“All right,” she mumbled. What else could she do? Ivan had made up his mind already.

When he hung up with Christina, he called and said the same thing to Ashley.

She responded, “What? That’s crazy. I don’t believe you asked me that.”

“It’s only a dinner with her, Ashley. We do that all the time.”

“Yeah, and then you’ll have me for dessert. Well, no, I’m not gonna do that,” she said. “And you can call me when I’m the dinner date. I’m not taking seconds to Lucina.”

Ivan told her, “You take seconds at all the events. What’s the difference?”

That caught Ashley off guard. She stated, “That’s exactly why I left her. I want to be my own person. I don’t wanna feel like I’m lining up for her all the time.”

“You’re not,” Ivan told her. “You’re lining up for me now.”

“Oh, like that’s supposed to make a difference. And what do you mean I’m lining up for you, anyway?”

Ivan told her, “It means exactly what I said. I mean, I like you, but everything falls in line where it falls.”

Ashley went silent. She said, “Can I ask you a question? And I don’t expect for you to answer this, but I want to ask you anyway.”

“What?”

“Have you ever done anything with Lucina?”

“Done anything like what?” Ivan asked her.

“You know what I’m talking about. Have you ever had sex with her?”

Ivan told her, “Like I said, it’s business. It’s always about business with her. And that’s what it is tonight,” he answered. “So, if you still feel like you want to give me a birthday present, wrapped in whatever, then you make up your mind to do that.”

“Hmmph,” Ashley grunted. “You must think I’m that desperate for you, but I’m not. I’m really not.”

“All right, well…it’s still my birthday tonight. So wish me a good one.”

Ivan figured he needed to get used to losing out on women who couldn’t stick with him through his plans. There was still too much he wanted to get accomplished to slow down. And Lucina continued to make him too much money to be second fiddle to anyone.

“They’ll get over it,” he told himself of Christina and Ashley. “Or maybe they won’t.”

Lucina arrived at his apartment with two brown bags of prepared Italian food at exactly 8:37. She was wearing a long, beige overcoat that nearly reached her pink heels.

“You’re seven minutes late,” Ivan joked. “And what’s up with this coat you’re wearing? Is it supposed to rain tonight?”

“First I had to park,” she told him as Ivan set the bags of hot food down on the kitchen counter. “And this coat, I wanted to surprise you with.”