Suki quietly folded Nancy's clothes. Then she delicately, almost reverently, placed her note on top of the pile.
Too happy to sleep! TTYS. Love, S.
As she slowly pulled the hotel room door closed, she took one last look at her sleeping fiancΓ©e. The late afternoon sun was seeping in between the drapes, making Nancy's hair shimmer like a halo. Before she'd even stepped into the elevator, Suki was looked down at the ring on her finger. She knew that a walk through Boston Common wouldn't relax her; she half expected she'd spend the whole walk skipping with joyful abandon. The ring was enormous, and Nancy's marriage proposal was unthinkable. In the last three hours, Suki realized, she'd evolved from a single straight Los Angeles accountant, to a bisexual polygamous Boston executive engaged to a harem of millionaires. 'How could something so bizarre feel so... normal' she wondered. As the elevator doors opened to the vaulted lobby an urgent voice screamed at her from the back of her mind. 'It isn't normal!' the voice insisted, 'Not at all!'
Suki's pulse quickened and she pushed her hand in her jacket pocket. She hoped the soft fabric would hide the shimmering diamond from curious strangers. Suddenly, she wanted to run away from Nancy's cult of sex and money. But, she realized, she also wanted to call California. She'd shout at her boss 'I quit!' and then brag about it to her best friend. The sudden turmoil in her mind was paralyzing so she did the only two things she could do; she pushed the ring deeper into her pocket, and she pulled out her phone to call her Mom.
"Suki?" a woman called out from the reception area.
Suki turned toward an excited Hispanic woman running out from behind the hotel's front desk.
"Oh my God! Is it you? It is you! I'm so curious! Well... we're all curious, really. But I couldn't wait for the announcement. I just couldn't!"
Suki felt off balance. The woman in front of her kept jabbing the air in quick random movements as though her excitement had permeated her whole body. It was disorienting.
"I pushed my hydromassage appointment back a half hour," she quickly checked her watch, "so I could check with the girls to see if they knew anything."
Suki blinked several times.
"I'm Maria!" the woman insisted, "I'm Nancy's eighth wife."
"Oh." Suki smiled. "Hello. I'm..." she offered her hand. "Yes... I'm... ah..." She paused for a moment to remember her own name. "Suki." Her recent orgasm had eviscerated all the bubbles in her brain, but Maria's bright smile and excited energy had brought them all back in a rush. Suki was having a hard time focusing on anything other than the delightful sway of Maria's generous breasts.
"Well?!" Maria's excitement caused her to bounce, slightly, and her cleavage began another pleasant roll.
"Right." Suki squeezed her eyes shut so she could focus. "You're... Maria... president of Tomahawk Petroleum Sensors... eight million in sales." Her eyes opened wide. "Oh my God! IRM, four, forty-one point one!!"
"Ummm..." Maria looked confused. "Definitely not the response I expected."
"You're not selling all of your sensors! You're leasing almost half of them, right!?"
"Yeah..." Maria said with a confused expression. "The fracking industry has lots of small drillers. The leasing program..."
"I want to re-file your last five years of taxes!" Suki had a vague awareness that she was now the only one bouncing. "Your sensors can be treated as pollution control devises so lease revenue can be treated as development under the IRS' oil and gas rules." Suki realized she hadn't been clear enough because Maria wasn't ecstatic. "YAY!" Suki enthused, hopeful it would make her point clear.
"Ah... okay..." Maria tried to get the conversation back on track "But actually, I was asking about you and Nancy, and..."
"Can we start selling your accounts receivables? It'll be cost effective for Tomahawk and it'll lower interest expense for the consolidated entity. Oh! And your Payables..." The kiss entirely derailed her train of thought.
Maria pulled back from it, her hands still holding Suki's face, and she asked, "Are you marrying us?"
It felt, to Suki, like the brain bubbles had started moving sideways. She had no words. Instead, she slowly pulled her hand from her pocket and held the shimmering ring out for inspection. Suddenly, she was pulled her into an embrace, but Suki just held her hand up higher so she could see the ring over Maria's shoulder. She knew it wasn't normal; none of it. But even as she sensed that her instincts were somehow being rewired, she decided it was good; all of it. "Yes," she whispered into Maria's ear, "I told Nancy 'yes.' "
Then, Suki was being was pulled to the reception counter she had been to earlier in the day. "Chloe!" she said when she recognized the clever eight-year-old girl. "The hydromassage was great. Thanks!" She turned to the teen beside her, "You were our waitress a few hours ago, right?"
"I'm Carly! So super happy to meet you!"
"Do you like the ring? Chloe asked.
"They couldn't agree on anything rational," Carly said, "so the wives..."
"Also known as 'The Millionaire's Club' " Chloe happily interjected
"... just crushed the problem with their wallets."
"It's a huge diamond!" Chloe said with a delighted giggle, "Will the weight of it give you shoulder pain?"