Page 64 of The Plus One Professional
The changing area looked like it could be one of the Kardashians’ homes. The color palette was neutral, with tans, taupes, whites, and creams. The only hint of color came from the potted plants and paintings that hung on the walls, which included muted hues of greens, blues, pinks, and peaches. I was scared to touch anything for fear I would break it and have to sell a kidney to pay for the damages.
I’d never been comfortable in upscale, affluent places. If I was working an event, it was fine. But as a patron, I felt out of place and like I didn’t belong. From the first time I walked into Simon’s family home, which was on Billionaire’s Row, I broke out in hives. That discomfort continued when he and his family would take me out to Michelin-star restaurants and shopping in high-end stores.
At the time, I’d assumed my uneasiness and feeling out of place was due to my age, since I was three years younger than Simon. Now, that age difference was negligible; as a teenager, it seemed significant. But, even as an adult, it never went away. Simon was fully aware of my reaction to luxury. Still, he always insisted we have the ‘best’ whenever we were together.
Some people were made for the finer things; I was not one of those people. It was strange, but this was the first time I realized I would have never fit into his world. And Simon would have never fit into mine.
As we undressed, I did my best not to feel self-conscious around a bunch of twenty-somethings who were all over five feet eight inches and model-thin. I’d always been on the shorter side, and I definitely had curves. It’s not that I was ashamed of my body or anything; I just didn’t feel comfortable with a lot of eyes on me.
Birdie had no such reservations. She stripped down without any hesitation. She had always had a very healthy relationship with nudity. I’d always believed that if she had grown up in the sixties or seventies, she would have been a hippie living in a nudist colony.
Billie undressed with ninja speed and accuracy. She was like Wonder Woman in the phone booth. She spun around in a blur and was suddenly wearing a white robe with the spa’s logo on the left side.
I fell somewhere in between my sisters. I clumsily took off my shirt and pants, then my bra, before slipping on the robe and sliding my underwear off, keeping my back turned to the crowd of naked women.
My phone buzzed as I pulled my robe shut. It was a message from Mrs. Prescott. She said she wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be coming to the spa, and she asked if I could let Devin know. I wondered why she hadn’t just messaged her soon-to-be daughter-in-law herself. I replied that I would and that I hoped she felt better.
I was putting my phone in the locker when Helga returned and instructed everyone to go to their respective rooms. I ended up in a massage room with Devin and her maid of honor, Thalia. It didn’t make any sense that I wouldn’t be having a treatment with one of my sisters. Maybe Trevor was right, and Devin did want to keep me close.
We walked into the room, and both Devin and Thalia disrobed and laid face down on the table, as instructed. I sat on the table, took off my robe, and then pulled the towel up over myself as I laid down on my stomach.
“Mrs. Prescott wanted me to let you know she’s not feeling well, and won’t be able to make it.”
“Matty’s mom?” Devin questioned as if there was another Mrs. Prescott.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, I thought she was here,” Devin replied as the masseuses entered the room and began to work on us.
I was just starting to relax when Devin said, “So tell me about Matty when he was younger.”
“Um, he was the same, really.” Even though I knew it was a strange thing for me to claim, the truth was that Simon had always been Simon. He truly hadn’t changed.
“Has he always been soserious?” Devin emphasized the word the same way Billie had saidperkyandyoung,as if it were a bad thing.
“Yes.” He was serious. I’d always thought of it as a sign of maturity, but now, taking a step back, I didn’t actually think it had anything to do with it.
“Don’t worry, Dev, you will definitely lighten him up,” Thalia assured her.
As I lay face down, listening to Devin and Thalia list out all the things that Devin planned on changing about Simon, I actually started feeling sorry for him. It was clear that his fiancée was looking at him as a project, not a person.
Not the best way to start a marriage, but then again, I wasn’t really one to talk. I was thirty-six years old, lying naked in a room with my ex’s twenty-two-year-old fiancée the day before their wedding. So, yeah…
I was definitely in a glass house, and I had no business throwing rocks.
26
COLE
“Nine o’clock,”I said aloud to myself as I checked the time. Again.
It wasn’tthatlate. So why was I pacing the floor like a 1950s father whose teenage daughter was out after curfew?
I glanced down at my phone and saw that Bailey still hadn’t responded to my text. Well, she had, sort of. I’d messaged her, asking if she wanted to meet for dinner, to which she said she was working through dinner. I’d responded that I was going to order something to the room, and I’d get her something she could eat when she got back. She’d ‘liked’ my text. That was three hours ago.
In fairness to me, my anxiety was not totally unfounded. An hour ago, there’d been a knock on my door. When I opened it, three of Simon’s groomsmen were on the other side. They asked if I’d seen Simon. Apparently, he’d gone MIA the night before his wedding.
Simon was missing. Bailey still wasn’t back. It was none of my business if they were together, but it felt like it was. Which was insane. I felt like I was going crazy.
