Masked Indulgence

by Michelle Love

  I was about three songs in when my phone began to ring. I dried off my hands on a small towel and picked up my phone to see who it was. My eyes widened at the name on the screen. Arsen Lockhart. What was he doing calling me after our meeting? Hopefully it was to tell me why he ended our session so quickly. I hesitated a little, then answered. For some reason, it felt really good to hear his deep voice on the other line.

  “Hello, Lola,” he spoke, not saying anything else.

  “Hello, Arsen. Is there anything I can help you with?”

  “I’m trying out this new restaurant tonight and I want you to come with me.”

  “Well, Mr. Lockhart, I-”

  He cut me off. “I’ll pay for everything and you can ask me any of the other questions you were going to ask earlier today.”

  “I guess dinner wouldn’t hurt …” I trailed off and sat up in the tub.

  “It wouldn’t, so I’ll pick you up at 7:30. I’m wearing a navy blue suit, so work around that.” And before I could even get a word out, he hung up. I guessed I was going on a date. I sat there genuinely confused and sort of turned on, but I quickly shook off the thought and began to wash off.

  When I got back to my room, I looked in my closet and thought to myself, “What do you wear on a date with a billionaire?”

  I had to look like arm candy. Arsen Lockhart wouldn’t just go out with any girl. It was 6:30, so I just laid out my clothes and started on something else to pass the time. I decided on a simple black dress that hugged my curves, with a pair of heels. I straightened my hair and put on light makeup, but I made sure to wear a bold red lip.

  “Where are you going tonight?” I heard Anabella speak from the door.

  “Out,” I replied simply.

  “Yeah, sure, Lola. Have fun with Mr. Billionaire.” She chuckled and walked away. I didn’t know what upset her so much about my going out with an older man, but I was a grown woman. If I wanted to date someone much older, I had every right to.

  I rolled my eyes at her remark and walked over to the bed to slip on my dress. I felt so beautiful with it on. I never wore it because my mind was too focused on my studies to go on dates. To go anywhere at that. All my life consisted of was writing. I remembered that when I was around eighteen or nineteen, I knew how to balance being a party girl and still getting everything done that I needed to do. That sadly wasn’t enough for me, though. I wasn’t reaching as much success as I wanted, so I completely cut out partying and having fun at the age of twenty, and here I am today.

  I was twenty-one years old and had butterflies before going on a date. There was nothing wrong with that. I just always thought life would turn out differently for me. Maybe that was why I was so open with Arsen. It might not seem like it on his end, but I didn’t usually even give guys the time of day, so he was lucky. I felt that he could be that missing excitement that I needed in my life. I was just so used to being by myself without any distractions. I wasn’t sure if a relationship was what I needed right now, but I was willing to try it out.

  My phone lit up, showing a text from Arsen. It said that he was outside and that his driver was waiting for me. I laughed a little and slid on my shoes. I didn’t even know why I expected for a billionaire to drive himself to a restaurant. I made it outside and saw the driver open the back door. I kindly thanked him and got inside. Arsen sat, watching me get in the car with a smile on his face. His teeth were the whitest I’d ever seen. All of his teeth were so perfectly straight that it was mesmerizing.

  “You look absolutely stunning,” he spoke.

  “Thank you. You look good as well, Arsen.” I blushed slightly at the nickname he gave me.

  The ride there was lovely. I got to see the view of downtown at night, while music played softly in the background. The air was fresh while blowing through my hair. I felt like my nineteen-year-old self again. I heard a chuckle and turned to see Arsen watching me.

  “Having fun there?” He smiled.

  And for the first time, I actually smiled back. “I am, actually. I’m feeling a bit nostalgic”

  “I understand.” He nodded. “Go out with me more often and you could feel this all of the time”

  The smirk on his face made my stomach drop. “As pleasing as that offer sounds, I’ll have to see how the rest of the night goes before I make a decision”

  He shrugged with a smirk on his face and turned to face the window as we pulled up at the front of the restaurant. I waited for the driver to open my door and thanked him after. I looked up at the big, white letters.

  “The Crystal Room,” Arsen spoke, reading my mind. He grabbed my hand, causing me to tense up and pull my hand away. “It’s okay, Lola. I don’t bite.”

  I nodded and he grabbed my hand. “At least not too hard,” I heard him mumble as we walked in.

  Arsen

  I watched as her body moved swiftly in that dress. She was the most gorgeous girl I’d ever laid eyes on. I liked a woman with curves, long hair, and an attitude. I was determined to make her mine.

  “Hello, Mr. Lockhart. Your table is this way”

  We followed the waitress to our secluded table, upstairs on the balcony and took our seats. I ordered us some wine and watched as she looked over the menu.

  “See anything you like?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Not really …” She closed her menu and sat back in her seat. “Order for me.”

  I smirked and looked over at the waitress, who had begun to pour our wine into our glasses. “Are you ready to order, sir?” She smiled down at me.

  “We are,” Lola stated loudly. The waitress jumped a bit from how stern Lola’s voice was and I chuckled. She clearly wasn’t expecting for her to be that bold. Lola seemed a bit protective over me, but I liked it.

  I scanned my eyes over the menu and decided on what we were having. “We’ll both have the steak and lobster dinner with mashed potatoes on the side.”

  “C-coming right up.” The waitress spoke as she collected our menus and walked away.

  “Jealous?” I asked Lola as I took a sip of my wine.

  “I could never be jealous, sweetheart. Look at me.” She smiled and took a sip of her wine as well. “I just don’t like being disrespected. I deserve just as much of respect as you do”

  That turned me on—the way she thought so highly of herself. I just wanted to tear that little piece of fabric right off, but I had respect for her. A strong, beautiful woman like herself took time and patience, but I was sure I’d get her to crack soon.

  “I want to know more about you, Lola. Have you always wanted to be a novelist?” I folded both hands together and leaned back in my seat.

  “Since I was about seven, I knew I wanted to write. Every other day I’d try to write a new story or start reading a new book to get inspired. My life literally revolved around it.” She took another sip of her wine and licked a drop of it off of her bottom lip.

  “There was never anything else you wanted to do?” I raised an eyebrow.

  She nodded. “There were, and I did them. I took ballet for a couple of years, I used to sketch, and I’m a pretty amazing cook. I used to want to be a chef as well, but over the years those just became hobbies. I knew I wanted writing to be my career.”

  “Ballet, huh?” I smiled. “Explains why you have such strong and beautiful legs. I’d love you taste your cooking one day, since you’ve bragged about your talents”

  “You’d be amazed.” She smiled and ran her finger around the brim of her glass. “This wine is amazing. So smooth and opulent.”

  “You want a bottle to take home?” I asked.

  “I sure do.” She smiled widely. “Thank you”

  Just then the waitress came back with our plates. The food looked absolutely delicious—almost as delicious as Lola. Usually the girls I dated would light up at the expensive meal before them, but it was like she was completely used to this. Has she dated rich, older men before?

  I shook the thought and asked the waitress for a
nother bottle to take back home. She politely told me that she’d wrap it up and put it in a bag for us. I nodded and turned my attention back to Lola, who was cutting into her steak. Seeing the fork slide in between her lips after taking a bite made me hot.

  “Is the night going well for you?” I asked, staring into her eyes.

  “Wonderful,” she stated with a smile and continued to eat.

  “Maybe we could do this again tomorrow night?”

  “Sounds lovely, Arsen, but I’d really like the next time we see each other to be at our next meeting.” She poured herself another glass of wine. “I have a lot of work to do and I would love to be undistracted.”

  “Oh.” I cleared my throat. I’d never been turned down. I was starting to wonder if she even liked me. I began eating my food.

  “I would like to do this again, though. She smiled and continued eating.

  “Then we shall.” I wiped my mouth clean and smirked.

  “Arsen Lockhart, I am going to murder you!” a woman screamed as she ran towards me. She began hitting me, yelling that I had killed her husband and ruined her family. Lola was shocked, but managed to pull the lady off while workers rushed over to see what all the commotion was. I dialed my driver’s number and told him to be out front of the restaurant immediately.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Lockhart!” A random woman said to me as she tried to clean off the food that the woman had spilled on my clothes while going crazy. “I’m the manager and I’m not sure why this would happen”

  “You should really work on your establishment if you’re going to let crazy people like that inside of a place like this.” I looked at her, then over at Lola, who was taking the extra bottle of wine from the waitress. I quickly grabbed her free hand and dragged her out of there. We quickly got inside of the car and the driver sped off.

  “Um, what was all of that about?” Lola asked.

  “I have no idea. I’ve never seen that woman a day in my life.” I shrugged and turned to look out of the window. I knew exactly who that woman and her husband were, but that was none of her business.

  I heard her sigh deeply and adjust herself to face the window. She probably didn’t want to go out with me again, but I would make sure that she did.

  Lola

  That was one of the weirdest things I’d ever encountered, and the fact that Arsen knew absolutely nothing about the situation seemed very fishy to me. I really loved the feeling of being taken out and shown off, but not if things like that were going to be happening. I wondered if he was hiding something.

  “Why do you think she’d do that? Throw an entire fit in front of everyone, claiming that she’d want to kill you in a public restaurant, and why would she accuse you of killing her husband?” I unlocked my phone to text Anabella to tell her that I was coming home and that I didn’t have my key.

  “Simply because I am a billionaire, Lola. People will do anything to get their hands on my money, even if that means accusing me of false crimes. I don’t even have the time to kill some random man.” He scoffed.

  “I guess you’re right,” I agreed and looked out of the window the entire ride back. When we pulled up to my dorm, I called Anabella, but there was no reply.

  “Let me walk you to your door,” Arsen offered with a smile.

  “No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.” I laughed slightly and proceeded to step out of the car, until I felt him pulling me back by my hand.

  “What? Do you think I'm going to murder you or something?” He smirked, staring me directly in the eyes, and I felt my body go entirely numb. His voice sounded so chilling—more serious than playful.

  “N-no, you can walk me there,” I said quickly, pulling my hand away and getting out of the car fully. I was in such a blank state of mind that I forgot to thank the driver.

  “Here’s your wine,” Arsen said walking around the car and handing me the bag. I nodded with a slight smile, then led him into the building and up to my door. I knocked a few times, but there was no answer. I tried calling a few times too, but there was still no answer.

  “I mean, you’re always welcomed to stay with me for the night,” Arsen offered.

  There was a solid ten seconds of silence before I even replied. I had to seriously think, do I really want to stay with this man after he made several romantic advantages or do I want to sleep outside in the hall until Anabella realizes that I’m here. I turned to him slowly and laughed. “You promise you won’t kill me?”

  “I’ll try not to.” He threw his head back and let out a loud chuckle that made me jump. His arm slid around my lower back and he walked me back outside to his car. The car ride back to his place was long and silent. The only sounds were the wind and soft music playing in the background. I felt like something was going to happen tonight, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

  We pulled into the driveway of his house and it was luxurious. I had never seen anything like it before. There were plants everywhere and I could see the view of the pool upon entering. The driver got out and opened our doors, wishing us a good night, and Arsen led me into his home.

  “This place is so beautiful.” I looked around at the fiery red furniture and black decor.

  “Almost as beautiful as you, Lola. Follow me.” He led me to the clear doors of his elevator. “Let’s get you into something more comfortable.”

  “What did you have in mind?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Nothing too serious. My daughter is a little younger than you. She comes to visit time from time, so I always have new clothes here for her to sleep in,” he laughed. “She’s a little smaller than you, but I don’t think there’s anything that you can’t sleep in”

  When we made it upstairs, it was just as huge as the downstairs. There was a long marble-floored hallway that led to what I suspected was his bedroom, because it was the biggest. Upon entering, I saw the biggest bed I’d ever seen in my life with black silk sheets.

  “Wait here while I go get you something to put on.” He winked and then left the room.

  I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. I was just happy to take these shoes off. I sat on the edge of his bed and kicked off my heels. I found a small hair tie in my clutch and pulled my hair into a high ponytail. I looked around the room and it was very minimalistic, but still very opulent.

  “I found this for you.” Arsen spoke and my head snapped in his direction. He closed the door behind him and walked over to me. He handed me a champagne-colored silk nightgown. He began unbuttoning his shirt and walking into the bathroom attached to his room.

  “Where can I change?” I asked him.

  “Right there.” He peaked his head out of the bathroom. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t look”

  I heard him laugh as I tried to quickly get out of my dress and get into the new one. When I took off my bra, I turned to see him walking out of the bathroom in only his boxers. Let me tell you, for an older man, he had a great body. I erased the dirty thoughts from my mind and just stared at him.

  He looked at the shocked expression on my face and down at my body and smirked. I looked down and noticed that I was only in my underwear. The air in the room became thick and I quickly grabbed the gown to cover myself. I didn’t have a bad body, but for some reason, I felt really embarrassed and uncomfortable. I mean I’d only known the guy for a couple of days. It wasn’t really the right time to be naked around him, especially when I wanted to wait for this moment if things even got that far with Arsen and I.

  “Lola, you don’t have to hide from me. We’re both old enough to be naked around each other and comfortable with it” He walked by me and picked up my clothing from the floor. He placed them on a chair next to his desk and looked over at me again.

  “Where will I be sleeping?” I tried changing the subject to take away from the awkwardness.

  “With me, hopefully,” he responded. “I respect whatever boundaries you have. I just haven’t slept next to a beautiful woman in a long time.”

  I nodded
slowly, not wanting to put up a fight, and climbed into bed. He turned off the light and got into bed next to me. Directly across the room was a huge floor-to-ceiling window and the curtains were pulled back completely. There was a beautiful view of not only the moon and stars, but of the city as well. I could see almost every building that was well-lit and that alone made me feel safe. The light from outside made it easier to see around the room and to see that Arsen was staring at me staring at the view.

  I looked over at him and smiled. “The view is beautiful. Thanks for letting me experience this”

  “Anytime you want to see it, let me know” He ran his hand over my thigh and it drove me crazy. “You know, Lola, I’ve wanted you ever since I’ve laid eyes on you”