Page 13 of Unravel Me

“That’s Virgo.” Lydia explained. “Her name. Her name is Virgo. She’s one of my maids of honor.”

“One of them?” I asked spinning around, not seeing anyone else.

“The other is outside smoking.” Virgo stuck out her tongue.

“They’ll both be leaving soon.” Lydia explained. “They just wanted to meet you first. Outside is Michael, my business partner, and this is his girlfriend. I told you, they know.”

I didn’t respond. My urge to leave was getting stronger by the moment. Meeting her friends felt like a bit much for the ruse.

Lydia got closer to me and said softly, “Go outside and talk with Michael, he wants to speak to you. You don’t have to, but he told me he wanted to speak to you before I go through with all this.”

That was a reasonable request from a business partner I thought. I nodded and headed out to the balcony. Leaning overthe railing was a shorter man with his hair colored neon green, it looked recently dyed. He was balancing an ashtray on the railing and smoked, staring out. I wasn’t sure how to approach him and decided on standing next to him. He wordlessly offered me a cigarette, but I declined. I quit that habit years ago. He shrugged and tapped his out.

“This was all Lydia’s choice you know?” He said finally. “I supported whatever she chose, gave her whatever advice I had. But it was all Lydia.”

“She is a very capable woman.” I agreed. “She can make her own choices.”

“I’m glad you agree,” Michael said, turning to face me. “I’m not very intimidating. And I don’t want to be. I don’t want to intimidate you.”

So that was what this was. “You’re giving me a shovel talk? It’s not a real relationship, you have no reason to worry. It’s all business.”

“Sure,” he said. Even though he was agreeing, something seemed off. Maybe it was how he still looked at me with distrust in his eyes. “Just if you do anything, know that I will respect her decision if she decides to break ties with you. And I will wholeheartedly respect her decision if she decides to go public with everything you’ve planned. She and Virgo are my family. You aren’t.” He put the ashtray on a little table on the balcony and headed inside without another word.

I stayed out on the balcony for a while after. What Michael said twisted around in my gut like I was sick. I didn’t know why it was impacting me so much. What he said was reasonable, if I misused my agreement with Lydia of course I should expect retaliation. I still felt off as I heard the balcony door slide open again.

“Okay, Virgo and Michael left.” Lydia joined me, missing the beads and the cowboy hat. “He didn’t like insult you or anything?”

“No,” I said. “He just wanted to be clear on our terms.”

“That’s good. He’s like my older brother. I was worried he would try to give you a shovel talk or something.” She laughed. “Although I get it. I wanted to meet Virgo as soon as he talked about her, to make sure she wasn’t, I don’t know, using him? It’s ridiculous to think about now.” She paused then quickly continued, “Although that’s nothing like our situation.”

“Lydia.” I needed to get it out quickly.

“Yes?”

“Next time we kiss.” I thought I heard her breath hitch beside me. “Next time we kiss, and each time we have to, I want you to make sure I see you and then tap on my wrist twice.”

“Why?” She asked even though I desperately hoped she wouldn’t.

“I’m setting a boundary.” I said bluntly. I hoped that would keep me from needing to explain further. “Do you have anything you want me to know or do?”

She looked at me and I knew there were questions running through her head. “No,” she said. “I think that’s fine. If you want to kiss me, you can do the wrist tap too, just so I can be prepared.”

I cleared my throat. “Now how do you want to practice?”

She looked at me and reached her hand out and gently tapped my wrist. I steeled myself, prepared. Instead, she reached up and started to fix my messy hair. Her eyebrows stitched with concentration as she neatened it up. Her eyes brightened as she moved her hand away, I guess it was to her liking. “I’ll tap your wrist once whenever I’m going to do something intimate. If you ever don’t want me to, tap my wrist back.” I nodded.

She tapped my wrist and then folded her hand into mine. “We look like a couple already,” she said while intertwining our fingers. I couldn’t reply. I moved my other hand to tap the wrist of the hand that was locked with mine. She quickly let go.

Chapter 6

Lydia

Even though my specialty was men’s wear, I always thought I’d design my own wedding dress. That just meant I’d design his tux too. With the time frame that we were working with, however, I couldn’t whip something up. I’d just make my dress for whenever I had a real one. After our quick practice session after my hectic bachelorette party, he asked for my measurements and my favorite styles. He said he’d take care of the dress. I thought that was best, my budget for this wasn’t very high, he knew what the right price range for a billionaire’s future wife would be. But when the box arrived at my front door, wrapped with a bright white bow, I couldn’t help but be nervous anyway. I was worried I’d hate it. I knew that was silly, but photos of this wedding were going to be getting out. People were going to think it was my dream dress.

I undid the bow carefully, knowing I was stalling, but taking my time to untie it anyway. I lifted the lid and began pulling it out. I could already tell it was a blush color, something I had requested when he asked. I pulled it all the way out and held it against my chest. I quickly moved to the floor length mirror we kept in the living room. The top was lacy, and the dress also had lacy long sleeves. The heart neckline and the A-line skirt was classic but beautiful with the lace accents. I loved it. At least I wouldn’t be worried about fellow designers judgingmy choice. I rushed to try it on. It fit perfectly over my curves. I gasped remembering what Virgo got me as my bachelorette present. I found it on the kitchen counter. It was a hair clip made with a pressed cornflower. The bright blue petals stood out from my dark kinky curly hair. It made everything feel more cohesive, more real. I was borrowing my shoes from Virgo as well. The dress was new. As for something old...I told my Aunt about the engagement.

She didn’t say much to me about it. Just asked if I was happy. I didn’t want to lie to her, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I was happy. Happy to finally get an investor for Sew Fit. She couldn’t make it, of course she couldn’t, she worked in London and couldn’t drop everything for a surprise wedding. I still received a package from her in the mail. It was a veil, yellowed slightly with age. The short note from my aunt said it was both hers and my mother’s.

---