She needed to clear her head, so she hurried into the shower. Crystal selected her shower setting and turned it on. She loved that David splurged on toys like this. Instantly, the water was at the proper pressure and temperature. With a touch of a button, she could add or subtract showerheads. Crystal’s playlist had randomly selected a song by Birthrite. It reminded her of what she would be missing when she moved back in with Taylor.
“You have a message,” a man’s voice that David had picked for his smart home devices said.
David was man enough to admit that hearing a woman’s voice from such devices sometimes irritated him. He’d changed his car’s navigation voice because hearing it tell him repeatedly to ‘Turn around when possible’ in LA traffic was a bridge too far, some days.
“AI, Read.”
“Message from Mama Bear. Your father has summoned you. Stop by the house before you go.”
“Double shit with rainbow sprinkles,” Crystal muttered.
Her day had just gotten a whole lot worse. She hoped David’s was going better.
◊◊◊
David had left her his car keys. She talked Dare and Corvus into helping her move back to her apartment now that Matt was gone, so it didn’t take long. She then headed to Orange County, known as “the OC” by locals. Her parents lived in the Cameo neighborhood of Newport Beach.
Cameo was split into two communities: the Shores and Highlands. The dividing line was Highway 1, aka the Pacific Coast Highway (which everyone shortened to PCH). The Shores was on the west side of the highway, where her dad’s house was. Her mom lived in the Highlands.
One fun fact was that the Cameo Shores and Highlands were together ranked the sixth most affluent neighborhood in the US. It was the main reason her father wanted them to live there.
She drove up the hill to her mother’s house. From the front, it looked like an average single-story three-bedroom/two-bath home you would find in almost every city in the US. Hidden from the road, because the neighboring houses were so crammed together that there was no side yard, was the steep drop-off.
This allowed the home to be built into the hill with a second story partially underground. Out the back patio, a winding trail zig-zagged down the slope. There, garden terraces allowed for more outdoor living space.
What made the home so special were the views. It overlooked two golf courses and the Pacific Ocean.
“Crystal!” Ellen called.
She heard her mother before she saw her as she got out of the car. The muted impact of Crystal’s sneakers against the sidewalk beat out a steady rhythm as she walked. She strode with precise, repetitive movements, holding her spine straight and her head up with eyes forward. There was no slouching with her mom around. Crystal entered the house and found her mother in her ‘gardening’ clothes.
When her mother and father had divorced, he’d been a devious bastard. Well, he was always a devious bastard, but this was particularly crafty. He’d given her mom this house to live in rent-free with a modest monthly allowance. He retained ownership, and if her mom ever moved out, the allowance stopped. This was done to keep Crystal within easy reach when he had to act like a family man.
Her father wanted them to have to rely on his goodwill. An example was the car she’d received on her sixteenth birthday. When his new girlfriend had complained that Crystal was mean to her, the car had been repossessed the next day. She secretly did a mental fist bump when that girlfriend only lasted another week.
Her father did just enough that no one could say he wasn’t a good father. That meant that Crystal attended the best prep schools, and when it came to college, she was enrolled at USC to someday be an agent. He’d also encouraged her to join a sorority for the contacts she would use after college. That, of course, meant those contacts would help his business. If it benefited him in some way, he was there for her.
All the strings he attached to giving her money make her want to scream. After all, her father had more money than he knew what to do with. He owned a global talent agency with offices in LA, New York, and London, and they were looking to open a new one in Shanghai.
To date, her mother had been the only one to get him to the altar. Over the years, Crystal had seen so many women try to achieve the same goal that she’d lost count. There was a reason that they never became her father’s wife. He was the cure for gold diggers: the man who made women realize that money wasn’t everything.
It wasn’t like he kept the trail of failed relationships a secret. Against all logic, women kept flocking to him, younger and younger each time, each one determined to be the next Mrs. Kendrick Knaggy. That was until they actually tried it and realized no amount of money in the world was worth marrying the man.
When she saw her mother, the summer came rushing back. Trying to hide her pain, Crystal laughed, but the sound was hollow.
“Oh, honey. I would think David was the perfect remedy for breaking up with Matt,” her mother said.
“Thank God I’m too young to date anyone seriously. Besides, he isn’t my type.”
“Tall, handsome, and sexy is every woman’s type,” her mother said.
“He doesn’t really like me,” Crystal admitted.
“Doesn’t like you? What happened? And don’t even think about not telling me everything.”
Crystal told her mother the whole sordid tale. She even admitted her part in Matt’s schemes and leaving David to fend for himself at the fraternity-party fight after he rescued them. She then updated her mother on recent events, including him flying her to San Francisco, paying for Matt’s portion of the rent, and the deal they’d struck.
“The truth can only hurt you if you let it,” was her mother’s advice.
“What does that mean?” Crystal asked.
“You need to have a long talk with David to clear the air. If you don’t, you’ll never have a chance for more than a fake relationship.”
“Won’t he hate me more?”
“Maybe at first, but it’ll be better than the stuff coming out in dribs and drabs. If that happens, he’ll never trust you.”
“I’m not sure he’s ready to hear all that. This week alone, he’s been dumped for an ex and lied to by two people he thought were his friends,” Crystal worried.
“And when he finds out your involvement in helping Matt six months from now …?”
Crystal could see that would be worse, but she wasn’t sure he would hear her right now.
“Then there’s your father,” her mother said.
“Do you know why he wants to talk to me?” Crystal asked.
“David.”
“He knows?”
Her mother gave her a look like she was crazy for asking that question.
“Shit,” Crystal said.
She could only imagine how much her father would want David to sign with his company.
◊◊◊
At the appointed time, Crystal rang her father’s doorbell. Jima, his housekeeper and cook, opened the door. She gave Crystal a warm smile.
“Your father is in a mood.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. What is it this time?”
Jima made a motion to zip her lips. That meant it had to be his latest conquest was rapidly coming to an end.
Crystal was pointed to the pool area that overlooked the ocean. When she stepped through the door, she came up short. The woman in the hot tub had two of the most enormous fake tits she’d ever seen. They were all but floating on the surface of the water, like two beach balls.
Of course, her father was nowhere to be found.
“Finally, I found you,” the woman in the hot tub announced.
“That’s twice today that I’ve apparently been lost.”
The woman didn’t pick up on her sarcasm. The statement had seemed to only confuse her.
“What can I do for you?” Crystal finally asked.
“Fetch me another pitcher of margaritas.”