by Eva LeNoir
"So, the Senator told me I have what it takes to run for office, as soon as my Master's is finished," he continued on about his political career that hadn't even started, projecting into a ten year plan I had no idea was his ambition until this past winter.
"That sounds like a lot of work and commitment," I said, taking another bite of my Rafute, Okinawa's local version of braised pork belly.
"It is, Jai, which is why I wanted to ask you something," he cleared his throat and finished off his glass of red wine, before patting his mouth down with his napkin.
"Sure, what is it? If you need my vote, you're going to have to show me your campaign promises, first," I chuckled at my soft joke, taking a sip of my sake.
"I really wish we would have chosen the table and chairs instead of this," he complained. I'd been adamant about sitting somewhat traditionally on the mats instead of a westernized table. For once, Calvin had been rather accepting. Until then, of course.
"I like it, it's more comfortable than a chair, to be honest," I almost choked on my words when Calvin rose from the table and rounded it to my side before bending on one knee.
Every single patron in the restaurant paused whatever it was they were doing and stared in our direction.
As if in slow motion, Calvin took out a velvety blue box from the inside of his jacket pocket and opened it facing me. Staring at me. The glimmer of hope in his eyes shadowed by an inkling of fear. I had to admit the ring was gorgeous, classic even, if not a tad too eye-catching for my taste. But that was the way of the Carmichaels. Big and gaudy.
"Jaidyn, you have been the love of my life since we were too young to know better. We are compatible in all ways, we understand each other's ambitions and of course, we were cut from the same cloth," he said, the rehearsed speech not sitting too well with me, "I want to have you at my side now and forever, to bear my children and stand by me throughout my accomplishments. Jaidyn Ella Hughes, will you do me the honor of becoming Jaidyn Ella Carmichael?" At the end of that entirely selfish diatribe disguised as a proposal, I looked around the restaurant and wondered how the fuck I was going to get out of this hell.
We were cut from the same cloth?
Stand by you?
For your accomplishments?
What he wanted was a mute trophy wife to make him look good.
Was that all I'd ever been for him?
"Calvin,” I hissed through the fakest of all smiles, “can we do this somewhere else?" I begged, my eyes darting to all of the expectant patrons in the restaurant.
If I said what he wanted to hear, I'd be betraying myself.
If I said what I truly felt, I'd be embarrassing him.
"It's a restaurant, Jai, people propose in these places all the time," he said, his jaw clenched and his eyes willing me to give the right answer, "This is the part where you say yes, Jaidyn."
Was it, though?
"Can we talk about this back at the resort? I mean, I have to think..."
"Suddenly, Calvin jumped up, announcing to one and all, "She said YES! Champagne for everyone!"
As people started clapping and smiling at the seemingly happy young couple, I seethed. My breathing increasing, my jaw about to destroy my molars, my fingernails ready to make my palms bleed.
I was pissed. How dare he so blatantly try to manipulate me?
With the practised smile of a debonair and a resting bitch face that I'd been perfecting since high school, I rose from the mat. As I leaned into Calvin as though about to whisper something either naughty or full of love, I whispered, "I highly suggest you pay this bill right the fuck now. I'll meet you outside." Patting him on the chest and smiling like he hung the moon, I walked out with all of my pride intact.
The car he'd rented was a few yards from the entrance to the restaurant, I calmly made my way there and took a deep, fortifying breath while waiting for Calvin to arrive.
I was expecting him to have his tail between his legs, maybe looking sheepish and sorry for his unexpected show. I could understand the proposal, five years together warrants such a thing. But this wasn't our first rodeo and I would have thought that with the first refusal, he would have been gun shy about asking again and certainly not in such a public manner.
And yet.
I was wrong on all accounts.
As he walked out, his gaze scanned the parking lot and when his eyes met mine, all I saw was a predator homing in on his prey. If he thought he was about to chew me up and spit me out, he was in for a rude awakening.
"What the actual fuck was that, Jaidyn?" He seethed, keeping his voice relatively quiet but his mannerisms were loud enough to make me jump.
"I could ask you the exact same thing, Calvin. How dare you put a yes in my mouth? How dare you put me in that position?" My voice was louder than his, my patience wearing thinner by the second.
"Oh, excuse me for asking my girlfriend of five years, to marry me!" He yelled, spittle flying all around me and arms flinging in the air accentuating the sarcasm of his words.
"You had no way of knowing my answer, Calvin. I've already asked you once to give me time. This...this... charade was your way to stronghold me. I’m not your fucking puppet, Calvin. And I sure as fuck won't be your quiet little trophy wife. Do you even know me, at all?" I spat, taking a step forward and stabbing him in the chest with my index finger.
"Well, obviously you're not my puppet or else you'd be a lot easier to fucking handle. Jesus Christ, I don't even know why I bother," he shook his head, planting his hands on his hips, his head lowered.
"All I'm saying, Calvin, is that you knew how I felt about marriage. I still have med school and then my internship at a hospital that could take years." I said, lowering my voice to soothe his ego.
"Obviously, I was thinking you wouldn't go through with med school. Not if I started campaigning. That's just not feasible." I jumped back as though I'd been slapped.
"Excuse me?"
Letting out a long sigh, Calvin steeled his spine and explained, "I wasn't planning on allowing you to finish med school. This whole trip turned out to be perfect for me. I figured I'd get through my Master's and by the time your med school started, you'd be too busy with my campaign."
Taking a step back, I looked at Calvin and for the first time I had no idea who he was.
"And at what point did I ever give you the impression that you could or could not allow me to do anything at all?" I asked, curious about this Neanderthal plan of his.
"Oh come on, Jaidyn, don't be like that. You knew what you were getting into as soon as we got serious. My mother laid it all out so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding."
"That she did. But she forgot something, I still have the right and the choice to change my mind," I told him, turning to the car and waiting for him to unlock it. "Now, take me back before I call a cab."
"You know what, Jaidyn?" he didn't make a move to open the car, "Fuck you and your high horse. You think you're better than me, somehow? More righteous because you care about the help, the poor,” he sneered, making quote marks with his fingers, “or what the fuck ever?" Not even taking the hint that I wanted to go back to the resort, Calvin towered over me, his eyes balls of fiery pits, and he spat, "You're not. In fact, the countless other women I've been fucking these last five years would have been a lot fucking better than you could ever be."
"What?" I breathed out, taken completely aback, not comprehending his words, not believing his own admission.
"What? Did you think I waited around throughout our four years of college while you consistently failed to make me your priority?" He mocked, shaking his head, "Don't be so fucking naive, Jaidyn. I had needs and you weren't taking care of them. What's harder to believe is that shocked look on your face." The cruel scoff was another slap to the face.
I probably should have cried. That would have been any other normal woman’s reaction yet all I felt was rage.
"So why did you, Calvin?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, and staring him dow
n.
"Did I. what?"
"Why did you stay with me if I was such a burden on you?"
"Your credentials would have looked good on my profile. Plus, you're not too bad in the sack, I could have lived with that. And when I saw you whoring yourself to that guy Marlon, I figured it was time to put a collar on you since you're such a faithful little bitch."
The crack that echoed in the night surprised me more than it stung my palm.
Calvin's head snapped to the side and when he turned back around, his stare was an evil glint I had never seen before.
"Maybe you should call that cab now. Sayofuckingnara, I'm out."
I stood there watching him round the right side of the car to get behind the wheel.
I didn't move when he turned the engine on.
I watched until the red taillights disappeared completely, leaving me alone in the parking lot, in a country I didn't know, with the knife of betrayal firmly stabbed between my shoulder blades.
Chapter 30
Marlon
With the GPS giving me directions, I barrelled into the restaurant's parking lot like a crazed maniac trying out for the Indy 500. I couldn't understand why she'd asked me pick her up. She was supposed to be with Calvin on a romantic date, why wasn't he there, taking her home?
As soon as the car stopped, barely in the parking space, I jumped out of the car and raced to Jaidyn, placing my palms on either side of her face and running my gaze all over her body and face.
"Are you okay? Did something happen?"
Did they get mugged, was Calvin dead? Although that last thought was more reassuring than I cared to admit.
"I'm fine, really," she said, a small smile adorning her beautiful lips, "I just needed a ride home."
"What the fuck happened to Calvin?" My blood was boiling, I could feel the rage building in my veins.
"He's gone." Her words were so simple that they threw me for a loop.
"What do you mean, gone? He brought you here, right? I mean, I didn't dream that." More like a nightmare. Watching her leave with that asshole left a bitter taste in my mouth. But now? I would leave a bloody taste in his.
"We had a fight and..." she placed her hands on top of mine and begged with her eyes, "Can we just go back? I'll explain in the car."
Closing my eyes and resting my forehead against hers, I breathed her in, glad she was okay but anxious to hear the story of how this incredible woman ended up outside a restaurant, alone.
"Yeah, of course. Come on, Jaybird. Let's get you in the car." I took her hand and guided her to the passenger side. It was still strange to drive on the "wrong side" of the road, forcing me to concentrate on motor memory skills that normally wouldn't even be a problem.
In the car, Jaidyn didn't say a word and I respected her enough to let her talk to me when she was ready.
"Was Calvin at the resort when you left?" she asked me, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"No, not yet." Holy fucking shit, someone was going to die, and I needed to find a place to bury the body.
"Okay. Would you mind slowing down? I want to give him the time to pack his shit and get the fuck out of there."
I almost snapped my neck in two for how quickly I turned to face her.
"Yeah, of course," is what I said but what I meant was, you don't ever have to see him again because I'm going to kill that motherfucker.
"Thank you, Marlon, for coming to get me. I know it's not in your job..." I cut her off before she finished that phrase.
"Anything for you, Jaidyn. You should know that."
The conversation with her father flashed in my mind, the secret he’d asked me to keep twisting my gut like a vice. But I would cross that bridge when necessary.
And then she told me the story of a guy who was too utterly stupid to recognize how lucky he was to have a woman like Jaidyn. The story of a woman so faithful that she couldn't fathom her boyfriend cheating on her for almost the entirety of their relationship.
And then there was me, a man too selfish to keep his feelings hidden even though it was the worst possible time to do so.
When we finally arrived at the cabanas, I took her fingers in my hand and brought them to my lips, kissing each of her knuckles, my eyes never wavering from her defeated gaze.
"I don't know what you're feeling right now, Jaybird," I said, placing a tender kiss on the silky underside of her wrist, "but any man would be so lucky to have you in his life. Present company included."
She smiled, her eyes losing a bit of the sadness but not completely.
"Come on, let's get you in bed. Tomorrow, this will all be in the past and we start a new adventure, in a new country."
Before I had left to pick up Jaidyn, I'd made sure Robert was settled, with a glass of water sitting on the nightstand. When we returned, everything was quiet, and Calvin's car was nowhere to be seen. Shame, really, I was hoping to break a few of his front teeth.
Walking Jaidyn to her cabana, I broke the client barrier once more by placing my hand at the back of her head and pulling her into my chest for a tight hug.
I wasn't sure how deeply she was hurting. It was hard to tell with her armor up and firmly in place.
"If you need anything, I'll be just across that pool," I reminded her, not moving a single muscle and hoping she would stay there in my arms.
She fit perfectly, her head nestled right under my chin, her hands holding onto my shoulders for dear life, and her scent making me lose my sanity.
She deserved so much more than that poor excuse of a man. She deserved a man who would give everything up if it meant watching her fulfill her dreams. A man who didn't hesitate to put her up on a pedestal.
"Marlon?"
"Yes, little bird?"
"Would you mind coming in and sitting with me for awhile? I need some wine and hate to drink alone," her voice was muffled from my shoulder, making her words sound as though under water.
"Anything for you," I repeated my words from earlier, giving her a squeeze before feeling her step away from me.
I missed her heat before she even stepped away. This thing between us was crazy, it wasn't just a desire to fuck her, it was something akin to need right down to my core.
Following her back into the cabana, I went straight to the mini bar and brought out the liquor, vodka, whiskey, and gin. I wasn't sure what her poison might be but I figured she needed something stronger than wine.
Apparently, I was wrong.
"Wow," she said, almost laughing, "You thought this was cause to break out the hard liquor?"
Stunned, I stopped in my tracks and took the time to really look at this incredible woman.
"Come on, Marlon. I mean, yeah, I'm sad that I wasted all these years with him, but when you really think about it, I didn't really lose much, right?" Taking the glasses and bottle of wine from her hands, I brought them to the patio table and served her a glass.
"Well, for one, you've been missing out on my kisses," I teased, raising a brow in her direction, my smirk firmly in place.
"Is that so?" she laughed and sat at the opposite side of the table.
"Well, yes. I've been told that I'm an excellent kisser. But, you know, I would need you to confirm," I said, taking a sip of the Chardonnay from last night's dinner, apparently. After the long flight from Los Angeles, I was beat but not tired enough to miss out on this time with Jaidyn.
"Hmm," was all she said, making me wonder if I'd lost my game.
"Aside from that, I have to say that you're still young, Jaidyn, your life is just beginning."
"Oh, because you're so old and wise, Master?" she joked but she was right. At twenty-eight, I was still wet behind the ears even though I'd built a business and crawled out from a past that I fought every day to forget.
"Sometimes, it's not about the years, it's about the experience," I told her truthfully. "Some people can live to be a hundred without truly knowing what it's like to suffer or go hungry or experience anything remotely painful." Rela
xing into my chair, I let my gaze drink her in.
Her hair was down, the ends curling around her breasts like beacons for my attention. Bringing her glass of wine to those lips I longed to devour, I watched her, enraptured by her delicate yet fortified features. She wasn't a weak woman; she was battle ready with a heart of gold.
"And some witness horror before they even reach their teen years," I finished, not giving her more than I was capable of telling.
"Is that you, Marlon? Wise beyond your years?"
"Maybe," I shrugged, but I could see that she knew this was a tough subject for me.
"You know, I feel like I'm always telling you all about me and you're sitting there all mysterious-y," waving her hands around like the mystery was palpable.
"I don't think that's a word."
"Probably not but it works," she complied, "So tell me, Marlon, who was ten-year-old you?"
I didn't move for the longest time, watching her, thinking.
We came from two worlds, galaxies apart, where life and love didn't have the same meanings.
If I told her about my life, she could either be disgusted or worse, feel pity. Neither option was tempting in the least.
"That's maybe a story for whiskey, not sure wine is going to cut it," I joked but inside I was dead serious.
"That bad?"
"Worse."
"Well, Mister Brooks, I'm going to keep that in mind and by the time we leave New Zealand, I want to know everything about you."
"Ditto, Miss Hughes"
Finishing off my glass, I rose from my chair at the same time as Jaidyn. Instead of walking around the pool to my cabana, I made my way to the woman I wanted more than anything in the world.
Bringing our bodies close enough to share the heat, I buried my fingers in the silk strands of her golden-brown hair, relishing the feeling. Memorizing the moment. I wanted to tighten my fingers and kiss her as though she were the essence of life itself.