6.1
Working closely with Nathaniel Ashby? I don’t know whether to be excited or terrified.
"Speaking of redemption stories," my mother interrupts, “you really need to be seen with someone appropriate during the campaign season, Georgina. People are starting to wonder if you're a lesbian, and a lesbian daughter doesn’t poll well with voters.”
“You took polls on my sexuality?” I ask, utterly appalled. I don’t know why I’m surprised in the least. Nothing my parents do when it comes to campaigning should surprise me anymore.
"Well, there was that time in boarding school…" Vi jokes. I throw her an icy look.
"What people are wondering this?" I ask, my voice frosty. "I don't see why I need to date someone because of the campaign. I didn't date anyone during the first one."
"You're older now, dear. I have a few candidates. I'll leave their files with Blair. And be nice when they call you."
"Mom," I start. "Mother. I am not dating someone just because –"
"Gracie, we need to run," my father interrupts, looking at his Blackberry. He steps close to me and kisses my cheek. "Humor your mother, okay? She’s really asking out of concern for you. She just doesn't want you to die alone."
"Thanks a lot, Dad," I mutter. "I'm sure that's the reason."
"Don't be caustic, Georgina," my mother says. "It doesn’t suit you.”
When my parents have left the room, Vi waits approximately two seconds to turn to me, her eyes wide. "So… Nathaniel Ashby."
I shrug and muster the most innocent-looking expression I can. "What about him?"
"Oh, please. Don't play coy. I know you. You have the same look on your face right now that you had when you crushed on Jared Caulder in tenth grade."
"I do not!"
"You do, and you're just as defensive as you were then. Georgina and Nathaniel, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S—"
"Oh, shut it, Vi. You're as bad as my mom."
"Mother," Vi corrects, laughing. "Don't ever call her Mom."
"I sometimes forget how insufferable she is since I don't see her that often anymore."
"I can't believe you just compared me to her."
"You're right. I feel like a bad person."
"You're a terrible person," Vi agrees. "But look at you, you big hussy.”
"Vi!" I squeal.
"Two hot men after the President's daughter," Vi says with a wistful sigh. "Which one will she choose?"
"There are no men after me," I protest. "And there's no choosing going on."
"You're right. I can't say they're both hot without verifying this for myself. Personally. I thought Nathaniel Ashby was your neighbor, but now I'm intrigued. I'll need to check out Naked Bongo Guy for myself."
"That's exactly what I need," I say, laughing. "You sitting on my balcony with a pair of binoculars and a tub of popcorn."
"Screw the popcorn - too many carbs. I'd have a bottle of wine."
"You realize wine has carbs too, right?"
"Alcohol carbs don't count."
"I don't think you're nutritioning correctly."
"I think you should have them both.”
“Wine and popcorn?” I ask.
“That too. But no, I think you should do them both,” Vi states, matter-of-factly, like we're talking about two glasses of wine and not sleeping with two men.
I choke. "I'm not doing either of them."
"Oh, honey. Nathaniel looked at you like you were a piece of steak and he was a hungry lion."
"He did not."
"He did," she assures me. "But the way you looked at him put that to shame. It's the same look you get talking about Naked Bongo Guy, for your information."
"I'm not doing anyone," I reiterate, looking in the mirror on the wall to push my hair back into place. "There will be no doing."
"There's been no doing for how long now?" Vi asks. "Five years?"
"It's only been two years!"
"Dear God, two years?! I was only kidding about five years. I thought it had been six months, maybe. But two years?? Did you take a vow of celibacy that I'm not aware of?"
"No," I say, suddenly defensive. "I just… it's… you know it's hard to date anyone."
Vi arches an eyebrow. "It ain't that hard to get laid, honey."
"I… don't have the same kind of freedom that you have, Vi," I protest. Sometimes I wish I did. Okay, a lot of times I wish I did. The children of governors or senators or congressmen don't exactly have the same kind of public scrutiny as the daughter of the President. Of course, I don't know that public scrutiny would change anything for Vi. She lives her life the way she wants to live it and makes no apologies for it. It's something I've always envied her for.
"I know, darling," Vi says, her face softening. "But two years?"
"It's hard to meet someone," I argue. "No one wants to date the President's daughter except men who want to climb the political ladder –"
"By climbing you," Vi interrupts, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Exactly. Or guys who are more into my father than me."
"Or the guys your mother chooses," Vi says, laughing.
I can't help but laugh with her. "They're the worst."
"You should go out with Nathaniel Ashby," Vi says. "And your neighbor."
"I couldn't," I protest. "You're the one who said Nathaniel was surrounded by scandal."
"Well, he's also going to be surrounded by you at his ranch," Vi interjects. "Specifically, surrounded by your legs when you –"
I hold my hand up. "Yeah, I got the picture."
"When he bangs you," Vi finishes anyway.
"I'm not banging him or the neighbor. I'm not seeing either of them. I don't even know how to do that. See two guys at the same time? Isn't that weird?"
"Well, you see, when a woman and two men really care about each other, or they get really drunk, sometimes one takes her from behind and the other –"
"Vivian Anne Marie Scott," I interrupt. "I can't believe you just said that. I was not talking about a… a…"
"Threesome?"
"A…" My voice drops to a whisper. "Yes. A threesome."
Vi sighs. "Oh, to be sandwiched between two attractive, muscular men. A girl can dream."
"I can't believe you just said that," I gasp.
The strange thing is that, as scandalized as I am by Vi even joking about a threesome with Nathaniel and Adriano, the thought keeps popping into my head the rest of the evening, even as I make my final rounds in the event, making small talk and thanking donors.
