AMA - The Divorcee: Day 09

"If you don't like her, or you're not interested in exploring your feelings for her, then say so; but don't use us as an excuse to not go for someone so you can try to make each other happy. That's the entire point of us giving you the green light to do that." Stella adds with finality.

You nod to tell her you understand what she meant. Stella noticed she was being a little too authoritative with her speech and hugs your arm a little tighter, before resting her head on your shoulder to soften herself up a bit. She holds your hand and interlocks her fingers with yours. She directs you to look at the setting sun and the indigo color of the sky, as you both stare upwards into the slowly transitioning night sky.

"I actually went through a speech without saying it. I call this a win." Stella says, as she looks up at the city skyline slowly lighting itself up. You stare at your daughter's look of wonder, with a big smile on her face, as you hold each other's hand.

"What didn't you say, baby?" you ask her, as you continue to stare at her while she watches the buildings turn on their lights. Stella looks away from the city skyline to look at you before answering your question, "You know~ my two word catchphrase."

Right.

'Be happy'.

You are happy. You can honestly and truly say that you're happy... and you answer your daughter's unspoken command to be happy with, "I am, baby. I am." Stella smiles at you, even happier to hear that as your answer.

"I'm happy you're going to go after Brooke now." Stella tells you.

"What?" you ask in confusion.

"I thought you understood what I meant with my two-word catchphrase?" Stella asks you.

"You meant 'Be happy', right?" you ask her.

"No Dad, I meant 'Bang her'." Stella answers you with a laugh. "I'm kidding!" Stella says before giving you a light kiss on the lips. "Yeah, Dad. That's what I meant...

"Be... you almost tricked me into saying it!"

CHAPTER 83.1

Where are you and your girls off to next?

Dorsia

As night arrived in the city, it was almost time for your dinner reservations at Dorsia. Brooke and Tanya decide to split-up from you, Stella, and Cassie to pick-up Viv from her restaurant, while the three of you pick-up Celeste from their branch office in the city.

After picking up Celeste, the four of you made your way to Dorsia, which was only a few minutes drive. You give your keys to the valet and make your way inside one of the nicest looking restaurants you've ever been to. Tanya, Brooke, and Viv were already seated at the table, and like you haven't seen each other all day, excitedly greeted each other with cheek kisses and hugs.

The girls reserved the seat at the end of the table for you, while Tanya, Brooke, and Viv were seated on one side with the restaurant behind them, while Stella, Cassie, and Celeste were seated on the other with the wall and windows behind them. Tanya and Stella were nearest you, with Stella on your left and Tanya on your right. Celeste wasn't kidding when she said this place was fancy. It looked fancy without trying too hard, unlike 'L'endroit Trop Cher', while also still maintaining that casual atmosphere. Its vibe is like a place where millionaire stockbrokers go to have lunch or something.

"How come this doesn't come up on Google when you search for fancy restaurants in the city?" You ask the girls.

"It's a 'if you know, you know' kind of place; and they don't just let anybody dine here, so their advertising is pretty much word of mouth only these days. So yeah, they wouldn't normally appear on listicles or food and travel blogs." Celeste answers you.

"Sounds pretentious." Tanya reacts to Celeste's description.

"Oh, that would be because we are. Hoffman Enterprises is very pretentious." someone says from behind Tanya. You all look towards the voice, and it comes from a gorgeous woman in an all black ensemble, with gold and diamond accessories to accent her outfit. She has an authoritative, but also sophisticated aura, that comes off natural for her.

[Image: Rebecca Hoffman First Meeting at Dorsia]

"Everyone, this is Rebecca Hoffman, COO of Hoffman Enterprises, owners of Dorsia." Celeste stands up before she introduces the woman.

"She's also my business partner." Viv adds, also standing up; prompting the rest of the table to do so.

"It's nice to meet you, Rebecca. I apologize for the comment. I was only joking." Tanya apologizes, now knowing who this woman is. Becca motions for your table to sit down and relax.

"You may call me Becca. You need not worry about disparaging the place. I agree with your assessment, and it's like that by design. If you're thinking it's pretentious, that was intentional. That also means you and I will get along fine." Rebecca tells Tanya.

"She hates this place." Viv explains.

"I don't hate it, it's merely a bit more traditional than I prefer; but I have to admit, it works. So, I'm not messing with the formula." Rebecca clarifies.

"You look so young to be the COO of a company! How'd you do it? That's so inspiring!" Cassie asks Becca.

"I was born a COO. Literally. 'Child of Owner', C-O-O. The only thing I can inspire others to do is win the genetic lottery." Becca jokes, but Cassie can only awkwardly smile now that she knows how Becca got her position.

"Anyway, Becca, this my cousin Jay, and his girlfriends Tanya, Cassie, and Stella; Stella's also his daughter; and this is Brooke." Celeste introduces the five of you. Becca noticeably raises an eyebrow at the term 'girlfriends', but doesn't bat an eye that you're dating your own daughter.

"Girlfriends? In the gay meaning of the word, or in the Playboy meaning of the word?" Becca asks.

"Latter." "Former." Celeste and Viv answered respectively, at the same time.

"It's the latter." you clarify.

"That's very interesting." Becca reacts to the information. She glances at both Celeste and Viv with a raised eyebrow, and the two noticeably shake their heads to signal 'no' to what you can only assume is an unspoken question between the three of them. "Even more interesting." Becca adds. "What the hell was that about?" Stella asks under her breath and through pursed lips next to you.

"Would you be joining us tonight, Ms. Hoffman?" Celeste asks Becca.

"I already said to call me Becca, Celeste. I would have assumed more obedience than that." Becca answers Celeste with the authority that you noticed that just radiated off of her.

"I'm sorry." your cousin replies, her head down in penitence.

"To answer your question, I will not be dining with you for the evening. I only dropped by to greet our honored guests." Becca answers Celeste. It's such a weird dynamic to see your older cousin being talked down upon by a much younger woman, but you can only assume that's the kind of power Becca has with everyone in their industry. "I hope you all enjoy your evening here in Dorsia." Becca says with a smile, before giving a cheek kiss to Celeste and Viv, before walking away from the table.

"Okay, spill. What was the head shaking about? What's so interesting about my Dad?" Stella asks Viv and Celeste.

"Oh, yeah. Nothing interesting about a man with three hot girlfriends." Viv answers sarcastically.

"She also wanted to know if you were secretly a crime lord, or royalty, or eccentric billionaire... you know, the ones that usually have multiple girlfriends that dine here. That's why we shook our heads." Celeste explains.

"Oh~ Wow. Dad, you look like a crime lord!" Stella jokes.

"Between the three options, that's the one you picked?" you ask your daughter.

"I kinda like the idea of being the Boss's daughter." Stella answers you.

"Yeah, since you really can't pull off being a princess with your personality." Cassie jokes.

"I'm a queen, thank you very much." Stella snaps back.

"More like a concubine." Cassie not holding back.

"Oooh~" Viv reacts before asking Cassie for a high-five across the table which Cassie enthusiastically gives her.

"You come at the real queen, you best not miss, Stella." Viv goads your daughter, who reacts in shock that Cassie is who Viv considers the Queen of their back-and-forths.

"Oh, how the turntables." Cassie jokes at Stella, who is actually annoyed at these turn of events.

"Shut up." Stella tells Cassie, who affectionately hugs her and gives her a kiss on the cheek, which produces an annoyed smile from Stella. It was right around that moment that two waiters started pouring white wine for the table.

Once the waiter leaves, Tanya asks Celeste, "Did we order this?"

"No, but our meals have been chosen for us by Ms. Hoffman." Celeste answers Tanya.

"Oh, wow." Tanya looks towards the restaurant to see if Becca's anywhere near her again.

"Control freak, much?" Tanya asks through pursed lips as a joke. Viv and Celeste give each other knowing looks before chuckling at Tanya's joke.

"There're microphones under the table." Viv jokes to Tanya, making Tanya panic, which causes Celeste and the other girls to laugh now too.

"Wow. This is good wine." Brooke reacts.

"Yeah, you guys should drink it before they take it away. It's a pre-dinner wine." Celeste explains.

"Holy shit. So we'll have different wines throughout this meal?" Tanya asks, and Celeste just nods.

"Can we afford that?" Tanya asks.

"It's been paid for, don't worry." Celeste answers.

"Celeste. That's completely unnecessary." You tell your cousin.

"You didn't pick a restaurant yesterday for me to treat you, so I picked one myself." Celeste answers you with a wink.

"This place looks like it'll cost an arm and a leg to pay for, Aunt Celeste." Stella tells Celeste, and you notice Viv gives a knowing smile at Stella's choice of words.

"Don't worry. I got a friendly discount. So stop worrying about how I'll pay for it, and just enjoy the night, okay?" Celeste tells you and your daughter, and you just both shrug, before Stella raises her wine glass for a toast. "In that case..."

"To friends in high places."

CHAPTER 84.1

What happens next?

Authority

"That was one hell of a meal. Holy crap."

Your daughter says after finishing her dessert. There wasn't really any room for disagreement in that assessment. After your meal, you have no problem believing how a place can survive on word of mouth alone.

"How they served their portions was great too. I'm full, but I'm not bloated." Brooke adds, which all the girls nod their heads in agreement to.

"The steak was 'melt in your mouth' amazing too." you add.

"Oh! Don't forget the sea urchin ceviche!" Brooke reminds you before doing a chef's kiss. The girls just nod in agreement with everybody's assessment of the meal.

"Thanks for bringing us here. It was incredible." Cassie thanks Celeste.

"Yeah, thank you so much. It was a phenomenal dinner." Tanya adds.

"Amazing. Incredible. Phenomenal." Viv mockingly imitates your praises for the restaurant. "I'm beginning to get hurt, I didn't get this much praise when you ate at my restaurant." Viv jokingly says, feigning being hurt from the amount of praise you're giving Dorsia.

"You weren't there when they upped your restaurant for the video, Viv. I can send you a copy if you need the ego boost." Celeste assures her friend.

"Yeah, your food was delightful too, Viv." Cassie immediately tries to comfort Viv, and Viv immediately goes back to her perky self upon hearing it. Your daughter seems to take that as a chance to strike.

"Meh." Stella directs at Viv.

"Don't mind her. She's just bitter I beat her at a 'back and forth'." Cassie says dismissively of Stella's antics.

"You did not beat me! It was an early stoppage!" Stella reacts.

"Maybe next time you should bribe the referee by making out with her too." Viv teasingly replies to Stella with a wink, making Cassie blush a bit.

"Maybe I will." Stella replies, not backing down.

"Looking forward to it." Viv nonchalantly replies with an air smooch.

"~Okay. That's enough hitting on my daughter for one night." you interject.

"Oh, is Daddy getting jealous?" Viv asks you, openly flirting.

"Are you like that with everyone or just Jay and his girlfriends?" Brooke asks Viv.

"Everyone." Celeste and Tanya answer in unison, getting a chuckle out of you and the girls.

"And here I thought I was special." Stella jokes back.

"You are." Viv replies, to you and your daughter's surprise.

"I am?" Stella takes the bait.

"Yeah. Everyone I plan on sleeping with is special." Viv replies to your daughter, but winks at you.

"Okay, calm down Neil Strauss. Save your pick-up lines for the club." Celeste jokes to Viv.

"How do we go about this, by the way? We can't just leave without saying our thanks to Becca." You ask Celeste.

"I'm sure our waiters have already informed her that we've finished our meal, and she'll drop by soon." Celeste answers you.

"Is she always like that by the way?" Brooke asks.

"Like what?" Viv asks Brooke.

"I don't know..." Brooke tries to find the right word, which Stella finds for her, "Intense." Stella interjects. "Yeah." Brooke says in agreement.

"Becca's actually pretty chill." Viv answers.

"As long as things go her way." Celeste adds.

"Yeah. So she tends to be intense to make sure everything does go her way." Viv explains.

"So, not 'pretty chill' at all, then." Stella points out, which Viv just shrugs to, accepting the contradiction of what she said.

"Just do what she wants, and she's pretty chill." Viv explains.

"So she is a control freak." Tanya states.

"I prefer the term 'Dominatrix'." Becca says from behind Tanya again, who noticeably flinches, kicking you under the table and giving you an accusatory look of 'you couldn't have warned me?' as the only possible meaning behind it. Becca places her hands on Tanya's shoulders, visibly making Tanya stiffen in her chair.

"Relax, Tanya. I don't bite." Becca tells Tanya from behind her chair, while rubbing the side of Tanya's shoulders. The way she said she doesn't bite is subtly threatening in a way. It gives everyone on the table that she does bite.

"Excuse me, but did I hear you say you were a Dominatrix?" Cassie asks Becca.

"You heard correctly, Cassie. Yes." Becca nonchalantly replies, as if being a Dominatrix is nothing out of the ordinary.

"Oh. Cool." was the only reaction Cassie could give.

"So you and Viv are...?" Stella asks, although the subtext of her question is not lost on Becca.

"We're business partners, Stella." Becca answers bluntly.

"Uh-huh." Stella reacts, not really believing Becca's answer.

"Business partners with benefits?" Stella asks.

"Stella!" you react to her question, being more intrusive than you would approve of. Stella immediately apologizes for the question, but Becca gives the both of you an amused smile.

"Relax, Jay. I'm not one to live a double life, and I'm well aware that my openness has obvious consequences. I pay it no mind. " Becca tells you.

Maybe you imagined it, but did Becca glance at Celeste when she said 'double life'?

"To answer Stella's question, in the spirit of openness, we are not business partners with benefits. Although... We have dabbled before... In a previous life" Viv admits. You glance at Celeste who doesn't seem surprised by this information at all.

"Kinky." Stella replies.

"I can show you, if you're curious." Viv seductively asks your daughter.

"Okay. Let me rephrase what I said earlier so you can understand Viv, stop hitting on my girlfriend." you tell Viv with the same level of intimidation you used the other night. Your tone of delivery brings out amused smiles across the table, including ones from Viv and Becca.

"Woof. Get 'em, Daddy!" Stella cheers you on, laughing as she does so, making Cassie and Tanya laugh too. Becca removes her hands from Tanya's shoulders and walks over to Viv's chair and does the same to Viv, putting her hands on her shoulders from behind.

"It would be wise for you to behave, Vivian." Becca tells Viv, in a tone not much different than what she normally uses, intimidating but assured; although, this time, it's weirdly more... erotic?

You and everyone else on the table are fixated on what is happening between Viv and Becca right now.

"Yes. Ms. Hoffman." Viv replies to Becca in a tone you're not used to hearing from her, and in a demeanor much different to her usual or professional self.

"You mistake me for someone else." Becca tells Viv.

"I'm sorry, Mistress." Viv immediately replies, in an eerily similar tone to the one Celeste had earlier.

Becca places her index finger below Viv's chin, and directs her face to look up to Becca who was looking down on her, standing from behind. Becca leans in and gives Viv an upside down kiss that went on for longer than what you'd consider comfortable spectating. Celeste actually coughed to signal them to stop. Becca removes her lips from Viv's and you can see a sliver of saliva still connect them initially before straightening her posture once more. Noticeably, her finger is still under Viv's chin, and Viv was still looking up at her.

"Your mistake is forgiven, but best not to repeat it." Becca warns Viv, who only replies

"Yes, Mistress." before Becca removes her finger from her chin and Viv can look forward again. Other than Celeste, everyone on the table is wide eyed at what they just witnessed from Viv and Becca.

"You have much to learn in the art of commanding authority, Jay." Becca addresses you. You have no idea how a woman who looks barely older than your daughter can talk down to you like that and make it seem as if it's only the natural order of things, but Becca's pulling it off with ease. "Although, I do see potential in you." Becca added, and Viv actually gives you a toothy grin before winking at you.

You're reminded of how Tanya used to tease you with her flirting back when the two of you haven't slept together yet. Only Viv is less subtle about it. She's also back to her usual self now. Acting as if her submissiveness to Becca was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Now that my demonstration is over, I think it's time I do what I came here to do and wish that you all enjoyed your meal before I take my leave." Becca addresses the table.

"Oh yes! It was fantastic. The sea urchin ceviche was outstanding!" Brooke immediately praises her favorite dish, getting everyone back on track after Becca's show of authority.

"I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your meal, Brooke." Becca answers. The rest of the girls, as well as yourself, heaped praises on the restaurant before Becca takes her leave.

"It was a pleasure meeting you all. Enjoy the rest of your evening." Becca says, before you all stand up to leave for the club. "Oh, can I borrow Celeste before you go? I just need to iron out the details of her payment." Becca informs you all, and Celeste nods at Becca before she walks towards her.

"Hey, I'm willing to chip in if it's too expensive." you tell your cousin as she passes you before reaching Becca.

"Yeah, this was overly generous Celeste. Really. We'd love to chip in if we could." Tanya adds, while Brooke affirms yours and Tanya's sentiments. Becca seemed to have heard the exchange.

"Don't worry. Celeste's a friend. I won't swindle her into bankruptcy. We'll just talk to her boss about a fair exchange." Becca explains.

"Like I said, she's giving us a friendly discount." Celeste assures you before walking away with Becca towards what you can only assume is her office.

"Was it just me or was her line about 'swindling someone into bankruptcy' sound like something she's done before?" Tanya asks you.

"I wouldn't put it past her." Viv answers next to Tanya.