"Yeah, got a problem with that?" Cori mock threatened.
"Not at all. If it were anyone other than Reece, I'd probably come up with a few pet names myself." Faith grinned as she mentally went down a list of pet names.
"I hear ya. I bet there isn't one that's good for mixed company." The dancer teased.
"Speaking of gorgeous girlfriends.. I'm sorry I was late." Faith tried her best puppy dog face.
"You can just put that face away, woman. I wanna know what was so important that you interrupted my beauty sleep. And where is your cell phone?"
"I left it home. Aren't you sweet?" Faith thanked the waitress who placed her usual breakfast in front of her, and began to eat.
"Well?!?" asked the exasperated dancer. "Spill it, shorty."
Faith attempted an intimidating look that Cori waved away impatiently.
"Ok. So two nights ago, Reece has another nightmare." She paused to swallow some eggs. Cori rolled her eyes.
"Well this time she told me what was going on. She relives the past. That guy, the one who made her fight, well, now we know what happened to him." Faith sipped her coffee, to her friend's dismay.
"Faith! What happened to him?" Cori drummed her fingers on the table.
Faith leaned across the table and whispered. "She killed him."
Cori's eyes opened wide. "No!"
"Shhh! Yes...she told me! And what's even worse, Cori, she beat him to death!" Faith stopped eating and stared out the window.
"She just told you?" The dancer snagged a piece of Faith's toast.
"Yeah. You know, at first she scared me, she was awake, but not really...you should have seen the rage in her eyes. It was horrible."
"Did she hurt you?" Cori sat up and stopped chewing.
"No." she lied.
She didn't mean to anyway.
"She woke up completely panicked, and as usual ran away. She explained some of it right then, but on the way to see Frankie, she told me all sorts of..."
"Whoa! Wait a minute...she took you to see Frankie!? Holy shit!"
"Yeah." Faith smiled warmly at the memory. "She wanted him to meet me."
Cori reached over and held her friend's hand.
"That is so beautiful Faith. It's like taking you home to meet the parents. That is so sweet."
Faith nodded in agreement. "She was so nervous, like he was still alive. It's very apparent how much his opinion meant to her." The actress paused at the image of a nervous fidgety Reece at the gravesite. "I only wish I was there when he died. It must have been so devastating for her." Faith's eyes watered at the very idea of Reece's loss.
"Oh devastated is an understatement. She was horrified." Cori looked off in the distance with the picture of Reece's anguished face in her head. She had to shake the disturbing image away. "First she disappeared for days, then she went on a drinking binge, then a women binge, then a violence binge, then she went cold as ice."
"Oh god, the poor baby." Faith started crying.
"Hey, honey, she has you now. She's past all that pain."
"No, there's where you're wrong. She still has incredible pain."
She was sobbing.
"She's not as strong as you may think."
"Faith, I know. She bleeds blood, and cries tears." Cori leaned over the table and kissed her friend's forehead.
Faith sniffed. "I know, Cor. It's just...you should have heard how this guy treated her! I honestly wished he were alive so I could kill him! She talks about it like it's nothing. She was so detached, like it wasn't her she was referring to... but when she's having those nightmares, she's tortured!" The actress sobbed.
"Tortured? How so?" The dancer asked, eyes full of with concern.
"Oh god, he was so awful. Sometimes he chained her up, he hit her daily...she said that sometimes he would beat her till she collapsed. And if she lost a fight, he'd chain her and beat her. He was a mean, vicious drunk..."
"Did he ever, you know, do anything to her.. that way?" Cori gestured around her body.
Faith shook her head. "No. She says he didn't and I believe her. He was actually happy that she was a lesbian from the get-go. He said she would never have been allowed to sleep with men, and would have either had to learn to like women or do it herself. She figures it had to do with pregnancy or whatnot. She told me he encouraged her to get laid whenever she seemed overly tense. He even brought her girls as a present for winning sometimes."
Faith closed her eyes as she recalled what Reece told her about the women she bedded. How aggressive and uncaring she was.
"..Like it was a fight too, only with a different kind of prize. Total control over your opponent, I was crazy with the need for control. I got off more on the power than the sex..."
The actress felt bad for those women, but then again, they knew who The Animal was. They gave themselves to Reece on their own accord. Faith pursed her lips as she heard Reece's words.
"...They stood there watching me beat someone to near death, and I could see the lust in their eyes. They wanted me to use them as much as I wanted to. I gave them an out, they never took it..."
The actress also remembered how Reece mentioned that he would watch them on occasion, and every so often she would catch him in awe.
"What ya thinking, Faith?" Cori wondered aloud at her friend's odd expression.
"He was afraid of her." Faith stated, snapping herself out of her daze.
"Ha! That's probably why he brought her the girls! Imagine a chained Reece in her late teens, sexually frustrated and pumped full of adrenaline? Her orgasms probably saved his life." She snickered at the thought.
"What? I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on a teenage sexually frustrated Reece." Faith sighed dreamily.
"So, what happened? How'd she come to kill him?"
"She was probably going through the normal rebellions, she was just about 20 or so. She had run away before, tried to get lost in the crowd after she had won a fight. That wasn't too bright, though. Too many people knew who she was and he caught up with her real quick. She was severely punished for it."
"I can only imagine." Cori shook her head in disgust.
"Well, she wouldn't talk about it. But she did say that by the time she managed to free herself from her chain, she was completely blinded by anger and hate. The only thing she had on her mind was her freedom, and she didn't care at what cost it came. Once she started, she couldn't stop." Faith shuddered.
"Hon, are you afraid she may hurt you?"
"No, well, maybe. I don't know. I know she would never deliberately hurt me. I'm frightened by the idea of her capacity to kill. She said she was trained to be a killer. It could come so naturally to her that one day I'm afraid she'll do something she'll regret."
"The only time I'd worry about something like that happening is if you were in danger. Reece isn't the same person I met years ago, she's changed, even more so since she met you. She's worked very hard to become what you see, Faith. She works hard everyday not to disappoint you."
"You think I don't know this? Cor, that night, she was shaking with rage... she couldn't breathe...if she wasn't at home, in our bed, with me...god knows what could have happened." Faith's tears started to well up again.
Cori studied her friend's face "Faith, are you worried about her hurting
herself
?"
"Indirectly, yes." She admitted quietly.
"Then make it known how much you need her. Tell her, show her. Prove to her that she's the air that you breathe. She's devoted to you, completely. Reece has grown so much in the time she knows you. She trusts you. Your opinion overrides even Frankie's now. Especially if she is the subject. If she has any doubts in her mind as to where you stand, or how you think of her...then she may wind up in a situation."
* * *
Faith flew through the door to their house, kicking it closed behind her. She ran up the stairs, disrobing as she went.
I hope she gets some breakfast first... please let her be hungry.
* * *
As the two friends were chatting in the coffee shop, Reece trotted by, apparently jogging home. Her pace was quite leisurely, but she wasn't far from home to begin with. Her cheeks were red from the cold, and Faith wanted to scold her when she saw that her hair was wet. But then seeing those long legs and tight butt Faith fell right back into her frazzled state.
The actress tossed some money on the table and ran directly into a cab, leaving Cori slightly bewildered, but smirking knowingly. After all, she
did
have a naked woman in her bed.
* * *
Faith stood in her underwear trying to figure out what to do next. She didn't have a plan of action, but she certainly had an agenda. Reece, bed, and sex.
"...Then make it known how much you need her. Tell her, show her. Prove to her that she's the air that you breathe..."
Cori's words stopped Faith in her tracks. She sat on the bed for a moment.
"Now what? If I jump all over her, what does that say? I need you? Yeah, but for what, for sex? That'll never do." she thought for a bit, then began to smile. The actress had a very good idea, and while it was for Reece's benefit, it was also slightly self-indulgent.
* * *
A short while later, Reece jogged up the front steps, thinking of nothing but a hot shower and a nap. The door opened before she even took out her keys.
"Hey Sexy." Faith winked, leaning on the doorframe, eyeing the tall vision.
Reece took a long look at her welcoming committee. She had on a cute little tank top short enough to expose her belly, royal blue satiny looking pajama pants
Probably Victoria's Secret
, she thought.
Oh, and look at that... no bra.
Reece grinned lecherously at the two points in Faith's tank top.
"Are you quite finished?" Faith asked of her lover's appraisal.
The club owner nodded, smiled, and took the offered hand. Faith looked good.
Good enough to eat.
Reece closed the door behind her and allowed herself to be led. After all, she did have a beautiful view. Unable to stop herself, she cupped her hand under Faith's ass cheek as it wiggled up the stairs.
"You like what you see, baby?" Faith looked over her shoulder, and didn't remove the hand.
"Absolutely." Reece was lost in the feel of the silky material slipping back and forth under her hand, and nearly tripped up the last step.
"Well there's time for that later." The actress walked Reece to the master bathroom.
The club owner stood in the doorway, head cocked in confusion. The jacuzzi was full, topped with a layer of scented bubbles, and the room was lit by a multitude of candles. Faith sat on the edge of the tub and with a sideways nod gestured for the tall woman to come over.
Reece felt warm inside, and an embarrassed smile spread across her lips. Suddenly feeling the heat of the room, she unzipped her jacket and let it fall to the floor, stepped closer to Faith and shrugged, grinning sheepishly. She had no idea what was going on.
Faith glanced up at her with a sexy smile, then untucked her lover's sweaty shirt from her jogging pants. She ran her hands under Reece's shirt, gliding them up and around the still-slick skin.