She sat at her desk thinking about her situation. It had been over a week since the revelation of his device. She didn't know where they stood in their relationship. She surely couldn't go to his house, and she didn't feel comfortable having sex with him at all if they were through.
That he had seen her therapist was heartening; Patti had called to say he'd just left and that she wanted to discuss some things with her. She was seeing her tomorrow, out of cycle. It must be important; Patti assured her from her reading of the situation, Monty was sincerely concerned about her welfare.
But she still couldn't bring herself to even call him. They hadn't spoken in a few days, the longest silence since they first started going out. It scared her a little. She didn't want to lose him, but she couldn't see how to bridge the growing divide.
She was still reeling from the outpouring of memories surrounding her step-mother's insanity towards her, the first time she'd inspected herself, the psychological and physical abuse. She had wanted to talk to Patti about it, but somehow needed to keep it for herself for a little while longer. She had thought hard about how her exhibitionism in college must have stemmed directly from that weeklong torture, but she was frightened by how completely she had forgotten the entire thing.
A text message startled her. It was from him.
Join me for a weekend away? I've got a board meeting at Grey's Point. Could be fun...
The message only intensified her internal struggle...
Grey's Point. Four star resort at the beach. Weather was going to be fantastic...
and then she thought about their situation...Didn't he realize she was struggling? Did he even notice they hadn't talked in days? Did it seem strange to him, that for weeks they'd been fucking like bunnies practically every other night, and now, a week had gone by and nothing? Was he so engrossed in his own shit he didn't think about what might be going on between them?
Along with the upwelling questions, she felt her anger grow.
Oh how good it would feel to just call him and let him have it.
She picked up the phone and called Carole instead. She hadn't told her anything that had happened in the last week. As the line rang she got up to shut her office door.
"Hey, sweetheart, how's things?" As usual, Carole's jauntiness struck a discordant tone.
"Hi. I needed to talk to you."
"What's up. You sound like shit..." She paused, and then, "Oh shit. You told him."
"Yeah. I told him. But..."
"...did he freak out? Are you okay? Should we meet for lunch?"
"...he didn't freak out, and he's just such a great guy, and yet...Carole...it's just too weird. I can't tell you everything...but...well, it gets really weird...that's all."
"What's going on? Now you
have
to tell me. Start from the beginning...so how did it come up?"
Marcie wasn't sure how to sanitize the whole experience, given she felt a legal obligation to keep the device a secret, but the whole thing revolved around it; it was in the center of the whole damn mess. She danced around it until Carole pushed her...
"He...he has a camera..."
Carole paused; Marcie could see the gears turning..."Holy. Shit. He...he taped you? Doing it? But...didn't you know? Wow...whoa."
Marcie didn't want to throw him under the bus, but the way Carole was reacting it was as if
Monty
was the pervert, not her.
"It's not quite like that, Carole. You make him sound like a real creep. I...didn't know...but he told me...it's way more complicated than I can tell you...but the point is, he told me first, and then I told him, and then...well, I'm not really sure what to do now. We haven't seen each other for almost a week, and now...well, now he's invited me to Grey's Point for the weekend...and I'm not sure why I should go."
"Wait. Wait. Let me get this straight. For reasons you can't explain, which I frankly don't understand, the guy
isn't
a creep for secretly filming you having sex, you aren't prepared to dump him, he apparently
loves
that you like to exhibit yourself, and remind me...he's loaded, right? Sister, I'm not sure what the issues are, but a weekend at Grey's Point? I'll go instead of you. How's that?"
Marcie laughed a little. "Mmmm, hmmm. No. I'm sorry. I can't tell you because it's a technology he's working with and I've signed an NDA...now stop it! Please, let me finish. Anyway, yes, I'm really confused. I asked him to go see Patti, and he did -- just today, and she's told me he's really into me, and...shit.. I don't know."
"Patti said, 'he's really into you'?"
"Okay, look, I'm seeing her tomorrow and she's got something to propose...but she's assured me he's not a creep, so I guess I'll trust her on that one. But, it just feels like if I go with him this weekend I'm not much better than a high-priced call-girl. Really. If the only reason I'm hanging around with the guy is because he's loaded, that's just prostitution."
"Yeah. That's it. You're the slut 'cause you're falling for a guy who actually digs you, and by the way who's wealthier than God. So yeah. Definitely tell him no. Not a good idea to keep seeing him."
She could hear her tsking in the background, and Carole was right. She was being an idiot, again.