Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (32 page)

     
Dale smiled wryly
and shook his head. "Lilac, huh?"

     
While he was
out, I spent the better part of the night dancing around the living room,
trying to make up for all the ice cream I had been consuming.

     
When Thursday
came along, I felt almost like an adult for once. To match my mood, I put on a
light grey sheath dress and black Mary Janes. It was sunny and fairly warm, so
I switched out a jacket for a matching black shrug. After pulling my hair back
into a loose bun and finishing my makeup, I took one last look in the mirror.
Yeah, I almost looked like I could fit in with the Luxadigm vibe.

     
Ethan had some
business to take care of outside of the building and was therefore unable to
make time to come see me, so I painted relentlessly without any breaks. There
were now multiple angels on the walls, each with their own name. I'd been
switching off between them like I had with Bobo and Marina to allow myself some
distance. I was on a roll. I only hoped it would stay that way before I got
bored - though the chances of that happening were fairly slim, as I really did
enjoy the work I was doing.

     
It was just
after four when I realized I was hungry. Really hungry.
Guess I'm done for
the day.
After cleaning up all my tools, I said goodbye to the angels and left
to begin my merry way home. I had just turned the corner of the hallway when I
heard female laughter. I knew who it was before I even saw her.
Karina
.

     
She was sitting
in the waiting area, wearing a gorgeous dark cyan dress that flowed easily around
her frame. The woman seated next to her was probably in her late forties. She
wore a dark green dress suit, had excellent skin and thick, dark brown hair.
She was very attractive. Judging by their comfortable proximity, the two must
have been good friends, if not family.

     
"Headed
home already?" Patricia asked me, pulling the attention of the two other
women.

     
"Yep," I replied with smile.

     
"Have a
good evening, dear."

     
"Thank
you, you too."

     
Karina stood as
I neared. "Oh, it's you. Won't you sit with us?"

     
I halted in my
steps and looked at her questioningly.

     
She laughed
uncomfortably. "Look…I'm sorry about my bitchy-attitude last time. I was a
little peeved and I took it out on you."

     
Damn. It was
hard for me to actually hate someone who openly admitted they'd fucked up.

     
"Aside
from Patricia, there are rarely ever any girls up here," she continued.
"I got the wrong impression. I'm not good at apologies, but please…can't
we try to get along? Since we may end up bumping into one another in the
future, I'd like to get rid of any hard feelings."

     
My bullshit
sensors were tingling. She looked as though she was telling the truth, but
something was off. That being said, she did have a point. If I bumped into her
again, it would definitely be nice if I could do so without wanting to punch
something right afterwards.

     
"Okay. I'm
sorry, too. I should have been clearer about who I was."
Not really,
but what's a little lie here and there?

     
When she smiled
gratefully, I literally felt the air leave my lungs. When her face wasn't
creased with frown lines, it was absolute perfection. More so than Samantha's,
even. Feelings of bitterness began to surface, but I quickly shoved them off.

     
The older woman
cleared her throat.

     
"Oh."
Karina suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone. "Daphne, was it?"
she questioned me.
Damn, she remembered.
I nodded in confirmation.
"This is Clara Larson. Ethan's aunt. Clara, this is Daphne…?"

     
"Myers," I stated, sighing inwardly.
Please, please forget
it.

     
"Daphne
Myers. She's the artist," Karina explained.

     
I smiled at the
woman. "Nice to meet you."

     
Rather than be
a polite human being, she began scanning me from head to toe, barely managing
to hide her discontent.

     
I still hadn't
asked Ethan why his former fuck-partner was still showing up at his office like
she belonged here. Before, I hadn't thought it my business at the time. But now
that he and I were officially in each other's bubbles, did that give me the
right? She must've been a family friend if she was able to get along so well
with his aunt.

     
Eventually, the
woman finally decided to speak. "How long have you been working
here?"

     
"Almost three
weeks now."
Was that really all?

     
"I
see." She paused. "…And what exactly are you working on that keeps
you here?"

     
"A
mural."

     
"A
mural," she repeated, pursing her lips. Tilting her head to the side a few
seconds later, she exhaled and gave me a skeptical smile. "Forgive me for
being terse, but I can't help but wonder why Ethan would suddenly decide to
have a mural done in this building. He has very particular tastes when it comes
to art. I've never seen your work, but I'm sure it hardly fits the aesthetic of
a place like this. And to have it done up here on
this
floor, which only
a few people have access to…It appears as though you work in the back."
Her eyes darted towards the hallway that was off-limits. "Shouldn't your
work be on display for people's actual enjoyment? That area is closed off,
isn't it?"

     
So the lady had
come to
that
conclusion. I swallowed, trying my best not to fidget. Her
gaze was bordering on glacial-levels. If she was trying to make me
uncomfortable, she had succeeded. I wouldn't allow it to show, though. "I
don't know what Mr. Desmond's plans are." I didn't feel comfortable saying
his first name around these people. To them, I was an outsider. I wanted to
keep it that way. "I'm only doing what he asked me to do."

     
"Yes." She looked me up and down again. "Surely you must
be aware of the rumors, though?"

    
 
"Rumors?" Samantha had also
mentioned something about rumors last Saturday. Were they closer to the truth -
of him and I actually being
together
? Or were people saying that I was a
hired mistress he kept in the back for fucking? Of course
I
could
imagine that because I did, in fact, have a dirty mind. But humans in the
actual business world didn't think like that, did they?

     
"They say
Ethan's got a pretty little…
baby doll
- I think is what they called it,
that he keeps hidden away," his aunt confirmed, her face laden with
disgust.

     
I wanted to
laugh. "Hidden away? Hardly. I come into contact with all kinds of people
on my way in and out."
Sort of.

     
"So it
is
you they're talking about?"

     
Oh…whoops.
Yeah
,
I wanted to say -
what of it?
I was smarter than that, though, and I
kept my mouth shut.

     
"I don't
know what your relationship is with my nephew. Quite frankly, I don't really
care to know. But you must understand just how badly those kinds of rumors
might look, especially for a man of his position. Not to mention the
embarrassment it might cause to his fiancé."

     
What the
fuck?
It was a struggle, but I managed to keep a straight face.

     
"Clara,
please," Karina laughed. "I told you...it was just a
misunderstanding. Anyway, she's not even his type. Anyone can see that."

     
I wasn't sure
what had left me first - my ability to breathe or my ability to comprehend.
Regardless, everything became silent. All thoughts, words, and images ceased to
form in my mind. I wasn't sure what had triggered me, but I needed to get out.
Now
.

     
"Are you
alright?" someone asked.

     
It took a
moment before I was able to come back to life. Taking in a much needed breath
of air, I went into auto-pilot mode. My bubble was up and my mask firmly in
place. I was on my own again. My friends became nonexistent, as did Ethan. It
was just me and the outside world. Emotions became irrelevant. My new life here
was also now irrelevant.

     
Looking at the
two women before me, I smiled earnestly. "I'm sorry, I had no idea. If
you'd like, I can have a talk with him?" I suggested.

     
"Well, I
don't think you have to go
that
far. He is a busy man, after all, and he
doesn't have time for such nonsense."

     
"Oh, but
I'm sure he would be very interested to know. Especially if it's capable of
negatively effecting him and his
fiancé
that much."

     
"I'm sure
you will only trouble him," his aunt insisted, her tone much harsher now.
"I think the best thing you could do at this point is hurry up and finish
whatever it is you're working on. Three whole weeks seems like an awfully long
time...Are you sure you aren't prolonging it on purpose?"

     
Smile. Don't
stop smiling.
"I would never take more time on a project than I needed
to. I would also never rush a project as important as this. Your nephew is
paying me a good amount of money and it would shame me if I couldn't create to
the best of my abilities. Now, I really do have to go. It was nice meeting you.
Karina," I nodded in her direction and left, not bothering to look back.

     
Once outside of
the building, I slowed down and took my time walking home, trying to sort out
my thoughts as my mind gradually began returning to its normal state. When the
need to escape wore off completely, I was left feeling hollow. Empty. I still
didn't understand what had set me off. Perhaps it was just the unnecessary
drama which I was so unused to.

     
Well…looks like
someone was a fucking liar, and it definitely wasn't Ethan. Even though I
couldn't prevent the small '
what if?'
from making its way into my head,
I knew better than to believe it. I knew him. He wouldn't lie to me about
something like that. Besides, his aunt had made it clear that she didn't want
me bringing it up to him. Her message was simple: back the fuck off.

     
So she wanted
Ethan to marry Karina. Interesting, but not surprising. It was obvious that she
was everything I wasn't, so she was probably exactly the kind of woman who
would be a good fit for…
Wait.
What am I even saying?
It's not
like I knew what kind of woman Ethan deserved. Well, at least there was one
thing I had to offer that Karina didn't.

     
It was too soon
to put it into words, but that didn't mean I couldn't feel it. Because I
did
feel it, even with all the walls I had built up. Go ahead, call me a fool. Call
it lust. Call it infatuation. Limerence be damned. I knew that what I felt was
pure and absolute. Whatever Karina felt for him, I knew with every part of my
being that it could not compare to the overflowing feelings of tenderness I had
for him. I could only hope that one day I would be able to voice these feelings
out loud, when I was finally free of the fear.