Times like this required a heart-to-heart girl talk with Jordan. I hurriedly ran to my room and then jumped in the shower to get ready for my trip back to Brooklyn. As I fixed my hair and makeup, I realized I hadn't thought about the trip as going home but going to Jordan's.
I, too, seemed to have become lost in my feelings.
Jenson was as accommodating as he was supposed to be, and by lunchtime I was back at our apartment and looking forward to hashing things out with Jordan. With school's ending, she was on summer vacation, so we had all the time we needed to figure out if I'd somehow won the romantic equivalent of the lottery or was just fooling myself into thinking that my situation with Tristan was good when it was anything but.
I threw my purse on the kitchen table and yelled for Jordan. Her scream from down the hall told me she was home and I found her in the bathroom cleaning smeared streaks of black from her eyelids.
"Jesus, Nina! I look like a damn raccoon now. Who walks into a person's house and screams like that?"
Three tissues later, she was back to finishing her makeup and I said in my best pouty tone, "Sorry. I thought this was still my place too."
Turning to face me, she smiled. "It is. I just got a little freaked out when you yelled. I wasn't expecting you since he came by and paid your part of the rent for the rest of the year."
The look on her face—complete with raised eyebrows of disbelief—told me she was just the person I needed to talk about things with. If there was any tough love I needed to hear, Jordan would give it to me.
"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I would never come back. I need some friend time pronto and you're the only one I can trust."
Concern clouded her gaze. Reaching out, she squeezed my arm gently. "What happened, Nina? Are you okay?"
Nodding, I smiled. "I'm fine, but I want to stay that way. Can we talk?"
"Yeah, of course. Let's go for a walk. It's a beautiful day, so it'll feel good."
I agreed, happy I wore flats instead of the cute little pumps I had grabbed first. After listening to all the latest news about Justin, I set out with her for our walk and more importantly, our heart-to-heart.
Sunset Park in the summer was a pretty place, not like what people think big cities look like at all. The trees were all in bloom, so there was far more green than one might expect in the concrete jungle. Jordan and I walked our usual route, enjoying the weather as I told her about my new job and all its great benefits.
"So you hit the jackpot? This is great!"
I bit my lower lip. Tilting my head right and left, I said, "Yes and no. That's what I need your keen insight for."
Jordan stopped and raised one eyebrow. "I know that lip thing. Something's gnawing at you. And what's this yes and no? I've seen this man in the flesh, my friend. It's a yes. I nearly fell over dead when he showed up at the apartment. The watch that he wears alone is worth more than anything I've ever driven. And the way he says things...it's like honey dripping out of a jar."
I couldn't help but blush. Tristan was stunning, and when he stood in front of someone dressed in a suit and tie, he made quite an impression. There was no doubt about that. His physical side was a resounding "Yes!" without a doubt. It was the other parts of him that I wasn't sure about.
"He does have a way when he speaks, although I'm thinking he might have said more to you than to me by the way you're talking."
We began to walk again. "Oh, he didn't say much at all, but there's something about how the words come out. You have to tell me, Nina. Does he sound that sexy when you're...alone?"
"Since I have to assume he didn't tell you we're sleeping together, I guess it's that obvious?" I asked, wondering if I was telegraphing the fact that I was actively having sex with him.
Jordan turned her head to look at me for a second and then turned back to face forward, wrinkling her nose a bit. "Actually, it was the way he acted. No man comes to pay a woman's rent for six months and arrange to take everything she owns to his house if he isn't sleeping with her, Nina. You're obviously making him happy."
Happy. Now that was the tricky part. I sighed and blew the air out of my lungs in a heavy breath. "That's the problem I need your help with."
"You aren't going to say he's not happy with you, are you? You've been dating for less than a week and already he's taking care of you like you're a kept woman. Seems pretty happy to me."
"I'm not sure he is happy. I'm not sure about much of anything where Tristan Stone's concerned, Jordan. He had me sign a contract that I thought was for the job as an assistant curator at his hotel downtown, but I haven't done any work in that area yet. He bought me a new wardrobe for the job that literally cost nearly ten thousand dollars, Jordan, but he picked out all the clothes himself."
Pressing her hands to above her heart, she said, "I think I'm in love."
I stopped her and grabbed her arm. "I'm serious. I think I'm being paid to be his sex slave."
Jordan's laugh was so loud the children playing nearby stopped to pay attention to us. I guess it sounded funny now that I'd said it out loud.
"Sex slave? Nina, you're his girlfriend. That's how he's supposed to act. Girlfriends of wealthy men always have honorary titles and things like that. You're not expected to actually work."
I leaned in close to her and whispered, "Then what am I getting paid for?"
Jordan laughed again. "Honey, this is how wealthy men are. Think of it as an allowance. Instead of the kind you got when you were a kid, when you had to clean your room and do the dishes, this is the kind where you make him happy and he makes you happy with his money."
"But that's the problem. I don't think I'm making him happy. He goes to events and never asks me. I seem to be only the woman he keeps around his house."
"Hmmm....well, I don't think you're getting a bad deal. His driver takes you places, he does nice things for you, and you like him, don't you?"
I more than liked him. What had begun as an infatuation quickly had blossomed into something much more for me and I hoped for him too. I wanted to believe he meant what he'd written in that note, but I wasn't sure.
"Jordan, he's not like anyone else I've ever dated. Sometimes I can barely get him to answer me with more than a yes or no. Then he's affectionate sometimes only to be distant at other times. I don't know what to think."
She stopped and grabbed me by the shoulders. "That's your problem, Nina. You're overthinking this. What's wrong with a man giving you everything you want and all you have to do is be what he wants in return? Isn't that what everyone wants?"