Duchess

by Nikki Wilson

  "Are you kidding me?" Chase ran his hand through his hair. "Doesn't our relationship mean more than a fake one?"

  "Yes, but . . ." Katie stopped as his words jolted through her panic. Did he just admit that he wanted a relationship with her? Excitement permeated her emotions, and she looked for a reason to doubt his sincerity. After all, no one stayed in her life for long. Could Chase be any different? She narrowed her eyes as she figured out a reason he could be saying all this. "Why did you kiss me? Was it so you could get out of the fake date with Duchess?"

  "What? No! Of course not."

  "Good, because you’re going to help me fix this. Duchess is expecting you at seven sharp tomorrow.” She hoped her brusque voice covered up the warring emotions taking residence inside her.

  "Seriously? I don't want to date Duchess. I want to date you."

  She ignored the electric thrill that charged through her and pressed forward. "You're not really dating Duchess. You're just pretending. It'll be fine." She tried to tell herself not to think about the kiss that still burned on her lips.

  Chase just stared at her, and Katie shifted her feet. The silence seemed to stretch on forever.

  "Fine," he finally said, but his teeth were clenched. "But I'm only going on this one date. After that, you’ll have to find another solution. Because I won't be your amputee poster boy."

  He stormed out before she could respond. She heard the front door slam and began to plummet down the emotional roller coaster she was riding.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chase looked in the mirror at his crisp ironed slacks and purple-collared shirt with a black tie. He looked like an over-dressed monkey, but what did one wear on a date with a pop diva? If he went by what she wore in her videos, his outfit was way too normal. But he didn’t care what Duchess thought, though her manager consumed his mind.

  Thinking about Katie made his forehead wrinkle up. One moment, she’d melted in his arms as their lips converged, and life had taken on new meaning for him. But the very next moment, she accused him of kissing her to get out of the date with Duchess.

  He sighed and turned away from the mirror. As much as knew he should walk away from Katie and never look back, he couldn’t. With Katie, he felt whole again. His disability didn’t exist around her. As much as he’d feared she would pity him if she found out the truth, he had to admit that he’d been wrong. Not once had she shown him pity—or mercy, for that matter. The woman could be ruthless when needed. A smile came unbidden to his face. Katie made him want to trust again. He decided that after the date with Duchess, he would make sure Katie knew his feelings. He didn’t want to let her go.

  After straightening his tie one more time, Chase picked up his coat and left his apartment. Katie had sent a car to pick him up. He didn’t even pause to look around for paparazzi. They had almost become a normal part of his life. Of course, being followed and spied on by people who weren’t trying to kill him wasn’t that big of a deal. He’d lived through much worse.

  The drive to Duchess’s house didn’t take long, and he found himself wishing it had taken longer. He really dreaded having to make conversation with her. When the car stopped, the driver offered to call up and let them know he was there.

  “Call me old-fashioned,” he replied, “but I’ll go to the door myself.” A part of him hoped he could catch a glimpse of Katie.

  Chase knocked on the front door, and the maid answered.

  “She come down soon,” Maria said in broken English. “Wait here.”

  He started to come in, but the door shut in his face. Stepping back, he mumbled to himself, “No one appreciates chivalry anymore.” He had just turned to wait in the car when the door opened abruptly, revealing the one and only Duchess. Or was it? Could anyone tell who was actually behind the elaborate costumes?

  Speaking of costumes, Chase could only stare. He had no words for the woman before him. The red Renaissance-era dress had see-through material on the sleeves that hung like a giant bell. When she held her arm straight to pull the door closed, it looked like a giant bat wing in red that cascaded all the way to the ground. The top part of the dress wasn’t sheer, thank goodness, but cleavage spilled out, causing Chase to cast his gaze downward. The skirt parted open in the front to show off skin-tight bright red leather pants. Of course, the outfit wouldn’t be complete without blood-red stilettos. He looked up only to be stunned into silence by the straight white hair parted down the middle with a braid circling her head like a halo. Luckily, half her face was blocked by the big, black sunglasses she wore.

  The whole getup was too ridiculous for words. He knew he should offer a compliment.

  “Um, you look very…” He searched his mind for something that would be true, though not negative. “Red,” he finished hesitantly.

  “Thank you, dahling.” The synthesized voice still caught him off guard.

  He noticed the small head mic that wrapped around from her ear toward her mouth. That meant somewhere in the outfit, she hid a speaker, though he wasn’t sure how.

  He stood awkwardly on the front steps and realized she was waiting for him.

  “Oh, um, shall we go?” He gestured toward the car in the drive.

  She held out her hand, and he offered his arm and they walked to the limo. As he shut the door, he let out a long breath. He was visualizing every worst-case scenario in the world. Running his hand through his hair, he shook his head. He couldn’t go through with it.

  Moving quickly up the steps to the house, he rang the doorbell for the second time in five minutes. Maria answered the door again, looking confused.

  “Si?”

  “Can I speak to Katie, please?”

  “She not here,” she answered.

  “What? Where is she?” He craned his neck to look around the housekeeper. Surely Katie was just hiding from him.

  “I not know. She left hour before.”

  Chase sighed as he realized he had no choice but to go through with the evening, but the next time he saw Katie, he’d let her know he’d never do this again …ever.

  “Gracias,” Chase said as Maria shut the door.

  He walked back to the car, trying to take as much time as possible, though he knew he was only prolonging this disastrous evening. Sighing one more time, he got into the car.

  “Everything all right, dahling?” the synthesized voice asked.

  “No, it’s not all right.” He couldn’t keep his agitation to himself any longer. “This evening is a lie, and you know it. We’re not lovers. Heck, we’re not even friends. I don’t like you, and I don’t like the way you use Katie to do everything for you while you do who knows what.”

  “Then why are you here?” Duchess gazed at him calmly, and Chase turned his head away from the ridiculous-looking woman.

  “I’m only here because Katie needs me to do this for you. Why she’s so loyal to you, I’ll never know, but you don’t deserve a person like her.”

  Silence hovered for a moment before the robotic voice responded.

  “Fair enough. We will make this night quick—just dinner and a few pictures for the reporters, and then it’s over. Agreed?”

  Chase nodded, then settled back into the seat and did his best to ignore the red personage next to him for the rest of the ride. When the limousine pulled up in front of the fancy restaurant, flashes went off all around them.

  “How did they know?” he asked dryly.

  “They may have received an anonymous tip,” Duchess replied, and Chase realized he was getting used to the robotic voice.

  The chauffeur opened Duchess’s, door and she instantly responded to the attention of the photographers and reporters clamoring for her. He watched in awe as she came alive under the flashing lights, waving at everyone as regally as possible. Chase got out and came up behind her. It was time to put on the best show of his life. Taking a deep breath, he offered her his arm, though this time, she didn’t take it. Instead, she wrapped her arm around his waist.

 
“Come on, love. Let’s give them what they want,” she whispered in her synthesized voice. Chase put his arm around her waist and started to propel them forward through the crowd.

  He plastered a smile on his face. “Excuse us,” he said as he moved her into the restaurant and shut the door on the crowd outside.

  He only had a moment to take in the peacefulness of the establishment when a hostess walked up with menus.

  “Miss Duchess, your table is waiting.”

  Duchess nodded, and they both followed the hostess to the table. Chase’s thoughts wandered to Katie, and he wished she were the one with him. He thought about how her eyes lit up at the Hollywood Bowl when she explained its history, the way she bit her lip when she was nervous, and how the taste of her lips haunted all his dreams.

  "Sir?" The hostess was looking at him expectantly, and he realized Duchess already sat in her chair.

  "Oh, yes, thank you," he said as he took the proffered menu and sat down. He looked around at the sectioned-off portion of the restaurant. There were a couple of empty tables around them, but their table was in the middle of the area, and highly visible from the panel of windows facing the street.

  Those windows were lined with paparazzi, and camera flashes went off like a private fireworks show.

  "How are we supposed to eat like this?" Chase asked as he turned to look at Duchess. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed as he looked into her bright red contacts. She had taken off her sunglasses, and he wished she would put them back on.

  "Just ignore them and pretend like we are madly in love," she said, then laughed like he had just said the funniest thing. Then she placed her hand on top of his.

  He paused for a moment before taking her hand in his and fastened a smile on his face. "You do know those contacts make you look like a hideous monster, right?" Then he used his other hand to caress hers lovingly. .

  "What a charmer you are." She reached over and gently touched his cheek. "How do you manage to stay single? Really, it's a mystery."

  The sarcasm seeped through the robotic voice. The British accent combined with the synthesizer gave her an alien sound that was strangely hypnotic, though not in a good way. More like, she was going to lull him to sleep and dissect his insides.

  "What about you, Duchess? You’re so desperate for a date, you'll go out with an amputee? Or did you forget this is a pity date in an attempt to make you look human, but you probably should have rethought your outfit."

  He watched the smile slip from her face just a hair before she threw her head back and laughed. Then her foot began to rub the lower part of his calf in a provocative manner. He could see the camera flashes going off in his peripheral vision. He hoped those reporters were getting as many pictures as they could because as soon as this meal was over, he was leaving.

  "You don't know anything about me," she said.

  They were interrupted by the waiter before Chase could respond. They ordered, and he did his best to look in love without speaking. Once the food arrived, it was much easier. The meal lasted a lot longer than necessary, but apparently, fancy restaurants serve the food in courses and keep you waiting between each one.

  When they finally finished dessert, Chase exhaled a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

  He stood, but Duchess remained seated, looking up at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes, pulled her chair out for her, and held out his hand.

  "See? That wasn't so terrible, was it?" she drawled. "By morning, everyone will be talking about how in love we are."

  He snorted. "People shouldn't believe everything they see."

  "Even so, just to make sure, I think you should kiss me."

  "What? That wasn't part of the deal." Chase couldn't help but think of his kisses with Katie. His knees weakened at the thought of Katie in his arms and the feel of her soft body next to his. Katie was the complete opposite of the woman before him, and he couldn’t even bring himself to pretend to want to kiss her.

  "It's just for the pictures, love. It will be quick, trust me."

  Chase's head turned. The way she'd said "trust me" reminded him of Katie. He stared into Duchess’s blood-red eyes, searching for something even though he wasn't sure what. Duchess shifted her weight, and then she bit her bottom lip, just like Katie had right before he'd kissed her.

  Chase gazed at the face before him and noticed the same face shape as Katie's. The nose was different, but if he looked closely, he could see the slight seams of putty. His eyes went to her mouth, and even with the bright red lipstick, he could recognize the shape of the lips he'd been craving for weeks now. Was it possible? Could this be Katie?

  "Come, dahling. It was just a suggestion. Let's leave." She began to walk past him, but Chase grabbed her arm and pulled her close. She bit her bottom lip again, and Chase knew how to find out the truth.

  Leaning down, he placed his lips on hers and gently kissed her, waiting patiently for her response. When her hands reached up for the back of his neck, there was no denying it—Duchess was Katie. He knew it with every fiber of his being.

  Pulling back, he waited to catch his breath before speaking, "Katie?"

  Her eyes went big, and she stepped back quickly.

  "What about her?" she tried to choke out, but the kiss had moved the synthesizer microphone away from her mouth, and it was Katie's voice with a British accent that he heard.

  She quickly readjusted the mic and tried to stand up taller.

  "It is you. Don't try to deny it again."

  For a moment, he thought she was going to continue the charade. Instead, she grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward a door in the back of the restaurant. They emerged in the kitchen, and Duchess continued to push him past the bewildered cooks and waiters through another door, this one leading to the alley behind the restaurant.

  "Katie," he began.

  "Stop." She put her finger over his lips. "You can't say that. Ever."

  "But it's you."

  "Shh! Do you want to ruin me? Nobody can know the truth." She looked up and down the alley like a spy trying to evade her evil nemesis.

  "Ruin you?" He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. "You already did that. You chose to become this monster for fame and fortune."

  "It's not like that," she protested, moving the microphone out of the way.

  "What is it like, then? Please enlighten me."

  "I'm not good enough to get a record deal."

  "Bull!" he retorted.

  "My mom got cancer, and I had to do whatever I could to save her—even becoming this character. It doesn't matter what you think because I did what I had to do."

  Chase found it hard to look at the face of Duchess and hear Katie's voice. She had lied to him. Worst of all, she was lying to herself.

  "Did you? Or is that what you told yourself so you could become someone else and lose yourself?"

  "Duchess has put food on the table and paid for treatment after treatment. Do you know how much it costs to have cancer? And did cancer ask if we could afford it? No, it was very rude like that, and I did what I needed to do."

  "Yeah, and how's that working for you?"

  "What do you mean by that?"

  He gave a heavy sigh as he thought of the best way to say it. "All the money in the world can't save your mom from cancer, Katie.” He said it gently, but by the look on her face, it appeared as if he'd just smacked her. "I just mean ..."

  She held up her hand and backed away. "I know what you meant." Her voice was cold as she pulled a phone out of the top of her dress. He didn't know she could hide anything in there.

  He listened as she told the limo driver to pick her up in the alley. She clicked off the phone, and they stood in awkward silence. Chase didn't know what else to say. Luckily, she spoke first.

  "You fulfilled your side of the bargain. No more dating Duchess."

  "And don't worry about the benefit concert. I can handle it from here." He wasn't sure that was true, but he knew he couldn't be around Katie, knowi
ng he couldn't trust her. He shook his head at the irony. He'd thought, or maybe just hoped, she was different from his ex-wife, but she was just the same. She pretended to be someone else to get what she wanted.

  The car pulled up, and Chase watched her climb in. He didn't move—he would rather walk home than ride with her. He watched the limo pull away and with it, the hope for a new future he'd foolishly allowed himself to want. He wouldn't let that happen again.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Katie didn’t let herself look out the back window of the limo. She squeezed her eyes shut. Tears streaked down her cheeks, washing away the white makeup in long, tan lines. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, but she’d known it was going to have to end at some point. They were too different, and he was right. She liked being Duchess sometimes, not worrying about what people thought because it wasn’t really her. She could say anything without consequences. In fact, the more outrageous Duchess acted, the more her music sold. That’s what mattered, right?

  The heavy feeling in her heart rebelled at those thoughts. Selling music wasn’t all that mattered. She knew that, didn’t she? Part of her tried to say that Chase mattered, but she pushed that voice down. He would have left her eventually—it might as well happen now. No one really stayed in her life. Not even her mother.

  As the car pulled up in front of her house, Katie wiped at the tears on her face, though she only succeeded in smearing white makeup all over the backs of her hands. The ridiculous stiletto heels made it difficult for her to climb the steps into the house as quickly as she would have liked. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she pulled off the bright red shoes and threw them on the ground.

  “Miss Duchess?” Maria came down the stairs.

  “What are you still doing here?” Katie asked.

  “Come.” Maria didn’t wait for Katie to respond, but went back up the stairs.

  Katie suddenly had a sinking feeling in her heart. “Mom?” she whispered before taking the stairs two at a time. Maria held the door open for her, and she entered the dark room. She could see her mother’s silhouette in the bed illuminated by the weak light of the small lamp on the nightstand. The hospice nurse came around the bed to meet Duchess at the door.