“Why wouldn’t it?”
I shrug, though she can’t see me, unsure if I want to share my neurotic worries with her. She’ll dismiss them as idiotic.
“Ella, why wouldn’t it? Is his mother an unpleasant sort?”
“No! I mean, I’ve never met her but I doubt it. It’s just that stupid book I wrote… and those stupid friends who spread it the world over.”
“Let’s not forget the stupid millions it earned you. Yeah, my heart bleeds, darling. Look: Ian’s mother, and father for that matter, will love you as much as I do, book or no book.”
“Now you have me really worried,” I laugh.
“No, really, Ella. You’re very lovable and they won’t hold the book against you. Just don’t let them read it, whatever you do, or they’ll worry about their son’s virtue.”
“Ha. As if he had any left.”
“Oh? Do you two try some of the shenanigans you wrote about in your dirty novel?”
Okay, now she’s getting into dangerous territory. I have to change the subject quickly. Mariah’s smart; it’s almost a miracle she hasn’t figured out the truth already. Thank God for big favors.
“Oops, I have to go, Mariah. I’ll let you know when I have a date for our first appointment. Talk soon.” I disconnect.
What happens when she figures it out and she will? I know now the CA was not really to keep the kinky sex private; it was to protect his company’s intellectual assets… despite the fact it is naïve to think that someone who is intent on stealing will worry over violating a contract. Ian wasn’t thinking clearly when he crafted the legal protection.
Would Ian freak if Mariah or someone else figured it out? What if it did get out in public? What would be his reaction?
I’d like to believe that our love is much more important than anything else. As far as money goes, between Ian’s assets and my literary windfall, we have enough to live our entire lives in comfort, so there’s that. Who cares if people know we’re kinky?
I do.
And Ian no doubt does too. So we have to tread lightly where the book is concerned.
The next morning before we call my mother to tell her the news, we realize we need to set the date first. Ian has a beautiful calendar on the wall of his home office so we head there with our brimming mugs of coffee to look it over.
“How about the second Saturday in June?”
“Fine with me,” I reply. “One Saturday is as good an another. What date will we have for our anniversary?”
“June twelfth?”
“Hmm. So, that’s 6-12-14? The tenth would work better numerically but that would put us on a Thursday. Not good, is it? Okay, the twelfth it is. Let’s call my mom.”
I place my coffee down on his desk and go in search of my phone, finding it in my bag in the entrance hall closet. Making my way back to Ian, I see he’s on his laptop and whatever he’s reading has his complete interest. I clear my throat loudly and he looks up.
“What’s so interesting?”
“Not too much, just reading through my emails.”
“Any news you want to share?”
“No, nothing yet.” He looks up, bright-eyed. “Let’s call your mom.”
So I punch in her number and wait. It rings five times before she finally answers then promptly drops the phone. There’s a bunch of noises that follow that sound like chairs scraping across the floor and then her chipper voice again. “Sorry. Hello?”
“Mom? It’s Ella.”
“Ella! My love, it’s so nice to hear your voice.”
“Mom, I’m here with Ian and I’m putting you on speaker phone so we can both talk to you. Okay?”
“Okay, honey.”
I switch it to speaker. “Okay, here we are. Mom, Ian has something to tell you.”
I look at him with a gleeful expression and his mouth drops open but his face is filled with amusement. “Brat!” he whispers. “Hello, Ella’s mom, Ian here.”
“Hello, Ian. Ella has told her father and I all about you and we’re both very anxious to meet you.”
“The feeling is mutual. As it happens, we have a perfect occasion for that to occur since Ella has agreed to marry me.”
“Marry? Already? Isn’t that awfully fast?”
I jump in. “Mom, we’ve been dating for well over a year,” I lie. It’s sort of true if you count when we met and discount the year we were apart.
“Really.” She says it like an emphatic statement, not an interrogative. I know she knows I’m bullshitting her. Takes one to know one.
“Mom, it’s true. We did have a period when we took a break to evaluate our relationship but now here we are, back together, and we’re getting married on the twelfth of June. I’d love for you to help me pull it together.”