OBTP

by U

her head around, and hurried into her room. She whirled around and

  stared at Rosa wide eyed. "What the hell am I gonna do?"

  "First of all, calm down, and second, what are you talking about?"

  Rosa leaned against the countertop, her slender armed draped across

  her stomach, her other hand lifting a glass of dark red wine to her lips.

  Paige thought, it's a bit early for drinking wine, but oh well, that's

  her life. Her moves looked effortless and so graceful. Paige had to

  shake her head to get her thoughts back on track. "Dalton is in my

  room." She started pacing and brought her hand to her mouth again,

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  but dropped it just as quickly. That's why she never got her nails

  done, because she always chewed the corners when she became

  agitated.

  "You should be happy to see him." Rosa told her, tipping the glass

  back until it was empty. Licking her lips, she turned and washed the

  glass out immediately.

  "If I hadn't just gotten out of bed with another man I would be!"

  She exclaimed a little too loudly.

  "Darling, don't worry about that. Things will be fine." Rosa made

  her way to the living room and lowered herself onto the sofa, patting

  the cushion next to her for Paige to sit down.

  She wanted to shake her head, to pull her hair out, to scream, to do

  something other than just sit down. She couldn't believe she had

  gotten herself into this and wondered how people cheated on their

  spouses then faced them. Then wondered how the hell Dalton had

  faced her after having slept with that woman for more than a year

  during his affair.

  She sank to the cushion and dropped her head back against the back

  of the sofa with a groan. "Yes, he cheated on you and you got past it.

  It lasted longer than it should have and it left scars on you, but you got

  over it. He will get over this."

  Rosa sounded so rational, wait a minute. Paige stared at her. How

  did she know what I was thinking? With a frown, she opened her

  mouth to ask, but clamped it shut when the dreams swam through her

  mind.

  Rosa stared back. "Just have to be patient. Things will work out.

  We are going out again tonight; you will get the answers you need

  tonight."

  "What the hell has gotten in to you? Can you read my mind or

  something? Did you become a psychic or a fortune teller without

  telling me? Rosa this is freaking me out! I have never cheated on

  Dalton until..." She couldn't even say his name out loud. Her hand

  waved towards her room and she covered her eyes with the other. "I

  can't do this and I can't go tonight."

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  "Yes you can, and you will. It's not up for debate and Dalton is

  already on board with going, so you can't stay in your room and pout."

  "How is Dalton on board with this? Did you already talk to him?"

  Then the realization hit her. "You knew he was here last night and

  you are the one who got him on base." Paige jumped up from the seat

  and stared down at Rosa with an accusing glare. "You knew he was

  coming and you did set me up with Casey."

  "Sit down Paige." Rosa's voice didn't raise, but Paige could feel the

  command there and she automatically sat, which was strange to her.

  This was all turning out to be one big cluster fuck and she didn't know

  how to deal with it. She hated not knowing how to handle a situation.

  Her life was ordinary, like clockwork and nothing unexpected ever

  happened to her. Not until going to that damned club and meeting

  Casey.

  Just then she heard the bedroom door open and jumped when

  Lamar came around the corner. Oh great, Rosa's husband was here

  too. "When did you get here?" Paige gasped when she realized that

  she had spoken loud enough for him to hear their conversation

  through the bedroom door. Her face flamed once again.

  "I flew in with Dalton yesterday." Lamar's white teeth flashed

  against his dark chocolate colored skin. Paige had always admired the

  rich darkness of his skin compared to smooth light milk chocolate of

  Rosa's. Against her Latino coloring, their skin blended perfectly when

  Rosa stood up and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and

  gave him a long, lingering kiss.

  Dalton hadn't mentioned Lamar being with him, but he really hadn't

  had time she supposed. If Rosa could be so nonchalant about banging

  her brains out on the very loveseat she and Lamar now leaned against,

  couldn't she relax and enjoy having her husband with her?

  Just then a knock sounded at the door. "The guys are going to run

  grab some lunch." Rosa told her and crooked her finger at Paige,

  motioning for her to follow her into the bedroom while Lamar headed

  to the door and down the hallway with Dalton.

  A stack of boxes lay on the bed and Rosa that damned secretive

  smile was on her face. The logo from the store they had visited the

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  day before was scrawled across the side and had the same little bows.

  There was an assortment of sizes. Paige narrowed her eyes in

  suspicion while Rosa passed the boxes to her.

  There was no way Rosa would talk her into going out again tonight.

  What if Casey showed up? How was she supposed to act then?

  Would there be a scene? Would this cause an incident and would she

  lose her job? Plopping down on the bed, her elbows on her knees she

  cradled her head, rocking back and forth slightly. She couldn't believe

  she was in this mess. She had actually been excited at the thought of

  Casey being back at her door and had been disappointed.

  She had never been disappointed to see her husband, especially

  after being separated for six months. Sniffling, she realized she

  needed to go take a shower. She was still in her robe and had not

  showered since making love with Casey the night before. Then the

  thought hit here that Dalton had showered in the same shower as her

  lover and oh damn! Standing with a panicked look on her face, she

  hurried towards the door. "I have to go."

  Running to the bathroom, she glanced at the trash can, realizing she

  hadn't done anything with the condom from the day before. It was

  gone. Sagging against the door, she remembered the maids had

  cleaned her room the evening before. She hurried into her room and

  threw the covers up. She could still smell the lingering scent of Casey

  on the pillows and sheets and groaned. There would be no reason for

  Dalton to check the bed, she hoped.

  She hoped like hell that Dalton hadn't noticed Casey's smell when

  he had kissed her. Jumping in the shower, she looked almost

  frantically around, snatched the bar of soap and scrubbed the smell of

  her guilt from skin. If only it were that easy to scrub her mind.

  Her skin was raw by the time she rinsed and grabbed the towel to

  dry off. Lifting her leg up to the side of tub she leaned over and

  noticed the bruises on her thighs. Her eyes darted to her hips and she

  cringed at what she saw. How the hell was she going to explain finger

  shape bruising like that? Then thought, it wasn't likely Dalton would

  see her naked anyway. They would go to bed, him
in his boxer shorts;

  her in the same old knee length night gown she usually wore. A few

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  minutes of watching television, he would turn over and go to sleep

  while she laid there wide eyed staring up at the ceiling until she fell

  asleep. Then since they had been apart for so long, about thirty

  minutes later when she was just dozing off, he would turn over and

  snuggle for a moment, poking her backside with his hard on.

  With the towel wrapped around her she shook her head and slipped

  into her room and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt over her

  underwear and bra. She was pulling on her tennis shoes when the

  door opened and Dalton sauntered into the room.

  "Perfect timing." He held the door open for her to proceed him out

  and over to Rosa's quarters where lunch waited.

  Sitting around the small table, Rosa and Lamar were snuggled up to

  one another, giving each other bites of food. Paige was envious of

  their closeness and wondered why Dalton couldn't be more

  affectionate, while trying to keep the thoughts of Casey far from her

  mind as possible. Just then Dalton's hand landed on her lower back

  when she leaned forward and took a bite. The unexpected caress

  caused her to choke on the fried rice she had inhaled.

  Teary eyed, she coughed up the offending rice and set her chop

  sticks down with a shake of her head. "Okay, I'm done." She

  whispered hoarsely, her voice cracking from the strain of coughing so

  hard, her throat throbbed.

  A glass of wine was placed in her hand and she thankfully took a

  big swig, and then coughed once more when the warm liquid slid

  down the back of her throat. It tasted strange, a slight coppery taste

  filled her mouth and she pushed the half empty glass away and

  glanced around. Everyone else was drinking just fine, so it had to be

  her. Maybe she was getting sick or something.

  "You ok Paige?" Dalton's hand lingered on her shoulder when she

  stood up.

  She nodded, not used to him touching her like this anymore. He

  wasn't demonstrative like he was when they first got married. They

  touched and hugged, but his hands never lingered on her like they did

  now. She felt weird knowing what had just happened with Casey.

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  Dalton was her husband and the remembered warmth of his touches

  was nice, kind of. She leaned into him. Reaching up on the tip of her

  toes, she kissed his jaw and whispered. "I missed you." And really

  she had, until two nights ago. But, Dalton was always at the back of

  her mind no matter how long they were apart and she did love him.

  What happened with Casey was never, ever going to happen again.

  And she resolved to herself that she could not tell Dalton and would

  make sure that Rosa nor Lamar, if he had heard, never breathed a

  word of it either.

  Smiling, she turned to see Rosa and Lamar staring at her. "You

  mentioned going out tonight?" Paige made sure her voice was light

  and sounded happy. She was ready to move on. She would have to

  battle her guilt internally and never let on.

  Rosa jumped up, grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the

  bedroom. "I was going to give this to you earlier." She raised her

  eyebrow, waiting for her to answer.

  Paige leaned close. "You can never tell Dalton." She told her,

  barely whispering. "And if Lamar heard."

  "Don't worry about Lamar." Rosa waved off her worries and

  motioned towards the bed. "These are all yours."

  "What?!?" Paige's eyes widened in surprise she stepped back, away

  from the bed. "I told you no!"

  "It appears I don't listen very well." She grinned and began

  gathering boxes, shoving them into Paige's arms; she picked up the

  rest and motioned for the door. Lamar offered to help, but Rosa told

  him to just get the doors so they can get into Paige's room.

  Paige's stared at the boxes that had been dumped on her bed. All

  the clothes she had tried on and then some were lying across open

  boxes. The dress that Rosa insisted she wore out that night was on top

  and she felt overwhelmed by it all.

  They had hours before it was time to get ready, so they all decided

  to go to the fair that had been set up outside the gate. Dalton held her

  hand while they walked through the isles, taking in the Japanese

  culture, checking out the vendors and their wares.

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  At one point, Paige stood back and stared at Dalton. His shoulders

  were broad. His waist a little thicker than it was when they first met,

  but he was still in pretty good shape for being forty four years old. He

  worked out every so often. She remembered the feel of his arms

  around her. She felt his warmth, but had never felt the safety in his

  arms like she did with Casey. Shaking her head, she had to stop

  thinking of that and move on. Later, if she happened to run into him,

  she would tell him it's over. He had promised that if she told him to

  leave and never come back he would respect her wishes. She just

  hoped like hell he meant what he said, and that she could survive

  having to break his heart.

  At that moment, Dalton turned around and smiled. Walking up to

  him she wrapped her arm around his waist. They walked over and

  watched a mini version of the Nagasaki Lantern Parade go through the

  main street. The brightly colored dragon bobbed up and down with

  the twenty to thirty people moving the poles up and down, side to

  side, imitated the slithering motion of a snake.

  Paige enjoyed the many different costumes worn by men, women

  and even children. Then suddenly, when she turned to look back

  towards the rear of the parade, a costumed figure had red eyes that

  alternated to black when he blinked, his face was painted white and

  fangs protruded out of his mouth. He was so close she nearly

  screamed when he made like he was going to lunge at her. Dalton

  laughed and put his arms around her when she ducked her head into

  his shoulder. She was shaking so hard she felt like she wanted to cry.

  The face was exactly what had been in her dreams, other than the

  figures being Rosa and Casey.

  "I think I'm ready to go." Paige turned away, her hand covering her

  mouth, her heart pounding.

  Dalton frowned down at her, but turned away from parade and led

  her away from the crowd, back towards the gate. Rosa and Lamar had

  wandered off and would meet them back in the rooms later.

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  CHAPTER SIX

  She already knew what to expect when they got back to her room.

  Dalton sat down with the remote in hand and flipped through the

  channels on the television. He found reruns of Family Guy, and

  settled in to watch. It didn't matter that he had seen the same one at

  least a dozen times,

  Paige heard him still chuckle while the cartooned played loudly.

  Shaking her head she grabbed her school book and began reading.

  But the words were a blur and she had to keep reading the same

  paragraph over and over again. Her mind kept wandering to the

  dreams and the vampire in the street today. She felt out of sorts, her


  mind running all her thoughts together. Casey's smiling face, the

  dimples, his broad shoulders and the way he held her kept playing

  over and over in her mind. Drawing a deep breath she sighed.

  "You okay?" Dalton asked without taking his eyes off the screen.

  "Yeah, just can't concentrate." She tossed the heavy book onto the

  table where it landed with a thud and she got up. There was nothing

  really for her to do in the room other than watch TV. Used to going

  along with what he wanted. Paige found herself falling back into the

  same old routine and couldn't help remember Casey's words. A ll you

  have to do is tell me what you want.

  What did she want? She couldn't complain about coming back to

  the room because she was the one who said she was ready to go. So

  she sat back on the couch with a resigned silent sigh.

  * * * *

  Finally, it was time to get ready for them to go out. Grabbing the

  cliché little black dress from the bed, Paige was surprised once again

  how well it fit since she had not tried this one on either. She would

  have never considered wearing anything that fit so snuggly, the

  corseted style top came together in the front and pushed her boobs up

  high. Looking down at herself she was afraid they were going to spill

  over, but looking in the mirror, there was just enough showing to be

  sexy. The corset actually pulled in her waist and gave her a nice

  curve. The skirt flared only slightly so she didn't look too hippy. She

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  actually felt sexy. She twisted her hair up into a tight knot at the base

  of her skull and slipped the earrings and necklace on that she had

  worn the night before. The heels were a little higher than the other

  ones. She stepped gingerly out into the living room.

  Dalton looked up from pulling his boots on, his eyes raking her up

  her body and she actually felt like a piece of meat. She was a little

  disappointed when all he said was "Nice."

  What had she expected? He was the same old Dalton. Just because

  she was resolved to make this work didn't mean he was going to be

  any different. Her shoulders drooped a bit and she followed him out

  the door to meet with Rosa and Lamar down in the lobby. She