Sing A Twist

by Brooke T. Mays

  They showered together. Phillip made love to her again. Teasing her some more about her exhibitionist streak and talking dirty to her about all the things he would do to her if they got caught. He was beginning to make her change her mind about some of the things he was suggesting as her ‘payback.’ Phillip whispering in her ear about tying her up and going down on her but not letting her come - “I’ll bring you close, over and over again” had been his words. He had punctuated the words with his thrusts and that had caused her to orgasm. She hadn’t tried most of the ideas he was coming up with. A very jealous part of her hoped he hadn’t tried them either. Maybe they could, together.

  The hour was approaching fast. Unfortunately, Monica was home, too. Jacob was working tonight and it was too bad Monica hadn’t gone to visit him. There was no chance of that happening now, not after hearing that the Speaker was coming over. Elena began to worry more about Monica than Phillip. The minutes stretched out and ten o’clock came. Ten o’ five. He was never late. Elena began to worry for a completely different reason now. And then she received a phone text.

  Have to reschedule. Will contact you.

  Elena’s relief was immense. A great weight was lifted off her shoulders. He obviously had other business to attend to. That could mean he was not even here for her specifically. It could even mean he was just making sure she had received her mother’s letter. If whatever other work the Speaker was involved with happened to be in the area, he could even just be checking on her for her parents. The down side to that was it probably meant Evenfall was in danger. She let Monica and Phillip know that he wasn’t coming and couldn’t keep the giddy smile off her face. Monica went upstairs to bed. She had only been waiting up to support Elena. When she was gone, Elena began to feel wicked. She was pretty certain she was going to be sore in the morning, but she didn’t care. She hoped Phillip was up for another round. She decided she wanted to try some of the ideas from his dirty talking. She would pick one of the less risqué ones, but planned to turn it around. If Phillip would let her. She was nervous as she got a scarf out from her closet. “Let me blindfold you, Phillip. You stand here and I’ll be able to touch you wherever I want and you won’t know when or where.” Phillip’s smile as he pulled his shirt over his head was all the answer she needed. She needn’t have been worried.

  Chapter 17

  Now that Elena’s worries over the Speaker were significantly lessened, she had time to stress over finals. She had some catching up to do in her studies. Tonight was the night that they all planned to go to the bar to watch Phillip and his band and visit Jacob. So she didn’t have all night to study. She and Monica shared a quick conversation that morning over breakfast. Monica was planning on cornering both Nathaniel and Samantha. She had asked Jacob, casually and without arousing his suspicions, Monica assured Elena, and they were both supposed to be there. Elena did her usual and went to the library. The day flew by and before she knew it, it was time to get ready to go. That it was still so light outside reminded her again that Summer was approaching. That brought up thoughts of poor Evenfall.

  Jacob and Phillip were already there, and the girls were meeting them. This time Elena would drive. The ride over was full of excited chatter from Monica. She was really getting into this pending confrontation. The two of them had taken some time getting ready. Monica looked stunning in Elena’s opinion, and Elena felt pretty good about how she looked, too. They each had their new wristlets. Elena had paid extra for quick shipping. She thought again at how well the pattern fit Monica. Bold, strong, yet delicate at the same time. They parked and Elena took a moment to steady herself and focus. It wasn’t quite as crowded as the last time she came, probably because of finals, but there were still a lot of people. She took a moment to tuck her necklace into her shirt. The neck line was high enough to mostly hide it, so she might as well take advantage of that.

  They stepped through the door and into the heat. What happened to the air conditioning? Sitting at the bar, Phillip spotted them and headed their way. He quickly hugged Monica and then kissed Elena a little more deeply than she was comfortable with in public. She could feel herself blushing. When she commented on the kiss, Phillip just shrugged and said he missed her.

  As they sat down at the bar, Nathaniel quickly made his way over to them. “Phillip filled me in about mistaking Dan as your boyfriend. Sorry, Elena. If you had heard the guy talking. . . Well, it was a mistake anyone could make,” he said as he reached to shake her hand, smiling a typical bartender smile. “Trust me,” he said. And so Elena did. Automatically, she pulled all the trust she was feeling and Projected it back at him. Now, he felt trusted, too. He had opened his mouth to say something more, but instead just smiled and asked what he could get them to drink.

  Nathaniel could use Voice. Both Phillip and Jacob always commented on how trustworthy he was. She knew why now. What she couldn’t know for certain was if his use of Voice was deliberate or an accident. She smiled at him as she took her diet coke. Phillip paid, commenting on liking that, and asked her what she thought of Nathaniel. “I can understand now why you two always say he is trustworthy.”

  “Yeah,” Monica piped in, “I barely talked to the guy, and I feel like I can trust him. Maybe he just has that type of face? We should ask him about your cell phone and the gift. Maybe he saw that Dan guy go through your things.”

  Elena went through her emotions. She trusted Nathaniel. She would not try to fight that. It would just confuse her. She would remind herself, though, as needed tonight, that he had used Voice when he said ‘trust me.’ She would need to logic herself through this. The trick would be to not worry about why she trusted Nathaniel. To just let it happen and not fight it.

  “Elena, did you hear Phillip?” Monica’s voice broke into her train of thought.

  “No. Sorry. I was thinking about something. What did you say?” She took a quick second to refocus her concentration.

  “I was saying I already asked about your cell phone and the guitar picks. Nathaniel said he didn’t notice the delivery guy near your things but said he could have stepped away. He’s not really sure. Says he wasn’t really paying that close attention. I also asked about this Evenfall guy. Described him for Nathaniel. Wasn’t very helpful. He sees a lot of people.”

  “You told him the whole story of Evenfall? Phillip, I feel like we should protect his privacy.” Elena was upset, but Phillip did not feel the least bit sorry.

  “I doan care about his privacy, cher. Not when he’s a danger to you.” Elena protested again. She didn’t feel Evenfall was a danger to her, but Monica sided with Phillip.

  “We’re going to have to disagree on this one, Elena. I’m with Phillip. This guy is hitting the creep factor hard. I don’t think you have any obligation to protect him. More likely, you need to be protected from him.” She took a drink of her beer as Jacob joined them.

  “How are all my roomies? Is Nathaniel taking good care of you tonight?” He winked at Monica. She filled him in on the topic of conversation. “So, it probably wasn’t Dan. I have met him a few times. I don’t think he would rummage through somebody’s stuff. He’d be risking his job. You sure you didn’t just lose it, Elena? “

  She shook her head. “The cell phone maybe, but I don’t think so. Definitely not Phillip’s picks. They were wrapped, and I definitely hadn’t taken them out.”

  “I think it was Samantha.” Monica stated with her arms crossed. “She’s the one that had them and gave them to Phillip.”

  “Ask her. She’s coming in now.” Jacob pointed to the door where a very pretty brunette was walking in. She looked serious. She spotted them and started their way.

  “Phillip,” she smiled, “just the person I needed to talk to.” She reached out and touched his arm.

  “Hey, Samantha. I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Elena.” Phillip had placed his arm on the small of Elena’s back. Elena Sensed a spike of jealousy and a jumble of other emotions. She reached her hand out to shake Samantha’s. T
he touch would help her to determine what those emotions were and if they were all coming from Samantha. There were a lot of people here.

  Samantha smiled at her, jealousy spiking again, and then held up her cell phone. “I have to take this,” she said apologetically. “Will you please excuse me?” As she backed away, she said to Phillip, “I have some business I need to discuss with you tonight.” She turned and headed to the back. Waving at Nathaniel as she bumped open the door with her hip, her ear pressed to the phone and the other hand plugging the opposite ear. She had avoided Elena’s touch.

  “Well, there’s your culprit. She wants Phillip all to herself.” Though she could no longer be seen, Samantha should have felt the look Monica was giving her all the way in the back office. Jealousy was an ugly green color, not too unlike what she had Sensed that last night they were here. But it wasn’t exactly the same. Elena wished she would have shaken her hand. For a moment, she almost wished she was a Listener. Hard enough, though, to have other’s emotions in your head. How hard would it be to have other’s thoughts?

  Jacob smiled. “Is it wrong of me to hope for a girl fight tonight? Monica, I know you got Elena’s back. Am I gonna see you in action tonight?” He was very pointedly staring at her chest.

  Even though Elena was disappointed with how little she was learning this evening, she was smiling at Jacob. For her part, Monica had shifted her glare to him. “Okay, okay. No girl fights. Monica, I love your shirt. Is it new?” He kept up his smile. “No? Well, you can’t blame a man. You look good tonight.”

  “Stop picturing me fighting with her,” Monica answered. To Elena she said, “I don’t trust her and you shouldn’t either. She wants your man. Why don’t we ask Nathaniel if she was here that day that your things were stolen?” She motioned to Jacob, and he nodded his head. He motioned Nathaniel to come over and then he filled some drink orders.

  Phillip didn’t seem to be listening to their conversation. He was rubbing small circles on Elena’s back. She saw gold and it felt good. He was also very attracted to her right now. Jacob came back over and said, “Samantha does want Phillip. She thinks he’s gonna be a star and break it big for all of them.” Nathaniel finally made his way to them. “Hey, do you remember if Samantha was here that day Elena came into the bar?” Jacob asked him over the crowd.

  Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders, “Why?” He looked casual, but Elena Sensed the beginnings of fear. Now that was odd.

  “Just wondering,” Jacob answered smoothly. The bar seemed slammed all of the sudden, and Nathaniel drew Jacob away as they went back to the work.

  Phillip leaned down close to her ear, “Not even a little jealous, cher?” Phillip was feeling very amorous tonight.

  She smiled at him. “Do I have a reason to be?” She felt her body heating. What did he have going through his mind?

  “Never.”

  “Well, you two are getting too saccharin for me. Save that for home.” Monica interrupted. “Let’s go dance the calories from this beer off.” Phillip excused himself claiming he needed to get warmed up. Monica laughed. “Likely excuse.” Phillip wasn’t much for dancing in large groups. Monica got up and started away. The way Phillip was looking at her, Elena didn’t want to leave.

  “What is on your mind?” Elena had to know. Phillip’s slow grin had her blushing again.

  “Our picnic.” He kept his eyes directly on hers. At first, she wasn’t sure. That had been a wonderful day. Was he just reminiscing of making love outdoors? And then she remembered. He thought she liked public places. Dear Lord, did he really think she wanted to? Here? Her face must have shown her thoughts clearly. He laughed. She was shaking her head no as she ran away to go dance with Monica. His ‘that’s what I thought’ and laughter followed her.

  Elena was proud of being able to dance in such a crowd. Pretty proud of herself overall after the last time they were all here. When Phillip and his band started to get ready to play, she and Monica found a table to sit at while they watched. As usual, Phillip was incredible. There were mostly guys sitting around them, for which Elena was grateful. She didn’t need to feel other’s attraction to him. She would be showing him her jealousy then. The night passed without incident, though Elena was exhausted when they finally finished playing. This was a very long time to hold off so many people’s emotions. Phillip was going to catch a ride home with them so they waited for him to finish packing up and talking with his band mates.

  As they finally headed out to the car, Elena couldn’t hold back her yawns. She was glad she came tonight, but would probably regret it in the morning. She wasn’t paying attention and was surprised when Monica gasped. Phillip cursed, and then Elena finally saw. Her car had been broken into and vandalized. Her driver’s side window was knocked out and the door had been left open. It looked like the car had been fully rummaged through. The glove compartment was open and everything had been dumped on the floor. The same thing for the center console. She had thought that the overhead light had turned off because of the safety feature, but as she got closer she realized it was smashed. And all four tires were slashed. “Come on, cher. We’ll wait inside while we call the police.” Phillip turned her back to the bar as he gathered her in to his arms.

  Chapter 18

  The next morning Elena found herself in class with grainy eyes that didn’t want to stay open. This was the last regular class day before finals started early next week. The police had come out to take a report. It wasn’t too uncommon for a car to get broken into at a bar, although crime in the area was pretty low in general. For the most part, it was a college town. One thing that had bothered her had been the police officer’s suspicion. He had asked her what things she kept in her car several different times, using different words and phrases. Purse, lap top, ipods, etc. What could have been seen from outside the car? Finally, he had bluntly asked her about drugs. He pointed out that the car looked like someone was looking for something specific in it. They hadn’t stolen the radio or cd player. They hadn’t tried to hotwire it. Elena had answered truthfully every time. Nothing. She kept her car clean and pretty empty.

  It was so late when they had finished that they decided to wait the few extra minutes for Jacob and catch a ride with him. Elena had the car towed. They helped Jacob out with closing since he was alone. Nathaniel had left his shift early, apparently going MIA a few times in the night as well. They all trusted Nathaniel. Elena didn’t try to fight the feeling, but she did remind herself that Nathaniel had used Voice when he said ‘trust me.’ She let that sit in the back of her mind. She would examine it later. Right now, she would only be fighting herself and end up with a massive headache. Samantha hadn’t been back around to talk to Phillip later. If she were keeping score it would be one point to Elena for a successful night out. Two points against for finding out very little and getting her car broken into. At least the wristlets were a hit, she thought glumly. None of their personal stuff was stolen. Maybe she could count that as a half point in the ‘for’ category.

  Somehow she made it through the next day of classes. Now she had several days to prepare for finals. She had not completely forgotten about the Speaker. He was still around, and she was sure her moratorium would come to an end. For now, she would put him, Evenfall, Samantha, and Nathaniel out of her mind and get to studying. She actually loved this time of year. Most students would take strong issue with that. But classes were done and all she had to focus on was studying. She would eat, sleep, Phillip, and study for the next few days. That’s it and that’s all. No distractions would get in her way.

  Phillip was bored out of his mind. Classes were done. The bar wasn’t paying for live music during finals. Not a big enough crowd. The guys from his band had travelled back home for weddings or something like that. Some family thing, so he couldn’t even practice with them. The last few days were moving slow. Though he had discovered that if he studied with Elena, and was quiet and still, she would take breaks. She would get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink, o
r whatever, but if she took off her reading glasses, then he knew she was ready for a break. He was living for breaks. He also had a lot of time to think things over while he was studying his notes. There was a lot to think about.

  Elena’s car was the last straw for him. There had been too many coincidences. His money was still on this Evenfall character that she had such a soft spot for. What kind of name was that anyway? Too many things seemed to have happened around the time of his phone calls. Still, more and more, Nathaniel was bothering him. He wasn’t sure why Nathaniel popped into his head when he thought of that night. Maybe it was just that he kept disappearing when he was needed. So why did he trust him so much? This studying was giving him a headache. He felt another nap coming on. As he headed upstairs to his bed he ran through his latest theory regarding Elena’s parents. He was going with witness protection. This ‘associate’ just might be from the FBI. Some official contact or something. She had shot down the mafia, but maybe they could be drug dealers. When he met this Aiden, maybe he could figure it out. Then again, they could just be eclectic, reclusive millionaires. That kind of fit with Elena. She gave so much of herself, yet somehow a large part of her remained an elusive mystery. Maybe she had been shaped that way by her parents - the eclectic, millionaires in witness protection. He would try asking her again about her necklace. He thought it was just superstition, but why not just say so? Why hide that from him? His head hit the pillow, and he was out.