the swimming pool head first, now would you?”

I walked over and stood between them. “This isn’t high school. No reason to get all
Mean Girls
up in here.”

“Suit yourself. I have other guests to attend to.” Autumn moved in, cupped my face in her hands and kissed me chastely on the lips. “Don’t be stranger.”

Once she’d left, Vanessa stared at me and shook her head.

“Honestly, she’s a lot nicer once you get to know her. And if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to stay in New York after graduation. Once the recession hit, it’s not like anyone was really hiring.”

“Whatever.”

A tense silence grew between us. There was still so much I wanted to say, but the most important news was what’d occurred back at New Hope Academy. I gave her a brief update, divulging as much as I could without violating any non-disclosure agreements that Kurt was surely putting into place.

Vanessa looked stunned, horrified. The same thing that’d happened to me -- sexual assault by a member of the faculty -- had now happened to another student. And Bobby serving as principal? How could the Board of Trustees let that happen?

“Probably because he’s an outstanding educator,” I said. “At least in their eyes.”

“You never told
anyone
what happened?”

“Just you and Autumn.”

“So… what now?”

I wouldn’t really know any next steps until Kurt and the rest of the staff at Victory & Associates mapped out a strategic crisis communications plan, one that addressed and contained the scandal as honestly and efficiently as possible. Best case scenario was that the Academy found enough sufficient evidence to terminate this Simone woman while simultaneously giving Bobby a pink slip as well.

A statement would be issued to the press confirming both terminations, while the staff of Victory & Associates would plan and execute a series of townhall meetings with parents, students and alumni to explain what had happened and how it would
never
happen on school grounds again.

A new screening process would be implemented for all prospective employees, and perhaps even a hotline would be set up for anyone to anonymously submit a tip of any suspected wrongdoing on campus. My mind flooded with possibilities -- but who knew which ones would actually make the cut. The Academy just needed to look proactive instead of reactive if it wanted to get through this.

“Jesse?”

“Sorry,” I said. “Running a couple scenarios through my head.”

“You don’t think that you’ll have to go back to the Academy, do you?”

“I’ve certainly considered it. In fact, it might not be such a bad thing.”

“What do you mean?” Vanessa said. “By the time the fall semester of our senior year rolled around, you said you couldn’t wait to get out.”

“I remember. But if these past few days have taught me anything, it’s that I need to stop running from my past. I need to confront it, once and for all.”

It was as if a light switched had turned on inside of me. These past few days, I’d been doing nothing but
reacting
to the events around me. Seeing Vanessa again; reliving the memories of what Bobby had done; even being introduced to the world of escorting by Autumn.

I had a complicated past. One could say that I had a fucked-up life, period. And who was to blame for that?
 
Bobby, to some extent. Yet who was ultimately responsible for the state of my life in the present?

Me.

“I have to go back. I need to put this bullshit behind me, once and for all.”

“How?”

“Maybe if I can help the Academy get through this, it’ll help me put what Bobby did behind me as well.”

She didn’t have a response, but I could tell she was supportive, even proud. She bit her lower lip, took a deep breath. Before I knew it, she’d wrapped her hands around my neck and plunged her mouth onto mine. Unexpected, but definitely welcome. Graceful gentleman that I was, I ended up taking a few steps back -- at which point we both fell into the pool.

We swam to the surface and laughed at the top of our lungs. Vanessa splashed water in my face, adding that I’d ruined a perfectly good dress. I shrugged, told her the best solution I could offer was for us to simply embrace the moment.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve ended up fully clothed in a swimming pool,” she said. “Junior year, after the spring fling?”

“I remember.” I slipped off my shoes, unbuttoned my shirt and snaked my belt through the loops of my pants. “There. Much better.”

I swam behind Vanessa and wrapped my arms around her waist. I kissed her neck, her shoulders, let the water carry us across the pool. It was one of those quiet, intimate moments that I didn’t want to end, even if we were both fully clothed.

“What time do you have to be at work tomorrow?” she asked.

“The earlier, the better. The team will be finalizing a scope of work and a monthly retainer, but after that, they’ll need me to help them work through this case.”

“What is it you do, again?”

“Media relations, background research, crisis communications strategy. Think of me as Kalinda from
The Good Wife
meets Olivia Pope from
Scandal
.”

“You’re comparing yourself to two women?”

“Those two women are stronger and more intelligent than most of the men on TV combined.”

“And so you’ll help your boss salvage the Academy’s reputation? And try to deal with your past in the process?

“That’s the goal…”

Vanessa broke free from my grasp and disappeared under the water, her white dress like a mermaid’s tail around her legs. When she resurfaced, she gripped the edge of the pool and pulled herself out of the water. She slipped off her dress, walked over to the fireplace in nothing but her bra and panties.

She stripped in front of the fire and wrapped herself in a blanket and sat on one of the chairs facing the hearth. I got out of the pool, followed her lead in shedding my wet clothing. We warmed ourselves in front of the fire, wrapped in each other’s arms, joined only by the sound of the crackling flames.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” I asked. “Or would that take the fun out of guessing?”

“Do you remember when you asked me if Eric and I had any children? And, when I told you that I didn’t think it was right to bring a child into a loveless marriage?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever
 
need to worry about it,” she said. “I… I don’t think I can even
get
pregnant, Jesse. Back when Eric and I were dating, the first few years we were married. You know, when he was still pretending.”

“You mean when the two of you were still having sex?”

“Exactly. Looking back, there were so many times when I should have gotten pregnant. Part of me can’t believe it didn’t happen.”

“Does that make you happy or sad?”

She didn’t have an answer. I kissed her forehead, told her that we didn’t have to talk about it any longer. She seemed relieved -- but then she wasn’t. There was something she had to tell me, she said. Something she’d been keeping to herself for all these years.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what our lives could have been like, Jesse. If I’d gotten pregnant just a few years
later
instead of during high school.”

“Vanessa, you don’t have to--”

“Please, let me finish. I think about it for at least thirty seconds each day. What our lives could have been like together. Maybe we’d have stayed in Philadelphia, or moved to New York or San Francisco or Chicago. We’d be together, you and me, with a child that I know you would have been a good father to.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I admitted. “I mean, look at my life now. Not exactly kid-friendly.”

“But you have the most important characteristic any parent can have: a capacity to love. No matter what, that’s who you are. You can try to hide it, try to pretend it doesn’t exist, but you’re a good person, Jesse. And I have no doubt that you would have been amazing father.”

It had to be one of the kindest things anyone had ever said to me. The idea that Vanessa’s abortion still haunted her pained me, if for no other reason than I was the one who got her pregnant. I’d caused that pain for her -- forced her to make a choice that not only tore us apart, but also left her with guilt that still lingered a decade later.

“The past is behind us,” I said. “And after I take care of this bullshit with the Academy, I think I’ll finally be able to move on for good.”

She kissed me. “You’re amazing.”