Next to You (Life)

by Claudia Y. Burgoa

  “Uhmm.” She raises an eyebrow at the same time her stomach makes those hungry noises. “Oops, I think I’m hungry, you?” I nod. “I have food in the car and it’s getting too cold to continue don’t you think?”

  Before heading back, I grab her by the waist pulling her close to my body. “I love you, Rebecca Trent, please fight for this with me. I don’t want to lose you.”

  She stretches herself and I bend down to meet her in the middle. Our mouths meet and this time I draw her into a gentle, lazy kiss; a tender recognition of that mouth I have missed so much.

  “So… can I call you my girlfriend now?” I ask when we finally separate and she laughs, nodding at the same time. “Thankfully, I was about to go out of my fucking mind since I have been banned from that pink world of yours, Bex.”

  Chapter 29

  It’s six in the morning and as we’ve done for the past week and a half, I’m standing outside Becca’s condo. We go out for a run with Rusty, have breakfast together and then get ready to go to work. Today is different, she hasn’t come out, the lights inside the house are off and I hear Rusty’s paws pushing the glass door. I try her cell phone but my call goes to voicemail after the fourth ring. Then I dial her home phone, and I hear it ringing, but there’s no answer. I worry and decide not to waste any time, pulling out my keys, I use the spare one Buddy gave me back when we bought the places and open the door.

  “Rebecca,” I call out. The entire house is dark and there’s not one noise around. The security alarm beeps and I attempt to disable it by using her usual code—the year when her favorite fairy tale was written plus the number seven—and it works. Rusty wags his tale as he sees me and stares at the glass door. The silence inside the house is unnerving and after what happened with her and the Patricks, my gut clenches. “Rebecca.

  “What the hell, Rebecca!” My voice reaches the loudest tone I can produce, there’s no answer and I’m about to call Tony, Nick and the police. Her alarm clock goes off and I head to her room. The smell of bile hits my nostrils as I open the door of the master bedroom. I flip the switch and find a pile of blankets over her head. “Baby.” I approach her side of the bed to turn off the squeaking noise of the clock and my gaze goes to Becca’s face right after, which is red. “What’s with the pile of blankets? It’s late. I’ve been waiting for you.” I touch her forehead and she’s on fire. I kiss it—her way to verify there’s a fever. “You’re burning up, open your eyes, Princess.”

  Not wasting time, I head to the bathroom where I run her a warm bath to cool her down. Only God knows when the fever started. I remember yesterday she didn’t eat much during dinner and kicked me out early because she wanted to go to bed early. ‘I feel tired,’ she mentioned. I thought she was still recovering from the hike where we went to Berry Creek Falls. I’m guessing now that it was the beginning of something big. As the water fills the bathtub, I search for the ibuprofen bottle and fill a cup with water; leaving them on the edge of the tub. I head back to the bedroom and without warning I unwrap Becca from the thermal bed she created. Immediately her legs fold toward her chest and she hugs them.

  “You know the drill, Princess,” I say, and take off her socks, then I look at her pajamas and the pink has been overtaken by the bile stains. “Gross, this is bad. The bathroom needs a deep cleaning around the toilet and your pajamas… well, let’s say you smell sick, look sick and have the sickness stains to prove it. You should’ve called me, Princess.” I text Betsy and ask her to cancel my meeting for today, it’s going to be a long week. I undress before taking care of Becca. “As soon as your temperature goes down I’ll be cleaning this… place.” The entire room needs a thorough clean. “I must really love you.”

  This isn’t the way I imagined we’d be seeing each other naked again. It was more along the lines of dim lights, sexy lingerie and me kissing every inch of her beautiful body. Instead, I need to control my dick and submerge with her inside the tub filled with warm water. An old remedy to bring her fever down, that along with a couple of ibuprofens should do the trick.

  “Open your mouth, love,” I say after we sit inside the bathtub. I help her by placing the tablets on top of her tongue and pushing the cup gently so she can swallow them. Right after, she places her head on my chest. “That should make the fever go down soon.” After all this time I haven’t heard her say one word. Not even the typical, ‘Daniel leave me alone. I’m cold.’ “Baby I beg you to talk, tell me something.”

  “Not feeling well,” the horsy voice says.

  “I’m here, baby,” I whisper. “Always next to you, we’ll talk about your night and call Drew later. For now rest and let’s hope your fever goes down soon.”

  I’m not sure how long it takes, but as her skin turns from hot to warm and the water turns cold, I decide to leave the tub and head to her bedroom so we can dress. I call Drew and convince him to swing by and check on Becca. When she opens her eyes, instead of looking sick, her eyes look not only ill but full of lust. I refuse to comply, she isn’t herself right now and after I tell her, her response floors me.

  “One time, like a one night stand,” the incoherence of what she phrased doesn’t hit her brain, only my lust and before I do something stupid, I put my clothes on. God only knows how much I need her and I miss her. Behaving like a saint while bathing with her had been a huge sacrifice, one I doubt I can repeat soon. Seeing that I disregarded her offer, she speaks again, “Fine, you’re missing all this.”

  “Shirt,” I try to hide the laugh that’s threatening to take over. In her right mind she’d never tell me something that blunt while pointing at herself. I turn toward her furniture and look for her clothes; panties and a large t-shirt. Surprise, surprise, here are all those t-shirts I lost months ago. A smile takes over my face knowing she took her favorites to Geneva, at least she took a piece of me with her. “Drew will arrive soon. In the mean time I’ll clean this room and you’ll stay downstairs on the couch until I finish. If you behave, we might come out of this one unhitched, Princess.”

  That’s code for: don’t make me take you to the hospital. However, I don’t say it out loud. Why torture her?

  *

  “Well, since Guatemala has been cancelled, what are we going to do, Dan?” Becca asks, while we eat breakfast. This is her fourth day in confinement. Her sinuses are clear, there is no more fever and her throat is also back to normal. The charity she volunteered at didn’t allow her to travel sick and we both stayed behind. Perhaps next summer we’ll join them when they go to Ecuador. Bummed by the news, she agreed to go with me to a Charity Ball—I used the key word, charity. I didn’t give her any specifics, she of course doesn’t know we’re heading to London or that this one is ten times bigger than the Annual Gala Dinner of our Foundation. “Can we skip the ball, I’ll do anything. Definitely not sex, since you’re no longer interested.”

  “Let it go. I can’t believe you’re still upset about that one night stand offer.” She shrugs. “Bex, you were seriously sick. I had no idea—“

  “If I offer it right now?”

  “I’ll take it.” Her lips shut and the thin line tells me she’s upset and trying to pick a fight. So unlike Becca. “What’s wrong, baby, whatever is bothering you we can fix it together.”

  “I already told you, the Charity Ball.” Fuck, she’s getting too worked up about the upcoming social event and I think I know why. The dress arrived yesterday and the seamstress is coming tomorrow to make any necessary alterations to it. ‘Too much’ were the words she said when she saw it. It’s a simple black strapless dress with some soft pink details; the designer dress says elegant and classy, but they also included the invoice inside the box and she said loud and clear: ‘This is crazy expensive.’ The shoes that arrived along with the dress, settle her stormy banter about the price I had paid for the former. Shoes, the one thing Becca can’t get enough of, well that and chocolate. Yet, the fact that I’ll introduce her as my girlfriend to the outside isn’t settling well. “Tell them you�
��re not interested, that we—“

  “Charity,” I repeat the word she’s never going to turn down. “You’re going to deny—“

  “Low blow, Dan.” She twitches her lips. “At least tell me about that surprise you have for after the torture—I mean the Ball. Is it a trip?” I nod. She nods too and then takes a bite of cantaloupe. “What is it?” she speaks after she’s done chewing and swallowing it. Before I answer since I’m also eating, she starts her own monologue. “Well… is it hiking the Himalayas? Swimming with sharks in the Galapagos Islands? No, we already did that.” I cross my arms, this is entertaining. “Well, that was all you, I only watched and waited for your remains to make it to the surface. That’s all I got, baby, what’s your death wish this time?”

  “Didn’t you hear? I’m settling and decided to stop those crazy stunts. Hopefully I’m lucky enough and I marry this vixen I’m trying to date.” She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Maldives up to your standards?” She smiles and nods without saying anything else. “Two weeks without any outside contact in paradise. It’s our summer vacation, birthday trips, pre-holiday relaxation, and winter warm up all in one.”

  “Wow, we really missed a lot last year,” a big sigh follows her comment. Then she gives me a coy smile. “If you play your cards right,” her eyes crinkle and it takes a long time for her to finish whatever she wants to say, “you might get lucky during the trip, Mr. Brightmore.”

  “Luck has nothing to do with what we’ll do in the Maldives,” I tell her. “On second thought, we should head to our private island. I hear the latest Princess decree included something along the lines of butt naked. She made a lot of changes.”

  Becca tilts her head, the left corner of her lips lift and whatever she’s thinking about is making me want to take her one time offer and get her upstairs.

  “Did she now?” She takes a bite of her quiche. “Seems like the Princess was busy.” Becca leans herself on the back of the chair and crosses her arms. “Please tell me more of those changes she made. Naked Friday, Sexy Sunday, Wicked Wednesday? I’m dying to know about these new laws you speak about.”

  “Baby, the power is going to your head,” I tell her because nothing comes to mind at the moment. My brain can’t move well thinking about her naked, under me and screaming my name during Sexy Sunday. A call to Betsy that from now on I’ll work Fridays from home to enjoy a twenty four hour Naked Friday sounds like a perfect executive decision. I stand up, grab the dishes and take them to the sink. “Let’s forget about the entire legal system you established on that island of yours. We should just concentrate on making out all day. If you’re lucky, I’ll get sick enough that we’ll have no other choice but to skip the big bad Ball you’re so afraid of.”

  “I knew I kept you around for a reason, smart guy.” She springs up from the chair. “Let’s get you sick and I’ll play nurse for an entire week. Don’t make that face. I never said naughty nurse, Brightmore. You missed the window of opportunity, now we’re back to dating dark ages style.”

  “Mmm, I’m sure I can arrange that. I can picture it already, inquisition type crosses, ties—” Becca slaps me on the chest and growls, no it’s more like a yap, yes the sound of a cute puppy and then she storms toward the stairs. “That’s physical abuse, Trent, though I’ll pay a fortune to see you in a dominatrix outfit. I don’t think that’s your scene, baby.”

  “Not funny.” I barely hear her voice coming from upstairs.

  Chapter 30

  Becca’s napping after returning from our diving trip at HP Reef, she held up pretty well even when we were under some serious current. The water strength isn’t a factor once the underwater creatures that swim around the formation of coral reefs come into view. Even the reluctant Becca Trent agreed to submerge into the waters to watch the magic of the Indian Ocean. After that and walking along the little shops, she is exhausted and since I’ll be taking her dancing tonight she decided to check out. I’m tired too, but instead of joining her I decide to download the pictures we’ve taken so far, check my email and watch her for a couple of hours.

  So far we’ve been nightmare and meltdown free—Becca. Overall the relationship is different from what we tried to pull last year. This vacation is better compared to our usual trips. Before I had to pull her out of her shell and try to guess what she wanted. Now she’s sure of what she wants, where she wants to go, or if she wants to stay. It took some time to smooth some of those wrinkles. She has a strong belief that if I lead our lives, she doesn’t have freedom to make decisions or think for herself. The unraveling of those discussions and late night talks about our relationship going forward began last week, at the Ball.

  The event took place inside an old castle, Becca pointed out the knight armors, shields and described the medieval façade with the eyes of a child. A fairy tale lover. After we arrived in a limo, we made our way through the cameras and pushed our way through the herd of people. Nick made sure to keep the cameras at a distance and that no one would get close to Becca, while Nate stayed behind inside the car. Becca’s eyes widen by the sight and I guessed that for the first time she realized the magnitude of the side of Daniel Brightmore I hadn’t shared with her before. Larger than life wasn’t applicable, she described it as an excessive world where everything was bigger, louder and extravagant. I used to think this was what I needed in order to prove I had succeeded. That’s why it had been easy to mix myself with all those famous people who at one time I considered more important than my friends, or the beauty next to me—my girlfriend.

  At that moment I felt Becca shake and heard a chuckle.

  “What’s that chuckle for?” She shook her head, and I noticed her cheeks turned a shade of pink. She looked gorgeous, the dress accentuated her curves, her hips, breasts and her beautiful round ass. “Have I mentioned you look astonishing tonight?”

  “I feel like Cinderella at the ball.” I rolled my eyes and kissed the top of her head. “The Foundation Gala is business casual compared to…”

  “Last time I checked you were Princess Becca, not Cinderella,” I whisper in her ear, as we had finally made our way to the check-in table. “Brightmore,” I told the woman in front of us and then turned my gaze back to the beautiful girl I had with me.

  For the second time during the night—the first being when we left the flat—I chided myself for not doing this before. I wasted so many years, next to insignificant women who I couldn’t establish a conversation with; women that were only the ends to my physical needs. There was nothing I could fix about it so I focused on the now. I grabbed the envelope the woman handed me.

  “You with me?” Becca nods at my question, one I made when I felt as if she was about to turn around and leave. “We leave when you say so, Bex. Nate will have the car ready. No questions asked. If you’re comfortable though, I’m thinking we’ll leave around eleven—unlike your friend, Cindy.”

  Getting through the masses of people that littered the entrance took us a while. There were masses of people parked in the area eager to shake hands with whoever passed. I introduced the people I knew to Becca, and we continued our way through after having a few exchanges.

  “Daniel, darling.” A tall slender woman approached me, air kissing me on each cheek. Her familiarity bothered me. Becca’s back stiffened and the impression that this would turn into a nightmare made me want to turn around and ignore this person. “Your PR department keeps ditching me.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t seem to remember you.”

  “Of course,” she coughed and then slid a hand around her torso, Becca’s eyes were about to spit little knives if I didn’t ditch this woman, which by now I had gathered to be one of those one nighters. “It’s been a few years, Gwen… we spent Christmas—”

  “We didn’t,” my jaw clenched and this fucking woman had no idea what I almost lost because of her. Actually, Becca was who I left stranded because of my stupidity, and being in front of this woman might not be the best while I’m trying
to mend my relationship with my future wife. “I always spend Christmas with my family. Excuse me, but we need to make our way to the main room.”

  Without any further interaction, I grabbed Becca by the arm and headed toward the west wing of the castle.

  “She’s pretty,” Becca said, and though I heard her, I tried to ignore the comment. But only a couple of steps later she came to a halt. “You’re squeezing my arm a little too hard, Daniel. What did I do, better yet, control yourself.”

  “Sorry.” I pressed a kiss on her arm and closed my eyes, because this wasn’t supposed to happen. “This night was meant to be… perfect and yet there’s a few—”

  “Look, Dan,” she crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow, “you had this playboy phase—or life—I was there, remember?” Your past always comes back to slap you on the face. I remembered, after she said that and gave her a sharp nod. “Now if my presence upsets you this much because I’m not this beautiful breathtakingly tall woman…well, next time ask my brother to hire you one of those.” She pointed to a bunch of women that needed to eat more than a piece of celery a week.

  “Becca, don’t you dare say that.” I placed my arms around her waist and my forehead on top of hers. “You’re pretty, gorgeous, the most beautiful woman in this room, baby. This night, is a little taste of what sometimes I have to do. Be… the billionaire, from now on, I want you next to me. The last thing I want is my skeletons to suddenly appear.”

  “You should’ve thought about it while going through the entire catalogue of models,” and her tone didn’t clue me in to if she was upset or what. “With all those women from your past, you’ll need a cemetery the size of Texas to bury them.”