Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (27 page)

After dinner, she insisted on doing the cleaning before I took her home.
 Macy and her friend, the one I saw them with at the club, were making out on the couch when we walked into the house. As soon as she saw Calida, she gave her a wink and a smile.

“Hey, I
’m Mitchell, but most people call me Mitch,” he said, walking over to shake my hand.

“Nice to meet you.
 I’m Seth.”

“So did you kids have a fun night?” Macy asked, giving Calida a quick hug.

Calida looked at her then smiled at me. “Yeah, it was okay.”

“Just okay?”
I whispered against her ear. “I’ll have to try harder next time.”

I heard the sharp intake of her breath as she shot a shocked look towards me.

“I should put your bag down. I believe your room is this way.”

“It
’s okay. I’ll take it.” 

Calida grabbed for the bag, but I easily maneuvered around her. I walked into her room with her hot on my heels.
 I heard Macy and Mitch laughing as she closed the door behind her.

“Your room is very…colorful,” I commented, dropping her bag on the floor beside her bed.

The small space fit her personality well. The walls had light orange color of paint done in some sort of treatment which gave the appearance of swirls. The white, wrought-iron bed was covered with an orange, floral comforter and several decorative pillows in varying shapes and sizes. Two small, white wicker nightstands were on either side of the bed, and a matching dresser sat directly across from the bed.

“Thanks.
 I just finished redecorating it.”

“Ah, it looks good.
 I take it you like orange.”

“Yes.
 I love the color, but it clashes terribly with my hair, so I surround myself with it in other ways.”

 
I smiled seeing a dried rose sitting atop one of the nightstands. Taking a seat on her bed, I picked up the flower. “One of mine?”

Calida smiled and nodded in response. “From the first ones you sent me.”

I patted the space next to me. She silently obeyed, sitting close to me. I nuzzled my face in her neck, kissing it softly. I loved the way she smelled, delicate like a rose. My rose.

“Seth.”
 My name came out as a heavy sigh.

“Your bed is very comfortable.”

She didn’t resist when I gently adjusted my weight to lay her back on the bed. She didn’t protest when my lips claimed hers. My hand slid under her shirt, and my thumb circled her nipple, which grew tight under my touch. A soft moan escaped her lips as she arched her back against my hand. Her hands roamed across my back, pulling me closer. She parted her legs, giving me an invitation to take her once more, even though we both knew she was sore. 
Damnit!
I hated her for making me want her so much. I broke from the kiss, and she let out a whine of disappointment. 

“Goodnight, Ms. Alexander.”
 I planted a soft kiss on the tip of her nose before pulling myself away from her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

***

Macy knocked on my door shortly after Seth left. “You decent?” she asked, walking in before I even answered. “Man, I was expecting to hear the headboard knocking as you broke in this bed,” she said, plopping down beside me.

“No such luck tonight,” I replied, sitting up and pulling my knees to my chest.

“Wait, you’re telling me you still didn’t,” she asked, her voice full of disbelief.

“Oh, no, we did, and I think I
’m gonna be walking funny for a week. I’m a little out of practice, and even if I had been in practice, I still wouldn’t have been prepared for him.” I couldn’t contain the huge grin that spread across my face as Macy started laughing.

“So, tell me all about it, and don
’t leave out a thing!” she exclaimed.

“Macy!”

“What? I’ve listened to you whine about this man for months. You are so spilling the beans!”

“Okay, fine, but first is Mitch still here?”

“Yes, why you want to tell him too?”

“What?
 Ew, no. I need a favor.”

“Lee?” she said drawing out my name.

“Look, things just got carried away, and I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Calida Isabelle Alexander! Tell me you did not have sex with that man without using a condom.
 What the hell is wrong with you? What the hell is wrong with him? Pregnancy aside…”

She was pissed, and I knew she would be.
 I was pissed at myself once the realization of what I’d done hit me. If Seth had any doubts or concerns over our lack of condom use, he didn’t show it. 
Could he think I was on some form of birth control?
 I would have to let him know that wasn’t the case, and we would need to be more careful next time. 
Ah, next time.

“Lee!”
  Macy said, sternly bringing me out of my reverie.

“I know, I know.
 You aren’t telling me anything I haven’t already said to myself.”

She stood there glaring at me for a few moments before calling for Mitch.

“Whatcha need Babe?” he asked, popping his head in my room.

“Do you think you can run to the hospital to get my friend here a Plan B?
 The pharmacies are all closed except for that one.” As she spoke, Macy kept her eyes focused on me.

Mitch gave me a curious glance which then turned into a smile.
“Yeah sure. Anything else?”

“Yes, can you do blood work on her?”

“I could, but it would be best if she goes to see her GYN for that.”

“Thanks Mitch,” I mumbled, feeling once again like a teenager in trouble

“No prob. I’ll be back in about forty-five minutes or so.”

After Mitch left, Macy paced a little while before talking to me. “Look, you
’re an adult, and I’m not going to lecture you. What’s done is done. I’ve been there, so I know how quickly things can get out of hand.”  She sat down and smiled at me while knocking me over a little. “So, blonde moment aside how was it?”

“Oh Macy it was a-
maz-ing!” I shrieked. “It was an earth shattering, toe curling, life changing experience!”

We both squealed like a couple of school girls.

Chapter 24

The room, my bed felt very empty.
 I couldn’t sleep last night with Calida here, and I couldn’t sleep tonight with her gone. Her scent was faint, yet strong enough to remain lingering on the pillows. It was driving me crazy. Frustrated, I got up and stripped the sheets from the bed. 
Washing away her smell won’t help.
 Of course it wouldn’t help, but having it there wasn’t helping either. 
Just go get her, you want her, take her. She’s yours. 
That idea was tempting, but I couldn’t. That damn friend of hers makes things trickier. I couldn’t take her like the others, she wasn’t like the others. 

When I walked into my music room, it failed to bring me peace. She was here too. Taking a seat at the piano, I started playing, and for the first time in a long time, I thought about my father.
 Was this how it was for him? A burning need and desire to possess Mother that blinded him from everything else? When she was particularly upset or lonely she always gave me the ‘romantic’ version of how they’d met as my bedtime story. He’d come to one of her concerts while on a business trip, and her music had moved something within his heart. He pursued her for months, showering her with gifts, trying to win her affections. She admitted to playing a little hard to get because he was almost ten years her senior. Besides, she had the love of her music, and her career was at its peak. When she did finally agree to go out with him, they were married a month later. 

That was where the light would always go out of her eyes.
 He had insisted she stop touring, stating that her schedule conflicted too much with his business trips. No wife of his needed to be out in the world if he wasn’t with her. Her place was at home, by his side as a wife and mother. Twelve months after they were married, they welcomed me into the world. I believed this version until I was old enough to learn she was deluding herself. 

I suspected she told me the story more as a reminder to herself as to why she stayed with him, to convince herself he loved her, but that man was incapable of love.
 I believed he saw her and wanted her. He set forth a calculated plan to have her, just like he did in his business dealings with acquiring companies. He pursued her, wooed her, and once he’d acquired her, he moved on to the next conquest. They slept in separate rooms and he bedded women in the house under her nose with a callous disregard for her feelings.

Her moods were reflected in the music she would play. When his latest mistress was about, it was dark and sad. When he
’d graced her with a kind word or a night shared together, it was light and full of life. I seldom heard the latter unless she was teaching me. I was her world. There was nothing she denied me, and it was the only time she would defy him. It didn’t take me long to learn to manipulate her much like he did, but in a very different way. Even if she thought I might be wrong, she would never say it. Not even after the incident.

***

“Calida, I need you to run over to JR’s. She has some new samples for me.”

I looked up from my computer to see Patrick wearing that familiar, impatient look he seemed to reserve for me unless he was trying to hit on me.
 For the most part, he’d gotten better, but there were times when he would make a comment or give me an overly appreciative look. I tried my best not to let him know it made me uncomfortable since I knew he was out to get a reaction.

“Oh, and Friday you will be attending the Dunn
’s housewarming party with me. Business is good, but it can always be better,” he continued.

Damn!
I’d hoped after that first disastrous event he wouldn’t ask me to go anywhere with him again. Hopefully since this was an event hosted by a client, he would be more professional, and I wouldn’t be seen as his date. What I really wished was for Kerrin to go to some sort of sensitivity training. She was great at her job, and that attitude she had worked wonders when vendors were being incompetent, but clients didn’t appreciate it very much.

“Why are you still here?”

Just that quickly, I’d forgotten this conversation started as an errand request.

“Um…well,” I said glancing at the time on the computer. “I have to look up the bus schedule.
 I think there was a two-thirty one I just missed, and I’m not sure exactly when the next one comes but…”

“Bus?” he asked interrupting me, and looking a little dumbfounded over the notion of someone taking the bus.
 It would have been almost comical if I didn’t know him better. “You don’t have a license?’

“No, I have a license. I don
’t have a car. I sold it after I moved here.”

“Why?”

Because I’d bought it for that asshole and took it out of spite, but I didn’t want to drive around in it.
It only served as a visual reminder of what I was trying to forget. Paul loved that damn truck, and I sometimes thought he only wanted me to come back because I took it, not because he really wanted me. Patrick didn’t need to know, nor did I think he really cared about the actual facts.

“I needed a down payment for the house I bought.”

Patrick gave me a puzzled look before walking away. “Here,” he said, handing me keys. “Take the van.”

Luckily, the van was equipped with GPS, so I had minimal trouble finding the place. When I got back, Patrick and Kerrin were discussing some changes made to the plans for the Watson
’s master suite. Mrs. Watson was wearing on Kerrin’s nerves with the changes she wanted to make on almost a daily basis.

“Sorry to interrupt, but where do you want these?”
 I asked once I realized they didn’t know I was there. 

Patrick glanced back at me briefly. “Go sit them on my desk.”

I exited the room to put the samples and the van keys on his desk.

“When do you think you will get a car?”
 

I jumped at the sound of his voice.
 I thought he was still with Kerrin and didn’t hear him enter his office.

“Oh, I don
’t know. It hasn’t been a priority.”

“How are you managing without one?”

“I take Marta mostly, so it’s easy enough getting around the city. And my roommate has one, so if I really need to be somewhere, she takes me or lets me borrow it. It’s not a big deal.” I tried to walk past him, but he blocked my path.

“As you get more responsibility around here, you will need to have more flexibility in your schedule.
 That may not work if you are limited to relying on public transportation.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Guess this means I will need to pick you up Friday.”