Battle Lines.

by Anderson, Abigail

  With shaky hands she fumbled with the lock until it finally gave and she stumbled through the door and then turned to close it behind her.

  But Jake was already there. Stepping over the threshold. A look in his eyes. A look she now recognised. It was a raw hunger. He closed her door behind her. His hands going to her waist as he picked her up off the floor.

  Before she knew what was happening she felt the wall at her back. Her legs were around his waist tightly. Her arms around his shoulders. She heard the zipper on his trousers and then before she had a chance to do or say anything he entered her swiftly. She cried out as he thrust deeply into her.

  Amanda plunged her fingers into his hair. Grabbing at it and pulling his head back and she heard him wince. Strangely it excited her and she kissed him. Her tongue diving into his mouth. His thrusting became quicker, stronger, and harder.

  She moved her hips. He groaned against the column of her throat. She knew she was driving him crazy, she did it again, revelling in the power she had.

  “Jake.” She cried out as her body tensed. His own body becoming tense and then they were both shuddering against each other. Breathing hard.

  “Damn.” She heard him exclaim breathlessly. “Sorry, I tried. I really did.” He told her. “You are too damn sexy for your own good.” He said.

  They both jumped as the phone peeled loudly. “Leave it.” He ordered her.

  “I should get it.” She said reluctantly. Slowly she uncrossed her legs from around him and he lowered her to the ground. She felt him slip from inside her and she almost cried in frustration. Missing the contact immediately.

  On shaky legs she moved to the phone straightening her skirt as she went. She heard the rustle of material from Jake and knew that he was straightening his attire.

  “H… hello.” She said into the receiver.

  “Hey boss. Don’t you ever turn your mobile on?” Harry asked her.

  “Har… Alan.” She said, catching herself just in time. She heard Jake swear behind her.

  “Jakey’s there I take it.”

  “Yes” she said.

  “I got good news and even better news for you.”

  “You have?” she asked.

  She felt Jake move and before she could say anything the front door opened and Jake was gone. She heard the car start up and drive away a moment later.

  “Yep.”

  “Can it wait till tomorrow?” she asked him. There was a pause before Harry said.

  “Sure thing boss. I just thought…” Amanda put down the receiver before he even finished his sentence and then promptly she burst into tears, no longer being able to hold them back.

  Harry arrived late into work the next morning. He popped his head round her door well past ten.

  “What time do you call this?” she snapped at him as soon as he made an appearance. Harry looked up at the wall.

  “I call it sixteen minutes past ten. What do you call it?” he asked her jovially. She really wasn’t in the mood for his sense of humour this morning. She had had a lousy night and she was tired and fatigued.

  “I call it do you want to find yourself out of work o’clock?” she looked up from her desk.

  “That’s a bit long winded for me.” He grimaced at her. “You’re fired o’clock has much more of a ring to it.”

  Amanda fought down the urge to pick up a large heavy object and throw it at him. But only just.

  Harry walked further into the room. And then he popped a piece of paper down on her desk. It was a bank statement, she noted. Her business account at that. Amanda stared at it uncomprehending until she saw the last two transactions on the statement.

  She looked up sharply at Harry who was grinning and nodding his head like a two-year-old who had just had a fix of fizzy drink, chocolate and cake.

  “Where did this money come from?” she asked him.

  “I sold it.” He sung the words at her and even managed a little dance. A bad one, but a dance. She shook her head.

  “Sold what?” Harry screwed up his face but then winced and had to stop. “You sold the statue.” She said almost not believing it.

  “Yes.” He said. She looked back down at the statement.

  “Who on earth would pay fifteen thousand over the price we paid for it?” she asked him.

  “A nice man with a lot of cash.” Harry informed her.

  “And very little brain obviously. It wasn’t worth what we paid for it.” She pointed out.

  “It’s gone and not our problem and the nice man was willing to pay that price.” Harry told her.

  “Fine.” She said on a sigh. But, she did not like how it felt, like she was a modern day robin hood. And that an employee of hers had suckered some poor chump into parting with a lot of cash.

  She looked at the statement again. Really a lot of cash. “What is this other amount?” she asked. It was also another very substantial amount. She had never seen so many zeros in her life. Not on any of her bank statements anyway.

  “Oh that’s the painting.” Harry told her offhand. She looked up at him.

  “What painting. I didn’t buy a painting. You didn’t buy a painting… Did you?” she asked.

  “No, the one in the stockroom. At the back. He spotted it and asked how much.” Harry shrugged.

  Amanda tried to wrack her brain as to what painting he was referring to. The only painting down there was the painting she had had done from a photograph of her taken on her sixteenth birthday.

  The photo had been taken by Jake. She had been lost in a daydream sitting at the window in the parlour, a small smile playing on her lips.

  She smiled as she remembered it as though it were yesterday. When the flash had gone off she had jumped and turned to see Jake looking at her. An odd look on his face that she could not decipher. She had often caught him looking at her like that, in that last year before she had run away.

  “Hey. Give me that camera.” She had shouted at him.

  “Come get it.” He had baited her. She had huffed and left the room and run upstairs after him. She never did catch him.

  Days later Jake had given her the photo and she had stuffed it in a drawer. When she had run away it was one of only a handful of things she had taken with her. The only other photograph she had taken was one from a photo album in her father’s study. A picture of her and Jake together, the one in her bottom drawer.

  An artist in London had painted an oil painting using the photo a couple of years back and she had kept it in store ever since, never having anywhere to hang it.

  “The one of me?” She squeaked.

  “You’ve still got the original photo. You could get the painting done again.”

  “Yes but…” she began. That hadn’t been Harry’s to sell. That was a personal painting. It belonged to her.

  “It’s got you out of trouble and it’s no longer an expensive dust gatherer.” Harry told her.

  “Fine.” She said. He was right and at least her business was now afloat so what was she complaining about.

  She held up a cream envelope and waved it at Harry. “Guess what this is?” She asked him.

  “Erm… congratulations. You have won the lottery.” She shook her head.

  “No.”

  “I have won the lottery.”

  “No.” She raised her voice a little in irritation.

  “A holiday in the Bahamas.”

  “No.” she repeated

  “A villa in the south of France.” He suggested.

  “No.”

  “A car.” Amanda picked up a journal on her desk and threw it had Harry. It thudded on his chest before landing back on her desk,

  “Do those random acts of violence of yours ever make you feel better?” Harry asked her.

  “Much better.” She told him.

  “Shame… so you were telling me that that envelope has a wage bonus for me.” Harry said and she pulled a face and stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.

  “It is an invite to dinne
r for the two of us at my mother’s next Wednesday.”

  “Even better than a bonus.” Harry grumbled mockingly and then proceeded to rub his bruised cheek.

  “We have to go.” She told him firmly.

  “No, you have to go.” Harry corrected.

  “We… we have to go.”

  “I thought you were going to sort it all out.” Harry complained. Yes, she thought she was going to sort it all out too. All Jake’s fault again.

  After yesterday Amanda had had to re-evaluate things.

  “I will. I promise.”

  “When.” Harry asked her.

  “After this dinner.” She told him.

  “Yes… but.”

  “No buts.” She cut him off. “It will be fine.” She tried to placate him.

  “That’s alright for you to say. You weren’t the one on the receiving end of a mean left hook.” Harry moaned loudly.

  No, she had not. But, Amanda had suffered a far worse fate than that, she decided. Harry may have a black eye but, she had lost her virginity and the ability to hide behind her hatred of Jake all in one fell swoop… or thrust, as the case may be.

  “I am sure that Jake will be on his best behaviour this time.” She crossed her fingers behind her back.

  “Can you guarantee it?” he asked, no, that she could not promise and she lifted an eyebrow in response.

  “Harry please. Just this one last time.”

  “Fine.” He huffed at her. “Lead me like a poor, helpless lamb to the slaughter.”

  “I’ll accept on your behalf then shall I?” Ignoring his wailing. He nodded sadly and slumped his shoulders.

  “Do my wages cover danger money by any chance?”

  “No.”

  “Any chance of a raise?” he asked hopefully.

  “No chance at all.” She confirmed. “I’ll give you an extra week’s holiday with full pay.”

  “You will.” He asked brightening.

  “Just as long as you promise not to take it until after next Wednesday.”

  “Fine.” Harry ungraciously accepted his fate and left her office as she picked up the phone and dialled her mother’s number.

  “Hello.” That rich voice sent a shiver down her spine. Didn’t he ever go to work? What it must be like to be able to work from home all the time.

  “Ah… Jake… it’s um, me.” Was that squeaky voice hers?

  “It can’t be me. I’ve been here all the time.” Jake told her. She could hear the laughter in his voice.

  “Tell me, have you been practising that all day.” She heard him laugh and the butterflies fluttered around in her stomach.

  “I’m glad you appreciate it.”

  “You misunderstand. You really should get new material. That old stuff isn’t working for you.” She told him curtly.

  “That is a shame. I am surprised you are calling me.” He told her now.

  “I’m not calling you.” She told him flatly.

  “That’s funny. I could have sworn I heard the telephone ring.”

  “Yeah you know what. One day I might get so offended by your humour that you are gonna find that I might just ram that telephone receiver right up your –”

  “Hey steady there. If you are gonna start talking dirty, the least you could do is buy me dinner first.” She heard him laugh richly.

  “I wasn’t… that is I…?” She stopped before saying. “You are an arse.”

  “And you are tempting and very sexy when you are flustered with embarrassment.” Then his tone changed, it dropped. Became softer. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “This isn’t a social call.”

  “Shame. I was hoping you were calling to whisper sweet nothings in my ear.” Amanda remained silent for several moments until Jake said. “Nothing to say.”

  “You wanted sweet nothings.” She pointed out.

  “You must have something you want to say to me.”

  “Lots. But nothing that your delicate ears could handle.” She quipped.

  “That does sound promising.”

  “Jake.” Amanda closed her eyes and sighed.

  “Mandy. We are going to need to talk.” He said quietly and Amanda’s heart began to beat unhappily.

  “No, we really don’t.” She dismissed. “It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine.” She sighed deeply. “Jake… I wish.” She stopped again, torn between what to say and what not to say. “What I mean is… if only… it’s just…” she took a breath.

  There was no way she could say what she wanted to say. If she did, then she would give herself away and Jake would know just how much he had got to her. He would have real power over her. More power than he had now and he had way too much of that as it was. “Alan and I are glad to accept the dinner invitation.” She said instead.

  She knew straight away that she had ruined the moment. The atmosphere changed dramatically and she could feel Jake’s anger through the phone.

  “Mandy.”

  “Jake please.” She begged. Her lungs constricted and she struggled for breath. She heard him huff down the phone. A long drawn out huff and she imagined that he was raking a hand through his hair whilst he was doing it.

  “We still need to talk.” He told her. She had to be strong. She knew that he was right but right now she knew that she just couldn’t face it.

  After what happened how could she even look him in the eye? Already she could feel her face burning and she did not have to look in a mirror to know that her face had infused with humiliating colour.

  “Jake, we had… sex. The last time I checked it is a normal adult function.” She tried to sound off hand and blithe but she had a feeling she just came across as highly strung and distraught. “It’s fine, there’s nothing to talk about. We are both responsible adults that shared a…” what was the word she was looking for? “Moment of high spirits…”

  “High spirits?” she heard Jake echo. He sounded amused. Don’t you dare laugh at me, she thought.

  “Well you call it whatever you want.” She snapped at him.

  “We made love. You writhed beneath me enjoying it. Enjoying it a lot. You were begging me not to stop. Your eyes burned with hunger. Then later at your place we had hot sex. All urgent need and raging hormones. You looked so damned sexy up against the wall with your legs wrapped arou –”

  “Jake.” Amanda snapped, her voice sounding shrill and tight, as she wriggled in her chair uncomfortably. Her body aching and throbbing. His breathy voice was doing strange things to her insides. It wasn’t fair that one man could have that much power over her.

  “Mandy.”

  “Jake it’s really okay. Fine in fact. I am fine.” And then she decided to through his earlier words back in his face. “Sex is sex is sex.”

  “That’s not it.”

  “You are worried that I might say something.” She suggested.

  “That’s not it.”

  “You are worried people might find out about it and think less of you.”

  “That’s not it.”

  “Are you worried I might ask for a repeat performance?” She asked him.

  “That’s definitely not it.”

  “Trust me Jake. That is never going to happen. Don’t worry you are quite safe.”

  “I wasn’t worried.” He told her.

  “You deeply regret your actions and you want to apologise. Apology accepted, we will forget that it ever happened.”

  “I regret nothing and I have nothing to apologise for. I also plan to make sure you never get the chance to forget.” He warned her. Yes, she had not doubt about that. Jake was a bully and a brute.

  “Then what is it?” she asked now, getting impatient.

  “Well if you stopped jumping the gun I might be able to get a word in.”

  “Sorry.” She mumbled.

  “Are you on birth control?” she blushed profusely.

  “That is a very personal question Jake. One I take exception to you asking. It’s none of your business.
Why would you think that that is any of your business? Why in the world would you even want to kno…” she stopped and slumped back in her chair. “Oh no.” she groaned and she dropped her head into her hand.

  She hadn’t even given that a thought. No she wasn’t on birth control she hadn’t been sexually active there had been no point. Trust Jake to think of it. He thought of all the little details.

  “Mandy, don’t start panicking. You will work yourself up and there may be no need for it.”

  “I…” she could feel tears in her eyes making them sting.

  “What’s done is done. We cannot change it. We just have to wait and see, then deal with whatever comes.”

  “Oh well that’s alright then, everything is all sorted then because Mr bloody Jake Michelson says so. What if I am…?” she couldn’t even bring herself to say the words.

  “What if you’re not?” Jake threw back at her.

  “Well if I’m not…” she stopped. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? Jake’s baby growing inside her. A new life. A mix of him and her.

  “There’s always next month.” He suggested casually.

  “Jake, for once in your life could you just grow up and take at least one thing seriously.” She said.

  “I was.” The phone went dead and Amanda was left sitting at her desk with the receiver in her hand staring blankly at her lap.

  This was turning from bad to worse and worsening by the minute.

  Chapter 16.

  Amanda sighed with relief as she relaxed back into the cushions of her small sofa. It had been one hell of a day and she was glad that it was almost over.

  After the call to Jake had taken an unexpected turn Amanda had spent the day trying to rid her mind of it. That had not worked, and then she had started to relive the day before. In Jake’s study. Back at her place.

  She had been clumsy all day, and had even managed to drop and smash her favourite mug.

  She looked up at the dirty grey ceiling above her head and sighed. She had really screwed up this time. There was no mistake that this was the biggest mess she had ever landed herself in. What the hell was she going to do? She was seriously without a clue.

  Amanda felt close to tears. Everything had gone so horribly wrong. She should have stayed away. She shouldn’t have come back. She still had friends in London. She could move back. Start afresh.