A Passionate Discovery (Self-Discovery Series) (30 page)

“I know it
was stupid of me to let it happen, Scarlett, but I’m determined to see these
nights through, no matter what.” Was she a fool for being willing to do
whatever was asked of her just so she could have some memories that didn’t
involve her being boring and prudish? Biting her lip hard she found herself
questioning her own decision.

“Look, honey,
I’ve already told you what I think, but this is your choice, and you’re the one
who’s going to have to deal with the consequences when it’s over. The only
thing I’m concerned with is whether you will be able to walk away at the end of
it.”

“I have
to. If I don’t walk away I think I’m going to become a person I don’t like very
much.” She wasn’t prepared to get into how Scarlett felt about what she was
doing; she had already heard her friend’s opinion.

“That
doesn’t answer the question, honey. It’s great that you know you have to leave,
but will you be able to?” Knowing something was bad for you didn’t mean you
were willing, or able, to stop the addiction.

“I will,” Carla
said determinedly. “It’s not a matter of if for me.” She felt tears filling her
eyes as she said it.

“You have
no idea how sorry I am for introducing you to him.” Scarlett hated seeing her
friend in pain, all the more so because she knew it was her fault, without her Carla
would never have met Jason.

“Don’t say
that, Scarlett. No matter how this ends I’m glad I got to experience it.” She
realized she meant it, and the realization made her heart feel a little
lighter, Even if she couldn’t stick with the lifestyle, at least because of her
experience with it she knew what it meant to love, and more importantly, what
it meant to feel passion.

“Alright,
you’re a grown woman, Carla, and you know I’m here for you, no matter what you
do,” Scarlett said, giving her best friend a hug. “Just remember that I love
you, okay, and well, damn it, that’s it, I just love you.” She grinned and sat
back.

“I love
you too, Scarlett, and you know what?”

“What’s
that, honey?” She waited for the answer expectantly.

“Who needs
a man when I have the best friend in the entire world?” They both laughed at
her comment.

“Unless
you plan on becoming my sex slave, I think I might still need one.” Scarlett
waggled her eyebrows in an effort to make her friend laugh.

“Pfft, you
might become mine.” Leak stuck out her tongue childishly, enjoying being able
to laugh about things.

When Daniel
returned he was pleased to see the two friends laughing and joking. “Okay
ladies, where are we setting up this feast?” he asked, setting down a bag full
of boxes of Chinese food and drinks.

“I’ll grab
a blanket; we can have an indoor picnic.” Scarlett grinned at the idea and
hopped up to go and dig one out from a box. She returned soon enough, and with Daniel’s
help spread the blanket out on the floor.

Once the
blanket was sorted they all sat around it and Daniel began handing around the
little white boxes and their drinks. For a while they ate in a companionable
silence until finally he spoke. “Listen, Carla, I just want you to know that I
don’t think any differently about you after yesterday. You are Scarlett’s best
friend, and I think you’re a great person, so I really hope you can get over
any embarrassment around me.”

It was
hard not to take his comment as genuine when she saw the loving way Scarlett
looked at him. “I’m going to try my best to just forget you were there, and
maybe you could do the same.”

“Did I see
you somewhere yesterday? You’ll have to refresh my memory, I don’t remember?”
Grinning he was pleased to see her smile back. He planned on spending a lot of
time with Scarlett, which meant getting on with her friend was important.

“Thanks, Daniel;
sorry I was being such a prude.” She felt a little silly for getting so worked
up over the situation when it was clear he wasn’t bothered by it in the
slightest.

“Don’t
worry about it. I’ve been living this lifestyle for so long that sometimes I
wonder if anything really bothers me anymore.” He gave a quick smile and then
maneuvered another mouthful of sweet and sour chicken into his mouth with his
chopsticks.

“Well
good, it’s settled then.” Scarlett smiled. “I want my two favorite people in
the world to be best friends.”

“I’ll just
think of you as my baby sister, Carla, since I don’t have one.” Daniel winked
at Scarlett. He was falling in love with her, he knew it, and was prepared to do
anything to make her happy; fortunately being friends with her best friend was
a simple thing and he had no problem with it.

“So if Jason
gives me any trouble tonight I should call you for help?” Giving a little grin Carla
wondered how that would work out.

“Given
he’s my business partner, I think it might be best if you call Scarlett should
you have any trouble tonight, little sister. Of course, the chances are Scarlett
would be of more use to you than I would be anyway,” he said with a chuckle.

They all
had a good laugh over his answer and the rest of the lunch was much more
comfortable for Carla. It definitely relieved her mind that he didn’t think any
the less of her after what had happened. She’d known Scarlett would love her no
matter what, but it made her feel better that things were okay between her and Daniel
as well, especially with the end of things fast approaching.

Once lunch
was over Daniel left to return to the office, having done his good deed for the
day, as he described it.

Scarlett
and Carla pottered around for a while, exploring their new home and deciding
where their things would go, as well as listing the furniture they needed to
get. When they had done that they went out.

Their
first stop was the dorm administration offices; since they had no desire to
spend another night in their dorm rooms they returned their keys and signed
out, officially ending their time on the campus. After that they moved on to
furniture shopping.

Furniture shopping
was not something Carla had ever done before; neither had Scarlett for that
matter, but as always Scarlett had no problem with a new experience and
confidently led the way through the doors into their first furniture store.

A smile
from Scarlett, and a casual mention that anything they bought would be paid for
on her daddy’s credit card, secured them the enthusiastic assistance of a
salesman. Like a puppy he followed them around the store, keeping on their
heels the entire way. Whenever they stopped, he stopped, and when Scarlett
asked him a question about something he barked; at least that was what Carla
thought in amusement.

In no time
at all they had purchased a beige butter soft leather three piece suite, a pair
of double beds, wardrobes, chests of drawer and numerous other items. Carla
couldn’t believe how much her friend was buying, or the size of the bill she
was racking up to go on our father’s credit card, but Scarlett just laughed off
her concerns, saying they needed all of it.

After what
seemed like hours, at least to Carla, Scarlett finally declared that they had
the bare essentials necessary to make the condo livable. Carla was surprised
when her friend blithely assured the salesman who had spent the afternoon
following them around that they would be back, once they had settled all their
newly acquired furniture in place and knew just what they were missing to make
the condo a home. As far as Carla was concerned they had all the furniture they
could need, and more.

When the
final bill was tallied up Carla was shocked, she couldn’t believe how casually
her friend had spent more than five thousand dollars on her father’s credit
card. She insisted on paying for her share of the bill, since a third of the
furniture was for her bedroom, and she had the money Jason had put into her
bank account. Scarlett declined though, asserting that since her father was all
but forcing her to take the condo, he could pay for it to be furnished, and he
could definitely afford to do so.

With
everything paid for, and delivery arranged for the following day, the earliest
the store could get it to them, Carla and Scarlett left. Carla thought they
were going to head home, since they had bought the furniture they went out for,
but as was often the case when she went anywhere with her friend, what she
thought was completely wrong.

From the
furniture store Scarlett dragged her friend into an electronics emporium,
insisting that it was all well and good for them to have beds to sleep in, and
stuff to sit on, but without entertainment they would be bored out of their
minds.

The
technique Scarlett had employed in the previous store worked just as well there
and they soon had a salesman following them around, giving them advice on the
best things to spend their money on.

Carla’s
shock at the money her friend spent in the previous store was eclipsed by the
size of the bill in the electronics emporium.

Three
televisions, one huge 3D one for the living room, with a top of the line sound
system, and two smaller ones for the bedrooms, Blu-ray players, stereos, a
microwave, and a fridge-freezer all combined to run up a bill that was almost
double what the furniture had cost.

Scarlett
tried to buy her friend a new laptop, to replace the tired one she was stuck
with, but that was where Carla drew the line. Though she couldn’t stop her
friend buying the rest of what she picked out, Carla did refuse to let her pay
for the laptop, instead she paid for it out of the money Jason had given her,
accepting that it was a good idea to get one just then while she had the
opportunity.

Scarlett paid
the bill without giving the final total a second glance, and then arranged for
everything to be delivered the next day. As she pointed out to Carla on their
way out, Carla had the box containing her new laptop tucked under her arm,
there was no point worrying about the stuff they’d bought until the next day
since neither of them was planning on spending the night at the condo.

She was
going to be spending the night with Daniel, while Carla was going to be at Jason’s.

Arriving
home Carla immediately opened the box and took out the laptop she’d bought. It
was the first new laptop she’d ever owned, never having had the money to buy
new before, and her fingers itched to try it out. Trying out the display model
was one thing, but it wasn’t the same as turning on her own and really trying
it out without the limitations the store imposed on what a person could do.

“Hey, hon,”
Scarlett had to try several times to get her friend’s attention, “shouldn’t you
be getting ready if you’re going to Jason’s tonight?” she asked after a little
over an hour, during which time her friend had been glued to her new laptop,
checking out the installed programs and surfing the net on the superfast
broadband that was available in the condo.

“Oh crap!”
Carla exclaimed when she saw the time. “You’re right, dammit.” Hurriedly
shutting down the laptop she got to her feet and put the computer on the
breakfast bar in the kitchen, the only place she could think of that would keep
it off the floor for the time being.

Dragging
the boxes marked as having clothing into her bedroom Carla began hunting for
something to wear. Once again she had no idea what Jason had planned for them; nonetheless
she wanted to look her best, whatever was going to happen.

“Oh
bother!” Carla’s cry brought Scarlett to the door of her friend’s bedroom.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Huh?” Carla
looked round from where she was rooting through a box, surprised to see her
friend.

“I asked
what’s the matter,” Jane said. “I heard you ‘oh bothering’ from my room. And what’s
with the mess?” She looked around at the clothes Carla had dug out of the box
and discarded on the floor.

“They’re
all wrinkled,” Carla told her, waving an arm at the clothes surrounding her.

“That’s no
surprise if you’re just throwing them on the floor. You can’t treat clothes
like that and expect them to stay neat.”

Carla
scowled at her friend. “They were wrinkled before I took them out of the box.”

“But I
thought you went to such pains to ensure everything was packed neatly. That’s
why it took us nearly four hours to sort out your room.”

“I did,
but they’re still wrinkled!” Carla wailed in despair. “I can’t go to Jason’s in
a wrinkled dress, he won’t like that.”

Scarlett
chose not to comment on that, instead she gave the only advice she had. “Just pick
the least wrinkled outfit you have. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

After
going through the entire box Carla was reluctantly forced to go with Scarlett’s
advice, unfortunately the least wrinkled halfway decent outfit she could find
was a white cotton sports dress with a red pattern. It was a long way from the
stylish outfits Jason had bought her, and he clearly preferred, but at least
she wouldn’t feel like a rumpled mess wearing it.

Hanging
the dress on the back of the door to her en-suite bathroom Carla got herself
ready. She showered quickly, and then did her hair and applied makeup, deciding
to go with a simple ponytail and only a trace of makeup, to avoid looking out
of place with her dress.