Jake was right? But this could not be? It was crazy! The mirror... these texts... nothing was making sense. I found myself sitting on the kitchen floor, holding the phone in my hand, just staring at the screen with the texts. I needed Jake here now!
***
Jake had always been my saviour, my go-to guy! I had known that from the very first moment I walked into his office. When the young secretary at the Sun-Star Daily had guided me from my initial meeting with the Chief Editor towards his sub-editor, Jake Marsden, I felt a small surge of triumph. This was the meeting I had been waiting for and a tickle of nerves suddenly teased me as she knocked on Jake’s door. It was proposed I would work for Jake, supply him with newsworthy pieces, on a freelance basis. I needed to do more than that, I needed a real job, not just a part-time gig. I had to impress Jake, get him to advocate for me on behalf of the paper so I could escape the checkouts once and for all. I was determined!
I knew I needed to have a story idea ready for my first meeting at the Sun-Star Daily. It had to be something that would entice them to hire me immediately, or, at least, give me a chance to write for them. I needed a controversial piece, something that would grab their attention, get me noticed.
Once I had the call inviting me to attend a meeting at the paper, I decided to do some further research on sub-editor, Jake Marsden. I needed to understand him, know his strengths, and his weaknesses. He was the key to my future as a journalist. I had watched him have coffee with a blonde woman a few times across the road from the office. I recognised her. Oh, I definitely recognised her how could I not? I would never forget that face. She worked somewhere in the mall where I worked, but she was known to be heavily into the party scene. They seemed to be flirting and a small pang of jealousy struck me. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t like the way she leant across the table to touch his arm. Jake had always looked a little nervous around her and I knew immediately that this blonde called all the shots.
I decided to do some digging on her and I knew my friends at the Mall would know a little more about her. Her name was Lucy and she had a reputation for parties, drugs, and alcohol. It made me wonder what interest Jake would possibly have in this woman. She clearly slept around and he certainly didn’t look like the party type, with his nervous, conservative manner. Perhaps he liked his women easy, I wondered, but it didn’t really fit.
As I continued to dig on this woman, I found a story! This could actually serve two purposes, I thought smugly. Jake’s Lucy was caught up in some drug ring, pushing coke, meth and pot, among other things, on young kids. I wondered if Jake knew this. Surely not, he was too straight-laced to be involved in something so illicit. From what I could find out, Lucy was one of many who were selling on behalf of this cartel, but there was definitely a story here.
By the time I walked into Jake’s office for our first official meeting, I had my story lined up. I was excited about the idea and Jake would never know what or who had inspired it. As I entered his office, the secretary introduced me, interrupting Jake’s concentration on whatever he was typing into his computer. He looked up and I smiled sweetly. His eyes scanned me up and down and I watched with interest as he held his breath, a small bead of sweat starting to form on his forehead. It pleased me that I made him nervous. I had worn my pencil black skirt and a silk blouse. It was a cool day, but I had foregone the jacket deliberately. I wanted to appear professional, but alluring, and I knew now that the air-conditioning in the office had its desired effect on my body. My nipples were hard and with my thin laced bra, he would have a good view of their shape through my blouse. His eyes lingered on my chest and I gave myself a silent pat on the back. That had certainly caught his attention.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Marsden,” I walked over, my hand outstretched, to shake his.
“J-Jake,” he faltered as he stood up from his desk. “Call me Jake.” His hand met mine and I firmly grasped it. His grip was nervous and I knew straight away he was not involved in this drug game and this Lucy. Whatever relationship he had with her, it would be over once my story hit his papers.
“Jake,” I nodded politely. “I’m Molly and I’m grateful to have this opportunity to meet with you.” He nodded and sat, as I sat in the chair opposite.
“I read your piece on the sex trade, it was... interesting, provocative, I liked it,” he said approvingly.
“Thanks!” I replied enthusiastically. “It’s my dream to work full time for the Sun-Star Daily and I have plenty more ideas that you could use.”
“Really?” His eyebrow raised in curiosity. “Like what?” This was my cue.
“Well, as you might know, I work in the mall, in the checkouts.” I could see he wasn’t sure where I was going with this, so I quickly proceeded. “So, I see a lot and what I’d like to propose is that my next story exposes a drug ring that is pushing drugs on kids, teenagers.” I stopped and paused, waiting for his reaction.
“Sounds interesting,” he contemplated out loud. “Do you have evidence?”
“I can get evidence,” I assured him. I sat back confidently in the chair, pulling my shoulders back and letting my blouse stretch over my chest. His eyes moved down towards my front again and he nervously wiped his forehead. “When do you need it?” I asked suggestively.
He looked up at me confused, clearly lost from the conversation.
“When do you need the article?” I asked again, smiling sweetly.
“Ah... yes, the article. Ummmm... say, two weeks?”
“And if it's good?” I probed, leaning forward again, so that my blouse would tip open slightly, exposing a little bit of my pink laced bra.
“If it’s good?” he repeated, clearly losing his train of thought.
“Yes, if the piece is good, will you hire me?” I pushed.
“Yes, yes, of course,” he nodded quickly and I could see him shifting in his seat. I wondered if he was hard behind that desk. It certainly didn’t take much to get under Jake’s skin , I thought.
“Good, then I will deliver you a piece you will never forget.” I smiled broadly as I stood up. I reached across to shake his hand again and he nervously took it. “Thank you so much for your time Jake, I won’t let you down.”
“Yes, yes... thanks er, Molly, it was good to meet you.” I walked out of the office triumphantly. This was going to be too easy. I would have Jake eating out of the palm of my hand in two weeks time and this girl Lucy, well, she was toast.
My friends at the Mall owed me a few favours and it was easy enough to get the leads and evidence I needed to expose the key players in this drug circle. Lucy’s name was among them and I could see Jake’s apprehension as he read the article I presented to him, exactly two weeks later. I had put him in a no-win situation. He couldn’t not publish it, but it had clearly unravelled him. I felt for him, as there was something behind his eyes that told me he had a soft spot for this woman, that she held something over him.
As the piece went to press, absolute mayhem broke out in the mall and I was immediately ostracised, as word spread about the author of the article. I was happy enough to hand in my notice, as at the same time I received an employment contract from the Sun-Star Daily. I was to be their new feature’s journalist.
It was all falling into place for me.
***
I was still sitting on the floor, holding Daniel’s mobile when Jake stormed into the kitchen. He was dripping with sweat, his running gear clinging to his body. I couldn’t stand, I just sat there looking up at him, as he panted heavily over me. I held out the phone and watched as he scrolled through the texts.
“It wasn’t me!” I said quietly.
“I know,” he nodded sadly.
“But... who?” I felt the tears welling in my eyes, as the obvious answer was simply unbelievable. Jake leant down and took hold of both my arms, pulling me up to stand on my feet, right in front of him. His look told me what he was thinking. I shook my head vigorously. “No, you’re wrong, it’s just not possible.”
“I’m not sure of anything anymore,” he said quietly, looking down. My Jake was hurting and I just wanted to heal that pain behind his eyes.
“Jake, I’ve missed you,” I blurted out. He nodded and I knew he missed me too. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what’s happened, for where we are today, I need you.”
“Molly, we can’t, not now, not ever.” I didn’t care. I moved in before he could stop me, letting my lips touch his. It felt good, and I could tell he was succumbing, as his lips moved hesitantly against mine. I took the cue, and moved in closer, pressing my lips harder against his. He responded aggressively, lifting me up onto the kitchen counter, his hands exploring every part of my body. I wrapped my legs tight around his body pulling him in closer. I was hungry for him, every emotion from the past week flooding through me, sparking me to keep going. I knew he was hungry too, his hardness now pressing against me, as he lifted my skirt and ripped off my panties. I knew where this would lead, and I wasn’t going to stop it.
This was exactly what I needed right now. If Daniel really was responsible for those texts and the messages on the mirror, I hoped to God he was watching us now.
***
Chapter 14 - Jake
I know what you’re thinking! The man has only been dead for a very short time. That same man I loved more than my own father and here I am about to screw his wife. In a sense, when you look at it like that, I guess it makes me evil in some way. If it does indicate that I’m some sort of person with no morals, then you’re probably right! But what does that make her? This woman, who could hardly be bothered to love, or make love to her own husband, was now trying to screw his best friend! She had only just buried him, for Christ’s sake! Oh, that’s right. She didn’t bury him, did she? The bitch cremated him.
What I had thought would be, didn’t exactly play out, however. It wasn’t because I had some sudden rush of guilt or that suddenly my morality kicked in. I’d just ripped her knickers off for fuck’s sake. Her pussy was standing there in all its glory, just inviting me to enter her. It was one of the most erotic moments of my life.
I had dreamt of this, for years, you know! There had been many a night, where I had slept in my bed alone thinking of Molly, lying there naked with just my hand as a companion. I used to joke to myself that I had probably had more orgasms over Molly than Daniel did. The only trouble was that my orgasms were usually into a sock. Daniel, well he had the real thing, maybe not that often, but definitely very real. There was no comparison really. Daniel had had it all, and I’d had nothing! Just a fantasy and a sock to spunk into.
Look at this scenario for just one moment and try to understand it from my point of view. Everything had changed so quickly! Daniel was dead and a daughter I had never really been able to know had just reappeared into my life. It felt as if I had to sacrifice one life to be able to share another’s. It was like Daniel’s death allowed me to perhaps get my daughter back and knowing Daniel, if he was still alive, he would have made that sacrifice for me. Molly, on the other hand, well, she was the main reason I had never been able to know my daughter.
Yet here we were in the kitchen, together. I was still slightly out of breath after running like a mad-man to get to her house. I had intended to chastise her and tell her what I thought of her, to end our friendship once and for all and kill whatever passion I had ever felt for her. She had sent me texts from a dead man’s phone for God’s sake!
Now, as I held her, her lips tasted so sweet. As soon as I saw her, sitting on the floor with Daniel’s phone in her hands I knew immediately she could not have sent those texts. I had seen the pain on her face, something I had never seen before on Molly. There was no expression of guilt or deceit, only perhaps a hint of paranoia? As I lifted her to her feet, I fell under her charm once again. Reciprocating her kisses with passion, our tongues met and our hunger deepened. I suddenly felt totally out of control.
Molly was the only woman I had ever really loved. In haste, she started undoing my trousers and I lifted her onto the kitchen counter in one swift movement, tearing off her knickers to survey her haven. Too many years of torment were about to end. I was rock hard and I knew when I entered her I would most likely explode inside her immediately, but I didn’t care. I was about to fuck the bitch of all bitches. The most beautiful, sexy, woman in the world wanted me and that’s all that mattered. For one moment in my life, Molly was mine, and by fuck, I was going to take her...
“Fuck me!” she screamed.
And, I would have. God knows, I so wanted to. For the briefest moment it felt like I had been taken into a different world, another life, a world which I could make a total mess of... only, it was Molly’s world, with Molly’s rules.
So why didn’t I?
Daniel, that’s bloody why!
It wasn’t because I felt any guilt, or even because he was my best friend. It made me wonder, though, what type of good friend would be trying to screw his newly widowed wife. Like I say, I was in another world, in the throes of passion and just about to enter that beautiful haven of paradise. I wasn’t going to let anything stop that moment of passion when the body meets the point of no return. Nothing! Except, maybe, a dead man.
Molly was sitting on the counter, her legs spread, with me standing right between them about to pull her on to me, when I glanced over her shoulder. That’s when I saw him, Daniel! He was standing there, plain as day. Our eyes met, but those eyes were not the beautiful emerald eyes I remembered so well, they looked deep and lost. His face looked pained and he was biting down on his bottom lip. I suddenly let go of Molly.
“Jake? What’s the matter?” she shouted.
I quickly pulled up my trousers, hurrying away from the kitchen and Molly, taking just one more glance behind me as I ran towards the back door. I had left Molly on the countertop, her legs still spread apart and a look on her face that I had never seen before. Daniel was nowhere to be seen but I kept running, escaping the house a lot faster than I had entered.
You’re probably thinking I imagined it and maybe I did. Perhaps in years to come, when some therapist is tearing my past to shreds, he will come up with the simple conclusion that it was all just a figment of my imagination and that these things never really happened. After all, everyone knows that the dead can’t come back!
Well fuck them and fuck you, if that’s what you think. I know what I saw, and yes, Daniel may be dead and Molly may have turned him into a pile of ashes, but by God, the old bastard was still around.
***
I cried as I ran out of that house. Even now, I’m not sure what I was really crying about. What I did know was that when I ran into that house my mind was a mess. All I was trying to do was make some sense out of it and put an end to a relationship that really should not continue. The connection between Molly and me had really been Daniel in the end, and now he was gone. In my mind, that link should now break too and that was what I had wanted to do. Now, as I ran out of that house I felt even more fucked-up than when I ran in. I needed Daniel now more than ever. I hoped he would realise that and somehow forgive me, I didn’t want him to stop loving me, ever.
I couldn’t sleep that night and after a while, I decided to sit on my veranda with several glasses of whisky. Smoking like a trooper I stared out across the city of Manchester. My eyes wandered in all directions, not just towards Molly and Daniel’s house. I had to wonder what this wild city held for me now and whether I would ever pluck up the courage to leave. In bed later that night, I tossed and turned as I tried to sleep, my mind continuing to race as those night demons prevented me from any really deep sleep.
I woke at the crack of dawn. That expression always brought a smile to my face, reminding me of Daniel, as he would always tell me he’d known a few Dawn’s he would like to have been up the crack of. He always did make me laugh. I was really missing him and yet, my restless night had told me I now needed to move on with my life. Yesterday, I’d had a lucky escape. If I’d have shagged Molly, I knew she wo
uld really have owned me. Right now, I wasn’t owned, I was still a free man and I had Daniel to thank for that.
Intent on moving forward, I made an appointment to see the Editor at work. I wanted to talk about coming back and I wanted to ask him what direction he saw the paper going and, more importantly, where he saw my career in perhaps three to five years time. I was hoping to make the suggestion that reporters being tied to the same Sub-Editors all the time bred familiarity and complacency. I wanted him to change things up and move people around. What I really wanted was to see what he thought of my future with the paper and more importantly, I wanted to avoid working with Molly again. I decided to walk to the office, as the morning was fresh and the air would do me good. Leaving at nine o’clock for my ten-thirty meeting, I knew I would have more than enough time for a coffee at Alonso’s, planning the final touches on what I wanted to say. I was actually looking forward to going back to work. It was just what I needed.
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