Man Seeks Woman 2, Man Seeks Wife

by Stephanie Franklin

  A waiter rushed over to me and stared wide eyed between me and Jacob who was still withering on his knees. He was shooting me the meanest glare he could probably muster but that wasn’t what bothered me. No, what bothered me was the look in his eyes, the promise. It made me swallow hard and back away from him a little more.

  “Are you okay Madam?” the waiter asked.

  It took a couple of seconds for me to realise that the man was speaking to me. I looked at him, swallowed hard then nodded. “I’m fine.”

  He shook his head, his dark hair moved with the motion and a little strand snaked into his eye. He brushed it away impatiently and looked between me and Jacob again. We both moved back when Jacob managed to get to his feet. He didn’t stand as tall as he had done before and his hands didn’t stray too far from his bullocks either. Good, I did him some damage then?

  “You are going to regret fucking with me Victoria.”

  I made a face even as the back of my throat continued to quiver with sickness. “Fucking with you?” I laughed but there was no humour in it. “You’re the one that thinks I’m for sale and has just propositioned me.”

  “What?” a voice asked from behind me.

  Oh shit.

  I closed my eyes and prayed for this not to be happening right now. Slowly I turned and saw not only Sebastian behind me but all of his brothers too. All of them wore the same expressions as they looked around me at Jacob. Sebastian’s face was a little fiercer.

  “What the hell is going on here, Victoria?” Sebastian asked, his eyes never leaving Jacob.

  Shit, this didn’t look good. In fact, the temperature just dropped about twenty degrees and the air fizzled with mass amounts of electricity.

  Moving towards Sebastian, I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “Nothing, I was just coming back to the table. Come on.”

  “No, I don’t think we should go back to the table.” Christian said. He crossed his arms over his wide chest and glared at Jacob. “See, I think you were harassing Victoria, weren’t you?”

  Jacob sneered at all the Blackwell brothers and straightened up his shirt. “I wasn’t harassing her at all if you must know, Christian. In fact, it was Victoria who approached me. See, I was just leaving the restaurant after having a very successful business meeting and she cornered me outside the bathroom door and asked me to.” He cleared his throat. “It may sound a little crude but she asked me to ‘give her one’—“

  “What?” I screeched and whipped around to face him. “You liar, how fucking dare you!” the cheek, “You approached me and propositioned me. You asked me how much a pump and run—“

  “Sebastian, no,” Laura screamed from her position next to Lawrence. Her hands went to her mouth, her eyes wide and frightened.

  My mouth opened to ask what the hell was going on when I was knocked to the side as a heavy weight shoved past me. In a blur of movement I saw a streak of black move to Jacob then he went down. I hit the floor with a hard thud. My boobs crashed against the carpeted flooring, knocking the breath out of me. My forehead rocked forward and bounced at the same time my knees gave out. My hands crabbed underneath me and were crushed beneath my boobs so my nails buckled and bent backwards sending little shards of pain up my fingers to my wrist. I hissed and fought to get my hands out but my arms felt like heavy weights. My muscles were tight and seemed to stay in a clamped state as if frozen.

  I tried to see what was going on but the white light behind my eyes blinded me for at least ten seconds. I shook my head back and fourth trying to clear the brightness but it didn’t help. I let my head rest back on the floor as I rolled over. My boobs ached with the movement as well as my ribs. You’d think with how big my boobs were, they would have cushioned my fall but it didn’t freaking feel like that at all.

  Through all the shouting, screaming and orders being thrown around, my ears picked up thuds and manly grunts along with screams and shouts from the people in the restaurant trying to eat their dinners. I could hear Laura’s panicked screeches and believe it or not, Christian’s running commentary and cheers for Sebastian to ‘get a good one in.’

  If I would have been able to, I would have rolled my eyes at him. Now was not the time for him humour or his light heartedness.

  Strong hands grabbed me around my waist and began to help me up. I opened my eyes and was relived to see that the white blinding light was now gone but now I had blurriness but at least I could see that was the main thing. The face I looked up into was Fergusons. His look was stern but there was worry and concern in his eyes. The hand around my waist tightened and the other took my hand. He began to lead me over to the table but as I took the first step I heard a strong, deep groan of pain.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Jacob and Sebastian were still going at it. Waiters and what looked like the whole load of management had gotten involved but every time they got close, they either got hit or shoved out of the way. It seemed everyone was quite willing to let them fight it out rather than get involved.

  The elephant ears plants that had lined the wall next to the bathrooms were all now knocked over. The expensive golden pots they were planted in were cracked and broken in some places and being kicked around. Soil and water dripped and dribbled from them, not only covering the floor but the men rolling around too.

  Lawrence paced beside them looking for an in somewhere but Jacob and Sebastian were pressed body to body, rolling around on the floor. Occasionally, either one would rear back and slam a fist into each other’s face but other than that, they looked like a couple of seals moving back and fourth.

  “I’ll fucking kill you.” Jacob ground out, trying to get his hands around Sebastian’s throat. His face was red and angry and there was a split in his lip with a little blood forming but not much.

  “Not if I kill you first.” Sebastian grunted then reared back and a fist went sailing into Jacob’s face. His head rocked backwards into the carpet but he didn’t stop fighting.

  This was ridiculous. They were fighting not only over me but obviously over the problems to do with Naomi. There was real pent up anger and it was clear that was what was fuelling it. We had to stop it before the Police was called or they really did kill each other.

  Too late, Just as that thought came into my head; I heard the blues and twos outside.

  I panicked. I didn’t want Sebastian to be arrested. Jacob, yes, because he was a prick but not Sebastian. I had to do something.

  So I did and so wished I hadn’t.

  I pushed against Fergusons’ hold, my nails dug into his hands around my waist. He released me with a curse, so I rushed into the bundle that was Sebastian and Jacob. I threw myself at what I hoped was Jacob because they’d just rolled again and began hitting my fists against his back. I hooked a leg over his hip and dug my heel into the hard flesh of his leg and wrapped my arms around his neck tight, trying to cut into his breathing so he would focus on me and that would hopefully give Sebastian time to get out but did he do that? No.

  Sebastian instead took the incentive that I had offered and chose to pummel Jacob’s face even more. “Help, someone do something.” I shouted, my eyes darting around to the people who stood like lemons watching. Oh for God’s sake. I held on tighter to Jacob, my hands scrabbling to keep attached to him as he jerked forward and dragged me along with him. I felt like a giant ragdoll. My knees scraped against the carpet before he stopped and took a pounding from Sebastian.

  Blood spurted and sprayed like a fountain at Sebastian and all around. The people gathering jumped back as if Jacob’s blood was contaminated. I coughed and spluttered when I felt the coppery fluid invade my mouth when I opened it to shout for someone to do something. I gagged and spat out the offending liquid, my arms loosening around Jacob at the same time. I dropped back against the floor, my knees now scraped and sore rubbed against the carpet. My hands wiped furiously against my mouth, trying to get the blood out and away from me but it seemed that the more I wiped and spat the more of it
there was. I choked again as I sniffed and took up some of the blood. Great, now it was up my nose and inside my sinuses. Was I bleeding too? With the amount that covered me, it would seem so.

  Lawrence managed to get a hold of Sebastian by grabbing his arms and holding them behind his back. I looked up at him and saw his hair had come loose completely, his face had red blotches all over it and there was blood from Jacob covering his face and neck but also blood from his eyebrow. The red sticky stuff dripped down his face, running into his eyes. He was panting and fighting with Lawrence to get out of his grip but Lawrence finally had a tight rein on him. The white shirt Sebastian had worn was now different shades of red and ripped all the way down the front. His expensive suit was torn at the shoulder and his trousers were creased and just like his shirt, covered in just as much blood as I was, if not more.

  Jacob obviously noticed that Sebastian was being restrained and lurched at him. He was wobbling all over the place as if he couldn’t keep his balance. His nose still sprayed blood everywhere but it was clear with the way his arms came out and his fists curled into Sebastian’s shirt that he wasn’t finished, that he wanted more.

  Just how much more,

  Sebastian fought even harder against Lawrence. Christian finally got involved instead of standing to the side and shouting out stupid comments and jumping up and down like an excited kid at a candy shop and grabbed hold of Jacob from the back trying to pull him away. Christian managed it but Jacob forced his way out of his hold. He turned and shoved Christian hard in the chest, sending him corralling backwards into the people doing nothing but standing there, staring. Christian scrambled not to loose his balance but he lost it anyway and with all the people behind him, they went too. The sound of new screams filled my ears along with a couple of grunts.

  Jacob stumbled on his feet, his leather shoes catching on each other before he fell backwards. No-one reached out or rushed to aid him, they watched instead. He fell down onto the floor dangerously close to me. Hell, why hadn’t I gotten up?

  I rolled away as he hit the floor but he rolled with me. The stupid dress I was in didn’t allow me to move very much or at least the way I actually wanted to move anyhow. After this, I was never going to be wearing something so tight again. Sebastian was never deciding what I was wearing again either. Never!

  The moment a part of me touched Jacob, he span around and attacked like a rabid dog obviously thinking I was another person who was going to restrain him or attempt to. I looked up at him from where I laid on the floor and watched with utter astonishment, his fist come sailing at me.

  My brain screamed for me to move, for me to do something but like an idiot, I stayed where I was and that’s when I felt the force of his fist hitting my cheekbone then his knuckles slide across the bridge of my nose and off my face.

  “No!” someone in the distance screamed. A bunch of gasps and grunts filled the void then there was nothing ... I was sure I had blacked out.

  I blinked against the searing pain that bloomed across my cheek. The breath that was in my throat froze then fired up and tried to escape quicker than I could take my next inhale of breath. I choked and tried to turn to the side to suck in air. I turned my face to the carpet and rested my forehead against the floor. Dribble escaped from my lax mouth and a slither of blood ran from my right nostril. My eyes watered and my nose scrunched up automatically giving me a whole new kind of pain. “Holy shit,” I gasped and held my hands up to my face, my fingers tenderly touching the pounding pain spreading across my cheeks.

  I pulled my legs up to a foetal position or as much as I could with the material of my dress and pushed up from the floor. My hands pressed against the carpet then my fingers stapled against the soft material holding me in place for a moment. Once I was on my sore, skinned knees, I looked up through the warm wetness in my eyes and scanned the room looking for Jacob. The fucker was being restrained by Ferguson and Christian.

  “You fucker, I’m gonna rip your fucking eye balls from your sockets and ram them down your throat then when I’m finished, I’m coming for your balls, Dickweed.” I garbled through a pain filled breath. I stood up and wobbled slightly on my heels when I lifted my face upwards.

  Laura rushed to my side, her face stark white. Her eyes were so wide; I could see the white around the blue. “Oh my God!” she gasped. A shaky hand came up to my face, her finger tips just trailing over the swelling I could feel puffing out my cheek.

  “Shit.” I hissed the moment her fingers touched me. Pain once again roared through my face and strained itself down my neck and up through my temples to my head. God, I felt like I had the bitch of all hangovers about ten times over.

  “I’m sorry.” She said quickly. “Are you okay?”

  I was about to ask her whether I looked okay but at that moment, my eyes found Jacob’s again. A sneer built on my pain ridden face and my eyes narrowed. Anger flushed through my system at the sight of him, at the realisation that burned through me, at the little voice in my head that reminded me that this man had hit me. The fucker had actually put his hands on me.

  Never in my life had I let someone hit me and taken it lying down. I didn’t put up with it then and I sure as hell wasn’t putting up with it now.

  That was it. I saw red and launched myself at him. The pain in my head was forgotten. All I had in my mind was for me to cause just as much damage to him that he’d done to me.

  “Victoria! No!” Laura shouted from behind me.

  I got three footsteps towards Jacob before a pair of strong arms came around me, swamping me inside them and pulling me against a thick hard body. I fought against the hold with everything in me and screamed out loud when I felt those hands and arms tighten unbearably.

  “No, dammit let me go.” I wriggled and tried to free myself but it wouldn’t work. Who the hell was it anyway?

  A voice that I didn’t recognise or at least I didn’t think so, whispered something or maybe they were talking normally but I couldn’t really be sure because I was in too much of a haze, still wanting to get my hands on Jacob.

  Jacob.

  Just the thought of that name had me renewing my efforts. I dug my nails into the arms that held me but they weren’t doing any damage, so I raised my foot and stamped it down onto the stranger’s foot. A viscous curse sounded immediately behind me and the arms loosened and soon enough, I was free again. I surged forward and stopped, realising that I couldn’t see Jacob anymore. Where had he gone?

  Scraping the curls that had fallen and were damp with blood, sweat and—literally— tears out of my face, I turned in a half circle scanning the room. My chest heaved, my lungs burned and my eyes stung. My eyes scanned the area and it was then that I realised that half the restaurant was empty. I couldn’t see Sebastian anywhere either. My mouth opened to call out for him when those stupid arms came back around me only this time, they roughly grabbed my hands and hauled them behind me.

  I fought harder and span around, yanking my arms from his grip. I stumbled back a step but righted myself and moved forward towards him raising my arm at the same time. My fingers curled in on themselves forming a tight fist, so tight, my nails fug into my palm. I swung out wildly and almost squealed out loud when my fist landed with‘oomph’ against the stranger’s face.

  The stunned person fell backwards into a table, their feet scrambling to catch themselves. Their arms wind milled outwards, attempting to grab hold of something or someone. The table collapsed under the person’s weight sending the food and drink flying. Dishes and glasses smashed as the table cracked and dropped to the floor. The chairs that had surrounded the table went flying, falling back on themselves as bits of the table legs rolled outwards.

  My hands went to my throbbing face, covering my mouth as I stared at the person lying in the middle of the fallen table. I walked slowly towards them and gasped. It was only then that I noticed that the stranger was indeed a Police Officer.

  Oh shit, what had I done?

  Chapter Twent
y-Five

  And the bra.

  “Put her in cell two.” The custody Sergeant ordered, his face was not only tired but he was pissed.

  I stood in a three person line with Sebastian handcuffed on my right, his face a mask of complete and utter blankness. His eyes were cold and distant but I knew because I knew Sebastian that he was thinking and thinking hard. I glanced to my left and felt a sneer build on my sore and incredibly swollen face. I felt my insides smile when I saw the cuffs that were holding Jacob just like the ones holding me and Sebastian.

  At least he wasn’t getting away with shit.

  As if a fog had cleared, I did a double take towards the man in the black and white uniform, with little silver things on his shoulders. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I gasped as my mouth dropped open in shock. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  The custody sergeant looked like he wanted to strangle me and it wasn’t the first time he’d given it to me either. “didn’t do anything wrong?” he repeated for the millionth time or maybe that was just how many times I’d said it and he’d just repeated it after me.

  “Yes, damnit, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Victoria, shut up.” Sebastian ground out, searing me with a glare. “Shut your mouth and say nothing.”

  As if that was ever going to happen!

  I ignored him and continued to stare at the cop who was seriously pissing me off right now. “Let me out of these cuffs.”