32aa by Michelle Cunnah Read Free Book Online Page B

great-great-grandfather coming off his shift, covered in coal dust. And then reality bites.
    Her family probably owned the coal mine. And the steel factories. Bastard plutocrats, making their nouveau riche fortunes by the sweat and toil of near-slave labor by the working classes. I realize this might be a little over the top, so I keep it to myself and resent her privately.
    And as the days turn into weeks, I decide that Adam really is becoming my proper boyfriend, rather than just an affair, and I think that it’s time for him to meet my friends. I take him to Chez Nous for dinner.
    I don’t think Rachel likes him much, but then she’s hard to please.
    “So what do you think of him?” I ask her.
    “I hope he’s great in bed,” she says.
    Typical Rachel. She’ll warm to him in time.
    But Tish thinks he’s a nice guy, because I ask her, repeatedly, if she thinks he’s a nice guy.
    “Will you stop obsessing?” she says. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of him—you’re the one who loves him, and that’s all that’s important.”
    Adam does seem a little threatened by Sylvester and David. But I think that’s because he’s not used to gay men and will relax once he knows them better. Plus, David flirting with him does not help. But Katy and Tom really enjoyed discussing opposing politics with him, so that’s encouraging, isn’t it?
    Actually, I didn’t realize until now that Adam is a Republican, but I don’t hold it against him. We’re all entitled to our own views, even if they are misguided.
    So, really, the only tiny fly in the ointment is this: Adam gets a little upset that I have to work on my business degree. I need to study for my finals, so I can’t spend every night at his apartment working on client accounts, followed by lovely, lovely sex with him. And he doesn’t want to stay at my apartment, because I share with Tish. Plus, his apartment is much more convenient for the office.
    But I don’t want the love of my life to feel neglected, so while I am stressing about how to reassure him, I come up with a great idea for another client. For Kitty Krunch.
    This is what I propose:
    Several supermodels (I was thinking maybe Kate, Naomi, Chandra, and a few of their friends) all dressed in sexy Catwoman-style outfits, complete with spiky black heels. I picture them crawling on the floor, in the manner of sex kittens (which, of course, they are), until they are distracted by the call of Kitty Krunch. Famous male model type such asFabio will pour Kitty Krunch into gold (-plated, not solid) bowls. And as the supermodel kitties purr and munch happily on Kitty Krunch, Fabio will stroke their lovely hair as they eat. Ta-da.
    Adam loves this proposal too. He loves it so much, he buys me a lovely gray suit from Bloomingdale’s, because it caught his eye and he thought of me. How great is that? It’s a very nice suit, but the color is a little drab for me and the skirt is too long. But I wear it to work anyway, to show Adam that I appreciate his kind gesture.
    And I’m really glad that I did. That evening, as we are having dinner at Adam’s favorite restaurant, La Trattoria, he tells me that he has a proposal of his own.
    He’s going to ask me to marry him!
    This is what I’ve been waiting for.
    “Emmeline,” he says, reaching for my hand across the table.
    Here it comes. Although I was secretly hoping for the one-knee approach, complete with small Tiffany’s box.
    “Will you—will you move in with me?”
    Not exactly what I am expecting, but it is a move in the right direction, don’t you think? If we live together, full time, he’ll soon realize how perfect we are together.
    But he doesn’t actually say that he loves me. I think he does love me, though, because why else would he ask me to move in with him?
    “Yes, Adam,” I say. “I will.”
    I think he just needs time.
     
    Oh, if only I’d known then what I know now. But how easy it is to be wise with the advantage of