Epilogue
“Zack and I met on a sunny June day. The same day I had vowed to remain celibate for the rest of the summer, for my own damn sanity.”
Rachel hesitated before jotting down another word. All around her, women from different backgrounds typed on their laptops, wrote in their notebooks, and highlighted text on pages of printed paper. The café was boisterous outside of Rachel’s headphones – currently blaring an old J-pop album she had acquired right before returning to Japan – but the women at the large table remained silent, lost in their creative thoughts.
It had been Zack’s great idea. This whole business of going to writing meetup groups to hash out some thoughts, since Rachel confessed she had always wanted to write a memoir about her haphazardous love life. Actually, I’ve always dreamed of becoming a writer. There hadn’t been time for that in between working as a teacher and translating all day. By the time Rachel had time to relax, her brain was fried. All she wanted to do was watch videos and play games.
She was happily unemployed now. She still did a little translating work on the side for her favorite clients, mostly to have something to do and to keep her language skills sharp, but Zack had made it clear that she didn’t have to get a job if she didn’t want to. Somehow, I believe him when he says he doesn’t mind taking care of me.
Rachel cut her contract short by four months and returned to America right before Halloween. Since she had finished her lease at her old apartment, she didn’t have anywhere she could afford to live. Zack offered to let her move in with him, but Rachel tensed up at the thought of moving in with someone for the first time under those conditions.
So they found a compromise. Since Rachel wasn’t comfortable living with him full time (yet,) and she also didn’t want him paying for even a tiny studio apartment on the edge of downtown, Zack offered to remodel the master bedroom in his art studio for Rachel to have to herself. Rent free.
In a way, she was still reliant on him, but she had her space separate from him. She could invite her boyfriend to spend the night in her bed whenever she wanted, and she could go over and sleep in his when the moment called for it. So far, they had only spent one night apart, but Rachel loved having the option. The only problem was when she was still asleep and Zack came into his studio to start hacking away at another piece of marble. It only woke her up a little bit.
The alarm went off. The hour for silent writing was up, and the women around the table pulled out their earbuds and stretched their arms above their heads. Rachel dropped her pen on her notebook and waited for someone else to speak.
This was her second meeting. While she liked the other women well enough, she was still in that awkward stage of getting to know them and figuring out which ones she might like to become friends with. Another brilliant Zack plan. He had bluntly told her on the flight back to America that she needed a couple more friends. At least. Rich, coming from the guy who had one best friend and otherwise only hung out with his uncle. But he was right. Rachel couldn’t rely on Parvati all the time. She needed to find more likeminded female friends.
“Oh, hi.” A petite woman startled Rachel from behind. “Is this the writing group? I’m so sorry I’m late. Traffic killed me and then I got lost. Afraid I’m still getting to know this city.”
The group warmly welcomed her and told her she had arrived in time for the break. The woman next to Rachel scooted over so the newcomer could bring a chair from another table. Her grin on her round face suggested she was giddy enough to write a novel over the course of the next hour.
“I’m Madison,” the young woman said after plopping her pink spiral-bound notebook on the table. “Guess I’m working on a memoir. Anyone else?”
Everyone looked at Rachel, the resident memoirist. “Writing a small memoir about my dating life. I’m Rachel, by the way.”
“Really? Me too! Uh, I guess you could call it that. My girlfriend…” She froze. Everyone at the table waited for her to go on, but Madison remained petrified.
“It’s cool,” Rachel said. “You’re not the only woman like that here.” One of the other women at the table couldn’t shut up about her girlfriends. Yes, those kinds.
Madison smiled again. “Anyway, my girlfriend is a professional author and I’ve decided to start dabbling myself. But I needed to do it away from her, you know? Besides, we’re writing about totally different things. She writes nonfiction, and I guess I want to get a little more creative. My line of work has a lot of stuff to offer.”
“What do you do?” the organizer asked.
Madison hesitated again. “I work in nighttime entertainment.”
Eyebrows raised around the table. Most of the women probably assumed that meant stripping or hostessing. Rachel glanced at the notes in Madison’s notebook and saw a few words that suggested she went a little farther than mere “look but don’t touch.” And she’s got a girlfriend? Whoa.
“Well, welcome!” The organizer proceeded to ask how everyone did during their silent writing time. When they got to Rachel, everyone gently goaded her about the last dating story she wrote down.
“I got to the part where I made a vow of chastity for the rest of the summer. Then I met my current boyfriend the same day.”
Laughter rang out in the tiny coffee shop. By the time it had died down, Rachel received a text from a boyfriend with burning ears.
“Hi, I’m early. I’m hanging out at the place across the street whenever you’re ready. No rush.”
Rachel checked the time. There was one more writing session before the meeting officially ended, but getting that text from Zack made her anxious. We’re supposed to go up to the lake house for the night after this. One of the last hurrahs at the lake house before the days grew short and the air too cold to bother. They were predicting a cold winter. More staying in unless it was a flight to the Caribbean on the docket.
The lake house was where it truly began for them. With any luck, a new photographer would be hiding in the bushes to get a real look at what Rachel was capable of in bed. God, I hope not. It was bad enough that Eloise nearly had a heart attack to find out Zack and Rachel were a real thing after so many months. At least Isaiah and Zack’s brothers liked her.
Either way, it was going to be an awkward Thanksgiving. Hence the trip to the lake house before that mess began. And then it’s Christmas. We’re bringing my mother home for the holidays. Rachel was both nervous and excited. She hadn’t celebrated Christmas with her mother in years, but she knew it would be hard. That was why Zack had already arranged for two live-in nurses to stay with them and take care of Diane in shifts so Rachel wouldn’t have to fret.
“Think I’m going to head out early, actually.” Rachel packed up her things while everyone else expressed disbelief that she was leaving so soon. “I’ll be back next week, though.”
She waved goodbye on her way out. There, on the sidewalk across the street, was Zack’s motorcycle. And Zack perched upon it like a Calvin Klein model, phone in his hand and foot dangling over the edge of his parked bike.
He was surprised to see Rachel so soon.
“I did tell you that there was no rush, right?” He patted on the seat next to him. Rachel hopped on and secured her bag around her chest. “Not that I’m complaining. I’m always excited to see you.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “I got excited thinking about you.”
“Nice.” Zack handed her a helmet and pulled his over his head. “Keep thinking about how excited you are while we ride to the lake. I’ve got plans for you, Rachel Taylor?”
“Oh, yeah?” Rachel squeezed her arms around him. Always a thrill to feel this firm body against mine. Yes! “What kind of plans do you have, exactly?”
“Let’s say I read that dirty novel you wouldn’t shut up about and got some ideas!”
The bike purred between Rachel’s legs. “What kind of ideas? Bondage or spanking?”
Zack revved the engine. “Both!” Before Rachel could respond, they pulled away from the sidewalk and merged into light traffic.
Rachel couldn’t deny how much she loved this life she now lived with a man like Zack Feldman. Five months ago, one year ago, she never would have believed that she could be this happy and content in not only a relationship, but her life as well. Was it really only five months ago when she woke up next to a man who thought a hot date was asking her for the crap he saw in porn?
Now she had a boyfriend – and future husband – who not only made her feel like a queen every second they were together, but encouraged her to explore her creative side while respecting the boundaries that usually drove others away.
Sometimes she felt like she lived in a real Bollywood movie, the kind where the absolute impossible happened to the lights and sounds of exquisite dance numbers. Other times she felt like she lived in a dramatic Japanese TV show that was more like a mournful ballad than a happy reprise. Then Rachel came back down to Earth and reminded herself that life was always more complicated – and easier – than fiction.
Just like her relationship with Zack had always been more complicated than just friends.