Games We Play

by Isabelle Arocho

  “I was still here first you annoying pain in the ass!” he wouldn’t let go of her hand probably because he suspected she still wanted to use it against him and he was right.

  “What is it about you that turns every argument into an immature hissy fit? We’re adults.”

  “It’s not me, it’s you who doesn’t act like it. Case in point you’re holding my hands.”

  “Because you’re trying to hit me! I’m not the immature one here because if I was I’d do this.” He pushed her down onto the couch. “I win and the remote is mine. You can go get online or read a book.” Finally he let her go and reached down to the floor where the prized remote had fallen in the middle of their short lived scuffle.

  “When you least expect it I am going to get you back for this.”

  “I can’t wait babe.”

  Sasha left the living room and flipped him off with her middle finger on the way. She made a very detailed plan to pour cold water over him tomorrow morning while he was asleep. Upstairs she shut the door to her room and let out a long sigh. The room was hers for the duration of the case and Nicholas couldn’t bother her there. Tomorrow after she woke him up with a nice cup of ice water she was going to buy a TV for the bedroom and make sure to spend all her time away from Nick when possible.

  With this unforeseen extra spare time she decided to slowly get ready for the tortuous party she was being forced to go to all in the name of getting a mad man’s interest. Stacy didn’t know she had invited Sasha Madden, hell she probably didn’t even remember the girl she bullied for years, but Sasha still wanted to look good and give those people nothing to criticize.

  Searching through her new pile of clothes her fingers went over that black dress more than once. It was a soft material and pretty sexy with a strapless sweetheart neckline and short A-line skirt. Knowing how Stacy used to be back in school this party wasn’t going to be some casual gathering amongst friends, she was going to make sure to make it as glamorous as possible and right now the only thing that fit in with that atmosphere was the little black dress Sasha had swore to never put on especially in public.

  It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by her body, she was in shape thanks to the gruesome training it took to gain her credentials but showing skin and trying to be sexy wasn’t in her vocabulary. She was the tomboy who used to shop in the men’s section for jeans and t-shirts. For work she branched out and bought suits but even they still concealed her like a second armor would.

  With a sigh she fell back on the bed. “I’m too old to be scared of a stupid party.” She held up the dress to her eye line. “It’s time to stop being scared of the past.” That was it the decision was made.

  Chapter 8

  Nicholas grabbed his suit out from the closet and changed while Sasha was doing the same in the bathroom. He quickly came to realize he wasn’t a fan of undercover work, sure he’d do it if necessary but he’d rather be out there a part of the man hunt for this sadistic fucker targeting people for whatever sick pleasure it gave him.

  He opted for his black suit and white shirt only leaving the tie in the closet. It didn’t take long to dress and comb his hair back. Like Sasha complained; guys had it easy. He left the room and went downstairs to wait for his pretend wife. He didn’t suspect it was going to take her too long to get ready either. This party wasn’t something she even wanted to go to.

  He walked through the living room and into the kitchen to grab something to drink. He wasn’t a crazed health nut like his roommate was trying to paint him as, he grabbed a can of soda and popped it open. There wasn’t an FBI agent or any time of law enforcement that could do that job without caffeine. He preferred it was coffee but there wasn’t much time to start a fresh pot. He and Sasha agreed to meet each other at the door at 8 o’clock and it was ten minutes until then. He carried the can of orange flavored soda with him to the couch. He thought about calling Pete for any updates on the man hunt but he already knew if anything big had happened his boss would’ve made sure to inform them. He did however still have to call his mom and cancel for the weekly dinner gathering. He cringed at the thought and decided it could wait until tomorrow.

  He heard the clicking sound of heels and all his thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Heels? Sasha was wearing heels? He sat the near empty can of soda down on the coffee table and stood off the couch. His eyes went wide at the sight of her and it was a good thing he put his drink down because right now he might’ve dropped it as every part of his body was endeared useless but his eyes. He couldn’t stop staring at her.

  The black dress she swore was nothing but a business expense to never see the light of day was wrapped around her body better than a Christmas morning present could ever look.

  “Nick…” she sighed. “I already feel like running for the hills and you looking at me like that isn’t helping. Is it that bad?”

  He did a double take. “Bad?” he wasn’t used to her having no self confidence and that was throwing him for a pretty big loop, one that forced the truth from his mouth. “You look beautiful.” She blushed and he was pretty sure she just did him in to the point of insanity. He wasn’t trying to be nice she did look absolutely beautiful with her hair look around her bare shoulders, the neckline of the dress gave him a tease of breasts he hadn’t known she had, and then there was her legs. He knew with her height she’d have long legs but these were…giving him highly impure thoughts. He forced himself to look at her face. “Why’d you decide to wear it?”

  “It was the only thing that worked. Stacy isn’t going to have some boring party that you can wear jeans and flip flops to. You got pretty dressed up too.”

  “Yeah…” Nick glanced down at his suit. “We match.” It was an odd thing to realize but it was better than making a foolish mistake and saying something like how damn sexy she was standing in front of him insecure biting down on her lower lip.

  “Ha, yeah. Like the happy nauseating married couple we’re pretending to be. I highly doubt or maybe hope couples aren’t this sugary sweet.”

  Nick’s lust took a back seat as his profiler brain kicked on. Sasha was talking like she didn’t know what it was like to be a part of a couple. He wanted to ask her about it but not at the risk of causing an argument so soon to showtime. Biting his tongue he glanced down at his wrist watch. “It’s 8. We should get going.” Holding open the front door he was rewarded with a nice glimpse of her butt as she walked ahead of him. He was positively in love with her dress and mentally thanked the saleslady who forced her into buying it.

  Nicholas drove as Sasha gave him directions from the passenger seat. It had been eleven years since she left Maple Oaks but she hadn’t forgot how to navigate the streets. She knew exactly how to find this Stacy woman’s house and the supermarket for their earlier trip. She sighed, bringing his eyes to the left of the car. “Are you alright?”

  “Oh yeah, I am excited to see all these people.”

  “You have to work on lying without sarcasm. Seriously though, are you ok? Do you want me to keep driving to a land with no prissy dinner parties?”

  She laughed and he was happy to hear it. “We can’t abandon our duty.”

  “It’d be pretty nice to catch this guy tonight choking on a cheese cracker and be on a flight back home by morning.”

  “You want to get back a on a plane so soon?”

  Nicholas’ first instinct was to get defensive but he quickly noticed she wasn’t asking out of malice but genuine concern. “I don’t like flying but I do it any time it’s necessary.” He loved his job and if he had to be in a death rocket to get it done then that’s exactly what he was going to do.

  “It sounds like we’re both willing to suck it up and bite the bullet for the job.”

  “We do have something in common after all.”

  “Yeah, hell is freezing over.”

  Chapter 9

  Sasha had made a promise to herself that she wasn’t going to let this party get the best of her. She was playing a role and t
here was no need to let her past memories or current fears factor in at all. Tonight she was Maggie Walker and Maggie got along with these people and would want to spend time with them again.

  Nicholas hooked their arms together and they made their way up Stacy’s porch. After getting ready for the party Sasha had did a quick search on her childhood nemesis and found she married rich just like she always said she would back in high school. The poor sap stuck with Stacy was a man named Gerald Freemen, an assistant district attorney. Good ol Gerry wasn’t a native to Maple Oaks but moved when he met and fell in love with Stacy five years ago. The house was huge and elegant at the corner of the street surrounded by other monster houses. A few cars littered the street and driveway hinting at the number of people already inside.

  “Are you ready?” Nick asked softly.

  “Yup.” Sasha reached out and rung the doorbell.

  Stacy herself opened the door with a huge smile across her face and a tray of drinks in her hands. “Hi! Come in, come in. I’m so glad you could make it.” Inside the house were several other guests mingling with drinks in their hands.

  Sasha wasn’t surprised when she stepped past the foyer into the main room that everyone was looking at her, actually at Maggie Walker the girl no one thought would ever return. In the crowd of about ten people Sasha noticed Crystal Whitmore, Stacy’s best friend and partner in crime.

  Stacy took the floor like the perfect hostess with a sugary sweet smile. “Some of you might remember her and for those who don’t, this is Maggie. She moved back into town just yesterday with her husband Connor.”

  Sasha waved her hand. “Hello everyone.” A collective response was given from the crowd before they went back to their private conversations concealed by the low playing music in the room. She felt good about how quick that was over and done with but still she kept her hand wrapped around Nick’s because she didn’t want to be left alone with these people. Nick was the only person there that knew the truth and that made him her only saving grace.

  It didn’t take long for the nosy partygoers to ask questions. The hostess from last night was the first. “I didn’t get to introduce myself yesterday, I’m Macy.”

  Sasha smiled and shook the woman’s hand. “Hi. Stacy’s really out done herself with this party.”

  “She always does. You missed out on the crazy ones she used to throw back in senior year.” Macy laughed.

  Crystal walked over to them. “I hear laughing. Maggie, do you remember me?”

  Sasha tried to think, if Maggie knew Stacy back in elementary school she would’ve had to know Crystal too. “Crystal, how are you?” she smiled though her nerves so hard her jaw line was starting to ache.

  Crystal looked positively pleased. “Some might say twenty years is too far back to remember. But not you of course with that big ol brain even in third grade you were acing every subject. We all hated to see you leave but understood.” She reached out and patted Maggie’s hand like an old friend would except Crystal never did anything for the sake of being nice. She must be fishing for more gossip.

  “Thank you. I missed being home and now that I got married I thought it was a good time to come back and catch up with all of my first closest friends.”

  Stacy returned without the tray of drinks. “How did you and Connor meet?” her eyes lit up as she focused on Nick and none of the ladies around her.

  Yup, Sasha silently thought, once a whore always a whore. “We meet in college.” Her mind raced to come up with a plausible story that was nowhere near the truth.

  Nick dropped her hand and instead wrapped his arm around her waist. “We had some ups and downs getting on the same page but after that I knew I had to marry this girl.” Everyone around them let out an ‘aww’.

  Sasha managed not to roll her eyes; they wouldn’t be saying aww if they knew how annoying he really was. “Ain’t he a charmer?” she patted her hand to his chest and pinched him during the ruse of a lovely gesture. “Stacy, like you said this morning there’s a lot to catch up on. What’s been going on with you?” she directed the question at all three women.

  Stacy looked across the room at a large hanging clock. “We still have some time before my cousin gets here. Follow me to my husband’s study where we can talk without the music in our way.” She said while leading the way at the same time. “I was clearing out some old boxes earlier and stumbled across our high school year book. Isn’t that just the perfect way to catch you up, Maggie?”

  “Sounds great.”

  Gerald’s study was as grand as the rest of the house with a large open space and bold furniture. True to her word Stacy had the old Maple Oaks high school year book waiting on a coffee table. “Have a seat, anyone want a drink?” Crystal was still holding on to her first one, the rest of the small group declined. “More for me.” Stacy wasn’t shy to pour a rather large glass of wine in front of company. “I have some photos from middle school if you want to see those later Maggie to catch up on what you missed. Maple Oaks doesn’t change much but that never stopped my mama from taking photos of just about everyone and everything throughout the years.” She sat in the middle of the couch and cracked open the book.

  Sasha was sitting to Stacy’s right with Nick leaned into the arm rest never far from his pretend wife’s side. “How is Mrs. Fern?” she didn’t know the woman but when they had encountered each other in town the older woman was always nice. It was a mystery where Stacy got her mean streak.

  “She suffered a heart attack a few years ago and moved to live with my brother up north. Let’s start with the juicy stuff, here’s prom.” Stacy pointed to a picture of her as homecoming queen and her date Craig. “Isn’t that dress to die for? Speaking of dresses I love what you wore tonight.”

  It felt like an episode of twilight zone to have Stacy say anything not hateful toward her. “Thanks.”

  Stacy flipped to another page. “Here’s Morgan, remember how we used to go to her house for sleepovers? She left Texas for college and now she’s overseas for some manufacturing project.”

  Crystal joined in. “This was the night our team won the championship game. We cheered our asses off.” Her finger moved lower on the page. “We also won something major in a science fair but besides mentioning it here no one really cared but the girl who got it.”

  “What was her name again?” Stacy held the book close and read the caption. “Oh! We used to call her Orphan Madden.”

  Sasha tried not to let it affect her as she looked at the picture of herself at seventeen. She had been so proud and happy to win but in true fashion the bullies in her class turned a good memory into a rotten one. No one thought it was cool to be a part of science club but that never stopped her from enjoying it even with all the ugly nicknames they called her as they pushed her around the halls. The only name to ever hurt was Orphan Madden because of the truth behind it. Tears stung her eyes as she glanced away with mock interest in a painting hung above the large desk across from them.

  “Why’d you call her that?” Nicholas asked the group of women who never shed the exterior of catty girls.

  Crystal answered. “You know the movie Annie? Well look at this picture, she has all that messy curly hair and she had no parents so we called her Orphan Madden like a play on little orphan Annie from the movie.”

  “You didn’t think that was cruel?”

  “It was just a joke.” Stacy said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah.” Sasha looked at him with a pleading look. “It’s no big deal. Stacy, let’s take a break. I need some air and I noticed your beautiful garden.”

  “Sure. Those doors are unlocked, feel free. I’m going to go check in with the other guests and see where my idiot cousin is.” Stacy smiled at her own horrendous humor before exiting the library with Crystal close on her heels. Macy left to go check in with her boyfriend back in the main living room.

  Sasha opened the French style doors and walked right outside not bothering to look back. She heard Nick’s steps as he follow
ed and said nothing. The garden wasn’t to be outdone by the house. It was large with several acres of large trees and flowers. There was a stone path leading farther and farther from the house she followed.

  It wasn’t until they were good distance from the house and listening range that Nick grabbed her wrist. “Sasha, wait.”

  “No.” she snatched her wrist free. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Sasha.” He growled her name deep in his throat as he reached for her again and this time forced her to face him by gripping her shoulders. He was rewarded with the sight of her long tear tracks down her cheeks.

  “I don’t need your pity and we don’t have to talk about this. I just need a minute and we can forget all about it. Why don’t you go back inside and mingle with the other guys?”

  “I’m not leaving you alone.”

  “Why? You want to know what other names they used to call me so you can keep them in your arsenal?” His blue eyes flashed with resentment and she regretted accusing him of being that vile just as quick as the words left her mouth. “I want to be alone.”

  Nicholas McBain was just as stubborn as they came and he refused to let her go so she could go cry alone in a corner. “I’m sorry.”

  She closed her eyes to the sight of him caring one damn about what she felt. “I don’t need that. You treating me with kid gloves only makes it worse. I want us to stay normal around each other.”

  “None of this is normal. We’ve never encountered a job like this before and you know deep down you can count on me or else you wouldn’t have been clutching my hand all night. I’m not going to kick you while you’re down and all our arguments and fights stem from work. I don’t know your personal life and even if I did I’d never be so cruel.”

  “I know and I’m sorry for suggesting you would.” In a vain attempt to fight back a fresh batch of cries she bit down painfully on her lower lip and glanced toward a bed of lilies. “Can we forget about it now?”