SSMM Ch18

“OK, how long have you known her?” Ava asks quietly.

“Uh, like a week.” Karina looks almost suspicious. “I like her though. Why?”

Right. Karina replaced Cristy’s original player, the one who was supposed to represent their tennis project.

“Nothing. I just need to apologize to her.”

Karina studies Ava’s face for a moment, looking thoughtful.

“Fuck that,” she says finally. “Let’s celebrate. They got drinks here, right? Go get some.” She puts her hand on Ava’s waist. “You should celebrate with us.” Karina looks her up and down. “You know.” She gives Ava a gentle pinch. “Being my hero and all.”

“God. Am I this fucking easy?” Ava puts her face in her hand.

“What do you mean?” Karina laughs.

“Today is crazy. Viv came at me super horny,”

“Did she?” Karina asks, cutting her off before she can go on.

“Yeah. I think she still wants to hook up.”

“Party with us instead.”

Ava snorts. “I mean, I wasn’t gonna say no.”

“OK. Let’s get the drinks.” She takes Ava’s arm.

“You make friends fast.”

“This is a big deal.”

Right; Ava has to look at it from Karina’s point of view.

“But we don’t have the deal,” she notes.

“We will. It’s as good as locked. Your idea was good.” Karina strolls along with her happily toward the kitchen. “She’s not a businesswoman. She’s an entertainer. She wants to be entertained, and you’re doing it. You hooked her. Way better than we would have.”

Ava’s read on the situation isn’t quite the same, but that’s because she has no idea how free Viv is with her money. She’s not about to argue though. And it does make sense that Viv wouldn’t have asked to circle back if she wasn’t interested. She does like tennis players after all. Maybe Cristy’s reaction there hadn’t been about the pitch. Being in a room with Viv had to have been… something.

Jane’s in the kitchen. She’s wearing a fresh apron, and she’s got the stuff from dinner mostly cleaned up. Now it smells good and the oven’s running. There are trays of pastries ready to go in.

“Hey,” she says brightly. “All good?”

“Maybe. I fucked up Cristy’s pitch,” Ava reports.

“Oh. Shit.”

“No. It’s good. Hi. I’m Karina, and can I borrow this one? Who are you again?”

“Jesus fucking Christ. Ava. My name is Ava.”

“Can I borrow Ava? She’s like my knight in shining armor,” Karina says, clutching Ava’s arm possessively. “I have to, uh… show her how grateful I am.”

“I love that you’re asking my permission,” Jane says, wiping her hands. “I feel like a mom.”

“I’m not really. If you say no, I’ll shank you. Also, we need wine. Or rum. And Coke. Not that kind of coke. I mean for a mixer. We have to specify because a movie star lives here,” Karina explains.

Jane picks up the rolling pin from the island and tosses it in the air, catching it expertly and pointing it at Karina. She gives her a look.

“Try again, bitch,” she says.

“Can we please have some drinks and can I flirt with your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?”

“You had a maid outfit on,” Karina says with a shrug. “You’re telling me there’s no maid-on-maid action?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Ava says.

“What do you mean, no?” Jane squares herself. “You could say not yet. I thought things were looking good.”

“They were,” Ava assures her quickly. “I mean are. Uh, I’ve never been this popular before. I don’t know what to do. Am I blushing?”

“Yes,” Jane and Karina say in unison.

“We really do just want to celebrate a little. The pitch went fine. Ava made it better,” Karina says.

“Cool. Great. Go ahead, right there.” Jane points to a big, wooden cabinet. “Take anything that’s not behind glass.”

“I’ll leave you a big tip,” Karina promises, going to the cabinet.

“You don’t tip me. You invite me to the party.”

“Oh.” Karina pauses with a little snort. “Uh, OK. You’re invited.”

“I can’t though. I gotta do dessert. Take it easy,” Jane adds to Ava. “You still owe a tip.”

“I will. Actually.” Ava tiptoes over to whisper in Jane’s ear, telling her exactly what she did during the pitch to taunt Viv.

“OK. Nice. I’ll have to scheme. Like for real. Like this,” Jane says, rubbing her hands together like a cartoon villain. “I’ll think of something. Oh, we’re gonna cuck the shit out of her. Just let me figure out the details. You’re still in, right?”

“Cucking the shit out of my hostess that I’m supposed to be sucking up to? What could go wrong?”

“Fuck yeah. Let’s go,” Jane says and they high-five.

“Ava. Party. Come,” Karina says impatiently. Her arms are full of bottles. “Help me carry.”

“Are you bossing me?” Ava asks, going over to help her with the bottles.

“Ava,” Jane says as they’re leaving.

Ava looks back.

“Looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” Ava replies, her face getting hotter.

“Your undies don’t fit.”

“They aren’t mine.”

“Where’s my fucking uniform?”

“Uh…” Ava sucks her breath in through her teeth. “It is definitely not just lying on Cristy’s bathroom floor.”

Jane rolls her eyes and shoos them with a gesture. She’s muttering something about dry-cleaning as Ava and Karina leave the kitchen.

Ebba is in the foyer, a coffee cup in her hand. She’s admiring the admittedly amazing art on display. There’s more than just movie posters. Ava wouldn’t mind doing a little browsing herself, not that she’s likely to have time.

Ava gets nervous as they approach Cristy’s room.

“Hold up,” she says, pausing to take the cap off a bottle. “I feel bad. This’ll help.” She takes a big drink. Absolutely disgusting. It’s hard to swallow. “What is this?” she asks, eyes watering as she looks at the bottle. “Lagavulin. The fuck?”

“Who cares?”

“We aren’t just gonna make her mad, are we?” Ava nervously looks back when she hears footsteps. It’s Kia, and she’s in a hurry. She doesn’t even notice the two of them in their horny tennis costumes.

“No. No. It’s fine. She’ll be fine.” Karina opens the door, and they go in to find Cristy facedown on the bed.

They stop in the doorway. The door creaks slightly and clicks shut.

Karina bursts into laughter.

“Fuck off,” Cristy mumbles into a pillow.

“Quit acting like a teenager,” Karina says, putting her bottles down. Ava does the same.

Karina bounds onto the bed and sits beside Cristy. Cristy lies there, miserable.

Cristy reaches down and flips up Cristy’s skirt, exposing her underwear.

“What the fuck,” Cristy mumbles. It doesn’t sound like a question.

“We should be celebrating. We brought drinks,” Karina says.

“Go away.”

Karina lifts her hand high and noisily slaps Cristy’s ass. Cristy pops up, mouth open in disbelief.

Ava wants to laugh. This wasn’t her angle, but she’s here now. It could not have been easy for Cristy to deal with that situation with Viv. Taking her mind off things is objectively the right thing to do. The only question is how to go about it.

Let Karina lead?

Or get in there?