Society Girls: Matisse (16 page)

“I’m going to miss you, Monet.”

“I have one more day with you,
Whistler.”

“Still not enough.”

“So move to Vegas. Aiden would love it.”

“I have thought about it, but this has
always been my home.”

“Home is where the people you love are, it’s
not a physical place,” she says, looking from him to me.

I can’t completely agree, but I smile at her
anyway. If I could ever go back home for good, I would have to
leave her. Right now, I can’t imagine that, but I also can’t
imagine myself never thinking of Africa as home.

“What time is your flight tomorrow. Ken?”
Haring asks.

“Eight.” Matisse is staying another day, but
I have to get back. Plus, I’ve crashed her time with her brother
long enough.

“You’re welcome to stay at the house with us
if you want.”

“I don’t want to intrude any more than I
already have.”

“Please. Doc,” Matisse says. “I never got to
have a boy in my room.”

“Really?” I ask, completely surprised.

“That was my one rule I insisted she never
break,” Haring says.

“Huh. Well, I would love to be the first guy
in your room, Tees.”

“Which means I need to stop for ear
plugs.”

“Good idea,” Matisse tells him. “I’m really
loud. Like crazy super loud.”

“Stop, please dear God, stop.”

“She’s messing with you, Haring. We were in
tents outside last night, and she kept quiet.”

“Not helping, Kendrick.”

I shrug. “I just wanted you to know she can
be quiet.”

“Yeah, but now, even if it’s quiet, I’ll
know you’re fucking.”

“You’re being such a baby,” Matisse tells
him.

“Oh, really? So you want me to bring someone
home tomorrow night, take her into my old room, and bang the bed
against the shared wall?”

“Hey, I’d just be happy you were getting
some.”

“Of course you would,” he says, throwing up
his hands. “Out of all the sisters out there, I have to end up with
the pervy one.”

“I’m sure there are more like me out in the
world.”

“If there are, I hope you never find each
other.”

“You’re so mean,” she tells him,
pouting.

“Just being honest.”

“Well, I honestly think if there were more
than one of you, it would make you less unique and that would be a
damn shame,” I tell her, kissing her cheek.

“There you go getting romantic again.”

“It seems I can’t help myself around
you.”

We kiss while Haring orders himself another
beer—and a shot, muttering about how he may need a blindfold as
well as earplugs if we keep this up. Matisse and I both smile with
our lips still connected. Little does Haring know, he has nothing
to worry about, because tonight, I just want to hold her. I feel
like having her in my arms while I sleep is a special gift I’ve
been given—one I’ll never take for granted.

Matisse

I’m feeling happy as I walk into the
building my first day back from D.C. Haring and I spent all day
yesterday wandering through our old haunts and hanging out. I loved
having Kendrick with me the other days, but it was good to just be
with my brother for a day. I think I’ve almost convinced him to
here, and now I just need to have Aiden work on him as well.

There’s a black couple, and a blond man at
the C&C check-in desk as I make my way to the elevators. When I
hear them say Kendrick and Waverly’s names, I stop and turn
around.

“Hi, were you looking for Kendrick and
Waverly?” I ask.

The man looks me up and down, while the
couple smiles at me. “What if we were?”

“They were trying to get in to see them,
Matisse. They claim to be Kendrick’s parents, and a close family
friend,” the guard at the desk tells me.

Looking more closely, I can see Kendrick in
both of them. “Oh, wow. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Matisse,
Kendrick’s girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? You’re his girlfriend?” the
blond asks, looking me up and down again.

I’m in a white tank top paired with a brown
and black leather skirt. My tattoos are on display, and I’m used to
being looked at, but something about this guy makes my skin crawl.
“Yes. Is that a problem.”

“No, actually, that may be the solution I’m
looking for.”

“Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves, Klas,”
the other man—Kendrick’s dad—tells him. “We have not spoken to
Kenyi or Waverly.”

“Kenyi?” I ask, because I’ve never heard his
name pronounced that way.

“That is my son’s true name. As his
girlfriend, you should know that.”

“Perhaps,” I admit, not showing how that
verbal blow just hit me.

“Matisse, will you be a dear and take us to
them now?” Klas asks.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. Matt or
Reina Corrigan have to approve letting you into the building, and
it has to be done in advance.”

“What do you do here?”
Kendrick’s—Kenyi’s—mother asks me.

“I’m an intern with the Foundation.”

“That must not pay much,” his father
comments, looking me over like his friend did.

“I’m well paid, but thank you for
worrying.”

“When my son takes over our business, he
will be very wealthy,” his mother tells me. “You wouldn’t be the
first girl to be interested in that.”

It’s taking every bit of my training for me
to remain calm right now. I am not a gold-digger, and I’m not
whatever else they’re thinking, based on the looks they keep
sharing. “I can assure you, money is the last thing on my mind when
I think of Kendrick.”

“So you say, but as Klas said, Kenyi has not
told us any of this, and until he does, I’m afraid we will remain
suspicious.”

“Why don’t you all come to dinner with us
tonight then?” I ask.

I wanted to be alone with him, but I’m
losing patience with these three. Besides, if I’m going to be with
Kendrick, I need to make nice with them. Or at least do my best to
try.

“We can do that,” Klas says, answering for
all of them. “Where shall we meet you?”

“Do you like Mediterranean food?”

“Yes, we do,” his mother tells me.

“How about Cleo at the SLS? We can meet you
there at seven.”

“Perfect. We will see you there, Matisse.
Oh, and why don’t we make this a surprise and don’t tell
Kendrick?”

“Sure, Klas,” I say, wanting them to just
go. This whole situation is just weird, and I’m afraid dinner will
be even worse.

“Everything okay over here, Matisse?” Aiden
asks, walking up to our group. I’m sure the security guys down here
called him.

“Yeah, Aid. I’m good, and they were just
leaving.”

“You’re Aiden Ford, are you not?” Klas asks
him, interest in his eyes.

“I am.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m one of the heads of
security for Corrigan & Co. Why are
you
here?”

“We were just trying to see a friend.
Matisse was helping us.”

“If you don’t have an appointment, I’m
afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“We understand. I look forward to seeing you
tonight, Matisse.”

I manage a half smile as they walk out. We
both watch them until they’re out the doors and then Aiden turns to
me. “What the hell was that? The blond guy was totally creeping me
out. I would go after him right now if I wasn’t trying to
behave.”

“Those are Kendrick’s parents, and their
friend.”

“Holy shit. I kept thinking they looked
familiar. Did he know they were coming?”

“No. I told them we’d meet for dinner. They
want to surprise him.”

“Where?”

“Cleo.”

“What a coincidence that Ellie and I will be
dining there tonight also.”

“They just saw you with me, genius.”

“Okay, so Nate and Jade will be eating
there.”

“It’ll be fine. They’re his parents.”

“There’s something off with the three of
them, and I’m not willing to take a chance that I’m wrong.”

“Fine, but tell them to try and blend
in.”

“You call me when you get home tonight,
okay?”

“I will. Thanks for watching out for me,
Aid. Oh, and by the way, you should call Haring and talk to him
about moving here. I think he just needs a little more
nudging.”

“Consider it done.”

I hug it out with him, and head upstairs to
my classes. A visit to Stella’s closet is in order, because even if
Kendrick doesn’t care how I look, I could tell that his three
visitors did. I can cover up for one night if it will make it
easier on all of us.

* * *

Kendrick

“I’m glad you’re going to tell Matisse
first,” Waverly says as we sit in my office discussing the best way
to spill all of our secrets to the Society. I’ve turned off the
cameras and audio, which I know will make Ainsley and Reina
suspicious, but I can’t help that right now.

“It feels right. I don’t want her to hear it
from Reina before she hears it from me. She’s already going to be
blindsided when she learns about everything…about us.”

“We did what we had to do to survive, Ken.
If she can’t understand that, then I don’t know what to tell
you.”

“I love her, Wave.”

“You don’t have to
tell
me
that. I
knew it before you did.”

“There are things in her past that are going
to make this bad for her. I found them out when we were in D.C.,
and if I could’ve walked away from her, I would’ve done it there.
At least until we straighten out everything here.”

“She
will
understand. I know
it.”

“What about Reina?

“All I can hope is that she’ll let us stay
on.”

“You should be a recruit. She’ll realize
that.”

“After all the lies, I’m not sure she’d want
me in the Society. If I even belong there.”

“If?
You are perfect for the Society.”

“We’ll see. You know I want it, but if it
doesn’t happen, I’ll survive. I just want us both to be safe.”

“We’re safe now. Even if we’re not
officially in the Society, we’re under their protection.”

“While we stay here we are, but what if I
want to travel? Vegas is fun, but I want to see the world, and you
want to go home.”

“I’ve started questioning if Africa really
is home.”

“It isn’t.”

“That’s not so easy for me to come to terms
with.”

“I get it. You don’t want to abandon our
heritage, and neither do I. I love the place we came from, but I
hate it at the same time. I’ve accepted the fact that I can keep
Africa in a small piece of my heart, but give the rest to a person
one day, and not hold onto a place.”

“It hurts to let it go, but I don’t think I
could ever live there again. I want to be free to visit, but moving
back would mean leaving all I’ve found here. Not just Matisse, but
the work we do, the people who I’ve come to think of as family, and
even our little group in this wing. There has to be a way to keep
our culture with us as we move on from it.”

“There is. We can decorate with art from
home, share the food we grew up on with our friends, and advocate
for the people who are still suffering there.”

“I never had to suffer.”

“Not for food or any of
your other basic needs, but you suffered. You cried for me, and
others like me, and you hurt when you saw suffering around you. No
one person can save everyone, but you made a difference with me,
Ken. You gave up
everything
for me.”

“I told you before that I will never regret
it. I couldn’t live with myself if I left you to your fate. There
are so many more that we had to leave to it, and that haunts
me.”

“Me too, but once we tell Reina, I think
she’ll help. The Society has to know what’s going on there, and we
can help them.”

“Don’t you dare think about offering
yourself as bait or anything crazy like that.”

“If it could save some of them, I would
offer myself up right now.”

“I can’t lose you, Wave, so be smart, and
don’t agree to anything until we talk. You know they’ll separate us
at some point, and while I know no one would hurt you, I also know
any one of them would offer herself up to save the many. Please
just promise to talk to me before you agree to that.”

“I’ll promise to talk to you, but I won’t
promise not to agree. I was spared from a fate worse than death,
and if I can spare others, I will.”

“If it comes to that, I’ll be there with
you, fighting, just like I’ve always been,” I tell her, pulling her
into my arms.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“I don’t know what will happen tonight with
Matisse, but I’ll call you if I can.”

“You just take care of her.”

“That’s one thing you don’t have to worry
about. Aside from you, there is no one I care about more than
her.”

“She’s going to have to come first for you
if you want to keep her.”

“One day when you’re safe, she will. Until
then, you will be my number one priority, and don’t you dare argue
with me about that. You already said you think she’ll
understand.”

She
has
to understand, because I meant
what I just said to Waverly. While I would hate to ever hurt
Matisse, I can’t let my best friend die—or worse.

Matisse

I’m a little nervous as I wait for Kendrick
to pick me up for our date. I’m dressed appropriately for meeting
the parents; although, in my case, I’ve already met them. It
doesn’t hurt to make a good second impression, though. I’ve got a
black dress that covers me from clavicle to mid-thigh, and has long
black sleeves, ending in bows and white pleated cuffs. I’ve paired
it with black and white lace-up heels from my closet, taken out my
Monroe piercing, and toned down my make-up. I’m not me, but I can
deal with that for a night.