Everyone at the table laughs.
It’s the same reaction I get every time I come to one of these meetings.
Derek was the one who suggested we chair the committee for our tenth high school reunion. I was on board immediately because I’m all for meeting up with people I haven’t seen in ten years to show them that I’ve finally got my life together.
Unfortunately, no one at these meetings is in any hurry to nail down the details because the actual reunion isn’t for another year.
“You ladies will never believe who I met today.” Derek takes a sip of his over-priced whiskey sour.
I stare at my half-full glass of free water.
“Who?” Tiffany inches forward on her barstool.
We’re sitting in a barbeque restaurant in the middle of Times Square on a weekday afternoon. Tiffany’s husband is the manager. That’s the reason Derek is tossing back whiskey at warp speed. Everything is half-price for our party.
“Alexander Donato.”
My head snaps up.
Tiffany clucks her tongue. “That hot-as-hell conductor of the Philharmonic? His billboard is right over there.”
I glance out the plate glass windows in the direction she’s pointing. Ironically, I got my first look at it an hour ago when I was talking to Alexander. I spotted it over his shoulder.
It was a surreal moment.
The photograph on the billboard does not do the man justice.
“We talked to him.” Derek gestures in my direction.
“Do you know him, Olivia?” Tiffany asks excitedly.
“I do…” I hesitate, wondering if I should blow all of their minds by telling them that he’s my lover.
I wouldn’t be overstepping since it was Alexander who told me to introduce him that way to Cathleen last night.
Nancy leans her elbows on the bar. “I know someone who knows him.”
I sense a story coming on, so I settle back on the barstool to listen.
“Do tell.” Tiffany taps the bar. “Details, details.”
“She’s a friend of a friend. The night they met he took her home with him.”
My stomach drops. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.
“And?” Tiffany draws the word across her tongue. “Don’t stop there.”
Nancy looks around the almost deserted restaurant. “He fucked her all night. I’m talking every position, every inch of his apartment and from what she said, the man has a solid nine inches to work with.”
I bow my head.
“It went on for a couple of months. One night she showed up at his place to surprise him. He answered the door in his underwear. A naked woman came out of his bedroom looking for him.” She shakes a fist in the air. “He’s a cold-hearted bastard.”
“With a big dick,” Tiffany whispers.
Derek clears his throat. “Not to brag, ladies, but for comparison purposes, I’m packing more than Donato.”
Tiffany’s hand lands on his knee. “You must have had a growth spurt.”