SSMM Ch10

Ava’s incredibly wound up, and horniness and adventure both make her **** to impulsiveness. This thing she’s doing with Annette offers horniness and adventure. She needs to be sensible. She hurries back to her room without looking for trouble.

The house is a little chilly, which is understandable with the level of mugginess outside. Rain’s falling, but it doesn’t sound too crazy. Ava doesn’t doubt that the worst is yet to come; she’s been in Florida long enough to know how wet things can get. Dressed in jeans and an Eras Tour sweatshirt, she emerges, ready to at least pretend to be a dutiful assistant.

It’s hard not to think about all the horny stuff going on, so it’s best if she isn’t alone. Still, she’s not about to crash into Vivien’s living quarters to arrive in the middle of the meeting. Besides, seeing Vivien is dangerous.

Ava shakes her head and ventures downstairs, where raised voices call to her nosiness.

She tiptoes to a wide doorway in time to see Kia—the Pilates trainer—storm out. Ava dodges aside to avoid a bump, and Kia pauses.

She looks grumpy, although still unfairly hot. Ava smells perfume, sweat, and a hint of arousal on her. She hasn’t showered since that workout downstairs, clearly.

“Who the hell are you?” Despite the phrasing, she doesn’t sound hostile.

“I work for Annette,” Ava replies, offering her hand.

“Cool.” Kia seems deeply uninterested, but she does a cursory shake and walks away.

Ava peeks into the room. Belinda’s at the far end, looking up at a modern painting of a woman’s lower half, in which a tiny thong fails to even begin to hide a serious black bush. It’s more odd than sexy, but Ava can understand why Belinda’s staring at it. It’s a hell of a thing to have hanging over your fireplace. Ava has **** but to respect Vivien’s directness and honesty. She might be a terrible person, but she’s no hypocrite. That’s worth something.

Was that Belinda fighting with Kia? Well, they’re both trainers. Maybe they know each other.

“You good?” Ava asks from the doorway. Belinda looks back and snorts.

“Sure,” she says. “You?”

“Living the dream.”

“Are we good with Kia?”

“She’s an idiot. It’s her own problem. Do we have a schedule?”

“I don’t think so.” Ava joins Belinda by the painting. “Annette’s meeting with Vivien.”

“Meeting or meeting?”

“What do you mean? Oh. Does Vivien seduce women her own age?”

“I don’t know,” Belinda admits. “But I wouldn’t rule it out.”

“I think just a normal meeting.”

“OK, cool.”

“You look nervous.”

“It’s Chitose. She’s a little weird, and there’s a small language barrier. I haven’t been working with her long. I’d be more comfortable with this presentation if I felt like I had a better handle on her.”

“Makes sense,” Ava replies. “Can I help?” She’s not here with Belinda, but FUTA is FUTA. They’re all on the same team, and Annette probably doesn’t care who the ‘winner’ is. She just needs at least one of these projects to get some venture capital out of Vivien.

Belinda sighs, then glances over at her and looks her up and down.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Do you want to?”

“Do I want pretty ladies owing me favors? Yes. Yes, I do.”

Belinda snorts. “Does nobody normal work for FUTA?”

“Why would they?”

Belinda stares at her. Ava puts her hands on her hips and matches the stare. She’s no longer dressed provocatively, so what is there to stare at? Her damp hair’s in a messy ponytail and she’s not wearing makeup.

“What?” she asks.

“Well, you did ask. How, uh, hung up on ethics and morals are you?” Belinda asks, going back to looking at the bush painting. The rain on the windows gets a little heavier.

Ava lets out a guffaw of laughter and looks over her shoulder. They’re still alone.

“Uh, I guess I’m about as evil as a lobbyist. Less evil than a CIA war criminal.”

“Ok, well. Chitose has tried to flirt with me nonstop since I met her, but I’m her coach. She’s very confident when she’s working, but she’s actually really nervous to be here. I think if she could relax a little it would be great.”

Ava puts her hand over her mouth. “You serious?” she asks after a moment. “Why not uh… use Vivien for this?”

“That would not be a good idea. I’m not asking you to do anything. If you want to help, I think this might help. You asked.” Belinda rolls her eyes.

“You should do it.”

Belinda just shakes her head. “Don’t even.”

Ava has to respect that. She frowns. Seconds go by. Finally, Belinda glances over at her.

“I would owe you,” she says, and there’s a hint of a smile there. “People say I’m aggressive. Maybe I’m not the person you want owing you.”

Ava looks her up and down. “You can owe me. In fact, please owe me, Mommy.”

Belinda looks away and snorts. “There’s something in the water. Everyone just loses their fucking minds when they walk into this place.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Uh, no. But you’ve noticed it too, haven’t you?”

“Vivien does know how to break the ice. I’ll, uh, think about it,” Ava says diplomatically.

“Thanks.”

Ava leaves her there because she is painfully thirsty. She was in a bath with Vivien, but sweat, excitement… she needs water.

“Wagh!” she cries, jumping as Jane appears beside her. “God damn!”

“Sorry.” Was Jane listening just now? Ava is barely out of that living room and into the foyer. Where did Jane come from?

“What’s up?”

“Did I mention we don’t have any cooks or anything tonight?”

“Well, yeah. The storm.”

“If you want to get away from these psychos, I can use some help.”

Makes sense. They’ll have to have dinner at some point, and there are… what? Belinda, Karina, Vivien, Hailey, Ingrid, the Swedish lady with Ingrid, whose name is Ebba… Ava, Annette, Chitose, Cristy, Jane, Aubrey, and Kia… fourteen people. It’s not a ton, but it’s a lot of cooking and serving.

It’s good to be needed, Ava supposes. She can presumably earn some points by checking on Chitose for Belinda, or she can help Jane out.