The following is a follow up to my story "The True Meaning of Wedding Rings". While totally approachable on its own, I'd love if you checked that one out as well.
Katherine had gone to plenty of business-related parties with her wife. Mary being a highly successful businesswoman, she'd been to more than her share of fancy abodes. Penthouse apartments, high class ballrooms, and more than a few mansions; all the typical places people with more money than sense gathered to show off their wealth with a gorgeous date on their arm.
None of that prepared her for the sheer size of Nico Remiel's mansion.
Hell, "mansion" barely covered it. The place was more like a palace, sporting an enormous entrance hall framed around a wide, towering staircase. Various doorways and hallways lead to what had to be countless other wings of the estate, and every inch was lavishly decorated, polished to perfection. It was a place that absolutely reeked of wealth; the abode of a man with more money than he could ever spend in a hundred lifetimes.
It was altogether intimidating, if Kat was being honest, and made her all the more skeptical of Mary's proposed "Big Date Night". Mary had been so busy with a huge contract at work that Kat had barely seen her for weeks, and she'd insisted on making it up to her with a night out. Kat would have been happy with a low key dinner at a nice restaurant before returning to their house for a long, sleepless night in bed. Instead, she found herself in her nicest purple evening gown, decked out with jewelry and makeup, arm-in-arm with her equally glammed up and gorgeous wife, yet still feeling dwarfed and under-dressed in this enormous palace.
That was to say nothing of the other guests. An unavoidable part of working with the wealthy was dealing with conservative old cranks, and Kat could feel countless disapproving eyes from any number of grey-haired men with ill-fitting tuxedos as they entered. It wasn't new, and usually she could ignore the judgmental stares of jealous farts who doubtlessly had to pay for the 20-something bombshells standing next to them. Yet here, so out of her element, she squirmed.
"Are you sure it's not too late to make some reservations at Rochelle's?" Kat asked, only half-joking. She nervously squeezed Mary's arm as they walked into the crowded entry hall.
"Trust me, sweetie, you'll have a wonderful time tonight," Mary reassured her, pointedly leaning in to kiss Kat on the cheek, as if daring anyone in the crowd to object to the presence of a loving lesbian couple. "The company may be mixed, but I promise you'll find some people worth talking to."
"Like this mysterious Nico who's been taking up all your time this past week?" Kat smirked, comforted by her partner's confidence.
"Oh you'll certainly love Nico," Mary's eyes lit up at the mention of the multi-millionaire, and Kat felt just the tiniest tug of jealousy in her gut. She knew it was ridiculous -- she trusted Mary more than anything else in the world, and she certainly had no reason to worry about a
man
-- but the happy smile the guy's name inspired on her wife's face nagged at her all the same.
"I should hope so, the way you've gone on about him. You'd think he was your best friend," Kat huffed.
"You're my best friend, and so much more," Mary whispered lovingly, before pecking Kat on the lips. "I don't want you, or anyone else, to forget that. It's why I wanted you here with me tonight."
"To show me off?"
"In a sense," Mary giggled. "Getting to brag about my beautiful wife is certainly a plus!"
"Then you both have quite a lot to brag about," said a voice behind them.
Kat turned to find a tall man with dark hair and a carefully groomed beard, standing very close behind them. Both his height and youth made him stand out among the crowd of older men. The smug grin on his face fit in perfectly, but Kat could appreciate that he seemed to carry it with considerably more ease than the other big wigs.
"Nico! I didn't think you'd find us so soon," Mary exclaimed, stepping forward to give the man a quick hug and a polite peck on the cheek.
"Alicia told me you'd arrived," the man replied with a smile. In a move that made Kat's eyebrow twitch just a bit, he gently brought Mary's hand up to place a kiss of his own upon it. How very...European. His eyes turned to Kat "And I didn't want to delay meeting your lovely wife."
"It's nice to finally meet the man who's been monopolizing my Mary all these weeks," Kat replied, trying her hardest to sound jovial. She reached out to shake his hand, if only to make him drop Mary's. Alright. Maybe she was a
little
jealous.
"And you're the woman Mary has told me everything about. A pleasure to know she wasn't exaggerating in the least," Nico smirked, taking her hand only to swiftly raise it to his lips.
Kat wanted to bristle at the sudden familiarity. Or to cringe at the feel of his perfectly groomed facial hair brushing against her skin. Yet as she watched this filthy rich man place his lips upon her, all she could focus on was the shining ring worn on the hand gripping hers.
It was a small, simple bit of jewelry, all told. A silver band with a gleaming blue stone set inside -- a far cry from the bulky, gold and gem-encrusted pieces most of the old farts that Mary worked with loved to wear. Yet on Nico's hand, it felt effortlessly opulent; its spotless shine glimmering under the mansion's lights, contrasting with his dusky skin, and demanding attention from anyone who laid eyes upon it.
The thing certainly demanded Kat's attention, so much that she forgot about objecting to Nico's presumptuousness. When he brought his lips to the back of her hand, she noted it distantly. All of her attention was drawn to that gleaming stone, watching as the light reflected and refracted across its polished facets.
"I'm so glad you invited us, Nico. I've been dying to let you meet Kat in the flesh!"
It wasn't until Mary spoke that Kat realized she was staring. Had been staring, in silence for quite some time. And all the while Nico had been holding her hand gently in his. With an embarrassed blush, she politely withdrew from his grasp, trying to shake her mind back into gear.
"Believe me, it wouldn't be a party without my favorite business partner. You liven up every room you're in, Mary."
"Ooh, careful with the flattery. I'll know you're lying tonight, seeing as I'll only ever be the second most beautiful woman in the room." Mary winked at her wife, and Kat welcomed the return to normalcy. Mary always called her "my rock", but in this opulent house, in front of this opulent man, the familiar teasing was exactly what Kat needed to stay grounded.
"You know I only flatter when we're at work," Nico answered. "Now, let me give you two lovely ladies a tour and introduce you."
"That's very kind, bu-" Kat began, only to be interrupted by Nico offering his arm, and -- much to her wife's confusion -- Mary taking it without hesitation.
"Let's go, love." Mary had fire in her eyes as she said it, wrapping herself around the man's arm like it was second nature. "I want to see every inch of this place before the night's through."
"I...think we might need hiking boots to survive that," Kat said with a forced laugh.
"I'll be sure to pace things out, and offer plenty of refreshments along the way," Nico joked, before offering his other arm to her. Feeling awkward, and unsure of what else to do, she reluctantly took his offer, gripping his bicep as lightly as possible, and keeping her free hand behind her back.
"If you insist..." Kat mumbled, but the trio were already moving, guided by the smirking man in the center.
