Live-In Position

by V. S. Tice

  I swatted his hands away. “So, what, now I really am your live-in whore?” I shouted.

  “Of course not,” he shouted back.

  “Really, then what do you call it, Collin?” I gripped at the roots of my hair, wanting to scream with frustration. “You’re going to pay me to live here and sleep in your bed? That makes me a whore!”

  His long fingers slid over my shoulder and turned me toward him. The moment I looked in his eyes, I drew back. He was furious.

  “I do not pay you to sleep in my bed,” he ground out through a clenched jaw. “This is simply what I need to do to keep you both.”

  The tears that had been clouding my vision finally fell. His hand quickly cupped the back of my head and his long thumb wiped away the tears. When I opened my eyes, my insides almost melted. He looked at me with so much adoration and want. It was more than I had ever known. Collin pulled me into his chest as I wiped at the remaining tears.

  “I couldn’t risk losing either of you.” His voice was but a whisper over my head.

  “But your fiancé?” I questioned. “You couldn’t just have made me a girlfriend?” I pulled back and looked at him. “Victoria is going to get hurt.”

  “Why would she get hurt?”

  “You don’t think she’ll eventually overhear something or read something that alerts her to this fiancé charade?”

  The playful smirk that slipped across his warm lips made my knees weak, but it also worried me. His eyes shone brightly on me.

  “What?” I couldn’t help but be suspicious.

  “It doesn’t have to be a charade.”

  My eyes widened at the small black box that appeared in his palm. I was going to hyperventilate.

  Chapter Twenty

  -FOUR

  EVERY LIMB SUDDENLY felt like stone. I thought I might collapse, but his arms wound tightly around my waist.

  “Soph—”

  My head shook back and forth.

  “No,” I whispered with the little breath I could conjure from my lungs.

  “No?” His face fell.

  “Collin, you can’t honestly think that…that it’s a good idea.” The words came out harsher than intended, but the shock was still too much.

  Was he really proposing marriage? He thought this was a good idea. Obviously he had lost his mind.

  “Why not? I don’t want you to leave, ever. What is wrong with wanting to be together?”

  “First of all, I never said I was leaving. As for why this is not a good idea, well, we‘ve been together for such a short period of time. It’s too soon to talk marriage seriously.” I pulled out of his embrace. “Now put that box away before Victoria comes in here and thinks—”

  “Technically we’re engaged so you need a ring.” He flipped the box open and removed the oversized diamond ring.

  “I don’t need—”

  He grabbed my hand and slipped the platinum ring on my finger. I had to give him credit. It was beautiful, simple but beautiful.

  “If we were truly engaged, you would wear a ring. Don’t you agree?”

  I couldn’t help but notice the look on his face as if he had gotten me to agree to marry him.

  “What about Victoria?” I glanced up from the new ring on my finger to his eyes.

  “We’ll tell her we’re engaged. There’s no reason not to, since you won’t be going anywhere.” His eyes gleamed in satisfaction and his half grin was intoxicating.

  “But—”

  His lips cut me off and I melted into his body. A giggle pulled us apart from one another. Both of us looked to the kitchen door.

  “Hi.” Victoria smiled wide.

  “How long have you been standing there?” I eyed her playfully and pulled away from Collin.

  “Who taught you to eavesdrop?” Collin asked her. Her body stiffened slightly as he walked toward her with purpose. When his fingers found her sides, the stiffness was lost to wiggles and giggles. I was filled with warmth and relief at their display.

  I was thankful Collin didn’t just blurt out news of our “engagement.” Victoria carried her backpack to the table and began her homework. Collin went to his office after kissing my temple and whispering a promise to talk later. Carefully slipping the ring into my pocket and out of Victoria’s sight, I began dinner.

  Later that evening, Victoria became curious about the day. Her questions started while we towel-dried her hair.

  “Do I have to see Grace again?”

  I pulled the towel from her head and turned her to face me.

  “You will only see her if she comes here to visit you. Your father or I will be present when she is here.”

  I sat on her bed and pulled her between my knees, facing away from me.

  “Do you think she will come?”

  There was no mistaking the worry in her voice, but there was also a small hint of hope. How could she not hope her mother would want to see her, regardless of the situation? Honesty was all I could give her.

  “I don’t know.” Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I squeezed her tight. Swallowing the tears threatening to spill, I put her back between my knees. “Can you hand me the hairbrush, please?”

  She handed the brush over her shoulder and stayed silent. I only hoped she wasn’t upset or stressed over the situation.

  “Can you hand me a hair tie now, please?”

  She passed hair ties over her shoulder.

  “What do you have going on in school tomorrow?” I attempted to change the subject. It worked. She started to talk about some projects and science experiments they were working on in class. Her usual enthusiasm wasn’t there but at least she was talking.

  Back in my own room, I started my nightly routine. After showering, drying, brushing, and dressing, I decided to kill some time going through my email. There wasn’t much, and I had only killed about ten minutes. Sighing heavily, I walked to Collin’s room. His door was open, and I found him sitting in one of his chairs with the news on the television and his laptop on the table in front of him. He was wearing glasses, which I’d learned were for reading, paying attention to the news. I walked over to the other chair and sat down. It got his attention.

  “Hello,” he smiled.

  “Hey,” I pulled my feet up under me and leaned onto the arm of the chair.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I shrugged. “Victoria just isn’t herself tonight, and I don’t like it.”

  “Is she okay?” His concern was genuine. I took some comfort in that.

  “Yes,” I nodded. “I think she’s just worried that Grace will and won’t want to see her.”

  “I see.” He dropped his head. Then his head came back up and he looked to me. I had so many questions about today. “I did what I thought was best to keep everything I love.”

  My eyes met his. “I know,” I breathed.

  “I want to tell Victoria tomorrow, before she hears it from anyone else.” His eyes searched my face. I could only nod in agreement though my stomach flipped.

  “Where was the chaperone?” It was the one thing that bothered me the most about the entire situation. He sighed.

  “Apparently, she received a call that there was a family emergency. The person who made the call told her he was a police officer and that she was needed immediately at the station in regards to her son.” He ran his hand through his hair. “She panicked, and supposedly, Grace told her she would contact me to let me know the situation.”

  I opened my mouth to argue. She should never have believed Grace, but I could only imagine the state a mother would be in when she is faced with the fear of her child being in trouble.

  “I can’t prove it, but I think Grace set the whole thing up for some reason.”

  “Grace set it up? How could she know…?” Then it struck me. “There wasn’t an emergency.”

  He shook his head.

  “When she reached the station, they told her they didn’t know what she was talking about. She tried to call Grace multiple times, an
d by the time she got back to the park everyone was gone.” His hands rubbed roughly over his face. “She thinks it was Grace’s doing as well, but she has no proof.”

  “Do you really think she would go that far?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past that woman.” His face hardened.

  “But why would Grace do it? What could she possibly have been thinking?”

  It was confusing. She got rid of the chaperone, yet instead of taking off with Victoria, she left her alone in the park. Why not just excuse herself from the two of them to go do whatever it was she did?

  “I don’t know,” he growled, “but she won’t have the chance to do anything now that she has to have one of us present in the house during her visits – if she visits Victoria at all.”

  He suddenly sounded so exhausted. I stood, removed his glasses, and grabbed his hand, pulling him up from the chair. Guiding him to the bed, I pulled him down with me. We wrapped up in each other, the side of his face against my chest, and quickly fell asleep.

  The next couple of weeks finally brought some normalcy as well as the telltale signs of fall. Halloween would be upon us again in a little less than a month. However, what I hadn’t expected was to come home after an afternoon of running errands to find my room empty.

  It took me a few moments, but then I stomped to Collin’s room. There were all of my belongings. My clothes were hanging on one side of his oversized walk-in closet, and a small desk had been set up with all of my writing materials and my laptop. My books, picture frames, and bathroom necessities were distributed throughout the room like they had been there all along.

  In a moment of pure anger, I grabbed a laundry basket and filled it with some clothes, my notebooks and laptop, and a few other necessities. I dragged it back to my room and plopped down onto the couch. By the time I finished setting my things back up, it was time to pick up Victoria. Collin’s car was in the driveway when we returned home. I swallowed my anger as we entered the house.

  Victoria’s evening routine was the same as usual, and there was no sign of Collin. I was partially thankful because I was sure I wouldn’t hold back my anger, even in front of Victoria, and that was something I definitely wanted to avoid. After getting her in bed, I went to my room and stayed there.

  It didn’t take long for him to attempt to enter my room. When he realized it was locked, he was forced to knock.

  “Sophia?”

  I opened the door partially, just enough to see him.

  “Yes,” I snapped.

  “What is going on?” He eyed me curiously.

  “Nothing,” I shrugged and pulled the door open more.

  He took in the things I had returned to my room.

  “Why are your things back in here?”

  “Why do you still think you can make decisions for me?” I countered. His eyes hardened and focused in on mine.

  “I told you I wanted to move your things—”

  “What about what I want, Collin?” I snapped.

  “You don’t want to—”

  “That’s the point,” I growled. “You have no idea what I wanted because you didn’t think to ask me.”

  “You’re right, I apologize, now let’s get your things—”

  “No.” I tried to shut the door in his face. I was pissed. He was still doing whatever he desired and I was tired of being treated like his child. With a slap of his palm on the door, he pushed it back open.

  “Sophia, this is ridiculous.” He stepped into the room. “The rest of your things are in my, our room.”

  “Oh, you can have those things if you want them so badly. I have what I need here.” My tone was challenging. I hadn’t realized it at first, but then I knew, I wanted this fight.

  “Don’t be absurd. I don’t want your things, I want you—”

  “Well, you treat me as if I am just another thing,” I snapped.

  “I do not—”

  “What happened to my car?” I countered. “Where are my things?” I couldn’t stop. “You think it’s okay to decide what I drive, where I sleep, if I work for you, and even if we are engaged!” My chest heaved as adrenaline fired through my veins like gunshots.

  “I...I didn’t mean to—”

  “How many times do I have to bring it to your attention before you listen to me?” I threw my hands in the air when he didn’t respond. “What the hell is the point? I might as well not even be here!”

  I hadn’t meant it the way he took it. His eyes enlarged in fear and shock, and his jaw clenched tightly.

  “You’re leaving.” It wasn’t a question. It sounded more like an order. My confusion sent panic spreading through me.

  “You want me to leave?” I whispered and braced myself for his response.

  “That’s what you just said,” he choked.

  “No, it’s not.”

  “You said you might as well not even be here. Are you leaving us?” I knew he was actually referring to himself.

  “That’s not what I meant, Collin.” I covered my face with my palms and sat on the couch.

  “Then why would say that?” I felt his approach.

  “I said it because you act as if I’m not here when I speak. I talked to you before about controlling everything. We argued about it and now you just do it again, only a little worse.” I sat back and rolled my head around, trying to relieve some tension from my neck muscles.

  Silently, he sat down on the coffee table in front of me. Nothing was said for a couple of minutes.

  “I don’t know what to do.” He barely spoke the words aloud.

  “About what?”

  “I’m not good at this, Sophia, and I’m terrified you’ll be gone at any moment.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I suppose I’m trying to hold onto you as much as I can so you don’t leave.”

  “I would never just leave, Collin.” I placed a hand on his knee.

  “But you could leave,” he whispered.

  “Anyone could leave, but it’s not my plan, unless you want me to.”

  He grabbed my hand as I slid it from his knee.

  “I don’t want you to go, ever.”

  “You say that now.”

  “I mean it, forever.” He was nothing but serious. There was no mistaking his intentions. I knew this was a major point. I’m not completely sure how I knew it, but I did. Collin Bishop was planning to marry me. The evidence was all over his face and in his words. If I didn’t want marriage, Collin, Victoria, and possibly more children, then this was the moment I needed to end everything. Either I walked away now or I stayed for the duration. I pulled him toward me and wrapped my arms around him, accepting my future.

  Chapter Twenty

  -Five

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Collin, Victoria, and I sat in the kitchen eating breakfast together.

  “Victoria?”

  “Yes, Daddy?” She looked at her father with eyes of adoration.

  “Sophia and I would like to talk with you about something. We want you to tell us your honest feelings, okay?” She nodded nervously. Collin cleared his throat.

  “Sophia and I are engaged.” He paused and we both gauged her reaction.

  Her eyes glazed over for a moment, but then a fire lit in them and a large grin spread across her face.

  “You’re getting married!” She jumped from the chair into my arms. “Can I be in the wedding? I want to be the flower girl. Please, please, please? Can I call you Mommy now or after the wedding?”

  “Slow down, Victoria. We are not planning a wedding at the moment. It will be a long engagement.” I tried to back pedal a little.

  She crinkled her face in confusion.

  “What Sophia means is that we will be taking some time to plan things so most likely the wedding will not be very soon.” Her face fell at Collin’s words. “But I promise you will be our flower girl.” She perked up a little at that.

  “What about calling you Mommy?” She turned expectant eyes on me.

  “Sweetheart, I’m
not—”

  “I don’t see an issue with it,” Collin interrupted.

  My shocked eyes shot at him. I scowled.

  “What?” He looked at me confused. “I figured you would like it if she did.”

  “Oh, I want to call you Mommy. Can I? Please, Sophia? Please?” Her hands were clasped like she was saying a prayer, but instead this little red-headed angel was begging to call me her mother. The Antichrist sat across from us with a large satisfied grin on his face.

  “I’m not sure you should—” She cut off my words with the large pout of her bottom lip. “Okay,” I surrendered.

  “Yes!” she cheered. “Thank you so much Soph…Mom!”

  My heart skipped a beat the instant she called me mom. I only wondered what kind of reaction this was going to get from his family.

  “I’ve got a mommy, Sophia is my mommy,” she sang as she sat back down to her breakfast.

  The multiple feelings washing through me were weird. I was happy, excited, terrified, confused. Sophia may have thought of me as her mother figure before, but now she had an official label to slap on me. One that I couldn’t just take back.

  For the rest of the morning, until I dropped her off at school, every question or response was accompanied with “mom.” “Yes, Mommy…Mommy, do I have to go to dance tonight?...No, Mom.” It was somewhat humorous.

  The drive back to the house was quiet, allowing my mind time to go through everything. In less than a year, I had started a new job, fallen in love with a little red-haired girl, finished my book, fallen for my boss, and silently agreed to marry him. I groaned into the empty silence of the car. How did so much happen? And what the hell could possibly happen next?

  I never should‘ve asked myself that question because two weeks later, a guest arrived in the Bishop home – an unexpected guest.