29.2
Georgina
"Are you sure you're okay with party-crashing?" I ask Vi as she slides behind the driver's seat. She's wearing a topaz-colored gown, one of her own creations that falls somewhere between black tie and cocktail attire, but definitely not conservative like my very appropriate floor-length black dress. My parents will be less than thrilled that Vi is coming to my father's fundraising event, and doubly less than thrilled about us pulling up in Vi's brand new splashy sports car instead of the very suitable SUV with black tinted windows driven by my security detail.
"I take offense to the term party-crashing when I'm practically a member of the First Family," Vi jokes, checking her lipstick in the rearview mirror before she pulls out of my driveway, her tires squealing on the pavement.
"You mean, like a crazy drunk uncle who shows up for family reunions?" I ask. "My neighbors are going to appreciate your driving, thanks."
"Crazy drunk aunt, thank you very much," Vi corrects me. "And I can't believe you still agreed to do this event even after your parents insisted on trying to set you up with that trust fund baby."
I sigh. "I know. Tell me why I'm doing this again."
"Because you're a dutiful, obedient daughter."
I laugh. "I'm a sucker."
"You are a sucker," Vi agrees. "Let me guess how it went down. Your father laid a guilt trip on you the way he always does. He said something about your duty to your country and to your family and mentioned the words ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’."
"So you were listening to our conversation?"
Vi sighs. "This isn't my first rodeo. We've been down this road before, darling. I love you, but someday, you're going to have to tell them they can stick duty to the family and country right up their ass-"
"I do have a backbone," I insist. "I told them I wouldn't go out with the guy."
Vi's voice softens. "Of course you do. It's not exactly easy to flip the President and the First Lady the bird, Georgina."
"Thanks for coming tonight."
"Well, how could I resist showing up as your plus-one, just to keep the rumors of our affair going?" Vi grins. "Just don't be surprised when I kiss you on the mouth this time. I'll throw you a little tongue, too – for realism."
"That's kind of you," I deadpan.
Vi shifts gears and pushes on the gas, and the engine roars as we pull onto a deserted street. She glances over at me. "What?" she asks innocently. "Let's keep Blair and David on their toes, shall we?"
"I'm pretty sure I've been doing that enough lately."
"You sounded off when we talked on the phone," Vi notes. "That's the real reason I showed up. So, spill it. What's wrong?"
Where do I begin?
"This doesn't have anything to do with the bidding war over Nathaniel, does it?" Vi asks.
"You know about that?" I ask. "Did everyone know about that but me?"
"So you are upset about it."
"I'm not upset." I shrug, brushing off the lie. "Okay, I'm a little miffed."
"You sound more than a little miffed. Go on."
"I'm slightly miffed." I watch the buildings zip past as we drive. "I don't know… it's not the fact that he's been pursuing contracts outside of Colorado. It's that – neither of them told me about it."
"So this is more than just a fling with them," Vi says.
"Yes. No. I don't know. I thought it was. I mean, it wasn't at first. I don't really know how it even happened. I was so irritated with them at the camp for behaving like frat boys or something, and then…"
"Before you knew it, you were getting spit-roasted by the hot guys who irritated you," Vi finishes.
"That's a very classy way of putting it, yes," I joke. "But then I started spending more time with them, and…"
"And then you fell in love," Vi says wistfully.
"Love? Are you insane?" I ask. "I just got used to them insisting they were my boyfriends."
"Nathaniel Ashby and Adriano Jackson said they were your boyfriends?"
"Yes. I mean, we agreed they were, I guess. They decided they were and I agreed." I pause. "God, it really does sound like I have no backbone, doesn't it? They wanted to be my boyfriends and I wanted them to be my boyfriends." I pause again. "That just makes us sound like we're all in junior high."
Vi laughs. "Love always makes us sound like we're teenagers."
"Stop using that word."
"What would you like me to use instead?"
"I don't know, all right? Not that word. That's a big fucking word, Vi."
"We'll come back to it. Nathaniel is pursuing contracts outside of Colorado…"
"Right. Nathaniel drops his bidding war news on me, like it's good news. And it is. It's great news for him. I'm happy there's a bidding war over him. I'm thrilled. He loves football and he should get paid well for it and – it's wonderful."
"But…" she prompts.
"I don't care that he's going to Miami or Dallas or wherever - at all. I'm a big girl. It just… it rubs me the wrong way that they lied about it. Or omitted the truth."
"It feels dishonest."
"I feel like a terrible bitch. I walked out when they told me the news. He was happy, giving me this good career news, and I just walked out. I don't know why. They were saying I was… theirs, that I was their girlfriend, but there's this big piece of information they just didn't tell me. I mean, sure, it's public information. You and other people knew. Hell, you and the rest of America knew."
"But that almost makes it worse." Vi voices what I'm thinking before I even say it.
"Yeah, I'm the only idiot in this country who didn't know. And if I didn't know that…"
"What else are they keeping from you?" Vi finishes.
"Exactly. And, I mean, they're athletes. If they hid this, it makes me wonder what else they'd hide– girls, drugs… oh hell, I don't know."
