Page 9 of Stay Here Tonight
“Agnes?” she called to her live-in maid. Agnes Myers had been in the family since Maxine was a teenager stuck with her parents. While Agnes wasn’tthatmuch older than Maxine, there was certainly a distant aunt-niece relationship there. “Who’s still here?”
The maid was part of the cleanup crew already getting to work. A few stragglers remained. Most of them lived nearby or worked for the resource center. Agnes told her as much, prompting Maxine to bring up a security camera app on her phone.
Francis had left. Honestly, the only people from the resource center were those two receptionists sitting off to the side, the older woman rubbing her feet while the other one – the one Maxine danced with – sat politely and listened to her friend’s woes.
She recognized Lydia. That bit about not being good with faces was a lie.
Every time she saw Lydia – and yes, she knew her name as well – she was inclined to ignore the young woman. Too bad it was rude to do so whenever she went to the resource center. Also not poor Ms. Kellerman’s fault that she happened to look like Penelope before Penelope was, well,Penelope.
Oh, the features were different enough. The hair a different shade of brown. Totally different style and makeup. Yet every time Maxine went into the resource center, her heart skipped a beat to catch a glimpse out of the corner of her eye. A glimpse of a woman like Lydia.
Fuck me. I’m going to regret this.
“Can you bring this young woman, please?” Maxine pointed to Lydia in the small photo. “Angela too, if she’s still around.”
Agnes tried to hide her scrunching nose. At least Maxine no longer cared about her maid’s judgments. “Yes, ma’am.”
Maxine went to work conspiring a reason to bring Lydia up. Angela would be a nice touch. Even better if Maxine could start writing that check right now.
When it came to seduction, Maxine was good at avoiding her true intentions.“I want to fuck you. Nothing more than that. What do you mean that doesn’t make you feel good? Tough shit. Those are the terms.”She found her checkbook when Agnes returned, a woman in silver following her.
Poor Lydia Kellerman had eyes bigger than a doe’s. Not nearly as innocent, however, which was good. Maxine didn’t have time for wilting virgins.
“Ms. Kellerman is here, ma’am. Ms. Berkley is on her way.”
Maxine glanced up from her checkbook. “Thank you, Agnes. That’ll be all.”
The maid showed herself out. Lydia remained standing on the far side of the dark office.
“Please, have a seat, Ms. Kellerman.”
Lydia squeezed the black clutch in her hands. “You remember me?”
“I told you I was bad with faces, not names.”
“But I never told you my name.”
Maxine chose to ignore that. “Your boss Francis has already left, right? I promise I won’t keep you too long.”
“Yes, Francis left a while ago.” Lydia looked around the office, lingering on the photos hanging on the right hand side of the room. “Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?”
Maxine stood up behind her desk. Her fingers buttoned up the bottom part of her jacket before slowly approaching Lydia.God help me, she’s pretty.Lydia was far from homely, although she also wasn’t anywhere near the usual caliber of Hollywood and fashion elite Maxine unfortunately came into contact with.I used to be married to a supermodel. I know all those bastards, whether I want to or not.Now that Penelope was getting roles on soap operas? Maxine would inadvertently know more Hollywood people. How grating.
There was a kindness to her aura that Maxine didn’t often see anymore. That came with the territory of having a ton of money. Undesirable people always came out of the woodwork when a Woodward walked down the street.
Seeing her dressed up in this sparkly silver dress, though? Certainly made her stand out more than she did in her jeans and blouses at the resource center. Maxine was weak for a woman in a great dress. No wonder Penelope had such a hold on her for so long.
Hey, so how about we stop thinking about the crazy ex?
“You haven’t done anything to upset me, I assure you. I simply forgot to give your boss something rather important, and thought you might like to accept it instead.”
Angela and her photographer chose that moment to make their appearance. The PR manager took one look at what Maxine had conspired and panicked.
“Ah, good. You’re here.” Maxine motioned for Angela to come forward. “I was about to give Ms. Kellerman a check for the foundation she’s associated with, and thought you might like to get a photo of it. For the society pages, of course.”
“That would be a good idea.” Angela continued to glare at Lydia as she spoke. “I’m guessing from that look she has no idea what you’re talking about.”
Indeed, Lydia looked as if she had won a prize without even realizing she had entered a contest.She had that same look when Angela shoved her toward me for a dance.Was that Lydia’s natural face in surprising situations, or were they sharing a (doomed) attraction? Maxine knew her own worth, both as a person and as a sexual being on the meat market. Women, particularly lesbian women, were fond of her in more ways than one. If Lydia worked at the resource here, let alone came to this fundraiser, she was more than likely on the LGBT spectrum. Where? Maxine had no idea. Lydia could be a Kinsey 1.5 for all Maxine cared. Any chance for flirting was a good chance to her.
