by Tyler Grey
“Woah, cool! You’ve got bass control, four-different speaker controls, and, is that an equalizer?”
I cranked up the music.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
As some techno tune boomed on, Christian twirled the equalizer with his thumb.
“Cool!” he exclaimed, amping up the sound to a level well beyond comfortable.
Alisha craned her head around.
“Turn it down, Christian, before you explode Nana’s eardrums.”
He turned down the music, and Alisha and I exchanged a look.
“To be young again,” she said with a wistful smile.
I shook my head, “It’s way overrated.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but a glance back had her closing her lips. Nana was already dozing off, but Christian was wide awake, enraptured by the stereo settings he was still playing around with.
The rest of the trip passed in much the same way. There was little opportunity to talk, other than to respond to Christian’s eager questions, which were now mostly about the amusement park.
“So they’ve got bumper cars, right?”
“They sure do.”
“And that big roller coaster everyone’s been going on—the Leviathonator, right?”
“Yep.”
Every once in a while, I glanced over, feeling my pulse quicken by her closeness. I still had what I wanted to say burning on my lips, but we’d find time once we were in the amusement park. I’d make sure of that.
Parking wasn’t bad since VIP guests had their own lot. Getting tickets was a breeze too. Just walked up to the teenage ticket attendant, flashed him my nice shiny pass, and we were in. The hard part was getting Alisha to agree. At first, she had refused outright, shaking her head with a vehemence that had her ponytail swishing back and forth with its own refusal. But when Christian protested and pointed out the long snaking line for regular tickets, she agreed.
Once inside, as soon as Christian got his hands on a map, he started flipping through it. He listed out all the rides he wanted to go on, each in opposite directions.
Looking over his shoulder, I glanced at the map.
“Let’s start with the bumper cars since they’re close to the swings and that rollercoaster you mentioned—the Leviathonator.”
Christian paused, then grinned.
“Yeah, let’s do it!”
The VIP pass made going on the rides similarly simple. Just walk up to the ride attendants, flash the pass, and we were through. No wait; no hassle. Even Alisha was surprised and relieved at the quickness of it all. Clearly, she wasn’t used to it.
The first ride we went on was the bumper cars. With Nana parked on a stone bench outside, we all filtered in and chose our cars. Then, with me in a red one, Christian in a black one, and Alisha in another red one, the ride began, and we were off.
“Prepare to be destroyed!” Christian exclaimed as his bumper car barreled towards me.
I maneuvered out of the way just in time. Instead, it was Alisha’s car he collided with. As her car shook with the impact, she threw her head back with laughter. Funny, her laughing face was a mirror image of his. She looked…different. Carefree.
“Prepare to be destroyed!”
My reverie was broken by Alisha as she gleefully hurtled towards me. Seconds later, her car had bopped mine, and I was the one laughing.
The rest of the bumper car ride was much the same—maneuvering and re-maneuvering, hitting cars and being hit. There were plenty of giggling kids and grinning adults in the red and black cars, but I only had eyes for the blond woman and her blond-haired son.
No sooner had we stepped out of the creaky red gate at the bumper cars than Christian had turned to me with an excited gleam in his eyes.
“Swings?”
I nodded and grinned.
“Swings.”
And just like that, he was off, threading through the crowd with a determined eagerness. Nana only gave us an encouraging wave as Alisha and I speed-walked after him. We were nearly there when our hands brushed. Alisha moved hers away, shooting me a quick sidelong glance.
“We better hurry if we want to make it on that ride, too.”
We ended up getting there just as the pigtailed ticket attendant was closing the gate. She allowed us in with a grudging, charcoal-lined glare.
“Oh, to be young again,” I parroted as we made our way towards the swings.
I caught Alisha’s playful whack midair, and our gazes locked.
“You guys coming or what?” Christian asked from behind us.
We chose seats side by side and slid the bars down just as the sickly-sweet ride music started up. Then, with a great creak, the machine started, and we were lifted and twirled in the air.
This time, it was Alisha who was the first to get into the ride. Less than half a minute in, I glanced over to see her eyes closed and a soft smile on her face.
I craned my neck to see Christian smirking knowingly.
“It’s her faaaaavorite ride,” he explained.
“I can hear you, you know,” Alisha said.
Christian shrugged. “It’s true.”
Beside me, Alisha had opened her eyes, although her face still wore the same serene expression. It made me wonder. I figured she liked the swings because they were so unlike her regular life. Soaring through the air like that, lifted and weightless, easy. What I wouldn’t do to have her wear that serene look all the time.
Whoa. I ripped my gaze away from her face and directed it to the scenery around us. No need to get all emotional just because Alisha looked uncharacteristically content for a change. Maybe it was because the only other time I’d seen her looking like that was the exact moment when we—
“Can you find Nana? I can’t tell which speck she is.”
Behind me, Christian’s eyes were screwed up into a squint.
“She’s the white speck on the gray bench,” Alisha said after a minute. I followed her gaze to my side of the swings, and, sure enough, spotted the Nana-like white speck on the gray bench.
Now, the ride was slowing down, lowering us to the ground, and a look over at Alisha confirmed my suspicions; she was the same as before: tired-looking and stressed. The moment had passed, and now she had to put the Mom hat on once again.
As we got off and stepped out of the ride, Christian stared at the pigtailed attendant girl, a mystified look on his face.
“Oh no you don’t,” Alisha said, taking him by the hand and pulling him over to Nana.
“What?” Christian asked, genuinely befuddled.
“Never you mind,” she replied, casting one last worried glance back at the girl.
“Want a snack?”
Without waiting for a response, Nana handed Christian an apple she had packed. Christian mustered up a smile, took a big bite of the green thing, then turned to Alisha.
“Can we do the big Leviathonator rollercoaster now? And then find someplace to eat?”
Alisha frowned, “What about the bologna sandwiches Nana and I packed you?”
Christian made a face.
“Mom. It’s my birthday.”
Alisha sighed, accepting the once-bitten apple he’d shoved out at her.
“As you keep reminding me. Okay, how about you check out the Levia-rollercoaster thing yourself, and I’ll find us somewhere nice to eat?”
I took Alisha’s arm.
“I’ll help your mom. You can tackle this one yourself, birthday boy.”
Eager at the prospect of fast food, it was seconds before Christian had nodded and disappeared in the direction of the giant looping orange rollercoaster.
“Don’t worry; I’ll watch out for him,” Nana said.
She accepted the apple from Alisha and took a bite of it herself. Then, she produced several containers from the woven canvas bag on the bench beside her and gave them a shake.
“And, if I get bored, I’ll just munch on some of the sandwiches.”
Alisha took the containers
and tucked them in her own canvas tote.
“Nana, I’m not having you be a martyr and eat these for the sake of it. If Christian gets to eat out for his birthday, then we all do.”
The old woman’s lined lips spread into a grateful smile, while her eyes twinkled in a way that reminded me of Alisha.
“Thank you, dear. Now run along you two. I’m sure you’ll be wanting some alone time.”
She gave us a sanguine smile, and we were off. When I took Alisha’s arm, it was stiffened. I followed her gaze to the ticket attendant from before, the pig-tailed one, who was sashaying by while she twirled a lollipop in her mouth, looking bored.
“You can’t protect him forever, you know.”
She sighed.
“I know. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to. He’s at that age now, too. Where it’s all starting. Friends, jobs, girlfriends.”
Now at an empty wooden bench, I sat us down.
“It may not help him in the end, though. My greatest lessons came from my biggest mistakes.”
Alisha’s gaze had moved to her feet.
“Lucky you. For some of us, though, there’s no escaping our mistakes.” She exhaled, then waved her hand in a gesture of dismissal. “Sorry, I’m being all melodramatic. I think it was the swings. They always make me feel so…”
“Free?”
Surprised, she glanced at me and nodded, looking puzzled.
“It’s weird, you’re my boss, yet sometimes I feel like we’re…”
“On the same page.”
She smiled ruefully, then bit her lip.
“Stop it,” she said.
“Make me.”
She turned to me with an exasperated smile.
“What was it you wanted to talk to me about today, Seth?”
Under her intent look, I found myself speechless.
“I, uh.” I swallowed. “Did you mean what you said to Jim about what you thought about me? About feeling nothing for me but a professional relationship?”
Chapter 22
Alisha
What was that look in his eyes? Fear? Excitement? It didn’t matter; I had to answer him now. Truth, lie or otherwise, I had to answer him.
“Seth, I do think you’re a good boss, and there’s no arguing that we make a great team. But I just can’t go down this road with you, I’m sorry.”
I turned away and exhaled in relief. Whew, that wasn’t so bad, and I’d told the truth, too.
But when his hand settled on my knee, my whole body was flooded with longing once again.
“But Alisha, our time in my office together. When we made love, I thought, it seemed like you really enjoyed it.”
His low voice said the words slowly, each statement tentative and full of feeling. I could feel his avid gaze on the side of my face, but I couldn’t meet it.
I steadied my voice before speaking.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it, if I said that it wasn’t the best, uh—” I faltered. “Okay, so it was fan-fucking-tastic,” I admitted, “But Seth, it can’t happen again. It just can’t.”
After my outburst, there was a moment of surprised silence, then Seth grinned those pearly whites of his at me, as he bumped his knee sideways into mine.
“I like it when you swear.”
Frowning, I moved my knee away. It was shaking.
“Seth, I mean it. We have to keep this professional.”
“As your lips keep saying, but your body tells a different story.”
For a second, I sat there. It felt good, after all. Letting his hand return to my knee, stroke it further and further up. The sound of laughter and a boy around Christian’s age raced by. I leaped up, suddenly enraged.
“Don’t tell me what I do or don’t want. And don’t think that this will get you anywhere with me, I—”
Falling silent, I saw a little girl with braided pigtails staring at me as she waddled by. With a sigh, I flopped back onto the bench.
“I’m sorry, that was rude. You’ve been very generous to me and Christian today, and for that I am grateful. But if you actually care about me at all, then you’ll listen to me when I beg you to back off. I can’t deny that I’m extremely attracted to you, but we both know this can’t end well. And as I’ve said, the one who’ll get screwed over is me, and I can’t afford to let that happen.”
Silence. I glanced over to see Seth again wearing an expression I couldn’t place. He looked distant, like a stranger.
“I understand.”
God, how I wanted him. Just sitting here this close to him now had my nerves on edge. I could smell him, his tempting musk, and if I closed my eyes, I could feel him, feel his lips tugging on mine, his hands sweeping over me, his hardness slipping into me.
I snapped open my eyes.
“Everyone’s having fun with you, but if you feel it’s best to leave now, then I’ll understand.”
Seth’s head wrenched in my direction, his icy gaze scanning my face. “Do you want me to go?”
“No,” I answered truthfully, “I don’t. But I don’t want you to stay under false pretenses, and I don’t want you to stay if you don’t want to.”
Seth rose, his face a mask, not giving me a clue as to what he was feeling.
“Well, it’s settled then,” he said as he held out his arm. “I’m staying.”
Tentatively, I took his arm, reminding myself that I’d told him what the situation was and that he’d agreed to it. Things were different now. Although, as I took his arm and our sides touched, a voice in me sneered, Nothing is different now.
Our tour of the places to eat was quick. Our choices were a bright red and yellow hotdog stand with a scowling attendant, a broken-looking vending machine, or a diner that was filled to the brim with people.
Reunited now with Christian and Nana, they immediately agreed with our choice—the diner it was.
When we first approached the wooden hostess desk, we were informed that the wait was around an hour, but then Seth stepped in, flashing his VIP pass.
“Would this make any difference?”
“No,” the young hostess said crisply, striding off.
Christian’s face fell, but then the hostess’s colleague, a nicer-looking brunette girl arrived.
“Let me ask my boss,” she said.
She returned with a bright smile, gesturing at us to follow her.
“Right this way.”
We were seated on the roof, where there were fewer tables and noise. Once the hostess left, Christian summed up the experience pretty adequately, “Man, everything’s better when you’re rich.”
The adults chuckled at that one.
“Not everything,” Seth said, although he was smiling, “Some things, though, definitely yes.”
Christian snorted. “Oh yeah, like what? What isn’t better when you’re rich?”
Seth’s gaze was distant now, his eyes on the horizon. The sun was already starting to set, throwing the sky into a pretty red and orange display.
“It’s not that things aren’t better, it’s that being rich isn’t what you think it is. I used to think being rich would solve all my problems—until I actually was rich, that is.”
Christian picked up his plastic menu with an eye roll.
“Okay, thanks, Buddha.”
“Christian,” I scolded him, “Apologize.”
But Seth only laughed. “I’ve been called many things, but Buddha is a first for me.”
Over his menu, Christian cast an admiring look at Seth’s arms.
“You do lift though, right?”
Seth lifted his arm and flexed, showing an impressive display of muscles. Then, he leaned in.
“Want to see me bench-press your Mom?”
Christian’s jaw dropped, and I shot a glare at Seth.
“You will not.”
He picked his own menu up with a wave of his hand. “Another time.”
“No other time,” I said, shaking my head firmly.
Christi
an and Seth exchanged smirks while I sighed.
“Hi there, welcome to Dunny’s. You all ready to order?”
Our waitress, a tan girl with big doe eyes, had thankfully arrived. The rest of the meal passed quickly. We ordered, chatted about which rides to go on next, and minutes later, our plates heaped with thick juicy burgers and crispy fries were placed before us. Seth and Christian gobbled theirs down in record time. Once Nana and I had finished all we could, we slid our plates over for them to finish.
Seeing Christian inhale my leftover fries without so much as a blink, Seth chuckled.
“Your kid’s got a healthy appetite.”
Christian grimaced. “If you saw the sandwiches I’m force-fed for lunch every day, you would too.”
“Careful,” I remarked drily, “We still haven’t got your cake yet.”
Taking up both of my hands and gazing adoringly into my eyes, Christian sing-songed an overly cheery and completely insincere, “Sorry, Mom.”
Despite the mischievous glint in his eye, I rustled his hair affectionately. “You’re forgiven.”
“Be right back, bathroom,” Seth said.
Minutes later, he’d returned, and we were just about to head out when our waitress appeared and stopped us.
“Hold on, I heard there was a birthday boy up here,” she said, grinning.
The plate in her hand held a towering slice of cake. At the thought of them singing Happy Birthday to him in front of everyone, Christian’s face went white. He hated being made a public spectacle as much as I did.
“N-no,” was all he could stammer.
“Don’t worry,” she said, leaning in with a stage whisper, “I was told not to sing, just to deliver the cake and be done with it.”
And, with a cheeky wink, she placed the plate on the edge of our table and strode off.
“Funny,” I said, my gaze going to Seth, “I wonder how she could’ve known it was Christian’s birthday.”
Seth shrugged, assuming an innocent expression. “Weird.”
Christian had already sat himself back down and gotten to work devouring the chocolatey dessert. The final bites, he doled out to Nana, me and, finally, Seth.
As Seth tried his, Christian said, “Thanks.”
Seth grinned. “No problem. Believe it or not, I vaguely remember having birthdays as a kid. Other than presents, cake is the best part, and that’s one thing you can never have enough of.”