The Billionaire And The Waitress (gxg)

56 - a drowning

      "It's my first week trying, Grey," Adrien said through gritted teeth. "If you don't like it here, get out. I don't remember asking you to come visit."

       He leaned back and smoothed a hand through his hair. Adrien wondered vaguely if it left any gel residue on his palm.

       "I had to see for myself. You know, when Julien said you were going to continue working with him and start a business, I thought, Well, that's a hardworking woman. But I see now how foolish you were. How stupid." He practically spat the word out. 

      "I will make more of this company on my own than you ever will working for my father. And someday, I will be the CEO of both. Tell me how stupid I am then, Grey."

       Grey's eyes glittered. "Your father always wanted a son, Adrien. Women just aren't meant for this kind of business. You don't have what it takes. You're not ruthless enough, not bloodthirsty enough, not ambitious enough, not enough." He stood up, brushing himself off, and looked down at her. "You will never be enough, Adrien."

       The flashback faded from Adrien's mind. Muse was in her arms, unmoving, unbreathing. She rolled Muse's head into the crook of her shoulder, and with a burst of effort, broke the surface once more. She heard Muse splutter into her neck, water droplets against her her back, but no other sound of life followed. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

       "Breathe, baby," Adrien said, her mouth full of salt and sea.

       The strength in her legs waned, and they dipped back under the tide.

       Adrien was twenty-five now, listening to Sherry ramble in the back doors of the church. Her wedding veil was askew.

       "When I met his parents," she said, "I wasn't sure if they'd like me or not. I'm not like them. I'm not old money rich, or even rich at all. I've had to work a minimum-wage job almost my whole life. But they loved me. I never felt so loved. They hugged me and kissed my cheeks and told me I was practically their daughter, even before we were engaged."

        Adrien had met Grey's parents only a handful of times. They had traditional ideas of men and women―how they should look, how they should behave. They hadn't approved of her masculine style, and they had made it evident in their stares of her at the dinner table at a trip in London. Grey's father had long since retired, but at ten years Julien's senior, he had been his mentor. That was why Julien had taken Grey under his wing. 

      "Men work," he'd said, as the beluga caviar and Kobe beef had been set down at the table by the waiter. "Women stay home. Men must provide."

      He had sounded like a misogynistic 1920's pamphlet. Adrien had told him as much.

      "Grey told me he'd always take care of me," Sherry said, as the wedding bells chimed. The organ had begun to play a soft, melodic tune from within the church. 

       The other bridesmaids chattered excitedly among themselves. Adrien was surprised she had been asked to be one of them. She supposed Grey had suggested it to Sherry. She knew she stood out, with her soft pink tuxedo among the other pink, silky dresses. But Sherry hadn't seemed to care.

       "That's good," Adrien said. She had no idea how to soothe a bride's nerves. She'd heard of getting cold feet before the wedding, but she hadn't expected Sherry to ramble on about how perfect Grey was.

       "Yes," said Sherry dreamily. "I never thought I'd have this life. I used to play with dolls when I was little and imagine they were my babies. I always wanted babies, you know. I just wanted to be a mother. But I got older, and that illusion shattered. I thought I'd be working a stupid salaried job till I was sixty-five, but Grey swept me off my feet. He's so handsome, isn't he?"

       With both eyes closed and plugs wedged deep in your eardrums, sure, Adrien thought but didn't say.

       "I can't wait to have a baby," Sherry continued. "Is your father going to retire soon? Grey told me he would inherit Vitale Enterprises. But I don't want that to be soon, so he can come home more often and help me take care of our kids. He's such a workaholic."

       That was one thing Adrien and Grey had in common. But the mention that Grey would inherit Vitale Enterprises was news to her.

       "He'll never inherit Vitale Enterprises," Adrien said tightly. "You don't have to worry about that."

       "Oh," said Sherry, looking slightly disappointed. She hid it with a small smile. "I wanted to be Missus CEO. It's probably for the better, though, anyway. You'd make a lovely CEO, Adrien."

       The wedding bells chimed once more. The bridesmaids arranged themselves into their line, Adrien among them. Her last glimpse of Sherry before she walked down the aisle was her smiling face, bright and pink-cheeked and hopeful.

       The flashback disappeared once more as Adrien and Muse surfaced the water. The shadow of the lifeboat had turned the world dark. Reaching hands grabbed them, pulling them out of the water.

      "What were you thinking?" gasped one of the scuba diving instructors. 

      Adrien retched on saltwater. Muse was laying on the floor of the boat, her face against the sky. Her skin was glossy with water, her hair soaked dark. One of the instructors had begun to perform CPR on her, his hands on her chest, leaning over to put tilt his mouth to hers―

      Adrien shoved him aside. 

      If there was one thing she did remember from swimming lessons, it was how to perform CPR.

***

I see my girlfriend Thursday guys.

From the moon and back,

Sarai