“Yes.When I finally set them straight, they had the audacity to say I played the part so well that it made me even more convincing.”
There’s no way I’m sharing the details of what happened in their penthouse during the most eventful twenty minutes of my life.I tell both her and Josh everything, but this I’m taking to the grave.
“Anyway, we cleared it up.I’m having another movie day next week to make it up to Jake, and I told them they could bring age-appropriate snacks for the whole class.”
“What did they say?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well,” Esme says, adopting her devil’s advocate tone.
“Well, nothing.I’m just going to make sure they do the right thing with Jake.That’s all.”
I say goodbye to Esme, stop at the grocery store for my weekly shopping since I’m already here, and head home.I buy enough cookie dough ice cream to scrub my thoughts of reliving every sensation of their touch.
Easier said than done.My mind keeps returning to one question: Why did they stop?Which leads me to analyze when they stopped touching me.
Ah, right, they released me when they put their fingers inside me, which was only for a few minutes before their uncle arrived.It’s not like they could tell I was a virgin.But maybe my reaction gave me away.It doesn’t matter.I’m never going to be in that position with them again.
When my phone beeps in the middle of my second tub of ice cream, my face lights up.
“Hey Vivvy.”
“Joshy,” I say, smiling at the sound of Josh Burton, my childhood friend.“How’s it going?”
Josh sighs, and my heart breaks for him.He is under tremendous stress right now, and nothing I do seems to reassure him that everything will be fine.
“It’s going to be okay, you know that, right?”I say anyway.
“Are you sure you want to do this?It’s a big ask, Viv, and I’ve been thinking—”
“It’s a done deal.I’m doing it.We’re doing it.Everything is going to be okay afterward, and that’s that.So if you’re calling to talk me out of it again, forget it.”
“Thank you.”
“Also, you’ve thanked me enough already, so I won’t be accepting any more thanks either.”Josh laughs, and it lightens my heart.
“I love you, Vivvy.I won’t ever be able to repay you.”
“I love you too, and guess what?If the situation were reversed, you would do the same for me, and you wouldn’t want me to repay you either, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay, so stop worrying.Everything will fall into place; you’ll see.”
We talk a little more before I hang up.I’m grateful for the distraction, but now I’m back to ignoring Alexander Pierce, Levi Hayes, and Jude Langston.
I spare them not a single thought.That is wholly a lie but given that their nephew and temporary charge is in my class, and his well-being is of utmost importance to me, I’m forced to think about them every second of the day and night.Or so I tell myself.
Jake seems like a happy little guy.Over the past few days, I’ve gotten to know him a bit better.He clearly loves his uncles; he practically worships them.
I have to bite my tongue from telling him he picked the worst role models alive, in my opinion.There are other, entirely less arrogant billionaires who could teach him good values.
Instead, while I’m still debating steering him in another direction, he tells all his friends that his uncles are so cool they swim with sharks, fly planes, jump from moving planes, ownfifty-elevenhundred sports cars, and even have a rocket that goes to space.They can also build robots, know karate, and can dotimwagariwith their hands.But I think he meant something liketameshiwari.
Well, maybe they should just apply to be superheroes and go fight a losing battle on another planet.
