Violet Chain (2 page)

Really? Where did he think I was? Off playing tiddlywinks somewhere? Maybe on vacation? Jesus, this man, was he that ignorant to what he had done? 

I sure wasn’t about to admit that I had spent the last two days pining over him! I still had my dignity. Well maybe a miniscule bit left—finding your fiancé with another woman on one of the happiest days of your life would pretty much crush anyone’s pride.

I didn’t answer, I just sat silently.

“Violet,” he mumbled into the cell. The sound of my name from his lips sickened me and I literally felt like I was going to vomit.

“Violet,” he repeated more sternly.

I wanted to scream
can you please stop saying my name. You have no right, you cheating, low-life bastard!
But I refrained. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing my anger so I chose to answer in a more grown-up fashion.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Harrison, please just leave me be,” I whispered calmly.

“Honey, come on, I love you. We can work through this, that whole thing with Cheryl was a big mistake,” he pleaded.

Cheryl? He cheated on me with a girl named Cheryl? It couldn’t be some sex goddess named Cherie, or Roxie, or something like that, it had to be a woman named Cheryl? Why did this bother me?

“Her name is Cheryl?” I retorted, my words sounding a little more irritated than I wanted them to.

“Forget about her, I just want to talk about us,” Harrison replied.

Forget about her! How the hell could I forget about a woman who ruined my life? Who destroyed my happiness, killed my dreams. I should be planning my wedding, looking forward to a new life with him; instead I was sitting in my house, trying to figure out how I was going to get through this. How I was going to get on with my life, a life without Harrison. Why did he do this? Why! Why! Why! The anger began to swell up inside of me.

“There is no us, Harrison; you ruined that when you let that girl go down on you!” I bit out, choking on the tears that were beginning to constrict my throat.

Tears began to stream down my face, the hurt resurfacing again. I felt arms around me as Callie slid into the chair beside me. I looked up at her and she mouthed the words, ‘hang up on him.’ I wanted to hang up on him so badly, but I just wasn’t ready to yet.

“Violet, please, let me come over and we can talk about it,” Harrison pleaded.

“No, Harrison, I don’t want to talk to you,” I sobbed, my voice cracking from my tears.

“Oh, honey, please don’t cry, let me come over, we can talk about it,” he said softly. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and then cleared my throat.

“I said no,” I responded sternly.

“Violet, I fucking love you, I’m sick over all of this, please just give me a chance to explain,” he argued.

“Explain? What is there to explain? You were getting a blow job, at my parents’ house, during our engagement party. I think that pretty much sums it up, don’t you?” I countered.

“Violet, honey, please.” I had grown weary of this conversation and his pleading was giving me a migraine.

“Goodbye, Harrison.” Before he could answer, I hung up and chucked my cell phone across the room. The cell landed short of the wall on the carpet near the fireplace. The nerve of that man, to think I would open my door to him. Did he really think there was anything left to be said? He would probably make a million excuses for why he did what he did, but there was no excuse, none whatsoever. I saw what he did, with my very own eyes; there was no way he could change that.

“Are you okay?” Callie asked worriedly. David handed me my cell and I threw it into my purse on the coffee table.

“Yeah.” I stood up. “Let me go get ready and you can take me to your new house.”

“Really, Violet?” she said with excitement as she stood up beside me. I hugged her tightly.

“I know I haven’t been a good friend lately, but I promise from here on out, I am going to be the best friend ever. Thank you for always being there for me, Callie.”

“I love you, girl, I would do anything for you.” I smiled as I released her.

“Just give me a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

Growing up, my father provided only the necessities we needed, food, shelter, cars and clothing. Anything else, he made us earn on our own. Whether it was cleaning up the yard, working weekends at the office filing, whatever it was we had to do, we did it. He wanted us to learn the value of a dollar by working hard for it. It made us stronger, more independent. I knew I could get through this breakup with Harrison; I was strong enough to be alone. I frowned at the thought. As much as I tried to find the upside of the breakup it really came down to one thing. For the first time in four years, I was alone—really alone.

After I dressed and tidied myself up, we left.

David’s car was only a two-seater, so Callie and I were practically sitting on top of each other as he drove down the street. My hip was leaning against the gear shift, as I sat on the inside. Callie had this phobia about being closed in, trapped, so she needed to be closest to the door.

My cell rang. “Callie, can you hand me my phone, it’s probably Vince.”

Vince was still so worried when he left today. I knew he would be calling.

Callie lifted my purse from the ground, handing it to me. After rummaging through my purse, I lifted my cell to my ear, blindly answering. Before I could speak, Harrison did.

“Violet, I’m a mess without you; I miss you so much,” he choked, his voice straining as he spoke.

I was surprised by the tone of his voice—it sounded like he was crying. I had never once, in all our four years together, seen Harrison cry.

“Harrison, please don’t do this, it’s over,” I murmured quietly.

“I thought we had something special, Violet. I thought you loved me,” he said in a whiny, tearful voice. I did love him, with all my heart, but I was not the one on trial here, he was. He was the one who was guilty of throwing it all away for a few minutes of pleasure, not me. I sure hope it was worth it.

David pulled up in front of a large brick home.

“I have to go,” I told him.

“Violet, don’t hang—” Before his sentence was finished I hung up.

I suddenly felt confused and sick to my stomach. I hated hearing him hurt, it tugged at my heart strings, making me feel guilty, sad.

“Come on, Violet,” Callie said as she stood near the open door. I hesitated. She bent down, kneeling to the side of me. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I should go talk to Harrison, he sounds really bad.” She stood up instantly.

“Oh no you don’t! Don’t you go feeling sorry for that two-timing bastard! He deserves to feel bad for what he did to you. Now get out of this car and come inside before I carry you in!” Callie said fiercely as she yanked at my hand.

Who was I to argue with her? She was right, he didn’t deserve my sympathy.

Without another word, I slid out of the car and followed her up to the building.

The home was made of red brick from the top to the bottom and had large white pillars that sat on a large concrete stamped porch. Three steps led up to the white double doors. David opened the door for us and we strolled inside.

The interior was picture perfect, clean, immaculate and very white. The large polished white marble floors shone like glass. An open white spiral staircase sat in the middle. A large crystal chandelier hung from the 40-foot ceiling.

“I have to show you something,” Callie said, her green eyes gleaming with excitement.

I followed her as she walked past the staircase to an open living room. A large ivory fireplace dominated the left wall, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. White drapes held back with gold restraints showed off the large glass windows, looking out to the kidney-shaped pool and outdoor sitting area with black wrought-iron chairs and couches upholstered with red fabric. My feet sank down in the softness of the plush carpet. I gazed down and grunted—again white. What was it about them and white! I liked clean and simple, but this place was a complete mockery of cleanliness. My eyes were beginning to form spots in front of them from all the white in the house!

Then I saw it, the large white grand piano sitting against the wall. Callie smiled as she sat down at it. Did I mention that not only was she beautiful, she was talented too? She was so perfect! Her fingers began to slide effortlessly across the keys as she played a beautiful tune. David stared at her with only love in his eyes; the deep affection touched me.

The piano went silent as David bent his head and placed a kiss on Callie’s lips. I sighed. Why couldn’t I have found someone like David, handsome, wonderful, loving—faithful!

The doorbell rang and David broke from his kiss with Callie.

“That must be Chain,” he said with excitement as he sprinted towards the door.

“He has a friend named Chain?” I asked her. Could you blame me for asking? Let’s be real, the name was very strange. What could his last name possibly be, Link?

“Yeah, he’s David’s boss and best friend. Chain Alexander,” Callie answered.

“Why does that name sound so familiar?”

“Because he is the owner of all those outside malls they started putting up five years ago, all over the country. They just finished building one downtown, about a month ago.”

I remembered reading about the mall being built downtown in the paper; supposedly they had heated floors and live bands that played outside on a small stage and the most elite stores to shop at.

“The ones where you can take your dogs?”

“Yes. Chain said he wanted people to be able to take their whole family to shop, including their dogs. He loves animals.”

“Oh.” I turned just as David returned with—Chain.

Delicious was the first word that came to mind as I stared at this beautiful beast of a man. He was mouthwatering, with large sparkling sky-blue eyes and light brown choppy hair. His hair was kind of odd, it was messy but neat at the same time, but it definitely fit him in a sexy, boyish kind of way. Dressed in a dark blue sports coat with a dark shirt and black pressed jeans, this man was definitely screaming hotness.

We locked eyes instantly and I was drawn into his intense gaze.

I watched as David waved his hands in front of Chain’s eyes. “Earth to Chain.” But Chain ignored him and walked over to me.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” he stated. Normally, I would be offended by a man using vulgar language, but his deep, sensual voice seemed to reverberate through me, and I couldn’t help but shiver at his words. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” I had to stretch my neck to look up at him; he was as tall as the Empire State Building.

“Violet,” I stammered out, my throat suddenly parched.

His lip quirked up on one side. “Violet, a very beautiful name for a very beautiful woman.”

My hands were trembling and my heart was pounding in my chest as he continued to play the staring game.

“Violet is my best friend,” Callie announced as she walked up to me. I exhaled with relief, not realizing I was holding my breath the whole time.

“Oh, I see. First time at the house?” he asked. I looked up at him and that intense gaze seized me again, disorienting me. Why did this man have such an unhinging effect on me? I looked down.

“Yeah,” I managed to choke out. I felt his finger graze across my chin as he cupped it in his hand, tipping it up, and our eyes met again. The skin to skin touching sent vibrations throughout my body and I could feel the deepest part of my stomach clench fiercely.

“You should really look at someone when they are talking to you,” he said as he released my chin and his finger slid up the side of my cheek. 

I cleared my throat. “Sorry.”

David laughed as he patted Chain on the back. “Violet, don’t let this guy rattle you. He likes to make people uncomfortable.”

Uncomfortable? I was ready to completely crawl out of my skin!

Chain backed up, grinning. “It was really nice to meet you,” he murmured before he turned and followed David into the kitchen.

“He’s really cute, isn’t he?” Callie said as she stood beside me and we both watched them walk into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I responded, still shaky from my intense moment with Chain.

“He does that, you know, to women.”

“What?”

“Make them so nervous they can only speak in single syllables!”

“Oh.” Damn, she was right, I was so shaken I couldn’t put two words together if you paid me to. I even forgot about Harrison!

She let out a chuckle. “Come on, Violet, let me show you the rest of the house.”

As I walked away, I took a quick glance behind me towards the kitchen and saw Chain staring directly at me. Not wanting to take part in a staring contest again, I turned quickly and walked away.

Who was she? Where the hell did she come from? I had known David for nearly ten years and not once had he mentioned this woman, Violet. Violet, I laughed to myself, the name reminding me of a sweet scent, a delicate flower.

I watched as she glided across the pale carpet. Her curvy figure fit nicely into the snug cream-colored sweater dress she was wearing, her hips swaying as she walked out of sight. I smiled to myself as I remembered staring into her innocent light brown eyes and the way her chestnut hair was neatly combed back into a silver band, showing off her alluring, flawless skin. She was definitely a beauty.

David placed a bottle of beer in front of me, interrupting my thoughts, as he took a sip from his.

“So, Chain, I was thinking we would have Gary’s bachelor party at your house, what do you think?” David suggested.

Gary was one of the guys in our crew. He recently announced that he would be marrying within two months, after he found out Helen, his girlfriend of three years, was pregnant.

The quick wedding gave us little to no time to prepare for the bachelor party. Originally, the bachelor party was to be thrown at David’s, but that was before he had bought a house with Callie. It was understandable that he didn’t want a bunch of drunken men in the house he shared with his girlfriend; I know I wouldn’t want some drunken assholes around my woman, if I had one that was.

“Yeah, whatever you want. But I get to pick out the strippers,” I responded with a smile. I prided myself on having a keen eye for beautiful women.

“Uh yeah, about that. Callie really would prefer that we not have strippers,” David said in a light whisper. Not this shit again!

I really liked Callie and thought she was a perfect match for David, I mean they looked like they could be brother and sister and they were both impossible neat freaks. Their house reminded me more of a sanctuary than a home. It was clean, overbearingly white and everything was in its proper place.  I had never met two people more perfectly suited to each other.

But Callie had one flaw. She was very jealous and at times bossy and didn’t like David around any other women. I wasn’t quite sure why she was so insecure. David would never do anything to risk what he had with Callie, he truly loved her.

“David, you’re shitting me. We have to have strippers, it’s the only reason why people show up!” I exclaimed.

“Come on, man, you know how Callie is, I don’t want to piss her off,” he muttered. Seriously, David really needed to man the fuck up and grow some balls. What man allowed his woman to dictate his life? This was the reason why I chose the bachelor life. I didn’t want someone telling me what I could do, where I could go and who I could be with.

“She will be alright. There are going to be strippers, so just suck it up,” I told him adamantly. 

Maybe that was a little abrupt, but I wasn’t about to let his paranoid girlfriend ruin my good time or disappoint the other men attending the party. A bachelor party consisted of three things: alcohol, tits and ass. What he was asking was ridiculous—no bachelor party was complete without strippers. It was like having a wedding without a groom.

He frowned. “Alright, I suppose I have no choice then.”

“No you don’t,” I responded fervently. Leaning against the counter, I tilted my eyes up at him.

“So where did this Violet come from?” I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders before saying, “She has been friends with Callie since middle school.  She has always been around, but spent most of her time with this fucking twat named Harrison; up until last night they were engaged.”

“What happened?” I asked naturally.

“She caught him getting a hummer from some woman at her parents’ house, during their engagement party. The guy is a real douche.” His words shocked me.

Engagement party? At her parents’ house? I had to agree with David, that guy was a douche. Who would do such a thing? At least he could have waited until his bachelor party.

“Do you think they will reconcile?” I asked him. Not that it was any of my business, I was just curious.

“Nah, not if Callie has anything to do with it. She doesn’t think he deserves Violet and I don’t either. Violet is one of the good ones, she doesn’t need some guy that runs around on her, she deserves better,” David continued. One of the good ones, what exactly did he mean by that? This woman was suddenly sounding way more interesting to me.

“Good one, huh,” I queried.

“Yeah. She’s great. She really has her shit together. She received a degree in engineering, and was going to pursue a career in that field, but decided to work for her family’s business instead. She’s very independent and the best thing about her, she’s not a slut. Callie said that this guy Harrison was her one and only and they had been together for like four years,” David explained.

Beautiful, smart and not a slut? I didn’t realize there was such a thing. The women I surrounded myself with had gorgeous faces, perfect tits and asses, but they fucked any man with money and were two cans short of a six pack when it came to brains.

“How old is she?” David placed his beer bottle on the counter.

“Twenty-three— ” He stopped then looked at me suspiciously. “Why the sudden interest in Violet? It’s not like you to want to know anything more about a woman than her bra size,” he queried.

“I don’t know, just making conversation, that’s all,” I mumbled as I took a swig of my beer. His eyes thinned as he considered my comment carefully.

“No, Chain, not this one. She’s Callie’s best friend,” he murmured, shaking his head.

“What are you talking about? I can’t ask about a woman?”

“I know you, your interest in women is limited.”

“What does that mean?”

“You are not the relationship type. Violet is a nice girl, she is not the type that you just take to bed and get rid of,” he growled.

“I never said I wanted to take her to bed, I was just interested in knowing what she was like, that’s all,” I responded defensively.

“No! No! No! Come on, Chain, you are good-looking, rich, you can have any fucking woman you want. Please, I’m begging you on our friendship, leave this one alone,” David pleaded.

His comments blew me away. To think that my best friend thought I was nothing more than a male whore, only looking to get my rocks off, really hurt me.

“You act like I’m some rapist, walking around with my dick in my hand, waiting to poke the next victim,” I seethed.

He laughed. I couldn’t believe that fucking bastard was laughing at me! I was seriously hurt.

“I never said that the women you were with weren’t willing. There is not a woman in all of Philly who doesn’t want to fuck Chain Alexander, I’m just saying that you aren’t willing to give more, that’s all,” he explained.

“Maybe I haven’t found the right woman, did you ever think of that?” Even I didn’t believe what I said, but it sounded good, right?

He placed his elbows on the counter, leaning his face in his hands.

“Do you know how many times you have told me that? Remember Melanie, my girlfriend from college? You begged me to introduce you to her friend Keri, claiming that you really liked her and that you would treat her with the utmost respect. But that didn’t happen; you fucked her that night, and never called her again. Melanie ended up dumping me over what you did.” He scowled.

“I did you a favor. If I remember correctly you found out later that Melanie was doing the humpty dance with half of her dorm.”

“You’re missing the point here, Chain, I’m not risking Callie so you can get laid, so forget about it.”

“Calm down, David, I have no intention of causing problems between you and Callie. Did you ever think that maybe I would like to find someone to call my girl?”

He let out a sarcastic chuckle before saying, “You, Chain, really?”

“Why is that so hard for you to believe? I think I’ve matured since the Melanie days, I don’t use women like I used to.”

“Must I remind you about Brenda? Our receptionist that quit just last week, because while you were banging her in your office, you called her Elizabeth?  Shit, Chain! You didn’t even have the decency to call her by her given name.”

I raised my hands up.

“In my defense, it was she who came on to me. She was begging for affection, who am I to deny her that? Plus I have never been good at remembering names, you know that.” I grinned as I took another swig of my beer.

“Chain, just admit it, you’re a horny bastard who wants nothing more from a woman than sex.”

Alright, maybe the other women were about sex, I will admit that. But not once while we were talking did I think that way about Violet. I was very interested in knowing more about her, really interested.

“Violet seems interesting, I just want to get to know her, that is all,” I repeated.

“Not going to happen, my friend, so you might as well move the hell on,” he said with a wry grin.

“You’re such a prick, you know that,” I responded, smirking.

He snorted out a laugh. “I know, but so are you.”

Callie pranced into the kitchen, followed by Violet. I smiled at Violet and she looked away almost immediately as she leaned her body against the counter.

“I’m hungry, let’s go out,” Callie said as she wrapped her arms around David’s neck.

“Sure, where do you want to go?” he asked as he curled his arms around her waist. 

“I don’t care, you choose.”

I walked over to Violet, leaning against the counter next to her.

“So what about you, are you hungry?” I queried with a grin. Her eyes blinked nervously twice before she answered.

“I don’t know, I guess it’s up to them,” she said, pointing at David and Callie. I moved my lips to her ear.

“You shouldn’t point, it’s very rude,” I teased as I lightly blew in her ear.

“Chain!” David grunted.  I threw my hands up in the air and let out a light chuckle.

“Just talking, David, just talking. So, where are we going to eat?” I asked him.

“I’m sure you have better things to do than go to dinner with us,” David replied, giving me that look that said you’re not invited, please leave the fuck now. But I wasn’t ready to leave.

“Nope, haven’t eaten all day, I could use a good meal,” I responded, patting my stomach.

“I want Italian, so let’s go to Vinio’s,” Callie suggested.

“Whatever my girl wants,” David said as he gave Callie a peck on the lips.

“I love you so much,” Callie trilled as she returned a peck of her own.

“Not as much as I love you,” David said as his lips grazed her neck, his hands caressing her back. You could almost feel the anticipation between the two of them as they locked eyes, then lips.  It was mortifying to watch them fondling each other and kissing so fervently. I could see their tongues lapping across each other.  This was not something I cared to witness and as I gazed down at Violet, the look of disgust splashed across her face said she felt the same way. I had to stop this and fast, before they were splayed across the floor humping like rabbits.

“Um excuse me, I thought we were going to get something to eat,” I sang.

David was the first to break away from the unified mound of flesh they had become. He cleared his throat before saying, “Sorry, I got lost in the moment.” He was lost in something alright.

He clutched Callie’s hand and they walked towards the door as I followed. I noticed Violet lagging behind, so I stopped, turning towards her, placing my hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the door.

We decided we might have a few drinks, so we took the company limo. The one thing I was adamant about was being safe and I never, I mean never, drank and drove.

As the limo pulled up to the restaurant, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Violet. Her eyes kept blinking hard as she tried to avoid looking back. I found her nervous gesture very sexy.

Through dinner I was on my absolute best behavior, only because David kept glaring at me, his warning not to step over the line being constantly drilled into me with his eyes. We had gone through two bottles of white wine and by the third I noticed that Violet was becoming a little tipsy.

I lifted the bottle and leaned my hand on her chair. “Would you like some more?”

A light giggle bubbled from her mouth. “Oh, I think I have had enough.” I poured it anyways. Callie stood up and walked over with her cell in hand.

“This is a perfect time for selfies!” she squealed. Selfies! Whoever came up with that word should be shot! The word was a mutilation of the English language, a mockery of intelligence. Just like the word ‘bae,’ since when had people become so indolent the word ‘babe’ became too hard to say?

Callie positioned herself between Violet and me, then held her cell in the air, taking about four pictures. She backed up.

“Put your arm around her, Chain, please,” Callie instructed. I draped my arm across Violet’s chair.

“What are you doing, Callie?” Violet asked nervously as she frowned.

“Just taking a few pics, that’s all. You know me, I love to take pics. Just relax, Violet,” Callie said with a grin.