บท 138: Chapter 138 - Flawless

That was so odd.

"My my. Seems as though they were in a hurry." Estelle simply brushed that interaction off and began to lead the club once again. "Anyways. Before we got interrupted I am so glad we could all come today to this meeting."

You would have thought what Toni did was an everyday occurrence with how unbothered and unfazed the women were. None even gossiped about what happened let alone give a side eye. They acted as though she never showed up at all.

Prior to Toni coming in, the first half of the meeting was just a social networking event. All of us women mainly just introduced ourselves and talked about various mundane topics from what books we were reading to anything more personal.

Thankfully the questions I got asked were never super personal and mainly people were just curious on more surface level things. It eased a lot of the anxiety I had coming in.

The ladies were all very nice and welcoming. I anticipated some pushback considering I was the only young person there as Estelle limited the club to just her circle of friends and acquaintances. Despite sharing a common friend, many had not met others in the club before so a babble of conversations filled the room. The food and wine provided was also amazing. She set out a good variety so everyone ended up getting a little bit of everything.

"Now that we have gotten to know one another and we have eaten to our hearts content, I want to unveil the first book our club will be reading."

Estelle had many stacks of books lying around for people to read as well as serve as a precursor to the selected book. "This book has been widely regarded as such a powerful and must have read. I have gone through all the reviews and conversational pieces either written or filmed for this book and I am so excited to start reading it."

Propped up on one of the tables was like an easel with the book covered by a red cloth. This is what everyone was watching while also munching on their food. "I am so excited to announce that we will be reading '30 and Clueless.'"

Some women gasped and blushed profusely at the announcement. The name sounded familiar but I could not recall the plot of the story. However once I received my copy of the book, I remembered why it seemed familiar. This book is one that is highly rated in the romance book community, but it is also one of the most erotic.

"The story centers on a 30-year-old woman named Nina who on the side of her normal office job, runs an advice blog where people can send in emails asking for advice on just about anything. However, she one day receives a post asking about how to approach asking your partner if they would be willing to try something kinky. She tries to research as much as she can to figure out how to best answer this question as she has no sexual experience but this leads to a misunderstanding as her coworker catches her. He offers to help her which complicates her life in many ways. Her whole world view is changed and suddenly is now clueless on what to do."

I recalled the review one of my favorite content creators made about the book. The work is beautiful and touches on many topics that are not seen discussed in novels very often. It artfully highlights what dating is like for an older woman and the power struggles and shame often seen in less experienced partners. The realism of the book is highly praised as well as its depiction of sex.

It is very steamy and graphic which is why I did not add it to my list. I had nothing against erotic novelists of books. Everyone had their own niche. Personally, after seeing how highly praised the book is I was intrigued by it and curious of what made it so good. But I could not bear it if my mom or dad walked into my room and saw the book. I am in my mid-twenties but I did not need my parents to know I was reading that caliber of book.

However, here I was out in public with a bunch of older ladies holding the book in my hand. "Considering that nature of the book I would like us to read the first 10 chapters at our own discretion and have a discussion on the chapters next week. Is this ok?"

Most of the women were excitedly already opening and prepping their books to their reading set up. "Yes we are!" Marie Rainer, one of the women present, called out.

"Perfect then that concludes this meeting see everyone next week at my place. I will be texting the address as well as any other instructions for next meeting." Everyone started to file out seemingly ready to dive into the first couple chapters of the book.

I ended up stuffing the book into my bag and headed back to my place. The book felt as though it weighed a hundred pounds, even though realistically it could not be more than a few pounds based on the thickness.

It was not until I was in the safety of my room that I opened it to skim. The few chapters I saw were very detailed which gave me the chills. This was going to be interesting. I sat down on the bed and started to read the book.

The chapters themselves were quite long so I could see how reaching the 10 chapters might be tricky. However, now having started the novel I could understand why it is so highly rated and recommended. The way the author built the world and characters was flawless.

I committed to read at least two chapters a night to be able to finish on time and by the end of the second chapter I was hooked. Taking some construction paper I made my own cover so my parents would not get curious and placed it on the top shelf where unless I used my chair to get up it was not easily visible. At least I thought it was.