by Mia Ford
Either way, I’m not ready to settle down now. I hear my name being called, but a tear falls as I think about him putting up the pictures. I wonder what other changes he’s made, and I’m lost in my thoughts as I think about him.
“Scarlett it’s time,” Fiona whispers as all lights are on the centerpiece. The main reason that we’re all here tonight.
My eyes dart around the room, and then they land on both mom and dad. She’s standing next to him. She came with a broken arm and said that she hurt herself while skiing. I think that she forgot her excuses because it’s not even ski-ing season yet.
I close my eyes as I hold Gretchen’s hand one more time and head to the painting. The one that’ll break my family for good.
Fiona gives me the mic as I take it I hold my breath, and there I see him standing. Joshua Moore, he looks completely different from the last time I saw him. He’s in red polo shirt and jeans with a jacket. He seems more relaxed with his subtle stubble. He doesn’t smile or even change the expression on his face. He just nods at me. As if he’s giving me permission to go ahead.
Either way, I start my speech. The one that I’ve been practicing all week as I start to do the unveiling.
“Thank you for coming tonight. I know that most of all you know me from hanging here as a kid in Rowtons. I was lost for the best part of my teens for one reason or another. But coming back here…”
I clear my throat as I stare at Aunt Betty. I know that this will break her heart, but I want her to understand my heartache and the reasons that I made bad choices. Which began and ended with Sam.
“And opening my eyes for the first time. Has helped me express how I feel about my past. The torment and danger that I used to escape from every time I came here. The reason why as an adult, I never go to my family home and the reason why I hate the man in the picture.”
I nod to Fiona so that she can remove the sheet.
“I want you to see my masterpiece. It’s called the man in the dark.”
As it's removed, I see my mom faint and Daniel by her side catching her and stopping her from tumbling to the ground. My dad muttering something and then leaving. Aunt Betty gasps and I turn to Gretchen and see the tears uncontrollably leaving her eye and as for everyone else. They’re clapping, pointing to the picture and the man in the light and the child at the back.
The woman on the floor in a pool of blood and the man, his face smiling as the light only focuses on his face. The paintings black with only light on the woman in black but in a pool of red signifying blood and the child, who’s in a corner witnessing it all, but then she has a zip over her mouth implying that she’ll never tell a soul.
Fiona is nodding as she’s the only person that’s seen the picture and said that it would sell for thousands. I’ve put my heart and soul into the piece and as much as not everyone understands exactly what it means to me.
I start to look for him. The man that made me go from hiding the darkness that was in me, to bringing it out into the light.
He’s by my side, I don’t see him, but I know his woody scent.
He kisses me on the cheek, he says, “That's beautiful.”
I don’t hesitate in wrapping my arms around him. I know that I shouldn’t. I should hate him for how he treated me and made me feel, but how can I despise someone who helped me face my past. He's made me express exactly how I feel about my childhood. Something that I’ve kept hidden for so long?
“The piece is beautiful. Just like the artist.”
I push him back; he whispers, “Wait, I know that I don’t deserve another chance, but I would like to try.”
“By fucking me all weekend?”
I say as I wipe the tears from my eyes.
He shakes his head, “No. I want us to go on a date. Maybe a weekend. Maybe a week and then in time…”
“You want to fuck me all weekend?”
He shakes his head and says, “No, maybe if you’ll let me I’ll like to fuck you for life.”
I stop and stare at him. I don’t know if he’s serious, but as my dad ends up by my side he lifts up his hand and Joshua blocks him.
“You ungrateful spoiled bitch!” Dad yells as Joshua wrestles with his hand. The one that was just about to hit me.
Aunt Betty’s hand comes beside me as dad runs off, probably to avoid her.
“I never knew,” she whispers and then Daniel comes holding mom and they all leave together. I’ve set mom free, she can now do whatever she wants and I know that Aunt Betty will help her.
I turn to Joshua and say, “One more try. But if you hurt me again..”
He lifts me up and says, “I wouldn’t dare!”
Epilogue
Scarlett
I never thought that I would make Rowtons my home. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it as a kid and even a teenager, but to think that this the place that I’m going to call home feels as if it’s too surreal.
I hated my aunt for making the one man that’s made me ever feel like a woman part of a business contract. She apologized so many times with the explanation, “I don’t have long dear, and I wanted you to be happy.”
Mom's in therapy and officially divorced from dad. She’s living with Aunt Betty and trying to get on the road to recovery. Something that she should have done a long time ago, part of me feels guilty about it. Maybe if I’d told Aunt Betty or someone else, what was going on earlier then it would have stopped a lot sooner?
I try not to think of the past and just concentrate on the future these days. I’ve never been happier in my life, and I didn’t even think that it was possible. Joshua respects me, but then I feel the same way about him.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he growls as he creeps up next to me.
“You need to stop doing that!” I snap back as I sit with my notebook thinking about my next painting.
“Maybe painting’s not for you. Maybe your masterpiece is what you needed to set you free.”
He sits at the end of the chair, and I feel as if there’s a cloud on him. He doesn’t seem his normal self, but then again I’m not exactly in the right frame of mind, at the best of times.
“Why do you think that? You’ve been supporting me all this time. Don’t tell me that you’re having second thoughts now? I moved here for you…”
He’s covering my mouth and saying, “Take deep breaths.”
I start to do that, as my yoga instructor has taught me to do so many times. I take deep breaths as I gaze into his emerald eyes thinking why does he even put up with me. I seem to be in this emotional stage at the moment.
“Sorry,” I sigh as I wrap my arms around him.
“Can you stop apologizing for once in your life?”
I shake my head, thinking that I’m a successful artist, but I still think of myself as that broken woman. The one that he’d repaired and my life started to begin. I’ve been on safari, a wild weekend with Gretchen and the girls, all the things that I couldn’t do when I was in a relationship with Sam.
He's been so distant lately, and part of me thought that maybe it had something to do with my success. But, I still earn a fraction of what he’s made to date, so it’s not that. There’s something bugging him and one thing I know about Joshua. He hates me asking him what’s up?
He despises it.
“Did I miss something?”
Shit, I said it, and I automatically regret it the moment I blurt it out. I’m holding him, and he has his back to me. He can’t see that I’ve closed my eyes and the fact that I’m crossing my feet.
“Sorry?”
“Well, it’s just that you’ve been distant lately, so I thought that there was something on your mind.”
He moves away from me and turns to face me, but this time not sitting down which makes me feel even more nervous.
“I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”
“Tell me about it. I get that. You don’t even want to play in your room anymore.”
He sighs, “That’s because you seem to th
ink that’s the only thing that will make everything better, but it doesn’t work like that.”
Are you going to tell me what it works like?”
He shakes his head, “I didn’t come home for a fight. I just came to get ready and for us to go to the gallery, that’s why you said I should come home early today right?”
I nod my head and then it dawns on me that in the year that we’ve been dating and living together we’ve never had a fight. Like never and now we’re having a fight like a real couple, and I don’t know what to do with myself.
“Wait. What’s going on?”
He shakes his head, “Scarlett, I’m not Sam so please for once stop treating me as if I am.”
And then he walks away, and I wonder where all that came from.
He spins around and says, “This is the reason I’ve been nervous. We were supposed to go to the gallery and then I was going to get on one knee in front of all those people and propose to you. You happy now?”
He sighs, “That’s because you seem to think that’s the only thing that will make everything better, but it doesn’t work like that.”
Are you going to tell me what it works like?”
He shakes his head, “I didn’t come home for a fight. I just came to get ready and for us to go to the gallery, that’s why you said I should come home early today right?”
I nod my head and then it dawns on me that in the year that we’ve been dating and living together we’ve never had a fight. Like never and now we’re having a fight like a real couple, and I don’t know what to do with myself.
“Wait. What’s going on?”
He shakes his head, “Scarlett, I’m not Sam so please for once stop treating me as if I am.”
And then he walks away, and I wonder where all that came from.
He spins around and says, “This is the reason I’ve been nervous. We were supposed to go to the gallery and then I was going to get on one knee in front of all those people and propose to you. You happy now?”
I gasp as I see the box. The jewelry box which obviously has a ring in it. For me.
“Well, it’s not too late!” I squeal thinking that he was bored and that he’d had enough of me. When all along, he wanted us to be official.
He takes a deep breath and says, “I’m so shit at this type of thing.”
I laugh, “You are!”
“Thanks, Scarlett.”
“Are you going to propose or what?”
He smiles as he gets on one knee and the diamond ring in the box is finally opened, “Will you Scarlett…”
I don’t even get him to finish the rest of the sentence as I jump on him and he falls onto the green. I kiss him so many times. He pulls back and says, “Is that a yes?”
We’re on the grass, and I say, “What do you think it is?”
And then this time he’s the one pulling me in for a kiss, and I think about living my life with him forever and all of sudden I don’t even feel like going to the gallery. I feel like going up to his playroom so that we can play.
A Steamy Office Romance – Steal Me
PART 1: Blueprints of Lust
Amanda Cochran had always been attracted to older men, but this was a secret that she was going to take to her grave. She’s never been one to fish in the company pond, but that becomes difficult when she meets August Rivers. Her designs have impressed him enough to offer her a ground floor opportunity. He wants to see what she can come up with to design a new building. It can’t be cookie cutter and has to showcase certain traits of the owner. They will have to work side by side after hours. Amanda will have to find a way to rebuff his advances without fallen victim to her own overanxious libido. August will see her as a challenge. He has never had any problem getting a woman and her disinterest will only fuel his desire even more.
Chapter one
I stood in front of my mirror looking at my curves. I knew that there were guys that would beg on bended knee to be with me. I was not immune to the lingering glances in my direction and I had on occasion purposely bent over to give them a thrill. I liked the attention and I wore clothing that was constricting and hard to breathe in. I wanted them to crave that one last look before disappearing from their lives forever. I didn’t consider myself a tease, but I suppose from their point of view it would appear that way.
“I would say that if you’re trying to make a good first impression that dress will do it. I just hope that you don’t need the Jaws of Life to get out of it at the end of the day. The heels are a nice touch. I’ve never been able to wear those. I feel like I’m going to fall over, but you handle it with grace.” Tina was that friend that always had something to say on everything. I could always count on her to be completely honest without sugarcoating anything. It was refreshing to know that she would not just tell me what I wanted to hear.
“I figure that it’s best to take advantage of what I have been blessed with. I used to think that it was a curse to have a little bit of extra coming and going. I see the advantages. I sometimes find that I want to run over to those skinny bitches and tell them to eat something. I eat right, but I will always have more than average. I am quite pleased that most of that extra weight landed on my breasts and my ass.” Tina was a slacker. She didn’t believe in a 9 to 5 job and always depended on those guys that were willing to pay her bills. She never promised them anything in return, but it was always an unwritten understanding.
I was 5’9, 170 pounds with a mixture of black and red in my hair. I made my own clothes. I’d always been a creative personality and that led to me sending in a couple of my building designs to a well-known architect.
August Rivers had actually taken an interest in me. To have him personally invite me to his office was unheard of. I had heard the rumors of the way that he treated the female staff under his watch. I didn’t think that I had much to worry about. Those photos of him out and about were with those girls that were airbrushed into the perfect specimens.
“If his tongue doesn’t fall to the floor, then he has to be gay. There are certain things that men have a hard time looking away from. You guarantee that you’ll have a line around the block to talk to you.” My type was an acquired taste but was becoming acceptable in this day and age. I only wished that this was the case in high school and college, but for the most part, I was that wallflower hanging back and looking in from the outside.
“I appreciate the effort to butter me up and make me feel more confident, but I’m already nervous as it is.” I grabbed my purple leather jacket and covered the black slinky dress with the accompanying white belt.
“I would wish you luck, but I don’t think that you need it.” Tina had her blond curls into pigtails giving her that innocent look. Those that knew her well enough would know that there was nothing innocent about her. She was my roommate, but she was always with a different man every week. I just couldn’t bring myself to being with a man for the fleeting chance of 5 minutes of pleasure.
“From your lips to god’s ears.” My mother had always told me that I was never going to amount to much and that really did do something to my self-esteem. It was bad enough that I was struggling with weight issues, but to have her constantly berate me made it necessary to leave her in the dust after graduation.
I hadn’t been home in over two years. My older sister Carol keeps trying to lure me back to the homestead for the holidays. I always come up with some lame excuse to get out of it. She was always that golden child that I couldn’t measure up to. There was no way that she knew how our mother treated me. I got the feeling from my mother’s disapproval that my pregnancy somehow ruined her life.
I got into my old gray and dismal Toyota and prayed that it would turn over. I waited and then I turned the ignition and heard the rumble of the engine come to life underneath me. I could smell the exhaust fumes coming through the floor. My inspection was coming up soon and I had a feeling that I was going to need a lot more than I had in my bank account to get this thing road worthy.
<
br /> I put it into gear and it backfired making a young man in front of me crossing the street almost wet himself in fear that it was a drive by. Chicago did have its fair share of crime. There was no way that anybody could leave their doors open unless of course, you wanted your stuff to be pawned. I had a baseball bat by my bed and I knew had to swing for the fences.
I drove down the street at 9:00 AM on a Monday morning and I saw these people moving along like sheep and I realized that I was one of them. Bumper to bumper traffic was not uncommon for this time of day. I had to give Tina credit for being able to lounge in her pajamas. I needed that security and I had been pounding the pavement to find my dream job for the past five years. It meant that I had to take on temporary jobs. I think that I let my mother’s words distract me and make me feel that I wasn’t worthy of anything good in my life.
I was never that adventurous in the bedroom. I had seen some things on the Internet that made me cringe to even contemplate doing them myself. Positions were relegated to the vanilla missionary on a bed. That was probably the reason why I could never keep a boyfriend for any longer than six months before he decided to pull the plug.
I arrived at the building and I was in awe. I stood there after paying for parking and looked up and marveled at the intricate design that went into bringing something like this to life. August was known to think outside the box. It was the one thing that we had in common.
I had a black satchel over my shoulder and I reached in and pulled out the magazine with his photo on the front. He always dressed to impress wearing finely tailored suits that fit him like a glove. There was nothing that he could do to hide those muscles from bulging in all the right places. There were times when I used his image to satisfy my longings. I could only imagine what he looked like under the suit. He had the tendency to wear a power red tie.