Commitment: The Beauty in Between (A Beautiful Series Novella)

by Lilliana Anderson

  My head snaps back and my eyes open wide. “You’ve been eating cake!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  David

  We arrive at Paige and Elliot’s just before seven and park kerbside, not far from their block of flats. The façade leads me to believe they were built sometime in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s and the brown wood of the doors and the carpets on the stair case confirms my thoughts.

  “What are they like inside?” I ask Trina as we climb the stairs.

  “Well they said it’s all been redone, but it used to just be more brown. Even the white of the walls had a brown tone to it.”

  When we knock on the door, Elliot answers with Grace in his arms. She’s looking a little grouchy but very cute in her purple pyjamas.

  “Hi, welcome,” he says thrusting out a hand to shake mine and leaning toward Trina for a cheek kiss. “Did you find parking on the street ok?”

  “Yeah. We’re just between this complex and the next one,” I tell him.

  Katrina

  From where we’re standing, I can’t believe this is the same flat I was in all those years ago. It’s just so different. The design is now much more modern and looks like it should be in a design magazine or something – one of those fancy coffee table magazines that people love buying.

  “Wow, Elliot. Can I just say that this all looks amazing. I would never have thought it was the same place.”

  Paige appears from the kitchen and calls out hi before walking down the hallway towards us. She’s wearing a pair of black capris pants and a fitted navy blue singlet with a long necklace hanging down. She has her hair pulled up into a bun on top of her head. Looking effortlessly beautiful – like she always does.

  I’m wearing my usual summery dress. It’s white with tiny coloured flowers around the top of the bust and the hem. I wear minimal jewellery, just my stud earrings, my engagement ring and the bracelet David brought back from Bali years ago.

  The men are dressed almost identically in cargo shorts and button up collared short sleeve checked shirts, open with a plain t-shirts underneath them. They look both look great. Although David always looks great – clothes or not.

  Once Paige reaches us, a bit more cheek kissing goes on before we continue through the flat.

  “Different, huh?” Paige directs at me.

  “It’s amazing. Really beautiful.”

  “Erica, Robert’s wife, designed it all herself. She picked everything,” she tells me as she leads me further inside.

  “Robert? Is that Elliot’s dad’s name?” I ask. How strange. Robert Roberts?

  She laughs, “Yes, and I know what you’re thinking. They have different surnames.”

  “Roberts is my mum’s name, she and dad weren’t married when I was born, so mum gave me her name, and it was never changed,” Elliot informs me.

  “Oh, well that makes sense,” I laugh.

  “Come, I’ll show you around,” Paige says, inclining her head so I follow her.

  As I walk down the hallway, I first come to a formal dining room with a square, chestnut-coloured table. It’s surrounded by eight leather chairs and there’s a high chair in the corner.

  “This isn’t too weird for you is it?” she asks me. “I mean, being here. I know you and Elliot had a thing when he was living here.”

  “Oh, no. It’s fine. It looks like an entirely new place and besides – that was years ago,” I laugh. It comes out a little higher pitched than I intend, but normally no one makes any references to the fact that Elliot and I once had a ‘thing’. We generally just go along pretending like nothing ever happened, and frankly, that suits me just fine.

  She looks at me for a minute, as if she’s assessing whether I’m telling the truth or not.

  “Ok, it’s a little weird,” I blurt out. “But seriously Paige. Whatever Elliot and I once had was never serious. It didn’t even get beyond the fling faze. I think we thought it was more than it really was at the time. But I know that for me, what I have with David is completely different, and from what I gather, Elliot feels the same way about you. It’s like you complete each other… you know?”

  “Yes. I do,” she smiles. “I kind of just wanted to make sure that you weren’t uncomfortable.”

  “I’m not uncomfortable being here. But do you know what makes me uncomfortable? Having this conversation. It feels a little awkward. How about we forget about the past, because it has nothing to do with our lives now, and move on? I’d really like to see the rest of the flat.”

  Paige laughs a little. “Yeah, that was really uncomfortable actually. I just wanted to get that conversation over with. I didn’t want there to be an elephant in the room.”

  “Understood,” I say smiling. I kind of feel like I should hug her, but she doesn’t seem like the hugging type and well… neither am I.

  “Come on,” she says with a slight grin, “I’ll show you the rest.”

  In the lounge room, there’s a massive leather cream coloured couch in front of a large mounted flat screen television. There’s two matching book cases either side, and they’re artfully decorated with books, vases, candles and photographs.

  The wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the flat has been knocked down so it’s all open now. It’s been done up with all stainless steel appliances and a dark granite bench top. The bench has a small drop when it becomes a breakfast bar that looks out the window where a small table used to be.

  The first bedroom is Grace’s. I never saw inside this one, but it has a beautiful white sleigh cot, and matching chest of drawers and change table inside. It’s been decorated almost entirely with butterflies.

  “Did you guys rob a toy store?” I joke, looking around. There’s every toy a baby girl could ever hope for.

  “No. That’s Erica and Kathy combined. I don’t think there’s a toy Grace doesn’t own,” she laughs.

  Next up is the main bathroom. It has a sleek bath tub with spa jets inside and a glass partition to turn it into a shower. The large mirror has vanity lights around it which is so cool.

  “I would kill for a mirror like that!” I tell her looking around.

  “You won’t believe what she did with the main bedroom,” she tells me, grinning. I can tell she really loves it.

  I gasp when I see it. It almost looks like a hotel room. Above the bed is a blown-up photo of Elliot and Paige, kissing on their wedding day. They look so happy and in love that it almost makes tears of joy spring to my eyes.

  “Wait, you haven’t seen all of it yet,” she says pulling me towards a door that I assume leads to the en-suite. I’m surprised though, when it opens - it’s a walk in wardrobe which then becomes an en-suite.

  “This looks like something out of a movie. I love that chair in the middle, it just makes you want to sit down and try on shoes,” I comment.

  The en-suite itself is also gorgeous with his and hers basins and a corner mini spa bath and shower combined.

  “I know, I love it,” she tells me. “I’ve never lived in something this nice before. I pinch myself daily over it.”

  “Well it’s beautiful. Thanks so much for showing me,” I tell her, and I genuinely mean it. Seeing inside their house, and how happy they are together, just makes me more excited to get married and have a family myself.

  David

  “Thank you so much for sorting out the celebrant for me. You really saved my arse,” I say to Elliot while the girls are taking the tour of the flat.

  “No trouble at all. It was all my dad actually, I was just the middle man.”

  “Well even so, I’m really grateful and if Trina had any idea, she’d be really grateful too.”

  He walks me into the kitchen and opens the fridge, offering me a beer which I gratefully accept. He also pulls out a bottle of white wine and pours a glass for each of the girls, which we both carry into the dining room where Grace is sitting and pulling random toys out of a little toy tub in the corner.

  “Listen, I… well we were won
dering if you two would like to come to the wedding. You don’t have to say yes straight away – talk it through with Paige, but just know that you’re welcome to come. When I invited everyone, we didn’t really know each other, but we’ve spent a bit of time together and we’d really like for you two to attend,” I tell him, talking rather rushed. I kind of feel nervous all of a sudden. “And of course, Grace is welcome too,” I add as she lets out a little squeal and babbles at a set of baby keys she’s playing with.

  “Um… yeah, that’d actually be really nice. I’m sure Paige will be fine with it – she really likes Katrina, so I can’t see why not. I’ll check with her though,” he says, spinning his beer bottle around in his hands.

  “What do you have to check?” Paige asks as she appears in the archway with Katrina beside her.

  “Ah,” Elliot says glancing quickly at me. He’s obviously worried about saying something he shouldn’t.

  “It’s cool” I say to him. “She knows I’m asking you.”

  “Asking what?” Paige asks looking between us.

  “We want to know if you two will come to the wedding,” Katrina tells her. “When it is, I have no idea so you’ll have to get the details off David. But we would love it if you could come.”

  “Of course, we’d love to be there. Although, we do know when it is,” she smiles.

  “Of course you do! Everyone knows except for me,” Katrina whines.

  “Come on David. You have to tell her the date at least. A girl needs to prepare,” Paige puts in.

  “I can’t. I’m sorry, it will ruin everything. She’s just going to have to wait.”

  Katrina looks over at Paige and gives her a smile that says ‘thanks for trying’. They do a silent communication thing for a couple of seconds before Grace crawls over to Paige’s feet, and starts to pull at the bottom of her capris.

  Leaning down to pick her up Paige says, “I think I should probably put this one to bed. I won’t be long if you want to serve dinner,” she directs toward Elliot as she moves closer to him so he can say goodnight to his little girl.

  “Sure thing,” he says, kissing Grace’s head before getting up from his seat and heading toward the kitchen.

  “Do you want any help?” Katrina and I both ask.

  “Yeah why not, we can all huddle in there. Paige has cooked this great paella and there’s some bread in the basket over there if you want to carry that through.”

  We all move around their kitchen and carry the food to the table while we make general small talk about how nice everything looks and smells. My stomach rumbles audibly and I blame the great smells that have been teasing my nose since we entered the flat.

  By the time we have everything on the table, Paige has returned from the nursery and tells us that Grace is already asleep.

  “That’s amazing,” Katrina comments. “You must be such a good mum.”

  “Grace is such a good baby,” she replies, taking a seat next to Elliot.

  “Don’t sell yourself short babe, you’re amazing with her,” Elliot says as he drops a kiss on her shoulder.

  Over dinner we chat about our plans for Christmas and what we’re going to do for New Years, as well as a whole host of other things. The conversation flows freely and we don’t end up leaving until a little after twelve.

  Katrina

  “Isn’t it funny how things change?” I say as we’re driving home. I’m running my fingers through my hair in search for any remaining pins from my semi up-do.

  “Like what?” David asks, glancing at me briefly. I let my eyes rest on him for a moment before I answer. I enjoy looking at his profile as it’s illuminated by the lights on the dash. I reach my hand toward him and run the back of my fingers down the side of his face and over his shoulders. I can’t help it, I just want to touch him.

  He flashes a grin, and tilts his body towards me slightly, but keeps his focus ahead. “Are you going to tell me?”

  “Well, I was just thinking that a few years ago, we’d spend our Saturday nights out getting drunk and dancing all night. But now we’re having civilised dinners that are counted as running late and it’s only a little after midnight.”

  “Yeah well, we grew up I guess,” he says to me, reaching over and taking my hand in his to rest on his leg while he drives. We hold hands and listen to the music playing over the radio for a while before he speaks again. “Do you still want to go out dancing?”

  “No. I’m not into nightclubs anymore, although I do miss dancing with you all night.”

  When we arrive home, David takes me by the hand and leads me inside. He’s focused on his phone and I wonder what he’s doing as he walks us into the living area. But when he docks his phone on the speakers, Colorblind by Counting Crows starts to drift out of the speakers, and I realise what’s going on.

  I smile at him as he lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss on my knuckles. “Shall we?” he murmurs.

  His arms encircle my waist as mine slide up over his shoulders and I lace my fingers across his back.

  “This is nice,” I purr into his ear as I rest my head on his shoulder, our bodies pressed close and swaying together along with the music.

  He hums and we keep moving in a slow circle, swaying together, holding each other. When the song ends a new one starts to play, although I’m not really listening anymore. I’m more focused on the hunger in the eyes of my fiancé.

  “Kiss me,” I whisper, brushing my lips against his, nudging him gently. We take it slow, letting the music guide our movement. First it’s just gentle touches and soft sucking of lips. Slowly our mouths open and we give each other access, our tongues dancing together with the strains of the song.

  I start to work at the buttons of his shirt, taking my time with each one as I start to trail kisses along his jaw, down his neck and between his pecs.

  He grips my buttocks and presses me to him, showing me his arousal as it presses firmly into my abdomen. Placing my hands on his chest, I push back a little, freeing myself from him and then reaching down to the hem of my dress, pulling it over my head and dropping it on the floor so I’m standing only in my underwear.

  “You are so beautiful Trina,” he breathes, his eyes dragging over my body in the dim light of the room.

  “I thought I was your princess,” I tease him.

  “You are. You’re my everything.” A slight skitter of excitement rolls around in my stomach as he approaches, and I watch him remove his shirt and drop it near my dress on the floor. The moment our skin touches, the skitter rolls down and causes a throbbing between my legs.

  Sliding my hands down his well defined chest, I undo the buttons of his pants. I love to feel him, hard in my hand. At the same time, he undoes the hook of my bra and being strapless, it falls easily to the ground with our other things.

  “Bed?” I suggest. I want some space to move around.

  “Bed,” he agrees.

  We move together, kissing and removing the last items of our clothes before landing on the bed. He slides his hand up my thighs, sending shivers of longing toward my core. Involuntarily, l roll my hips, I’m desperate for his touch.

  When his fingers meet my centre, he lets out an appreciative growl. “You’re so wet. You feel like silk,” he comments as he trails kisses down my throat and along my collarbone. “I should dance with you more often.”

  “You should. It makes me putty in your hands,” I utter, as I slide my fingers into his hair. I gasp, closing my eyes and luxuriating under his touch, as his fingertips spread my juices up over my clit. He circles the throbbing bundle of nerves as l writhe beneath him, rocking my hips, urging him on.

  His kisses move down my body as he makes his way over the small mounds that are my breasts. When he takes my nipple into his mouth, he drives his fingers inside me, pulsing his hand as he drags his teeth and tugs playfully on my nipple.

  Inside I’m a mess, that familiar pressure blossoms and builds, threatening to spill before I’ve had him inside me. />
  “Oh!” l call out, my orgasm making its way to the surface. “Oh! Get inside me! I want to come with you inside me!”

  With an erotic grunt he obliges, pulling my legs either side him and circling himself in my juices. He drives himself inside and I yell out as he touches my depths.

  Pulsing back and forth he strokes my core, pushing against all the right spots in a rhythm that has my eyes rolling back as wave after wave crashes through my body.

  I cry out, calling his name as he drives into my wetness, stilling only after he has shuddered, spilling his juices deep inside me with a loud moan.

  Breathing heavily, he kisses me leisurely. “I like it when you call my name,” he growls low in my ear as he nips playfully at my lobe. I reach over to the bedpost and grab a towel to press between my legs as he withdraws from me.

  We lay together in a tangle of limbs gently running our hands over each other’s skin.

  “What would you say, if a bit after the wedding, I stop taking the pill?” I ask him out of the blue.

  He sits up suddenly and twists his body so he can properly face me.

  “Are you serious? I mean, what about your job? I thought you wanted to make partner.”

  “I do, but I can do that after we have kids. It might take a bit longer, but I’m sure I could still do it. Or… I was thinking, we could eventually start our own firm. Be our own bosses.”

  “Trina, I…”

  “What? You don’t want kids anymore?”

  “I do. Oh my god, you just….” He sits up more and takes my face into his hands looking intently into my eyes. “I always knew you were the girl of my dreams and this… well, wow this is even better than I dreamed. Trina. I would love nothing more than to start a family with you. Nothing.”

  “Good, because I want your babies David. I want the dream.”

  He grins at me, his smile so wide that he almost has a second dimple.

  “I love you Trina. So much.”

  He takes my mouth in his, his tongue sliding over my lips as my body lets out a moan and calls for his touch all over again. I feel him stir against my thigh and hum my pleasure.