Chapter 44

Author’s Note: Juliet is back! I know it’s been a long absence for her, but such is the nature of her job. I hope you enjoy her welcome home, and you should get a sense of where at least some of the plot of the rest of this book is going. I imagine we’ve got roughly 10-15 chapters left here, depending on how it unfolds.

It had been eight long weeks, including the delays, but Juliet was finally coming home. That also meant that Melanie, who had joined her for the final four weeks, was also returning. And all five of us were buzzing with anticipation for it. All the crazy shenanigans we found ourselves getting into – and relishing every minute of it – Juliet and Melanie were our closest friends. We had all formed a strong bond. We depended on one another.

So it was no surprise that Kat and I scurried around the kitchen, preparing a welcome-home feast. We had settled on a loose tapas theme – taking some Spanish classics and sprinkling in a few other small bites that we liked that wouldn’t really qualify. We had buckets of Champagne. After production, Juliet liked to take a week and just pig out. She had to be so regimented on set that one of her favorite indulgences was gluttony once she didn’t have to worry about being in front of the camera for a while. Rita and Katie prepared the party favors. They had borrowed Juliet’s glass staircase for a cocaine display, like she had done for our housewarming party.

Jess, however, was stuck on the phone, getting an update on the Infinity Houston situation. Things were progressing, but we still had mostly unanswered questions. So we were in the unenviable situation of just having to sit tight and keep the Houston Hooker House buttoned up for the time being.

“I love cooking with you,” Kat said as we started plating the eight separate appetizer dishes.

“I’m glad we’ve been doing it more,” I said and smiled at her, ladling a circle of rich, spicy tomato sauce into a shallow bowl.

Kat followed behind me, spooning in perfectly fried potatoes. I leaned in over her and squeezed garlicky aioli in a criss-cross pattern over the top. Kat finished the patatas bravas with a delicate sprinkle of parsley.

“I hope they’re on-time,” she said, “or these will get soggy. And they’re so perfect.”

“It’s going to be great,” I said and kissed her.

“I’m so excited they’re coming back,” Kat said. “I can’t believe it’s been almost two months.”

“Not as excited as I am!” Jess said, coming into the room like a tornado, carrying two vases of fresh flowers.

“Alix texted,” Katie said. “She and Petey are on their way.”

“I’ll let Crystal know,” Kat said. “I don’t want the potatoes to go soggy.”

“Oh my god, Kat,” Jess said, “they’re going to be great!”

“Someone come smoke with me,” Rita said, slipping a dangly gold earring into her ear and fastening it with the back. “I want severe munchies because this food all smells so good!”

The nervous energy was building. It was like dearly missed family was coming home. And, in our special way, that’s exactly what was happening.

“I am super up for some bud,” Jess said. “Maybe it will mellow me out.”

Just then, Jason came into the main house with Crystal and Bianka in tow. They had stayed an extra week, shopping and preparing for Jason and Crystal’s move to LA in a few weeks. The reality of having my best friend and business partner ten minutes away was comforting. I was at peace with a feeling that had been growing in me. LA was home. I wondered whether all the drama with Infinity in Houston was a sign. What was left there for us?

“I wanna smoke some bud,” Jason said, clapping me on the back.

“We should get an office when you get out here,” I said. “We can smoke every day.”

We laughed. Jason got it immediately.

“An office?” he said. “You’ll never give up rent for that when you could blow that at a craps table!”

The room filled with laughter. Rita led Jess, Crystal, Bianka, and Jason outside. Kat and I kept plating.

“How can I help?” Katie asked.

“Can you toss these wings with the sauce in the bowl here?” I offered.

“Yes!” Katie said happily. “I think this is the first time you’ve ever asked me to help cook, daddy.”

Katie glanced at Kat when she said it.

“I think you’re right, Katie,” Kat said. She minced chives skillfully to garnish a dish of chicken chunks coated in butter and garlic.

Katie threw herself into the task, folding the wing sections into a Thai-style peanut sauce. She concentrated hard, and then she started singing. I’d never heard her do that before. And she had the voice of an angel. Kat and I looked up and then glanced at each other.

“Katie!” Kat exclaimed. “How did I not know you sing?!”

“Oh my god,” she said, clasping her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t even realize it.”

“How come you never told us?” I asked.

Katie’s face turned beet red.

“I’m not a singer,” she said.

“Your voice is gorgeous, girl,” Kat said.

“Sorry, I just slipped into it,” Katie said shyly. “It’s usually just something I do in the car.”

“You should do it more often!” I said.

“God, you’re embarrassing me,” she said.

“You have nothing at all to be self-conscious about!” Kat said.

We finished the food setup, and Kat went outside to join the smoke session with the others. I put my arms around Katie’s waist and pulled her to me.

“I didn’t realize you were my little songbird,” I said.

“Stop,” she said sheepishly.

I kissed her neck, and she sighed.

“Juliet and Melanie will be here any minute,” she said.

“Maybe we have just enough time for a quick line?” I suggested.

“That would help,” she said with a weak smile.

I put my hand on the small of her back as we walked over to a silver tray on the bar, next to an ice bucket filled with Champagne. Katie brushed her hair back, and I resisted the urge to put my hand on her ass as she bent over. The white linen pants she wore bunched in her crack, making it nearly irresistible. She snorted a line, then a second.

“Lines are like potato chips,” she said between sniffs. “You never can have just one.”

I laughed and followed suit. I loved the purity of the coke we sourced. It made the drip after doing a line a feature. It was slightly bitter but more about that pleasant spread of numbness you felt before the euphoria took hold. I was grinning at Katie as it hit, and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was.

“Is it wrong to love it so much?” she said.

“Nope,” I said and pulled her close to me, wrapping my hands around her ass. “I would never go for a girl who wasn’t into it.”

“Well, then, you have totally hit the jackpot, daddy,” she said, and our tongues tangled.

But we were quickly interrupted by Jess, the pungent scent of weed clinging to her.

“They’re coming!” she said excitedly. “Get out here!”

So Katie and I went out the French doors to the patio and waited as Juliet and Melanie crossed the large swath of shared space we called our backyards. They were smiling, walking at an easy pace, and holding hands.

“I’m resisting the urge to just run up and hug them!” Jess said.

Their entrance seemed interminable, but in reality it must have lasted only about thirty seconds. Juliet was as fresh-faced and full of smiles as always, but I couldn’t help but notice the fatigue in her eyes. It had been a grueling shoot, from what I had gathered. Melanie, on the other hand, looked rested and content. There was unrestrained happiness radiating from them over our reunion. The embraces came fast and furious, mixed in with shouts and laughs and even a couple tears of joy.

And then it happened. I don’t remember who spotted it first. I just remember the commotion.

“Wait, what?” came one voice.

“When?” came another.

“Oh my god!” rumbled from more than one mouth.

For the second time in a matter of minutes, a moment seemed to last an eternity. Once things died down, I was able to take a mental picture of the scene. It was one I would never forget. Juliet and Melanie had taken two steps back from us. The late afternoon sun bathed them in golden light. Their smiles were even wider and brighter than before. I saw Jess wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. The happy couple each held up their left hands. On their ring fingers, Juliet and Melanie each sported a stunning, massive diamond engagement ring.

Juliet, the mistress of surprise, had done it again.

Pandemonium broke out, as the girls descended on Juliet and Melanie to see the rings. To hear the story of the engagement. Jason and I dashed inside to open Champagne, pour glasses, and distribute them. The bubbles flowed freely, and by the time we finished a third bottle for the twelve of us, things had begun to settle back into balance, the whole story came out.

“We always knew that me going off for a shoot was going to be the biggest challenge we could face,” Juliet began after we sat down at the dining room table and started passing around food. “And, at least for me, it was totally obvious within a couple days that being away from Mel was super painful.”

“It didn’t take a couple days for me to realize that,” Melanie said with a laugh.

“So right away, I realized we needed to figure out how Mel could come stay with me,” Juliet said.

“It took a couple of weeks to figure out the logistics,” Melanie said, “and I really wasn’t sure if it would be a distraction or, honestly, just something I couldn’t deal with.”

“It was really kind of a leap of faith,” Juliet added. “We knew we were great together, but there is just something next level about fusing work and personal in Hollywood.”

“But we agreed that we couldn’t know for sure any other way,” Melanie said.

“Well, when did you figure it out?” Jess asked. The sudden news had done something to her. She was beaming with happiness for her best friend. She was overjoyed by it.

“Like maybe a day after I got there?” Melanie said with a laugh.

“It literally was just the most natural thing from the first minute,” Juliet said. “Mel actually arrived while I was still on set. It turned into a longer day than anticipated – everything was longer with this shoot, but that’s another story – and she was so totally cool about it. When I finally got back to the hotel, she had dinner waiting for me and a bath drawn. I couldn’t believe it.”

Melanie blushed slightly and had a sheepish smile on her face.

“Well, I mean, what would you want after a long day?” she said. “I’ve had modeling shoots like that, where nothing goes right, and it just spirals into this seemingly endless loop. And I know what it’s like to come home after a day like that to someone who just doesn’t give a shit about it.”

“That’s the total truth, girl,” Jess said.

“This story is so sweet!” Rita said. “I can feel the genuine love just emanating between you two. It’s different from when you left. I can almost visualize it, it’s so strong.”

“And that’s how it was every single day,” Juliet said. “I’d bust my ass, and Melanie would do anything to help me get recovered for the next day. I was worried, at first, that this created a dynamic that was way too one-sided. But that’s now how it played out.”

“Oh my god,” Melanie interjected. “Juliet was always finding time to do these sweet things for me or make time for me. What we came to understand was, even in the most difficult of circumstances, away from home, we always figured out how to keep each other in perfect balance.”

“So we knew there was only one thing we could do,” Juliet said.

“Put a ring on it!” Kat exclaimed, and everyone broke into laughter or applause.

I beamed at Juliet and Melanie, as happy about the news as any of us. It certainly had been a surprise but a uniquely good one. Melanie was someone I had known for a long time. I had seen her walk into a marriage she was unsure of and come out of it a broken, unhappy person. While the girls and I had been able to build her back up to a certain extent and provide her with a semblance of stability. But it was nothing compared to the spark that Juliet brought to her.

The power of their connection was obvious just seeing them on the other side of the table. There was a seamlessness, an ease with which they sat with one another. There were little glances, incidental touches, and a warmth that emanated from them that was beautiful.

There was a round of toasts, which mostly ended in a blubbering mess of tears. Jess, in particular, was overcome with emotion. I’d rarely seen her so happy before. We ate and drank, and the party took on an even more electric vibe than I had expected – and I had expected quite a bit. Finally, as the serving platters emptied and the cashed bottles of wine piled up, I could sense a shift in the attitudes at the table.

“Anybody up for dessert?” Katie asked.

“I could go for some candy,” Crystal said giddily.

“Well, have we got just the thing for you,” Kat said.

Rita and Jess slipped away briefly and reappeared with the cocaine staircase, presenting it with the same pageantry as if it were a birthday cake. They set it down between Juliet and Melanie, handing each of them a glass straw.

“Welcome home!” Jess shouted.

“Oh, god, I haven’t had any blow in two months!” Juliet exclaimed. “I’ve really missed all of you!”

“Definitely the best way to celebrate,” Melanie agreed as she bent down.

Juliet went first, taking the two lines off the top stair. Melanie took the next two. And the staircase went around the table, all twenty-four lines disappearing within a couple minutes and injecting a new level of energy into the gathering.

My girls cleared down the table, and we started separating out into smaller groups. Crystal, Katie, and Bianka hovered around a tray of cocaine, showing their usual unbridled enthusiasm for getting supremely wired. Petey talked to Kat and Alix, while Jason chatted up Melanie and Jess. Rita and I caught up with Juliet.

“The ring is just stunning,” Rita said, taking Juliet’s hand and admiring it.

“Tiffany,” Juliet said. “I have to admit. Melanie and I were both really inspired by the rings John got you.”

“Exquisite,” I said. “I’m so happy for you. But I think the thing I love the most is that you’re so happy. And so obviously happy.”

“Melanie is my center puzzle piece,” Juliet said. “Like, you find that perfect fit in such a complex scenario, and she’s that. It just works on every single level. And I will never, ever be able to thank all of you for making that happen.”

“It is kind of wild how things worked out, isn’t it?” I observed.

“I was thinking about that recently,” Juliet said. “It was supposed to be a casual little thing just that once in Vegas. I mean, I was just doing Kelly a favor! And it sounded like fun.”

“But our paths kept crossing,” I said.

“And you didn’t push me for more than just letting our paths cross,” Juliet noted. “That really worked in your favor. As it turns out, it really worked in my favor, too.”

“You’re just one of those people, Juliet,” Rita said. “We always felt lucky to spend time with you. Whatever we’ve done, it’s always fun. And you’ve got such life about you, it makes us feel special to be with you. It’s just always really, really memorable, I think is a better way to put what I’m trying to say.”

“That’s so sweet of you, Rita,” Juliet said. “I feel the same way about all of us together. It’s always memorable.”

“I’m so happy you found your forever person,” Rita added.

“It’s not something I ever really sought out,” she admitted. “I have always given so much to my career. It’s come first basically my whole life. And then, to tell you the truth, meeting Mel was like being struck by lightning. I wasn’t going to take it for granted.”

“Well, you’re perfect together,” I said.

“Have you talked about wedding plans at all?” Rita asked.

“We have, actually,” Juliet said. “It’s going to be a tiny, intimate destination wedding. Probably the Caribbean, like a private island.”

“It will be incredible, I’m sure,” Rita said.

“It’s all kind of preliminary, but I don’t think Mel and I want to wait very long,” she said. “We both know this is right. So why put it off?”

“Unlike someone else I know,” Rita said playfully and jabbed me in the ribs.

“I have a feeling this is going to spur us to action,” I said. “Not that we would try to take away the spotlight from you, of course.”

“You won’t,” Juliet said with a smile.

There was a brief pause in the conversation. The increasing volume of the conversations taking place around us, sprinkled with robust laughter, filled the room. Things had ramped up a bit, too, as I noticed Petey and Kat each doing a bump of coke off Alix’s now-exposed tits, her nipples proud, hard, and pierced.

“It’s also so nice to be back somewhere we can cut loose again,” Juliet said. “No coke and no dick for two months is way too long for both.”

“At least you had Mel,” Rita offered.

“Yeah, but we agreed no strap-ons or anything,” Juliet said sexily. “I’m probably so tight.”

“Well, I bet I know one man who would like to find out,” Rita said, laughing lightly but also licking her lips.

“If I can make some time in my busy calendar,” I said sarcastically.

“You know, darling,” Rita said, “it seems like everyone else is nicely distracted. This could be a good moment for you and Juliet to find someone more private to reconnect.”

Juliet’s eyes lit up.

“If you think that wouldn’t detract from the party,” she said diplomatically.

“I think everyone here knows that you need to get dicked down, girl,” Rita said. “And, let me tell you a little secret. Last night when John and I were fucking? He got so hard and almost lost it when I asked how excited he was for you to come home.”

She capped it off with a giggle, which Juliet joined. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Let’s go find somewhere quiet,” I suggested.

“Okay, babe,” Juliet said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I have been thinking about this nonstop for the past two days.”

She slipped her hand in mind, and Rita gave me a kiss goodbye. Before I stepped away, she whispered in my ear.

“I’m sure there is enough fun to keep the girls busy,” she said.

“You should exploit it,” I replied, and she grinned back at me.

Juliet and I slipped into a guest bedroom that was at the back of the house, with an expansive view of the backyard and Hollywood Hills.

“I really have needed this,” she said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss me.

“I missed you,” I said. “We all did.”

“We missed you, too,” Juliet said, her lips still active. “Mel and I call this our cocoon. We feel so at home here, all of us together.”

“It’s the best thing,” I said, sliding the hem of her dress up her hips. She raised her arms above my head so I could pull it off entirely. She was nude underneath. “My god, you are so fucking stunning,” I said with an exhale.

“I don’t know how you do that,” she said, unbuttoning my shirt.

“What?” I asked.

“Say something so flattering that it would set off my bullshit detector with anybody else,” she said. “You’re so genuine.”

“Well, it helps that I really mean it,” I said.

“Such a charmer,” she said, pushing my pants down my hips and letting them crumple to the floor.

We embraced in a long, deep kiss. It felt so good to have Juliet back. So good a chill ran up my spine, as if emphasizing the feeling of disbelief that I was with her. My hands roamed her body, feeling the familiar, firm curve of her ass, the hard ribs pressing against the skin of her thighs, and her pert tits capped by their pebble-like nipples. I broke from her mouth and kissed her neck. She moaned and squeezed her nipples, encouraging me to put my lips around them. After a few minutes, Juliet dropped to her knees.

“I want to feel you get hard in my mouth,” she said, barely above a whisper. “Then I want you to fuck me. I need a dick inside me so badly.”

She opened her mouth and took my cock inside to the base. Her tongue followed, spinning like a tornado on the underside of my shaft from the tip to the stem.

“Fuck, that feels so nice,” I said, letting my hands flow through her sumptuous hair.

Juliet bobbed her head up and down eagerly for a minute, which was far longer than necessary for me to achieve full erection.