Before Qia and B go to dinner, B says, "I really like Di."
Qia is instantly jealous. Also, what the hell? If he wants Di, he should date her.
Di puts on an elegant dinner for six in her elegant modern house. B asks about the house and it's big. Qia asks for the house tour and Di says that other parts are too messy. Good, thinks Qia. The public spaces are for show and Di is actually a real person.
On the way home B says that he likes Di again. He says that P has had other mistresses, but Di understands him and tolerates? Puts up with? Humors? Qia forgets what term he uses because she is 9/10s asleep. He says that P is brilliant but has some holes in his social skills. Unlikely to change in his 80s.
He also says that quite a while ago, while Qia was sick, he told Di that they'd better just have dinner with the two of them. Apparently Qia passed that test, so now she gets to have dinner with six. Qia buys a new pair of second hand jeans for $6 and wears a green cashmere sweater. Because that's the closest she can approximate the social code for what to wear. It turns out to be wrong, the other two women are wearing red and black, but not too far wrong. Qia also dumps red wine on her sweater but washes it out quickly in cold water and manages to miss the couch and rug. Whew.
In the morning Qia thinks about it. B has said a long time ago, over a year, that he would like to model a relationship on Di and P.
Yes, thinks Qia, I get it. But I want to be P, not Di.
After all, B has a neater house.
He might be the better cook. Really, he wins with flesh and she wins with vegetables. Win win.
He has actual social skills and has told her that he can get along with anyone.
Qia relaxes and looks forward to the next time they get together. Because she is going to enjoy endorsing the model, and then saying that she thinks B should be Di and Qia should be P. She suspects that this is NOT what B has in mind, but she is also sure that it will make him laugh.
Maybe, just maybe, they can take turns being P and Di.
Irondale