The Love Of Money - Episode 206
31-07-25 (07:17)
I could see the confusion on her face despite the
lighting. "How would.."
"I had people look into it after we talked on the phone,"
I said. "God, Jess... it's amazing what you can get done
with access to limitless resources." I sighed. "Why'd you
wait a day after the interview to call me? Wanted a
little cushion to make it seem like you weren't trying to
get back together with me because I'm rich?"
This time, she didn't have anything to say. She looked
away, and I could just make her eyes out in the
lamplight and saw the shimmer of unshed tears. Then
realized something.
Confronting her like this felt good, but considering how
little time I'd had to mourn my relationship, it wasn't as
satisfying as I thought it would be. Whatever hurt
Jessica had given me had been cut short once I'd
discovered I was a Gerrard. I'd been so distracted by
life changes and pussy that I hadn't had time to mourn
the loss of my relationship, and upon the realization
that Natalie and I were both single, that little bit of pain
felt even less significant.
In doing this, thought I would feel the kind of
satisfaction I received with Bobbi. Instead, I felt like the
biggest kid on the playground, beating on the smallest.
Sure she had wronged me by cheating on me, but
losing that relationship and then finding out the guy she
dumped had inherited billions had to serve as
punishment enough, right?
"You're right," she said, and I could tell by the quaver in
her voice that she was crying. "I'm so sorry."
I wanted to ask her if she loved me, but I didn't want
to know the answer. I'm pretty sure I had feelings for
her-possibly even love - up until the moment we broke
up. If she confessed that she'd never really loved me,
that might open a wound that had been closed, and
where' was the sense in that? I doubted she would
have admitted it anyway.
"You know what? It's fine," I said. "If I'd been dating
you when I found out about the money, we might
have kept dating, and who knows what would have
happened with the others. I've had some amazing
experiences since we broke up. I should probably send
you flowers or something as a thanks."
She snorted, tittered through the tears, and reached into
her
handbag to retrieve a tissue. We'd dated long enough
that she could comfortably blow her nose in front of
me.
"Are you seriously dating any of them?" She asked after
she'd composed herself a little more.
"Why? You looking to fill that position again?"
She simply stared back at me, the shadows no longer
doing much good at hiding her emotions.
"I'll take that as a yes," I muttered. "No. I'm not
officially dating. them."
"What about Natalie?" Jess said. "I know you had a
thing for her, and the way she reacted when I showed
up, I think she has a thing for you."
I shook my head. "She's dating someone else. I don't
want to talk about it."
"Oh," Jessica said, sounding surprised. "And those are
the only ones?"
"No," I said. "There's been a few others." I counted them
in my head: Helen, Erin, Danni, Ashlee, Shea, Natashya,
Bobbi, Rose, Honey... Charity, maybe? "I guess roughly
ten in total?"
I could feel the shock from her. "My God. Ten?"
"You judging me?" asked.
"No!" Jess was quick to respond. "It's just... we haven't
been single for very long, and I didn't think you had it
in you..." She tucked her hands between her knees and
cocked her head to one side. "None of them are
serious?"
"I don't know. One of them could be in the future."
"So... there's no chance for us anyтоге?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. I've already been
asked that once this week, and I'm seriously
considering it. I can't make up my mind on whether I'm
ready for a committed relationship, though. Like I said,
I've had some amazing experiences so far. It's hard to
give that up."
"That's not a 'no," she said.
"Well, it's not a 'yes,' either," I retorted. "You've seen
the competition, Jess, and it's not just the fact that
they're all gorgeous. They're all amazing women, too."
"As long as it's not a 'no."
I studied her momentarily, then said, "Let me ask you a
question. What do you think about an open
relationship?"
Jess sat up a little straight as she mused over the
question, "What do I think about being in an open
relationship? God... I don't know. I've never been in
one."
"I've been thinking about it. I think if I were in a
relationship, it would need to be open. At least for
now."
Jessica grew quiet for a moment, then said, "I guess
that makes sense. I can see how there's something
missing in sleeping around that a relationship would
provide. That way, you can have both, right?"
"Yeah," I said.
She sniffled and wiped at her nose again. "Does that go
both ways?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if you're in a relationship that allows you to sleep
around, what about her?"
I hadn't addressed this since Erin, where' I'd made it
explicitly clear that I didn't want her sleeping around
with other men. However, I was aware that Helen was
still available to her husband, and there was always a
chance that Danni could find someone else if I didn't
provide her with some kind of commitment.
"I don't know," said, "I don't like the idea of sharing
with other men. Especially someone I'm in a
relationship with. I think it would have to be one-sided."
"Isn't that a little unfair?" Jess said. Her tone wasn't
accusatory.
"Maybe," I shrugged, "but that's just how it is. This
probably sounds kind of shitty, but I'm the one in this
position, and that's what I want. As long as I'm upfront
about it, don't think it's entirely unreasonable. I'd hope
she would at least be up for joining me with other
girls." Don't forget to leave a Comment 
