by Kylie Walker
“Sappy romance,” she said.
He smiled and said, “I’m detecting a theme here.”
She shrugged, “It’s just not real life. I like mysteries, biographies, stuff that makes you think.”
“Me too,” he said. “But I haven’t quite given up on the possibility that sappy romance can exist.”
She didn’t respond to that. Instead, she said, “My I-Pad is mostly classic rock. I like some of the new country rock, and I love jazz and the blues. I’m not a huge fan of pop music or rap.”
“Food?”
“I like it,” she said.
Smiling, he said, “What’s your favorite kind?”
“Chinese,” she said.
“Chinese is good. What about Japanese? Sushi?”
“I like my food to be cooked,” she said. “But I do like tempura vegetables and rice.”
“Okay, so no anchovies on the pizza?”
“Only if you want to eat it all yourself,” she said. They were both silent again, and Chloe looked back out the window. It was nice just having “ordinary” conversation with him. It had been so long since she’d done that with any man that it was strange but nice.
“We’re getting ready to land,” he told her. She felt his hand tighten on hers slightly. Almost protectively as the helicopter descended. A man who was protective instead of exploitive was an anomaly to her as well.
The car took them to a harbor. At the end of the pier was a tiny little restaurant. There wasn’t much else there except for a few little bait and tackle kiosks.
“Where are we?” she asked him.
“This town is called Round Pond. This place is the Round Pond Lobster House, and the lobster here is worth dying for,” he said.
“Well let’s get in there then,” she said, “I can’t wait.”
Once inside, they ordered their food at a long, redwood counter. The little place served lobster, steamers, corn on the cob and chips. That was all that was on the menu, and when Chloe looked surprised, Derek said, “Trust me, it’s enough.”
Trust me, she thought. She’d been doing that a lot.
They got their food and took it out to one of the picnic tables outside looking out across the harbor. Once they dug in, Chloe had to admit that Derek was right. She had never tasted anything that melted so readily and so lusciously in her mouth. It was like heaven in a shell, and she ate way too much of it.
“Go away! Shoo!” she heard Derek say while she was gazing adoringly at what was left on her plate.
She jerked up her head and said, “Who, me?”
He laughed, “No, the big gull right there that keeps staring at us.”
Chloe looked down where he was looking. On the ground was a white seagull that was not big at all. He was average sized at best, and he seemed to be there picking crumbs off the ground.
“He’s big?” she asked.
“Big enough,” he said with a distressed look on his face.
“Oh my goodness! Stingrays and birds! You’re afraid of birds!”
“I am not afraid of birds! I’m just…I just don’t care for them,” he said.
“Any of them?”
“The ones in cages are alright.”
She laughed, “You know that you could probably step on that bird and do some serious damage, right? You’re a big guy.”
“Have you ever seen The Birds?” he asked.
“Alfred Hitchcock? Of course.”
“They have talons and beaks that are sharp, and they could do serious damage if they wanted to…”
She was cracking up. “You weren’t exposed to many animals as a child were you?” she asked.
He shrugged, “I guess not. We had a dog and horses, and I visited the Bronx zoo a few times.”
“We’ll have to take you more often and get you used to the idea that they’re not all out to kill you.”
He smiled then and said, “Good, my plan worked.”
“What plan was that?”
“The one where I pretend to be scared in order to get you to spend more time with me.”
Chloe laughed. “Good try, scared-y cat.” Chloe leaned down and held out a piece of a cracker. The seagull came over and took it right out of her hand. Derek shuddered, and she laughed again.
**
After lunch, the car took them to a place called Rockport where the house they were meeting the client at was located. Derek told her that the house was at the end of a private drive on over five acres of land. It had 350 feet of deep water shorefront, five bedrooms, six bathrooms and over eight-thousand square feet of space.
“Wow, who needs an eight-thousand square foot home?” she said.
“He and his wife were very active in charitable events in the community before their retirement. They hosted a lot of events there. Which reminds me, I have an event I have to attend in New York on Saturday night? Would you be interested in going along with me, as my date?”
“Oh, um…”
“We are dating, aren’t we? I mean we’ve had dinner, re-decorated a park.”
“That one wasn’t a date; you were stalking then.”
He smiled, “Oh that’s right. But anyways, now we’ve had our second helicopter ride and lunch. We’ve spent two nights together. Two of the better nights of my life I might add.”
Chloe didn’t miss the part where he said, “Two of the better nights,” and not “Two of the best.” But he had a point, technically, what they were doing would be considered dating by most people. The idea of going to New York disturbed her more than the idea of “dating” Derek however.
“Where in New York is this event being held and what is the charity?”
“It’s in Rochester at a private residence of one of my clients, and it’s a children’s hospital foundation. They have a fantastic dinner and a silent auction and dancing. It’s a good cause and a great time. Please say you’ll go.”
“I’ll say that I’ll consider it,” she said with a smile.
“You consider a lot of things,” he said, smiling too. He leaned in then and pressed his lips to hers. After kissing her lips, he let his lips slide up to her ear, and he whispered, “Would you consider spending another night with me?”
She leaned her head back into the seat so that her neck was exposed. Derek took the hint, and she suddenly felt hot breath against her neck and the gentle brush of his lips. His kisses were so hot that they practically burned on contact. He reached up and put his hand in her hair, and as he kissed her neck, he ran his fingers through it. His other hand slid down around her waist and pulled her in close while his mouth dropped down to her shoulder and began to spread kisses there. She could hear his breaths speeding up to match her own, and she felt herself tingling all over.
“Here we are, sir,” the driver who had put the window between them down a discreet inch said.
Derek growled. He took a breath and composed himself before saying, “Thank you, Mason.” He looked at Chloe, and the desire was apparent on his face and in his eyes. “Can we pick this up later?” his voice was husky and still breathless.
She smiled, and in a husky voice of her own she said, “I’ll consider it.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Chloe spent that night with Derek and when she got home the next day she was assaulted by Lexi hugging her.
“Wow, that was some hug. What did I do to deserve that?”
“It’s Brock! He’s amazing!”
Chloe laughed, “I’m glad you’re so happy,” she said. “I was afraid that you’d be upset with me for abandoning you for two days.”
“No, it was perfect! Brock and I had dinner in the sunset the first night, and we took a long walk on the beach yesterday morning. He was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t try a thing, but when we got back, he gave me the sweetest little kiss. I invited him in, but he said it was “too soon,” that he didn’t trust himself to be alone in the house with me and still be a gentleman. Where did this man come from?”
Chloe laughed and
said, “Roxi found him, you’ll have to ask her.”
“So, what about your two days?”
“They were good. He’s also a gentleman. I’m enjoying getting to know him.”
“I’m so glad. I was starting to really worry about you, sitting in this condo every day and every weekend. You’re too amazing to always be alone.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Chloe said with an appreciative smile, “But, you’re right I guess, it’s about time. Is our large shadow outside still?”
“Brock went home to get some rest, but there’s another one out there. He seems nice, but he’s no Brock.”
“No one is,” Chloe said with a faux sigh.
“I know!” Lexi squealed.
Chloe went to her room with a smile on her face. She sat down on her bed and took out her journal. When she opened to the last page she saw what she had written and just like that, the darkness returned. Jesse was getting out and soon. She could “date” Derek and laugh and giggle with Lexi and act like everything was okay, but the truth was that in just a little over a week, she would have to be on constant alert. She wouldn’t have time to take helicopter rides and eat lobster, so she better enjoy it now.
June 25
The last few days have been the best of the past three years. I finally relaxed. I ate too much, and I made love a lot. I acted like a normal twenty-four year old woman, with nothing to lose. I didn’t think about Jesse, and I didn’t think about the club. I didn’t have to bump and grind for slimy old men, and I didn’t have to fear for my life. But what I know about all of this is that none of that is my reality. My reality is the bump and grind and the fear. I’m not fooling myself…only taking a short break. I told Derek that I would go to this charity event with him. It will be the first time I’m back in New York since the trial. Is it risky? Maybe. Do I trust Derek? Yes, at this point I do. More than anything, it’s one last hurrah. When those jailhouse doors slide open, and my very own nightmare comes slithering out…a part of me knows for sure that he is going to find me and if he never does, I’ll worry about it forever. I almost find myself thinking the confrontation might be better than the alternative. At least one way or the other, it will be over.
She put the journal away and sat there for a few minutes trying to recapture that giddy feeling she’d had just a short time ago. She was able to obtain a calm that in the past may have eluded her, so at least that was something. She would go see if Lexi wanted to go shopping with her to buy a dress for the charity event. Maybe that would bring the mood back.
**
The week passed both quickly and slowly. Chloe stayed busy, cleaning out closets and drawers and doing things she didn’t normally have time to do when she worked every day. She jogged a lot and spent a lot of time walking on the beach too. She was trying to mentally prepare herself so that when Jesse was out, she didn’t have to let it consume every hour of her day.
It was slow because Derek was busy with work. He’d spent most of the week in New York, and she wasn’t going to get to see him until Saturday. She told herself that was a good thing. The two days they spent together had been almost too comfortable, and as much as she enjoyed his company, she wasn’t really ready for things to get any more serious than they were. She’d come around to trusting him, and for her, that was a giant leap.
She had her dress and shoes for the party, and she was both nervous and excited about it. The nervous went without saying. The excitement was because it had been a really long time since she’d done anything remotely like getting dressed up like a princess and going to a charity event. She had just finished steaming the dress and hanging it up when there was a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and saw that it was Roxi. Surprised, she unlocked the door and let her in.
“Hey, Roxi!”
“Hi, how are things going?” she asked as Chloe let her inside.
“Good,” she said, genuinely. “This is really the best I’ve felt in a long time. Thank you for making me take time off.” Chloe led her into the kitchen and offered her a seat. When Roxi sat down, she looked out the glass doors at Brock, sitting in his spot.
“How is Brock doing?”
“He’s great; I like him. Lexi wants to know where you found him.”
“Roxi laughed and said, “Guys like him seem to find me.” She didn’t expand on that and Chloe was slightly afraid to ask. She got them both a bottle of water and sat down.
“So what’s up?” she said. She knew that Roxi wouldn’t show up out of the blue for just any reason.”
Roxi sighed, “The chief of police is suddenly making threats to close me down. His little sissy boy got his ass whipped by a girl, and now he’s pissed.”
“Oh shit, Roxi! I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t be sorry. He should have taught the little bastard some manners when he had the chance. I do have worse news though.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s not just threatening to close me down. He threatened to charge you with assault.”
“Oh my God! Assault? He touched me first!”
“You and I know that, but his friends say otherwise. They were the only witnesses.”
“That mother-fucker!”
“Exactly,” Roxi said. “It gets worse.”
“Worse? How the hell could it get worse?”
“He says he’ll drop the whole thing if you apologize and dance exclusively for him when he’s in the club.”
Chloe’s mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t seem to close it. Finally, she swallowed hard and said, “Scum bags! I can’t let them close down your club though, Roxi— not because of something that I did.”
“Yes, they are scumbags,” she said.
Chloe got up out of her seat and began pacing the floor. Her head was spinning. How did she get herself into these damned messes? She would have to apologize to the little punk. What else could she do? She couldn’t be the cause of Roxi losing her business and all of those people losing their jobs. Suddenly, she realized something. Roxi didn’t look upset at all. She was calm, and she didn’t have that look in her eye that she got when she wanted to slit someone’s throat. Chloe sat back down and said, “Why are you so calm?”
Roxi smiled and said, “Because I’m no empty headed stripper and this big, bad cop is not smart enough to see that.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
“Well, let’s ponder this for a second, shall we? The chief’s dear son is a junior at Pepperdine. He is majoring in law. The chief has one year to go until retirement. If he got into any trouble at this point in his career, he could lose his pension. He’s been married to the same woman for thirty years. She sits on the state board of education and the money he has, it all came from her. There is no fucking way this joker is going to file charges.”
Chloe felt a little sick to her stomach from the initial shot of stress. “I’m sorry, but why? I mean what? I don’t understand.”
“Why I made you believe I was going to go along with his demands?”
“Yeah, what the hell, Roxi?”
Roxi laughed, “There’s that spunk. I don’t think you should take me on though; I’m a wildcat in a fight. I had to know how you felt about it because the reality is that as much as I believe he won’t go through with this, I don’t know it for a fact. If I turn down his “offer,” you’re the one that either gets stuck dancing for the pig or gets prosecuted. It had to be your decision. Do you want me to tell him we agree to his terms?”
“No fucking way,” Chloe said. “I would like to be there when you tell him what we are going to do to him though.”
“Consider yourself invited,” Roxi said. “I’m actually looking forward to it, just a little bit.”
“Me too,” Chloe said, “But a lot.”
**
Saturday afternoon, Chloe soaked in a bubble bath before spending over an hour on her hair and then her make-up. She couldn’t wait to see Derek. She knew it was dangerous to feel so strongly about h
im, but the fact was that she did. When Derek knocked on her door to pick her up for the party, Chloe was ready. Her dress was an ankle length green silk A-line with a lace overlay across the shoulders and back. The neckline was a conservative V line, and the back was high…for obvious reasons. She wore a pair of gold strappy sandals with a four inch heel. Her hair was done up in a French twist, and her make-up looked like she had just walked out of a salon. She felt like a princess, and when she opened the door and saw Derek’s face, he confirmed that she looked like one too.
“Wow! You look stunning! I mean— stunning doesn’t even cover it. Wow!”
Chloe felt herself doing something that she hadn’t done in a very long time. She blushed. “Thank you,” she said. “You look pretty stunning yourself.” He was wearing a black suit with a green swatch in the pocket that was the exact shade as her dress. “How did you do this?” she asked him, touching the silk piece.
He smiled and said, “Lexi can be bought, in case you ever wondered.”
“That bitch!” Chloe said, laughing. “What did it cost you? And how did you get ahold of her anyways?”
“I was in town, so I took a chance and drove by the club. She was easily bought off with two tickets I happened to have to the Pawtucket Indian’s game. She said something about “Brock?” loving baseball.”
Chloe laughed and said, “She’s in love.”
“Well, are you ready?”
“I am,” she said, taking his arm. She still felt like a princess only now she felt like Cinderella on the arm of Prince Charming.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The car once again took them to the airport, and they took the helicopter to New York. The property where the party was being held had a heliport on it, for convenience about five miles from the house. A car met them there and took them up to the house.
The house was no house; it was a mansion. It was built on a lake, or the lake was built around it, it was hard to tell. The lawn was expansive probably five acres, and tall, beautiful shade trees surrounded it. There was a mile long cobblestone driveway that led up to a circular drive in front of the house. In the center of the drive was a garden of tropical flowers, plants, and fountains. It looked like a tiny little tropical paradise.