High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle

Author:Jennifer Belle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Adult
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 2001-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

20.

XXX MINT PIED-À-TERRE

There are a few things I always do with a man to endear myself to him, things I’ve done with all my boyfriends, such as jumping up and down a little at the thought of going to the zoo. Before I left my apartment with Andrew, I spent a long time fumbling with the zipper of the red rain jacket my husband had given me. It had been his, but I got him to give it to me by telling him that it looked like a woman’s jacket and that he looked like a woman in it. I stood there fumbling with the zipper like a little girl even though I could easily have zipped it quickly.

Andrew turned around a few times to look at me trying to zip the thing. “Are you having a problem there?” he asked. He had a big smile on his face. I wouldn’t think that my zipper trick would work on someone like Andrew, but of course it did. He came toward me as if he intended to help me with my jacket.

“I can do it myself,” I said. “See!” I zipped it all the way to the top.

He came over to me and kissed me. “I just love you,” he said. It was the first time he had said it to me. But he didn’t say, “I love you.” He said, “I just love you.” Just-love wasn’t the same as love. It sounded so offhanded and fleeting.

“I know you love me, too,” he said.

“What are you going to do about your girlfriend?” I asked him.

“I’m going to leave her.”

“When?”

“Liv, I need time. Why do you have to push like that? You just got me to tell you that I love you and that I would leave her. We just said I love you to each other. Why can’t we just enjoy that?” He unzipped me. “Come on, let me see you try to zip this thing again. It was kind of turning me on.”

“I thought we were getting pizza,” I said. “We so rarely dine out.”

He followed me down the stairs and out onto the street. We walked down the street in silence. “When we’re married, you’re going to be so proud walking down the street with me,” he said. “When we’re married, you’ll be proud every time you walk down the street just knowing you’ve got my ring on your finger and my money in your pocket.”

I laughed. “When we’re married, every time you walk down the street, it will be like a small parade with all the private detectives I’ll have following you.”

“I want to take you to a restaurant.” He criticized every restaurant we passed for blocks. Finally we ended up in SoHo at Fanelli’s.

“Is this dark enough for you?” I asked.

We sat in the back at a table covered with a plastic red-and-white-checked tablecloth. He reached over and took my hand.

The waitress came over with water, silverware, and napkins. “Andrew?” she said.

“Hi,” he said. “How are you?”

“Fine, except for working here.

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