“Yes, she was gorgeous. She’s everything that you and I aren’t, Chels. Savannah’s thin but curvy, with the kind of figure that has big boobs and a small waist even though she’s obviously pregnant. She has long blonde hair that blows in the breeze just so and enormous cornflower blue eyes that couldn’t be more innocent. Of course Rick fucked her. Any man with a working dick would fuck her.”
Chelsea scrunches her nose then.
“But didn’t you say that Rick was using an escort agency before he met you? City Girls or maybe The Stark Group? Surely, she wasn’t from an agency.”
I snort derisively.
“Yeah, that’s what Rick said but maybe he was lying. Or maybe he was using an agencyandseeing other women on the side. So Savannah’s one of those other women, and she got pregnant.”
“Or maybe sheisan escort,” Chels says in a dark tone. “It would be weird though because the agencies are supposed to make sure that every girl that works for them is on birth control, and you know they’re hardcore. They don’t trust the girls to take a pill every day, so a lot of them require Depo-Provera shots.”
“Depo what?” I hiccup miserably, wiping at my cheeks again.
Chelsea nods importantly.
“You know, the contraceptive injection. They give it to you in the arm, and it’s good for three months. That way, there’s a lot less chance of fucking up and forgetting and all that kind of shit. It’s not even the girls who ‘forget’ sometimes. It’s the men,” Chels adds in a rueful tone. “They want it hot and unprotected, and so the girls feel pressured.”
I stare at my friend, who looks very “rich mom” right now. Chelsea’s brown curls are pulled back in an elegant low bun, and she’s wearing a colorful caftan that probably cost a thousand bucks. A huge diamond decorates her left ring finger, but it doesn’t stop me from squinting at her.
“How do you know this again?” I ask.
Chelsea laughs.
“Because I used to be an escort before I met Mason, remember? Way back when, before I got pregnant. It’s the only way to make enough in the city to survive, so yeah, I used to work for City Girls long ago.”
I shake my head.
“Oof, I forgot. It just seems so unlikely, girlfriend. I mean, look at you. You look like you belong inThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
Chelsea giggles, looking around the mansion with its triple height ceilings and luxurious furnishings.
“I know right? But once upon a time, I was a struggling young woman living in Manhattan, and seeing men professionally is how I made ends meet,” she says. “There’s no shame it in. At least, I’m not ashamed.”
I nod.
“Good for you. I’m not ashamed of sleeping with a ton of guys either but that doesn’t solve my problem right now. The problem is that Rick wasalsosleeping with a ton of women, and one of them got pregnant.”
Chelsea sighs heavily, dusting off her hands.
“That is a problem, isn’t it?”
I nod morosely, slumping onto the couch once more.
“Yeah, tell me about it. So what do I do? I mean, it’s pretty much the end of our relationship. It’s not that he lied or tried to do anything shady. If anything, Rick was totally upfront when we started seeing each other. He admitted to being a male whore and boning tons of women ever since he separated from his wife. But still, Savannah changes everything.”
Chelsea shoots me a thoughtful look.
“Why do you say that?”
I think for a moment, even as my heart contracts with pain.
“Well, because for one, it really hurts knowing he was sleeping with other women. I mean, of course I knew theoretically, but now there’s hard proof.”
My buddy nods sympathetically.
“Of course. It can’t be easy to be faced with evidence. It must have happened right before you left for Bermuda too,” she adds.
I smile, a bit sad.