Page 8 of Seven Minutes In Heaven
Chapter 4
Any guilt she felt abated over the next twenty-four hours. It helped that Arthur openly flirted with women on his cell phone and outright offered his business card and a wink to an actress from Hong Kong, who shyly smiled back at him, knowing exactly what he implied. Claire had steeled herself for this reality. Now that she knew it was real, she further numbed herself and decided to broach the subject of having extramarital lovers later. She needed to take some time to decide how to best bring it up without offending his hypocritical ass.
I’ll definitely have to have sex with him regularly.She groaned to think of it, but what other bartering chips did she have? There was no way Arthur would allow her to have another boyfriend if he wasn’t getting any with her. Perhaps that was the price she had to pay. In the end, it always came down to what she could barter with her body.
She sat in the salon overlooking the courtyard of Arthur’s home.It will be my home, soon.Expansive. Lovely. Sunny. Away from the terrible crowds of LA, but a close enough drive to shopping, nightlife, and studios.Now the home of my first big affair.Every time Claire walked by that closet, she stopped and remembered how exhilarated she was to have Jake make love to her like that.
Ha! Make love. That was a good one.
“I don’t know what the hell is taking him so long.” Arthur sat down across from his fiancée at the little bistro table. A third place setting nestled between them for lunch. “He’s texted me twice to say he’s hung up in traffic. What traffic? Google Maps says everything is pretty clear between here and downtown.”
“You mean your son?”
“Of course I mean Jacob. Who else could I be talking about?”
Claire furrowed her eyes at the way Arthur talked to her. She crossed her legs and continued to gaze out the window, remembering a man named Jake.
They were meeting Jacob Carter for lunch today, the first formal introductions between Claire and her future stepson.I’d rather not think of him that way.She was also sure this grown man didn’t want to think of her as his step-anything. Not even his stepsister. Perhaps that was more palpable, but still sketch as all hell.
Relationships were always weird when a young woman married some man forty-five years older than anyone in her generation. Here Claire was, trying not to feel guilty over what happened the day before, and her fiancé bragged about “saddling the filly” and texted other young women for booty calls.
I’m gonna think about you for the rest of my life, Jake.He was a turning point in her life. The day Claire stopped giving a single fuck about the repercussions of this arranged marriage. Money and connections. That’s all it was. Women had been marrying dumb old men for their own survival for thousands of years.
“He’s here, Mr. Carter,” said a maid from the salon doorway. “Jacob should be up here shortly.”
“Thank you, Marie.” Arthur pocketed his phone and regarded his fiancée with a serene countenance. “I think you’ll like Jacob, sweetheart,” he said. “He’s a good kid. Couldn’t be prouder if I had named him after myself.”
Claire forced a smile. “I only hope that he can tolerate me.”
“Why do you say that? You two will get along swimmingly. If nothing else, you’ll be able to talk about making movies all day. I raised him in the business, andIget tired of hearing him talk about it.” The way Arthur bellowed in laughter said it was a good problem to have.
“Iamhis age and about to be his stepmother. I’d think any man would be uncomfortable by that fact.”
“Please, Claire-Bear. It’s 2017 in Hollywood. We’re hardly the only huge age difference in our pocket of America.”
What difference did that make? Just because it was “normal,” didn’t mean it was right.
A shadow lingered outside the doorway. It briefly caught Claire’s attention before she looked out the window again.That must be him.Honestly, she was curious to meet Jacob, if he didn’t end up resenting her. Yet her thoughts were so plagued by recent events – and her uncertain future – that she couldn’t bring herself to get excited by this lunch with her stepson.
“Would you get in here, Jacob?” Arthur stood up with a grin on his wrinkled visage. “Come meet the woman who’s changing our lives!”
The man entered. Claire glanced in his direction before looking out the window again, struggling to muster up the courage to face this situation. She needed to orient her trains of thought before facing Jacob…
No.
Jake.
Every breath left Claire’s body when she recognized Jake. He nodded to her in only the briefest of acknowledgements, but Claire gripped the table so hard that her knuckles whitened and the blood drained from her face.
Jake…Jacob.How the fuck had she not realized it sooner?
“Hi.” Jake held his hand out. “Seriously, I prefer Jake. Only this guy calls me Jacob.”
Arthur was oblivious to the tension between Claire and Jake. “Meet my handsome boy, darling. Best thing his mother ever did was give me this strapping son.” He clamped his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Looks more like me, though. Except for the eyes. He’s got his mother’s eyes.”
Jake pursed his lips. “Actually, I met Claire yesterday at the engagement party.”
“Oh, really? You were there that long?” Arthur then explained to his fiancée, “This guy told me he couldn’t make it to myengagementparty because he had to go to a filming location to settle some dispute between a director and an egotistic actor. I do not miss those days.”
