Bound by Christmas

Chapter Seven: Significance

I stared at my date as he pulled up to the restaurant's valet, trying not to imagine him bent over and being spanked by Sara. That was a disturbing image I would be happy to never have to witness in real life. It wasn't because my date was unattractive; on the contrary, he was tall, dark and built. The man looked like a professional rugby player, which made it even more difficult to picture him as Sara's submissive. And, honestly, I was grateful for it since I didn't want to visualize my best friend as anyone's Domme.

My date, Ari, turned to face me, catching me ogling him. "Are you ready?" he asked, giving me a wink.

"Not really," I admitted.

"Are you just nervous, or did you change your mind about going?"

"Umm, I'm not sure."

Ari took a moment to study me and reached for my hand, patting it with reassurance. "Look, I know we're already here but that doesn't mean we have to go inside. If this is something you have to do, I'm with you. But, when you say the word, we'll leave. Okay?"

Did I want to go inside and see who Sebastián was with? Yes. Yes, I did. I needed to know what was going on so I could finally move on.

"Thank you for your support, Ari," I said with a small smile. "But, I want to do this. I'll let you know when I want to leave."

He nodded and exited the car as the valet approached us. When I saw him walk toward my door, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to face Sebastián. As I grabbed Ari's hand and followed him out of the car, the valet instructed us to follow the red velvet rope toward the restaurant's entrance. There were already a few dozen people standing in line by the rope, so we made our way toward them.

Half an hour later, we finally turned around the corner and could see the door to the restaurant, but that wasn't the only thing I could see. Standing by the entrance was Sebastián and his date, being pestered by paparazzi and a few tabloid reporters. Sebastián was smiling at the cameras, gripping his date's hip, as the reporters fired questions at them.

"You make such a beautiful couple; how long have you been dating?"
"Did you fall in love on set?"
"Are there wedding bells in the near future?"

They ignored all of the questions –neither one of them confirming or denying anything– as she leaned against him, letting them snap more photos.

Ari squeezed my hand as I tried to hold back my tears. Sebastián's date was his co-star, Barbara Gonzalez? What was going on? When did their relationship become romantic?

"Did you know I got kicked out of a BDSM party once?" Ari whispered in my ear.

I looked at him, confused. "What?"

"Yeah, I came without permission."

I couldn't help but laugh at his joke. I was starting to see why Sara was so enamored with him. When my laughter finally died down, I smiled at him with relief. "Thank you," I whispered.

He nodded and moved along the line.

I turned to face the entrance again, but Sebastián and Barbara were gone. Composing myself, I knew what I had to do. So, when we finally made it into the restaurant, I ignored all the other attendees and looked around for Sebastián. Once I finally spotted him standing by the bar with his date, I grabbed Ari's hand and approached them.

Sebastián was leaning against the bar, having a conversation with a few guests. I knew the moment he noticed me by the way he straightened his back and narrowed his eyes. It took some time for Ari and I to break through the crowd but —eventually— we were standing in front of them.

Sebastián opened his mouth to say something but I spoke first.

"Congratulations Sebastián," I praised. "I'm positive your new telenovela will be a great success."

I watched as Barbara looked me up and down, and smiled when she concluded I wasn't any competition. "Thank you, we've worked very hard on it."

Smiling back at her, I nodded. "I'm sure you have."

"Jenna, where have you been?" Sebastián asked through clenched teeth, cutting off my conversation with his date. "I've been trying to reach you for over a week."

His question really made my hackles rise, but I controlled my emotions and just blinked at him innocently. "Who? Me? Oh, I've been busy with Ari."

I didn't think it was possible for Sebastián to look any more pissed, but he looked downright terrifying when he stared at Ari.

Ari waved at him and smiled brightly, wrapping his arm around my waist. "That's me... I'm Ari."

While Sebastián was looking at Ari like he was contemplating his murder, I turned back to Barbara and fixed my focus on the necklace fastened around her neck. "That's a beautiful necklace," I admired. "It really brings out your eyes."

"Thank you. It was a gift from Sebastián," she gushed.

"Oh, what a coincidence," I replied with false excitement. "I have a gift for Sebastián too." Then, I reached into my purse and grabbed a jewelry box, handing it to Sebastián.

Looking unsure, he hesitantly reached for it. "Thank you," he mumbled.

I waved my hand at him. "It's not as valuable as that necklace you bought for your date. It's just something small and unimportant, but I'm sure you'll understand its significance."

When Sebastián just stared at me silently, I decided to end our little interaction. I had accomplished what I'd sought out to do. So, I gripped Ari's hand, turned around, and walked away. As we left the party, I felt Sebastián's gaze burning holes in the back of my head. I smiled as I thought to myself, 'My work here is done.'