Guilty Pleasure

Guilty Pleasure

Justus Roux

Copyright 2015 by Justus
Roux

Smashwords
Edition

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely a
coincidence

Chapter One

Nicole gripped the steering wheel a little
tighter when she saw the lights of the illuminated Chicago skyline
against the dark sky. A metaphor for her life. It had taken five
years to free herself from Nathan. This move was her new beginning,
her hope that things were going to get better.

She heard the soft male voice of her GPS
guiding her to her new apartment. She rented this apartment sight
unseen. Hell, she didn’t even know too much about her roommate. All
she really knew was Monica was close to her age and needed someone
to split the rent. Yet, the rent was reasonable and she could
afford it on her new salary so she jumped at it.

Nicole tightened her grip a little more. Her
nerves were kicking in. She accepted the job offer from the Lyons
and Smith Criminal Law LLP. This would be her first fulltime job as
a paralegal. She chose the criminal field because this area of the
law fascinated her, and if she was going to be stuck doing a ton of
research for the lawyers of the firm she might as well enjoy
it.

As the generic male voice of the GPS counted
the yards she had left before she reached her destination her
nerves grew worse. What if she made a huge mistake choosing Chicago
to start over? What if she picked the wrong Law firm to work? What
if her boss was a major asshole? What if her roommate was hard to
live with? She shook the doubt out of her mind. This was the right
thing to do. She had to put distance between her and Columbus Ohio
and Nathan.

She pulled into the parking garage of the
apartment building. She found the space Monica had said was for
their apartment. She parked next to the bright blue Smart car. She
couldn’t help but to smile. This little car had to be Monica’s. The
interior had flowered car seat covers and a steering wheel cover
that matched. Several little trinkets hung off the rearview mirror.
The car was just cheerful, God she hoped that Monica was too.

She grabbed her two suitcases out of the
trunk of her car. She hit the button on her key and heard the weak
horn of her car letting her know her doors were locked. She looked
over at the two large suitcases sitting there next to her grey
Honda Civic. This was all she had left in the world, Nathan took
everything else. She pulled the handles up of the two suitcases and
started wheeling them to the elevator. It was awkward but she
managed to get inside the elevator. She hit the button for floor
twelve. She took a deep breath and slowly blew out as the doors to
the elevator closed.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to get to the
twelfth floor. She got off the elevator and headed to her left. She
looked at the door numbers as she passed. She stopped in front of
the door with the large brass number five hanging in the upper
middle of the door. She let the handles of her suitcases go and dug
in her purse for the key Monica sent her. She didn’t know if she
could have just given a complete stranger her apartment key if the
roles were reverse, but she didn’t have time to ponder this right
now. Before she could find her keys the door flung open.

“
Oh my God, you are so
freaking cute.” The petite woman with short auburn hair said as she
flung her arms around Nicole and gave her a big hug. “It is so nice
to finally meet you, oh I’m Monica by the way. I’m sure you pretty
much figured that out. Come on get inside and I will give you the
grand tour.”

Nicole smiled as Monica grabbed one of her
suitcases and excitedly went inside the apartment. Nicole grabbed
the other and followed her. She couldn’t focus on what Monica was
saying. She was looking around the small apartment that was going
to be home for her now.

“
I know it isn’t anything
fancy, but I love it. The building is secure. We have a space to
park our cars, but to tell you the truth I usually take the bus or
the train. It’s just easier than trying to find a parking space.
Plus, I tend to let my car insurance lap from time to time. This is
your room.” Monica opened the door and walked inside the small
bedroom. “If you don’t like the furniture you can always get
something different. My last roommate left this stuff
here.”

“
This is perfect, thank
you.” Nicole sat on the bed.

Monica plunk down beside her on the bed.
“Let me tell you a bit about myself. I’m trying to become the
world’s most brilliant pastry chef, but until that happens I’m
working at the bakery down the street while I take culinary
classes. I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment, not really looking
for one. I would love if you and I could become friends, but if you
just want to keep it at roomies then I will respect that. Let’s see
what else…I have a shoe fetish, which is why my car insurance
sometimes lapses. But don’t worry, I always have my share of the
rent on time. Tell me about you.”

“
Well, there isn’t really
much to tell. I just graduated from the University of Ohio. I got
an amazing job offer here to be a paralegal to a pretty successful
law firm, so here I am.”

“
You didn’t want to work
for some lawyer in Columbus? Don’t you have family
there?”

“
My mother lives in Toledo
and she is my only family member left. There is nothing in
Columbus…”

“
Don’t say anymore. I think
I get it. You wanted a fresh start. I won’t pry any more. I have
always lived here in Chicago. I love this town. So you picked a
great city to start over. I will leave you alone to get settled. I
would love to take you to my favorite bar tonight if you are up for
it. You know, show you around a little.”

“
I would like
that.”

“
Great.” Monica got up and
left the room.

Nicole unpacked her clothes, set her laptop,
iPod and Kindle up on top of the dresser. She was happy that she
had her own bathroom. It was small, but it was all hers. She placed
her beauty products in the medicine cabinet and her hairdryer and
flatiron in the cabinet below the sink. She looked at her
reflection in the mirror.

“
You should be lucky I
think you are cute, my friends think I could do much better. You
should really think about joining a gym. It couldn’t hurt.”
Nathan’s hurtful words filled her mind. How did
she ever think she was in love with such a horrible man? He made
her feel so worthless. Her mother made her feel the same way.
Perhaps that was how he found her. She was used to being treated
like crap so him showing even an ounce of kindness when they first
met was what reeled her in. She quickly looked away from the
mirror. Damn that man, even with three hundred and fifty miles
between them the mental pain he inflicted was still so keenly
felt.

She heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.
She walked over and opened it.

“
Come on, let’s head out.
I’m starving and the
Tears and Beers
Bar
has excellent burgers.”

“
Tears and
Beers.”

“
Cute isn’t it. It’s dark,
yet the ambiance is quite charming. Plus the live bands they have
there are really good.”

“
Do I look
okay?”

“
You are as cute as a
button. You are dressed perfectly.”

Nicole just smiled and let Monica lead the
way.

The bar wasn’t that far from their apartment
building, so they just walked. Nicole enjoyed the hustle and bustle
of everything. They went inside the bar and Monica was right it was
quite dark inside. The hum of the voices, clink of the dishes, and
the steady sound of laughter filled the air. She looked at the band
setting up.

“
Oh goody,
Life Rusts
are playing
tonight. They are really good,” Monica said as she led Nicole to a
small table off to the side. They both sat down. Nicole let Monica
order for her.

“
So, you mentioned you are
going to work for Lyons and Smith Criminal Law firm, which one are
you working for?” Monica asked.

“
Mr. Lyons.”

“
Have you seen him
yet?”

“
No. Why?”

“
I was just curious. Adam,
the lead singer of Life Rusts…” she gestured to the very attractive
man with wavy dark hair, gorgeous body and stunning blue eyes.
“…well I was talking to him one day a year or so ago and it seems
your new employers are big in supporting the arts. Mr. Lyons in
particular. Thanks to him Adam can focus on his music instead of
scrambling to come up with rent money every month.”

“
He told you
this.”

“
Adam is an open book and
such a sweetheart. Girl, look at him, damn…I would love to fuck
that guy. But, he is too cool to talk to and once you start fucking
a guy things get weird.”

“
They just pay his rent for
him?”

“
Yep, pretty cool
huh.”

“
Why just him?”

“
He is lucky. You shouldn’t
never look a gift horse in the mouth. That is what Adam told me.”
Monica smiled and waved at Adam. He smiled and waved back. “Do you
want me to introduce you to him?”

“
Oh no, I’m not interested
in pursuing any kind of relationship with anyone for quite some
time,” Nicole said with more passion than she intended.

“
Wow, someone burnt you. I
won’t pry, but if you want to talk about it I’m a hell of a good
listener.”

Nicole had to admit the
burgers were pretty tasty. She enjoyed Monica prattling on and
soaked everything up. Monica seemed to know everything about this
corner of Chicago.
Life Rusts
began to play. Their music was a cross between
rock and blues. Adam’s voice was silky and he had all the females
transfixed.

Adam came over to the table when he finished
his set.

“
How are you doing,
Monica?” Adam said as he sat down and gestured for the bartender to
bring him a beer. “Who is this cutie?” he smiled a most charming
smile.

Nicole smiled shyly back.

“
This is my new roomie
Nicole. She will be working for Mr. Lyons. I know you know who that
is.”

“
He is a cool guy. You will
love working for him, Nicole. He comes here from time to time to
listen to my band. What he has done for me I can’t even begin to
repay him. Where you from, Nicole?”

“
Columbus Ohio.”

“
I played a gig or two
there.”

“
Why don’t you come back to
the apartment with us and you can help fill Nicole in on
everything?” Monica asked.

“
I would love to, but we
are heading out when we finish our last set. I got a gig in Detroit
then Cleveland, but I would love to talk with you some more when I
get back, Nicole.”

Nicole just smiled.

“
Later ladies,” Adam said
as he grabbed his beer and headed over to his bandmates.

“
See, I told you he was a
sweetheart. I bet you are tired. You want to go home
now?”

“
Yes, I have to get some
rest before I go to work tomorrow.”

Monica paid for the burgers and they headed
back to the apartment.

“
Thank you for being so
nice,” Nicole said when they went into the apartment.

“
No problem, besides this
is our home. We should make it pleasant for each other.”

“
I agree. I better try and
get some sleep. Good night, Monica.”

“
Good night,
Nicole.”

Nicole went into her room. She took a shower
and got ready for bed. As she set her alarm her nerves started to
build. Tomorrow was her first day at work, the first big step in
her career. God, she hoped she didn’t fuck it up. Thanks to her
mother then Nathan, her confidence was quite low. Her grades in
college were very good, she graduated near the top of her class.
Yet, that ever presence nagging doubt in herself was always
there.

Chapter Two

The muffled moans and sobs filled the
bedroom. Michael took a second to enjoy the sound. He savored every
moment of this. He had to fill his need, the unrelenting desire for
this. His guilty pleasure…his passion…the reason God made him.

He watched the tears stream down the woman’s
face. She had told him her name, but at this moment he couldn’t
remember it, nor did he care. The only thing that mattered was he
could see her fear. He fed on it. All of his senses were
heightened. The familiar euphoria began to fill him and he has yet
to do any real damage to her.