The Price Of Success (Fighting For Fireworks)

by Lee, Corri

  I forced the brim of my trilby down and kept a keen eye on Cole’s reactions. His eyes glowed with excitement and he tugged at the knot of his tie as though he was preparing himself for easy access. My grip tightened on the handset. “I’m still here, don’t you worry, tiger.”

  “Tiger?”

  “Well from where I’m sitting, you look pretty mighty and virile. A man like you appeals to all the senses.”

  “A woman like you appeals too, if you get my drift.” I stifled a groan of genuine disgust. Was this really how he chatted up women who weren’t as resistant to aesthetics as I was? Was he really so brash and vulgar?

  I sighed dreamily and scratched my neck, feeling ever more foolish for going to him instead of Natha-… Mr Alexander. “I’ve seen you in magazines, it’s a shame you have that beautiful girlfriend waiting for you at home.”

  “Nobody is waiting. My place is empty.” I rubbed at the ache in my stomach that threatened to break my resolve. “We could go there right now.”

  “I have a better option.” I exchanged glances with the queen at the bar, who ran a finger across his throat in an off-with-his-head gesture. Somebody had obviously seen the Wonderland pictures. “I have one of the Cherry Rooms reserved, but do you have protection?”

  “Ah…” I turned back to glare at Cole and narrowed my eyes. If he’d come out with condoms, he’d intended to use them. “No.” Just a small redemption in the face of how eager he was to spread his seed.

  “So there’s an off license around the corner. Run along, and when you come back, ask the bar man where I am.”

  I had never seen a man move so quickly as Cole did when he grabbed his wallet and sprinted for the door. His libido propelled him, which meant that my time was limited. There was so much that he was doing that was wrong, and he did so with intent. At least there was no premeditation to my affair, at least not on my part. He was raring to plunge into mischief knowing that I’d laid my heart out for him to break. If this was his interpretation of a calculated risk, it was warped and sadistic.

  The bar man threw me the keys to the Chelan Room and asked if he needed a camera for the fall out. I said that he absolutely did and he’d sell the pictures for a pretty penny. I rescued the blonde from the bathroom and showered her with praise and thanks, asking that she took cover at the bar until Cole followed me into Chelan.

  And then I stripped down out of my suit and left the bathroom wearing nothing but the white basque I’d worn underneath my demure white gown at the bistro and my hat, which I’d tucked my ponytail into to conceal the fact that I wasn’t blonde.

  When I walked back into the main room of the club and dumped my clothes down in Aiden’s lap, I spoke only five words before I retreated to my lair to execute my revenge.

  “When I say ‘run’, RUN.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I had my back to the door when Cole stumbled in, breathless and panting. He had clearly run the entire distance to and from the off-license, and that did little to settle my fury. I could see his flushed face thirty-fold in a strip of brightly coloured mirrored tiles arranged into a mosaic above the top of the magenta suede seating that covered all four sides of the Chelan room and ran plush against the walls. I hung loosely against the pole that fed up through the floor and swung around it, moving fast enough to keep my identity protected.

  “Like what you see, tiger?”

  He laughed lewdly and stepped towards me. “Do I ever.” That’s funny, because you’re not bothered when it’s writhing on top of you.

  “Hold it.” I held up a hand. “Take your shirt off.”

  He was only too willing to bend to my aggressive advances and stripped immediately, tossing his shirt and tie to one side before advancing towards me again. “So keen. Anyone would think you were sex starved. Come here.” I stepped back and lowered my head, twisting him around so his bare back laid flat against the cold metal pole. I smiled to myself when he winced at the icy sting. “Do you experiment, tiger? Have you ever been tied up?”

  “No.” His reply was arousal mingled with fear and childish laughter. He was right to be afraid.

  “Well I do.” I forced a high pitched two syllable laugh and grabbed his tie from the floor. “Do you like head?”

  He tittered brusquely. “What man doesn’t?” I yanked his hands behind him and flattened them against the tops of my thighs for a moment to tease him with the touch of my flesh.

  Drawing a circle on his palm, I whipped the tie against his back and purred “Well, I have conditions. I’ll tie your hands so you can’t touch me, and I’ll give you a blowjob that you’ll remember until you die. Yes?” Wrapping the tie around his wrists, I tethered his hands together with a slipknot and tied an extra knot so tightly that his skin blanched with the pressure. “Tell me about your girlfriend, Mr Fiore. What doesn’t she have that brings you here?”

  “Restraint. She’s too easily pleased.” I scoffed and tugged at his bound hands to check that he wouldn’t free easily. He really was so full of himself that he thought I was satisfied by our sex life. He was actually that stupid.

  I kept my head low as I stepped in front of him and slowly undid his belt buckle. “Funny how you talk about restraints. Close your eyes.” He did so cautiously, and when he had, I took my hat off and jammed it down over his head so they were covered and he was sufficiently blinded. Now I could work more freely. “Does she know that you’re so compliant?”

  “No, she knows I’m the boss.” My jaw dropped in disbelief. How could he possibly think that he controlled me? Egomaniac!

  I tugged his trousers down and ordered him to step out of the legs. “Aren’t you worried that she’ll find out about this?” I didn’t know how I could possibly be giving him any more opportunity to change his mind and take the moral high road.

  “Why would I? She forgives me for everything.” Oh, how wrong he was. He was digging his own grave and right now, it was about three foot deeper than necessary.

  I stuck my head around the doorway and waved to the bar man, smirking as he fled over with a digital camera and clapped a hand to his mouth as he set eyes on Cole in his shameful state. He gave me a one armed hug and pushed me forward, a red light flashing on the camera as he began to film me.

  “So you tolerate infidelity? How would you feel if she slept with someone else?”

  “This doesn’t sound like a conversation that leads to my cock being in your mouth, sweetheart.” I cringed and turned my head into my shoulder to laugh silently. He had just hammered the final nail into his own coffin. He was just so coarse- he was lucky that he was attractive or a woman more callous than I may have made him a eunuch. I pulled his boxers down around his ankles and his erection sprang up, free and proud. He never would have been so aroused if he knew how famous that throbbing muscle would become. The bar man moaned suggestively behind me and muttered ‘god damn’ before egging me on to finish him off. “Who the hell is that?”

  “Relax, tiger. It’s just you and me in this room.” Not a lie, he was standing in the hallway. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you right where I want you now. Step.” He lifted each foot to toe off his underwear and stood there, naked and vulnerable, with the stripper pole resting between the crack in his buttocks. “How could I resist you, tiger? You’re hot, fit, hung like an African elephant…” I gathered up all of his clothes and slung them over my arm, stepping only close enough to remove the hat from his head and balance it over his rigid penis. I dropped my fake accent and put a hand on my hip. “And, look, you double as a hat rack.”

  He stared at me for a minute before he realised who I was, and then his frantic struggle against his restraints began. “Cecelia, shit!”

  “Funny looking evening class, Fiore. You think you’re my boss? You think I’m easily pleased?” I stepped up to his face and dead-eyed him coldly. “I faked it” I hissed and then stepped back out into the hallway, nudging the bar man in the ribs and raising an eyebrow towards Cole’s clothes in my arms. “He’s al
l yours, princess.”

  I flipped him the finger and ran out into the main room laughing, Cole’s voice screaming my name from Chelan. “Aiden, run!” I squealed as I ran towards the exit, revelling in my glee. I couldn’t have orchestrated the events any better if I’d tried- everyone had willingly obeyed my commands and performed like my perfect little puppets.

  Maybe I could control the people in my universe- maybe everyone had a tag around their necks and needed only the right words and incentives to negotiate a price for their souls. I could be a grim reaper of sorts, and harvest a legion of loyal vessels that adored me and demanded no love in return. Maybe I was that woman- that succubus I’d sworn I wasn’t.

  My delight was disturbed when a body collided with mine and sent me flying backwards from the doorway. I fell back against a couch yelled out as its frame bruised my back and left me winded. Crumpling to the floor, I whimpered and flailed, screaming for Aiden to pick me up before Cole escaped from the pole.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got her.” Somebody pulled me to my feet and spared a minute to run their thumbs over my fingers before I pulled away from the unexpected static that crackled between us, and made a desperate scrabble for Cole’s strewn clothes. He wasn’t going to get them back, no matter how many times I fell down. “You chose him.”

  “What?” I looked up from my hunched over position and froze. “Mr Alexander.” I slowly straightened and backed away. I wasn’t numb enough yet- not ready to see him and not feel. My eyes tracked up to the cherry red tie around his neck, one that matched my shirt, and it provoked a violent recollection of his torn open chest and his heart in my hand.

  Wailing hysterically, I collapsed back to the floor and threw my arms over my head. “Aiden!”

  “Cici, relax, it’s the acid!” I drew my knees up to my chest and cradled my head in my hands. He needed to be away from me, out of my sight and out of my reach. Every time I opened my eyes, I saw blood dripping from my fingers.

  “Lolita.” His voiced breathed next to me. It was too much to bear when it soothed me, the way it always did.

  I wrenched my head up and glared at him icily, shoving him away and clambering to my feet. If he wouldn’t leave me alone willingly, I’d have to force him to. “Is that all you want? A woman who keeps you secret and emasculates you by forcing you to purchase sex with luxury and favours until she finds someone richer with more perverse tastes? Because that’s all I’m good for.”

  He looked at me sceptically and shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed on mine despite earlier comments about wanting to bite my basque off. I heard Isaac holler with laughter from the furthest reaches of the club and call Aiden over for an explanation as to why there was a man tied to one of his ladies poles.

  Nathaniel reached forward towards my face and gently brushed his fingertips across my cheek. I recoiled from his touch- every second I was close to him was a jab further toward my descension into chaos. “Tell me you’re happy without me.”

  “I’m happy.” I kept my eyes locked on his for a moment before I pulled them away and made for the door. I had purposely not said what I was happy about, and that omitted information didn’t go missed.

  “Tell me that you love him more.” I paused with my hand on the glass and sighed. He had trapped me this way before- taunting me to tell him that I didn’t love him. I couldn’t then, and I couldn’t again now. Creeping up by my side, he put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. “Tell me you love him at all.”

  “Stop. You’ll thank me for this.” I tortured myself by turning around and putting my hand over his heart, relieved to still feel it beating. I pulled away quickly and raised the fingers that had touched him to my mouth, whispering the words that haunted me. “See how your love kills him.”

  “Divine intervention?” I nodded and leaned in just enough to breathe his fragrance. I shouldn’t have done it, it made my head swim and knees weaken. “Go and get in the car.”

  I shook my head and looked over his shoulder at Aiden, who was still stood in the doorway of Chelan with Isaac taunting Cole. “Ade has my clothes- I’m going home with him tonight. He’s my way forward.”

  “Aiden? Aiden Clark?” Mr Alexander raised an eyebrow at me and sucked in a quick breath. “Don’t move.” He turned back into the club and paced towards the Cherry Rooms. I don’t know what kept me there, watching his brief friendly exchange with Aiden and conference with Isaac. Ade passed him my clothes and waved at me with a surprisingly bright smile. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “What? Where?”

  Mr Alexander looked at me sternly and rolled his eyes. “Home, Cecelia. I’m taking you home.”

  I slept intermittently in the car, Cole’s clothes still huddled close to my body- a trophy I carried proudly in the wake of my victory.

  But every time I slept, I was back in Hell on that bed, covered in blood with that limp body staring at me. He’d died with his eyes open, and that was an image that chased me back to consciousness. I gasped every time I woke up next to him and he was deathly pale, terrified until I realised that it was just the bright white lights of the city that bleached his skin.

  I didn’t recognise the older grey haired gentleman who drove the Chrysler that night- he didn’t tease me the way Lobke did, and for that, I was grateful. Classical music piped through the speakers and set the standard for how one would expect to travel with one of the most influential men in London.

  I frowned as the driver missed the turning to my house and craned my neck with my hand on the window as I watched it fade into the distance. Embarrassed to interject the silence with the observation of his mistake, I settled back against the seat, struggling to brush away the image of that heart beating in my hands.

  “Mr Alexander,” I sighed, “I-…”

  “Nate.” My brow creased at him with exhausted defeat. “Whatever you say, I’ll know you don’t mean it. Tell me about your divine intervention.”

  I sighed helplessly and rubbed my eyes. I was too tired to fight- too weak to argue. “We were in Hell- you, Cole and I. It was white, eerily so.” I smirked and turned to laugh at him, “it looked like your spa minus the black floor.”

  “Alright, so considering a refurb…”

  I snickered and released my hair from the entrapment of the ponytail. “I had your hearts in my hands and you both told me to pick one. So I picked yours and your chest tore open. My love will kill you.”

  “Alright.” I shook my head, not understanding. He turned towards me and reached over for my hand, not grabbing it completely but just brushing his fingers over mine. “Let it kill me. I’d rather die from it than without it.”

  “Nathaniel…”

  “Now we’re talking.” He flashed me a cocky smile and my she-bitch demeanour cracked. Half of me wished that he’d never arrived at Cherry Vine, but the other half wished that he’d never leave my side again. “I can’t believe I didn’t make the association between you and Aiden before.”

  I frowned. “Why would you?”

  “We went to the same university, you and I. You were in the second year when he left, yes?” I nodded and fiddled with the buttons of Cole’s shirt. Anything to keep my brain active. “I was distraught when I heard that he was leaving because he’d had an affair with one of his students. He was such a succinct and devoted professor.” My insides wrenched with guilt. It was true- even though Aiden taught most of his lectures while intoxicated, he was a powerful dictator and provided guidance to those who needed it most. So many people had been deprived of that because of me.

  Nathaniel- yes, we were back there- shook his head at me and linked his fingers between mine. The smallest connection with him cast his spell over me anew. “I found him in his office packing his belongings into a box, and asked who I needed to pay off to save his job. He told me that he’d not been fired, just been given a slap on the wrist.” I had not yet learnt anything new and wasn’t sure where this conversation was headed.

  “So when I asked him why he
was still leaving, he told me that it was because he loved the girl too much to make her unhappy with his presence. She couldn’t be happy with him around, and her happiness was all he craved.” I inched down in my seat, feeling positively horrendous. Aiden had loved his job and he’d given it up for me. Remember when I thought it wasn’t possible to control other people? Well, that was a moot point. “I remember thinking that she must have been one amazing girl to provoke that reaction. It turns out that the assumption was justified. What were the chances that I’d fall for the same woman?”

  I pulled my hand away and fisted it in my lap. There was nothing amazing about me, nothing at all. I was a woman who made too many mistakes and pushed away too many friends, and what was worse was that I wasn’t really sorry for the mistakes I’d made.

  Nathaniel exhaled slowly through pouted lips and shifted around to face me properly, one leg curled up on the free seat between us. “You still look high.”

  “I’m not. You’re a buzz kill.”

  “What did you take?”

  “What didn’t I take?”

  “Did you mix?”

  “Copiously.”

  “Cecelia?”

  “What?” I snapped impatiently at his barrage of inane questions. The back and forth of terse repartee was getting us nowhere.

  He smiled at me softly and tilted his head sideways to lean on the headrest. “I love you.” My face stiffened defensively, desperate to suppress the smile that wanted to burst from my face. I was weak for him, and he knew it. He knew that he could tear down my resistance with those three words. He was the only one who could say them without me running for the hills, and I had to take that as a sign.

  As the Thames slipped into view, my confusion and curiosity grew to the point of wanting to burst from my chest. “Okay, you said you were taking me home. Where the hell are we going, Nathaniel?”

  “Where do you think ‘home’ is?”