The Secrets Duet

by Brownell, Rachael

  “We have to stop meeting like this. You’re starting to look like a stalker.” I keep my voice light and humorous. I’m trying not to let him know the effect he has on me, but I’m pretty sure it’s a moot point.

  “Well, I wouldn’t want you to think I was stalking you.”

  “Cam,” I say turning to face him but looking at his forehead instead of his eyes. I tried looking at his mouth, but that turned out even worse than looking into his eyes. I spent the rest of that day unable to focus on my classes.

  “Kat.”

  “I really wish you would stop calling me that.”

  “Why? I happen to like it.”

  “Well, for starters, that not my name. Second, you make me sound like an animal and I assure you, I am not an animal. Third, you actually purr when you say my name. It’s kind of freaky.”

  He’s smiling at me. I know this because I’m staring at his mouth again. Damn those lips. They are so tempting. So perfectly plump and… shit! He just licked his lips. I think I might faint.

  “Kat,” he purrs at me. “Do you have plans Friday night?”

  What? Is he asking me out? Crap! How did I not see this coming? Was I that distracted by his lips?

  “Um… I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He can hear how surprised I am. I’m sure of it.

  “Well, it sounds like a great idea to me. Why don’t you think about it and we can talk at school tomorrow?” It was meant to sound like a question because he was asking permission. He knew I tried to keep to myself at school and talking to him would open up the floodgates for more rumors to start flying.

  “Actually, I think I might be working so I need a rain check,” I say quickly.

  “Well, that’s a shame. I thought you had Friday night off.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice loud and clear. I could also hear the determination.

  Shit! I forgot all the employees had access to each other’s schedules. He knew I was lying to him. Now I was going to need to try and pick up a shift so it didn’t look like I was avoiding him. Who was I kidding? It’s not like I had anything better to do than pick up a Friday night. Oh yeah. I could always go out with Cam.

  “Oh. Well, I was going to try and pick up a shift to make some extra money. I can always try a different night I guess.”

  What was I saying? Did I just agree to go out with him? Have I lost my fucking mind? I was supposed to be laying low. I was supposed to be flying under the radar. I had a feeling attaching myself to him would cause me to soar higher than I ever have before.

  “Well, then. Plan on me picking you up at eight.”

  He’s walking away before I have a chance to respond. I want to yell after him, but I’m lost in a trance, watching his beautiful backside retreat. Damn! This man is out of my league. Even in my past life, he would be out of my league.

  Cam

  I had to walk away before I kissed her right then. When I caught sight of her staring at my lips I couldn’t stop myself from asking her out. I had been thinking about it all day. When I saw her walking in this morning wearing that skirt I thought I was going to lose it on the spot. I’ve had to control my raging hard-on all day.

  I knew I was going to take her by surprise. I hadn’t given her any indication I wanted to take her out yet. I had been trying my best to act naturally around her, aside from watching her from afar. She would probably freak out if she knew I was watching her. She already thought I was practically stalking her. Maybe I was borderline stalking at this point. I just couldn’t help myself.

  I make sure to snag her address off her employee file before I head home for the day. I still have homework to do and my parents are making me go to a fundraiser with them tomorrow night so I need to study for my test on Friday as well.

  Kat is the only thing I can focus on the entire drive home. When I catch sight of her mom’s car turning away from town I can’t help but follow. I’m pretty sure I stepped over the line into stalker territory now. I need to see her one more time today. I keep telling myself that as I pull over to the curb a few houses from where she pulled in and watch her get out.

  I’m not sure if she saw me following her, but she’s looking up and down the street. She takes a second glance in either direction before she finally lets herself in the house. The house is a rundown piece of crap. It doesn’t suit her at all. I imagine her in expensive clothes, driving a nice car and living in something much, much bigger. I imagine her living the life I have.

  There’s something about her which screams “high society.” Maybe it’s the way she carries herself. Maybe it’s her beauty. I’m not really sure it matters why I get that feeling from her, but I do. Maybe it’s the fact I think my mom would absolutely love her that makes me want her to fit into my lifestyle.

  I manage to focus on my homework for a little while when I get home. I’m surprised I was able to get as much done as I did. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to focus on anything other than Kat. She’s consumed my every thought since the moment I met her.

  I wrap up around 10:00 pm but before going to bed I do another Facebook search on her, hoping maybe I can find her this time. I search through a bunch of pages, but I still can’t find her and before I know it, it’s after midnight. Tomorrow I am going to be dragging ass and I have to go to that fundraiser with my parents. Maybe I can “convince” dad to let me out of it?

  No. I will not play this game with him again. I know I have the advantage here, just like the time I caught him with one of the front desk clerks. You would think after almost ruining his marriage he would learn to keep it in his pant but apparently not. What I really don’t understand is why these young, college girls would even get involved with my dad. They know he’s married and they have to know it won’t last forever. Are they really that naive?

  Plus, after he’s done with them, they have a tendency to quit and leave town. Jennifer disappeared only a few days after I caught my dad. It’s like she fell off the face of the Earth. No one has heard a peep from her since she left.

  Maybe my dad will wise up this time. Maybe not. I can’t imagine him telling my mom, which means she will probably never know. I can’t be the one to tell her again. It would break her heart. After dad convinced her to give him a second chance, promising her it would never happen again, I watched my mom transform into the person she is today. Yes, she’s stronger than she ever has been, but she’s still not the same. It broke her a little bit. I don’t want to see that happen to her again. I’m not sure she would be able to recover this time. Damn him for doing this to her, to our family, again.

  Thursday passes in a blur of school, tuxedos and snooty, high-society people who I have no genuine interest in getting to know. The fundraiser is a bore. I stay at the table most of the night, convincing the waitress to bring me a mixed drink to try and help numb the painfully boring hours which pass. She obliges with her number written in script across the napkin. Not going to happen.

  When I finally crawl into bed the only thing I really want to do is call Kat but we haven’t reached that point yet. I don’t even have a phone number for her and her only contact information in her file was her email address. I fall asleep with the image of her face floating around in my mind, her lips pursed in aggravation. Those lips are so damn tempting.

  I try to catch a glimpse of her as soon as I get to school on Friday to satisfy my craving, but she’s nowhere to be found. Either she is avoiding me or my timing is off. Usually, I find a way to see her between each of my classes. Not today apparently. I hope she didn’t skip. I’m still picking her up at 8:00 pm regardless of whether she came to school today or not.

  I’m walking to my car, trying to decide whether or not to go over to her house and see if she’s alright, when I notice her mom’s piece of shit in the parking lot. It’s hard to miss parked next to the brand new Audis and BMWs. To say everything about her stands out is an understatement.

  I lean against the driver side door and wait. She has found a way to a
void me inside, but she has to leave eventually. I see her off in the distance, making her way towards me. She has no idea I’m waiting for her. She seems oblivious to everything around her most of the time. It’s one of the things I love about her the most. She has no idea how incredibly beautiful she is. Everyone sees it, but her.

  When she looks up and we make eye contact it’s like the world around me explodes. My body is alive and tingling with anticipation. I can see the smile she’s trying to hide from me and it makes me smile in return. This girl has the best effect on me. When I finally hear her voice… it’s almost like my inner demons which have tried to surface over the past few days instantly calm.

  5.

  Katrina

  For as slowly as the past few months have gone by, this week is here and gone in no time. I’m leaving school on Friday afternoon, heading for the student parking lot and not surprised by who is standing at my car. I convinced my mom to let me drop her off this morning so I could go shopping after school when I spot Cam standing beside my piece of crap.

  “Stalk much?” I ask with a smile plastered across my face. It’s been permanently plastered there since he asked me out a few days ago.

  “Kat, Kat, Kat,” he purrs I love the way my name sounds when he says it. It rolls off his tongue so smoothly. “I told you I wasn’t stalking you but you, my dear, have been hiding from me. I’ve barely caught a glimpse of you.”

  I hadn’t exactly been hiding from him. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide my perma-smile, so instead of being ahead of him I’ve been behind him, watching him. I turned his little trick around on him.

  “I’ve been around,” I say, dismissively. “Did you need me for something?”

  The way his eyes light up sends a shockwave straight to my core. Oh, my! Did I really just have that kind of a reaction to him? I’ve sunk deeper than I thought I had.

  “Not really. I just wanted to make sure I was still picking you up tonight.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” I say, moving past his rock hard body to get in my car. When my arm brushes his, my body responds with a shiver.

  He turns and catches the door before I’m able to shut it. I look up at him and see the reaction I’ve had on him, knowing my face is just as flush. His eyes are alive with passion and for the first time all week, I’m a little scared of our ‘date’ tonight.

  He leans in and I breathe deeply, the smell of him surrounding me. “I felt that too just so you know,” he purrs. Damn his sexy voice.

  I take one more deep breath, trying to compose myself before I open my eyes to see that he’s gone. I look in my rearview mirror in time to catch a glimpse of his perfect ass as he walks away from my car. I’m in so much trouble and we haven’t even gone out yet.

  I take my time getting ready. Actually, I take longer than necessary to get ready. I was home and out of the shower by 5:30 pm. There was no way I needed more than an hour to get ready, but I took two, to make sure I looked perfect.

  I’m finally starting to embrace my new look. I stopped by the thrift store on my way home and picked out an outfit. I also picked up a new box of hair dye. My pink streak was starting to fade. I may have put it there to change the way I looked, but it had grown on me and now I wanted to keep it. It compliments my new personality. Plus, if work didn’t have a problem with it then I was keeping it.

  I’m about to slip on my ankle boots when the door bells rings. I look up and see it’s only 7:45 pm. Is Cam really fifteen minutes early? It’s not unheard of, but I thought five minutes was more the standard. Plus, maybe I wasn’t ready yet.

  Who was I kidding? I was ready an hour ago.

  I hop off my bed and bound to the door. My mom sees me coming and takes a step back. She turns to head for the kitchen as I open the door. I inhale sharply and slam the door, causing my mom to return to the living room.

  I step back as she opens the door again to see who’s standing on the other side. Her hands start to shake, and for a second I think she might pass out if she doesn’t breathe. Why is he here anyway?

  “Lilly. Courtney.” He nods his head at each of us before moving past my mom and closing the door behind him. My mom still hasn’t said anything.

  “Why are you here?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  “I need to talk to your mom Court. There’s been some… developments.”

  If I was sure he didn’t have a gun tucked somewhere on his person I would try and strangle the life out of him right now. The last thing my mom needed to hear about were new “developments.” We were just starting to feel comfortable… and there was the problem.

  Rule number one of living this life: Never get too comfortable.

  “What’s going on Greg? You know you’re not supposed to be here.” My mom’s voice is barely audible.

  “I know and I’m sorry. I made sure I wasn’t followed. I even changed planes three times and used three different names. I was as careful as I could be.”

  I’m staring at the man who I called “Uncle Greg” when I was a child, remembering all the stories he told and my little brother. He was a God to us back then. He would always bring us new toys and spend time with us. Most importantly, if Uncle Greg was at our house it meant our dad was home.

  My dad traveled, a lot. He would spend weeks traveling for work and then come home and spend weeks with us, taking us places and spending quality time with us. Then, the cycle would repeat. Over and over again for years the cycle continued until about six months ago when he told my mom he had quit his job.

  I noticed the questioning stare my mother gave him but brushed it off as shock at first. After a week or so of hearing my parents fight when they thought no one was around I started to put the pieces together. It wasn’t until I found my dad’s badge and gun hidden in his closet, yes I was snooping, that it all started to make sense.

  My dad worked for the FBI.

  I couldn’t figure out the last few pieces of the puzzle and no one was talking. Uncle Greg stopped by a few times and he and dad got into some incredibly heated arguments. I had never heard them fight before. It was nerve wracking.

  I left the house to go meet my boyfriend, Taylor, at the beach early Saturday afternoon about two weeks after dad announced he quit his job. No one was up so I left a note on the kitchen counter and took off. It never crossed my mind that anyone would worry about me. I had been going off on my own for almost a year, since I had turned sixteen the summer before.

  Well, they were worried and apparently for good reason. My phone rang as I was pulling up to the beach. It was my dad and I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him so I sent him to voicemail. My phone rang again seconds later. My dad was calling again and I sent him to voicemail again.

  I left my phone in my car, knowing my dad was going to continue to call. I wanted to enjoy my day and not have to listen to my dad’s ringtone every five minutes. I headed down to the beach where my friends were already laying out their towels and getting comfortable. It wasn’t even close to 9:00 am and the water was already full of surfers, Taylor being one of them.

  He waves to me and I wave back, admiring the view. Even from a distance I can tell which one he is. His tanned, muscular body is glistening against the water. His hair is falling in his face every few second and he keep smoothing it back. I’ve asked him to cut his “surfer locks” on more than one occasion, but he refuses. He says his hair is part of who he is, whatever that means. I may be in lust with my boyfriend, but he’s lacking in a few things which keep me from falling in love with him. First of all, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. He may look good, but that’s about all he has going for him. Second, his priorities are all jacked up. Surfing will always be number one for him and I will always come in a distant second.

  We’ve been dating for what feel like forever, but it’s really only been about ten months. Dating someone who doesn’t have it all going on upstairs makes every day you spend together feel like a lifetime. I know I should be a bigger person and break up with him i
f I’m having these kinds of thoughts, but the reality of the situation is much different. We’ve been friends for longer than we’ve dated and I would hate to lose that.

  Plus, our situation works for me. We have fun together and, up until a few weeks ago, there wasn’t any pressure to move our relationship to the next level. Now, if I break up with him he’ll think it’s because of that. If I don’t, he’ll think I plan on putting out. I will, eventually, but not yet. We’re not old enough and we haven’t been dating for long enough. I want my first time to be with someone I’m in love with, not just in lust with.

  I made myself comfortable in the sand and dozed off after only a few minutes. I couldn’t have been asleep long before I felt myself being carried, wet, hard muscles stretching to accommodate my slight frame. I opened my eyes just as Taylor makes it to the edge of the water and I hold on tight, knowing he’s about to take us both under.

  I surface a few seconds later, inhaling sharply from the shock of the cold water. Every. Single. Time. I shouldn’t have let myself fall asleep. I knew he would get me. Even from 200 yards out, on a surfboard, he can tell the moment I fall asleep.

  “Asshole,” I scream at him as soon as he surfaces a few feet away from me.

  “Come on baby. You knew I was going to do it. Why’d you go and fall asleep?”

  He’s swimming towards me, but the devious grin on his face tells me I had better swim away and fast. I start towards shore. I can almost touch the bottom when he reaches me and grabs a hold of me by the hips. I try to twist out of his embrace but fail miserably. Thanks to his “devotion” to surfing he has incredible upper body strength.

  “Court!”

  I hear someone shouting my name just before I’m dunked under the water. The distraction was enough for me to forget to hold my breath. I come up spitting water and gasping for air. Taylor is by my side instantly, patting me on the back. The look in his eyes tells me he’s done messing around. He feels bad.