Fleur-de-lis

Interlude: Man of the vineyard

John's p.o.v.

I take a deep breath as I try to regain my composure before knocking on Luca and Grace's birtch front door.

"Knock on wood." I chuckle to myself before reminding myself to be normal.

After a moment, Luca answers the door. "John! You made it. Thank god." Luca greets.

"Couldn't leave you hanging." I assure, stepping inside.

I stumble a bit as I walk over the threshold prompting Luca to try and catch me. I manage to save myself and regain my balance.

"Are you alright?" Luca questions.

"Yeah...I'm good." I assure as we make our way to the living room together.

Inside was quite the hosting of suburban Christian moms, all gathered around the living room, socializing with Grace. Through the glass double doors in the back, I could see husbands and a few kids and teens out back, shooting the shit and barbecuing.

All the women stop their chatter to see who the newcomer might be.

"Ladies, this is my best bud, Johnathan." Luca introduces. "John, the neighborhood." He gestures to the women.

"I was wondering were all the beautiful women had gone to." I comment, trying to FastTrack into their good graces. Married women loved a younger guy who handed out free compliments after all. Something that comes rarely from their husbands after their relationships become low effort and routine.

I earn a few blushes and modest appreciations before coming to greet everyone formally and personally.

"I'm Amelia." The first greets. She was in her thirties, blonde but with brown roots so it was dyed. She wore a tight dress that went  to her knees with a small coat around her arms and one of those false under shirts that were meant to cover cleavage. No heels but decorative flats. She liked to dress sexy but not immodest. Definitely the kinkiest of the Christian moms. She would likely be the one Grace could go to for "girls only" things to get away from the husbands.

"Charmed." I say.

"Sophia." The next one introduces. She was late twenties, maybe. She was much more run of the mill in terms of outward character. T-shirt and jeans combo, women's sneakers, long brown hair and her only accessory was her wedding ring. She did wear a small amount of makeup though. She didn't really strike me as someone who had any interest in doing anything spontaneous. Her smile towards me was less enthusiastic than the others but more genuine. My guess is that she's family oriented. Maybe into event planning but I couldn't get a great read on her.

"Very nice to meet you." I smile.

I look to the next one and she annouces herself shyly. "I'm Leilani." She gestures awkwardly. She was mid thirties, maybe. She had long dark hair and clearly some mixed heritage...some sort of hispanic. I couldn't really be sure of the specifics. She was thinner than all the others, her dress was looser and she wore hoop earrings. Probably afraid to try new things but non-judgmental. Quieter than the others. Interesting thing about the shy and quiet type of housewife? There was a 50/50 chance that she liked to gossip. Always listening for something interesting.

"A pleasure." I greet her softly.

"And I'm Eleanor but you can call me Nora." The last of them introduces. She was the heartiest of them all, late thirties to early forties and had a shorter, curlier haircut than the others. She had diamond earrings on as well as other matching jewelry...actually her clothes matched as well. She was wealthy. Definitely a Karen type but a well-meaning Karen...not a malicious one. She was most certainly the unspoken leader of these women and a loud voice for them when they needed.