Даниэла Стил - All That Glitters

Charlie Bartlett called her the next morning and invited her to brunch at the Carlyle. They walked through Central Park afterward and he left her reluctantly when he put her in a cab to go home.

He called her again on Monday, and invited her to a gala dinner at the Metropolitan Museum that she had frequently read about but never been to. He had lunch with her in SoHo when he dropped by to see the new offices, and took her to dinner at La Grenouille on the weekend. It was a full-court press with a massive bouquet of red roses, and every evening she spent with him was more fun than the last one. He had to go to London and Dubai the following week, but as soon as he got back, he took her out to dinner again, and invited her to see his incredible Fifth Avenue triplex that made her parents’ apartment look like a hovel in comparison. She was impressed that when she went to his apartment, somewhat hesitantly for a drink, he didn’t try to get her into bed. He treated her like a very attractive woman he was smitten with and courting, but not like a piece of meat that was his for the grabbing. He was a total gentleman and she loved the little bit of Texan drawl he still had. It was a challenge to keep her head and not fall head over heels in love with him. He was everything any woman could have wanted and more. His obvious fortune far exceeded hers so he wanted nothing from her. He was kind and funny, intelligent, and had a great time with her. She hadn’t had a bad moment with him yet, and he kept coming up with more fun things to do. He knew about every play, every exhibit, and every new restaurant in New York. She was working hard in the daytime, and playing hard at night with Charlie. She wanted to ask him where he’d been all her life while she wasted her time with sleazeballs like Nigel and Ed, and cripples like Ian. There was nothing wrong with Charlie Bartlett, and he felt the same way about her. She was starting to ask herself if this could be happening, and if it was real. It was almost too good to be true, and if it wasn’t real, his performance was seamless. He appeared to be the perfect man in every way.

He waited two weeks to kiss her, and when he did, it was both gentle and searing at the same time, and quickly became highly addictive. They did a lot of kissing and groping and wishing after that, but Coco didn’t want to rush into anything. She wanted to savor each moment and let it unfold. He was in no rush. He wanted things to happen the way she wanted them to, however that was. She had never been around a man as easy to get along with, and so eager to make her happy, whatever that meant to her.

Sam sensed something different about her, and questioned her about it when they had dinner.

“What’s up? I saw you on Page Six twice last week.” Everyone in the city read it, about the movers and shakers, and the high-end local gossip. “How do you know Charles Bartlett?” Sam was impressed.

“He’s a friend of Evan, my investor.”

“He’s got a great reputation in the world of finance. He’s supposedly a pleasure to do business with, and an honest guy.”

“He’s an incredibly nice man. He knew my father. I think I’ve really met a great guy this time. I’m taking it slow. We’ve been out a lot.”

“That doesn’t sound slow to me.”

“What’s happening with Tamar?” They hadn’t spoken in a few days, and the last time they had, things were stressful for him, which was no surprise, given the situation. He had confronted her about the affair with the rabbi, and she admitted it. She was in love with him. Enough so to give up custody of her kids.

“Amazingly, it sounds like she’s really going to let me have custody, with reasonable visitation for her. The rabbi must not want four children under five underfoot. But she wants a lot of spousal support, and possibly a settlement. I can’t believe it, but it’s down to that now. I think she may move out soon. I’ll have to prepare the kids.” His whole life had unraveled in a matter of weeks, and she felt like hers was just starting again. She felt reborn with Charlie. He made her feel like a very special fairy princess and as she thought it, she heard a familiar ring in her head. Someone else had made her feel that way…Nigel…and Ed in the beginning…and Ian…She wanted to be sure this wasn’t a replay of all the mistakes she’d made before. But it didn’t seem like it. He seemed perfect in every way.

She and Sam talked for a while, he was tired and irritable, and stressed by his negotiations with Tamar over money while still living with her. She wanted a hefty sum for having given up five years of her life. His mother had declared war on her, on Sam’s behalf, which complicated matters further. The baby had an earache and had kept him up all night, and Nathan had stomach flu. Tamar was doing nothing to help him with the kids. They were his problem now. In her mind, she had already left.

“Sounds like real life to me,” Coco said gently, but the good news in her life was that Bethanie had just been checked at Sloan Kettering again, and had come through with flying colors, with no sign of leukemia at all. The treatment had worked. Everything else in Coco’s life was insignificant compared to that.

She and Charlie had been dating for a month when he invited her away for a weekend at his house in Saint Bart’s. It was a loaded question, and she understood the implication, but they had seen a lot of each other, and she was dying to sleep with him. She accepted, and they were planning to go down on Friday morning on his plane. They were going to spend a night on his boat, which was docked in Antigua and he hadn’t mentioned to her. It was a two-hundred-and-fourteen-foot sailboat he’d had built by a famous shipyard in Italy, and was the envy of experienced sailors. He was taking her to a party in Palm Beach on Sunday night, and they were flying back on Monday morning in time for both of them to go to work. It all sounded perfect. On her lunch hour she bought a white silk dress at Chanel in SoHo to wear on his boat. It was just going to be the two of them all weekend, until they went to Palm Beach for the party, which was going to be a big event. She had a new dress for that too. She’d been doing a lot of shopping lately, for their busy social life. It was easy for him. He either wore suits or black tie. The lifestyle was familiar to her, although it wasn’t what she would have chosen to pursue on her own. She was happy with a simple life, doing things with Bethanie or Sam and his children. But it was exciting being out with Charlie. He made her feel beautiful, sophisticated, and young.

She spoke to Sam on Thursday night, before she left. She didn’t tell him where she was going, he had enough problems these days with Tamar and a divorce, she didn’t want to bother him with her new social life and budding romance. She had a faint suspicion he wouldn’t approve. He was negative about everything these days. And there was an unreal quality to her relationship with Charlie. Her parents hadn’t lived that way, even though they could have. They didn’t like to show off, and Coco never had either. But it was fun being with Charlie, it was all so glamorous and exciting.

“Do you want to have dinner tomorrow night? The nanny will stay late if I need her to,” Sam asked her.

“I can’t, I’m sorry, Sam.”

“Another black-tie event on the Bartlett circuit?” he asked, sounding a little snide about it, or maybe just jealous that she was having fun and he wasn’t. Nothing about his life was fun at the moment, neither his battles with Tamar about the spousal support she wanted, nor his kids, who seemed to be constantly sick now that the two oldest were in preschool and brought every bug home to the two younger ones. Sam had had a cold for two weeks, and a bout of stomach flu himself. He was run-down and tired, and discouraged. “I seem to be in purgatory at the moment,” he commented, and she laughed.