It was eleven o’clock when we finally were ready to go. Looking at the final result, though, I couldn’t complain at all. I offered my hand to Olivia, and she took it with a smile, hugging it.

As we approached the car, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. A girl, or maybe a young woman, in a skimpy outfit and a thick makeup, was animatedly talking into her phone, while leaning onto the hood of my vehicle. My habit of evaluating women kicked in, returning an interesting score of ‘lacking out of ten’ back. Weird, haven’t I seen someone like that recently?

A short contemplation later, I came to a decision that it doesn’t matter on the grand scale of things. There already was a beauty by my side, and we had places to be.

“Hey,” I called out to the girl.

Seems like my voice startled her out, since she shuddered a bit and, I swear, muttered something that sounded like ‘Fuck, not again.’ Then the ‘lacking out of ten’-girl turned her face towards me, pausing for a moment before smiling, albeit I could read a calculating look in her eyes. A moment later she registered Olivia, who was still hugging my arm, in her sight and the smile disappeared.

“Would you kindly vacate the premises of my car, please?” I said, trying to shake away the feeling that this entire scene was really familiar to me for no particular reason. “We are on a tight schedule.”

“Um, of course. Sorry to disturb you.” The girl said, turned away and left.

I opened the door for Olivia to get inside, trying to ignore the weird expression on her face, then went around the car and sat behind the steering wheel, and started the engine. After checking the mirrors, I drove away.

My passenger still looked at me as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Well, not exactly, but it was close enough.

“What?” I asked after a while.

“You know who that girl was?” I got a question back.

“No idea,” I said honestly.

“Seriously?” Olivia looked surprised. “She is, like, one of the most trendy bloggers right now.”

Huh. Ah, that explains the awkward way she held her phone. But, eh, never had a particular interest in that side of the entertainment industry. Though, one of my drinking buddies, back in the first round, had a hobby of bedding female streamers as a sport. Usually rolling in with a huge donation and asking for private contact. The majority refused, of course, but at least a few every month agreed. A truly strange fetish that dude had, but it’s not my place to kink shame someone.

“Um, okay?” I shrugged.

“Ugh. Can’t you be, like, more hyped about this or something?” my girlfriend shook her head in exasperation. “Wait. One of my classmates, a huge fan of this girl, said that today her stream got video bombed. Now that I think, it was almost the same situation, with her doing a video using an expensive car as a background, except it was some lazy bum, or so he said.”

Oh. That explains the déjà vu.

“No. You don’t say,” she facepalmed. “Lazy bum with an expensive car. Same place. Same person. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Um. Guilty as charged?” I shrugged again.

“Hey, honey, don’t you think it’s a waste?” She asked another weird question.

“What do you mean?” I had zero clues about what she was talking about.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Well, I mean, she is pretty cute.” She sounded so much like Bella right now that I almost turned my head just to make sure.

“Hm, dunno. For me, her evaluation score fell short in comparison,” I said with a sigh mixed in.

“Oh? Compared to whom?” I heard an interest in her question.

“To you, of course,” I stated the obvious.

The flattery worked just fine. Until it didn’t.

“Huh. And what about the morning?” I knew it was a trap question. And, obviously enough, I knew the right answer. But a part of me still wanted to stick to telling the truth. Fuck.

“And in the morning, I was in a bad mood, since someone was ignoring my messages.” I threw a glance at her. “Also, I needed to talk about a few things with Bella. In person. Not going to lie, there was more to that than just talking. And the girl fell short compared to her.”

“Ugh. And here comes the truth I really could live without knowing of. Damn, and now I’m jealous again.” I could see her frowning in the rearview mirror. “But I must agree. Compared to her, the girl certainly lacks a fair bit.”

The rest of the short ride was spent in silence.

***

Instead of going to the main entrance, I drove the car to Bella's personal garage. The guard, manning the shift there, recognized the vehicle immediately, and came to an easy conclusion that whoever was important enough for the boss lady to give her precious little baby to, was also important enough to have access to this part of the club.

I found a marked spot, left specifically for this car, and parked it there. My eyes glanced at my watch, checking the time. Eleven twenty. There was just enough time left for a leisure walk to Bella’s office.

A part of me found entertainment in my little gentlemen's play pretend. As such, I went around the car and opened the door for Olivia, offering her my hand in the process. My pretty lady took the offered appendage with an absentminded smile, still deep in her head, and I led her on our way.

“Hey, honey, what do you think this meeting will be all about?” Said my mistress, as we were walking through the mostly empty VIP parking lot toward the entrance leading to the lounges.

“A week ago, my best guess would’ve been some sort of power play from Bella’s side to drive you away,” I said after a bit of thinking. “But after recent revelations about the two women in my life, I honestly won’t be surprised if she will simply try to seduce you.”

Olivia halted in place, and I stopped myself half step.

“Huh?” With some sadistic delight, I was watching the myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes. “What do you mean?”

I sighed and looked at the watch again.

“Would you mind if we discuss it while we’re walking?” I asked and got a nod as an answer. “Sorry, I just hate being late.”

And I gave her a short version of what conclusion Bella and I got to earlier today.

***

“So, when did you plan to tell me all of that?” asked Olivia.

“Ideally? Never,” I shrugged. “Realistically? In a few months, when my wish to monopolize you at every given moment would subside a bit. And even then, if you had no natural inclination, I still most likely wouldn’t.”

“You are one hell of a weird guy, honey.” My girlfriend shook her head.

“Tell me something I didn’t know already.” I shrugged her rude words off.

We were climbing the last flight of stairs at the moment. Still on time, by the way. About half-way, Olivia stepped over one extra step and stood right in front of me. The mix of feelings and emotions in her gaze was changing non-stop, like a kaleidoscope, making it impossible to get an accurate reading.

“Michael.” She called my name in a serious tone. “What do you think I should do? About all of this stuff you just told me about, I mean.”

“Up to you.” There was no hesitation in my voice. “Can’t say this whole idea doesn't sound enticing, but, to be frank, I doubt it will work out in the end.”

“But you still want to try?” my mistress voiced another question.

“Well, I kind of already agreed to, I guess.” I shrugged once more.

“No, I mean, do you want it? You, personally.” She looked straight into my eyes while asking this one.

Those words made me fall into deep thought. Did ‘I’ really want it? Did I really ‘want’ it?

“Yes. I would like to give it a try.” I nodded my head, finally coming to a conclusion. “In the end, this feels like the most interesting choice.”