Reece's Faith (100 page)

The three women stood, lost in their own thoughts for a long while, each coming to terms with what they had seen and heard.

"If you trust her, Faith, Cori... I trust her too."

Faith was still reeling from the encounter and the face of the man, knowing Reece was the cause of his disfigurement. The sheer naked violence that her lover was capable of still scared her immensely. She couldn't justify what she'd seen and heard with the intensity of emotion they shared, the safety and warmth she felt when wrapped in Reece's arms, the depth of love she saw in her clear blue eyes and the gentleness of her touch when she wanted to be tender.
Those are the same arms and fingers that tore that man apart.
It never failed to amaze Faith how these two people were one and the same. Oh, it scared her, all right, but this was Reece and she could not condemn Reece for her past, just as much as she could not stop loving her because of it. Suddenly, she really craved her lover's arms holding her tightly, soothing her, loving her. It was okay now. That had been a long time ago.

"Wanna get another cab?" Cori offered.

Faith looked around them and spotted a TGI Fridays. "Nope, I could sure use a drink right about now," she winked at Cori who nodded rapidly in agreement.

 
*  *  *

There was a fashion show in full swing when Reece and Quinn came in the door. Faith was modeling a new short's set and Reece whistled her appreciation.

"Hi, baby!" Faith threw herself in her lover's arms. "You like?"

"Hell, yeah," Reece bent her head to kiss Faith and raised her eyebrow. "You've been drinking?" she asked as she shrugged off her coat.

"It looks wonderful, honey," Quinn agreed as he handed Reece the leather jacket he had been borrowing.

"Just a little," Faith giggled and scrunched her nose up in that way that warmed Reece's heart. "Can I have my kiss now?" she asked as she draped her arms around her tall lover's waist.

"But of course." Reece touched her lips to Faith's and the actress's tongue exploded into her mouth. She had to reach out to the wall to catch her balance.
Mmm, gotta love her, just add alcohol...
she thought as she held on and returned the kiss with gusto.

"Break it up, guys, there are other people in the room!" Cori laughed.

The two parted and Reece stepped sideways into the smirking face of Quinn. "That was some hello," he mentioned casually, although the embarrassment showed clearly in his face.

"Yeah well, I had no idea. They've been drinking."

"Oh, no, not Marsha too?" he winced.

"Here she comes, Miss America," Marsha's voice preceded her body and she waltzed into the room clad in a sports bra and Lycra bike shorts.

"Good god!" Reece whispered.

Faith shot her a withering glare and Reece rubbed her eyes. Quinn was slack jawed, frozen where he stood and didn't say a word.

"Well, Quinn? What do you think?" Marsha paraded around the living room.

Reece leaned her head close to Quinn and spoke out of the side of her mouth. "I don't know about you, Pops, but my eyes are burning."

"Quinn?"

Reece elbowed the stricken man.

"Oh, it's... um, unusual, Marsh."

Reece chuckled and whispered again, "Oh, that sucked, buddy, you're in for it now."

"Unusual?" Marsha questioned, hands on hips.

"Well, not really unusual..." Since Reece apparently knew what to say, he looked to her for help. Seeing nothing but a humorous glint in her eyes, he winged it, "I meant different. It's lovely, really."

"So, you like it then?"

"Why, of course I do. You look..." he attempted to look at Reece again but she was rubbing her eyes, "...younger."

The room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Hey, Mrs. A, show us what else you bought, I don't know if I can behave myself when you walk around like that."

"Oh, Theresa! You're such a card!" Marsha giggled and ran out of the room with a spring in her step.

"That's the way to do it, Mr. A." Reece laughed and sat on the couch to wait for Faith's next outfit.

"I don't know that I like your charm all that much, Reece. You have a way with the ladies," Quinn narrowed his eyes.

Seeing his point, Reece grinned. "Don't you worry, Mr. A, it's all about Faith. I'd never disrespect her."

Quinn tried his best intimidating posture. "You better not," he warned.

Understanding his protectiveness, Reece smiled reassuringly. "Never," she stated seriously, then nearly fell off the couch as Faith sashayed into the room in a teeny-tiny, little sundress. "Oh, yeah, you go, girl!" she encouraged as her lover twirled.

"It's a keeper?" Faith teased with a wink.

"C'mere you," Reece reached out and snatched Faith into her lap. "Definitely," she purred into the actress's ear.

"Aren't you in a mood?" Faith shivered and took a deep breath. "If I didn't have my period..." she whispered.

"Tell me," Reece urged into her lover's neck.

Faith leaned into Reece's ear and whispered, "I'd drag you up to the bedroom and have you make me scream... again and again."

Quinn cleared his throat. Cori just rolled her eyes. "Get used to it, Mr. Ashford, they're weasels."

Reece pulled back and locked eyes with Faith, "You know I don't give a flying fuck about your period."

Faith felt her pulse pick up and she took a deep breath, "Mom and dad are here?"

Reece narrowed her eyes at the pounding vein in her lover's neck. "Just you wait," she promised.

Suddenly, Faith was tugged from Reece's lap, Cori being the culprit. "It's one thing in front of me, but come on," she gestured at Quinn who was picking his nails uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, Daddy."

"It's my fault. I can't keep my hands off of her," added Reece.

"Don't worry about it. It'll just take some getting used to; don't apologize."

Faith ran to her father and hugged him. "Thank you, Daddy, that was a wonderful thing to say."

Just then, Marsha appeared in her newly purchased sweat suit.

"My mom, the jock," she giggled.

 
*  *  *

To Reece, it felt like forever until Quinn and Marsha finally bid their good-byes. Faith was still buzzing from her many margaritas and was humming to herself as she put away her new clothes. Reece pulled her boots off, stretched out on the bed and smiled as she watched her lover. Right then, the tall woman was contented in way that she had never experienced before in her life. It was a state of relaxation, a comfortable feeling, that forced a big old smile to her face and a lightness in her chest. Just watching Faith put away clothing, no talking, no sound other than the sporadic off-key humming that filled Reece with a good feeling. The club owner would have been uneasy about feeling so content just a few short months ago, but now, she felt safe, almost as if she could close her eyes and drift off without any worries. Funny that all it took was one small actress from Long Island to change her whole life, give her a new purpose. Reece sighed loudly and stretched her toes.

"Hey, baby, what are you doing all the way over there?"

"Watching you."

"So, watching me hang clothing puts that kind of smile on your face?" Faith giggled.

"It has nothing to do with the clothing," Reece said as she shook her head.

"Me? What did I do?" the actress blushed.

"You breathed."

"Huh?" Faith closed the closet door and sat on the bed next to Reece.

The tall woman reached up and traced Faith's ear. "Babe, you don't have to
do
anything. You are so beautiful; I can't help but smile."

"I just love you Reece!" Faith jumped onto the bed and smothered her lover in a hug. "God, the things you say!" she mumbled into Reece's neck.

Geez, Cori, you weren't kidding about this talking stuff...
the club owner chuckled to herself. "I just say what I feel," she shrugged.

Faith sat up and looked into Reece's twinkling blue eyes. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course. I think you are the most beautiful woman on the planet, maybe in the whole universe. And I'm not just talking about your gorgeous green eyes or your way too-sexy lips. I'm talking about your insides, too. You're just one great, big, beautiful package."

Full of PMS and alcohol, Faith started to cry.

"Jesus, babe! Why are you crying? What did I say?" Reece turned nervous and started to regret speaking her mind.

"I just... sometimes I don't feel pretty and I know you sit in that club surrounded, night after night, by the most unbelievable..."

"Oh, no you don't," Reece reprimanded. "You listen to me." She turned Faith to face her and narrowed her eyes. "You are all I think about when I sit on my miserable stool, hour after hour. I wonder what you're doing, who you're talking to, if you're laughing, crying, smiling... I think about you and no one else. I'm not the old Reece any more. She's gone. And even the old Reece wouldn't be that stupid to let what I've got go. You mean the world to me." Reece was wide eyed at her own speech. The words just came out of her and she had no control over them. One look at Faith in distress and she was on autopilot. It scared her.

Faith continued to cry.

"What else can I say to convince you that I love you?" Reece felt lost.

Faith leaned down and kissed her lover reassuringly. She was at a loss for words. Reece just said everything she ever wanted to hear. "Nothing. You never have to say anything ever again. Thank you so much, Reece. I love you," Faith sobbed.

"Then why are you still crying?"

"Because I'm so incredibly lucky to have found you, that's all." Faith kissed Reece again, this time she held her face with both hands. "I'm afraid, sometimes, that I may not be to you, what you are to me. I just need reassuring sometimes."

"What would make you feel that way?" the club owner took Faith's hands off her cheeks and held them, sitting up on the bed. She pulled her over onto her lap. "Did something happen today?"

"God, a lot of 'somethings' happened today," Faith chuckled and sniffed.

"Something to make you feel like I don't want you?"

"No, nothing like that. I had a pretty weird day," Faith paused and looked in Reece's eyes, they were full of concern. "Am I holding you back?" Reece's eyebrow went up. "I mean, am I keeping you from... okay, do you feel like I'm stopping you from being
you
?"

"Faith, I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Well, The Animal... you have this violent side, a part of you that maybe I'm keeping at bay. Are you silencing that part of you because you're with me?"

"Uh, I still don't get it," Reece was really baffled now and it showed.

Faith smoothed out her lover's creased brow. "I saw this man today, a cab driver named Joey, who used to run a teen prostitution thing," she paused to let that sink into Reece's head.

After a short while, the club owner's face showed recognition. "Oh, yeah," she squirmed uncomfortably. "Him," Reece looked away from Faith, feeling totally guilty for her past actions. "I suppose Cori told you what happened," she stated flatly.