Be With Me in Silicon Valley: The Juliette Trilogy (The Princesses of Silicon Valley - Book 3) (3 page)

After Zumba, Isabelle and I head over to Napolitano’s. On the way, I fill her in on the latest with Nate and Zach.

“Isabelle, I feel so duplicitous for dating Nate. Should I be waiting for Zach?”

“Juliette, you went on one date with the guy. You know what they say about a bird in the hand.”

“You think I should date Nate?”

She nods.

“Yeah, I guess I should see where things go, and if they don’t work out with Nate, then I can date Zach. But Zach knows about Nate. Won’t he feel bad being the consolation prize?”

“How many times do women date a guy a few times and then it’s over? This makes it easy. Date Nate this weekend. If it’s good, cool, if it doesn’t work out, Zach will be back.”

I nod, “Yeah, that’s probably the best thing to do. I don’t think Zach’s going to be back in the next week. I guess it gives me some time with Nate.”

Isabelle nods, “Actually, Zach being in Europe makes this just so much easier. It gives you plenty of time to take Nate for a test drive.”

“Yeah, but how much longer do I hold out on sleeping with him?”

“Why hold out?”

“What?”

“If Zach was out of the picture what would you do?”

“Well…”

“Exactly. Zach is out of the picture. Just do what works. Let’s just hope Nate’s not like Bon Jovi from
Sex in the City
.”

Every night our senior year of college, while eating dinner, Isabelle and I watched
Sex in the City
repeats. In one episode, Jon Bon Jovi’s character relentlessly pursues Carrie. After sleeping with him, Carrie finds out he’s seeing a therapist since he loses interest in women once he’s had sex with them.

Gasping, I look at Isabelle, “You think that’s why he’s always texting? That it’s the chase? Once he sleeps with me, he’ll lose interest?”

Isabelle starts laughing. “Hey, that will make it easy. When Nate doesn’t return any of your texts, you can just move on to Zach.”

This makes me think of what happened last week with Gray. I haven’t heard from him since …shit, I can’t start thinking about Gray. When did my life get so complicated?

As we walk into the restaurant, Meredith is waiting at the table by herself. As soon as she sees us, she gushes, “I’m glad you guys came, I was afraid I’d be stood up.”

“Did you order a pizza?”

“I wasn’t going to order a pizza that no one wanted, and then have to eat the whole thing myself.”

“Where’s Hita?” Meredith asks.

“Hey, I just work with her. At lunch, she said she was coming.”

Jennifer joins us and says, “I saw you idiots last week. What’s the big deal about meeting again?”

“Kelly’s off to Brazil next week. If we don’t meet again soon, we won’t be together for ages.” Isabelle says.

“Olivia said she can’t make it, she has something due tomorrow.” Jennifer tells us.

“Did you hear Hita got herself a guy?” I say.

“You know there will be a good story soon.” Meredith laughs.

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t cook for him.” Jennifer jokes back.

“What about you. Have you made a decision on the two guys you’ve been dating?” Jennifer asks.

Isabelle and I both exchange looks. I shake my head, “One of the guys is now in Europe and the other one is blowing up my phone.”

“Hey, Nate was two thousand miles away last month. Zach didn’t make a move when he had home field advantage. Now it’s Nate’s turn. Let’s see if he can do a better job.” Isabelle says with conviction.

I nod, and am saved from ruminating about this weekend by a loud, rambunctious “I’m here so the party can start.” as Kelly pulls up a chair.

“Kelly, when do you leave for Brazil? We didn’t want you slipping out before we get together again.” Meredith says.

“I was just up in San Francisco getting my visa. My flight’s on Tuesday. E eu estou fora de ar quente, água quente, e homens quentes.”

“What?”

“And I'm off to warm air, warm water, and hot men.” I translate.

“Snow, you know Portuguese?”

“What, you said, it’s almost the same as Spanish, and considering you said it with a Boston accent, it was easy to figure out.”

“I should take you with me so you can translate.”

“Then you’ll also need a Spanish to Portuguese translator.”

“Kelly, when did you learn Portuguese?”

“I’m fluent in French. Portuguese isn’t too much harder, since it’s just another romance language.”

I butt in. “Kelly, I’m fluent in Spanish, I have no idea what the French or Italians are saying.”

“But a lot of the root words are similar. I’ve been studying Portuguese, now I can kind of read it. It’s just when they start speaking, I have no idea what they’re saying.”

“Kelly, do you think that might be a problem?”

“Hey, I have a hot guy down there who speaks English and he’s looking forward to me joining him.”

“What about Sean?”

“What about Sean?” Kelly says, then flashes us her eyebrows and shakes her shoulders, “He’s my hot guy here. I’ll tell you my hoo-hah has gotten quite the workout these last few weeks. He’s got me walking like a cowboy. That boy has stamina, but I’ve taught him a number of new tricks. The girls after me are going to be real lucky.”

“Ugh, Kelly, no one needed to know any of that. You could have just said you’ve spent time with him.” Jennifer says.

“I have spent time with him. Lots of naked hot sex time with him.” Kelly says with a big smile.

Looking at Jennifer, Meredith says, “Jennifer how are things going with your new man?”

Jennifer just smiles, “Rocket’s sweet.”

Kelly gives Jennifer a big smile, then raises her eyebrows. “Is that what he tastes like, or is there something else sweet we should know about him?”

Jennifer gives Kelly an appalled look. “Rocket’s and my private parts are our business, not your business. No one really wants to know that much information.”

Kelly just can’t let it drop as she says, “I take it you’ve seen his private parts.” Leaning over, “Did it kind of freak you out the first time?”

Jennifer’s jaw drops, “Kelly!”

Kelly responds with, “Jennifer, we all know about your boy’s piercing. What we want to know, is he as good in bed as he is on a bike?”

Jennifer crosses her arms and gives Kelly an annoyed look. “I am not talking about my hoo-ha, or sex life with you guys. There’re some things that should be private.”

“I just want to know if a piercing down there hurts or makes things better.” Isabelle asks. “This is more of a medical question.”

Jennifer rolls her eyes, “How do you idiots know about the...” narrowing her eyes and zeroing in on Kelly. “Kelly! This has to be you.” Then she shudders, “I don’t want to know how you know.”

Kelly starts laughing, “Jennifer, it’s not something that’s easily kept a secret. If he didn’t want people talking about his dick, he shouldn’t have pierced it. “

Meredith shutters, “I still can’t imagine what would possess a guy to do that. It must have hurt, a lot.”

“I guess orgasms are better.” Kelly says. “Jennifer, are they better?”

Just then Hita joins us, “What did I miss?”

Meredith starts ticking off on her fingers, “You just missed the usual; Kelly wants to know about Jennifer’s orgasms from the ampallang.”

Jennifer interrupts, “Not happening.”

“Why do you even bother asking?” Hita says in her matter of fact way. “We always get way too much information from Kelly and Jennifer never tells us anything good.”

Meredith continues with, “Jennifer is still happy with her sweet guy, who has a pierced dick. Kelly’s been having a lot of sex with Sean, but takes off on Tuesday to meet some Brazilian guy to have lots of sex with him. Juliette is feeling guilty since one guy is out of town which frees her up to date guy number two. And we understand you met a real guy, who took you on a real date. The only question I have, was he dressed like a super hero or a pink wolf when you met him?”

Hita gives Meredith an annoyed look, “No he wasn’t wearing a costume and I’m not into Furries.” With a sweet smile, she continues, “But David’s real cute, we’ve been texting all week. We’re going to an all-night gaming party tomorrow.”

“Do they have sex rooms at these all night parties?” Kelly asks.

Hita playfully smacks Kelly on the arm. “It’s a game party not a sex party. Will you get your head out of the gutter?”

By now our pizzas have come. “You guys realize if we continue to meet at eight p.m. to eat pizza, we’re all going to have butts a mile wide.” Jennifer says as she takes a big bite.

Kelly now turns her sights on me. “Snow, I never got to see your sister Leigh when she was in town. How was she this weekend?”

The other women all look at me as I get a chorus of; “Give me a Leigh story.”

“Leigh stories are better than watching television.” Isabelle says.

Shaking my head, “Leigh stories are so much more fun than actually being in the same room as Leigh. I have to say, she was in full waitress-killer mode this weekend. On Sunday, Leigh requested we have brunch at Hobee’s Restaurant. My mom wanted to make it a full family affair so I couldn’t get out of it. Of course, Leigh was real nasty to the server—sneering and speaking in a condescending voice. She was this young, sweet girl. You could see she was trying to keep up a smile, even though she looked horrified from Leigh’s treatment. Leigh is so blind to her own behaviors. She actually said, “What’s her problem? Did you see how she was behaving?” Of course, Leigh makes the poor server take her drink back multiple times. When it’s time to order, Leigh gives a very confusing order with lots of contingencies, the entire time the girl’s smile is slowly morphing into a grimace.”

My friends all nod and agree. “Yeah, it’s embarrassing to go to a restaurant with someone who acts mean to the employees.”

Smiling, I give a clever look. “When our server was out of eyeshot from my family, I excused myself from the table with the pretense to visit the bathroom. Then I searched for the poor girl and said, ‘I apologize for my sister’s behavior, she had an emotional breakdown earlier this year, she’s been institutionalized, we’re just now trying to re-introduce her into society.’ She gave me the sweetest, look and said, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, thank you for telling me.’ After that, she was gushing over Leigh. ‘I’m so sorry…just explain to me what you want…I’d be happy to change it for you.’ At one point, she winked at me. Leigh just perked up and smiled as she ran that poor girl into the ground.

“I can’t believe you said you sprung Leigh from an insane asylum.”

“I think the PC expression is Psychiatric hospital.”

“Whatever, Leigh is certifiably a lunatic.”

“I hope your dad gave that server a big tip.”

Nate:
Cascal, 7:30 reservation. I’ll be at your place by 7:20

Juliette:
See you then

Not having seen Nate for a week makes me nervous for our date.

Roger calls Mark and me into his office about five minutes before I leave for lunch. “Grab your stuff, we’re going to celebrate, the fix was posted on our production server, and the customers have accepted it.”

As we head to the parking lot, Roger says, “One thing I’ve learned is that you need to celebrate little victories, or you’ll just beat yourself into the ground.”

Of course, Mark brings Buddy.

Roger asks, “Mark, is she a service dog? How are we going to get her in a restaurant?”

“We’re heading over to Il Postal, they have outdoor seating in the back.”

“It’s in the fifties aren’t we going to freeze to death?” I say.

“They have space heaters. Well make sure you’re sitting under one.” Mark says.

We get in Mark’s car because Roger doesn’t want Buddy’s hair all over his. Mark’s car is real messy, just like his desk, plus it has a layer of German Shepard hair all over it. After moving a bunch of papers, clothes, and who knows what else, Buddy and I share the back seat. Not able to resist, I ask Mark “Do you sleep with Buddy?”

Mark shakes his head, “My girlfriend won’t let her in bed with us. She sleeps on the floor by my side of the bed.”

This is news, I’ve worked with this guy daily for the last few weeks and had no idea he had a girlfriend. It makes me wonder how she puts up with Buddy always sniffing her crotch.

Then I ask, “Buddy sounds like a guy’s name while your dog is a girl.”

Mark just shrugs, “I didn’t name her. Anyway it fits. She’s a good buddy.”

Getting home I pull out my sexy underwear. Then I stare at my phone. I haven’t heard from Zach since we spoke in the parking lot.

Staring at myself in my sexy underwear makes me wonder if I’m going to let Nate see me, or if I’m just dressed this way for emotional reinforcement. Pulling on a clean pair of skinny jeans, I choose a high heeled boot and a dressy form fitting scoop neck sweater, with a cute sparkly necklace. Staring in the mirror, I wonder how men see me. When I look in the mirror, I see my big eyes, light colored skin, and long, dark, curly hair. Do they see a women or a girl? Sometimes, I don’t yet know which one I am. Brushing my teeth and adding some Curly Girl to my hair, I reapply my mascara and eyeliner.

Sitting in the living room reading, I want to lose track of time but can’t. It feels like every five minutes I’m looking at the clock. Finally, the doorbell rings, I wipe my sweaty hands on my pants as I head to the door.

Nate has a cool look on his face, his eyes look hungry as he looks me up and down. Giving me a sexy smile he says “Hi.” His voice is deep.

Cocking my head, I give him a slow sweet smile as I repeat his, “Hi.”

He confidently invades my space with one quick step, his focus is now on my lips. Reaching out he cups my head, brushing my cheek with his thumb. He then grabs my waist, pulling me tight to him. Bending his head down, his lips meet mine as he gives me a deep kiss. His lips feel soft, his tongue feels strong. He tastes like a breath mint, though the feeling of his tongue against mine is pure sex. Slowly trailing my hand up his arm until it reaches his bicep, I place my other hand flat against his stomach; inching it up his chest until I can feel his beating heart. My core twists and my groin pulses from his strong, masculine contact. Hearing his deep raspy growl only makes me want to kiss him harder. Needing this contact, I feel relieved to now be in his arms as thoughts of Zach fly out of my mind. Way too soon he pulls slightly away, gulps, breathes deeply and in a gravelly voice says, “I’d really like to continue this in your room, but I made reservations. We should head over to the restaurant.”

My breathing is rough as I slowly nod in agreement, he releases me. Taking another breath to get my body back in control, our eyes connect as a shy smile spreads across my face. Searching for my voice I say, “Today was cold, I should grab a warm jacket.”

Nate chuckles and shakes his head, “It’s December, all you Californians are complaining about how cold it is. Do you realize there are still leaves on the trees, and it’s in the fifties?”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean, today never got warmer than the mid-fifties. They’re talking about the lows tonight getting down to the thirties.” I grab my warm leather jacket, “That’s really cold when you’re on the pool deck just wearing flip-flops and a swimsuit.”

“What! You swim outdoors, in the winter?”

“Well, the pool’s eighty, it’s just the deck that’s freezing. No one around here swims in an indoor pool.” As he helps with my coat, I continue, “I think I’ve only been in an indoor pool a few times in my life. They smell terrible, like too much chlorine.”

Smirking he watches me close and lock the door as he says, “When it comes to weather you are the toughest
and
wimpiest person I’ve ever met.”

“I think you just got a lot to learn about living in California. It’s a lot different than visiting California.”

Putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me close, he says, “I think I’m going to enjoy your lessons.” Snuggling into his side, I feel fear and excitement. Every time I see him, I think he’s hotter than the last time. But I’ve never gone out with a guy six years older than me. Am I ready for this kind of relationship? Am I ready for Nate?