by Jessie Cooke
“I want you to come and eat with me and bring Holly. Wes is picking up French bread on his way over and Chris brought a cake.”
“Geez Ma, they’re not your sons, they’re your security.”
“They’re nice boys. You’ll be here?”
“I don’t think…” I suddenly saw an opportunity begin to take shape. “Hey Ma, do me a favor?” I had a terrible, awful idea.
“Of course baby. What do you need?”
“Call Holly yourself and invite her. Tell her I turned you down.”
“You can’t come?”
“I will try…but don’t tell her that. Tell her you just really liked her and wanted to see her again.”
“I really do like her.”
“Good, then call her and invite her over. I’ll text you the number.”
“Okay dear. Try and come, please. I miss you.”
“I miss you too Ma. I’ll try hard. But don’t tell Holly, okay?”
“Okay baby.”
I hung up with Mom feeling a little better. Even if Holly socks me in the face, the idea that I might get to see her totally made up for that. So this is love. No wonder I avoided it for so long. My fucking phone was ringing again. My head was about to explode. I looked at the caller I.D. It was Mark. Fuck me. I suppose I should get this over with as well.
“Hello Mark!” I tried to sound happy. Maybe I can project that onto him.
“What kind of freak are you?” Or, maybe not.
“I’m not sure that’s any way to talk to your boss, Mark.”
“Then I quit. Now, what kind of fucking freak are you? Are you kidding me? You hire some crazy bitch to drug and seduce me so you can send photos to my fiancé? Why? Because you want her for yourself? Your billions of dollars can’t buy you a woman of your own?”
“You looked pretty happy with Connie sitting up on your…”
“I was on drugs!”
“Drugs are bad Mark, you shouldn’t use them. Connie tells me she didn’t use them either. That was all you.”
“Bull-shit! You’re a crazy mother-fucker!”
“And you’re a cheater no matter who you’d like to blame. That was your dick inside of that hot Columbian. Oh…and you’re also unemployed.”
“That’s fine. I don’t want to work for you. I can get another job…I can’t replace Holly. You completely screwed up my life for your own entertainment. Are you happy?”
“No Mark. I’m miserable.” Why I said that, I have no idea.
“Good! I’m going to do everything in my power to get Holly to forgive me; I just wanted you to know that. Someday when she and I are old and sitting in our rocking chairs together we’ll think back on all of this and laugh. I’m sure you’ll still be alone.” The phone went to dead air. Holly is the biggest hearted person I’ve ever met. If she thinks that he was drugged…she’ll forgive him. She’ll marry him. She’ll have his babies. But, she won’t be happy. She doesn’t love him passionately. Comfortable love should be reserved for your mother or your sister. Passionate, tumultuous love is what adults should strive for. Because, no matter how pissed off she is at me…just knowing I still love her gives me some kind of strange satisfaction. Shit! I grabbed my keys and left the office. I wasn’t going to get any work done today anyways.
I saw the Camaro on the way to the Aston. My heart literally ached in my chest like someone was shoving a knife into it. What did this woman do to me? I got in my car and drove out to Long Island. Usually the drive itself clears my head…but not today. Today my head was still a fucked-up mess.
When I walked into the front lobby of the office I was visiting, I tried to look straight ahead. I always try not to look around when I’m here. The walls are pink and the couches are pastel blue and the floor is white tile with pastel green designs in it. It looks like a unicorn vomited up a rainbow all over it.
“Axel! How good to see you! It’s been too long.”
“Sarah my pet you’re exquisite! When are you going to give this all up and run away with me?”
“Axel if I thought for half a second that you were serious my fat brown ass would leap over this counter,” she laughed. Sarah is some kind of Native American with a startlingly beautiful bone structure, long, straight black hair that is so dark it’s almost blue and the sexiest heart shaped lips on earth. She’s also about four hundred pounds. That’s a fact I could overlook except that she told me her favorite position is on top. “Is Leah expecting you?”
“No, but I’m desperate, Sarah. Do you think she can work me in?” I glanced around behind me then. There were four people in the nauseating waiting room. An old man that looked like he hadn’t bathed or washed his hair in centuries, an old lady who was sitting as far from the old man as humanly possible, a young guy with platinum blonde dreads that I seriously might be jealous of…could I do dreads? I digress…that was food for thought at a later time. The last was an attractive ginger with emerald green eyes a few seats away from him.
“These people are ahead of you, Axel. Can you wait?”
I leaned on the counter and in my sexiest voice I said, “I can…but you know how I hate it. Maybe we can arrange something in trade?”
Sarah laughed and said, “Okay, but I still like it on top.” I had to re-think this one. I dug out my wallet and checked it for cash. I had about six hundred bucks. That should work. I turned towards the people waiting and said,
“Excuse me! I have an issue that only Leah can deal with. I also have a family emergency in the Bronx I have to get to ASAP. I’ll give any of you that would like to skip your appointments today one hundred dollars cash!”
“Axel!” Sarah hissed behind me. “Leah will be pissed. You’re costing her money.”
Shit! Fine! “I’ll give you a hundred dollars and I’ll pay Leah for your full session today. How about it? Help a guy out? Do your good deed for the day?”
The old lady was first to take me up on it. She snagged the bill out of my hand and looked at Sarah. “Re-schedule me for next week, okay?”
“Sure Miss Hanson,” Sarah told her. She poked me in the back with her pen. I hope the lid was on it. The suit cost three thousand dollars.
“Come on, whose next? How about you sir?” I addressed the old homeless man. He got up and took the bill. He gave me a toothless grin and headed for the door. “Don’t you want to reschedule?” I called after him. He kept going as Sarah said,
“He didn’t have an appointment. He’s homeless and he just comes in here every day because Leah gives him coffee.” I was still shaking my head as the ginger collected her money and rescheduled. The only hold-out was the dread-man.
“Dude, please?” He turned towards me and I saw that he had the darkest blue eyes I’d ever seen. Blonde stubble covered his chin and tribal tattoos covered his upper arms in half-sleeves. His arms were huge. As a matter of fact, he’s all huge. His legs are like five feet long. He’s a moose. He looked like a fighter. He reminded me of Mick from the neck down.
“Man I need to see her,” he said. His voice was deep and smooth.
“Do you sing?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“You look like a singer. Do you have an agent?”
“No.”
“A producer?”
“No.” I took out my card and went over and handed it to him.
“Call me and we’ll have a listen.”
He looked at it, up at me and back down at the card. “Is this a joke? Am I like on candid camera or some shit?”
I laughed. “Nope. I’m Axel Maxwell, that’s my card and you have a standing invitation to come and sing for me…if you give up your appointment today…or just wait until I’m done.”
“Shit! I don’t need it now. Hell yes! I’ll give it up.” I still had two hundreds in my hand. The Nordic Moose snatched them both and with a wink he said, “Thanks man!” I shook my head again and turned back around towards Sarah.
“Tell her I’m here?”
Sarah rolled her eyes
and picked up the phone. I was in.
29
Holly
I can’t believe I said yes to Axel’s mother. What is wrong with me? My inability to say no has gotten me into so much trouble over the years…and quite a bit recently…you think I would have learned by now. She’s just so darn sweet. I have no idea how she spawned the son of Satan. Who, by the way has called me at least twenty times today alone. I have sixteen bouquets of flowers in my apartment. They’re spilling over and worst of all, Maggie even called me today to plead his case. She said that she’d never seen him this way with anyone. What part of “click” does he not understand? I guess maybe I give his mother too much credit. How spoiled was he as a child that he never learned how to take no for an answer? How dare he think that he could set my fiancé up with some Columbian ho to get me into bed? I guess it did work…but how dare he? I at least made his mother tell me that Axel wouldn’t be there several times before I agreed to go. Wes and Chris I can handle having lasagna with, but I refuse to dine with The Omen VI.
I went online and got my airline ticket to California before I left for Brooklyn. Mark wants to talk and since I do firmly believe Axel had him drugged and set up, I owe him that much. Besides, I haven’t had a vacation in a long time and I’d never been to California…so I was looking forward to it. The vacation will be on Axel who I received a very generous severance check from. I probably should save it since Mark and I are now both unemployed. He text me earlier to say that Axel is insane and he quit his job. He told me he’s been trying to reach him all week and this was the first time he got through. I shuddered to think about what a mess Axel’s office must be. Without an assistant that man’s entire life will fall apart. I have no idea why I’m wasting time worrying about Axel or his office. He doesn’t deserve it. I need to focus all my energy on Mark. Mark is a good man and my reaction to his actions was eating away at my soul.
When I got to Brooklyn and Mrs. Maxwell’s street, I drove all the way around the block twice just to make sure that none of Axel’s cars were anywhere in the vicinity. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust his mother…but he is such an expert manipulator, you just never know what he’s going to do. When I didn’t see his car, I found a place to park. Wes…or Chris? I can’t really tell them apart. One of them was sitting on the stoop as I went up the steps.
“Hello Miss Holly!”
“Hi…” Damn, I feel bad that I can’t remember which one he is.
“Mr. Maxwell didn’t come with you?”
“No…why? What did you hear?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.
“I didn’t hear anything,” he said, nervously.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just had a rough few days. I don’t mean to snap at you. Are you and your brother joining us for dinner?”
“Yes ma’am, Chris is in there chopping vegetables,” he said that with a smirk. “Miss Maxwell said she would call me when it was ready.” Good, this is Wes.
“Okay then Wes. I’ll see you inside.” He opened the door for me and I went in and made my way to the kitchen.
“There she is!” Axel’s mom was slicing French bread and Chris looked both adorable and hilarious in one of her aprons, chopping vegetables. Axel’s head would probably explode if he could see him.
“Hello. I hope I’m not too late.”
“You’re not late at all. What can I get you to drink?”
“I’m fine right now. What can I do to help you?”
“You’re a guest. Have a seat and relax. Chris, pour our guest a glass of wine.”
I suppressed a smile. She is just as pushy as Axel, only a lot sweeter. Chris jumped when she spoke. He already had a glass in his hand and was reaching for the wine bottle. He poured and handed the drink to me. “Thank you. It smells wonderful in here.”
“Lasagna is my specialty. Gabriel loves it. I should have known the day his father told me that he hated it, he wasn’t the one for me.” It was still hard for me to wrap my head around Axel’s real name being Gabriel…like the angel. Angel of darkness, maybe.
“Did Axel’s father pass away…if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t mind baby. No…at least the last time I saw the son of a bitch he was still alive. Excuse my French.”
I laughed. “It’s fine. Believe me, I understand relationship issues well. I just thought because there were so many photos of him in the living room…”
“Oh no baby. That’s not Gabriel’s daddy. Those pictures are of him and his step-father, my second husband. He was a wonderful man. He was the best example of a man that Gabriel could have ever had. He died young unfortunately. Poor Gabriel loved him more than he could have if they were DNA related. He had some issues with his behavior for a while after that. Thankfully he recovered.” I nearly spit out my drink. I’m not sure “recovered” was the right word. Maybe that was still his problem. Maybe he never got over the loss…maybe I’m making excuses for him. Sheesh! I’m as bad as his mother.
“Can I set the table for you or something?”
“Okay baby. You don’t like to sit still, do you? Just like my Gabriel.” If she only knew the reason he couldn’t sit still was all about what he put up his nose all day long… “The plates are there on the counter.” I went and picked them up and took them into the dining room. I began placing them around the table and as I got to the last one, I counted. There was Mrs. Maxwell, me, Wes and Chris…. that’s four. She gave me five plates. If that son of a bitch….
“Hi Holly.” Shit! I looked up into Axel’s big blue eyes. He looked sad like I’ve never seen him…and I wasn’t supposed to care…so why did I?
“Damn it, Axel! What are you doing here?”
“I just came by to see my Ma.”
“You’re a liar. I just set the table with the plates she gave me. She already had a plate for you! She made your favorite! She was expecting you.”
He took a deep breath. In a shaky, un-Axel like voice he said, “You’re right. I asked her not to tell you I would be here. I need to talk to you and you won’t take my calls.” While he was talking I sat down the last plate and grabbed my purse.
“Tell your mother I’m sorry but I’m not sharing a meal with people who can’t be honest.”
“Please don’t be mad at Ma. She’s never been able to tell me no. I know right from wrong. This is my fault.”
“Whatever, I’m out of here.”
“Holly, please. Would it kill you to hear me out?”
“It might.” I could feel him right behind me. I hated myself for breathing in a little deeper to take in his scent. I hated that I loved the way he looked in that dark blue suit. I hated that just the sound of his voice made my insides quiver. He touched my arm and I felt the heat of a thousand flames. It was one more thing to be pissed off at myself about. “Don’t touch me.” He dropped his hand off me. I could still feel him standing there. I can hear him breathing. For some reason, my feet weren’t moving towards the door. I’m an idiot. I turned towards him and said, “I’ll hear you out, but you might not want to waste your breath when I tell you that there is nothing you can say that will change my mind. You lied to me and you manipulated both me and Mark. You played a game with our life. Your life might be one big, stupid game, but ours isn’t. We have plans for the future. We’re going to have a real life together…not a fairy tale life like the one you live in.” The more I spoke, the more hurt he looked. It made my heart ache to hurt him but he needed to hear the truth and I needed to say it. Maybe if more people told him the truth he would realize how important it was.
“Everything you say is true…” he was interrupted by a sudden beating on the door. Axel stepped in front of me and looked outside. “Shit!” He unlocked the door and opened it. When he did, a bloody Jesse Lee fell in.
30
Axel
Holly and I stood in the doorway of my guest bedroom at the penthouse and stared at Jesse as he slept…we were like new parents watching our sleeping child. It was twisted and sweet at the sam
e time. That pretty much summed up our entire relationship. Leah told me that Holly was the one. She was the one that would heal my fractured soul. I’d been seeing Leah for the past five years. She told me that my soul was injured because of the trauma that happened to me in my past lives. It’s not something I talk about to other people. They wouldn’t understand. But I believed in her and she’d only confirmed my belief that Holly was what was missing in my life.
“I really wish that he would have let us call 911. I wish both of you would have.” Holly was visibly upset, shaking even. From the second Jesse fell into my mother’s house and chaos erupted, she kept her head and pitched in to do whatever she could, but now it was catching up to her. I went with Wes and Chris to see if we could find Jesse’s father. My mother and Holly tended to Jesse. When the Bobbsey twins and I got down the street, the old man was taking off on his old Harley cruiser. He aimed the bike towards me and I didn’t have time to jump out of the way. I was bruised and scraped up but nothing to freak out about.
“The old saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity is a crock of shit. Jesse and I both know that. Calling 911 would have brought the paparazzi out of the woodwork.”
“So his father is free to do this again? He could have killed you!” She looked in at Jesse and said, “Both of you.” I liked that she seemed more worried about me.
“He could have, but he didn’t. He doesn’t get away necessarily. Jesse and I will talk to the police in the morning, privately. That way it won’t be all over the tabloids and the vultures won’t be circling my mother’s house. The police will take pictures and they’ll notify his father’s parole officer. I told Laurel to stay there in case he comes back. Hardy will stay with my mother.”
She looked at Jesse again. “Why do you think he didn’t fight back?”
I shook my head. That was my question. Jesse could have kicked his ass. “I’ve never had the shit beat out of me by an authority figure. Maybe it’s something psychological…I have no idea.”