by Audrey Dacey
“Hey,” she called after like she didn’t care that much, but she shivered a bit to try to suppress the prickles that were dancing across her skin. It was okay to love him, but she had learned quickly that acting liked she cared was not okay.
“Were you waiting long?” He eyes scanned the room carefully before his gaze settled on her.
“Nah. Practically forgot you were coming. I was just listening to some music.” She shrugged and turned away.
Riley slowly led him to the great room as he continued to examine the walls, furniture, and paintings like they were encrusted with diamonds. “This is a nice house.”
“It’s alright. You should have seen the one I grew up in. It was epic.”
“Better than this?” he asked, placing a hand on the small of her back.
Riley felt the warmth of his hand through her thin tank top and kept herself from shuddering this time. “Way better. It was at least three times bigger, and it had a pool. This place only has a gross pond in the back.”
“Oh my God,” he said without exclamation, “I just realized something.”
“What?” Riley asked, hoping this wasn’t the moment she had been dreading since their first date. She was sure he was going to say they were all wrong for each other and he needed someone more mature and sophisticated.
This was unbelievable. Riley was sure she couldn’t live without Jimmy. He was her everything. Life had sucked until he showed up her last day at school. Sure, it hadn’t been long, but after their first date, she knew they were meant to be together.
But Jimmy did something completely unexpected. He dropped to one knee.
“I don’t have a ring or anything because I just realized you are my other half. The ying to my yang. The flower to my pollen. And I was wondering if you would marry me?”
Riley took a step backward to prevent herself from falling. “Seriously?”
“I would never joke about something like that. Please marry me.”
For the first time she could remember, Riley felt happy. It spread like warm syrup through her body, and she couldn’t fight the smile that was pulling at the corners of her lips.
“Of course I’ll marry you.” She dropped to her knees, wrapped her arms around Jimmy’s neck, and kissed him hard.
§
When Alexis arrived home, she saw a familiar package on her doorstep. Richard had left her flowers again. She walked out of the garage, and as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse, grabbed them off the front porch.
“Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. How may I direct your call?”
Alexis took a deep breath and tried not to scream at the woman on the other end of the line. “I need to file a report.”
“Is it an emergency?”
Alexis looked at the flowers and sighed. “No.”
“One moment please.”
The Muzak clicked on. One moment my ass. She’d be lucky to talk to someone in the next twenty minutes.
She read the card. “Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, /Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart.” This time it was Shakespeare doing the talking. Poor Caesar, Alexis thought sardonically, he never did anything wrong.
Time to make some mulch.
The second Alexis opened the door to the house, she knew something was wrong. The lights were too dim, and it smelt strange—a sickly combination of heavy musk and sweat. She set the flowers down on a coffee table. She looked at her cell phone and began punching numbers hoping to get the operator back on the line, but the God-awful music continued. If that idiot was in her house, she was going to have him hauled out in handcuffs, and not the fuzzy kind. If she was raped while on the hold with the Sheriff’s Office, she was going to have somebody’s job and a whole lot more money to donate to the charity of her choice.
Rummaging through her large purse, her hand found the cool plastic of her pink Taser. She pulled it out and pulled back the safety, turning on the laser and the LED. It was illegal for her to have it and a pain to have delivered, but it was turning out to be a very wise investment. She only hoped he would give her an excuse to use it. It would make her night. $1000 fine be damned.
She looked down to untangle her heels from a pair of jeans that were on the hallway floor.
“Hello?” she called when she reached the end of the hallway. Soft music played in the background. So soft that she couldn’t discern what was being sung or who was singing it.
“Sheriff’s Office. This is…” a voice came over the speaker of Alexis’s cell phone.
Alexis lifted it to her ear, “Hold on. I think there’s someone in my house.”
“Ma’am. Do you need me…” Alexis let her hand drop to her side as she slowly entered the room.
Alexis ran to the light switch and turned on as many lights as she could from that spot. A shrill scream echoed through the living room, and two heads appeared over the back of the love seat quickly followed by the nude body of a young man, who was probably in his early twenties.
“Ma’am. Ma’am. Are you okay?”
Alexis lifted the phone to her ear again. “I’m fine.” Alexis pointed her stun gun at the figure, who was now covering himself with a throw pillow she’d have to replace. Tomorrow.
“Who are you? Why are you naked in my house?”
The other head turned around revealing a sexed up Riley. Her hair was parted in every direction, her face was red, lips were swollen, and she had the dark red beginnings of hickeys on her neck.
“You ruin everything!” she shrieked.
At least Alexis didn’t ruin a perfectly good loveseat and throw pillows. Among other things. She’d have to replace the whole room; the ick-factor was just too high. Maybe Riley was more like Alexis than she thought. Maybe Alexis was more like Caitlyn than she thought.
“I’m sorry. Officer, but my sister was having sex on my couch, and I thought my stalker was in my house. If it’s any consolation to you—because I know it is to me—I’ve ruined everything. Would you please put me on hold again, so that I can sort this before I file my report?”
The line was silent for a moment before the officer cleared his throat, “Um… Sure.”
Click.
Muzak.
“Who is he?” Alexis waved the stun gun at the pillow-clad man.
The young man with short, spiky blue-black hair and a smile held the pillow with one hand and reached his other out. He moved forward a bit, shuffling along the wood floor like a penguin. “Hi, I’m Jimmy Black.”
Alexis lowered the Taser, but there was no way she was going to shake his hand.
“Jimmy, I’m going to go upstairs, put my stuff down, and file a police report. I’ll be at least ten minutes. I recommend you take that time to get dressed and wash your hands. I recognize you could probably do a lot with ten minutes, but there’s a chance I’ll interrupt you again. And do we really want that?”
Jimmy shook his head slowly but didn’t say anything.
With that she turned around and headed up the stairs quickly.
Ew.
Alexis shuddered. That was something she never dreamed would happen, yet there it was. She walked in on her sister having sex. Alexis only wished that Riley had the sense to do it some place where she wouldn’t catch her, or at least where she wouldn’t have to burn a living room set.
Alexis walked into her large closet to kick off her shoes, and when she found herself dancing to the Muzak version of the Backstreet Boys’ “Quit Playin’ Games with My Heart,” she scolded herself aloud for several reasons.
An officer picked up the line again, and she made her report. It was quick, they didn’t have a reason to come by the house, and it was over in a couple minutes.
She could hear frustrated murmurs at the bottom of the stairs as she slipped out of her shoes. Riley wasn’t whispering very effectively but at least she wasn’t moaning. Alexis was happy they were fighting; this way she knew they weren’t trying to sneak anything in. Even though she threatened to interrupt again,
she really wanted to wait for some sign that they weren’t having sex before she descended the stairs.
Alexis didn't feel like talking to Riley about this. She downright didn't want to, but for the sake of her furniture, she had to say something about decency and respect of other people's homes.
She had planned on coming home, taking a bath in her deep soaking tub, and then crawling into bed with a book or some trashy reality television. The last thing she wanted was to give her sister a sex talk. Had she ever given her the sex talk? Was it something Alexis should have done? A deep concern that felt like nausea settled in Alexis's stomach. Surely, Riley would have had a health class that covered this by now. Her reasoning didn’t settle her stomach, and she couldn't help but wonder if she promoted this with her own promiscuous behavior.
The idea that Alexis shouldn’t have sex, at least too much sex, while Riley was around wasn't always a hard fast rule. Too many nights she had been asked by the young girl, “Where have you been?” while Alexis smoothed her hair and clothing to make it look like she didn't just have sex with a guy she picked up at a local bar.
Alexis wasn't ashamed. She just didn't want her sister to know about it. Riley didn't need to know.
As Alexis began walking back toward the stairs, she heard the front door slam. Jimmy decided not to stick around. Nice guy.
She trudged down the stairs. This was going to be the first conversation that Riley and Alexis would have in several days that went beyond, “where's the peanut butter?” and it wasn’t promising to be fun.
Riley stood at the bottom of the stairs looking at the front door. When she heard Alexis's footsteps, she turned to glare at her with tears in her eyes. “You’re such a bitch,” she said with poison in her voice. “Don't you have any respect for privacy?”
Yup. This was going to go well.
“I have respect for privacy. If you did, you wouldn't be having sex on my loveseat. You would have made it to your bedroom.”
Alexis was proud of herself. She managed to retain a calm tone as she finished descending the stairs.
“You’re out to ruin my life.”
They now stood face-to-face at the bottom of the stairs. Alexis felt a little intimidated. Her sister was built exactly like her but was two inches taller. Usually, Alexis wore high heels and Riley wore flip-flops, which evened them out, but when they were barefoot—like they were now—Alexis could feel any sense of authority she had being swept away.
“I promise that I am not out to ruin your life,” Alexis replied. “You’re almost eighteen, and after that, you can do whatever you want.” She crossed her arms under her breasts. “Except have sex on my loveseat. That you cannot do. It's rude.”
Alexis was tired and hoped that this could be the end of the conversation. Anything further about the birds and the bees seemed suddenly unnecessary. Her sister obviously had the basics down.
Riley, however, wasn't quite ready to quit sparring. “It's rude to walk in on someone doing that. You completely embarrassed me, and you chased Jimmy away. I'll be lucky if he ever calls me again.”
“Wait. What? Are you out of your mind?” Alexis shook her head and took a step closer to Riley. “Who is Jimmy anyway? I thought he went to your school, but he's too old to go to your school. Where did you meet him?” Alexis questioned, suddenly stern in her approach.
“That's none of your business!” Riley threw it back in her face with a violence that Alexis hadn’t encountered in a couple of years, and Alexis stepped back a bit with the force of her sister’s words.
“How old is he? Twenty? Twenty-one?”
“He's twenty-two,” Riley stated with an air of confidence, like she was special because she could snag a guy that was twenty-two.
“What he's doing is illegal, you know? I could have him thrown in jail for what I just saw.” Alexis was beginning to feel her authority come back. In some ways, she was glad Jimmy was twenty-two.
Riley turned white and tears began welling in her bottom lids. “You wouldn't,” she whispered.
“If I catch his naked ass on my furniture again, you bet I would. Take my advice. Keep it where it belongs. In the privacy of your own space.” Alexis began strolling up the stairs. She didn't care if Riley wasn't done. She was.
Riley screeched, and Alexis stopped and turned to look down at her red-faced sister.
“You can't do that! He didn't do anything wrong! I gave him permission! I love him and he loves me!” Riley wailed and then stomped down the hallway. Alexis continued her climb up the staircase, which was suddenly long and arduous.
Alexis hated threatening her sister. She probably wouldn't do anything about Jimmy. He was a jerk who wouldn't stick around in the end, so there wasn't much to worry about except Riley's broken heart, which was something a girl had to learn how to heal on her own.
Unless she wasn't safe. Alexis prayed, which was something she didn't do very often, that Riley was being safe with Jimmy. “Love” tended to make people reckless.
Alexis may have had a lot of men, but she was always very careful—from the initial meeting to the climax. Alexis always brought a safety net. She went places where someone she knew was going to be, and if she left with a guy, someone knew where she was going and who she was going with. She always carried condoms, and she always protected herself. She took birth control regularly like it was life or death because that's how a surprise pregnancy would be—like death.
She'd often start off her initial escapade with a guy in the shower like she did with Ryan. It was sexy, guys loved it, she got to clean everything up, and she got a good look at what was going on down there while she still had a chance to bail. If she should have told her sister something about having sex with a guy, it was that.
Alexis reached her room, shut and locked her door, and walked over to her bathtub. It was time to get her plans back on track, and those plans definitely needed to be kicked off with something relaxing. She ran warm water and added lavender oil that promised to help her sleep. She unhooked her pants and slid them down her legs into a pile on the floor. Stepping out of them, she pulled her shirt over her head. She folded both pieces before placing them in the laundry bag she would take to the dry cleaners on Tuesday. Then she removed her lacy red bra and matching panties and put them in a separate bag that held her delicates.
First testing the water with a toe, Alexis slipped into the pool of water and almost immediately felt relaxed. The jets around the bottom of the tub splashed bubbles up around her neck and occasionally onto the white and cream tile surrounding the tub.
Tomorrow was going to be a different brand of hell. She needed to get away from this house and her sister. Alexis contemplated for a while where she could go to escape her reality. She could visit her aunt and raise some hell at the police station, but she needed less stress in her life, not more.
She could board a plane to Atlantic City and spend the weekend, but debauchery didn’t have much appeal to her right now.
She could go furniture shopping, which would usually be fun, but that would only be a constant reminder of today’s events.
The house on the Cape. It was on a beach. It was isolated. It would be perfect. Riley could watch the dog for one day, and Alexis could leave the back door open enough for him to go through if she couldn’t.
The beach house was the only property of her parents that she didn’t sell. She had intended to use it more often, but Alexis had a pretty relaxed existence, and she often forgot it was there.
She wished that Caitlyn was around so that she could talk her into going along. Alexis needed someone who would let her spill her guts. Caitlyn was sensible and had experience with teenagers. She could also give her the goods on Ryan, past and present. She wondered what he was doing in that house all alone, especially this weekend…
“That jerk!” she shouted aloud. Tomorrow was Saturday. No construction crew was going to the house. He had ditched her. She laid out all of her cards, and he ran off.
Alex
is climbed out of the tub and wrapped a long cream-colored Egyptian cotton towel around herself, and nearly ran to her cell phone. She didn't know his number, but she knew Caitlyn’s home number and that would suit her just fine.
The phone rang several times, before the answering machine picked up. “Hi, you've reached…” she stopped listening for anything except the beep.
When it came, she shouted into the receiver, “Ryan, pick up the phone!” There was a silence. “Pick up the phone, or I will come over there and pull your ass out of bed. Locking the doors will do you no good because…”
“Alexis?” he interrupted her ranting. “What do you want?”
“First, your crappy social skills extend to the phone. Second, you lied to me. You don't have to work tomorrow.”
“True…” he began, but she didn't let him finish.
“Why'd you book it after I told you my life story?”
“To be fair, at the time I thought I did have to work tomorrow. Besides that, I figured I better get out of there before I said something stupid. Something that led you to believe that I wanted a relationship. I didn’t want you to freak out again.” He yawned into the receiver.
Alexis contemplated his excuses for a moment, and after only a little consideration, she found them completely believable. It's not like she had a great track record when reacting to anything she thought could be considered relationship talk or behavior.
The towel started to slip down her breasts, and she caught it before sitting on the side of her bed. She didn’t know what to say because she had called to chew him out. And now she couldn’t really do that. As much as she wanted to yell at somebody, he shouldn’t be the one on the receiving end.
“I want to meet again,” she said unexpectedly, breaking the silence. “If I'm going to dish all my secrets to you, I want to know something about you. Something juicy.”
“You don't think it's a bad idea? It’s the basis for your philosophy after all, and you did say…”
“Whatever I said, I take it back. You’re the closest thing I have to a friend, and I need to spend some time unwinding with someone. So what do you say?”