2 Chapter 2

Of course I’d have a choice in the matter, which actually made things worse. Did I wish to remain while relegated to second place? What would be the sleeping arrangements? How could I remain in our bed with Tracy in it, too? It was all up to me. I could endure, or I could make a graceful exit. Options started rushing at me like some flash flood sweeping innocents to their deaths.

“We’ll put Tracy in the blue room,” Reece said of the bedroom across from his. I offered no comment, noting the proximity actually closer than my room, which was next door to his, not that I ever slept there. I would now, though. I got up to pour orange juice while noting Tracy’s every move. Reece’s Timeshad now been forgotten. I tuned out the conversation because it had nothing to do with me.

After breakfast, we moved to the patio, Tracy dropping his shirt like some diva shedding her boa. Though he’d been to the house numerous times, I saw him surveying the realm anew, sweeping his gaze over the vast canyon view. “I love it here,” he said, at which Reece got up and slipped an arm around his waist. I watched them paired now, the final straw. When I went inside, they didn’t notice. In another hour they’d be fucking, with or without me. I hated Reece for placing me in such an intolerable situation, hated Tracy for making it happen.

Back in the kitchen, I had no idea what to do. I’d never been displaced before. I began to inventory my possessions. What would I take when I moved to nowhere? What would I leave behind? And how on earth would I support myself? The screenplays I wrote for Reece, romantic adventure stories, had been successful, mostly due to his connections. That money would dry up if I left. On the other hand, I had a steady rental income from the management company that took care of the family home near San Francisco. An only child, I’d inherited the house and a reasonable nest egg at my parents’ deaths and I now saw the bounty would come to good use. All the time I’d been with Reece, he hadn’t let me pay for a thing. I wondered how that would work if I stayed. Would I still be supported with another man in the mix?

Thinking myself somewhat steeled in knowing it was over, I wandered back outside only to hear Reece say to Tracy, “I’ll drive you over to get your things later.”

“I don’t have much,” Tracy said, and I thought of my trips to Reece’s tailor and visits to the best Beverly Hills shops. Every time we came home laden with packages, he’d insist I model for him, and I’d strike poses in outfit after outfit until he tore it all away and fucked me. He’d do Tracy the same, I realized, and it made me bristle. Outwardly, I remained serene, while inside I wanted to kill.

“Let’s have a swim,” Reece suddenly declared.

Tracy squealed and dove into the water. Reece stood in admiration for a few seconds before joining him.

Pool-fucking was a favorite of Reece’s. He loved the buoyancy that allowed him extended sexual romps without the usual effort. I watched them until the Speedos were floating on the water, their naked bodies rolling about as the coupling began.

Ordinarily when we had a guest, Reece would call to me to join them, but this time he offered no invitation, so I headed back inside where I picked up our half-written screenplay, the first on which we’d collaborated. I thought it quite good, Reece full of ideas that I made come alive, but now it seemed a reminder of what I was losing. It would remain with Reece because why would I want it? He’d try and finish it on his own and would fail because I was the writer. He was the idea man, as he’d often boasted.

In the living room, I checked my phone and found a text from Robin, my Bay Area property manager. Tenants have given 30 days’ notice. Rent at same or increase?

I started to reply, then realized I had no idea what to say. Usually I had a feel for housing prices, but this had now fled, as I supposed had my entire practical side. I couldn’t be concerned with tenants and rents, not with my life turning upside down. I needed to marshal every part of myself to insure survival.

Will get back to you, I texted Robin. Even this seemed an effort, but what then? I stood at the front window, looking into the courtyard between house and street. I fixed on a fat succulent with pointed arms and knew how those points would feel in my grasp, my fingers absently working the image.