Wicked Game 02 - Something Wicked

by Olivia Fuller

  Besides, it wasn’t as if there was anything he could do to get them home faster and meet his deadline. His blood boiled about that but he knew he’d made the right choice in bringing her here. He’d do it again in a heartbeat.

  So since there was nothing he could do about the current situation, he decided that they might as well enjoy themselves. He might as well make sure Mary enjoyed herself.

  Mary’s eyes continued to flick about at all of the landmarks as they passed by. She gestured a hand towards a building as they passed by.

  “Oh, how about there? It smells delicious…” She breathed in deeply and when she looked back to him she was smiling.

  Greg squeezed her hand again, ready to give her anything she wanted. An embrace and a touch flashed before him as he felt a wave of white hot energy course though his entire body. As if on cue Mary’s eyes locked with his and for a moment he felt that energy heat him through to the core.

  Mary quickly turned her head again to look out the window. Greg squinted his eyes as if that would somehow help him to understand what was pulsing between them and more importantly, why it was pulsing between them. He had been dreaming earlier, dreaming of Mary, and while he dreamed…

  Greg’s stomach growled deeply and loudly and he heard Mary giggle.

  He sighed and called to the driver: “Stop here!”

  Mary’s eyes shone with glee and Greg forgot all about the perplexing energy.

  For now.

  ***

  Mary lazily propped her head on her hand as she munched on a crust of bread. “You were right, Greg. There is absolutely nothing to do around here.”

  “Are you not enjoying the food?” Greg frowned as he took a sip of his drink.

  Mary leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and gave and exaggerated sigh. “That’s not it. The food is delicious. Every place we’ve eaten at today has been fantastic…”

  Greg raised a brow while he looked at her. “You’re the one who kept suggesting we stop for food…”

  “Because there’s nothing else to do around here!”

  “I’m not so sure about that, anymore.” Greg’s eyes surveyed the shops on the other side of the street. From their table on the terrace most of the shops on this street and the next one over were visible. “There are quite a few interesting looking shops on this street. On the next one I think I might even see a gallery—”

  “Oh.” Mary flippantly gestured her hand. “No. I saw all that too. There are plenty of things to do around here—”

  “Wait. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t you just say that there was nothing to do around here?”

  “Yes. That’s what I said—”

  “So which is it?”

  Mary sighed again as she leaned back against the chair. “Yes. There are things to do around here. There are shops and stores and even a few artistic displays. Normally I would love all of this. It’s just that—”

  “It’s just that what?”

  Mary shrugged. “It’s all the same.”

  “I’m not sure I understand. A few hours ago you couldn’t wait to stop here and explore. Live. Visit. See something new. And now you’re already bored?”

  “Well, wouldn’t you be bored too, maybe even devastated, if you’d just discovered that everything was the same?”

  “What’s the same, Mary? What are you talking about?”

  “All of this. Home, London, here.” Mary sat up and pointed around. “It’s all the same. Everything is the same everywhere; it’s just on a different scale.”

  “What?” Greg let out an irritated exclamation.

  “We have shops at home. We have stores. We have art displays, restaurants, parks. I’ve done all of this before. The food is very good. I’ll admit that. But we have good food at home too. It’s just that I thought…” Mary pushed her lips to the side while she sighed. “I thought that maybe in a different place I might feel something…”

  “Feel what?”

  “I don’t know. Something. Anything. Just different. I thought that I might feel different. Instead I have learned that no matter where you go, the world is the same. The shops and the parks and the restaurants might change in size and location, but at the heart, they’re all the same…”

  Mary watched as Greg’s eyes widened as he leaned back in his chair to rake his hair. “Huh.”

  “Just ‘huh’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well, exactly what it sounds like. Just ‘huh.’ Just that I’d never thought about it that way before and now I am… I’ve never seen it that way…”

  “Well, I’m sorry.” Mary crossed her arms again. “I didn’t mean to make you change your mind, question your—”

  “Oh, no. You didn’t make me change my mind about anything.”

  “But you just said…”

  “That I’m thinking about it differently. And I am. I understand what you’re saying, I do, but I just don’t see it that way and I was trying to figure out why…”

  “Why what? Why you never saw this before? I said I was sorry—”

  “No. That’s not it at all. You make a good point about everything being the same but you’re still missing something. Because despite this fact I still feel enthralled when visiting new places. So, what I was trying to figure out is why I find it exciting. Why I find life exciting.”

  Mary just looked at him now.

  “You see, you’re thinking about this wrong way.” Greg finally said. “It’s not the places or the events that make life interesting and exciting. Because you’re right. There are only so many different types of shops or attractions or stores or anything that can exist. But that’s not what animates life.” Greg paused. He smiled and gave her a satisfied look. “It’s the people.”

  “The people? What about the people?” Mary was taken aback.

  “Yes, Mary. People. People are what make this life interesting and important and different. Not…” Greg’s face wrinkled as he spat out the next word. “…things.”

  “But…” Mary gazed at Greg with a tilted head. “If it’s the people that are different, then shouldn’t the shops and towns be different? Shouldn’t the basic concepts of the way of life be different?”

  Greg laughed. “Of, course not!”

  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That you’re still thinking about it the wrong way! There are basic elements of civilization that are essential, that are the same no matter what. Stores, shops, food, shelter, and the like. These things are all very integral and necessary to a society. Every society has these things. They’re necessary in order for the society to function and maintain stability. So of course everything is the same everywhere. People do that purposely, even if subconsciously, in order to fit in, to make things welcoming and familiar. It’s natural and it’s normal. But the people themselves? They’re not so predictable…” Greg shook his head. “At the heart of it all, through it all, people are what make this life worth living.”

  “I prefer a good book any day,” Mary said cheekily.

  “And where do you think books come from?”

  “The bookstore.”

  “Mary!” Greg slapped his hand against the table.

  “Greg?”

  “Did you even listen to a word I said?”

  “Of course I did. And it makes sense. I’d never thought about it like that before…”

  “But?”

  “But that doesn’t change anything. That doesn’t make me any less bored or disappointed right now… In fact it just makes me angry because now I know there’s nothing I can do about the way I feel!”

  “And you are wrong again.”

  “Do you get some sort of sick pleasure out of continually telling me that I’m wrong?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Well, you sure tell me I’m wrong quite a bit for someone who doesn’t enjoy it!”

  “Oh, well that has nothing to do with me.”

  “What?”

  “It
’s not my fault you’re wrong as often as you are.”

  “Gregory Howard!” she whispered loudly while she also stifled a laugh.

  “Mary Cartwright!”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. You said my name so I said yours…”

  “That doesn’t even…”

  Greg rubbed his face. “What were we talking about again?”

  Mary sighed as she leaned back in her chair again. “I was saying that knowing why I feel bored and disappointed doesn’t help me change anything.”

  “Oh yes. And I was telling you why you are wrong about that.” Greg smiled devilishly.

  Mary gingerly placed her hands flat on the table and slowly leaned in towards Greg. “Fine. Tell me why I’m wrong.” She pointed a finger at him. “But do it quickly before I change my mind!”

  “If we were at home, what would you be doing right now?” Greg wiped his mouth with a napkin, making it obvious that he intended to do the exact opposite of her request and draw out his explanation as long as he could until she was all riled up.

  God, he loved to push her buttons!

  But she loved him all the more for actually knowing how to do it. She sighed and accepted it.

  “Well, I suppose I’d probably be getting ready for a party or a dance.”

  “And you’d be excited about that, I assume?”

  “Of course. There are very few things I love more.” Mary saw Greg force his face into a mix of mock irritation and wicked intention all at once. “Oh, fine! You know I love you more…” Mary added. She felt her lips tingle when the words passed over them, like a sharp shot of static electricity, and when she looked at Greg he shifted in his seat.

  Had he also felt… No, of course not. She had to be imagining things…

  Greg nodded and said, “Thank you. Now,” he leaned towards her too, “Why would you be excited to attend a party or ball?”

  “Because of the people, of course.” Mary shook her head. “Wait. Haven’t we already established that I agree with your premise about people? Now we’re just going around in circles—”

  “Wait. Wait.” Greg playfully held his hand up to her mouth to silence her and she felt a shock again.

  “Again?” she mumbled. What was wrong with her?

  Greg jerked his hand back. “Oww!”

  “Oh.” Mary’s eyes widened sheepishly.

  Greg looked at her as if to acknowledge that he’d felt it too, but then he immediately looked away and cleared his throat, signaling a return to the subject. “What I was trying to say is that perhaps you could meet some new people here.”

  “You mean,” Mary felt her face light up as she leaned into Greg and whispered, “find paramours here?”

  “Well, I,” Greg’s lip twitched, “I suppose this is what I’m saying.”

  “How wicked! How bloody, brilliantly wicked!” Mary contemplated for a moment. “But how? Without a party—”

  “Have you forgotten how to talk?” Greg chuckled. “I assure you that a party is not necessary for finding paramours.”

  She saw his lip twitch again. Greg didn’t like talking about paramours, not his and especially not hers. Clearly he’d been more concerned with teasing her and proving her wrong than with where this conversation would lead once he’d made his point.

  “I have an even better idea,” she said after further thought. “Why don’t you teach me how you do it?”

  Greg raised his eyebrow. That was twitching too. “How I do what, Mary? How I find paramours without a party? I’m not sure—”

  “Yes. That, but I also want you to teach me how you do it.” Mary waved her hand excitedly. “You know, the blasé fare attraction that just draws people to you.”

  “Oh.” Greg leaned his elbows against the table. “You mean that male siren thing you keep talking about? That doing something while doing nothing thing?”

  “Yes!” Mary pointed at him. “That!”

  “I’ve already told you, Mary. I don’t do anything. In fact I’m still not entirely convinced that this trait even exists.”

  “Of course it does.” Mary squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side.

  “No, really. I—”

  Mary shook her hands and her head as she cut him off. “Just take a moment. Look around you, Greg. These women here can’t take their eyes off of you. That one,” Mary discretely pointed her finger at a woman behind Greg, “she went into some sort of dreamy trance the moment we sat down—”

  “Well, that doesn’t—”

  “And that one,” she pointed again, “she would lift her skirts for you right here if you asked—”

  “Mary—”

  “And that one over there,” Mary nodded this time, “she’s been giving me an icy glare since we walked in here!”

  “Oh?” Greg found some sort of amusement in that one. “Is that so?” He looked behind him to confirm Mary’s observation.

  “Don’t look!” Mary whispered fiercely.

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Greg looked back at the woman again before locking eyes with Mary.

  She saw something wicked swimming there that made her all warm and tingly. With his eyes still locked with hers, Greg took Mary’s hand and lifted it to his mouth where he slowly brushed his bare lips over her knuckles.

  His lips were soft and wet and warm and they ignited her skin where they touched it. It was like a small explosion that sent a shock wave though her whole body before reverberating back to its source and out into Greg. She felt him press his lips harder against her skin and let them linger slightly longer than was appropriate. By the time Greg pulled away something had changed in his eyes and she felt a change in hers too. For a moment Greg just held her hand until at last a noise behind them drew them back to reality. They both cleared their throats as Greg dropped her hand.

  “What’s she doing now?” The corners of Greg’s lips flicked upwards.

  “She just threw down her napkin and walked away. That was the noise—” Mary’s eyes widened. “That’s what this was about?”

  “Of course.” Greg leaned back and crossed his arms as he smiled. He was very satisfied with himself. “What did you think?”

  Mary wasn’t sure why, but she felt her stomach drop. She shifted and moved on. “Well, see? That’s what I’m talking about! You’re not even looking at her. She can’t even see your face and yet—”

  Greg shrugged and laughed. “What do you want me to say, Mary? I have some sort of magical siren power? Sure. Alright. Let’s say you’re right. I still can’t tell you how I do it.”

  “But you must—”

  “It must just be a gentleman’s thing. Something we men are gifted with…” Greg had meant this to sound cheeky but as soon as the words were out of his mouth it was obvious he regretted them.

  Mary leaned on her elbows. “Oh, is that so, Greg? You know how I feel about these characterizations of men and women and—” She stopped herself suddenly.

  “And what?”

  “You know what. You are right. I’ve never seen a woman do it…”

  “Yes, that’s what I meant—”

  “And that’s probably the reason why. It’s because they think they can’t. Because like so many other things they think it’s something only for men…”

  Greg gave Mary a skeptical look. “I see those gears turning. What are you thinking?”

  “That if I want to—and I do!—I can do that siren thing just as well as you can. Even better!”

  “Is that so…” he mused.

  “Oh, it is.” She smiled. “I can do anything that you can do!”

  “And exactly how do you plan on proving that?” he asked with a haughty laugh.

  She leaned in. “Tomorrow evening, we come here but we sit at different tables and we see how many people we can command the attention of without ever talking to them.”

  He narrowed his eyes and rolled his mouth around as he contemplated her challenge. She wasn’t really sure what had made her pro
pose such a dare but the look on his face made her glad that she had.

  “Why tomorrow night? Why not now?” he challenged.

  “You’ve had a lifetime to perfect this. The least you can do is give me one night to try to figure it out!”

  “Fine. And what does the winner get?”

  “Get?” Mary laughed. “Why a lifetime of gloating, of course.”

  “Of course.” Greg held out his hand. “I accept your challenge. Here tomorrow night. I suppose I’m tired anyway. I shouldn’t wish you to have an advantage.”

  Mary smiled coyly and when she reached to shake his hand there was a spark.

  They both jumped.

  ***

  Mary could feel the warmth of the bench through the many layers of her dress. Throughout the day the sun had heated the stone completely through and now, even though the sun was beginning to set, it continued to gently flick its way through the trees and down to where she sat behind the inn.

  Mary loved the sun and the way it made her feel. She’d turn her head upward, breathe deeply and bask in the light, and without fail it would overtake her. The sun mimicked the way that her heart felt when she was with him; all sunbathed and warm and washed in life. This was what happiness was and she knew it. Of all of the people she had ever known in her life, Greg was the only one who ever got to her this way and made her feel alive. This feeling was calm and peaceful and exhilarating all at the same time and she savored every moment they spent together as an escape from what was real. But at the same time she couldn’t help but think that this was what was real, every wonderful carefree moment spent with him.

  Of course, she loved Angela, as a companion and as a sister, and when all was said and done, Mary did love her cousin with all of her heart. There was however, something special to be said about this friendship, about this connection with Greg. There was strength to this relationship and a closeness that was always missing with others.