Page 20 of Boyfriend Maintenance

“Emerson.” She leans in and air kisses Emmy’s cheeks. “I’m glad you could make it, even if a bit late.” I fight off my desire to make a show of looking at my watch and pointing out that we arrived right on time. There’s also something about the way she says “Emerson” that I don’t like. Emmy told me that she’s always gone by Emmy, so I get the feeling that Kitty’s use of her full name is a dig.

“Kitty,” is all Emmy says in reply.

I officially have her attention. Just as expected, she looks down her nose at me. I might have imagined the flare of her nostrils. But it makes me feel as if she can smell the lack of wealth on me.

“Are you going to introduce me?” She holds out her elegant hand. Not for a shake, but the way rich bitches do when they want you to kiss the back of their hand. Like she’s a fucking queen or something.

“This is my boyfriend, Jake Harper,” Emmy tells her, and I swallow my pride and lean forward to take her hand.

“Mrs. King. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m sure you haven’t heard anything good, but I have to admit, I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you.” God, she is snooty.

“That’s alright. I actually haven’t heard anything about you either,” I tell her.

Her eyes narrow but she plays it off. I sneak a glance at Emmy, and she doesn’t seem irritated at my jab at all. Good.

“So, I take it this thing is new?” Kitty brushes her hand dismissively between the two of us.

“Yes,” is all Emmy replies.

“Good. Well, Craig is around here somewhere. I know he is very eager to see you, Emerson.” Just like that she’s dismissed me.

Emmy leans into me a bit. “Ah, well good for Craig. Like I told him last week, the feeling isn’t mutual. Plus, I’m with Jake.”

I turn my head slightly and press a kiss to her temple. Kitty studies the gesture before looking away, nodding, and waving to someone nearby. No longer making eye contact with Emmy, she delivers a blow.

“Whatever you say, Emmy. Whatever you think this is between the two of you, won’t last. Craig is the real deal and you know it. Stay out of trouble.” At that, she turns and walks away.

Emmy lets out a sigh of relief and sags slightly into me. “One down, two more to go.”

“That woman is vile. Was that interaction better or worse than you were expecting?” I start to drag her toward the bar. If I’m going to make it through the rest of tonight dealing with that kind of shit, I need a drink. A strong one at that.

“That was actually about on par.”

“Do you think your dad is going to be worse? And who’s number three? I thought you said Levi is Team Emmy.” She chuckles at that.

“Levi isn’t number three. His horrid bride-to-be is. We went to school together. I’m pretty sure her one goal in life is to be cast onThe Real Housewives of New York Citysomeday. Marrying Levi gets her pretty darn close to that goal because of who he is and how much he’s worth.”

“So, she’s going to be a breath of fresh air?”

At that, she laughs, which makes me smile, because I finally get why she didn’t want to do this alone.

“What about your dad? Is he going to be like Kitty?” I hand her a glass of house wine. I sip my Manhattan and direct her toward an empty table.

“Hard to say. He will probably be less rude to you, but more judgmental of me. But who knows?”

We sip our drinks and chat about our surroundings. This place is a lot swankier than my normal haunts. It clearly carters to the upper class, but I find myself relaxed here for the most part. I’m not itching to get out. I doubt I’ll ever find myself wanting to come back, but I’m not turned off by the atmosphere, a feeling I attribute to my being comfortable with Emmy. I try not to read too much into that feeling. I’m not nor will I ever be someone who frequents a place like this.

She shares little stories about several of the attendees. She points out a woman chatting with her soon-to-be sister-in-law across the room.

“See that woman over there?” She tips her head to the side.

“Yeah, what about her?”

She nods, starting off at the woman. “She used to be one of my closest friends.”

“What happened?”

---