Kissing Another Grimaldi

by K. Z. Riman

  “I rummaged through your closet.” I told him as we ate, pretending nothing had happened in the kitchen.

  He looked at me for a moment and smiled. He swallowed his food, approval apparent from his expression. “What did you pack for me?”

  “Some jeans, shirts, and some trunks,” I said shyly.

  “Trunks?” He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

  “Well, Sean…” I paused and assessed his reaction. “Sean would like to go to the beach on Saturday and I was hoping we’d go for a swim.”

  “Did you pack a bathing suit?” He teased me as he smiled. I looked down on my plate and shook my head. “Well, aren’t you going for a dip?”

  “I want to, but…” I stopped. This is embarrassing.

  “Don’t you have a bathing suit?”

  I shook my head again and he sighed. “I didn’t have time to buy one.”

  He nodded and went on eating, looking at me as he did. I was beginning to grow more and more embarrassed. He hadn’t stared at me this way before. What could he be thinking?

  “Please don’t look at me like that,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Is this your first vacation in six years?”

  I nodded. It was. I couldn’t go on a vacation before. I needed every single creolle I earned to buy food and pay the bills. “The first.”

  “Damn it, Kelsey.” He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.

  “I needed to work,” I said. He should have known the reason for that. He didn’t need to remind me how my life had turned out to be a big mess without them.

  “Yeah, but…”

  “It couldn’t be helped.” I ended the conversation. It was something I just didn’t want to discuss.

  He nodded and stood up from the table as soon as he was done.

  “I will take a shower. You should get ready, too. I will see you in half an hour.” He headed for the stairs.

  * * * *

  It was a four-hour drive and I fell asleep, even though I was looking forward to seeing Sean. We reached The Brockswind Manor by midnight, where Mother and Father had booked our suites.

  They had stayed up late, waiting for us. Sean ran towards me, tears in his eyes, as soon as Scott opened their penthouse door.

  “Mommy!” he shouted.

  I dropped my bag and kneeled to reach him, to better hold him in my arms. I was never away from him. “I missed you so much!”

  “I missed you, too!” He released me and ran to the couch, where he had new toy cars and a remote-controlled helicopter. “Look! Grandpa bought these for me.” He turned to Scott. “Look, Uncle Scott! Let’s play.”

  “No, honey.” I cupped his cheeks and brought his lips to mine. “You have to rest. We all have a big day tomorrow.”

  “That’s right!” Mother stood up from the couch to give her son a tight hug. She was happy I had convinced Scott to come. Even Father, whom we thought would be angry that Scott took a day off, was happy about our coming. “We will go to the amusement park tomorrow, after lunch.”

  Mother turned to me. “Keith and I are to have breakfast and lunch with some friends, Kelsey.”

  “No worries, Mother. Friends are blessings. You have to meet them.” I carried Sean, who had started yawning. “I missed my son so much.”

  “That’s nice.” Mother hugged me before pointing at the second room of the penthouse. “Now go and put Sean to bed.”

  “Leo has your suite keys.” Father reminded us before going to his own room in the penthouse.

  “Well, I’m going ahead,” Scott said, and walked out. He was really tired, after going to meeting after meeting. I watched as he went, without glancing at me.

  At nine the following morning, I was running down the hotel stairs to get to breakfast. I had slept in and forgot that Mother and Father were leaving early without Sean.

  “Hi, Mommy. Good morning.”

  “Good morning!” I tilted Sean’s chin and kissed his forehead. “You smell nice. Did Leo give you a bath?”

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “That’s good.” I went around the table and sat opposite him. I turned to Leo, who had just returned from the buffet with Sean’s plate. “Thank you.”

  He smiled and gave Sean his plate. “My pleasure, ma’am.”

  “Where’s Scott?” It was like him to be late in the morning.

  “Showering, ma’am,” Leo replied. “I believe he will be down in a few minutes.”

  “Okay.” I tucked my loose hair behind my ear and headed to the breakfast buffet. I was feeling a little hungrier than I expected. Perhaps it was the travel or the fact that there were many dishes to choose from.

  “These look good.” Scott startled me. I looked at him, handsome in his white shirt and jeans. I smiled and he gave me a smile in return, before turning his gaze back to the buffet table. “Let’s go to the mall after breakfast.”

  “Are you buying something?” I asked, as I took some sausages.

  “Yes.” He nodded, taking sausages, too.

  “Did I forget to pack some things?”

  He chuckled. “No. You are pretty dependable.” He grew a delicate shade of pink and it made me smile. “I was just thinking how…your son would like to spend some time with you at a mall.”

  Your son? “You mean Sean.” Did he just deliberately not mention his name?

  “Yes.”

  I would have to admit, I was pretty stunned that he had considered Sean about this. “Sean would love that.”

  He nodded and led me back to the breakfast table.

  “Mommy, are we going to stay here?” Sean sounded bored, his shoulders slumped. It seemed he had so much fun with his grandparents that he wanted more.

  Scott looked at him but didn’t say anything. I spoke up. “No, honey. Uncle Scott is going to take us to the mall.”

  “I’ve been there.” Sean looked disappointed.

  “Yes, honey. But…”

  “They are going to have a magic show at the mall,” Scott said, keeping his eyes on his plate. Why did it feel like he wasn’t at all interested in Sean, even when he was doing things for him?

  “They are?” Sean’s face lit up, his smile reaching his ears.

  “See, honey? Shall we have a look?” I asked.

  “Yes!” He hurried with his food.

  An hour and a half later, we were at the biggest Brockswind mall, rushing over to get to the front row of the show. I sat between Scott and Sean, while Leo stood at the back. Sean kept talking about magic as we waited.

  “Mommy, look!” He stood up from his seat, trying to figure out one of the magician’s tricks.

  I had never seen him this happy. “I know. He’s good, right?”

  For a moment, I thought I heard Scott muffle a laugh as he sat beside us. I looked at him and smiled, the response to which I didn’t expect. He held my hand and squeezed it.

  “I need two volunteers: a father and his son.” The magician threw his hand in the air, urging for volunteers. The crowd erupted in murmurs and shouts from children.

  “You there.”

  I wasn’t able to speak as the magician pointed at Sean. “Me?”

  His sexy assistant came down from the stage and took Sean’s hand. “No. Wait!” I suddenly felt nervous. How would Scott react to this? The magician said, father and son.

  “You too, sir.” The assistant held Scott’s hand, pulling him to join in.

  “Let’s go!” Sean ran up the stage and I couldn’t even stand up to pull him right back. Scott had an annoyed expression on his face, no matter that the gorgeous woman was holding his hand. He slowly stood and walked up onto the stage.

  “Okay!” The magician held a deck of cards in his hand and turned to Sean and Scott. “My, my! You
two look exactly like each other.”

  Scott looked at me, and I smiled at him. He sighed but remained calm. Sean was oblivious to the fact that the magician thought they were father and son. He was just so excited to perform a trick on stage.

  “Okay, sir. Show your son the card you chose.”

  Scott was following every instruction the magician was giving him without complaint and without any attempt to correct him about the son thing. I sat there, watching the two of them with goose bumps over my body, and wishing it were true.

  The magician was right. They looked alike. How I wished Scott could be a father to him now, no matter that logically, I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Scott wouldn’t even tell me his plans for us. How could I dream of him and my son?

  “My assistant indeed has the King of Clubs,” the magician shouted over the microphone, waking me up from my daydream. “Let us give Mister Scott and his son, Sean, a big, magical hand!”

  Scott helped Sean off the stage, bringing their prize, a stuffed rabbit, with them. “Mommy! Did you see me? Did you see me up there? I did magic!”

  “Yes. I saw you, honey.” I chuckled as I cupped his cheeks and brought his forehead to my lips. “You were great up there.”

  Sean sat contentedly on his seat and I brushed his hair with my hand. When I turned to look back at Scott, he leaned forward to kiss me on the lips, careful not to let Sean see, and then whispered, “You owe me, Kelsey.”

  I blushed, imagining he meant to do as he pleased again with me once he got me alone. The idea of him doing so, had me feeling very aroused.

  “Say, yes,” he whispered.

  “Yes.” I closed my eyes, feeling his warm breath on my cheek and ear.

  “Good.” He stood as the magician bade his audience farewell. “Let’s go buy you a bathing suit.”

  “A what?” My eyes shot open and I panicked. He wasn’t planning on seducing me here, was he?

  “Relax.” He chuckled lightly, snaking his arm around my waist to lead me to the second floor. Sean was with Leo, continuously bragging how he could do the same tricks with his Uncle Scott again and again. “I wouldn’t hold you to what you owe me here.”

  His words gave me relief and thrill, at the same time. If he was to do anything here, how stupid would it be? How thrilling would it be?

  “Mommy! Where are we going?” Sean was running after Scott and me. When he caught up to us, he squeezed himself in the middle and held our hands with each of his.

  “We’re going to buy Mommy a bathing suit for our day at the beach tomorrow,” I replied, looking eagerly at him.

  “Yey!” He jumped and lifted his feet, forcing us to swing him back and forth with our hands, as we walked. “Did you hear that, Uncle Scott? We’re going to the beach!”

  “So I heard,” Scott said flatly, without even looking at him, making me frown.

  “Will you swim with me, Uncle Scott?” Sean asked, his eyes fixed on the man holding his hand. He was smiling and it was a smile I really did not wish to see fade.

  “Mmm-hmmm.” Scott nodded, but his expression remained the same. Not looking at Sean, he pressed his lips into one hard line.

  Sean let our hands go and ran back to Leo, bragging about his fun day tomorrow. I scowled at Scott. Seeing it, he narrowed his eyes. He really didn’t get what he was doing. He was being his old self again. Though it wasn’t to me, it was to someone important in my life.

  Maybe that was how he was built. He was built to be warm and gentle with women—only with women—who provided him what he needed, what he desired. I had been a witness to that. Scott had been rude to me since time immemorial. Since we started making love, he became gentler and warmer to me, but he was still rude to my son.

  “What?”

  “Don’t do that.” I shook my head and paced a little more rapidly to get to the only bathing suit store at the mall.

  “Mommy, Leo is taking me for ice cream, okay?” Sean was shouting as he passed the store with his favorite butler. Just looking at him made my heart melt. He was completely unaware that Scott wasn’t that interested in taking care of him.

  “Okay, honey.” I waved at him, unwilling to show him how much pain I was feeling right now, and headed for the sale rack.

  “We don’t shop there.” Scott grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the more exclusive area of the store.

  It was the one place in every store which I never had the courage to take a peek into. Seth never bothered bringing me to places like this. He usually let me shop on my own.

  “With my budget, I do.” I twisted my wrist but he wouldn’t let me go. “Scott!”

  “We shop here,” he said, pulling me in front of the display walls of the store and taking one two-piece set off a rack before handing it to me.

  “Good morning!” A salesgirl with a perky attitude approached us with a wide smile. “Welcome to Pieces and Beyond. How can I help you?”

  “We’re good.” Scott looked at her sternly. “I would like to shop for my wife, alone.”

  Wife. The word gave me a lump in my throat. The woman nodded and smiled, leaving us be. He had to be a lot more careful using that word around me or I might just hold him to it.

  The suit looked great. It was a black-and-plum-colored polka dot bikini that looked like it was meant to be worn only by supermodels.

  “I can’t wear that!” I checked the tag and was startled at the price. “A thousand creolles?” I exclaimed. “For two small pieces of cloth?”

  Scott chuckled in amusement as he sat on the round couch in the middle of the room. “Just go ahead and choose one. Remember, you owe me.”

  He didn’t have to always remind me how much I owed him. It felt like I owed a lot people—Seth, for saving my life; Dean Povenmier and his family, for making me part of their family; Grace, for looking after Sean and me; Mister Frost, for the lending me money when Sean was hospitalized; and probably the whole world for leaving me be.

  How long would it be before my debts were paid? Why did it feel like no one was helping me because I deserved it? Because I really needed help? Perhaps Scott was the only one making me feel that way. Was I giving in!

  “Yes. Exactly. I owe you. I owe you a lot and with this kind of living, I don’t know if I will be able to pay you back.” I threw the suit at him and turned to leave. He stopped me, holding my hand and pulling me to the couch. “Hey!”

  “Listen to me.” Scott had a different look in his eyes. He wasn’t angry or sad. It looked like he wanted to try and make a point, but didn’t know how to do it. “It’s never been about money.”

  “What is it about then?” I shoved his hands away as we sat beside each other. When he didn’t say anything, I felt like I was right. “It’s about my body, isn’t it? It’s about how you could use me…”

  “I never used you!” he hissed, careful not to draw too much attention to us. Some women had been looking at him with lustful eyes.

  “What do you call it then?” I asked. “What is all this about?”

  He looked at me for a moment and I felt his warmth. He was a different person again. He was someone else…a bit more like his brother. “I want…to take care of you.”

  “Me?” I swallowed hard. “No.” He couldn’t even be nice to Sean. You take care of me; you take care of my son as well.

  “No?” He sat straight, taken aback. I really didn’t think he understood what he was saying, let alone what it meant to take care of anyone. “What are you saying?”

  “Come on, Scott.” I shook my head. “You couldn’t even look at your nephew. Why in the world would you take care of me?”

  “My nephew?” He narrowed his eyes, confusion apparent in his voice. “What does he have to do with this?”

  He stopped and breathed deeply as three young, well-dressed women came in. They smiled
at him, not minding that I was there. He looked at them briefly, and then turned back to me.

  “Everything.” I let out a sigh of impatience as I stood up. “Everything. The reason I’m here is because of Sean. It’s not because of me.”

  I didn’t need a man to take care of me. I came here because I wanted Seth’s family to take care of Sean.

  “Sean,” he said flatly. I was beginning to feel he didn’t like Sean.

  “Don’t you like your brother’s son?” I whispered.

  I wasn’t asking him to make him his own, for crying out loud! I just wanted him to be an uncle to him. I might never find a man to love me, but I would want to find a man, who would show Sean what it’s like to have a father. I would like a man to love him, and help raise him.

  “What’s to like?” He stood and pulled me towards one of the display walls, away from the women, and pretended to be looking for other suits.

  “What’s not to like?” How should I make my point? Did I really have to? For fighting to prove a point would mean I wanted him to care, which I really didn’t think he’d do. “I mean, do you even see how he looks at you?”

  At this, he let out a ragged breath and ran his hands through his hair. “I know how he looks at me, Kelsey, but he’s not my son. I can’t…”

  “I’m not asking you to be his father.” I never insinuated that! How could he think for one second that that was what I wanted? “I brought him to your parents and to you, so he could have a family. He needs an uncle. Heck, he wants an uncle!”

  “I can’t be an uncle!” He turned to me and hissed between his teeth. “Do you want a man, who apparently is an asshole, lurking around your son, teaching him about the world…?”

  “I’m not asking you to teach him anything!”

  “What do you want then? What do you want from me, because honestly, I can’t get you. I can’t get how your mind works right now.”

  “That makes the two of us. I don’t know what you want, either,” I said. I didn’t know what he really wanted. He had brought Sean and me here for a magic show and for a day out, and yet…unless he didn’t want Sean. He just wanted me.