Chapter 53

As glad as Kiki was to be done with her week in Tokyo, she found herself dreading the flight home. With dozens of commercial flights behind her and only one on Nick’s private jet, business class wasn’t much of a shock, but the difference between hanging out with a billionaire and just being a working model was clearly highlighted when she stepped into the metal tube full of strangers she would be spending the next half day with.

By some cruel joke of technology and geography, she would leave Tokyo at 7:55 AM and arrive in New York at 7:50 AM, thirteen hours later. She’d been at a promotional event until after midnight and up again at four to make it to the airport on time. Kiki’s plan had been to try to sleep on the plane, but she suspected she’d had the bad luck to end up flying with a plane full of enthusiastically early risers. Certainly her seatmate Keiichi Go seemed to be one.

Kiki knew his name because he’d told her and pressed a business card into her hand even before the plane took off. Then he’d told Kiki her own name because he recognized her both from Lingerie Models Play Dungeons & Dragons with a Billionaire and from her one appearance this week on a Japanese talk show. He was a fan.

As much as Kiki despised Tiger Mom’s relentless push to get her acting jobs that just didn’t exist when she was growing up, she had taken some valuable lessons away from the process. Being in the public eye meant that you had to always be “on” around strangers. You never knew when a negative experience would wind up online with a million retweets and cost you your next job. Kiki was politely friendly with Keiichi but failed to communicate her earnest desire to spend as much of the flight asleep as possible.

Eventually, she gave up on waiting for Keiichi to quiet down of his own accord and decided to put him to good use. Unfortunately, while he was able to bring up the clip of Kiki on the show Ken!, his English was insufficient to explain what had made the audience laugh at a seemingly innocuous answer to a question about how she was enjoying Tokyo. As Kiki’s Japanese was still largely nonexistent, she had to assume the humor was in some impedance between the two languages.

To his credit, Keiichi didn’t wake her when she did finally doze off and was asleep himself when Kiki woke with some Midwestern American city’s lights far below outside her window. He roused himself as they flew into the dawn, gave Kiki another copy of his business card, and invited Kiki to call him while he was in New York if she wanted to practice her Japanese.

She considered the offer briefly, but decided she probably wouldn’t call Keiichi. He was handsome and, by all appearances young and successful, but she’d had enough of Japanese guys for a while. Her first night in Tokyo, she’d mentioned she was moving into the Loft where Nick lived when she got back to New York. Her translator had made it sound like she was moving into Nick’s apartment. By the time Kiki figured out the confusion the next day, she didn’t bother to correct it.

In truth, she wasn’t sure she hadn’t been deliberately ambiguous in her wording. She’d long known that “I have a boyfriend” was a more effective deterrent than, “I’m not interested,” but resisted using it. Now that she technically had both a boyfriend and a girlfriend, neither of whom had asked her to restrict her behavior with other people, it felt like even more of a cop out, but she lacked the impetus to put herself out there for whatever came along like she used to.

It wasn’t that she had any less interest in sexual misadventures. She just had a more specific list of what she’d like to explore and with whom than she had at any other time in her life. She’d barely delved below the surface of whatever she had going on with Emily. Nick and Pilar had started to surprise her with their own adventurousness and Kiki had high hopes that they would find a way to include her in future swapping adventures with Lev and Arwen. With that many people to love and be loved by, anonymous complications were just that - complications.

Once she’d mentioned Nick out loud, guys had stopped hitting on her, but three different men this week had felt qualified to lecture her on why she should stay with her own kind. All three had been involved in fashion to some extent and Kiki had resisted the urge to do violence to them, instead listening politely and noncommittally.

She’d spent a week as Yuriko, suppressing the Kiki side of herself for the sake of the client. Now that she was off the clock, Kiki needed to come out and play and her lovers needed to get their asses back to New York already.

When the taxi let Kiki off in front of the Loft, there was a small group of protestors outside. At first, she assumed they were the usual group that showed up outside the Planned Parenthood around the corner once a week or so, but there were about a dozen of them today and they were standing across Lafayette Street from the Loft. When Kiki stepped out of the cab, Handsome Charlie and another security guard were at the curb waiting for her.

It was Cat who had given Charles from Gibraltar the nickname “Handsome Charlie” - not only for being remarkably good looking but for clearly knowing how attractive he was and always flirting just within the realm of plausible deniability.

“This way, Miss Sato.” Drawing her wheeled suitcase along with one hand, Charles laid a gentle hand on her shoulder as Kiki made to walk to the front door. Kiki realized a moment later that the front door wasn’t where it had been the last time she’d left the Loft. In its place was a wall of frosted glass. A new door had been installed nearer to the corner of Bleecker and Lafayette Streets.

The lobby had completely changed as well. Instead of walking into a wide open space, Kiki found herself entering a room about fifteen feet by twelve feet. The majority of the old lobby had been walled off behind more frosted glass with the words “TCG Game Lab” stenciled on it in some futuristic-looking font. As they stepped into the elevator, she turned to Charles. “I guess they’ve been busy while I was away.”

“Wait until you see the third floor. It was nothing two weeks ago. You’re in 3A now?” Charles asked.

“Casey says it’s the nicest of the new apartments. Have you seen inside it?” Kiki offered.

“Only briefly. We did an S&S sweep on all the new rooms earlier in the week - security and surveillance.” said Charles.

“You were looking for cameras or installing some?” Kiki teased.

“Sweeping for cameras and microphones. If you install any of your own, you should let us know so we don’t accidentally remove it.” Charles said with such a deadpan delivery Kiki couldn’t tell if he was conveying a delicate possibility or flirting shamelessly.

The first Kiki saw of the third floor was a set of ten long folding tables set up around the edges of a space that took up about a quarter of the floor. Each table had a printed vinyl banner hung in front of it. The three she could read said, “Play Zombie Dice with a Runway Model,” “Play Cards Against Humanity with a Supermodel”, and “Play Yahtzee with a Centerfold.” As Charles led her around the outer edge of the room, she asked. “This isn’t a permanent feature of the Loft now, is it?”

Charles laughed. “No, this is for Max’s party. I think it’s meant to evoke the fun of the video you and the other models made with Nick.”

This was the first Kiki had heard of Max’s party. She’d imagined things would be calmer around here with Nick, Pilar, and Emily gone, but realized there was no reason they should.

One wall of the room was the same frosted glass as Kiki had seen downstairs. A corridor ran between a fully-equipped gym on one side and a mostly-empty studio on the other. In one corner of the studio, Max and a beautiful black woman Kiki didn’t know sparred in a boxing ring.

Beyond that was the residential wing, similar to the one upstairs, but smaller and with fewer apartments. Apartment 3A was directly beneath Nick’s apartment and appeared to share its footprint and floorplan.

Just as Handsome Charlie was depositing Kiki’s luggage in her bedroom, Casey knocked on the apartment door and let herself in. Kiki dropped her carry-on bag and hugged her roommate fiercely. “Konnichiwa.”

Casey smiled and hugged her back. “Hey, you doubled your knowledge of Japanese.”

Charles emerged from the bedroom. “Anything else I can help you with, Miss Sato?”

After Kiki had thanked him and sent him on his way, Casey watched him go. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

Kiki laughed. “Nothing I was planning. Do you think Handsome Charlie had other ideas?”

“Probably, but I doubt he would have come out and suggested them.” Casey stepped back from the hug. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought some of your things over here already?”

Kiki looked around and spotted her second-best laptop on the counter. “Why would I mind? Have you found a new roommate already?”

“No ... not exactly.” said Casey.

Kiki shot her a bemused look. Casey had a way of fretting over the smallest things and worrying that everyone around her would be equally perturbed. “Did you bring any of my clothes? The last time anybody did my laundry was back in Milan.”

“I did - a couple of days worth and your favorite pajamas.” said Casey.

“Come on.” Kiki headed to her new bedroom. “Show me what I own that you call pajamas and then tell me what’s on your mind. If I fall asleep while you’re talking, you can assume I’m okay with it.”

Casey stifled a yawn. “What if I fall asleep trying to tell you? Hall and Cat are both in town. I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep.”

Kiki turned and looked at her. “All right. I take it back. Whatever you have to say, I’m furious about it and you’re a bitch for bringing it up. I’m definitely not upset about you rolling around in bed with the newlyweds while I haven’t even been felt up since Milan.”

“Really? I’d think they would love you in Japan.” Casey picked up a pair of pink boy cut shorts and a yellow tank top from the top of Kiki’s dresser.

“They did not. And I didn’t love them. I’m going back in November with Emily and Jazz. I really need to learn the language between now and then.” Kiki accepted the clothes from Casey, laid them on the bed, and started peeling out of the one she’d worn to fly home. “Do you know anybody who’d like to take Japanese lessons with me?”

“Hai! I’d love to!” Casey gave a happy, little hop.

“Don’t say ‘hai’ yet.” Kiki warned her. “It’s going to be a full-time job for me between now and then - eight hours a day of diction, declensions, vocabulary ... whatever it takes to make sure I don’t need a translator when I go back there.”

“I’m so in.” Casey’s hands gave an excited flutter. “If you weren’t half naked, I’d hug you right now.”

“Don’t stop on my account. It would be the most action I’ve gotten in a week.” Kiki reminded her glibly.

Kiki had been flirting with Casey for a year and a half and come to the conclusion that, while Casey loved the attention, it was unlikely to lead anywhere. She’d largely forgotten the conversation they’d had before Casey left for LA. So, she was taken by surprise when the tall, beautiful Texan stepped in close, put an arm around her waist, and hugged her close. Kiki tilted her head back to see if Casey was playing with her, but Casey ran a hand through Kiki’s hair.

Kiki wasn’t sure what had brought on this change in her friend, but she wasn’t one to overthink an opportunity to death. She put her arms around Casey’s waist. “This is nice.”

Casey kissed her. It wasn’t entirely a surprise considering how she’d stepped in so boldly, but it still took Kiki a few seconds to accept that it was really happening and it wasn’t a symbolic gesture.

“Better?” Casey asked.

Kiki nodded wordlessly, but then managed to add, “I still haven’t gotten felt up, though.”

Casey laughed. “How far do you want to take this now? You’ve been on a plane all night and your text said you were exhausted.”

“I am, but I’d hate to miss this chance if it won’t be repeated, Case.” Kiki slid her hands under Casey’s top, her fingers tracing over bare skin. “If I get in the shower, will you still be here when I get out?”

“Probably not, but I could join you if you like.” said Casey.

Kiki really didn’t know what to make of her roommate’s new behavior, but questions could wait until later. She kissed Casey again. “Come on.”

In the shower, they touched each other gently at first. Kiki had learned not to show markedly more enthusiasm than a woman who’d initiated sex with her. Even though Casey had taken the lead, she seemed hesitant once they were naked together under the shower’s pounding spray. Afraid that the wrong word would break whatever spell Casey was under, Kiki focused on the language of touch between them. Her hands and lips were almost chaste on her friend’s skin, but not quite. Having taken the lead earlier, Casey became more passive as they progressed.

As Kiki accepted the lead, Casey’s initial hesitation had no reluctance behind it. Wherever Kiki touched, Casey opened to her and leaned in willingly. She touched Kiki with increasing intimacy. When Kiki’s fingers finally glided between Casey’s legs, seeking sweet heat and tender flesh, Casey mirrored her actions, her fingers going deep and raising shuddering pleasure.

Later, as they lay on her bed together, Kiki allowed herself to wonder what had just happened. She’d had sex with Casey, but she still didn’t understand why Casey had been suddenly willing to take their mostly-platonic friendship in a more decidedly Homeric direction. It wasn’t some sudden swelling of passion or a drunken hook-up. It didn’t appear to be on behalf of a third party. What it most resembled in Kiki’s experience was hooking up with a putatively straight girl who wanted to experiment on the other side, but certainly Casey was past that phase by now.

“I think the showers here are much more powerful than the one in our place.” Casey murmured. They were the first words either woman had spoken since before they got in the shower.

Kiki laughed. “I think everything here might be better than our place ... except the lack of a kitchen.”

Casey frowned. “Since when do you cook?”

“I was thinking I might start learning.” Kiki said. “Of course, having a full-time cook on staff probably would have killed that idea pretty quick.”

Casey leaned in and kissed Kiki’s temple. “Our lease is up at the end of September.”

“Even if my name’s not on the new lease, I don’t mind paying my half of the rent for a few months. It might be nice to have somewhere to get away from the Loft for a while.” said Kiki sleepily. It would be nice to live in the Loft effectively rent-free, but that hadn’t been her motivating factor in accepting her new apartment.

“Actually, I’m thinking about letting it expire. Hall and Cat have invited me to move in with them.” said Casey.

Kiki raised her head. “In LA?”

“Part-time as our schedules require. They just bought a gorgeous house in Silver Lake.” said Casey.

“Oh. I guess we’ll only be seeing each other if we work together then.” Kiki hated the idea of losing her friend to the West Coast, particularly after they’d finally started having sex and she was too tired to hide her melancholy.

“No, most of the time I would be here in New York - in the Loft. Nick offered Hall and Cat a lease on the apartment they’ve been using and they asked me to move in with them here.” Casey corrected. “I told them I wanted to talk to you first.”

Kiki laughed as her own gloom lifted. Once again, she’d underestimated Casey’s ability to fret the small details. “About our apartment? Don’t let that stop you, Case. I can be out of there tomorrow if we need to be.”

“And you like 3A? I wasn’t sure when you asked me to pick an apartment for you.” Casey hedged. “They all look pretty much the same.”

“They all have beautiful, willing blonde girls waiting in them for me? Maybe I should check the others out.” Kiki laughed.

“I don’t know about ‘willing,’ but there do seem to be even more beautiful blondes walking around here than before.” said Casey. “It’s too bad you weren’t here for dinner the other night. A bunch of Nick’s cousins from Montana are going to be staying here for a while and they are very pretty and very blonde. Or some of them are cousins and some of them are ... I don’t know. But there are a lot of new, pretty people here since Milan and most of them are blonde.”

“That makes sense. If you’re moving in and I’m moving in, Nick has pretty much collected the whole first wave. Time for fresh blood.” Kiki rolled on her side to rest against Casey’s.

Casey laughed. “I feel like I should remind you that Nick has not collected me in spite of my best efforts. I’ve only been fake collected.”

“I don’t mean Nick’s had sex with all of us. As far as I know, he still hasn’t had sex with Emily either. But we’re all going to be living under his roof, eating his food, hanging out with his friends, flying around on his planes.” Kiki laid her hand on the flat of Casey’s stomach. “That feels a lot more ‘collected’ to me than just a notch on the bedpost.”

“I don’t think he meant to do that. It just kind of happened.” said Casey.

“I don’t think he set out to collect us all from the beginning, but he did tell me fairly early on that he was resisting the urge to invite Hall to live here. He seems to have overcome his own resistance.” said Kiki. “And I don’t believe you’ve really given your best effort to getting Nick into bed. He hasn’t exactly proved himself difficult to seduce.”

“I have!” Casey protested, laughing. “I just ... have no idea how to get someone into bed with me beyond making myself available and letting them make all the moves. You ... may have noticed that just now.”

“Is that what was going on? I wasn’t sure what you wanted, Case.” Kiki levered herself up onto her knees to look down at her friend. “I only held back because I didn’t want to scare you off with too much enthusiasm.”

Casey shook her head. “I love your enthusiasm, Keek. I just ... I decided this week that, from now on, I’m going to make the decisions that make me happy and stop worrying so much about what they mean. Once I move in with Cat and Hall, I’m coming out to my mother and telling her the whole story so far - how I met Hall and Cat, how long we’ve been seeing each other, that I’m planning to live with them.”

“Me and Max too?” Kiki reminded her.

“Should I?” Casey asked. “I want to stop lying to her, but I’m not sure where the line is between being honest and TMI. Max was probably just a vacation thing and you and I ... I have no idea where you and I go from here. I just know that I decided the next time you flirted with me, I was going to take you up on it and see where it led. That was one of the decisions that makes me happy.”

“Maybe save some details for a second conversation with your mother, then.” Kiki knew Casey probably wanted her to define their newfound relationship, but was grateful not to have to put labels on it just yet. To forestall the next question, she kissed Casey full on the mouth.

The next question turned out not to be what she expected. Casey asked, “Do you think you’ll come to the party tonight? Max not booking you was probably just an oversight.”

“Eventually. I really do desperately need some sleep now. I’m glad to go as just a guest and not have to work.” said Kiki.

“You’re not upset about your birthday?” Casey asked.

Kiki’s laugh came out as a short, sharp bark of surprise. “Why would I be upset? That might have been the best birthday I ever had. Didn’t you enjoy it?”

“I did. It was just ... low-key.” said Casey. “Particularly for these guys. It’s like the party never stops with Nick and his friends.”

“It wasn’t what I expected. When I told Pilar I wanted a big deal made of my birthday, I figured we’d all go out, get, drunk, and I’d wind up dragging myself out of a bed full of people to catch my fight.” Kiki admitted. “Instead, five of my dearest and closest friends took a day off from all the excitement to have a quiet white tablecloth lunch with me up on the roof because you were genuinely going to miss me while I was gone. That was unbelievably sweet.”

After a few seconds, Casey asked, “Was I the only person there you hadn’t slept with?”

“Well ... I haven’t slept with Rosangela or that cute waiter yet, so not technically.” said Kiki. “But if you’re asking about Jazz, we’ve been together a few times. Why?”

Casey shook her head. “No reason. I just wonder why it took me so long to decide to just do what made me happy when I was living with such a good example.”

Kiki kissed her softly. “Well, I can’t complain. Your presence might have been the only thing that kept them all from jumping me and having their way with me before I left.”

Casey ran one hand down Kiki’s spine. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a sixth wheel before.”

With exhaustion threatening, Kiki let herself settle into Casey’s curves again. “Only in hindsight. I wasn’t entirely sure I wasn’t going to wind up sitting on that white tablecloth with your tongue between my legs before the afternoon was over.”

Casey laughed like she thought Kiki was kidding. “That would have definitely been TMI to share with my mother.”

Kiki didn’t answer. The need for sleep, too long delayed, was pulling her down, but having helped Nick and Pilar ambush Jazz, the idea that anything was possible warmed her and invaded her dreams.

The first time Emily managed to get Nick alone after Bangalore, he was in the enclosed garden behind their rented house in Paris having a teleconference with Max back in New York. She hung back just out of earshot until he spotted her and gestured her forward.

The garden looked like something out of the nineteenth century or earlier - all marble paving stones, baroque iron furnishings, and terracotta pots overgrown with greenery in the heart of the city’s Latin quarter. The walls were massive stone constructs twelve feet tall that she could believe had stood there for as long as the city itself. Emily wasn’t sure Paris was old enough to have ever had a Roman governor, but she could imagine important men gathering in this courtyard for thousands of years deciding the fate of the city and possibly the world.

Nick was on a videoconference with Max. The were talking about matters of much less import than that, but undoubtedly so had great men throughout history. When Nick ended the call, he looked Emily over. “You look nice.”

Emily hoped Nick meant she looked businesslike. Taking a page from Brenda Whitehall-Stone’s playbook, she’d dressed in a smart charcoal-gray suit layered over undergarments meant to downplay her chest and wore her hair in a simple, businesslike bun. The outfit didn’t do anything to hide her shape, but it didn’t draw any extra attention away from her face. Shopping for it with Tanvi this morning had been strange, but largely because Tanvi treated it as an ordinary day’s business. Emily wasn’t sure what her relationship with Tanv was or should be now and Tanvi hadn’t given any hints one way or another.

For that, Emily was grateful. As much as she liked Tanvi, she needed to be focused right now. She thanked Nick for the compliment and said, “I should come to Angola with you tomorrow for the candidate interviews.”

Nick had started to type something on his laptop, but he stopped and put the computer aside. “All right. Do you want to come to dinner with Giovanni and Gianna tonight too?”

Emily considered the question for a second before shaking her head. “Not unless you think I can do some good there. That’s Stone family business and you’ll have Pilar with you. But the candidate interviews are committee business. I should be there.”

“Because you’re on the committee?” Nick rose from his chair, dusted himself off, and gestured that Emily should follow him further into the garden.

“Yes.” Emily fell into step with him.

“The full committee will get plenty of time to vent any candidate I let through when they get to New York.” Nick strolled with his hands in his pockets. “What advantage do you see in having a second council member at the candidate interviews?”

When Pilar had suggested Emily should be at those interviews, she’d imagined she would tell Nick she should be there and Nick would agree. She hadn’t expected follow-up questions. “I won’t know what I can offer to the process until I know what the process is. What do you do in these interviews anyway?”

“Mostly, I try to convince the candidate to come to New York to be considered for a seat on the council.” Nick led her through the greenery to a stone fountain centered around a verdigris-tinged statue of a nymph pouring water from a ewer. “Then I try to convince them not to come to New York to be considered for a seat on the council.”

“Wait. What?” Emily caught Nick by the arm so that he turned to face her. “What does that mean?”

“The candidates are, to a one, very busy women who are already working for a good cause and making real progress. They don’t want to leave off what they’re doing to come to New York and I need to convince them that joining the committee can help their cause far better than them being in whatever role they’re currently filling. Then, if I can do that, I remind them that it’s a very new process being run by people who are learning as we go along and there’s no guarantee we’ll add anyone to the council any time soon.” said Nick. “Then, regardless of whether they give me an answer or what their answer is, I give them one or more checks for tens of thousands of dollars. Tanvi keeps different sets of checks in her bag for different outcomes.”

“Oh. Is that all you do?” Emily frowned. She didn’t see a way to contribute to that.

“Not entirely. I also dig deeper into what they’re actually doing to fix whatever problem they’re addressing and ask them questions about the nuts and bolts of running a charity. It’s a free...” Nick stopped and shook his head. “I was going to say it’s a free master class in nonprofit management, but it may actually be the most expensive education ever. It’s a bit like going to college for a hundred thousand dollars a credit.”

Emily nodded vigorously, having been struck by an idea. “Maybe even if I can’t contribute much to the interviews right away, I can start learning from them. I still don’t know very much about what the council is supposed to do.”

“An excellent point.” Nick smiled at her.

Emily waited for more. When she didn’t get it, she asked, “Does that mean I can come?”

“I said that when you first asked, didn’t I?” Nick pointed out.

Emily thought back. “No. You said ‘all right,’ like ‘All right, you want that. Let’s talk about it.’ I learned a long time ago that ‘all right’ doesn’t mean ‘yes.’”

“From Clive?” Nick asked. When Emily nodded, he winced, then added, “Well, in this case, my ‘all right’ meant that you’re right. You have every right to be there as a member of the committee if you want to be.”

“Oh ... thank you.” said Emily.

Nick looked at her and frowned. Emily wasn’t sure what that frown meant, but it sent a cold bolt of fear up her spine. He asked, “Was that all you wanted to talk about?”

It wasn’t, but Emily found herself frozen by the possibility of raising Nick’s ire at this crucial moment. She nodded wordlessly and would have turned to go, but his gaze kept her pinned in place. After she’d stood frozen for too long to gracefully leave, he added, “Are you sure?”

“Maybe...” Emily paused, then her words came out on a rush. “Maybe it should just be the two of us flying down to Angola?”

Nick didn’t seem as pleased with the suggestion as she’d hoped he would. After a moment, he said, “I really can’t run these interviews without Tanvi’s help.”

“Oh, of course.” Emily backtracked immediately. “I didn’t mean we should leave her behind.”

“Ah, so we should just leave Pilar alone in Paris?” Nick asked, a new note in his voice that Emily couldn’t interpret.

“No, I didn’t...” Emily started to protest. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid idea. I shouldn’t have suggested it.”

“Christ!” Nick exclaimed, turned and took three steps away from Emily, his back to her as he drew three slow, deep breaths.

Emily didn’t understand the outburst, but in a fraction of a second she went from being paralyzed over the possibility of his anger to chasing after him to keep him from walking away from her. She placed a hand on his shoulder to make him turn and face her. “Nick, I’m sorry! What did I do?”

Nick didn’t let himself be turned, but he placed his own hand on top of hers. To an outside observer, the two of them might seem quiet and still, but seeing the rigidity of his spine and the tension in his shoulder made Emily feel like he was shouting at himself internally in some language she didn’t understand.

As long as he wasn’t yelling at her or leaving her alone, Emily thought she was willing to wait for him to speak to her. But she was so relieved to feel the tension in his shoulder slowly recede that she stepped in close and wrapped her arms around him from behind, hugging him close.