Queen of Pain (Things YouCan't Tell Mama) (3 page)

4

Tara was amazed at the transformation of the property into a Hawaiian Luau location within a few hours. The natural setting with the beach as a backdrop didn’t take much effort to convert except the addition of torches to light the area after dark.

     When the time for the event arrived Brandon and Tara acted as the primary welcoming committee. Tara stuck close to Brandon because without him no one knew who she was. It was one thing to meet another business tycoon, but it was the entertainment celebrities that took Tara by surprise and they all knew Brandon on a very familiar level. Movie and music stars walked into the home along with their significant others. Tara had to suppress internal screams and looks of awe as these icons presented themselves as people outside of their roles as performers for everyone else’s enjoyment. One person came to the function that Tara had wanted to meet for years. Talk show queen Opal Jeffrey came to the party and Tara could not hold back her enthusiasm.

“Miss Jeffrey, I so pleased to meet you. I’m Tara, Brandon’s fiancée. I’m a huge fan of yours. I watch your show and you give such great advice,” Tara said.

“Tara, it’s very nice to meet you. I must say that your future husband throws some of the best parties in the islands. He’s a good man and I’ve received some great business advice from him,” Opal said.

“Really, it’s nice to know that someone like you takes advice from Brandon. I hope you have a good time and all of the refreshments are in the next room,” Tara said.

“He’s a smart man and I’m up for some refreshments. Nice to meet you Tara,” Opal said as she walked away.

“Brandon, I just met Opal!” Tara said.

“That’s great! She’s a good friend of mine,” Brandon said.

As the night wore on Tara became more comfortable being among her guests and her feelings of inadequacy slowly faded away. There were many times that Tara had to feign that she knew about some foreign country or exotic meal. By the time the night was over Tara’s head was spinning as she realized that she was entering an environment where limits only existed in the minds of these people. If some of the individuals in the room wanted to be halfway around the world the next day, there was nothing to prevent it except their will. Tara thought about her mother being worried about their electricity being disconnected because they might not be able to afford to pay the bill. Those were the concerns of the little people, Tara thought, and the people in that room didn’t
have those concerns. Suddenly a sense of unease came over Tara and she didn’t quite understand why.

“Tara, are you okay?” a woman asked.

“Oh, excuse me. Opal, I guess I was just lost in thought,” Tara said.

“Tara could you take a walk with me out by the beach?
I’d like to talk to you,” Opal asked.

“Really, sure I can take a walk with you,” Tara said as they went outside.

“Tara, I watched you tonight. You are smart, beautiful and a little overwhelmed by all of this,” Opal said.

“Was it that obvious? I tried to bluff my way through it,” Tara said.

“I take it that this type of environment is new to you, you know around all of these celebrities and leaders in business,” Opal said.

“Well, yes it is. I didn’t grow up in this kind of environment. We all loved each other, but things were hard sometimes. This is so far from that. Sometimes it’s a hard thing to process,” Tara said.

“If you know my story, then you know that I didn’t have much when I was young, but it took me thirty years to get to where I am now so I had time to adjust and now this seems natural. This must feel like you’ve been shot up on a rocket,” Opal said.

“I do feel that way sometimes and because I’m here because of Brandon instead of my own
steam, so to speak, I’m always trying to make sure I don’t embarrass him,” Tara said.

“Tara look, Brandon is a friend of mine, but this is not his first rodeo as far as marriage is concerned. He’s been married once before. You seem to be a nice person, but make sure you take care of yourself. One piece of advice is to never use his lawyer on something like a prenuptial agreement or divorce, and believe you
me, there will be a prenup, but hopefully not a divorce. The second thing is, don’t get lost in his world. Created your own space, find something that you are passionate about outside of his interests. The third thing is never lose your history and by that I mean your friends and family. Those folks were with you from the beginning and will be your best support system. The last thing is don’t let people like me intimidate you, because I’m just a person just like you. I guarantee you that everybody in there that went to the bathroom tonight did it the same way you did, you never get rich enough to send someone else to the bathroom for you,” Opal said.

“Now I know why everybody loves you. You were watching me and could tell that I was feeling uncomfortable. You didn’t have to take time out to talk to me, but you did. I appreciate that. Thank you,” Tara said.

“Don’t worry about it. Just hang in there, you’ll be okay,” Opal said as they walked back to the house.

5

Brandon and Tara returned to New York where Tara had moved in with Brandon. The house that Brandon and Tara lived in was immaculate and sprawling. The Atlantic Ocean was in view and the beach was within walking distance. Tara loved her new home, but she felt disconnected from everything and everyone she knew. Her old life was back in Dallas and she needed to find a way to connect to the world that Brandon lived in now.

“Shannon, it’s me Tara. I miss all of you guys. I’m getting used to being up here. You saw Gary. How is he? I know it was scheduled for this week. I understand how bad it looks. Shannon why are you talking to me that way? Okay, Shannon, I’ll talk to you later. Maybe you will understand later on, bye,” Tara said.

Tara was taken aback by her friend Shannon’s reaction. Shannon’s reaction was not just due to how she felt Tara treated Gary, but it also expressed a personal affront she felt. It finally dawned on Tara that Shannon felt she chose Brandon to leave them all behind including her. Tara called Shannon back.

“Shannon what’s the real problem? I couldn’t just let our conversation end like that,” Tara said.

“Tara, don’t you get it? You are in a different league now. The things you are able to do for fun, people like me can only dream of. You’ll be going to Paris, London and the south of France like I go across town. People like me aren’t able to do those kinds of things, except for maybe once in a lifetime. You’re an eagle now and eagles fly with other eagles. I’m down here on the ground with the rest of the chickens. Now do you understand? I’m not rich enough to be your running buddy anymore,” Shannon said.

“Shannon, this is about friendship, not money,” Tara said.

“Tara I understand what you mean, but in a year, we will have very little in common, because you will be a citizen of the world. That’s just reality. We can still talk, but you’re going to need friends around you that understand the life you’re living now,” Shannon said.

“I understand that, but some friends you have for a lifetime regardless of how long you’re apart or where you are in life. It’s not about money or status. I thought we were friends like that,” Tara said.

“Tara, I’m sorry. I guess I felt like I got kicked to the curb by you. You don’t know how awkward it was when you left Gary. I’m friends with both of you and then you left him and it felt like I had to decide who to remain close to. If I
chose you, you’re not here anymore. If I remain friends with Gary it feels weird because you’re not around and you guys were a couple. I feel like I’ve lost two close friends at the same time and I blamed you for it. I know you said you fell in love with Brandon, who I’ve never laid eyes on, it’s just strange and I can’t explain it. Of course we’re still friends. I was going to be your maid of honor in your wedding,” Shannon said.

“Well, won’t you be my maid of honor when I marry Brandon?” Tara asked.

Tara heard silence on the other end of the phone.

“Shannon, will you still be my maid of honor in my wedding to Brandon?” Tara asked again.

“I’ll have to think about it. This is the wrong time to ask, okay. Let this week pass and ask me again. I’m still having a little trouble with how you ended up with Brandon given who he is and how you met him, okay. Give me some time,” Shannon said.

“Okay, that’s fair. I’ll talk to you later,” Tara said.

Tara’s conversation with Shannon, one of her closest friends, let her know that the end of her relationship with Gary wasn’t just between two people, but it ripped the fabric and affected the lives of their social circle. Tara thought that maybe Shannon was right and she needed to find friends that would be moving in the same circles she would be in now. The only trouble Tara had was figuring out where to begin her search, because in this new environment she was lost, but Brandon was about to change that in an instant when he said they were invited to a party at one of his friend’s home to kick off the summer social season.

6

Brandon and Tara pulled into the large circular parking area near the rear of the property that was owned by his business associate Frazier Nelson. Frazier was a technology tycoon in the area of security software and Brandon’s realm was social networking. Brandon’s
friendworld social networking platform was shaping the way people want about their daily lives. Friendworld allowed members to communicate with friends, family and associates in a way that was replacing email and texting. Friendworld allowed people to be connected in a manner that indicated how close they were to each other. People that were associated could be in the same room, house, neighborhood, city or world. Many friendworld users updated their current state and checked on the state of their associates when they got up in the morning, before they went to sleep at night and several times throughout the day. The momentum that friendworld was gaining around the world was impressive and Brandon was poised to make his worldwide push in the next year. Brandon and Nelson were friends and their products really didn’t compete with each other in the marketplace. Brandon and Tara entered the home for the party after exiting his Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe.

“Brandon, it’s good to see you again, you’ve been all over the place,
it’s been a while. Who is this lovely lady with you?” Frazier asked.

“You’ve been all over the world yourself. This is my fiancée, Tara Wilson. Tara this is my good friend Frazier Nelson,” Brandon said.

“Nice to meet you Tara, congratulations, so you’re going to be the woman to make an honest man out of Brandon, again.

“Well, we’ll see about that, but I will be his wife,” Tara said with a laugh.

“Beauty and a sense of humor, what more can a man ask for?” Frazier said.

Frazier was older than Brandon at about forty five years old. A stunning woman of about twenty six years old came alongside Frazier and placed her arms into his.

“Tara this is my much better half, my wife Ashley. Ashley this is Brandon’s fiancée, Tara,” Frazier said.

“Nice to meet you Tara, come on let me show you around,” Ashley said.

“Sure,” Tara said as she followed Ashley.

“I thought I’d save you from the boring business conversation that always breaks out every time those two get together,” Ashley said.

Ashley and Tara went to an area out by the pool, sat down and requested drinks from one of the catering staff at the party. Ashley was a vibrant young woman about Ashley’s height and size. With brunette hair, a slightly darker skin tone than Tara and a bright white smile it was easy to see why Frazier was attracted to Ashley. Ashley was Frazier’s third wife.

“Wow, this is a great house. How long have you been married to Frazier?” Tara asked.

“Thank you. Frazier and I have recently celebrated our first year anniversary,” Ashley said.

“Well, congratulations. Did you get a nice present?” Tara asked.

“Absolutely, Frazier gave me this pair of diamond earrings,” Ashley said as she showed the huge stones to Tara.

“Those are so nice. I don’t want to be nosey, but how did you meet Frazier?” Tara asked.

“Well, that’s an interesting story. Frazier and his former wife were in Las Vegas dining at an exclusive restaurant and I was their server. I didn’t know who he was, but figured he was someone important by the way the restaurant manager came out and greeted him. So I took his order and waited on them for the entire meal. When I came back with the receipt and his credit card, he was alone because his wife had gone to use the bathroom. Frazier looked at me and asked for my phone number. I asked him why he wanted it. He said he could do great things for me and thought I had potential, so I gave it to him. I left and passed his wife on my way back to the kitchen. When I went back and picked up his check he had left me a one thousand dollar tip. I was just floored. Frazier called me two days later from his private jet. Three days later he stopped in Las Vegas on his way back from California and I met him for lunch. Frazier said he was interested in me and I reminded him that he was married. He told me that his marriage was a minor consideration, because he was contemplating changes in his personal situation. We started seeing each other and six months later he divorced his wife and went public with me, so now here we are,” Ashley said.

“Well, my situation with Brandon was very interesting as well,” Tara said.

“I heard about that. A lot of people know about that. I’ve wanted to meet you,” Ashley said.

“Really, what all do you know?” Tara said.

“I know that you were engaged to be married to one of the salesmen in Brandon’s company when you met him and left your fiancé for him,” Ashley said.

“Oh god, I can’t get past how I got together with him. It just haunts me,” Tara said.

“I’m not one to judge. I carried on an affair with a married man, and which is worse if you think about it, at least neither you or Brandon were married. A lot of the couples at this party were with someone else when they met their current spouses. These people see what they want and go after it, if it means disposing of their current partner, they pay the price and move on. It will probably happen to me at some point,” Ashley said.

“So you don’t think you will be with Frazier for good?” Tara said.

“Tara, I was a waitress serving him and his wife dinner. He hit on me while his wife was in the bathroom because he liked what he saw. I was young, good looking and hungry for a better life. Frazier paid his wife her prenuptial settlement to get a newer model. I know the game,” Ashley said.

“How long did it take for you to get used to living the way you do now? I mean, this is way different from what I’m used to,” Tara said.

“I just went with the flow and faked it for a while. I wasn’t used to spending money like have now. The idea of paying more for a blouse than I was paying for rent where I used to live still freaks me out. I’m getting used to it, but my mind is still in struggling waitress mode although I carry around a credit card with no limit on it,” Ashley said.

“I know, I went into a store and this designer outfit that I loved was calling my name, it was three thousand dollars. I knew I could get it, but I kept thinking about when I would have sold my soul for that kind of money to pay bills when I was short on money. I don’t know how long it’s going to take my mind to catch up with my new reality,” Tara said.

“That will come with time. Look, I guess we had better get back to the party, but one other thing I did learn is that there is a social order, even with the superrich. There’s old money and new money. The old money is that inherited wealth that has been passed on for decades. You know some of those products you use every day that you never think of as being created by someone like hand lotion, or laundry detergent, then out here you might run into someone with one of those last names, then you find out that it was their great grandfather that started it all. Some of those people don’t think too highly of new money people like Frazier and Brandon. It’s almost like they look at them like they are loud intruders with no class. You know, being flashy with their jets, gaudy mansions and young trophy wives like me,” Ashley said with a laugh.

“So there’s class snobbery among the super rich, who knew?” Tara said.

“They’re petty, gossipy and vain just like everybody else, they just have more money,” Ashley said.

Tara liked Ashley a lot and they became close friends because she felt they came from a somewhat similar background and both went from a little to a lot without a transition point. Tara met a few other women that night and garnered social invitations that would keep her busy for a while. Once they were back home Tara and Brandon
readied for bed by taking a relaxing bath together in their spa sized bathtub completed with wine glasses in hand.

“How did you like the party?” Brandon asked.

“I had a great time. I met some women that I think I will become friends with tonight. I really like Ashley, she doesn’t bite her tongue,” Tara said.

“Well good. I could see that you seemed to be feeling a little like you were missing your social support system. Tara, how do you feel about planning a wedding? It feels like it’s about time to get that show on the road, don’t you think?” Brandon said.

“Really, I feel great about it! What made you think that it was time to set a date?” Tara asked.

“Isn’t that the main point of getting engaged, to get
married. It’s time you became Mrs. Larson. I saw some of those unattached guys looking at you tonight. I’d better put a ring on it as they say,” Brandon said as he sipped from his wine glass.

Tara almost spit her wine out at Brandon’s comment.

“I can’t believe you said that,” Tara said with a laugh.

“Well I keep up with pop culture. I know about putting a ring on it. Think about where you want to have your wedding, here, Hawaii or just about anywhere you want,” Brandon said.

“What if I want to have it at home, where I grew up in Texas?” Tara said.

“Well, from what I can tell that area is pretty rural and would be difficult for a lot of people to get to. I understand that you want your family and friends to come, so what if we had it in Dallas? Dallas has two major airports and plenty of smaller airports for private jets to land and it is close enough for your family and friends to get there,” Brandon said.

“That sounds like a deal. Dallas it is. Now, when do we want to do this?” Tara said.

“Within six months, October or November. We can be married before Christmas and bring in the New Year as husband and wife,” Brandon said.

“That sounds like a plan. I can pull together a wedding in that amount of time, Tara said.

“Hire a good wedding planner. There are excellent wedding planners in New York and I’m sure they can work with someone in Dallas to pull it off,” Brandon said.

“I’m so excited!” Tara said.

“Me too,” Brandon said as he took a big handful of soap bubbles and placed them on Tara face.

“What did you do that for?” Tara said as she put a handful of bubbles on Brandon’s face.

“Come on over here,” Brandon said as they looked each other in the eyes.

“So you just want to skip to the honeymoon run through, huh?” Tara said.

“Well, we want to make sure we do that right too, so we need to practice,” Brandon said as he pulled Tara over and kissed her.

“Brandon, I thought we got in this tub to take a bath,” Tara said with a smile on her face.

“There’s nothing wrong with a little good clean fun,” Brandon said as Tara sat on his lap facing him.

“It seems like your glad to see me. Ummm,” Tara said as he slowly moved forward toward Brandon.

“Oh Tara, you feel so good,” Brandon said as he rubbed his soapy hands all over her breasts.

“Yes baby. Make love to me now and for the rest of our lives together,” Tara said.

Brandon grabbed Tara by her buttocks as she began to thrash back and forth while splashing water and bubbles out onto the heated tile floor.

“Yeah, that’s it baby. Give it to me! Oh! Ohh!” Brandon said as he held Tara tightly.

“Yes Brandon!
Ahh baby!” Tara exclaimed as she climaxed and kissed Brandon deeply.

“Tara, I love you,” Brandon said as Tara turned her back to him a Brandon wrapped his arms around her.

“Brandon I had a tense conversation with my friend Shannon on the phone a couple of days ago. She basically said that we could still be friends but things were different because we were in different socioeconomic classes now. Shannon said she wasn’t rich enough to be a friend like she was before. Shannon said that she was on the ground and I was in the air and needed friends that could understand my new life. I understand what she’s saying, but it really got to me,” Tara said.

“You know she’s right, don’t you? You will be going to places and doing things that she can’t do and won’t understand. After a while your life will be so different from hers that telling her what you do on a routine basis will sound like you are bragging and rubbing your wealth in her face, but you will just be sharing your experiences. It’s to her credit that she was honest enough to tell you the truth. Now Ashley, on the other hand moves in the same circles, if doesn’t go to some of the places and do some things that you like, it will be because she doesn’t want to, not because she can’t. I went through the same thing when my business started to take off. I wanted to share my success and what I was doing with my friends and the more the business grew the more distant they became. It finally dawned on me that we had very little in common anymore other than our past memories. I still keep in touch, but
it’s all small talk. Tara, people settling at different levels in varying stages of life is just natural,” Brandon said.

“I know, but it just seems kind of sad,” Tara said with a sigh.