by Unknown
Carlton shrugged and made himself comfortable in the family room while several maids cleared out Kinsley’s personal belongings and staged them on the front lawn. I would have thought the bitch would’ve heard the noise and come out to discover our outing, but the office mahogany doors on the left side of the towering foyer remained closed. It was nearly an hour before nineteen suitcases stood in a line along the side of the brick walkway that led to the front doors of the Michaud Manor.
During our preparation time I learned that it had actually been known as Michaud Hall since the 1800’s. I wandered around the main floor with Missy as she pointed out notable historic details in each room. When Chayton announced that all of Mrs. Michaud’s belongings had been vacated, Missy headed outside to join the staff for the festivities. All in all, she was delighted to participate in such a Southern tradition; she was practically bubbling with giddiness. I was beginning to doubt my suggestion though. I didn’t know anything about Kinsley Michaud. For all I know, she could be sitting there at Carlton’s Dad’s desk holding a loaded weapon… waiting for us.
Carlton turned the brass handles on the ceiling height doors and stepped inside. I heard him speak from behind as I followed him inside his father’s former sanctuary. “Good afternoon, Kinsley,” he said dryly.
Then I saw her. Waist length blondish brown curls flowed around her face and framed her precariously covered breasts perfectly. Her eyes were the deep green of the hills outside the house, and her body was tightly clad in red silk. It would seem that traditional black for a woman in mourning has escaped her sensibilities. I frowned at the sight of her; perfect people worry me, and they’re always hiding something bigger and more profound beneath all that perfection. Kinsley looked up from the burgundy leather chair behind the car sized desk; in front of her was a pile of discarded papers. “I wondered when you’d get here, Carlton dear. Clearly exile has benefitted you.” Her eyes scoured him from head to toe in a way that didn’t seem motherly to me. “I see you’ve brought me a toy,” she said, her eyes running up and down my body scathingly. Her visual assault caught me off guard… what the hell was she talking about?
“Kinsley Reynolds, this is my girlfriend Elizabeth Martin. She is not your fucking toy. You would be well advised not to speak to her at all for risk of losing your vocal chords altogether. Now, let’s get down to business. I see you’ve been searching high and low for father’s will?” Carlton’s tone was ice cold as he scanned the room with dark eyes. Every solid surface was covered in random papers.
The perfect woman stood and walked around the desk, displaying six inch spiked heels in solid black, matching black stockings seemed to run forever up her calves and thighs. Well at least she was wearing black in some form… My skin prickled with… jealousy? Why would I possibly feel jealous over Carlton’s step-mother? It was the way she was gleaming at him like he was a piece of juicy roast covered in gravy that was causing the steam to rise in my veins.
She chuckled menacingly as she neared Carlton, and I felt him step back towards me as she closed in. For a moment I’d have sworn he was afraid of her! “Now, now Carlton, there’s no need to threaten me. I simply imagined you brought her here for us… now that your father’s gone, that is. I’d hoped we could resume our playtime?”
What the hell? Oh fuck! For the first time in my life I was speechless. She wandered around Carlton and stood less than two feet from me, inspecting me like a drill sergeant. Her fingers reached upwards to touch the texture of my frazzled curls. Like a bolt of lightning Carlton’s hand grabbed hers by the wrist. “Keep your hands to yourself, Kinsley. I’m warning you.”
“Oohh…” she purred like a jaguar on the kill. “Has my sweet, innocent sub found himself a lover? How quaint!” Her eyes narrowed on me, “Just remember little girl, every time he slides that ball gag between your teeth… every time he sticks his hard cock inside you… that I was there first. I taught him everything he knows.” She smirked with sickening profanity.
My blood had boiled to its hilt, and now I was ready to whistle. I laughed heartily, “Well that certainly explains a great deal! Miss Reynolds, your belongings are outside on the front walk. The Michaud family thanks you for your service to their father, and now begs your gracious departure.”
Carlton’s face glued to mine with what appeared to be admiration. Kinsley snickered. “Gracious departure?” she laughed eerily. “Who the fuck do you think you are coming in my house telling me to leave?”
“I’m Carlton’s attorney,” I reached over and snatched the thick will from his hand and waved it in the air between us, “and this document is legal in the United Kingdom. It clearly states that you are to immediately vacate the premises.”
Carlton cleared his throat as Kinsley’s eye’s bored into the papers in my hand, “Kinsley, it’s true. Now I’ve granted provisions for you, but there are also stipulations. For instance, if you give me any shit, then I’m not required to bequeath the London apartment to you. I’ve always liked that apartment…” His tone wasn’t threatening, but firm and undeniable.
Kinsley stared at him with disbelief; I would swear I saw her bottom lip quiver. “You can’t do this to me! I put up with that old fart, sucked his ancient prick for all these years…”
Carlton laughed now, “I’m not going to deny I’m enjoying the hell out of this. I’m also breathing a huge sigh of relief knowing that I barely escaped your devastation myself. But do tell me Kins, where did Dad really die? Because I know it wasn’t asleep in his bed during the night. Was he chained to one of your torture devices in the basement? Perhaps wearing some stupid ball gag so he couldn’t scream a safe word? Did you continue playing with him after he was dead?”
Kinsley’s hands went to her face in mocked shock, “Oh my! Such incredible accusations coming from the lover who never required a safe word! If I remember right, you liked it hard and brutal!” Her face turned to me with an evil grin, “Certainly you know how he likes to be whipped, my dear Elizabeth? How he likes to have his precious prick pulled tight? How about how he squirms when you put those pins on his balls? Oh yes, he adores that doesn’t he? I tell you the truth, I had to be creative when domming our precious Carlton here,” her words spat from her red painted lips with fury.
My mouth opened to respond, but Carlton’s hand on my arm squeezed tightly. I maintained my reserved stare at her all the while my insides were churning with the need to push her eyeballs behind her tiny brain. Again Carlton cleared his throat, “Well, sorry to tell you that the London apartment has been sold. I’ve just sold it to Elizabeth Martin for one quid. Shall we discuss the Bentley parked out front now, Kinsley? I assume you want that? I mean selling a pink Bentley won’t be easy, but I’m sure Miss Martin wouldn’t mind driving it around until we find a buyer.”
I giggled under my breath. I understood his tactic now. Kinsley’s eyes were spurting sparks as she stepped in front of him and pointed a sharp red fingernail in his face, “That apartment is mine! Your father gave it to me!”
Carlton took the will from my hands and began flipping through pages. Finally landing on one, he turned the thick document around the pointed to the line in question, and “Actually, he bought the apartment as part of the estate. I’d decided to let you have it because, well… the only reason he bought it was to keep your love affair from me while you were wrapping your claws around him. I’d have to have the entire damned thing sterilized before I walked in it. Still, I was being generous; you may thank Miss Martin for that.” His deep voice was thick with hatred for this woman.
Her eyes rolled, “Fine, then let’s assume, and my solicitor will want a copy of that by this evening, that you own the entire estate now. Am I supposed to believe your father left me nothing?” Again, maybe it was the lighting, but I would swear I saw her lip quiver.
Carlton began shuffling the papers in his hand; he found the page but didn’t show it to her. Instead he walked across the room and pressed a button hidden on the side of the fireplace. Woo
den paneling popped open against the side wall. My eyes riveted towards it, the mechanism was oddly familiar… like the room in Carlton’s gym! He pulled open the door revealing a small paneled room containing a full length wall safe. Deftly, he maneuvered the dial until the safe door opened without a creek. Flipping on a light he searched through the items inside the safe and eventually turned around. A heavy gold item was in his hand.
Stepping back towards Kinsley, he held out his hand, “On the contrary, Kinsley, father left you this. He now pointed out the line in the will, “He specifically gifts this watch to you. I assume it was his collar? Looks like our Kinsley has kicked her own ass by being Dad’s dom! Well it looks like he was a good one; he owned nothing but the symbol of his undying love for you. Now he’s giving his only possession to his dear wife on his departure. I’d think you might conjure up some fake tears for that sentiment at least… Oh wait! There’s a note attached to it… addressed to you!”
Instantly Kinsley’s cat like hands flung towards the note, but Carlton whisked it from her grasp in the nick of time. “Oh no, you see he left you the watch… the will says nothing about a note attached to it. I must assume this belongs to the estate, hence it’s mine! So, shall I read it now?” He looked from Kinsley to me. I nodded fervently! Oh hell yeah read the note! My inner princess screamed.
Suddenly Kinsley stopped. Worry struck her face like an explosion, “NO!” she yelled loud enough to startle the crew sipping cocktails on the front lawn.
“What’s wrong, Kinsley? Does it start with something like, I suppose you finally killed me…” Carlton mused now, obviously enjoying the torture of his former dominatrix. I had no idea what transpired between Carlton and Kinsley, but it didn’t look good. I’d taken the stance of grinding my teeth firmly together to keep from spewing my own obscenities. Parts of the Carlton puzzle were coming together now; still miles short of a full picture, but ideas were forming. If what she’d said was true- and I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her- then it was entirely possible that Carlton had never been a dominatrix… he’d been a sub… he’d been her sub.
Finally I’d had enough. Venom coursed through my blood and I desperately needed to be finished with this woman, “Alright, that’s fine Carlton. Now Kinsley, we’ve taken the liberty of removing your personal items from the house. You will find them out front. The keys to your car are in it, and we expect you to leave posthaste. Carlton, give her the watch… she’ll probably need to pawn it.” Admittedly I added the last part in as a dig, but I wasn’t altogether thrilled with Carlton at the moment either; he drug me into this cat fight without so much as a heads up, and my Xanax was wearing thin.
Kinsley snarled at me then turned back to the desk. She picked up her glass of bourbon and slammed it. “You will hear from my solicitor,” she said as she brisked past us, only pausing long enough to snatch the watch from Carlton’s hand as she passed.
We followed behind her out the front door. Her hands went to her hips as she saw the row of lawn chairs perched on the other side of the brick driveway; the entire staff of the house as well as Missy and Patricia Williams were comfortably perched beneath colorful umbrella’s sipping drinks. No one budged to help her. Her huff was loudly audible as she turned and busied herself with loading the nineteen suitcases that had been haphazardly packed on her behalf. She was soaked from perspiration, and one of her shoes had lost a heel by the time she limped into the driver’s seat and spun out of the driveway. A small cloud of dust was left in her wake and Carlton walked to the spot previously assumed by her pink Bentley. I saw him bend down and pick up something from the ground; he held it up, “Souvenirs here… get your souvenirs here!” He rolled with laughter as he held up the six inch spike of her heel.
Dinner was a lively affair; certainly not one of utter mourning as it should have been. Most of the chatter did regard Mr. Michaud, but someone would eventually drive the conversation back around to the fun they’d all had during the ‘put out.’ Leave it to me to introduce England to one of the most hideous southern habits of all time. Idly I wondered how long it would take to reach France or Germany. Before I knew it, some poor fool from Sweden would be on television sitting on his front lawn with all of his belongings complaining about the new trend in spouse flushing. Call me spontaneous, but when my own parents had passed away I’d found it comforting to surround myself with laughter at times. As I recall, so little at that time was comforting. But then Aunt Kerry would show up at the house with some story about our parents and she, Palmer and I would stay up half the night talking. Lighting the world is Aunt Kerry’s special gift; I’m thankful to have an Aunt who would share such a gift with me.
To quote Pretty Woman, I’m just a spur of the moment kind of gal! At least that’s the way I like to think of myself lately. Whereas life pre-New York City had been gruesomely regimented. Never having been responsible for anything or anyone in my life, I’d suddenly found myself solely responsible for things like property taxes and lawn watering. Not to mention being responsible for Palmer and Nuscience. So today, when the opportunity arose to lighten the situation, I pulled the trigger. These people seem to have been through hell; they needed entertainment to take their minds off losing their father and friend. Sadly, Kinsley Michaud had gotten caught in the midst of my party arrangements. She’d become my star attraction. Even stiff faced Carlton had joined in the frivolities, and it wasn’t often I’ve seen Carlton Michaud let go of his protective covering long enough to laugh with others.
But Carlton seemed comfortable with his family, and to add mystery he’d mentioned that it was he who cut off communication not his father. My mind was reeling with Sherlock Holmes thoughts. His father had wanted him here all along, but Carlton wouldn’t even return the man’s messages. I suppose if your father married your girlfriend that may render the relationship drowned under the proverbial bridge. I’m fairly sure I have it all figured out now. Hmmm… my guess is that Carlton went off to law school with the promise from girlfriend/dominatrix Kinsley that she’d wait for him. But while he was gone, she visited his ‘dripping with money’ father and decided to go for the gold instead. Carlton found out, and voila, he no longer wants to talk to Daddy. Yes, brilliant I know…
“Elizabeth? Hey Liz, are you zoning out over there? Carlton, you absolutely have to get your lover to bed! She’s dozing off at the table for bloody sake.” Missy’s voice pulled my attention away from my thoughts and back to the dim dining room.
Carlton slid his chair back and stood, wiping his mouth with the linen napkin embroidered with the Michaud crest. Who has a crest these days anyway? I mused as he walked around the table and kissed the foreheads of the various members of his family who had stopped by that evening for dinner. He walked around and spoke to each person, but his eyes never left mine. When he finally stopped beside me, he stepped behind my chair indicating that it was time for me to get up. He spoke to the full table, “Actually, I think I’m going to show Liz her room, and then take her down for a short swim. Would anyone like to join us?”
Laughter spread through the full table. Everyone knew that it was his way of warning everyone to stay clear of the pool tonight, and they all politely declined.
As he pulled my chair out, I stood and thanked everyone for a lovely dinner. “I know I’ve mentioned to each of you how sorry I am for your loss, but truly my heart goes out to you. It wasn’t long ago that I lost my own parents… it was horrible. With all of you bonding together, the pain will diminish, I promise you. Thank you for making me feel a part of you today. I think you all are remarkable.”
Someone started applauding, which seemed odd to me. Had I made a speech? From what I gathered throughout the day, Carlton’s father was the most well known and capable Barrister in London, some of them claimed in all of England. If these people weren’t used to eloquence, then I don’t know who is! I laughed with them and let Carlton guide me upstairs.
“Wow. Bloody hell.” Carlton stopped me at the top of the en
ormous staircase, “I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who could win that crowd over in such a short time! Elizabeth Martin, you are an amazing woman!”
I glanced at him sideways, “What? They’re sweet people, I like them… is that wrong?”
He shook his head and laughed, “No Dear, it isn’t. And they are sweet people. Here’s your room, right here beside mine.”
I peeked inside the cavernous bedroom. It was completely decorated, matchy-matchy style, in gray and pale blue. The décor couldn’t be considered antique because the only thing in the room older than a year was the queen sized carved oak bed. “Carlton, you need to check your bank balance… I think that bitch spent your inheritance,” I chuckled.
He leaned me against the door jamb smoothly, pressing my back firmly against the hard wood he bent low over me, “Ah Liz, you always make me laugh. Since the first moment I saw you in that elevator. You’ve brought light into my life again. I’d have sworn on a stack of Bible’s that wasn’t possible. I love you Elizabeth.” His lips touched mine tenderly. Well there it was… the formal proclamation of love.
As he stood up from our kiss his fingers ran through my hair, I whispered, “I love you too, Carlton.”
“I guess we’re going to talk about this thing with Kinsley, aren’t we?” he muttered, rolling strands of my hair around his fingers.
I looked up at him, “Oh Hell yeah we are.”
“I figured that show was going to need explaining. Would you mind if we went downstairs for a swim? We could float around and relax while I spill my grisly truths?” His expression was one of pleading.
If a lifetime of living on the beach had taught me one single thing it was, “I don’t swim at night.”
Carlton chuckled, “It’s an indoor pool, Elizabeth. There are plenty of lights.”
I shook my head, “I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”