Define Me

by Culine Ramsden

  Cole looked at Vincent and nodded his head.

  “Great, thanks for offering. It will be a great help.”

  After we finished breakfast Heather and I quickly cleaned up, while Cole and Vincent enjoyed another cup of coffee.

  “Well it is time for us to go; I still need to get to the market. Heather, I will see you at 7:30 to open up and show you the menu. Cole will spend the day helping you. Thanks for helping us out.”

  I walked Vincent to the door.

  “I will come back and take you to class after I’m done at the market, Ok?”

  “No don’t be silly, I have my car. I can drive myself, you need to show Heather what to do. She might be a fast learner but you don’t know what you have let yourself in for. She can be a real airhead sometimes, but love her a lot.”

  “Ok, but can I see you later today?”

  “I finish at 3 with my classes and then I have a few outstanding assignments to do. Why don’t you come around for supper tonight? I will cook for us; we can eat out on the patio.”

  “That sounds great, what can I bring?”

  “Yourself, I will supply the rest, but maybe you can arrange with Cole to entertain my friend for the night”

  “Now that is a very good idea.”

  Vincent gave me a good bye kiss and walked away. His car was still parked at Simplicity. I was so glad we managed to sort out the issue with Rebecca, I have to say I was relieved that she had resigned and that I no longer had to face her. However I don’t blame her for falling in love with Vincent. He is such a good person, a real gentleman as good as you can get. Luckily for me he was all mine and I would be damned if I was going to share him with anyone. I needed to get ready for the day; I had so much to do. I ran upstairs to my room, I could still smell him. I jumped into the shower, 30 minutes later I was ready. I gathered all my books for class and headed down stairs. Heather was ready to leave for Simplicity, I was glad she found something to keep her busy during the day; I doubted her credit card could take anymore bored shopping trips.

  “Hey girl, you ready for your first day in the real world? You think you are going to cope, working for Cole the whole day? You know there is a rule, no fraternising with the boss.”

  “Oh whatever. He was my boyfriend before he was my boss, screw that rule.”

  “Nice. Just remember, not at work and lunch time quickies will not do.”

  “Yes mom!!”

  “Well enjoy. I better get to school; I want to see if I can catch up on some of the work I missed out yesterday.”

  “Great see you later. What are we doing for dinner tonight?”

  “I don’t know what you and Cole are doing, but Vincent and I are planning on having a romantic dinner at home. I don’t want to see you in this house. This morning was far more embracing than I ever thought. I don’t want another repeat of that.”

  Heather started laughing again.

  “Yes, I have to say walking in on you and Vincent this morning was funny. You guys are really hot and heavy in this relationship. It is nice to see you so carefree and happy. I hope he is good to you.”

  “I am really happy, Vincent is amazing and caring. I thought my Dad was the only gentleman in this world, but I have met a man almost as good as my Dad. I wonder what my parents will think of him. I can’t wait for them to meet him. I think I should invite him to go home with me for Thanksgiving.”

  “Wow, meet the parents already. You are really serious about this one, aren’t you? Well good for you, I think I will wait a little longer to I introduce Cole to my parents. Daddy is not to easily impressed.”

  “You’re right, well I had better be off. See you later.”

  It took me about 20 minutes to drive to school, I phoned Sam on my way to see if I could catch up on some of the work I missed out on yesterday. I was lucky that Sam and I took all the same classes and managed to get all the notes I needed. Thank goodness there was not that much.

  “So what have you been up too? We didn’t see much of you on Monday night.”

  “Wow, it has been a hell of a time. Firstly I spent the most amazing night with Vincent at his home. Then yesterday went for a ball of shit. You remember that shop manager at Simplicity?”

  “Yes, Rebecca I think.”

  “Yes that one. Well yesterday I found out she’s got a major crush on my boyfriend and has had this crush for some time. She thought I was just a little fling and basically told me to take a hike. Needless to say she no longer works for Simplicity.”

  “Oh my word, I can’t believe that. Did Vincent fire her?”

  “No she quit.”

  “OH”

  “Anyway, we sorted ourselves out and now we can start fresh, so tell me what happened at my party, did you like any of the guys that were there?”

  “Yes I did, but I don’t know if you are going to like it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I wanted to ask you about Brent, the guy that went to school with you is there anything or was there ever anything between you guys?”

  “Brent?”

  “Yes, the army guy.”

  “No there is nothing between us. We went to school together, nothing more. I hardly know the guy.”

  “Oh, ok. Well I sort of like him and would like to get to know him better, but he is very distant and I think he only has eyes for you.”

  “I can guarantee you there is nothing between us, go for it.”

  “Great, so have you heard anything about the photo-shoot for Simplicity?”

  “No, I almost forgot about that. I will speak to Vincent and let you know, I think that is going to be so much fun I can’t wait.”

  The rest of the day went by so quickly, after school I went to the supermarket and got all I needed for dinner. I wondered if it would be ok to do wine with dinner, I didn’t even know if Vincent drank wine.

  I sent him a text asking about wine, he responded with-in a few seconds: “A little wine every once in a while will not do any harm.”

  As I was driving back home I spotted this white delivery truck following me. It may have been nothing but I didn’t feel comfortable. I drove directly to Simplicity; I felt it was my safest option. When I parked my car and got out, I found Vincent standing by his car just about to leave.

  “Hey babes, what you doing here? Is everything ok, you look upset?”

  “It is nothing; I’m just a little paranoid.”

  “Why what happened, tell me.”

  “I thought I saw a white van following me, but I must have been wrong.”

  Vincent looked around but the van was nowhere to be seen.

  “I’m glad you came here first. When you feel something is wrong, just phone me and I will come to you. Ok? Let me take you home, I want to go to gym before dinner. You want to join me?”

  “It would be great of you to take me home, is Heather still working?”

  “Yes Cole is teaching her the in’s and out’s of running the shop, I have to say she did well today. I think it will work.”

  “I am glad about that.”

  “So you want to go to gym with me quickly.”

  “No I need to get home, I’ve got some homework to do and then I want to get started on dinner.”

  Chapter 20

  Heather popped in after work to shower and get ready for her date with Cole.

  “Hey, how was your first day at work?”

  “I love it; it is going to be so much fun. Vincent is really good with the food; you will enjoy cooking with him. I can so see why you two are perfect for each other.”

  “Thanks hey, so what do you guys have planned for tonight?”

  “We’re going to go down to Yard House, when you guys are done with your “romantic” dinner do you want to come and join us?”

  “I will see what Vincent wants to do.”

  “So tell me, any word from Rebecca?”

  “Yes, she came to the shop today, made a big scene in front of the customers but Cole handled it. But you
can see the boys are worried about it.”

  “Why, what did she say?”

  “She screamed at Vincent that he was making the biggest mistake of his life and that she was the only person that would ever love him. Vincent went crazy, he told her she was mad and that he never wanted to see her again. Cole eventually managed to calm them down but Rebecca totally lost it. Vincent was on his way to the police station to go and report the incident.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “I wanted to ask you what happened when you came home, 5 minutes after Vincent left for the police station, Cole got a phone call and Vincent said that you were followed home by someone.”

  “I don’t know if I was followed but after Rebecca’s phone call yesterday I was a little spooked. I thought I saw a white van following me home from school, but when I stopped at Simplicity it was gone. This thing with Rebecca is just freaking me out, when I first met her we really got on but when she saw the interest Vincent was showing me she changed. Oh, I’ve got some other news to tell you. I saw Sam in class today, she asked me about Brent. She wanted to know if there was anything between us; it looks like she has the hots for him.”

  “WHAT? Samantha’s got the hots for Brent? Where did she meet him?”

  “Monday night when he came to make trouble for me.”

  “Oh yes, now I remember. Well good luck to her, I think he is strange. I tried my luck with him and he is like a cold fish, he only has eyes for one person and she is already taken.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh please Caitlin, tell me you are not that blind. Even at school Brent had the hot’s for you but he never acted on it. Now it looks like he has lost his mind, openly going for you in front of Vincent, that was crazy.”

  “Come on Heather that is not true. Ok I agree, I can see he likes me but really to try anything, he is not that type of guy.”

  “We will have to see about that, he is always hanging around in the shadows. I wonder about him, what made him like this.”

  “Yeah, we will have to see. There is something about him, a little bit of danger and mystery. Well Samantha likes him, good for her.”

  By seven o’clock Heather was ready to go out, we were sitting outside on the patio drinking a glass of wine when Vincent and Cole arrived. Vincent walked to where I was sitting, pulled me up into his arms and kissed me.

  “I missed you.”

  “You saw me a few hours ago, how could you have missed me?”

  “So does that mean you did not miss me? Now I’m heartbroken.”

  “Oh please!”

  Vincent sat down on the chair and pulled me onto his lap, I wiggled my butt just a little too tease him. Vincent put his mouth to my ear and whispered softly.

  “You need to stop doing that or I will take you up stairs right now and there will be no romantic dinner for you tonight.”

  He kissed me on my neck and then focused on Heather, I could feel his hand creeping in under my top and up my back.

  “So Heather, how did you enjoy your first day at work?”

  “I loved it boss, can’t wait for tomorrow.”

  “Boss, I like that. Do you hear that Cole, she knows I am the boss. Now you just need to start calling me that too.”

  “Yeah, that will never happen.”

  We talked for a while about the day and Vincent told me about the situation with Rebecca at work. He went to the police station to report it; while he was there he told them about the phone call and also the white van that followed me. They said there was nothing they could do about it but it was put on record. An hour later Cole and Heather left for their date. Vincent told them that we might join them later for a night cap but not to count on it.

  We stayed on the patio watching the sun go down, Vincent knew it my favourite time of the day. I was still sitting on his lap, looking at the ocean; he had his arms wrapped around me and his nose in my hair.

  “I love the smell of you, what is it?”

  “Lavender and Vanilla, it was a gift from my mom when I moved here.”

  “It smells good, you smell good.”

  “Happy to know you like the way I smell, what else do you like about me Mr Charming?”

  “Well where do I start?” Vincent start kissing my neck, “I love your soft skin and the goose bumps that you get when I kiss you right here” He trailed soft kisses all along the back of my neck. “I love your soft pink lips and the way they plump up when we kiss too much”, he turned me around to face him and started kissing me. I opened my mouth to let him in, his tongue twisted and twirled with mine, (I loved the minty taste of his breath, even after a long day his still tasted like heaven.)Vincent pulled away breaking our kiss, I moaned at the loss, the hunger I felt for him. “I love the way your baby blues sparkle in the moonlight, you have the most amazing eyes I’ve seen in my life, I love the way you look at me right now, that hunger in your eyes and the way they look when you come undone under me. Caitlin, everything about you I like, you are my everything. I know we have only known each other for a short while but I know that all we need is us.”

  I didn’t know what to say, I did not expect Vincent to go all mushy on me when I asked what he liked about me. What he said and the way he said it, OMG I didn’t think I could be more in love if I tried. That man had managed to knock my feet right out from under me; I didn’t want to be anywhere else but in his arms for the rest of my life.

  “You make me so happy Vincent, thank you for being you. For teaching me to trust again and to open my heart.”

  “I Love you Caitlin.”

  Wow I did not see that coming, guys don’t say the L-word so soon in a relationship. I was a little shocked but happy, I felt the same I was just not ready to say it. It was such a whirlwind relationship, everything was happening so fast, but when it this right why deny how you feel?

  “I understand if you are not ready but I need you to know how I feel and that I will make it my goal to make you happy and …”

  I lifted my finger and placed it on Vincent’s lips, stopping him from saying another word.

  “I love you too, Vincent. I wish I could express to you the way you make me feel. You are the best thing that has happened to me.”

  The words were hardly out of my mouth before Vincent pushed his body against mine, with his arms tightly wrapped around me. He held me to his chest and started showering my face with soft kisses.

  “All I want to do right now is take you upstairs and make love to you until the sun comes up.”

  “So what is stopping you?”

  Vincent leaned forward and lifted me in his arms, as we turned to walk into the house we heard a noise coming from the bushes next to the house, I snapped my head up to look at Vincent, to make sure I was not imagining it. The look on his face told me that he also heard the noise.

  “Get in the house and lock the doors, I want to go see what that was.”

  “No Vincent don’t go!”

  “Caitlin, I am not telling you again. Get inside and lock the door, NOW!”

  I ran to the front door to make sure it was locked and then the back door. I made my way back to the glass patio door; it was so dark I couldn’t see a thing, not even Vincent. The minutes ticked by, should I phone the police? I didn’t know what to do I was starting to freak out when I looked up and saw Vincent standing in front of the door. I quickly opened up to let him in.

  “You were gone long, did you see anything?”

  “I don’t know what I saw. There was a guy, I think, walking in the parking lot in front of Simplicity. Before I could get to him he got into a car and drove away. He wasn’t alone I could see there was someone in the passenger seat but it was too dark to make out their faces. He didn’t run, so I don’t know if it is related, besides that I couldn’t find anything”

  “Vincent this is freaking me out, what is happening?”

  “I don’t know Caitlin. I agree, to many funny things have been happening since Rebecca left, it must be related but the cops
can’t do anything without solid proof and we don’t have anything. I don't feel happy with you living here right now, not until we find out what is happening.”

  “I understand but I can’t just leave my house. I have school and I need to start prepping for exams. I will just have to tighten up the security of the house. Can you help me with that?”

  “I don’t want you to stay here baby, come to my house, I have all the security we need. Maybe during the day when you need to study it would be ok to be home, I am right here so I can keep an eye out, but I think at night you need to come and stay at my place.”