by Bella Court
Out of her peripheral, she could see him suddenly straighten. He gave Connor a punch on the shoulder, and motioned in Kristen's direction. Realizing there was no other way to avoid it, she turned in their direction, and waggled her fingers slowly as a greeting.
Reece grinned at her, looking at her appraisingly, the blonde at his waist forgotten.
Reece commanded one's attention first with his loud and cocky nature, but once you looked at Connor, he was the one that held it. Her brown eyes collided with his silvery orbs, as he leaned nonchalantly against the pool table. An Armani suit hung well off his broad shoulders, perfectly fitted and tailored. His dark hair was sexily disheveled, falling into those wonderful eyes of his, and even from far away, Kristen longed to brush it away.
He leaned casually against the pool table, a brunette talking to him animatedly, and he nodded his head politely, but his eyes were locked on Kristen. He was smirking at her, and he waggled his fingers back at her. Even from here, the want and need was there, and instinctively, she felt herself pat her hair out of vanity to make sure she looked all right.
Reece motioned for her to come over, and with reluctance, she did so. She was still unsure of how to act around Connor.
"I didn't think it was possible for you to get any sexier, but damn!" Reece exclaimed, giving her a tight hug.
"Likewise,” she laughed, determinedly not looking at Connor.
"Don't you think so too, Connor?" Reece asked. Despite herself, she wanted to know, needed to know what he thought.
"She always looks good,” Connor replied, his gray eyes drinking her in. It wasn't even a lie. She was breathtaking, no matter what she wore, but the red dress he first saw her in and this black number were certainly higher up on his list. Suddenly, he was very glad he hadn't opted to keep working instead.
"So where's Jade?" Connor asked, finally managing to tear his eyes from her.
"Yeah, where's Jadie?" Reece echoed.
"She's over in that general direction." Kristen waved her hands toward the other end of the room. "Just wait, Reece. She looks so hot,” she assured him, and she could swear she saw a hint of a blush form on those tanned cheeks of his.
He didn't say anything, but his head was now craning curiously over the edges of the crowd, searching for Jade.
Meanwhile, the brunette that was next to Connor ran her hands over his shoulder to get his attention. "So what was I saying?” she asked, under the delusion that Connor had actually been listening to her. Not that she wasn't attractive. But she wasn't Kristen.
Connor didn't know what to say, so he just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, and was saved by Kristen's sudden proclamation, "There she is." Jade had somehow managed to detangle herself from her family.
"I still don't see the little squirt," Reece complained, turning his head in all directions, practically looking at everything but Jade.
"Hey guys, I'm glad you could make it!" Jade appeared beside Kristen, and together, the two made a stunning pair.
The shock on Reece's face was a Kodak moment, and Connor chuckled softly as he watched the change in his friend's eyes go from being wide and surprised to dark and approving.
"Happy Birthday." Connor leaned forward to wrap Jade in a brief hug, while Reece's eyes were still hooded and admiring.
"Hey, Reece,” Jade said gruffly.
"You look really pretty," Reece told her honestly.
She looked up at him skeptically but after seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she gave him a soft smile. "Thank you."
Meanwhile, Kristen was too busy watching Connor flirt with the brunette out of the corner of her eyes with growing feelings of jealousy to listen to Reece and Jade. Connor leaned in close to the brunette, whispering in her ear, as the brunette let out a low, throaty laugh. She ran her hands up and down the length of his arm, stopping gently at his bicep to squeeze it flirtatiously.
"Hey, Kristen, let's go downstairs to dance!" Jade gently touched Kristen's elbow, and Kristen broke her furious gaze.
"You guys up for dancing?" Jade proposed. In response, Reece gave her a wolfish grin, and Connor's eyes lingered on Kristen, as he nodded his head in assent. Jade flounced out of the room, and the party seemed to follow her down to the main room of the club.
Kristen stayed back, blending in as the partiers made their way to the door. She sighed as the last person left, and with great satisfaction, she made her way to the door, glad for the quiet. She peeked out of the door just once, in time to notice the brunette grinding on Connor to Beyonce's music. He didn't seem to be too keen on getting her to stop, either.
Squashing down on the jealousy, she shut the door with a click. She sank exhaustedly into the leather couches. She glanced at the clock, it was only 11:00 AM, and she was wiped out. She didn't know how to feel. Why was she jealous over Connor? He wasn't hers to be jealous over, and it was a dangerous game they were playing, all the flirting, meaningful looks, and now…the sex.
Frankly, she didn't know what they were. Was he looking for a relationship with her? Kristen instantly tossed that idea aside bitterly. If she didn't know it before, she knew it now more than ever that Connor wasn't the type of guy to settle down. He was too focused on his job, and he leapt from woman to woman as was apparent with the new brunette permanently attached to his side.
Sex always made things complicated, and now she couldn't even think straight because of it. Biting her lower lip, she gently edged her way over to the pool table, running her hands along the smooth cherry wood panels. More importantly, how did she feel about him?
She picked up one of the striped pool balls, rolling it around in her palms. He was handsome, strong, successful, and together…they had something. An intangible something that drew them together like magnets, and yet a very tangible someone kept them apart.
"I guess I'm a little late for the party."
She dropped the ball with a deafening clang. She felt her blood run cold, and instantly, her palms broke out in sweat.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice came out as barely more than a whisper.
* * *
Jade was completely puzzled. She could have sworn Kristen was next to her when they had come down to the main floor. Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, she turned around, only to come face to face with someone's chest.
"Oof. I'm so sorry,” Jade said politely, whilst turning away to continue her search for Kristen. She stopped when she realized someone's hand was on her shoulder.
"Hey, not so fast, there." The guy she had bumped into had a rather strong grasp on her shoulder, and Jade shuddered as she felt his warm, sweaty palm against her bare shoulder.
Reluctantly, she turned around, looking up at the guy. He wasn't as tall as Reece, but he was definitely taller than Jade. He wasn't bad looking, but Jade could already tell that he was completely smarmy, and she definitely didn't appreciate how his fingers were now starting to stroke her shoulder.
"I'm Derek." His hands had moved down to her waist, and he brought her close, beginning to sway to the music.
Everything about this guy was too much. His cologne, the overly spiked hair, the creepy look in his eyes, and now the way he was practically grinding his pelvis against her.
"And I've got to go,” Jade replied, struggling to get out of his grasp. If anything, that only made his grip tighten.
"What's the rush, sweetheart? You haven't even told me your name yet." Derek's eyes glittered, and as he leaned forth, Jade could smell the bitterness of alcohol.
"And I don't plan to." Jade found herself growing increasingly irritated, as she pushed against Derek's iron grip.
"You'd better let me go, or I'll really make you regret it," Jade warned him.
"She's right, you'd better let her go." An iron grip on Derek's shoulder accompanied the impossibly cold voice, just as Jade brought her knee up hard, sending Derek doubling over in pain.
Reece was shocked to find the guy bending over already, hell, all he did was grip his shoulder. Wait, some
thing was off. The guy was gripping his…and before Reece could stop himself, he burst out in great peals of laughter, as he took in the guy's stance and Jade's fuming figure.
"You bitch," Derek gasped out between chokes.
Reece's eyes darkened dangerously, as he gave a discreet but powerful punch to the guy's gut. Derek spluttered and in his drunken stupor lunged stupidly at Reece. Reece easily stepped out of the way, and the guy rammed himself into two other girls who started screaming hysterically, alerting security. Gripping Jade's wrist, Reece dragged her away from the scene and towards a darkened corner of the club.
"You okay?" Reece demanded gruffly, watching the guards take the guy away over the top of Jade's head.
Jade was still seething with unreleased annoyance, as her eyes darted to Reece. "I could have handled him myself, you know,” she snapped purely out of irritation.
"Yeah, I saw that." Reece didn't let her attitude faze him, simply grinned down at her affectionately. "I just wanted to get into the action a bit," Reece continued, watching the brunette start to calm down. "Hey, don't let it get to you, all right? It’s your birthday, don't let one asshole ruin it," Reece consoled.
"Thanks,” Jade said softly, unused to this new, sensitive side of Reece. He was a playboy extraordinaire, with women at his beck and call, not a knight in shining armor for a damsel in distress. At least, that was the side he always showed her.
Reece watched her chew nervously on her lush lower lip with fascination. She looked beautiful tonight. Why hadn't he noticed before? Sure, she was cute and bubbly, but that most definitely not the kind of woman he was attracted to. The way she looked tonight, however, convinced him that she was definitely more than a cute and innocent girl.
"Now come on, we've got a lot of dancing to do before the night is over." Holding out his hand, he smiled in triumph, as Jade took his hand, knowing that she was as good as in his bed already.
Glancing upwards, Reece caught sight of Connor climbing the stairs back to the VIP room Kristen had rented. Reece smirked. Like it wasn't completely obvious Connor had something for Kristen, and it looked like he was finally about to make his move.
* * *
"You look great," John told Kristen honestly, admiring the charisma and grace with which she carried herself. She was always so composed, an absolute ice queen that John had been irresistibly drawn to. "Can we talk?" John implored, taking a step closer, as Kristen took a step back.
"Funny, Melissa said the same thing to me, just a few days ago. She ended up in tears, and I ended up storming the hell out of there. Think the same thing will happen again?" Kristen asked sarcastically, still not lifting her gaze to meet the eyes that she knew would be the end of her.
"Nothing can be said that will make this right. You can do nothing to make this okay. Nothing." Kristen focused on keeping her tone neutral, as she finally lifted her eyes up to John's. His eyes were still that same beautifully haunting shade of silver. They were light and twinkling, even now when he looked so sad, but they no longer had the same effect on her. Eyes that used to reduce her to a melting puddle of need now only incited within her a sort of hatred.
John was quiet for a moment, watching her. She didn't show any signs of being effected by his presence. No anger, no sadness, just that same tight lipped expression with those exotic eyes of hers. Part of her allure was that she was hard to crack and that he had to fight for her, but after a while, it just started feeling like he was giving too much, and she wasn't giving enough. Why did she have to be so strong all the time? Looking at her now, John was beginning to realize that he never really knew her at all.
"We have to have this talk. Whether or not you want to, this situation isn't going to go away simply by ignoring me."
"What I did was wrong, what Melissa did was wrong, and I know that I can never regain your forgiveness. I don't even think I deserve it."
"Good, I guess we're done here,” Kristen said crisply, making a move towards the door, when John firmly wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her from leaving.
"No, we're not." John spoke with a forcefulness he rarely used, while Kristen visibly flinched from his touch.
Ripping his arm off of her ferociously, she snarled, "Don't ever fucking touch me again. Don't ever speak to me again. I really don't understand this need for you and Melissa to try and apologize to me now. Is it because we're working together? The guilt too much for you to handle? Good. I hope it is. I hope the both of you suffer forever knowing what you did to me."
It was vindictive and cold, she knew, but she didn't give a damn. She thought he loved her. She thought Melissa was her best friend. She thought her life was perfect, until they both threw her to the wolves. She had never felt more betrayed in her life. She never felt more like dying, and every encounter with them was like she was experiencing it all over again.
"Don't you think you're playing the part of the martyr?" John snapped angrily, losing his composure for one of the few times in his life. He may have been wrong for betraying her, but he was not the only one to blame for their relationship. It was coldness, convenience, and lust disguised as love. Their love had been cold and mechanical, and while it seemed good at the time, it was Melissa who showed him what true love was, and it wasn't what John had with Kristen.
"You know why I love Melissa? She talked to me. She listened to me. She didn't act like she didn't care. She's not a complicated ice queen. She wasn't afraid to love me," John scoffed, "because I think you were. You didn't love me. Our relationship was cold and lifeless, and we were both too young and confused to realize that. Did you ever love me?"
Kristen froze. Did he think that? Did he honestly believe she didn't love him? Sure, she hadn't expressed her love in the form of excessive PDA or overly vocalized proclamations of her emotions, but that didn't mean she didn't love him. She let him in more than any other man she had ever known. He was the only man she ever let into her life and let see the vulnerability she rarely showed, and he thought she never loved him?
She was visibly shaking now, her eyes red, as she said in ragged tones, "I loved you. You were my…everything. You threw me away. You were the only man I ever loved, and you threw me away. You threw me away." Her voice rose suddenly at the end, and John flinched at her words.
Mustering all her might into one hand, she slapped him across the face with such force that John's head snapped to the side.
"And now, you're the only man I've ever hated,” she whispered, fleeing the room, tears streaming down her beautiful face.
Her eyes shined with an unnatural brightness that only made the sadness in her brown eyes more prevalent. Rolling the tissue paper into small points, Kristen moistened the tips, removing with precision the makeup that had gone astray during her brief burst of tears. For that strange first thirty seconds after she had burst out of the room, she saw no one, she heard no one. It was as if the world had stopped, as she desperately searched for the bathroom.
Several women who had been in the bathroom fled immediately upon seeing the tear stricken Kristen. The bitchy look she had plastered on her face didn't exactly help, either.
She allowed herself the luxury of a moment of tears before composing herself. She loved John Wilde. There was a certain sense of comfort in seeing him after a long stressful day at work, and she knew he felt the same way. Back in those days, Connor was still working in Japan, Reece hadn't begun working at Wilde Finances, and John was left to run the entire conglomeration on his own.
With firm strokes, she removed the offensive lines of makeup from her face, recalling every short but sweet conversation they would have that used to send warm waves of comfort over her.
They had a routine. They would come home, John would talk; they would eat takeout, and then look forward to a night of steamy sex. There was a certain sense of familiarity, of comfort, in knowing that they had something together that most people didn't have. She thought she was happy, and she thought he was happy.
They weren't. Th
ey were falling apart, and they both didn't seem to understand that. They were content being within their little bubble, never knowing that something greater than their familiarity lay beyond.
For months after John had left her, Kristen would lay awake, reliving every moment with him, every conversation, every moment of their lovemaking. It used to be the only thing that kept her going, and the idea that he didn't think she loved him had made her world fall away for a moment. Did he really think nothing of the two years she had spent with him?
Removing her makeup felt therapeutic, as the sense of satisfaction that came with removing every layer of makeup made her feel like she was stripping herself of anything and everything that had to do with John.
She looked at herself appraisingly in the mirror. What did she really see? Her eyes were now devoid of makeup. All foundation and base were gone. Waves of helplessness washed over her. She looked as weak as she felt. With shaky hands she drew out some eyeliner, and shakily applied it to the lower and upper rims of her eyes. That was better. She leaned back to look at herself. She applied a soft peachy color to her cheeks, and applied some tinted lip-gloss to her lips before finally deciding that she needed to get the hell out of here.
On her way out of the bathroom, she passed a group of girls who couldn't have been any older than Jade. They looked up in awe and amazement, as Kristen passed them. No one would ever believe that just moments ago, she was crumbling into pieces in the bathroom.
She stepped out into the darkly lit corridor, and the first thing that shot out to her like a lighthouse beacon was him. Connor Wilde.
He leaned nonchalantly against the wall, looking like a model from an ad. He took a deep drag from his cigar, dusting the loose ashes off in a nearby ashtray.
Determinedly, she strode past him, intent on pretending he wasn't there, pumping her heels and dress in a way that said nothing was wrong.
"Hey."
Despite herself, the rough sound of his voice stopped her. She was riveted to the spot, and by the time she realized it, it was too late to just keep walking. With some effort, she turned around.