STAND BESIDE ME TOMORROW

I stared at Serena waiting for the answer that her silence refused to give me. Her thumb moved across my knuckles, but her eyes remained fixed on mine as if she clearly knew what I feared. Claire was not outside our relationship anymore and I needed to know what that meant for me.

“Unfinished means there is a discussion I should have had with her some time ago,” Serena asserted to me. She shifted carefully against the sofa. “It doesn’t mean I want her back,” I watched her face while looking for guilt instead of hesitation. 

“Then have it,” I said while forcing my voice to stay steady. “I am not going to ask you to avoid someone just because she had some history with you.” Serena’s voice had softened. 

In the conversation we had explained that Claire was not simply an ex who still appeared whenever she wanted. Claire had handled Velvet’s private events, bookings, guests, and arrangements for years, including while she and Serena were together, and that meant that the relationship ended but the professional arrangement never did.

Serena’s explanation shows why Claire always seemed very comfortable inside of the club. She clearly belonged there, and realizing that caused my jealousy to feel more unfair and childish. 

Serena noticed the expression in me and leaned closer even with the careful way she was moving. “You do not have to like that she is still part of Velvet,” Serena murmured. “But you should know the truth rather than creating a worse story in your head.” I gave her a tired smile, even though I knew she was right and I hated how easily my imagination hurt me.

“I need to know where I stand here,” I admitted while rubbing my thumb over her fingers. “You already told me you chose me, but maybe I need your actiI requiree same thing.” Serena held my gaze for a moment, while she lifted my hands and kissed my knuckles.

“I can do that,” she said quietly as she squeezed my fingers. “And I am also not going to make you stand somewhere alone while I get to figure myself out.” The kiss had warmed on my hand, but the truth remained downstairs.

Serena met Claire near the private events office while I remained in the main room. I was unable to hear their conversation and I also couldn’t listen through the door. If Serena had promised me honesty, I needed to trust her enough to let her speak without having an audience.

When Claire came out, the look on her face was calm but Serena was looking more unsettled than she was before. Claire slowly paused near us, and gave me a nod that showed neither hostility or warmth. She wasn’t trying to compete with me which somewhat made the situation more difficult to forget. 

“I am not asking you to leave her,” she uttered toward Serena. “I am asking you to stop leaving things unfinished because difficult conversations tend to make you comfortable.”

Claire went further to disclose that she had accepted their relationship was over but the problem is Serena had never clearly separated their personal history from the professional arrangement at Velvet. She needed boundaries that none of them could claim they didn’t understand. Serena however nodded slowly instead of making claims to defend herself.

When Claire walked away, Serena remained still for several seconds. I was expecting her to tell me every discussion she had with Claire immediately, but instead, she looked toward Claire’s steps and exhaled. “She was right about one thing,” Serena admitted touching the edge of her jacket.

“I keep calling avoidance protection,” Serena’s gaze met my eyes. “I tell myself I am protecting people from pain, but sometimes I am only protecting myself from having to deal with the consequences.” I soon stepped closer to her because that became the most honest thing I have heard from her all day.

“But does this all mean you still want her in your life?” I asked, while my voice remained low. Serena however did not flinch from the question, and that somehow mattered more to me than receiving an immediate reply to my question. “I can respect someone from my past without having to want them back,” she said.

Serena gave me a smile before moving back to the office. “I have to follow the doctor's instructions,” she replied almost reluctantly. “So I cannot run this place today, but there are some things I can check without pretending I am fully back.” Her fingers got to mine again. 

She gave me a folder from the desk and then asked me to take it to the front office for one of her staff members. That was a task and nothing important enough to make me powerful, but important enough to make me useful at the clubs. When I returned, Serena was looking pleased.

“You handled that without asking me to rescue you,” Serena teased as she smiled, leaning back carefully before I rolled my eyes. The smile escaped off my face before I could stop it. “Maybe I am learning how your world works.”

“You’re not learning my world,” Serena corrected me with her softening voice. “You’re becoming part of it.” The words was able to settle somewhere deep inside me because this time she was not speaking about hiding, or waiting, or getting permission.

Before I could give an answer, Claire came back with a folder that was tucked beneath her arm placing it on Serena’s desk and explained that the private event already assigned to both of them was tomorrow night. Serena’s gaze moved from the folder, down to me, and the room suddenly became smaller.

I already knew what tomorrow meant before Serena spoke. Claire was still going to have a legitimate place at Velvet, the event could not simply be cancelled, and Serena could not avoid the situation without repeating the same pattern she had just promised me was going to end. I waited for her to decide whether choosing me meant keeping me away from all of those.

Instead, Serena immediately reached for my hand and held it where Claire could see them. “I want you beside me tomorrow,” she uttered to me. “If I am going to stop separating the parts of my life, then I am going to start them now.”

I felt my heart beat hard, but I refused to look at Claire for approval or some permission. My gaze met Serena and understood that tomorrow would not be about proving she loved me, but because she had already made that choice. It would now be about whether we could stand together when her past still had a place in the same room.