Bound to be Punished: Part I (Bound to be Punished Series)

by Miller, S. P.

  Bound to be Punished

  Part I

  S.P. Miller

  Part I

  The clock read ten till five, but Anne’s mind was already a mile away from her job and then some. It wasn’t that she hated her job; actually she thoroughly enjoyed working as a set designer in sunny Los Angeles, California, but it was Thursday and the start of a 3-day weekend.

  And not just any 3-day weekend, at that. She had been invited by one of her closest friends, and current colleague, to attend the opening of a new nightclub in West Hollywood that weekend.

  “You’ll love it,” Jessica had insisted, telling her enthusiastically, “rumor has it there might even be an A-list celebrity or two in attendance, too.”

  She’d had to roll her eyes at that, since she largely didn’t care about celebrities, but she welcomed the opportunity to get out and potentially meet some new people. It had been harder than she’d anticipated, coming to Los Angeles four months ago and settling into her new apartment. For the first time since leaving college, she was living alone and sometimes the quiet could get to be just too much to bear.

  “Count me in,” she’d told her friend, and now she sat impatiently counting down the minutes until she could jet out of the office and back to her apartment to start preparing.

  Just then Jessica’s voice interrupted her antsy waiting, “hey, are you looking forward to this weekend?” Her friend greeted her with a broad grin and sat down in a chair next to her.

  “Am I ever,” she turned to face her friend, smiling as she continued; “I’ve been waiting all day to get out of here. Do you still want to meet at your place to get ready?”

  “Yep,” Jessica nodded a strong affirmative, “you can come over at six and we’ll get ready, spend some time relaxing and then head down to the club at about ten.”

  Biting her lip for a moment in indecision, she settled on it and asked her friend, “Do you think Adam will be there? I heard him talking to some of the interns about it.”

  Adam, of course, was one of the hottest and most single guys in the office. He was only two years older than her, with a drop-dead sexy smile and enough charm to get a raise from Ebenezer Scrooge. Despite a few rumors that he was a ladies man, she’d found him incredibly attractive the first time they met, and Jessica had been on her case relentlessly about it ever since.

  “Oh, I dunno,” her friend shrugged, smiling mischievously, “I may have heard something about him attending. Are you finally gonna make a move on him?”

  Blushing brightly, Anne shook her head vigorously and looked around quickly to make sure no one had heard Jessica’s comment, “absolutely not, come on Jess, don’t say that too loud or someone’ll hear you. I was just curious, anyway.”

  Jessica nodded with a grin, “sure you were, curious about what’s in his pants…”

  “Jess!” she hissed, looking down to hide her bright red flush, “do you even know how to behave yourself? I do not want to know what’s in his pants.”

  That much was true, actually. Anne had only been in a serious intimate relationship with one man, and the thought of her ex-boyfriend filled her with a mess of contradictory feelings. After the intensity of her recently ended relationship, if she started dating again she’d decided that sex could wait a little while in the relationship.

  Jessica only shook her head and laughed, “I’m sorry, of course you don’t. You probably just want to talk to him about what color palette to use on the next set. Will it be bright and bold with vibrant reds and vivid oranges, or should it be soft and demure, some cozy pastels --”

  Jumping up, Anne exclaimed happily, “Would you look at that, it’s 5 o’clock!” She’d spied the clock, her savior, from the corner of her eye and was grateful for the reprieve.

  Her friend laughed again and stood as well, grabbing her purse from the table where she’d dropped it, “alright then, you’re saved by the bell. See you tomorrow at six?”

  Anne nodded enthusiastically, grabbing her purse and coat as well, “I’ll text you if I might be a few minutes early, but I will definitely see you tomorrow.”

  Parting ways with her friend, Anne was grateful to feel the heat dissipating from her face as she headed out to her car and then home. It’d been a long day, and she was ready to lie in the tub and soak, relax until the next day when she’d be busy getting ready with Jessica.

  Spending time with Jessica sometimes made it feel like college had never ended. Except now, instead of attending class and doing homework, they were going to work and producing samples and sketches for actual production. It didn’t matter that they were both twenty-four going on twenty-five, or that most of their other friends had settled down with fiancés or husbands. Except… Anne sighed, she had settled down. At least, she had for a while.

  When she got home, her apartment greeted her. It was warmly lit with the late afternoon sunshine streaming through the western-facing windows, but quiet and empty. Certainly, the quietude of her apartment was a far cry from the hustle and bustle and general noise of her family home when she’d been growing up. Even after she’d moved out, her college life had been full of noise, and she’d practically lived at her boyfriend’s apartment before moving away.

  It's better this way; she reminded herself, closing and latching the door behind her before kicking off her shoes and heading toward the kitchen to start making dinner. She grabbed the remote to her stereo and turned on the radio to provide some form of background noise.

  She’d taken Jessica up on her offer and moved out to California in order to start anew, and Anne was determined to do just that. So far, she’d done a pretty good job of turning over a new leaf, by her standards anyway. It had taken a few weeks to settle into her new job, but Jessica had helped immensely, and after four months of work she was really feeling at home. Her thoughts drifted back to the very handsome, very available Adam.

  Perhaps it was time for a new romantic relationship…

  ***

  As it turned out, Jessica had been absolutely right. The opening of The Serpent’s Den, nestled in the heart of West Hollywood, was not an event to be missed. Anne made a mental note to thank her friend again later that weekend when the festivities had died down. Although she couldn’t tell if any noteworthy celebrities had shown up, by the time it was nearing midnight Anne had decided the opening party of the club was a blast.

  “I found Adam!” Jessica had told her excitedly, shortly after they’d first arrived. Her friend had gone to the bar to get them a round of drinks, and spotted their handsome colleague chatting with the bartender. Evidently they were friends, and Jessica hadn’t wasted any time in getting Anne introduced to him and chatting there at the bar.

  “So where did you move from again?” he asked her as they both sipped their drinks, “I know Jessica’s been with the company for about two years now.”

  “Oh I moved from Washington,” she answered, explaining briefly, “you know, not a lot of design work up there. Besides, ever since she moved down here after college, Jessica’s been singing the praises of sunny California. I figured I had to check it out eventually…”

  “Absolutely,” he agreed, nodding vigorously, “if you’re serious about pursuing a career in set design, you’ve got to be here. This is where we make it happen, after all.”

  She was pleasantly surprised to find that Adam was immensely knowledgeable about the whole production side of the film industry. His focus, of course, was on set design, but it quickly became clear that he knew most of the ins and outs of any standard TV studio. When he got to discussing their mutual trade, Anne was pleased to see his entire
face light up, and his innate charm shone through as he spoke enthusiastically about his area of expertise.

  Unfortunately, he was equally enthusiastic about sports and their conversation soon derailed down a path that Anne could not follow. When it came to sports, she was just plain hopeless. They’d never interested her, and even during college she couldn’t have been bothered to know who their team was or even what sports the school competed in. And this is the point where I could fall asleep standing up, she began to think, struggling to find a way to return the conversation to some topic she knew something about.

  Jessica returned to her rescue, though, bringing fresh drinks to the table they had managed to commandeer, and saying loudly over the music, “why don’t you two dance?”

  “Indeed, why don’t we?” Adam asked, and setting aside his drink he offered her his hand.

  Casting a sidelong glance at Jessica, who was settling herself comfortably at their table, Anne took hold of Adam’s hand and followed him out to the dance floor. The lighting was low, with several glittering lights reflecting and refracting colored light over the dance floor. As he held her hand in his and drew her into his arms, Anne felt a strange, uneasy flutter in her belly.

  “I hope you’re a better dancer than I am,” he joked lightly, and Anna was struck again by how handsome he was when he smiled. Indeed, if he kept designing stage sets long enough, she had no doubt that eventually producers would start wanting to put him on the stage instead.

  She was a better dancer, although Adam certainly didn’t have two left feet, but to her dismay it wasn’t enough to overcome their conversational gap. After spending several songs dancing, they made their way back to the table where Jessica was still sitting.

  “Hey, this is Edward,” Jessica introduced them to another man she’d struck up a conversation with, “he’s friends with the club owner. This is my friend Jessica, and Adam.”

  The introduction was lost on her as she took a seat, though. Standing beyond the crowd of people, she caught sight of the one man who could make her heart fall into her stomach. He was standing near the bar, a drink in hand and leaning against it as he surveyed the club scene.

  Charles Donahue. His cool, black gaze took in his surroundings in the same keen way that a predator scouted its territory. Another man stood next to him, talking to him, and she felt relieved that he hadn’t seemed to notice her as she sank further into her seat.

  “You okay?” Jessica asked. Adam had left to get them fresh drinks, and Anne turned back toward her friend with a tight smile and a nod.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she glanced back through the mass of people; he hadn’t moved from the bar, every inch of his lean 6’3” frame decked out in black, from his shoes and pants to the black linen shirt that he wore unbuttoned at the throat.

  Her heart was in her stomach, alright. Flailing around and gasping for breath, then hammering about a million beats per second as a tide of memories washed over her.

  “I’ve accepted a job out of state,” she’d been standing in his kitchen when she told him, facing away as he sat at the table watching her. There was no way she could have said it to him if they’d been face to face, but she knew the look that was on his face all the same.

  “Just like that, without even mentioning it to me?” if she hadn’t known him so well, she wouldn’t have heard the slight change in his tone of voice that belied how deeply she’d hurt him.

  “I told you, I’m not sure if I’m ready for all of this.”

  “So you’re method of leaving me is to run away to some other state with no warning?” his sarcasm had cut her, deservedly so, and she felt like a coward for the way she’d left.

  But leave she had. She’d left her apartment and home, her family and her relationship with Charles, and so far she hadn’t paused long enough to look back. Perhaps she’d been afraid that if she looked back she might start second-guessing her decision to go in the first place.

  I did the right thing, she repeated to herself mentally. Putting some distance between them had been necessary, and it never would have happened if she continued to live in the same state; living in the same city was absolutely out. There was just no way to resist Charles; his presence got into her in a way unlike any known intoxicant and his absence left her craving for him all the more. At nine years her senior, he represented so many attractive qualities to her, and the fact that he was devilishly handsome only made him all the more enticing.

  Their relationship had been heated and passionate from the beginning, and three years had only intensified that flame. But the intensity of his sexual desires had been more than she was prepared for, more than she knew how to handle. It was why she’d run away to California.

  Only one thing troubled her, but it struck her deeply and she could not ignore it. If she’d done the right thing, why did her stomach flip with excitement and her heart yearn in anticipation of speaking to him? Why was she secretly so happy to see him, there of all places, in a club more than a thousand miles away from home?

  Adam had returned with a round of drinks, but she stood discreetly and dismissed herself briefly to go to the restroom. Keeping her head low, she passed through the throngs of people, getting past the bar and to the restrooms as quickly as possible. A mix of adrenaline and uneasy, thrilling fear coursed through her veins, and she sighed in relief when she door to the women’s room closed behind her.

  The bathroom was empty and still perfectly clean since it was the first night the club had been open; Anne went to the sink and washed her hands reflexively, then splashed a bit of cold water on her face. “Get a grip on yourself,” she admonished herself quietly, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her auburn hair was loosely curled and teased somewhat wildly about her shoulders, and she could see the dilation of her pupils from already having a few drinks.

  The music was still audible through the walls, although the bathroom was reasonably well soundproofed, and she relished having a few minutes to herself before a pair of young women came in together. They were talking animatedly but paused when they saw her, and she dried her hands off, taking her cue to leave.

  Back at the table, Jessica looked to her with concern, asking, “hey, are you alright? You’re not getting sick, are you?”

  Shaking her head, she looked around as discreetly as she could in search of Charles, but didn’t see him anywhere. “Everything’s okay, just a bit too much to drink perhaps,” she answered vaguely, distracted by her desire to know where her ex-boyfriend had gone.

  “Well, Adam went to dance with another girl he knows,” Jessica shot her an apologetic look, but shrugged; she knew Anne wasn’t head-over-heels for him after all, and she added, “I was waiting for you to get back so we don’t lose the table, but I’m gonna dance with Edward, oaky? Let me know if you feel sick or want to call it a night.”

  I guess he’s more of a ladies’ man than I thought, Anne sighed but smiled at her friend, encouraging her, “yeah, go for it. I’d like to sit for a little while anyway.”

  They switched spots, with Anne sitting down comfortably in the chair and Jessica flitting off to the dance floor to find her newest interest. Anne watched her friend go fondly, thinking to herself, I wish I could be as carefree about romance as she is sometimes.

  The fact that Adam had split didn’t surprise her, either. He was cordial and polite, certainly very charming, but it had become evident while they were talking that they really didn’t have as much in common as she thought. I suppose he’ll just be office eye-candy, she decided, happy to accept that he’d never be anything more than the attractive coworker.

  Eying her drink, a lightly alcoholic, fruity thing that Jessica had introduced her to, she contemplated whether it was a good idea to consume it. To hell with it, she decided, and took a long drink of the delicious beverage, savoring the alcoholic aftertaste. Whatever Charles Donahue was doing in LA, it wasn’t going to wreck her evening.

  ***

  He’d seen her on the dance floor
shortly after he’d arrived, and his eyes had barely left her since, but Charles took his pleasant time before he chose to approach Anne. Her decision four months previously had not been quickly forgotten, however, and a satisfied smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. Without even intending to, he’d found his fly-away bird.

  The only thing that remained now was to bring her home.

  When he finally did approach her, Anne never saw it coming and she jumped visibly at the sound of his voice, warm and low as it penetrated through the noise and music in the club; “Of all the places I might have looked for you, this certainly wouldn’t have been one of them.”

  Instantly, her eyes leapt from the dance floor where she’d been watching Jessica, to Charles as he pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. For a moment, all the sound in the club seemed to fall away and Anne could only hear the roaring of her blood in her ears as her heart first faltered and then began hammering hard in her chest. The strength of her reaction hit her like a punch in the stomach, and she could only stare mutely at him for several moments.