Marbella Nights

by Camille Oster

  Seeking lips that felt so necessary and familiar, he kissed her deeply as he gently moved inside her.

  No, this wasn’t right. They belonged together. There had to be a way. How could he part with her, with this? “Adelaide,” he said, his voice searching.

  “Hush,” she said. “It will be alright.”

  Would it? A lump was forming in the back of his throat. This couldn’t be right. In the morning, he would make her stay. They belonged together—make for each other. “We can’t—”

  A kiss broke him off and his thoughts dissipated in the sweetness. Nestled in her thighs, his mind flooded again with pleasure as he moved in and out of her, unable to imagine that they could ever be anything other than joined like this.

  Bright light flooded the room, reflections of the water feature outside his room playing on the ceiling. They had left the curtains open last night, fucking in the moonlight. Adelaide’s head was on his chest and her hand across his shoulder.

  He felt drained in every respect—not just physically. And he was exhausted. Dawn had started cresting by the time they fell asleep and now the sun assaulted his eyes.

  Adelaide stirred. They would part today. Last night he’d had moments of sheer panic, where he’d refused to let this happen, but it needed to happen. She was right. They didn’t fit. These things did matter and their differences would only grow until they were both resentful.

  Waking, she shifted her head and kissed his cheek. He shifted his head until their lips met, the taste of her flooding his mind, yet again. Then she pulled away. “Will you drive me home?” Completely naked, she stepped out of the bed and looked around for her dress.

  His body refused to move for a moment, but it was time. He knew it was time. Getting up, he walked over to his wardrobe and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Adelaide went into his bathroom and closed the door. Not knowing what to do, he pulled his hands through his hair, smelling her on every part of him.

  A shower would have to wait until he got back and he stood against the wall, waiting for her to emerge. She’d managed to comb her hair when she got out, wearing last night’s dress.

  Her hand stroked across his stomach as she walked past him, out of his room towards the door. He joined her as she stood waiting for him to join her.

  “You want breakfast or something?” he asked.

  “Truthfully, I’m not sure I can eat just now.” She did look a bit worse for wear, her lips swollen with endless kissing. She looked beautiful, but there was no doubt she had been thoroughly fucked last night, probably sore, too. “You look stunning.”

  “I’m a total mess.”

  “Hot mess,” he teased and she smiled. As he opened his arms, she stepped into him, pressing her body to his. Taking a deep breath, he held her tight. “You sure you want to do this?”

  It took a moment, but he felt her nod against his shoulder. “I am never going to regret knowing you.”

  Pulling back slightly, he ran his thumbs down her cheeks and leaned down to kiss her. “Me neither.” And then it was time to go and he refused to turn into a sap at this point. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 47

  They sat further down José’s bar, where there was an old set of cane couches. Trish sat with her knee tucked under her chin, her bare foot on the couch, while Adelaide had her black jeans-covered legs folded up underneath her. The waves of the ocean sang in the darkness outside the predominantly open platform that was José’s bar.

  “I texted Hannah and told her we were here,” Trish said, checking her phone for a reply, but there was nothing.

  “I kind of miss them a bit, but saying that, it’s really nice to have our own place.”

  “Truthfully, I was a bit worried that with Quentin, I’d never see you.”

  “Not a problem now,” Adelaide said with a swig of her bottle. Trish could tell that Adelaide was still cut up about the end of the relationship, but better now before things got really involved and complicated, full of feelings. Ending it was the smart thing to do and Trish admired Adelaide for her guts and strength.

  “Has he been in touch?”

  “Nope.”

  Trish suspected that she should change the subject. It did no one good to dwell on it. “Here’s to being footloose and fancy free,” she said, holding the neck of her beer out and Adelaide brought hers up for the toast. “What do you think about doing Scandinavia?” It had been a while since they had actually gone somewhere, and it was the reason why they had come to Europe. “I hear there’s wicked awesome snowboarding.”

  “Wicked awesome, huh? That must be extra cool,” Adelaide said. “It’s been ages since I’ve been on the snow.”

  “There are closer mountains, but the season lasts longer in Scandinavia.” They could even consider moving on from Marbella, but they’d just gotten their place and Trish was kind of keen on having a place of their own, being a bit more grown up, even if they had no furniture other than their two beds. “Or we could do a short trip down Italy.”

  “That would be cool, too.”

  “We should definitely plan a trip.” Trish looked over to the other end of the bar where a commotion signified new arrivals. “Crap. Chrissy is here.” Trish saw Hannah walk up behind Chrissy and wave to them before heading to the bar.

  “Hey, bitches,” Chrissy said, walking over. “See you’ve been hitting it already.”

  “Sure have,” Trish said, holding up her beer with a tight and fake smile. Whatever shot Chrissy was trying, it didn’t hit its mark.

  “How’s the new flat?”

  “Good.”

  “I hear it’s tiny.” Obviously Hannah had been blabbing.

  “There’s only two of us,” Adelaide said. “So it suits us well.”

  “We’ve got a new girl moving in already.”

  “Good for you,” Trish said, wondering if she was supposed to be hurt by that. “That’s great. I guess your worries about rent are sorted now.”

  Chrissy made a little agreeing noise then turned back towards the group that was growing by the minute. And worse was that Trish saw Cory’s ugly mug appear up the steps. “Double crap.”

  “Just be cool,” Adelaide said.

  “Should we leave?”

  “And have him chase us away. Stuff him.”

  “You’re right. Do you want another beer?”

  “I might wait until the bar clears a bit.”

  Hannah came over. “You should come over and join us,” she said.

  “Kind of awkward at the moment.”

  “You mean Cory?”

  “More Chrissy actually. She’s still in uber bitch mode.”

  “She doesn’t mean anything by it.” Hannah was a little clueless at times, always seeing the best possible reason for why someone did something.

  “Maybe later,” Adelaide said. Hannah returned to the group. Their group was definitely fractured now and she and Adelaide were the splinter group, which created awkwardness all round.

  Amber came over, sat down and placed her drink on the low coffee table. “Hey,” she said.

  “I see everyone came tonight,” Trish said.

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” Amber said, looking sheepish.

  Trish looked over and saw Cory sitting by Lachlan, his arms crossed and smiling. She kind of wanted to leave, but it would be completely obvious that they were leaving because the others arrived, chased away.

  “I’ll get some drinks,” Adelaide said, standing and making her way to the bar.

  “How is she?” Amber asked.

  “Good,” Trish said. “Getting over it.”

  “It wasn’t like it was an established relationship or anything.”

  “No.”

  “I feel like I’ve hardly seen you this week.”

  “No, I guess it’s been a super busy week.”

  “How about we do breakfast tomorrow? Down at the shops?” There was a Spanish café in their neighbourhood where they sometimes ate breakfast.

  “
Sounds good,” Trish said, hoping Chrissy wouldn’t come, but then really, she didn’t care. Chrissy could be a snippy little cow, but it wasn’t like her barbs ever really hit home. It was more an issue of her actually being bitchy that was a surprise, but that was old news now. “You guys heading into town later?”

  “Yes, you want to come?”

  They had definitely not planned on heading into town, sitting here dressed in jeans and t-shirts.

  “Go where?” Adelaide said as she returned with new drinks.

  “They’re going into town,” Trish filled in.

  “Not for me,” Adelaide said and Trish was relieved. It was cowardly to run because an ex showed up unexpectedly, but it was okay to choose to not follow wherever they were heading.

  “I think we’re just going to head home,” Trish said.

  Amber looked between the two of them. “It’s just shit that we can’t all hang out anymore.”

  “We never really hung with those guys before.” Their group just seemed to merge with Nathan and his boys, and the whole Cory thing made that impossible.

  “I know, but … They’re okay guys, and I know you had that thing with Cory, but it’s over now.”

  Trish bit her teeth together. Was Amber just telling her to get over it? Should she just forget it and get over it? It sat like an incendiary in her mind whenever she thought of Cory.

  “We’ve just had a really long day,” Adelaide said, “and are completely not up for going out tonight.”

  “You should come over here and say ‘hi’ anyway, instead of sitting like a couple of creepers in the corner.”

  They really had to go over now. Amber had more or less called them out, and refusing now would be more or less an admission that they were freaked out and not coping.

  “Yeah, in a minute. Once we finish these drinks,” Trish said with a smile, feeling trapped into going over there.

  “Cool,” Amber said and got up. “I’m so ordering a burger.”

  “You want to order a burger and then leave?” Adelaide asked.

  “Sounds good.”

  Standing, they walked to the bar and ordered a burger each, paying for it in cash and then slowly walking towards the group who were sitting along one of the long tables. Chrissy on one end, Cory on the other. Trish headed straight for the middle, asking Hannah to move over.

  “Girls,” Dion said. “Good you could join us. Better than sitting on your own down the other end of the bar.”

  “Just having a quiet drink,” Trish said. She felt Cory’s eyes on her. Why did she have to be so damned aware of him? It must make everything awkward.

  “We’re going into town,” Dion continued. “Come.”

  “Not tonight,” Trish said. “We only came down for a quick drink. Got a lot to do with the new digs.”

  “I heard you two branched out on your own. Nice place?”

  “Yeah. Got a view over a golf course.”

  “Nice.”

  “How’s everything with you?”

  “Good.”

  They chatted about nothing for a while, and Adelaide mentioned their thoughts on doing Scandinavia.

  “Went last year,” Lachlan said. “Awesome, but expensive. Got to have a bit of moolah behind you.”

  Their burgers came and Trish salted her chips. Her belly rumbled with hunger as she grabbed the burger and took a bite, the juice dripping onto the plate.

  The evening passed around her as she finished her meal. Adelaide had already finished, talking to Dion about snowboarding gear. He apparently had a board they could borrow. “Cory has one, too,” he said.

  “You can borrow it if you want,” Cory said. Apparently he’d been listening into the conversation.

  “Cool,” Adelaide responded.

  Trish almost choked on the last bit of her burger. The last thing she wanted was to spend a holiday on the board Cory lent her. But then she couldn’t afford to buy a board of her own and saying no would be, again, an admission of awkwardness, irrational rejection of a clear favour. “Yeah, that’s cool, Cory,” she said trying to sound chill.

  “No probs.”

  “Alright, we’re taking off,” Lachlan said and stood. The other followed and it was clearly time to go.

  The carpark was dark and the group moved towards the cars at the back. Chrissy walked with Nathan, their arms around each other, towards his car. They were obviously driving into town.

  “Sure you’re not going to come?”

  “Naw, not in the mood tonight,” Trish said. “We’re gonna go home.”

  “I can drive you home, if you want,” Cory said, and Trish blinked at the unexpected offer. She didn’t get why he was offering in the first place. A ride in his new toy-boy car, yeay.

  “Thanks for the offer, but we really should burn these burgers off.”

  “Sure?”

  “Yeah,” she said without hesitation. Did he seriously think she would accept a ride home from him?

  “Alright then,” Lachlan said, doing lame firing motions with his forefingers. They moved over, splitting between Nathan and Cory’s cars and getting in, ripping out of the carpark as she and Adelaide stepped out of the way.

  “What the fuck was that?” Trish asked.

  “Did he just ask to drive you home?”

  “Us,” Trish stretched. “Maybe he’s just trying to be a decent guy.”

  “Which we both know he’s not. And maybe he’s trying to hit on you.”

  Trish groaned. This would be a nightmare if Cory didn’t realise that there was never going to be anything between them again. Was he so deluded that he thought she wouldn’t mind him dumping her for some rich bitch, on top of screwing his clients. “The guy is bent.”

  “Sure doesn’t give up, does he?” Adelaide said.

  Trish wrapped her arms around herself as they walked up the road towards their neighbourhood. It would take them twenty minutes to walk home, but better than sitting in Cory’s toymobile. What the hell did he want? Why would he offer to drive her home?

  Chapter 48

  On razor sharp Jimmy Choo’s, Cheyenne walked up the steps to Shine. Her baron was out of town and she couldn’t handle sitting around in her apartment. The shoot scheduled for her had fallen through, the designer instead choosing this quasi celebrity teen from LA. Cheyenne had bit down hard on her teeth to stop herself from raging at her agent. Taking these things with decorum actually made a difference. Diva’s dropped off the scene pretty quickly, even if Cheyenne did deserve a tantrum or two. She had lasting power in this business and it didn’t matter if some flash in the pan sixteen-year old from LA stole one of her jobs.

  Actually, she was fucking furious, but she hid it all under her slightly bored tone. “Good, that frees my schedule,” she’d said, like she didn’t care at all, but she’d paced the apartment for an hour, fuming at how someone could choose some snotty kid over a class act like her. That was the problem these days: no one cared about quality. It was all celebrity, deserved or not. Quality had completely gone out the window. And most celebs were in the spotlight because they were the children of some other snotty celebs. What had the world become?

  She couldn’t stay home anymore, had to get out, get a distraction from all this crap she was dealing with. No one understood the pressure of it all. Alexi was a total arse. She had completely shut him out, deleted his number from her phone. It was time to move on anyway. A baron was so much better than some thug oligarch. That could only end badly, couldn’t it? At some point, he’d end up in jail with his other cronies. Although that might not necessarily be a bad thing to his girlfriend.

  It didn’t matter; she had the baron now and he was solidly wrapped around her finger, if a little boring. Now that he was away, it was time to cut loose a little.

  The music was sexy and pumping when she got inside. There was always adoration to be had on the dance floor. Whatever happened in her life, there was always someone willing to worship her in a place like this—guys who couldn’t believe
their luck.

  It only took a glance and she had a drink in her hand. “Ta,” she said and smiled, moving further into the club.

  And what did she see, but Alexi’s little stewardess whore dancing her little heart out on one of the podiums. Cheyenne laughed. Obviously she’d heard that Quentin had dumped the little slag. True nature always shines through, Cheyenne thought with a smile, placing her half-drunk martini down on the nearest table.

  Striding over, she looked up at the dancing girl who faltered. Damned right, Cheyenne thought. “So here you are, finding your true place, sucking off tourists for a couple of Euros,” Cheyenne spat. “It was inevitable though, wasn’t it? Trash like you always sinks to the bottom.”

  The girl didn’t say anything. After faltering for a moment she just kept dancing. “That’s right,” Cheyenne continued, “Delude yourself into thinking you don’t know. You’re utter shit and Quentin Cartright might have been amusing himself in the slums for a tick, but no one wants to be around that shit; it sticks.”

  “Cheyenne,” a man said. She turned to see Jesus, standing in his typical dark jeans and black waistcoat.

  “You hired this little whore?” she said, pointing accusingly at the girl, who had finally stopped dancing. “I didn’t know you ran pros these days. She spreading her legs for you, too? I can’t believe you’re stupid enough to fall for it, Jesus.”

  “I think you should leave,” he said harshly. “You’ve had too much to drink.”

  “I’m completely sober,” she said, disbelievingly. “Or maybe that’s what you want, slags that give your customers that happy ending experience.”

  “Just leave, Cheyenne,” he said, looking behind her as if seeking security.

  Cheyenne couldn’t believe her ears. “You’re defending the little slut? Why are you defending someone like her? What is it exactly she does so everyone defends her?” Cheyenne was screaming now and the people around had stopped dancing and where just staring. “She’d nothing but a whore.”

  “Madam,” a bouncer said.