*Sephie*
The mayor and Adrik continued discussing a few things, mostly options on how to meet in the future. Doug asked, “how long are you planning on staying tonight? It would be easy if you could meet Eric tonight.” He glanced around the room once again, then turned back to Adrik. “I haven’t seen Henry. He should be here, but I haven’t seen him yet. It would work out well if you could talk to my district attorney without Henry seeing.”
Adrik looked at Ivan. “Have you seen Henry yet?” Ivan shook his head no. Adrik then looked at Battista. He didn’t need to say anything. Battista simply said, “leave it to me,” and left. Doug and Adrik both chuckled, continuing on with their conversation.
It wasn’t two minutes later and Battista came back with Eric, the district attorney, in tow. While they were walking the remaining distance to us, I asked Misha if he could see if he could find out where Henry was. I told him to take Stephen’s place just behind Adrik if he needed a boost, but I suddenly had a nagging feeling about Henry’s whereabouts.
Judging by what little I knew of Henry, he wasn’t the type to turn down any sort of extra attention. Events like this one always came with plenty of extra attention for important people. It didn’t make sense for him to not be here, unless there was something more important for him to take care of.
While Adrik was talking to Eric and Doug, I felt Misha move closer to us. He gently tugged on the sleeve of my dress, asking for my hand that was resting on the back of Adrik’s shoulder. I held it out for him, never turning to look at him. Eric, Doug, and Battista were none the wiser to what was happening behind us.
It didn’t take Misha very long to find Henry. It was the moment Misha had been fearing for months now. We caught Henry with his pants down. Literally. I felt Misha trying so hard not to laugh and it made it even more difficult for me to keep a straight face. I finally had to turn my head, trying to hide my face in Adrik’s shoulder. I caught sight of Misha, who was still behind us and we both almost lost it.
I somehow, miraculously, managed to get myself under control. When Henry was brought up again in the conversation, I innocently asked if he was married, suggesting that maybe his spouse was taking longer or perhaps ill. Adrik knew something was happening. He knew I didn’t ask questions that I didn’t already know the answer to.
“He is married, but his wife is here. I spoke to her earlier,” Eric said.
“Then perhaps he has a girlfriend,” I said. I said it in a way to make them think I was joking, but Adrik knew we’d caught him participating in extracurricular activities.
It was clear that Eric and Doug at least suspected something as well. They both looked at each other when I made the comment about the girlfriend. I picked up on it, asking them, “do you know who she is or do you only suspect?” They both looked at me, wide-eyed. “Now, now, gentlemen. This isn’t the first time anyone here has heard of indiscretions of married men. However, judging by your reaction to my earlier statement, made mostly in jest, you not only know who this other woman is, but she’s someone of some importance.”
Doug looked at me, then looked to Adrik. “Is she always so observant?”
Adrik looked at me, a small smile on his face. “More, usually. She’s been quiet tonight. But we all know she’s right. You can come clean on who the woman is or we can find out later.”
Eric sighed. “She’s one of the representatives for the city. Henry is trying to use her to get rid of Doug, as well as keep his job. They started the affair when Henry started to really believe he could get rid of Doug.”
“Rude,” I said.
“I assume his wife is none the wiser? What of her husband?” Adrik asked.
“His wife is clueless. Her wife is also clueless,” Eric said, smirking.
“Well, that’s a plot twist none of us were expecting. Suddenly no man wants to chastise Henry for making the lesbian switch teams. I did not expect that from him. High fives will abound once this gets out,” I said.
They all laughed loudly, which of course, caused everyone in the ballroom to look toward us. Before my panic could get any worse, the guys moved in closer, blocking me from view, while Adrik tightened his hold on me. I silently thanked all of them.
“You wouldn’t be wrong in any other case,” Eric said, still laughing. “But apparently she has a bit of a reputation. She will apparently sleep with anything she thinks will get her more power and clout.”
“Her mother must be so proud,” I said, causing another round of laughter. “The question is, gentlemen, can we use this lovely nugget of information to our advantage? Who is her wife?”
“Her wife is a teacher, but she comes from a wealthy family, which is why the representative married her,” Doug said.
I scoffed. “That’s easy, then. Tell the wife, take away the family money and the rep goes away. Make it public that it was Henry and she stops helping him because essentially he’s the one that’s ruined her.”
*“I fucking love you, princess,”* Ivan told me silently.
Doug and Eric mulled over what I’d just said, then they both looked at Adrik in appreciation. Eric looked to me, asking, “do you need a job?”
“Sorry, boys, I’m available for consultations only,” I said, smiling at them.
Eric handed Adrik his card anyway. “If she ever changes her mind, I could use someone who’s this good at strategy.”
Adrik chuckled, but he still took the card. “I’m not sure you could afford her full-time, but maybe we can work something out on a case-by-case basis,” he said, smirking at them both.
Battista was enjoying this conversation as well. He said to me, in Italian, “I would like you all to accompany me to every event like this that I attend. I know you’ve been working on things that cannot be mentioned in mixed company all night, as well as this. I have to admit, I’ve never had so much fun at a soul-sucking fundraiser before tonight,” he said, winking at me.
I responded, still in Italian, that I was happy I could be of service and that we did need to have a discussion at some point, but likely not here. He nodded his head, excusing himself from the conversation. Doug and Eric remained for a few more minutes, before excusing themselves as well, leaving us mostly alone once more.
Adrik looked at me, then glanced at Misha. “What did you two see?” he asked. I quickly shared the movie clip that Misha and I saw of Henry with his pants down with the representative on her knees in front of him. I would not have pegged her as a lesbian watching her do that.
He laughed. “Her definition of lesbian is very different from mine,” he said. Finally, Misha and I were able to laugh about it. Misha had shared it with Andrei already, so I showed Stephen while Adrik showed Ivan. Misha and Andrei teamed up to push it to Viktor. Even he got a laugh out of it.
“It was my worst nightmare finally realized,” Misha said.
“At least it wasn’t someone you really know. Like you weren’t looking for your sister and you found that instead,” I said, still laughing at the whole situation.
“Oh dear God, I’m never going looking for my sister now,” Misha said, his eyes the size of dinner plates. It caused another round of laughter from everyone.
Strangely, it meant that no one else approached Adrik to talk to him. He looked busy. Either that, or every single person in the room had already come up to him. It could go either way, really. Whatever the reason, we enjoyed a few moments of just us, laughing at the high strangeness that seemed to be with us wherever we went now.