Page 35 of Her Patron
“No.” By now, more than one person from the smoking corner was looking at them. If they had missed the punch-out, they were making up for it now. “I don’t care what you say regarding your feelings for me. If you both loved me as much as you claim, you wouldn’t treat each other like this. Because you’d know how it affects me.” Her throat started to hurt. She didn’t care. “Acting like this isn’t making fools of yourselves. You’re outright disrespecting me, and I do not tolerate that!”
They both looked up at her as if she had grown a second head.
“Furthermore…” Her voice lowered. “Neither one of you is better than the other. Neither one of you treats me better than the other. I’m happy with you both! Don’t you get it? I don’t care what you assholes say. No matter what, I would never be happy with just one person! Why do you think I do my job so well? My brain and body don’t think like that. There isn’t a single wretch in this world who could make me happy by themselves, no matter how noble they think they are…” She glared at Sette. “…Or how good they fuck.” The glare shifted to Miquela. “There’s no such thing as the perfect lover. Even if there was, neither of you would be it!”
She stepped away. Neither Miquela nor Sette reacted.
“Finally…” June turned, torn apart, and tired. “I love you both, in different ways… but I love you both. Either deal with it or get out of my life. I’m not a prize to be won in some pissing match. I am a human being who deserves your respect and understanding. It’s a business contract! You’re both rich businesswomen! Act like you know what that means!”
Sette crossed her legs and leaned her hands against them, head bowed. Miquela pretended that something was fascinating in the woods. June wanted to smack them both again.
“I’m leaving. If I ever find out about you two fighting like this again, I will permanently eject you both from my life. There isn’t enough money in the world to deal with that bullshit. I may loveyou stupid fucks, but I’ve lived and made my way without you before, and I can do it again. Don’t contact me unless it’s for business, and realize that I will only agree to see you if you’re acting like a civilized woman who can think rationally and treat me like I deserve to be treated. You do me no honor by behaving likechildren.”
June made good on her word and left the wedding, shoes slipped back on her feet. All she told Monique before she left, with leaves and dirt in her hair, was that something had come up and she and Miquela would be leaving separately. To her credit, Monique did not question what was going on.I’m sure she’ll find out later.
Taxis milled around the event. June found the first one that wasn’t paid to wait for a guest and got the hell out of there. She didn’t go straight back to the Manoir, though. Instead, she hit up a hotel downtown and rented a room for the night. Not before going down to the bar to drink herself into a stupor, though.
Chapter 11
Sette
“Thank you for coming,” Sette said, meeting June in the lobby of their New York hotel. “I wasn’t sure you still would.”
She did not readily exhibit her shame over behaving in such a crude way at the wedding a week ago, but she did hope her somber tone conveyed how sorry she really was. I’m sorry, June. I’m really sorry. You’ve got to believe how sorry I am. I am a sorry woman of epically sorry proportions. Sheesh. Those didn’t even sound good in her head.
June didn’t smile, hug, or kiss her on the cheek. She rolled one suitcase behind her and tucked a cloth bag over her shoulder. “Like I would miss this.” Sette couldn’t tell if that was sarcasm or not.
“If you want, I could get you your own room. I don’t think they’re fully booked here.” It was one of the nicer hotels in the area, but it was far enough away from the Independence Dayaction to keep some vacancies. “I had originally planned to share one.”
June snorted. “Of course you did. You do love your bed, cuddles, and pillow talk.”
Sette paled.
A smile cracked on June’s face. Laughing, she said, “What? Did I insult your pride or something? Please. Manage to not piss me off today, and I’ll do whatever you want later.” She hoisted her cloth bag again. “Now, come on! I need to dump this shit somewhere, and you need to make some things up to me.”
Sette was between relief and uneasy as she followed June to the nearest elevator.
For a whole week, she had been beside herself with regret. Ever since punching Miquela out in what was perhaps the dumbest act of stupidity she had ever indulged in, Sette became convinced that June hated her.
If losing out on the silent auction was bad enough… losing her entirely would have broken Sette’s heart, perhaps irreparably.
The only time she contacted the Manoir was to ask if June was still coming to New York. Monique told her that June had not changed her mind about that, but two things had changed: one, Sette would pay for a First Class airline ticket on a separate plane, and two, June required a higher appearance fee for the gallery. Whether that was actually Monique’s stipulation and not June’s remained to be seen.
So Sette flew up on her own and arrived two hours earlier, checking into her –their– hotel room and waiting for June’s arrival from the airport. Naturally, Sette had intended for this to be a pleasure weekend as well as a business one. The gallery opened on Sunday, and June didn’t have to be back until Tuesday, giving them three nights together. To think I had been so excited. I’m such an idiot. June was right all along.
Except she said she would share a room with her. Sette would pay handsomely for this weekend, but she considered it not only worth it, but her best opportunity to properly apologize to June for her behavior at the wedding.
She led her to their suite. It wasn’t Presidential or even Royal, but it was up to June’s standards as she inspected both the king-sized bed and the claw-foot tub in the bathroom. June was already looking through the room service menus.
Whatever she wanted. Sette would have said that already, but it was especially true today. “I was thinking we could have dinner at the restaurant across the street,” she said. “I’ve eaten there before. Good Thai food.”
June still smiled at her, although Sette had a feeling that some of her usual warmth was missing. “Sounds good. I don’t mind Thai.”
Dinner was delicious, and June made no allusions to what had happened. She probably wanted to put it all behind her, and Sette was on board with that. So as soon as dinner was over, she walked hand-in-hand with her to a local movie theater and treated her to whatever she wanted to see. Sette was not counting on a French arthouse film about clowns. I’m being punished. Fair enough.
Later that night, when June had showered and Sette had deduced that there was nothing on TV to watch, they ordered some room service and went over the following day’s itinerary. She was treating June to a mini-shopping spree and a day at a fabulous hair and makeup salon to get her ready for her re-debut as a model. Sette, meanwhile, would be spending most of her day at the gallery, helping Joy finish setting up and practicing her opening speech.
“Fun fact,” June said as Sette put her binder away. “You were the last person I had sex with. At the wedding.” So, she was going to bring it up? “It’s been a whole week since I last had sexof any kind. I haven’t gone this long since I was sick four years ago.” She put her finger on Sette’s nose. “Don’t worry. I’m not contagious anymore.”
