by Lee, Corri
My belongings were, of course, still in their rightful place on the table. Thieves and pickpockets were not a concern to be considered at an event involving such a large crowd of only reputable celebrities. My phone was still devoid of signal and lay useless within the lining of the bag, but the pocket watch had been taken out and set down next to the calligraphic name tag over my place. My mind flooded with the card that had come with it. ‘Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.’ – Coco Chanel. Your fireworks will come. I couldn’t see how that was even slightly possible when the object of my affections was so painfully off limits.
Cornelia snuck up behind me and whistled at the pocket watch. “Very nice.” I nodded in agreement and ran my thumb across the etching of my name before tucking it back into the safety of my bag. “The boys are challenging me to a men versus women croquet match with the wager of a substantial amount to charity, plus the bets that are being taken by the other guests. How’s your aim?”
I raised an eyebrow and recovered my kid gloves from my hat. “You want me to team up with you?”
“Only if you’ll adopt trickery and sneaky underhand tactics to ensure our success. What do you say?” I smiled to myself, knowing that my college days had been spent distracting boys from making their shots in games of pool, and that croquet had been my parents’ guilty pleasure.
“I say off with their heads.” Cornelia gleamed at me with an air of jubilance that reminded me that, despite her billions of pounds and huge manor, she was as normal as any other woman, just privileged and abhorrently beautiful.
Applause broke out when we stepped out into the garden, as though our victory was already confirmed. I walked down to the grass verge with an intentional arrogance, and when Isaac passed me a wooden croquet mallet, I regarded it with utmost distaste. “Does anyone else see a problem here?” Isaac’s eyes narrowed in an attempt to mask his ignorance. “Where are the flamingos? The hedgehogs? And I know there are more than enough people dressed as cards hanging around to substitute these hoops.”
Isaac rocked back onto his heels and swung his mallet over his shoulder, nearly bludgeoning a passer-by in the process. “Are you wussing out before you’ve even begun?”
“No,” I crossed my arms and gave him my best bad-attitude raised eyebrow, “I’m saying we’re going to kick your arses now, and when you can be bothered to set this up properly, we’ll kick your arses again.” A ripple of laugher rose from the observers gathered on the chessboard dance floor. I could see that I was going to leave the event with one hell of a reputation. “So what are the stakes?”
Cornelia stepped up beside me with a smirk and stroked the face of her mallet against her palm menacingly. “The losing team doubles the donation of the winning team plus any other terms to be negotiated during play.”
I nodded smugly and took my place at the first hoop. “I hope you brought your cheque books with you, boys. This game is going to be expensive.” I battled to avoid eye contact with Nathaniel while I made my taunts, choosing to direct my snipes at Isaac. That would be how it would have to work from then on- keeping my head low and conversation to a minimum.
“So do you know your croquet?” He spoke directly to me and I couldn’t avoid making a response.
“I know enough to know that I’m going to get really bored watching you two idiots try and keep up.” More laughter from the dance floor. “So let’s keep this brief so I can set back to abusing the open bar. The team to complete the course in the fewest shots wins.”
“You’re on.” Was the simultaneous response from the twins. I had a sneaking suspicion that they didn’t actually know how to play croquet properly.
Isaac missed his first shot as a consequence of my forced cough and uttered ‘fuckwit’. He looked over his shoulder to scowl at me. “That wasn’t fair.”
“I didn’t agree to play fair.” That threw down the gauntlet. Every shot was intercepted with an insult, an embarrassing statement, a tickle or a tease. Laughter broke the silence of the night and an unexpected humidity lingered in the air. Every person in attendance was in high spirits, including myself. I was concentrating on the game, which meant my brain wasn’t idle enough for my thoughts to fester.
By the halfway point of the game, Cornelia and I were level pegging with the twins. We were a formidable team with her ability to embarrass her brothers and my sexually inappropriate bravado but despite our best attempts to deter them, they were focused and accurate in their shots and gave as good as they got with their foul play. Nathaniel paused mid-swing and turned to me, one hand on his hip while I indiscreetly bent over next to him and exposed him to the full eyeful of my cleavage. “Let’s talk stakes.”
I blinked at him impassively and straightened to mimic his stance. “I’m listening.”
“If we win, you both give us something we want. Cornelia, we want to know what’s in that room you won’t let us in. Cecelia…” He sucked on his bottom lip in contemplation, “… I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you at the last hoop.” I glanced over my shoulder to Cornelia, who nodded once in agreement before stepping forward.
“If we win, I want you two to single-handedly tidy my god damn house after this function.” Isaac snorted with laughter and nodded in fits of giggles. “Cecelia?”
I took a moment and considered my options. I was certain of our victory and I could have requested anything- a car, a holiday, a house- they were good for it. But instead my mind travelled an alternative path. “I want fifty per cent of the royalties from my novel donated to charity.” There was a rumble of confusion through the crowd and a deathly silence from the Alexanders’. Now everybody knew that I was the new mystery author. I held up a hand. “Wait. Not fifty. Ninety-five.” The rumble became deafening. If ever I could have done anything to prove that I wasn’t motivated by money this was it.
Nathaniel stared at me blankly for a moment before shaking his head and closing his eyes. “Ninety-five per cent for the first month and fifty per cent thereafter.”
“Done.” An unspoken agreement passed between us along with the words that sealed the deal- the agreement that I did indeed control my universe.
The tension in the latter half of the game could have been cut with a knife. Our diversionary tactics were dismissed and it became a genuine competition of skill. The humidity clung to me like an oppressive cloak and my determination addled my ability to think straight. I made stupid mistakes, but so did my companions.
My shot was the last. Cornelia, Isaac and Nathaniel had completed the course and the score was even. Every breath in that garden was bated and the pressure on me was tangible.
“Wait.” Nathaniel stepped between me and the hoop and crossed his arms. “We didn’t finalise terms.” His eyes were severe and coursing with the lust for victory.
I growled in irritation and put my hands on my hips. “Get on with it then.”
“One kiss.”
I rolled my eyes. I remembered the last time I was pulled into a wager that entailed ‘one kiss’ and the consequences were still apparent in my life. “You want me to kiss you both? That’s vulgar- this is for a children’s charity. Let me take my shot, Alexander.” I squeezed my eyes shut as he stepped away and left my target open. It was an easy shot- I knew I could make it with no problems.
So I was left with a choice. To mollycoddle an infatuation that I’d never get chance to indulge again by losing, or to stand by my morals and ethics by winning.
I turned my back to the hoop and set my legs astride the ball, biting down on my lip as I tried to mentally judge the distance and angle. I would leave the decision in the hands of fate. My teeth tightened on my lip as I nudged the ball with the mallet and a cumulative intake of breath swept the garden.
Applause roared around me. I sighed and nodded to myself before turning to force a victorious smile to the crowd. Even when left to chance, my morals conquered all. I’d suspected as much, but now I had confirmation- I was too set in my ways to betr
ay or cause betrayal. I just wished I knew how to silence the succubus within me who stomped her feet in disappointment.
Cornelia goaded her brothers over their new duty to clean her house well into the night. Isaac looked at me with pseudo bitterness as we sat quietly at our places at the head table drinking the secret stash of expensive champagne Cornelia had reserved for her closest company. Like Nathaniel, his siblings felt like long lost friends and I was at ease despite being completely immersed in their affluence.
Cornelia and I discarded our shoes somewhere along the way and gossiped as girls do while the twins talked business and fast cars next to us. The pulsing music settled to smooth rock ballads as the clock struck midnight and guests began to slowly filter out to their limos and luxurious SUVs.
The pleasant fog of drunkenness took me to realms of peacefulness and serenity. My mouth moved as it pleased- my brain had slipped into a stupor and hung a ‘do not disturb’ sign on my cerebellum. If I’d have moved I’d have fallen over, and if I’d stopped talking I’d have fallen asleep.
My heavy eyelids flickered as a hand squeezed my shoulder. Isaac grinned down at me and waved a cup of coffee under my nose. “Don’t fall asleep, Douglas, the party hasn’t even started yet.” I mumbled in protest and let my head drop down onto my shoulder. “Up and at ‘em, Cecelia, you owe a billionaire a dance.”
“We already danced.”
“Wrong billionaire. Again.”
I yawned and scrubbed my hand over my face in an attempt to brush away my drowsiness. “I’m pretty sure your sister is straight.” I wrenched my eyes open with a sigh and struggled to find my way to my feet. “Alright, alright.” I staggered barefoot over to the largely vacant dance floor and found Nathaniel standing there, hand outstretched.
His top hat and tail coat had been tossed to one side and his spotless white shirt hung loose around his hips with the top buttons undone. My arrival on the dance floor coincided with the start of You by The Pretty Reckless and a heaviness filled my chest as my knowledge of the lyrics sprung to the front of my lazy mind. It seemed like a taunt.
Nathaniel pulled me close to his body and his natural scent gripped me like a vice. I sank into him and dared to enjoy this single bitter sweet moment I would get. You should have thrown the croquet match. His hand pulled mine to his shoulder, then settled on my hip. Every inch of my body wanted to break down into tears- these would be both the shortest and most poignant three and a half minutes of my life and I would never get them back. “Don’t let me go, Jesus, please, don’t let me go.”
“Did you say something?”
“No.” I held my breath to maintain control over my emotions, releasing it in a slow shaking blow as I felt his chin settle on my crown. His grip on my hip tightened, like he knew that I was hurting.
“Why did you leave your last shot to chance?” His voice was a whisper, wry with morbid curiosity.
“I couldn’t make the decision myself.” My brain to mouth filter was stunted. I looked up at him guiltily for a moment and furrowed my brow, knowing that I could blame my loose tongue on alcohol. “I can’t know what you have. It’d kill me.”
“You know what I have, you just don’t remember.” I was sick of the references to cherry bombs.
I nestled my face against his chest and closed my eyes. “I’m not kissing you. I won’t ruin what you have with your fireworks.” His chest rose and fell quickly underneath my face and the heat of his breath bathed my scalp as I felt his nose nuzzle into my hair.
“Cecelia, you couldn’t ruin it if you tried.” The song ended and slipped into another ballad which I didn’t know. Nathaniel’s arms tightened around me- a feeling that filled me with relief but broke my heart too. As much as I wanted to prolong that moment, doing so would ruin me. “So try.”
I forced myself back from his arms and glared at him with unreserved fury. “You’re too smart to be into self-sabotage, Nathaniel. Whatever you’re doing here, stop it.”
He smirked at me and held out a hand. “I’m controlling my universe. If you don’t come back here to dance, I’m going to throw you in the pool.”
“Blow me.” His carelessness and willingness to ruin something so precious was infuriating. I took another step back before turning and pacing towards the table, quietly seething at both him and myself. Not only had I fallen for a man who was in love with someone else, I’d fallen for a man who’s attitude towards love was less than committal despite his claims that nothing less than a soul mate would do.
I paused for a moment, suspicious when Isaac strolled up to me and picked me up by the waist to spin me around one hundred and eighty degrees. My head spun for a moment, then jolted at the sensation of being slung over a shoulder. My hair flew out in front of me before I realised exactly what was about to happen. “Nathaniel, if you throw me in the pool, your life won’t be worth living.”
His hand swiped my backside as he ran through the house and made me yelp. “I stated my terms.”
“You state a lot of terms, you bloody megalomaniac.”
“You’re going to start insulting me now?”
“Well in for a penny, in for a-…” The night air hit the bare flesh of my exposed thighs. “You wouldn’t dare.” I hissed at him with gritted teeth.
The clear crystal waters of Cornelia’s private pool enveloped me in a tepid blanket of comfort. For a while, I felt safe. Submersion guarded me from the complications of reality and soothed me by making me weightless. If I could have stayed there forever, I would have. But human limitations meant that I couldn’t.
My hair fanned out around me when I surfaced, enforcing Bethany’s ‘scary mermaid’ notion. Nathaniel grinned at me from a sun lounger, and I responded with a one fingered gesture. “You’re an idiot, because I have no other clothes. I hope you know a good valet for when I ruin your car and a damn good dry-cleaner for this dress.” I manoeuvred around onto my back and took a leisurely lap of back stroke around the pool. “Quite enjoying this actually. You should join me.”
“I might, but I’d have more sense to disrobe first.” I stuck my tongue out before diving back down into the water and swimming down to sit on the cool tiles at the bottom. I closed my eyes and breathed as slowly as I could to lengthen my time in the sanctity of the waters. Nothing could reach me there- or so I thought.
Something touched my face before I was forcefully pulled up to the surface. Before I could catch my breath, my mouth was possessed by another. A contradictory deluge of panic and relief spread through me- the anxiety of being thrust into a situation I knew would get me into trouble but the appreciation that the choice had been taken out of my hands. I had nowhere to run to- even if I’d escaped the pool, I was two hours away from home.
So I let the succubus that Nathaniel had roused in me take charge. My tongue lapped at his lips and my head swam with sin. Within seconds, we were against the side of the pool and his arms caged me, making escape even less likely. I battled him while I battled my emotions- the bittersweet sting of unrequited love, the rush of passion and the stab of guilt.
My hips flexed towards him and the smallest of involuntary purrs rose from my throat. I wrenched my face back from his and clapped my hand over my mouth, eyes wide with embarrassment. “Oh my god, I thought you were joking!”
His eyes glistened in the moonlight and his face glowed with colour, his irises barely visible around his dilated pupils. The pale exposed skin that wrapped his frame stood from the water like an obelisk- sturdy and undeterred by the lack of solid ground under foot. His arms and chest were toned but not muscular. He was by no means an Adonis like my Italian nightmare- he was average. Everything about him aside from his power and bank account was average.
With his chestnut hair and mercury eyes, I saw myself in him. He was the embodiment of everything I didn’t want in my life- fame, fortune and power- but he was my reflection and I wanted him.
He was my yin. My fireworks. He was going to be my demise.
Chapter Eighteen
“Masochism is a really unhealthy affliction, you know.” I eyed Nathaniel warily as he turned me by the shoulders to undo the zip of my dress. He had kissed me again in the pool and it had taken damn near all my self-control to prevent it from going any further. Nobody had batted an eyelid when we’d walked through the house- me dripping wet and Nathaniel wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. The party had whittled down to just a dozen or so of the Alexander’s most trusted acquaintances and the photographers had disappeared. Any chances of our incriminating and dishevelled appearances being leaked to the media were slim to none.
“Are you going to tell tales on me, Cecelia?” My eyes narrowed as he wrapped a large white towel around my shoulders. “That might be difficult seeing as you don’t know who to tattle to.” I turned to him, hard faced at first but quickly softening. I couldn’t stand his dismissive attitude but his aura of calm was contagious.
I twisted my arm behind my back to undo the hooks of my sopping strapless bra. “ ‘What happens in Wonderland stays in Wonderland’- that’s what you said. I won’t say a word and you know you can’t either.” Nathaniel’s eyebrows jerked up when my French lace briefs fell to the floor and he leaned back against the side of the enormous whirlpool bath in Cornelia’s wet-room. “Problem?”
“Would you have ever dreamed of undressing like this in front of anyone a couple of weeks ago?”
I raised my eyebrow, intrigued by the implication that he was taking responsibility for my newfound confidence. “You like this?” In response to his smirk, I let the towel fall around my feet and left myself completely exposed. “Make the most of it, Nathaniel, because the next naked woman you see should be the last naked woman you ever see. This won’t happen again. I just got swe-…” I firmly closed my mouth, understanding that completing the sentence would make me a hypocrite for judging Bethany so harshly.