AMA - The Divorcee: Day 08

"Viv..." Celeste says, removing her domineering tone entirely; visibly looking softer in front of her friend. She hugs Viv. A gentle friendly hug while Viv has tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I thought I needed to set the tone. I thought you'd like it." Celeste says while rubbing Viv's back during the hug. "I'm sorry you think I replaced you. We never meant it to feel that way; and I know you think I came here just as Hal's proxy because you still don't want to see him... but before I was his sub, or his girlfriend, I was your friend first. At least I thought I was before you ghosted us." Celeste tells Viv.

"You're still my friend, C. I'm sorry I ghosted you. I just couldn't handle it anymore." Viv replies with tears still running.

"I wanted to see you and talk to you for the longest time. You ghosted us for almost a year while you did that tour around the country in your food truck. You didn't reply to our calls or texts, or even emails. Fucking emails Viv! Who sends their close friends emails to catch up? Desperate people, that's who." Celeste tells Viv, and Viv just continues to cry on Celeste's chest, feeling all of her emotions catch up to her.

"Hanging out with you tonight with my cousin and his girlfriends felt great, you know. Even if it was just by accident, I hoped it reminded you of our friendship somewhat." Celeste adds.

"It did. I missed hanging out with you too." Viv replies.

"Thanks for keeping your cool, by the way. I wouldn't have wanted to mix this drama with my extended family." Celeste adds.

"Of course. When you used your domming tone to tell me you and Jay were just cousins and you were still with Hal, I got what you wanted to say. Our shit stays between us." Viv tells Celeste, and Celeste thanks Viv for it.

"Plus, I was never angry with you... or Hal." Viv admits. "To be honest, I'm just really fucking angry at myself." Viv adds after sniffing the snot falling down from her nose.

This is the first time she's broken down since she got the call from Hal's assistant about the spotlight for her new restaurant they booked with her business partner. She thought a few months doing the 'Chef' thing and going across the country in a food truck would make them stop pursuing her after she ghosted them, but as soon as news went out that she was starting a restaurant, there they were, calling her business partner to set up a media spotlight for the restaurant that her business partner wouldn't let her refuse.

"You want another glass of wine?" Viv asks Celeste.

"No, I've had enough tonight. Thanks." Celeste replies. The two of them sit down at the dining area of Viv's apartment after breaking away from the hug. Viv wiped away her tears as she waited for Celeste to talk to her about what she came here to talk about.

"Hal wants you back, Viv." Celeste gets to the point.

"Hal doesn't want me back. 'Master' does. Huge difference." Viv retorts.

"Don't be pedantic. You know they're one in the same. You used to think so." Celeste retorts.

"I used to think so because that's how it used to be like. Until I introduced him to you. Until he fell in love with you. Until I was just the sub... and you were the girlfriend." Viv retorts, the building anger evident in her voice.

"Are you really blaming me for that!?" Celeste replies as she felt attacked by Viv's accusations.

"NO!" Viv shouts out. "I fucking told you. I have no one to blame but myself. I'm not angry with either of you. Just... myself. Just my stupid, dumb bitch self." Viv says before letting out a growl of frustration.

"You know it was unfair that you made him choose right?" Celeste asks Viv.

"Of course I know. I've been guilting myself over that since he and I had that fight. I just couldn't help it anymore. I started feeling like an actual toy when I was with you two, instead of just someone who roleplays as one." Viv admits.

"You know how sweet he was with me after sessions, before I introduced you into our whole dynamic? He took care of me like he genuinely cared for me. It wasn't like some obligatory aftercare. He took care of me like he..." Viv adds, but pauses, as the word gets stuck in her throat and she can't say it.

"Like he loved you." Celeste completes Viv's thought for her, and Viv's silence is enough for Celeste to know that she was right.

"I misconstrued his actions, and that was my fault; but I don't want to be just the plaything of a loving couple anymore. I signed up to be his sub, not a third wheel." Viv says.

"It really sounds like you're blaming me Viv." Celeste says, although without any hint of guilt.

"I'm not! I swear. I gave you my blessing when you asked me if you could go out with him after he asked you out. I knew I had no right to stop my friend from pursuing someone I wasn't monogamous with. I knew I was just a sub. It was just more apparent when you became a couple. Hal and I were never officially together, and we were open to play with other people... but I always thought it was us we would return to." Viv explains.

"Until he stopped returning to you exclusively." Celeste adds to Viv's thought, and Viv just nods in defeated acceptance.

"I knew it was a mistake falling for him when I was just his sub to begin with. I thought I could share him with someone he loved, and not just dommed. I was naive enough to think being his sub for five years was enough to be equal with someone he genuinely loved... but, in the end, that's all I ever was to him." Viv adds.

"You should've told us this instead of putting an ultimatum on him." Celeste tells Viv, and Viv remains silent again to convey she knows what Celeste just told her already. "That being said... we could still make it work, Viv." Celeste adds, to Viv's surprise.

"You can be his girlfriend too, if that's something you still want." Celeste tells Viv, being sincere in her tone to make sure that Viv wouldn't think it was a sick joke. Viv thinks about it, but only for a second. She spent months thinking about what she'd do if Hal ever asked her to come back to him. Not that she expected it to happen. Now that it's here, she knows no matter how many times she thought about it, she was never really sure if she really had the balls to push through with it... until now.

Viv made this decision a long time ago.

"No Celeste, there's no relationship to want anymore. No relationship to go back to. I know it was a mistake to make that ultimatum, but I'm keeping to it. I made him choose between you or me..." Viv replies, choking up once more, but able to continue her thought this time, "...and he chose you. He'll always choose you over me. I'll just be his girlfriend in title only."

"Viv..." Celeste starts saying before she grabs Viv's hand and holds it, but Viv lets go.

"No! I'm done. I'm moving on. I have a restaurant here. I have friends here. I have—" Viv rejects the offer defiantly, but Celeste cuts her off.

"You can always promote your sous chef later on to take over for you Viv, we're willing to wait until you set your new restaurant up; and you can always come back and visit your friends here. Plus, you have friends back home too. What else do you have that's making you say no?" Celeste asks Viv.

"Other than my pride? I have a clear head." Viv says with confidence. "One that's not influenced by being a loyal little pet to her 'Master'." Viv answers Celeste defiantly once more.

"Don't be stubborn Vivian." Celeste commands in her domineering tone once more. Viv scoffs at Celeste's audacity to try and command her right now.

"The fact that you're trying that now, instead of talking to me as a friend, just shows how much of an equal relationship we'll have if I take Hal's offer." Viv retorts.

"I'm sorry. You used to like that. I am your friend. I just..." Celeste tries to defend what she did, but she's the one hesitating now.

"Got orders from your 'Master' to try and see if I was still a good little sub for him?" Viv continues Celeste's thought, and it's now Celeste who keeps silent, not wanting to confirm or deny.

"C, we're good. Hal and I? We're... good. Tell him that. He made his choice, and I know he doesn't regret it. He loves you for you. He only liked me for being submissive to him. So I don't blame him one bit he chose you; but his choice made me realize that what I want, he can never give me." Viv tells Celeste, and Celeste can only nod in defeat that she failed her Master's mission.

Viv stands up from the table to signify this conversation is over.

"I think it's time for you to go back and report this to your Master." Viv tells Celeste.

"V, I'm sorry. I really am. I really wanted us to work this out." Celeste says before standing up and hugging Viv.

"Like I said, you have nothing to be sorry for; and we did work this out. Just maybe not in the way you and Hal would've wanted." Viv says returning Celeste's hug. The two women walk back towards Viv's apartment door which Viv opens to let Celeste out. Celeste walks out the door but turns around to address Viv again.

"If we are friends, and you really have moved on from us, please answer Hal's call. He's really sorry he hurt you." Celeste tells Viv, not as a command, but as a friend asking another friend for a favor. Viv nods at Celeste's request.

"Hey, I get it if you cancel the spotlight tomorrow. I know Hal only did that to force me to talk to him." Viv tells Celeste.

"What? No! We weren't blackmailing you! Jeez, Viv. We're perverted creeps, we're not psychos." Celeste says with a laugh, making Viv smile that everything worked out for the better. "We're doing the spotlight because we're your actual fans. We love your cooking! You earned that spotlight. We just wanted you to talk to us too." Celeste adds, and Viv hugs Celeste this time. Finally feeling like she truly reunited with her friend.

"By the way, I saw you flirting with my cousin. Is he one of the reasons why you don't want to come back?" Celeste asks Viv as they break their hug.

"Oh please, I flirt with everybody. So no, he's not one of the reasons. I'm not leaving my new life here for all the reasons I already told you. Nothing more." Viv answers Celeste honestly.

"You looked really happy earlier, when we were hanging out with them. I hope you don't feel like a fifth wheel in the long run." Celeste tells Viv.

"Oh please, I can steal his girlfriends right from under him, easy." Viv replies with fake arrogance, to the horror of Celeste. "I'm joking!" Viv says. "I'm a perverted creep, not a psycho." Viv says jokingly.

"You could always just be one of his girlfriends." Celeste half jokes. "Have they told you they're okay with him pursuing more relationships?" Celeste asks, to which Viv replies, "Not directly." Viv answers, causing Celeste to raise an eyebrow.

"Granted, Cassie and Tanya were drunk as fuck when they invited me and Brooke to be Jay's girlfriends, so I'm not sure how serious they were." Viv admits with a chuckle. "Still, it got me thinking. Maybe what I want isn't a Master anymore—"

"YES DADDY! KEEP FUCKING ME JUST LIKE THAT!" Cassie shouts from Tanya's apartment.

"Maybe what I want is a Daddy."

Author's Note: To answer Jay's question in Chapter 62: Yes, he is being affected by the Affection Multiplier with the Reverse Multiplier. As I'm following Fantasy's Affection Multiplier somewhat, I decided to implement the Reverse Multiplier here as well. Here is Fantasy's description of it:

Reverse Multiplier: The user of the Affection Multiplier is also affected by its power, to a lesser degree. Their fondness of the people they attempt to get close to grows at double speed instead of the usual five times with no diminishing returns. However, just like with everyone else, if the user's feelings are shallow, they won't be multiplied.