Chapter 23: Lydia

Lydia was fuming by the time Drake came back inside from the phone call he had taken on the balcony. Just when Lydia thought she was finally getting the hang of this family, something happened that would surprise or shock her. Instead of shock or surprise at Dianne’s gift though, Lydia felt deep hot hatred and anger towards Dianne. When Drake came inside and asked Lydia what was wrong, Lydia couldn’t even find the words to describe her feelings instead she pointed a finger down the hall, advising him that his mom had sent him a gift.

Drake walked down the hall apprehensively, he wasn’t sure what type of present Dianne would gift him, but he knew that whatever it was had angered Lydia. As Drake drew nearer to the bedroom, he could smell the strong perfume of Chanel #5. The smell made him queasy, and he knew it wasn’t a smell that Lydia would wear, it was more of a smell you’d find on the elite socialites that Drake didn’t want to be a part of. He slowly opened the bedroom door, smelling the air as the perfume increased, Drake looked around the room, and didn’t seen anything amiss at first. The clothing from Lydia and his suitcases were all over the floor, making Drake think Lydia must have been unpacking their items, before she was disturbed by whatever his mother had done. Drake continued to walk further into the room, looking around for anything unnatural, and then it hit him. The shower in their private bathroom was running, someone was in there belting out the lyrics to “Kiss Me More” By Doja Kat.

***“Can you kiss me more? We’re so young, boy. We ain’t got nothin’ to lose, oh,oh. Its just principle, Baby, hold me ‘cause I like the way you grove, oh, oh, oh.”***

The voice was vaguely familiar, one that Drake had heard quite often when he went out with Sampson and Madeline, during drunk Karaoke. But no, it couldn’t be, could it? His mother would never dream of doing something so scandalous.

Drake walked into the bathroom, and there standing in front of him fully nude, dripping wet from her shower, was Jessica. Madeline’s best friend, and Drake’s ex girlfriend.

“Drakey.” She squealed as she threw herself on top of him. “I missed you so much! I thought when I saw you at the reception dinner that you wouldn’t want me to attend the cruise, but when your mother called and told me I could still come and that I would be bunking with you, I was ecstatic. I’m so happy that you want to pick up where we left off.” Jessica stated with a smile on her face, “ I already told the maid to leave our things be, and that you and I would be busy for a few hours, if not days, making up for lost time.”

“Wait what?” Drake asked his head spinning a thousand miles a minute. Maid? Rekindling our relationship, bunking with me? Drake was so confused about this entire situation, that he no idea where to start with questioning Jessica’s presence.

“What maid?” Drake asked after finally sorting through his thoughts, he had a sickening feeling in his stomach that he already knew the “maid” that Jessica had been talking about.

“You know silly,” Jessica said, swatting his arm, still standing before him fully nude, with her breasts pressed up against his arm, “The one with the messy blond hair, the girl who was “supposedly” your date at the reception center.”

Drake backed away from Jessica, putting some much needed distance between the two of them. “If you’re talking about Lydia, she is my girlfriend, and she is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I hope to one day spend eternity with her. And secondly, my mother has no say who I do or who I do not bunk with, and I AM NOT BUNKING with YOU. Now kindly pack up your things and leave, before I drag you out of my room butt naked and throw you in front of the camera crews.”

Jessica’s mouth dropped. She’d never seen Drake talk this way to anyone before, not even his own mother, whom he openly despised.

“But..But Drakey.” Jessica whined, “What about us? We were suppose to get married, you said you loved me.”

“That was before I found out who you truly are, a conniving, lying, cheating whore.” Drake spat at her.

“It was a one time thing Drake, and I apologized profusely to you.” Jessica said continuing to pout, can’t you forgive me?”

“No.” Drake responded curtly, “He was my best friend and you were my fiancé, and you both betrayed my trust.”

“Drakey,” Jessica cried approaching him slowly.

“I SAID TO GET THE FUCK OUT!” Drake yelled loudly, grabbing Jessica by the hand and pulling her out of the bedroom, towards the front door.

“Drake, stop!” Jessica cried, trying to pull away from him, “I can’t go out there naked. My reputation will be ruined.”

“Well you should have thought of that before you decided to undress yourself in my bathroom.” Drake snarled not letting go of his grip.

“Drake,” Lydia said, walking over to him, soothingly touching his arm. “Maybe you should just do as she requests. It wasn’t entirely her fault. Your mother is the one who sent her here.”

Drake immediately calmed down in Lydia’s presence. She was of course right, it wasn’t entirely Jessica’s fault, but she was also to blame. She had destroyed Drake’s heart and betrayed him. Her previous actions were entirely unforgivable, but if she hadn’t done those things, Drake would’ve never found what he was missing from his life, he would have never met Lydia.

As soon as Drake let her go, Jessica ran back to the bedroom, slamming the door shut. Drake and Lydia both assumed she’d gone back to the room to get dressed before Drake made good on his promise. Lydia had been trying to hold back a laugh this entire time, but she couldn’t hold it back any longer. After everything that had gone on this morning a good laugh was exactly what she needed. “Oh my god Drake,” She said in between laughs, “You should’ve seen the poor things face. She thought that you were really going to toss her out of the room.”

Drake reached out to Lydia and pulled her into a tight hug, “I would have.” He said seriously, “Anyone who dares disrespect my woman, gets their ass kicked to the curb.”

Lydia just smiled and shook her head in Drake’s embrace, sometimes the real estate mongrel could be just a bit too much, but Lydia was also enjoying his protective side.

Jessica came out of the room clearing her throat. “Umm.. well I guess, I’ll see where I’m suppose to shack up for the night.” She said nervously.

“Actually,” Lydia said smiling, “I have a different plan. How would you like to help us get back at Dianne?”

“Umm… I dont know about that,” Jessica said, although Lydia could tell she was intrigued, “The Whittenberg’s, especially Dianne are an extremely powerful family, I wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.”

“Don’t even worry about it.” Lydia said with an air of confidence, “We have Drake Whittenberg on our side, we’ll be completely safe.”

Jessica seemed to ponder Lydia’s proposal for a second, before finally agreeing to it. “Okay, I’m in. Dianne has embarrassed me for the last time. What do you propose we do.”

“Well as long as it’s okay with Drake,” Lydia started, “I was thinking that you could stay here with us, we have an extra bedroom in our cabin, and then during meals and group events you could go out with us, it’ll seem like we are both Drake’s dates. It would be even more shocking if we can get a picture of all of us kissing, maybe a steamy make out session in the hot tub on deck.”

Drake let out a chuckle, knowing that Lydia’s indecent proposal would outrage Dianne, bringing shame to her classy appearance.

“You’d be willing to share your boyfriend like that?” Jessica asked her eyebrow raised questioningly.

“If it means giving Dianne a taste of her medicine, then yes, I don’t mind at all. Plus I am pretty confident in my relationship with Drake. Even if we bring another girl in to play, I am still his number one.” Lydia responded confidently.

“Damn straight Baby,” Drake smiled, slapping Lydia teasingly on the ass, before kissing the top of her head.

“So when should we start working on this indecent proposal?” Jessica asked, feeling herself getting excited at the idea of lashing out towards Dianne. Ever since she was a child, she had followed the rules of society and done what was expected of her. But now she was bored, She was 23 years old, and felt like she hadn’t lived life at all thanks to the ways of society, she was ready to break lose and have fun.

“Well, I’m fancying a swim,” Lydia said with a big toothy grin on her face, “and I have the perfect swimsuits for us.” She said grabbing Jessica’s arm and pulling her towards the bedroom.