by Alex Strong
When she walked back out into the bedroom wrapped in a towel and feeling more human, she found a tray of food on the table where the water and painkillers had been earlier. The glass, empty when she’d taken her shower, was now full again, and there was an assortment of warm pastries and fresh chilled fruit. It was delicious, and before she knew it, everything was gone. If food had been brought to her, then perhaps she wasn’t expected to leave her room today. A panic swept through her, and she rushed to the door and tried to open it. She breathed a sigh of relief when the handle turned. She wasn’t a prisoner after all. But then what was she?
Nightfall came, and Karina was still hiding out in her room. She felt the familiar butterflies, wondering if Damien would come for her tonight. She’d spent the whole afternoon reading but set her e-book aside, no longer able to concentrate. She turned off the lights and pulled the covers to her chin. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep when he came in, he would let her be. At around ten o’clock, she heard footsteps coming down the hall. Karina held her breath, but they continued right past her door to Damien’s room, and a strange thought crept into her mind. Did Damien regret bringing her here? Did he no longer want her? Not that it would bother her, she told herself as she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Karina woke feeling restless. There was no way she was going to spend another day in the room. And it occurred to her that she may owe Damien an apology, because the truth was that he had been nothing but gracious so far. Which only made the whole thing more confusing. Maybe it had never been about sex.
I want you. His words echoed in her head. What did he want her for?
She dressed in her old, comfortable jeans but slipped on a sleeveless top from her recently acquired wardrobe. The ride to the house alone had shown Karina that the majority of what she’d brought was not exactly Miami attire.
The house was eerily still when she came down the stairs, and Karina wondered if she was the only one in it.
“Hello?” Her voice echoed into emptiness. But then she heard a noise from the kitchen. She headed in that direction and found the same woman who had delivered dinner the first night.
“Good morning,” she said to Karina.
“Um, hi. Is Damien around?”
“I’m afraid he had to fly out to LA on urgent business. He says he will try to be back by tomorrow night. You’re to make yourself at home.”
“Oh.” What was Karina supposed to do with herself for two days? “I’m sorry, I never caught your name the other night.”
“It’s Romi,” she said with a pleasant smile
“Were you the one who brought the food to my room yesterday?” Karina asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “That was Mr. Bishop. We were asked not to disturb you yesterday.”
“Who’s we?”
Romi shrugged. “Staff in general. Security, me, whoever was around.”
“Huh,” said Karina. “This is going to sound weird, but am I allowed to leave the house?”
Romi gave her a strange expression. “I don’t see why not.”
“So it’s fine if I decide to go for a walk around the neighborhood?”
Romi’s brow furrowed even more.
Aha! Karina knew it.
“You could, but I wouldn’t recommend it,” Romi told her.
“Why not?”
“Not many people walk around the neighborhood. You’d probably end up getting stopped by security wondering who you are. And with Mr. Bishop away, we might have a harder time proving it’s okay for you to be here.”
Karina sighed.
“But a car can be arranged for you if you’d like to go somewhere else. Mr. Bishop said to make sure everything is at your disposal,” Romi explained as she walked over to a drawer and pulled out an envelope. “And he wanted me to give you this.”
She handed it to Karina, who peeked inside and saw several dollar bills. All hundreds.
“In case you needed anything,” said Romi.
And now Karina was feeling like a whore again, despite the lack of physical contact.
“Thanks,” she said, mustering a smile. “I’ll just hang out here today.”
She headed back up to her room, not really sure what she was going to do to keep busy. The sun was shining brightly outside the French doors, and she decided it would be a good day to try out the pool.
After changing and grabbing her cell phone and e-reader, she snaked through the kitchen on her way to the pool. Romi was nowhere to be found, but Karina managed to scrounge up some fruit and a bottle of water without any help.
Once she was settled on a chair, she called Ginny again and was surprised when she picked up.
“About damn time,” Ginny said. “I was starting to get worried.”
“I left you a voicemail. And why aren’t you working?”
“I am. I happened to be in the back when I heard my phone ring. I only have a couple minutes, so talk fast. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Karina said. “More than fine. Nothing has happened.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the man has barely touched me. Hell, I feel like I’ve barely seen him. He’s out of town now and isn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”
“Weird,” said Ginny.
“I know. The whole thing doesn’t make any sense. Why would he go through all this trouble?”
“I don’t know. Maybe—shoot I have to go. Talk to you soon.”
“Okay,” Karina said and hung up. “Thanks for nothing,” she muttered to herself.
By the next day, Karina was absolutely stir-crazy and finally had Romi arrange a car for her. She just wanted to be taken to a beach, somewhere she could stretch her legs, and the driver was more than obliging, but she felt uncomfortable being driven around. And it was even more awkward to have someone waiting for her as she walked around doing nothing. In the end, she was barely gone an hour.
Romi prepared a dinner for Karina and she ate it at one of the outdoor tables, but there was still no sign of Damien when she dropped her empty plate in the sink.
That evening, she tossed and turned from too much unspent energy. Boredom was the last thing she had expected during the journey here.
By half past eleven she was lying on her side, watching the two little dots on the bedside clock flash, wondering if they had a name. Had she ever known and just forgot it along with all the other useless information she failed to recall?
There was a noise downstairs, and Karina sat up. It must be Damien, she thought. She pulled on a robe and headed out to the hall. As she approached the top of the stairs, she heard his voice.
“Thank you,” he said. “That’ll be all for tonight.”
She waited to see if he would come up the stairs, but his footsteps disappeared. Quietly, she descended and could see light spilling into the foyer from the sitting room. She heard a clink as she neared the bottom. Peeking into the room, she found Damien stretched out in a chair, his eyes closed and a tumbler in one of his hands.
He hadn’t seen her. She should climb back up to her room.
“Did I wake you?” he asked without opening his eyes.
Karina looked around, expecting it to be someone else he was talking to. But then he opened his eyes and there was no surprise when he focused on her.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
“Help yourself to a night cap,” he said, gesturing to the mini bar next to him.
“You look tired,” she said as she stepped into the room.
“I just lost twenty-five million dollars on a deal that fell through.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “I’ll make it up. But I hate wasting my time on something that was never going to happen.”
“Oh.”
“So are you going to have one?” he asked.
“Um, sure.”
She made her way to the bar, and as she walked past Damien, she felt something brush her hand. She looked down just in time to see his
hand lay back down on the arm of the chair, and his eyes were closed again.
Her hand shook as she pulled the top off a decanter—that was the clink she heard—and poured herself a glass of something. She held the glass to her lips, thinking of his fingers grazing her. It was the simplest touch, but it was enough to let loose the butterflies. Yet there was no sick feeling this time.
She gulped the warm liquor in one take, trying to quell the damn winged creatures.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t shoot my two-hundred-dollar cognac.”
She glanced at him to see that his eyes were open again, watching her.
“Sorry,” she said, putting the glass down and moving over to the couch across from him. She settled into the corner of it, finding it to be almost as comfortable as her bed upstairs. “In all fairness though, it’s not like you can’t afford a hundred more bottles.”
“True,” he sighed. “But I buy it to enjoy, to savor. Not to kill brain cells in the quickest manner. And you might not want a repeat of your first night here.”
Karina felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Damien was still watching her, and she forced herself to look at something else.
“So is the piano here just for show, or can you actually play it?”
He set his tumbler down and pushed himself up out of the chair. There was a cover over the keys that he lifted and slid back before sitting on the bench.
“Any special requests?” he asked.
“Impress me.”
His fingers did a little dance over the keys, warming up, and then he started playing a slow, haunting tune.
“Mmm…. Moonlight Sonata,” she said, curling into a ball. “I’ve always loved that song, even though it sounds so sad.”
“You know your Beethoven.”
She crinkled her nose. “Any kid that did junior high band or orchestra knows Moonlight Sonata.”
“And were you in band or orchestra?”
“I was,” she said, closing her eyes. The cognac and piano were working together to finally relax her.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You played the clarinet.”
“The cello.”
“Really? Were you any good?” he asked.
“I was decent.”
“Do you still play?”
“No,” she said. “I played up until my freshman year of college to get the arts requirement out of the way. But there wasn’t much point in continuing if I wasn’t going to major in it.” She frowned, eyes still closed. “When my mom got sick, I convinced them to sell it to help pay the bills and that was that.”
“How sad,” he said.
“The thing was just gathering dust anyway.”
No one said anything else as the song ended and he moved right into another piece just as beautiful and soothing, and Karina was content to simply lie there, listening to him play.
Come Undone
Karina woke with a start to realize that she was still on the couch, but Damien was gone and all the lights were off. She sat up, and a throw blanket fell down around her waist. Cautiously, she found her way back upstairs, where she paused at her bedroom door, looking down the hall at Damien’s door. She tiptoed toward it. Placing a hand against the door, she listened, but nothing could be heard. She carefully pressed down his handle, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t. Holding her breath, she guided it back up before rushing back to her room and burrowing under her covers. What did it matter that his door wasn’t locked? What had even possessed her to go to it?
The next morning, Karina came downstairs to find Damien at the dining table, reading something on an iPad. There was a variety of breakfast items laid out on the table.
“Breakfast wasn’t nearly this fancy with you gone,” Karina said as she sat down at the only other place setting.
Damien looked up with a frown. “You should’ve asked,” he said.
“I was only teasing,” she said, spooning some scrambled eggs onto her plate. “It wouldn’t have been necessary.”
“I have to attend a party this evening. I was hoping you would join me.”
Karina paused mid-bite.
“You mean it’s not mandatory?” she asked.
“You think I would force you to come?” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“I, well, I suppose not.”
“Does that mean you’d rather stay home tonight?”
Karina didn’t even have to think about the answer to that.
“Getting out of the house sounds like a great idea.”
“Good. The car will be here by seven-thirty, so make sure you’re ready by then.”
He pulled a napkin from his lap and stood.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I have work to do. But I’ll just be in my office if you need anything.”
He disappeared, leaving Karina to breakfast by herself. What could she possibly need from him? Maybe some attention, perhaps? The last thought shocked her. It was the boredom speaking. Getting out tonight would do her some good.
Karina wasn’t exactly sure what to wear for the party, but judging by the way Damien dressed just for dinner in his own home, she was going to go out on a limb and say the attire wasn’t casual. Since he hadn’t given any direction, she hoped she wasn’t breaking any rules when she chose a knee-length Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress covered in black lace.
At a quarter after seven, she headed down to find Damien in the sitting room again, enjoying a drink. He was dressed in an understated black suit over a crisp white shirt and no tie.
His face lit up as she walked into the room, and Karina felt a slight flutter in her chest.
“Excellent choice,” he said. “Would you care for something before we leave?”
She nodded and he poured. This time she made sure to savor it.
“You’ll need to be careful with the wrap-dress though,” he said as he replaced the stopper on the decanter.
“Why is that?” she asked, worried.
“Because one little tug and you’ll come undone.” He stared at her over the glass as he took a sip, and Karina couldn’t look away.
A car could be heard pulling up, and Damien finally released her from his gaze. He escorted her to the vehicle, and together they rode to the party that turned out to be at a house only a couple blocks away.
“We could’ve just walked here,” she whispered as they climbed the steps to a mansion almost as impressive as Damien’s.
“You don’t walk this neighborhood,” he whispered back.
“So I’ve heard,” she muttered.
An hour into the party, Karina began to wonder if maybe she would have been better off spending another evening alone at the house. The event was an engagement party for the hostess’ daughter, and everyone kept telling Damien how honored they were that he was able to attend. At least all the women did. He paid more attention to one well-wisher in the five minutes they chatted than he had to Karina her entire time in Miami so far.
A waiter walked by with a tray of champagne and she snagged one, trying to figure out why it bothered her so much. It didn’t help that Damien rarely introduced her. Only when someone asked did he introduce her simply as Karina Watson. Although to be honest, she didn’t know what he was supposed to call her. Date, maybe?
And then she arrived.
“Damien!” she gushed, holding her arms out as she approached him.
“Tabitha,” he said with a big smile as she embraced him.
Karina swapped her empty champagne glass for a fresh one as she watched Damien kiss her cheek.
“I didn’t realize you were back in town,” he said.
“Just flew in this morning. Can’t you tell by how jet-lagged I am?”
“I’d never guess,” he replied. “You look flawless as ever.”
“Oh, stop,” she laughed, giving him a gentle push on the chest.
Karina had to agree with Damien. Not a single golden hair on Tabitha’s blonde head was out of place, and her skin was
luminescent. It was disgusting.
Tabitha leaned in close to Damien and whispered something in his ear. He was looking right at Karina, but she could tell he wasn’t really seeing her. She looked down to see his hand on her waist and felt something twist inside of her. But then he threw his head back, laughing at whatever Tabitha had said, and the hand moved away.
It was too much. Karina set her champagne glass on a nearby table and walked up to Damien. Tabitha gave her only a brief glance. She knew that Karina wasn’t a threat.
“May I talk to you for a second?” Karina asked.
“Of course,” he said. “Tabitha, will you excuse us?”
“Don’t be long,” Tabitha said with a flip of her hair.
Karina fought the urge to gag as she led Damien to a quiet corner.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. And here was serious Damien again. Not the animated one who had been laughing with everyone else all night.
“Are you—are you sleeping with her?” she asked point blank.
“Tabitha? God no!”
“Why did you even ask me to come? I’m starting to feel like a third wheel.”
He placed a hand against the wall behind her and leaned in close.
“Are you jealous?” he asked quietly.
“What? No! That’s ridiculous.”
“Then what’s the problem here?”
“It’s just…it’s just that….” And then the words slipped out before she could even think about it. “I thought I was the one you wanted.”
A small, dangerous smile started to spread across his face, and Karina was sure he was going to kiss her. But then he stood, letting his arm drop back down to his side.
“We should head home,” he said. “I think I’ve had about enough of these people.”