Fine or Punishment (Twist of Fate Book 1)

by Mira Margrave

  "Yeah, you should be sorry, librarian." She said, voice almost cracking when she saw Violet whip her head around to her, completely shocked. "Chocolate wasn't the only thing I brought for you today. I also planned to give you these!" She stuck a hand in her coat pocket and grabbed a handful of folded pieces of paper before waving them tantalizingly at Violet. "These are pure original, top tier come-ons I prepared just for you. Literary themed come-ons." She crooned and watched Violet's face relax in understanding, a grin spreading over her face before she could stop it. Candace preened a bit. "And now you'll never get to hear them. You shouldn't just be sorry, you should be bemoaning your cruel fate. For years. In the rain. While wearing all black."

  Violet opened her mouth to respond then closed it before repeating the motion, completely speechless for a few seconds. "I-I guess that's something I have to live with. Let’s never speak of it again to let me bear my pain in silence." There it was, the flicker of playfulness in her eyes. It was hard to bring it out but Candace liked a challenge.

  She'd do one more. One more before she stopped. Just to let Violet know that the door was still open if she ever changed her mind.

  "You know what? I don't think I can let you off the hook that easily." She teased, ignoring Violet’s groan and a halfhearted attempt to swat at her shoulder. "I'm gonna read a couple just to truly show you what you'll be missing."

  "And you're not afraid it’s just going to strengthen my decision?" Violet teased back but Candace grinned. If anything, that was confirmation that her choice wasn't all that strong in the first place. Excellent.

  Instead of commenting on that directly, she cleared her throat and unfolded the first piece of paper she grabbed. "Oh this one, sweet. Good, let's start nice and easy. Are you ready?" When Violet shook her head no, she launched into it anyway, being extra obnoxious. It was time to purge all this emotional talk from her system. "It says 'My Tell-tale Heart beats faster when you're around." She aimed a nauseating, saccharine smile Violet's way, ridiculously pleased when she heard her groan and then grab the bridge of her nose. The motion couldn't hide her mortified blush and Candace quickly unfolded another piece of paper, eager to see more.

  "How about this one? ’I like you more than Proust likes boring ass descriptions'." This one managed to tease a snort out of Violet, who finally turned to look at her.

  "That's quite the claim. False obviously, because no one liked anyone that much. Ever. Also, it seems almost too tame?" Violet said, taking another sip of her chocolate. "Two come-ons and not a single arse was mentioned. I'm shocked."

  "Oh you want pervier come-ons?" Candace blinked innocently as she ignored Violet’s vague protest. "Then allow me to oblige." She quickly twisted a few papers open before she found one that was appropriate. She was half surprised herself at the amount of vanilla ones. Guess she was feeling extra mushy last night while preparing these. She cleared her throat again, watching how Violet's eyes narrowed in amused trepidation.

  "If on a Winter's Night a Traveler comes into the library they’re gonna be ridden hard and put away wet." She bit her lip as well when she finished, a tad concerned she stepped over the line she herself set barely two minutes ago, but Violet seemed to take it in stride. She let out a short whoosh of tortured breath, but her voice was solid when she spoke, no trace of nervousness in it.

  "You’re bringing Calvino into this too?" She said. "That was the worst one of them all. Trying way too hard." Her flush deepened, making Candace smirk.

  "Well I had to pull him into it since you already took Dostoyevsky.” At Violet' raised eyebrow, she continued smugly. "With your whole crime and punishment shtick when we met." Violet halted for a second before she continued walking, closing her eyes as if to take that in, fond smile stretching her lips.

  "Did you prepare that too?" She asked.

  "Maybe." Candace grinned again, feeling way too proud of herself.

  "And are you done now? Got your daily fill of my embarrassment?"

  Candace nodded her head readily. "Yeah, I think you learned your lesson."

  "Good, because I don't think I can take much more of that. And I'm supposed to be the merciless one.” Violet said the last part under her breath, stopping to thrown her cup into the trashcan. When she came back to Candace's side, she walked a bit closer, seeming unaware of their arms brushing with each step.

  "Yeah, you seem horribly unprepared for hardcore teasing, no offense. Don't you have someone working on that usually? Best friend Jade maybe? A sibling or two to keep you in check?" Candace said, happy to move the conversation to safer, more neutral waters. It was time to stick to her word.

  "Jade is not really the type. And I'm an only child."

  Another lovely personal tidbit. Candace filed it away in her mind. "That's your problem right there. Like I said, I have two brothers and they really raised my embarrassment tolerance while we were growing up. They're even worse than I am."

  Violet looked suspicious and horrified at once. "Worse than you?! How can that possibly be true?"

  Candace chuckled, her hand flying to her chest dramatically. "You sweet summer child. You know nothing." She saw Violet fix her with another stern look at that last, painfully outdated reference but she launched into a story about the time she foolishly agreed to let her brothers dress her for school for a day if she lost a bet. She gesticulated wildly as she described the amount of pink ruffles she ended up wearing as they strolled through the park, each of Violet’s relaxed laughs cementing her belief that she made the right choice.

  There was nothing else to do. The ball was in Violet's court now.

  Chapter 5

  "So let me get this straight."

  Jade leaned back in her chair, legs crossing under the table as she fixed Violet with narrowed eyes, the salad on the table now forgotten. She did, however, point her fork at Violet as punctuation with each new sentence. "A smoking hot dork is trying to adorably woo you. She's shameless enough to make you blush while just talking about her. She’s also apparently empathetic enough to hear you out and back off. Which also made you blush, by the way. She showers you with attention and is ready to jump to fulfill your every whim." The fork jabbed in Violet's general direction one last time before Jade let it clatter to the table, making Violet look around nervously. The whole restaurant would be watching them soon if Jade didn't lower her tone.

  "Did I get that right, Vee? That is the problem you're having right now?" Her tone was dripping with fake earnestness. Violet squirmed in her seat, taking a bite of her chicken wrap to buy some time to respond.

  "Well, if you put it that way, of course it will sound ridiculous." She complained, ignoring Jade's eye roll.

  "How else should I put it? The situation is pretty simple." Jade might have ended her sentence there but the subtext was obvious. And you're being ridiculous not taking advantage. "I can’t believe you have the gall of complaining about this to me, though." Jade wasn't done however, not even close. "Your best friend since childhood! Who hasn't had any action for...for more than a year! Since that last business trip out of town!" She exclaimed as if she just realized how long it’s been. "Who's horribly overworked and criminally unsatisfied." She huffed, shaking her head at Violet and Violet could hardly blame her. Jade had barely had enough time to grab lunch with Violet today. No wonder she'd been a bit testy "You're killing me here."

  "All I want— all I need is a bit of time to get my bearings." She pushed her glasses further up her nose as she struggled to explain. "She's...She's unrestrained and shameless and you never know what she’ll say or do next."

  Jade's features smoothed a bit, a smile stretching her lips. "Sounds exciting, babe."

  "It is! It was." Violet said, her voice dipping lower on the last word. Candace had kept her word so far. It’s been a couple of days since her last visit to the library and Violet hadn't seen her at all. That was fine. It was relaxing. Not boring or lonely at all. Violet was almost at the point where she stopped expecting new romantic presen
ts every other day. Almost, because her breath still shortened each time they’d receive a new delivery. But Candace seemed to be a woman of her word. Violet sighed. "But it was also stressful. Especially with the constant feeling of being watched. Ugh, if I never see Mrs. Burke and her gossip squad of retirees again, it will be too soon."

  "Who cares about what that old hag thinks?" Jade cut off, her elbows hitting the table between them aggressively as she leaned forward. "People will always talk! Hell, they’ve whispered about the two of us dating for I don’t even know how many times over the years. According to town gossip, you and I have been engaged like ten times so far."

  "What?!" Violet hissed, leaning forward too. This was news to her. Who...What...When did that start? She and Jade grew up together, anything romantic would be practically incestuous. And she'd missed it somehow? She didn't like to chat about people behind their backs but she expected she'd hear stories about herself, for God's sake. Somehow.

  Jade shrugged. "That's one of the tamer thing's I've heard.” For a moment it looked like she planned on sharing a few of the more outrageous stories, but she shook her head and focused again. “But it doesn't matter anyway, because that's not why you're so hesitant." She said confidently instead, her shoulders pulling up as she steepled her fingers beneath her chin.

  Violet squirmed in her seat again, suddenly uncomfortable. Knowing Jade, she was to be on the receiving end of her honest, undiluted opinion and even worse–those were rarely wrong. "Is that so?" She asked, just to delay the inevitable for a few more seconds.

  Jade nodded once and continued. "You're dragging your feet because you're scared to jump in immediately. She's unpredictable and exciting and you like to think and evaluate and draw up pros and cons lists and probably even make a graph or two before doing anything. You don't feel in control so you skitter away." Oh God, that was closer to the truth than Jade knew. They never discussed Violets proclivities and she doubted even Jade knew how much in control she wanted to be. Could she have caught on anyway? "So just accept that you can't control what anyone in town will say or think. Or what your soon to be girlfriend will do." She winked at Violet before going in for the kill. "You’ll have hell of a lot more fun, I can promise you that. Definitely more than I'm having."

  "It's that easy, huh?" Violet asked, considering the option. Jade didn't know the whole story, or even most of it, because Violet simply couldn't bring herself to come clean about the spanking. Or what was supposed to happen after it. Or the hiring of the sex worker. Instead, she had made up some flimsy story about meeting a woman on a dating app and arranging a blind date. She still told her that Candace showed up instead and they hit it off, implying that things got hot and heavy but nothing more. She thanked God that Jade immediately latched onto 'new possible squeeze' as she put it instead of how rickety that whole story sounded. But while she didn't know the exact circumstance, her point still rang true.

  Could she do that? Just invite Candace out for dinner in a public place, coming out on their own terms instead of being dragged out by someone else? Would that make a difference? Because if it did, then...Then she didn't have a problem with town talk at all, just like Jade said.

  "That easy.” Jade said, this time gently. "Vee, I know you've been taken aback by how she fell into your lap. I mean what are the chances of that happening?" Violet looked to the side to avoid her eyes and hoped that she wasn't too obvious. Or at least, that Jade wouldn’t prod further. "All you gotta ask yourself is if you'd be comfortable plunging ahead if you met her in a coffee shop or something. And if the answer is yes, you take your couple of days to plan and draft and organize your course of action before you have to ask her out." She smirked, hands falling to the table with a bang, signaling end of discussion.

  Violet rolled her eyes fondly, almost tempted to tell Jade exactly what happened just to see the know-it-all look evaporate from her face. Even though that would be satisfying, she still couldn't deny her friend had a point.

  What would it look like if she met Candace right now in this restaurant? Or if they actually had a blind date? She imagined those blue eyes looking at her from across a dinner table or her curvy figure wrapped in a tight dress. She knew she'd be charmed by her special brand of wit and the way Candace seemed perfectly at ease with herself and what she wanted.

  Perhaps Violet would even feel comfortable enough confessing some of her own desires. Perhaps she’d find creative ways to shake Candace's composure.

  "Thank you, Jade." She said, having to clear her voice after it came out sounding throaty. “I appreciate the pep talk. I'll think about it."

  Jade squinted at her before nodding once more. "Good. Although I don't understand what's there to think about." She glanced at her phone and frowned at the time before reaching back to grab her blazer off the seat before shrugging into it. Her break was almost over and Violet's shift wasn't far from starting either. She reached for her wallet just as Jade spoke again. "Especially when there's like ten gay women in this town and we've dated five of them between us. And two of them are over eighty. You should think about that a bit harder." She punctuated the sentence with a heavy sigh after seemingly realizing she was in the same boat herself.

  Dropping a few bills on the table, Violet rose from the table, smiling to herself at Jade’s overly dramatic indignant puffing. She always helped put things in a different perspective. She was about to thank her again before Jade piped up once more as they were leaving.

  "Yeah, you smile all you want. You won't be smiling when I steal her all for myself."

  Violet sucked in a sharp breath, only partly insincere. "You wouldn't!" She said, smacking her on the arm as they walked outside. Ugh, the very idea was revolting and she had a sneaking suspicion it showed on her face when Jade laughed at her.

  "I would and I will if you don't ask her out." Jade teased even as she pulled Violet in for a quick hug. "So you better hurry up." With a quick goodbye, she ran off to work, leaving Violet alone.

  Feeling a lot better, Violet turned toward the library and started walking, smiling to herself as her mind jumped at the opportunity to spin a few more date ideas for her and Candace. There was something there, something bigger than the initial, purely physical attraction.

  As soon as Candace suggested she'd stop her flirting, she immediately felt like she'd been punched in the gut. But she also couldn't bring herself to argue either.

  Now, with a few days of separation, she had a much clearer image of what she wanted.

  ********

  Candace Kane seemed to have vanished into thin air.

  After a couple of weeks of her constant presence the change was jarring. The few days without a sighting now turned into more than a week and Violet was growing restless. She hadn't been back to the library at all since her last visit and their long walk in the park. Violet knew because she had checked. Her last borrow happened over two weeks now. And she was nowhere to be seen around town either.

  For a few minutes last week, Violet even considered that Candace might have been offended or perhaps had given up on her, but considering their last meeting...No, it was clear where Candace stood. There was still time. So where was she?

  Honestly, that woman's sense of timing was absolutely atrocious. First she bumbled into the library at the most inopportune moment and now she fell off the face of the earth just as Violet was finally coming to terms with moving forward.

  Jade was right.

  In the long week since their lunch, Violet has been growing only more sure of it.

  The talk round town would be annoying and completely inappropriate but she'd apparently been target of it constantly anyway. And if she thought honestly about Jade's other point, the excuse felt barely solid either. After all, Candace had already shown herself to be ...amenable to being at Violet's mercy and letting her take charge.

  Once she had accepted this, a decision was made and all she needed was Candace to stroll in with that ridiculous smirk on her face so she could let
her know as well. But a week turned into another one and now, on a crisp Monday morning, Candace was still in the wind.

  Steps heavy, Violet moved behind her desk before slumping into a chair and throwing a weary glance to her phone.

  She could send a message. Reach out and make Candace come to her.

  She'd evaluated the idea a few times before, and it was as unappealing now for the same reasons. She'd have to admit her newfound resolution through text. Or over the phone. Neither of those options held much appeal. She’d feel blind without seeing Candace’s reaction in person. But maybe...

  She picked up her phone and turned on the screen, only to be disappointed. No new messages. Of course. It was on her to make a move but that didn't stop her from checking compulsively anyway. It was odd how you could get so used to someone's presence in such a short while. She'd thought she'd at least stop thinking about Candace now that a decision was reached, but her mental state only seemed to deteriorate further.