Blessed

by S. J. West

  “Where is he?” I asked.

  “Here I am, dearest,” Malcolm said walking down the staircase from the second floor in a black T-shirt and faded jeans. It was the first time I’d seen Malcolm with a shirt on which wasn’t opened at the front to show off his well defined chest.

  “Brand,” Malcolm acknowledged Brand much in the same way his son had with a curt nod.

  When Malcolm reached me he picked me up and twirled me around like a father would a child, smiling his happiness.

  “I’ve missed you the last couple of days,” he admitted, holding me close before setting me down again on the floor.

  I looked over at Brand but didn’t see the glower I had expected to on his face. It made me wonder what exactly had passed between the two of them the other night.

  “I just wanted to make sure you were all right,” I told Malcolm, studying the color of his skin.

  When we made our bargain that he could see me anytime he liked as long as he didn’t indulge in his craving for human blood, Malcolm had told me his skin would become pinker if he ever consumed human blood thus nullifying our agreement. It was a physical way for me to know he was keeping his end of our bargain. I noticed his skin looked as pale as ever and let out a small sigh of relief.

  “You shouldn’t worry about me,” he tenderly caressed my cheek with a crooked index finger. “I’m fine.”

  “Since we’re here, Malcolm,” Brand walked to my side, “I was wondering if you could watch over Lilly tomorrow evening at her apartment. Say from five to seven?”

  “Of course,” Malcolm smiled down at me, obviously pleased he’d get to spend some time with me outside the presence of Brand.

  “Would you mind if I talked with Malcolm alone for a few minutes?” I asked Brand.

  “You don’t have to ask my permission, Lilly.” Brand looked uncomfortable by my request. I could see he felt guilty I felt the need to do such a thing. I simply didn’t want to cause anymore tension between the two of them.

  I took Malcolm’s hand and led him off to the study. After closing the door to give us more privacy, I looked up at my friend and asked, “What happened when Brand came here the other night? He won’t tell me much. I was afraid he might have ripped off an arm or a leg.”

  Malcolm chuckled while rubbing the side of his neck. “Not quite. He just wanted to make sure I understood his feelings and I got the message quite clearly.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for him to find out about you seeing me that morning but it just sort of ended up coming out.”

  “Don’t worry so, dearest. If Brand hadn’t come over here after learning about our little secret, I wouldn’t have much respect for him. As it is, I’m surprised he controlled himself as well as he did. I can only imagine it was the impact on your feelings which kept him from tearing me to shreds. He knew if he hurt me too badly it would upset you more than anything I did. He was only protecting your honor. I expected nothing less from him.”

  “What did he do to you exactly?”

  “I’d rather not say, but he made his point.”

  “Well, I hope whatever happened won’t affect our friendship. I care about you, Malcolm. You’ve become very important to me.”

  “Lilly,” Malcolm moved his body closer to mine, taking my hands in his and holding them close to his chest. “Are you sure Brand is the right one for you?”

  I knew what Malcolm wanted. He wanted some small shred of hope that my concern over his well being was really caused by some deep seated love I might harbor for him.

  “He’s the only one for me. I can’t live without him. I can barely breathe when he isn’t next to me.”

  “I see,” Malcolm slowly stepped back, letting my hands go. “Well, if things ever change between the two of you, I hope you know I’ll be here waiting.”

  “Things won’t change,” I told him, wanting him to understand the true connection Brand and I had. “You shouldn’t wait for me, Malcolm.”

  “I can wait,” he said. “It’s not like I don’t have the time.”

  When we left the study, I told Malcolm he should bring Sebastian to my apartment when he came over to be my bodyguard the next evening. Sebastian was delighted by my request. I got the feeling Malcolm was a bit more strict with his son than Brand was with Abby. The thought of Malcolm as an over protective father made me smile.

  Chapter 4

  By Thursday, people at school seemed to stare at me less. I supposed Brand was right. In a few weeks, my classmates would forget about me and my scandal. I was sure they would move on to some other topic of interest and file me away in their minds as an afterthought. Dr. Barry was bugging me a bit though. She seemed extraordinarily interested in Malcolm. I didn’t want to offend her so I tried to answer what she asked as truthfully as I could about what he did for a living, where he lived, what he was like, and on and on. I got the distinct feeling she wanted to meet him and have me set it up, but she never actually came out and said it. I wasn’t about to offer my services to her as a match maker. All I needed was to put a tempting treat in front of Malcolm to see him succumb to his vampiric desires.

  Dr. Barry would have been a good choice under any other circumstances. She was a pretty woman of around thirty-five, never married, single, no children, and rather brilliant in certain aspects. If Malcolm had been a regular person, I wouldn’t have had any problem with setting the two of them up. But, Malcolm wasn’t normal. For all intense purposes he was a vampire doing his best to abstain from his basic desire to drink human blood. I knew he tried to stay away from humans as much as he could so he wouldn’t have to struggle as hard against the monster inside himself. I desperately wished Malcolm didn’t have to live with such an affliction, but there simply wasn’t anything I could do to help except support him in his fight against himself.

  Once Friday rolled around, I was a bucket of nerves. Brand still wouldn’t give me a hint as to what we were going to be doing that night. By the time I got home from work at around five, Malcolm, Sebastian and Tara were already there waiting for me. Brand left me at the apartment saying he would be back at seven and that Abby would be dropping by to give me my dress sometime in between.

  “Well I’m glad this night has finally come,” Malcolm grumbled as Tara brushed out my hair while I sat at the kitchen table. I had just spent a good twenty minutes taking a bath, washing my hair and blowing it dry for her.

  “What would make you say that?” I asked.

  “Maybe we can get some peace and quiet at home now. All that banging and stuff was really getting on my nerves,” Malcolm explained watching Tara brush my hair. “You should put it up for her. She never wears it up.”

  “I’ve never done that. You got any suggestions on how to do it?”

  From the sarcastic way Tara asked her question, I don’t think she was expecting what happened next.

  Malcolm got up from his seat on the futon and handed the TV remote to his son. Even though Malcolm said most things on TV were drivel, he seemed to enjoy watching game shows for some reason. I assumed it must be the gambler in him which found the shows interesting.

  “I am an architect. Hair, steel, shouldn’t make much of a difference. Give me a minute,” he said, surveying the thick brown mass of hair on my head like a general deciding on a strategic plan of attack.

  “What makes you think you can style hair?” I asked him completely amused by the prospect of Malcolm trying his hand at becoming a hair stylist.

  He looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “I know how to do a lot of things, dearest. I would be more than willing to show you some that you might find interesting if you’d like,” he said suggestively.

  The next thing I heard was the whistle of a brush being slung in the air and a loud whack as it hit its projected target. Malcolm rubbed his forehead.

  “That’s for looking at Lilly naked,” Tara told Malcolm pointing a stern index finger at him. “I can’t believe I almost forgot about that.”

  “What is
it with people hitting me in the head over such an innocent little indiscretion?” Malcolm shook his head in dismay.

  “Well you deserve a lot more,” Tara said. “But we ain’t got the time for it tonight. What are we gonna do about this hair?”

  For the next forty minutes or so, Tara and Malcolm worked together on styling my hair into some sort of intricate up-do Malcolm had planned out in his head. Tara seemed content to follow Malcolm’s direction without complaint. I think she was impressed with his skill. She asked a lot of questions and seemed to enjoy working with my friend. Tara was never one to take instructions from people well. She was used to being the one who dished them out.

  When they were finished, Malcolm stood in front of me and looked at his design with a critical eye.

  “I think we did it,” he said to Tara. “What do you think?”

  Tara came to stand by him looking at me. “Yep, I’d say that’s done. Now I just need to get some make-up on her.”

  About twenty minutes later, I was finally through being prodded and primped into perfection for my mystery date with Brand. I was basically just waiting for Abby to show up with my outfit for the night.

  At about six-thirty, there was a gentle knock at my door. When I answered it, I saw Brand’s daughter standing on my doorstep wearing a long haired blonde wig, a pink ruffled chiffon shirt, a pair of faded jeans and white leather ankle boots. Here eyes were bright blue tonight.

  “Here you go, love,” she said handing me a clear bag with what looked like my black silk dress, the one I wore to the Black and White ball. “We had it dry cleaned for you. Your hair looks great by the way!”

  “Come on in Abby, I have some people you should meet.”

  When Abby stepped into the room, I felt the air inside our little apartment take on a charged quality. After I shut the door behind her and turned around, I saw why.

  Sebastian and Abby were staring at each other with an intensity I had never seen before. It was as if they were measuring each other up while at the same time being totally absorbed by the other person’s presence.

  “Abby, this is Sebastian.”

  My voice seemed to break the spell they were both under. Sebastian stood and walked the short distance to Abby. She held her hand out for a shake but instead of merely shaking her hand he brushed his lips slowly across the top of it.

  “Please to meet you,” Sebastian said never taking his eyes off of Abby.

  I think it was the first time I’d ever seen Abby speechless. She just stood there and stared at Sebastian.

  “I’m Malcolm.” Malcolm came to stand by his son nudging him out of the way a bit in a maneuver which looked like he was intentionally trying to break the connection between Abby and Sebastian.

  “Oh, hey,” Abby said holding her hand out to Malcolm. “Dad’s told me a lot about you.”

  “Hmm, I’m sure the negatives were completely over exaggerated,” Malcolm said.

  “My dad doesn’t over exaggerate to me,” Abby replied a bit defensively.

  Malcolm was about to retort with something I assumed would probably be completely inappropriate so I stepped in before he had a chance to cause anymore trouble.

  “Thanks for bringing me my dress,” I told Abby. “I didn’t even realize he had taken it.”

  “I gave it to him,” Tara chimed in continuing to pack away her hair styling equipment into a clear plastic tub she kept it stored in. “He asked for it yesterday morning while you were still sleeping.”

  “So do you have any idea what he has planned for tonight?” I asked Abby.

  “Can’t say, love,” she said with an impish smile on her face. “I promised not to.”

  “He made us all promise not to,” Malcolm added irritably.

  “All?” I asked looking at everyone in the room. Sebastian just smiled and Tara shrugged her shoulders.

  “You’ll know soon enough,” Tara said. “But you better go put that dress on. He’ll be here in a few minutes and you know that boy ain’t never late.”

  Tara was definitely right about that. You could set the world clock to Brand’s sense of punctuality.

  I was almost dressed when I heard a knock on the front door.

  “Anything happen?” Were the first words out of Brand’s mouth.

  “No,” Malcolm replied. “Everything’s been normal so far.”

  I grabbed the shawl I had bought to go with my dress and draped it across my arm. The nights were starting to become chilly, and I wasn’t sure how long we would be out.

  When I walked back out into the front room, all eyes turned to me but my eyes were drawn to Brand like starlings to the first rays of sunlight. He was dressed in a black tux with a white shirt and black bow tie. He looked a lot like he had at the Black and White ball except this time he was smiling.

  “You look beautiful,” he said walking up to me and giving me a quick kiss on the lips in front of our attentive audience.

  “So do you,” I replied, not being able to stop myself from running the palms of my hands down the lapels of his jacket. I could feel the beating of his heart underneath my hands. It was pounding almost as fast as mine.

  He held his arm out to me. “Shall we?”

  When we got into his car, he handed me a silky black blindfold.

  “Would you mind putting this on?”

  “Are we going somewhere secret?” I asked putting the blindfold over my eyes.

  “No, but I don’t want you to see it until we’re there.”

  I don’t think we drove much over ten minutes before we came to a complete stop.

  Brand asked me to stay put when he got out of the car. He opened the car door on my side and helped guide me out. I felt the sensation of grass underneath my two inch heals so I made sure to put most of my weight on the balls of my toes. About a minute later the ground changed to a harder surface. The only thing I could hear was the clicking of my heels against the smooth hard surface I was walking across.

  “Ok, keep your eyes closed while I take the blindfold off,” he instructed.

  I couldn’t help but smile. I could hear the excitement in his voice but there was also a tinge of uncertainty, like he was afraid I might not like what he had done.

  Once he removed the blindfold, Brand whispered in my ear, “Ok, open your eyes.”

  When I opened my eyes, I thought we might have stepped into one of my dreams. We were standing in the middle of an exact replica of the Black and White ball except everything had been set up in the middle of a forest clearing by the lake. At our feet were black and white tiles like they had assembled for the dance floor at the ball. When I looked over my shoulder, the same stage with black backdrop and white floating musical notes and instruments was set up behind a band already in place.

  “How did you do all of this?” I asked, amazed by all the work Brand had to have done in such a short amount of time.

  “You’d be surprised what you can accomplish if you wave enough money in peoples faces.”

  “But why would you go through all the trouble?”

  Brand put his arms around my waist holding me close. The band started playing a song as if on cue and we began to sway to the music.

  “Because we never got to dance.”

  I almost started to cry. It was such a sentimental thing to do. So indicative of the man I’d given my heart to.

  “When I first saw you that night,” Brand continued. “I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I would shatter from wanting to take you in my arms and tell you how much I loved you. I wanted to beg you to forgive me for deceiving you and causing you so much pain. And then Will did the very thing I wanted to do so desperately.”

  “When Will and I left and walked to the rose garden, I did see you on the terrace watching us, didn’t I? That wasn’t just my imagination was it?”

  “I followed you,” Brand confessed almost like he was ashamed of his behavior. “I still didn’t trust Will and I wanted to make sure you were safe. When I saw him about to kiss yo
u, I thought my world would end. I wanted to be him so badly in that moment. Then, when you pushed him away and told him you couldn’t go through with it, I felt such a selfish relief. I didn’t want you to move on. I didn’t want you to forget about me so quickly when my heart ached to be with you so much I thought it would stop beating from all the pain.”

  The torment I saw in his eyes told me as much as his words did. He’d been as miserable as I had that night and this recreation was meant to wash away the last of our regrets. It was meant to symbolize a new beginning of treasured moments between the two of us.

  “Thank you,” I said gazing up at the love of my life. “Thank you for giving us this.”

  “There isn’t anything in this world I wouldn’t give to you, Lilly. All you have to do is ask.”

  We danced for a couple of songs, just enjoying the way our bodies moved together in perfect unison, like we were made for each other.

  When the third song began to play, Brand pulled away slightly and looked down at me. “I want to take you somewhere.”

  “Anywhere you want,” I replied. And I meant it. I would follow Brand anywhere he ever wanted to go.

  He took my hand and led me off the dance floor. I saw him look at the band and nod his head slightly. They seemed prepared for such a sign and began packing up their equipment.

  When we got back into Brand’s car he drove it off the grass back onto his driveway heading toward his house.

  “Are we spending the rest of the night at your house?” I asked.

  “No, we’re just going to be dropping off the car,” he answered. “We won’t need it anymore.”

  “So we’ll be phasing somewhere else?”

  “Yes, and please stop asking questions.” He smiled at me which made me unable to say another word. “Make sure to bring your shawl though. It will probably be chilly where we’re going.”

  We parked the car and got out. I placed my shawl around my shoulders as Brand came to my side and took hold of my hand. Before I knew it we were standing in front of the largest Ferris wheel I’ve ever seen. It was white, lit up with lights, and must have had over thirty large glass enclosed oval pods attached to it with steel straps. There was a man standing in front of the wheel with his back to us wearing a dark grey woolen newsboy cap and matching jacket.