“Did you notice this evening, when Jeremy said that cooking would give him something to do when we’re home?” I asked Emmy while we had our nightly soak.
“Yes?” Emmy said, wondering what I was getting at.
“‘When we are home’. We, as in him, too, and home, as in, the place we all live,” I explained. “Clearly he’s mentally including himself in the household.”
“That is good, is it not?”
“Oh, it’s good, that’s for sure,” I said, enjoying the foot massage Emmy was giving me. “I intend to keep him around for the very long term. I like the guy, and he’s proven his loyalty.”
“Yes, he has,” Emmy agreed. “He very nearly died for me,” she said, her voice soft.
“You know he would have, Em. He would do it again in a moment if it came down to it,” I told her. “And he’s not alone in that.”
“If that was meant to comfort me, you are doing a terrible job,” Emmy said with a small chuckle.
“It was more meant to tell you how important you are to a lot of people,” I said. “A whole lot of people.”
“I did not ask for this,” Emmy said in a small voice, looking down. “I never wanted this.”
“I know, baby,” I said, leaning forward to take her into my arms. “I know you didn’t. None of us ever get to chose the life we’re born into, and by the time we ever do get to the point where we can make our own choices, we find we’re already firmly on one path or another. We all just do the best we can and muddle our way through.”
Emmy didn’t say anything in response, just letting me wrap her in my arms and hold her tight. We stayed like that for quite a while, until eventually the water cooled off.
“Leah,” Emmy said as we played our game of drying each other off. “I love you so very much… More than anything. Please, please be careful- for me.”
“Oh, babe,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the tub so we could be closer to eye level. “I know you think I like to take risks, but that’s not really what’s going on,” I said. “I work very, very hard to minimize those risks. I do whatever I possibly can to control the situation, and to work within my capabilities. Yes, I push it with some things some times, but that’s under controlled circumstances. I do it to find out where my limits are, so that if and when something really does happen, I know how to deal with it.”
“I know, but I still worry,” Emmy said.
“I can’t tell you anything that’ll stop you from worrying,” I admitted. “But just know that I will always do everything humanly possible to come back to you.”
“I know that is true,” Emmy confessed. “I know that with all my heart. I do. But I still worry sometimes. You are so… so… I do not have the words,” she said. “You are so extreme, Leah. You have never done anything in your life out of weakness or fear. If you are pushed, you push back twice as hard. Your response to danger is to become even more dangerous.”
Emmy placed her hands on the sides of my head and looked me straight in my eyes. “This is not normal. This is very extraordinary, Leah. You are very extraordinary. You do extraordinary things on a daily basis. I love this about you, I do. But yes, it does make me worry.”
I placed my hands on top of hers, saying, “You’re the extraordinary one of us, Em. You shine so brightly- the rest of us are just pale shadows in comparison.”
“You are certainly much more pale than I am!” Emmy said with a laugh, holding her arm next to mine to compare our skin tone.
This did a great job of breaking the serious mood, so I stood up suddenly and grabbed her slender, naked body, carrying her into the bedroom. Laughing at Emmy’s squeal of surprise, I dropped her on our big bed, marveling at the contrast of her charcoal-colored nude body against the white sheets.
“You really are so beautiful, Em,” I said. “So very beautiful.”
“Please do not tell me your plan was to simply admire me from afar,” Emmy said, readjusting herself into a very sensual pose. “I would much prefer to be admired from up close.”
“I think I can accommodate your wishes,” I said, dropping myself down onto all fours on the edge of the bed and kissing my way up between Emmy’s slender, muscular legs.
“Oh, Leah,” Emmy said as I nibbled ever so gently on the inside of her thigh. “Always love me.”
“Leah?” Jeremy asked on our ten minute walk to the gym the next morning. “Where do you see me in five years?”
“In five years? Let’s see… Hopefully by then Emmy Jr will be in preschool, but probably still too little to walk to school, so you’ll probably be the one to drive her and pick her up afterwards. You’ll probably be Emmy’s primary driver, at least when we’re in LA…” I said, thinking about it.
“I guess what I meant was that I wanted to know if you thought I was going to continue as Emmy’s bodyguard,” Jeremy said, interrupting my train of thought. “I wanted to know if I’m going to be part of your plans in the long term.”
“Do you want to be?” I asked. “I’d assumed you did, but I guess I never actually asked you.”
“I do,” Jeremy replied. “I want it really badly. You and Emmy have treated me so well- you two have really made me feel- you’ve treated me with respect and trust, and that means a lot to me.”
“Jeremy,” I said, resting a hand on his big shoulder. “I can tell you that Emmy and I are very, very grateful for what you did in Atlanta, and we both want you to stay as a member of the household for the long term. Our plans for you are that simple. We want you to continue with us. Now, like I said about driving Emmy Jr to school, your role will undoubtedly evolve with time as the household dynamics change, but I can’t see a time when you wouldn’t be a part of it.”
Jeremy took a while before he responded, saying, “I’ll be there as long as you and Emmy want me to be. I can promise you that.”
“It’s a deal,” I said.
“The gym’s manager, that guy Gabe?” Tiny said on our walk in the rain back to our apartment. “He watches you work out. He can barely take his eyes off you.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” I agreed. “I think there’s two things going on with that. One, there aren’t that many people working out so early, so even if he watched everybody equally he’d still be looking at me twenty-five per cent of the time, right? The second thing is that he’s seen the Atlanta videos and he’s told me that he doesn’t want anything that even looks like fatal moves from me when I work out. He’s said he’ll kick me out of the gym if he ever catches me practicing any of that stuff. So he’s keeping a sharp eye out for any moves that aren’t MMA sanctioned.”
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“Makes sense,” Tiny admitted.
“Were you thinking it was something else?” I asked.
“You’re a beautiful woman, and your outfit shows off your body,” Jeremy said with a shrug. “He’d have to be blind to not notice.”
“Aw, thanks!” I said in a girlish voice, earning me a laugh.
Emmy and Tiny went with me to my appointment at the tailor’s shop that afternoon. Emmy went because she wanted to give her input, and Jeremy because wherever Emmy went, so did he.
To my utter lack of surprise, Emmy asked about a suit for Jeremy and scheduled a full fitting for him for the following week.
For me, they just did a quick measurement check to make sure nothing had changed. After that it was all a discussion of fabrics, colors and materials. Magdalena asked about the suits that they’d made for me before, which ones I preferred and why, helping to fine-tune the choices for my next round. It struck me that this was the true value of developing a relationship with a specific tailor- they’d learn what works well for you and what doesn’t, so each new garment would be an improvement over the last.
Confident in their work, we told them to ship the clothes to the US when they were done, if we weren’t still in London by that time. I felt no need to try the new outfits on to make sure they fit. I knew that they would.
We went for dinner afterwards to a nearby steak house in Soho. The place was done in a sort of ‘dilapidated loft’ aesthetic rather than the usual ‘men’s club’ look with overstuffed booths, which I found refreshing. The waitress was wowed by having Emmy De Lascaux in her section, but besides being starry-eyed, did a great job and was quite professional.
A guy (presumably the chef, but he didn’t introduce himself as such) came out of the kitchen to check if we were happy with our steaks. He explained that they had their own herd of cattle, rather than relying on restaurant suppliers for their beef. He went on to tell us about their sustainability programs and their company mission, too.
Emmy thanked him very kindly for his personal attention, and told him that she was enjoying her meal very much and would undoubtedly be back, which seemed to please the guy.
“Em, I’m always impressed by how good you are with people,” I told her in the taxi ride home. “It’s amazing to me how you can make peoples’ day just with a few words.”
“It is no hardship to be kind to people,” Emmy said. “If I can brighten a person’s day, why would I not want to do so?”
Johnny J was waiting in the lobby when I stepped out of the elevator at the appointed time on Saturday morning. The concierge was giving him quite the side-eye, but when I greeted the cabbie with a smile and a handshake his concerns were alleviated.
“Have you thought of a good route for today’s festivities?” I asked Johnny J as I led him to the elevators for the trip down to the parking levels.
“I reckon we spend an hour or two circulating in the city, then we head out to the Chilterns for a bit of fun. After that we see what we want to do,” he replied.
“Alright,” I said. “But here’s the deal. I absolutely won’t be able to navigate here inside the London metropolitan area, so I’ll need you to keep me on the right track.”
“I think I can do that,” he said affably.
Crossing the garage to our parking spots, Johnny J eyeballed the covered shape in the next stall.
“That’s the Lotus,” I said. “Let’s take a look.”
The two of us pulled the cover off and folded it up neatly, storing it in its pouch.
“You know, I haven’t even driven it yet- not even back from the dealership. They delivered it yesterday while I was car shopping,” I said as Johnny J admired the sleek, low car. “What do you think about taking that out instead of the Ford?”
The cabbie looked back and forth between the two cars, pointing at one, then the other, and then back to the first. Finally he settled on the Lotus.
“O.K., but I really don’t want to fuck this car up, so we’re going to have to be that much more careful,” I said.
“Then let’s do this,” Johnny J said. “Let’s take the Ford out first, then come back and switch cars once you get your legs under you,” he suggested.
That decided, I threw the bundled cover in the back of the Lotus before locking the car. I had to laugh when I found myself automatically heading for the left-side door of the Focus, only to nearly bump into Johnny J, who was headed for the same seat.
He was a good, patient instructor and after a little while I stopped being so nervous of the London traffic. Yes, I had to consciously remember to turn into the left-side lane when turning onto a street, but traffic circles were no big deal for some reason. Johnny J guided me through a wide variety of motorways, narrow lanes and busy thoroughfares, keeping it interesting and challenging. It made no difference where we actually went, as long as we were flowing through traffic smoothly.
Honestly, his constant guidance was a mixed blessing. It was good, since all I had to concentrate on was the traffic around us and staying on the correct side of the street. On the other hand, it was bad because I was simply following directions and didn’t need to pay any real attention to street signs.
Eventually we found our way out of the city and onto a busy two-lane road, then onto a narrow, nearly deserted road through the woods.
“Is it time to stretch this little car’s legs?” I asked.
“Let ‘er run!” Johnny J instructed, so I did.
“Holy-” Johnny J exclaimed as I slammed the pedal to the floor and that bright blue Focus leapt forward. The road was narrow and twisting, perfect to test the handling and suspension work that the race shop had done.
The grip provided by the Dunlops was surprisingly good on the wet roads, but the car’s three hundred and fifty horsepower could overwhelm the traction when the power was applied aggressively. This allowed me to get squirrelly whenever I wanted, which, to be honest, was quite frequently. I will admit to more than a little bit of pleasure at the pops and bangs from the exhaust and the sound of the little turbo four-banger as I made it work for a living.
Johnny J relaxed after a few minutes, once he recognized that I had more than a passing idea of how to drive. This didn’t mean he let go of the grab bar, though.
After maybe half an hour of goofing off, we swapped seats and he got to drive the little blue beast.
He had fun with it, too, but never let it get as out of shape as I had. He kept it closer to the speed limits, too, commenting that getting busted for speeding wouldn’t do his job as a taxi driver any favors.
When we returned to London and changed cars, I made a point of paying more attention to the street signs, rather than simply relying on Johnny J’s guidance. It was reassuring having someone who would correct me when I was about to make a mistake, which I did fairly frequently, but less and less as time went on.
Unfortunately we ran out of daylight before we had a chance to take the Evora out to play, but I got the impression that simply riding in the Racing Green Lotus was a treat for the guy. I’ll admit that I did enjoy driving it, too, even though it had far less horsepower than most of my other cars. More than the Focus RS, sure, but only about two thirds the power of the Aston Vantage, the car it reminded me most of.
Still, it was quick, handled like a dream, and the suspension did an amazing job of keeping the ride comfortable- not something I could always say about the Aston.
“Come springtime I’ll be looking for track day opportunities,” I told Johnny J. “I’ll need to find a good tuner to dial this car in for me.”
“What, it’s not fast enough for you?” he asked.
“It’s not the outright speed,” I explained. “The car feels fast enough to be fun. No, I need a shop that’ll change my brake pads and fluid, change the tires, things like that. A shop that understands these cars, and knows what they need for the track. Back home in LA I have my race mechanics prep all my cars, but there’s no way I’m gonna fly those guys over here just for a weekend now and then.”
“You have race mechanics?”
“For my GT3 BMW, but they also work on my other cars when I track them just for shits and giggles,” I said.
“You drive a GT3 M6?” Johnny J asked, astounded.
“I just ordered a new one for next season,” I told him. “Which reminds me- I have to find a buyer for my old car.”
Shaking his head, he said, “They hold track days through the winter months, rain or shine. You clearly don’t care if your cars get dirty from wet roads and aren’t too bothered by slippery conditions, right? No reason to wait for spring.”
“Have you ever done any track days?” I asked.
“When I was younger,” he replied as we crossed the Waterloo Bridge. “Before the wife and kids.”
“Yeah, family life has a way of putting a damper on things like that,” I agreed, knowing it was in my future, too.
Back at the apartment I did some research online and found that yes, there was an active track day schedule despite it being late fall. I also found several companies in the London-ish area that did trackside support and car transportation. We were going to be in the UK for a while longer- why not get out to play? I shot out a few emails, but really didn’t expect I’d get any replies until Monday at the soonest.
Tiny made dinner again that night- roast beef stew with sautéed vegetables. It was a simple meal, but Emmy and I both enjoyed it, and wanted to encourage Jeremy’s new-found interest in cooking, so we praised his efforts. He admitted that he’d gone to the nearby grocery store without any menu in mind, but had struck up a conversation with another shopper who had suggested the meal.
“Emmy,” he said. “Before, I never would have dared to just start talking to random strangers like that, just out of the blue. She saw me staring at the cuts of beef in a daze, and when she asked what I was looking for I told her I had no idea at all. We got to talking, and just a few minutes later I had dinner all planned out.” After pausing to take another bite, he said, “It’s from watching you. You can talk to anybody! You just somehow make it seem like you’re old friends who just now met, if that makes sense.”
“She really does, doesn’t she?” I agreed.