Susan Returns to Random Point
Contrary to Anthony’s paranoid expectations, Susan was not back in Random Point in twenty-four hours. After the long flight back from Europe and tedious domestic connecting flight, Susan was delighted to sleep the night in Anthony’s Greenwich Village townhouse and take the train to the Cape on the following day. In transit Susan had thought much of what situation she might be returning to, tortured by jealous anxiety at the notion of Cassandra being Anthony’s new lover. In her mental distress she forgot that as soon as the summer was over, he was to return to New York to mount his next original musical. She would return to work at the Chipper Knight ad agency and go to bed with him every night after his long day was done. All would certainly be well. And yet she felt her heart was breaking.
Susan thought about Amanda’s mother, who had seemed such a charming person while located on the opposite coast. But this close, she seemed only to be a formidable rival.
Exhausted from worrying, she slept in the train and emerged on the platform in the golden warmth of a July sunset. Dennis was waiting for her with the car as she had called ahead with her arrival time. He took her luggage and opened the door to the back seat.
“I’ll sit in front with you,” she said. The handsome English boy gave a little shiver. That meant she was going to try and pump him for information about Mr. Newton. He’d been down this road with Susan Ross before.
“Great!” he said cheerfully.
“Everything okay at the house?” Susan asked casually.
“It’s very good, there are two culinary students in the kitchen. They’ve reduced my workload by 30%.”
“That’s nice. So this club, what’s it like?”
“It’s the next property down from Michael Flagg’s on Pine Tar Road. They’re filling it up with posh furniture and there’s a lot of dungeon pieces on order, being made by William’s crew.”
“But, why would a respectable celebrity with a reputation to protect want to get anywhere near such an endeavor?” Susan wondered aloud.
“I expect he’ll be as discreet as ever he can be about his involvement.”
“I suppose you’re right. I just wonder why all of a sudden he has a burning need to build a BDSM club.”
“Would you…” he hesitated to finish his sentence, looking sideways at her as they began to drive up the hill to the Cliff House.
“Would I what, Dennis?”
“Would you ever work there?”
“Dennis, why in the world would I want to do that? Do I look like I need money that badly? Not to mention, how you think Anthony would feel about it?”
“I remember a time when you and Diana went to California specifically to work in a club.”
“How dare you remember that so well?” she cried. “But that was years ago. And it was an appropriately naughty thing to do. Anyway, why do you ask such a thing?”
“Well, obviously, I’d want to come do a shoe session with you.”
“Dennis!”
“You used to be so nice to me when you were just 19. You’d let me take care of your feet and shoes to my heart’s content,” he said, but not with any seriousness.
“I know. I was a wild child. Now I’m a mature workingwoman. I don’t have time for such frivolity,” she told him severely. He smiled at her.
“You know Hope is going to be helping Cassandra run it.”
“So she got Hope away from Marguerite, did she?” Susan pretended surprise, but Anthony had already mentioned his desire to include Hope in the new enterprise when he had sent his long email to her several days before.
“Mr. Newton suggested it. It was all his idea.”
“How did Marguerite take it?”
“Mr. Newton had the culinary students recruit their friends to re-staff her coffee shop.”
“Now Marguerite, I can see her stopping in for a fly by session now and then,” said Susan. “She would be the one to serve.”
“I’ve adored her feet for years,” Dennis admitted. “She wears magnificent heels and those insteps. So elegant.”
They were at the house and Susan didn’t hesitate to run inside and look for Anthony immediately. She wore an apricot cotton sundress that clung to her small curves like a velvety peel and terra cotta leather sandals on her tiny feet. Her long blonde hair was in its usual high ponytail and the color on her cheeks was high too as she ran upstairs. He was just emerging from his dressing room in a buff colored suit, when she ran into his arms.
“What in the world brought you back so soon?” he demanded bluntly, while affectionately squeezing her waist. “I thought you were going to be Diana’s duenna for ten days,” he said, adding, “By the way, that dress is very becoming to you. Let’s go down to the dining room and get a little bite before I have to leave. These kids I have working for me are brilliant.”
He led her downstairs by the hand as Susan explained, “Diana really needed the attentions of a male. Amanda happened to be able to hook her up with one of her Harvard boyfriends and the chemistry was instantaneous. I was just in the way, so I decided to come home.”
“Why didn’t you continue on with Colby and Amanda for a while? I would have thought they’d be fun to travel with.”
“They were. But I missed you,” said Susan honestly.
“Really? You got home sick?”
“Lovesick,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying his head against his chest. He hugged her hard and laughed at her seriousness.
“Come on, let’s eat,” he said. In the end, she was too pretty to be peeved at, just because she came back a little sooner than expected. And he found her concern both reassuring and touching. The fact that he was still able to inspire sensations of passion in his much younger lover was undeniable. He could see her anxiety in her blue eyes, though her lips smiled at him.
“Will you come see the play?” he asked.
“Of course! I’ve been dreaming about seeing the play ever since you began rehearsals.”
“By the way, good job picking out that furniture in Amsterdam. That’s just what I wanted. I hope it gets here soon. Wait until you see this excellent house William found for us. I want you to do some custom artwork on the walls, murals. Laura is already starting in one room.”
“Sure. I’ll take a week or so more of vacation and stick around to do that,” she said.
“I know it seems like a crazy whim,” he agreed. “I honestly wasn’t thinking about creating a club until Cassandra showed up and presented the idea to me. Then it seemed like the perfect project. I mean, think of all the clubs you’ve ever been in and how you would improve them. This will be a club you’ll want to play in. And so will some of the locals, with each other. Plus we’re setting aside parts of it for photography and filming.”
Susan said, “This is the maddest thing you’ve ever done. But why shouldn’t you be whimsical? You can afford it.”
“Exactly!”