Within a few minutes, I really was asleep and when I woke up the next day, I realized it was a little later than I normally woke up.
Still, the house seemed strangely quiet. It was possible that my mother and stepfather had gone out, which wouldn’t be abnormal. After all, I was an adult now and therefore, they didn’t have to keep tabs on me or tell me what they were doing.
Most of the time, I wouldn’t have cared either, but today, I had woken up in a particularly good mood so I wanted to enjoy the morning with my family.
But when I went downstairs, I realized the house was eerily quiet. I found it strange, as though at any moment, something monumental was going to happen, but I had no idea what.
Oh God… I thought suddenly, what if our parents found out about me and Shawn? At the thought, my heart began to pound and I felt a lump forming in my throat.
I thought about calling my mom to find out what they were up to so that I could calm my nerves, but I soon realized there was a good chance that would only make things stranger.
If they had a hint as to what I was doing with Shawn last night, my checking up with them would be weird and incriminating. So I focused on getting up, getting dressed, taking my shower and eating my breakfast, just like it was any other day.
Even though I was entirely positive that this wasn’t any other day. My two-year relationship with Zachary was over, but I had finally reached a point of no return with my relationship with Shawn.
Today was the day after the night I had waited for the majority of my life and it felt great!
There was no guilt and there was no anger. There wasn’t even a sliver of regret. All I wanted was Shawn. The only person that I wanted to be with at the moment was Shawn.
I felt that instead of making us even more estranged, for the first time, the two of us had done something that had actually brought us closer together, and it felt amazing. I couldn’t wait to do it again, but first, I knew that I had to figure out what I was going to do to get rid of this paranoia.
I didn’t text anyone, even though I had about twenty texts from Zachary; most of them were left unread as well as completely unwanted while I got ready for my day.
All I wanted to do was check in with Shawn and see what was going on, but I was a little afraid. The strange feeling that something big was about to happen kept echoing in my mind and there was a part of me that did not want this feeling to end any sooner than I feared it inevitably would.
I just tried to relax and soon enough, I heard a car pull up in the driveway.
Oh good…I thought, feeling a smile cross my face, they’re home. I sighed with relief, proud of myself that I had made it that far without calling anyone or in any way trying to relieve the pressure that I felt about what was going on today. I didn’t quite understand it, but I knew that I didn’t need to. I was going to be able to just relax as soon as they got inside and I was able to talk to them.
However, in one final act to prove there was nothing that they should be suspicious of, I didn’t bother to go to the door. I hadn’t met anyone at the door in a long time. If I started now, it would be strange. So, I stayed at the kitchen table, eating my breakfast and wondering if the strangeness that I felt was all in my head.
As a matter of fact, I thought, narrowing my eyes as I tried my best to pinpoint why the strange sensation was happening, both Mom and my step-dad were acting weird all week.
I quickly concluded that must be why I was thinking that their absence this morning, before I got up, was a little odd.
“Valerie!” I heard my mother call as she walked in the house and I felt my stomach twist, even though there was nothing wrong with and certainly nothing to fear from the way she spoke.
“I’m in here, Mom!” I called, scooting off the stool that I was sitting on. I made my way toward her, finally feeling as though it would be appropriate.
“Oh good!” she exclaimed when she saw me. “You’re dressed.”
“Yeah, I got up a little while ago.”
My mother smiled brightly and I figured that unless they were really happy with the fact that Shawn and I had gotten together, they probably didn’t know.
Yet, there was still a creepy sense about the whole situation that I refused to ignore. So, finally, I broke down and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Perfect,” she answered. “Wait until Paul comes inside.”
I squinted my eyes at her. “Okay…” and felt another bubble of fear, anticipation and perhaps, excitement churn in the pit of my stomach. I felt strange. If they were upset, then they were sure being pretty disarming about it. However, I just resolved to stare at my mother and keep my guard up slightly, while my mother waited, somewhat impatiently for her husband to come inside.
When Paul finally did arrive, he was smiling brightly too.
My mother began when he came over to her and put his arm around her. “So, we know that it’s not your birthday quite yet, but we wanted it to be a surprise.”
Confused, I looked from Paul to my mother, who were both excited and reeking of the strange sensation that I had felt since I woke up.
I smiled. “Thank you,” but realized then that they did not appear to be holding anything, until my mother brought out a very small box from her purse. I wondered if it was jewelry, since that was what it resembled.
The white box had a red bow on it and after fluffing it up, my mother gave it to me.
“Happy birthday!”
Carefully, I took the box. My birthday wasn’t until the middle of the week and with everything that had gone on over the course of the past twenty-four hours, I hadn’t even thought about it. And I normally love my birthday.
I smiled down at it and realized that my hand was shaking slightly. Ignoring the feeling, I pulled the top off of the box and stared, confused at first, down at a pair of car keys.
When it clicked, however, I screamed. “Oh my God!” I took the keys out and dropped the box on the ground as I jumped up and down. “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
My mother and Paul laughed.
“Those are just the keys…” Paul chuckled. “I wonder what she’s going to do when she sees the whole car.”
Realizing that he was right, I raced outside into the driveway and saw a red convertible sitting in the driveway that had never been there before. I couldn’t believe it.
“Oh my God!” I screamed, just before a shriek expelled from me and I ran toward the car. When I finally made it over to the door, I fumbled with the opener until I heard the locks click. I pulled open the door and hopped inside.
Throughout my entire life, both my mother and my stepfather had insisted that we were going to have to buy our first cars. They had proved it with Shawn and so I had never even thought to entertain the possibility; but now, here it was.
Unless this was all some big joke, I couldn’t believe what was happening. The inside was leather and from the looks of it, flawless. My heart was beating a million miles a second.
“Do you like it?” my mother asked.
“Oh my God!” I screamed, “I love it!”
I then got out of the car and made my way toward each of them, giving them a hug and telling them, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
This was, without a doubt, the best birthday gift that I had ever received. It was beautiful and perfect…and it was all mine!
“Where are you going to go first?” my mother asked. “There’s a full tank of gas, you can go almost anywhere.” She smiled.
I was so excited that I couldn’t even curb my words and so, I just blurted out, “I’m going over to see Shawn. He is going to love this!” I made my way back into the car.
I started it up and squealed with excitement as I felt the engine roar to life under me.
“Have fun!” I heard my mother yell as I backed out of the driveway. I yelled, “Thank you!” again and waved before I put my foot solidly on the gas for the very first time and I was off.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Shawn
Early the next morning, I heard someone banging on my door. It was Saturday morning, but seriously, can’t a guy get some sleep around here?
At first, I had hoped that my mother would answer the door, but then I remembered that my mother had spent almost a week straight at her new boyfriend’s house, leaving me alone to fend for myself.
I hated it, but what other choice did I have? I certainly couldn’t go home to my dad’s house, especially not after what had happened the night before.
While I finished waking up, I smiled at the thought of Valerie and what we had done.
It was a long time coming and it was magnificent. I couldn’t believe the excitement that I had found in that moment. Everything was perfect. All I wanted now was to be with her.
Hey…Maybe it is her! “Hang on a minute!” As I staggered around the house, I couldn’t help but think that the only saving grace of this situation was the fact that Dalilah had not caught on that my mother was literally never home, or she would have moved in by now.
Before I could even make it to the door, I heard another knock and I was fairly certain, unless something was wrong, that this was not Valerie. She was far more considerate than that, especially this early.
Oh God… I thought with a sudden sense of panic; What if something is wrong? I quickened my pace and made it to the door. When I opened it, to my displeasure, I saw Dalilah standing there.
“Good morning!” she answered pleasantly and walked past me into the house. “It took you long enough.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, rubbing my eyes and staring around, trying to get my bounds. I was certainly not a morning person and this, I wouldn’t even call morning. “It’s like…five in the morning. Is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No, I just missed you.”
I nodded. “Okay…Well, do you want to come back to bed with me?”
She thought for a moment and shrugged. “Sure, I guess. If you want to waste a perfectly good morning.”
I knew that I should feel something. Perhaps I should be guilty for what I did last night, but I didn’t feel anything like that. In fact, I was happy. For the first time in a really long time, all I felt when I thought about what had transpired between Valerie and I the night before was excitement, the promise of future happiness and the strong, unyielding desire to do it again as soon as possible.
“Yes,” I answered. “I really do. Come on.”
I don’t even remember making it back to the bedroom before I had fallen asleep again.
Yet, I definitely remember being woken up a few hours later.
“What the hell is this?” I heard Dalilah scream.
“What the hell is what?” I asked, still incredibly groggy. I shook my head and looked at her, as my eyes started to focus. When my eyes could finally see right, I was struck with horror as I saw that Dalilah was holding Valerie’s underwear. Oh God, I thought as my heart immediately began to pound in my chest. “What? I don’t know…Women’s underwear?” I stammered, trying my best in my sleep-induced stupor to sound as innocent as possible.
She barked a laugh. “These are not just any woman’s underwear. They belong to a specific person…and that person is not me!” she screamed.
“Are they my mom’s? She isn’t the most…conservative type.”
“Not unless she is undressing in your room,” Dalilah exclaimed as I watched her face grow red with anger.
“What?” I demanded, “Maybe they fell out of the laundry? I don’t know…”
“That’s an awful lot of excuses for someone without a guilty conscious,” she answered, before I saw her eyes glow with a horrifying red as her face grew an even angrier shade. She pounced on me and pushed the underwear in my face.
I could have easily pushed her off, but I didn’t want to take a chance of hurting her, so I just backed up carefully. “Dalilah, what the hell?”
“Whose are they?” she yelled.
“I don’t know!” I screamed back, tearing the underwear away from my face. “Get off me!”
“No! Tell me who it is, or I will find out myself and when I do, I will break her face so badly that you won’t even want to fuck her anymore.”
Now, I was angry. I certainly cared more for Valerie than I did for Dalilah and the thought of her having to deal with Dalilah’s wrath, especially because of me was more than I could bear. I felt a surge of rage plow through me as I knocked Dalilah aside and stood up. “Don’t you dare, you bitch.”
She stopped short and stared at me for a long time. Her full lips cracked into a demented smile as she answered, “Oh. I see,” in a scary, calm and complacent tone. “You’re with her.” She inhaled deeply before she breathed back out a low and menacing growl. “These are hers…It all makes sense now.”
I felt my nostrils flair with anger as I hissed, “It doesn’t need to make sense to you, just get out!”
Once again, she barked a conniving, humorous laugh. “So, let me get this straight. You not only cheated on me, but you cheated on me with your stepsister?”
“Leave it alone, Dalilah,” I answered, breathing heavily as I felt a sensation of worry cascade through my body. I shuddered as I added a careful and honest, “Please…just leave. You can say whatever you want about me and why we broke up. Just don’t bring her into this.”
“I’ll tell people you beat me,” she threatened.
“Fine,” I answered solidly, even though I knew that she was just as capable of going through with her word as she was capable of trying to hurt Valerie.
“I’ll tell people you raped me,” Dalilah hissed, glowering at me.
“What do you want, Dalilah?” I demanded, tired of playing her games. It was right then and there that I realized just how evil she was and how much I needed to get away from her.
I had only started dating her so that I could have someone, since Valerie had Zachary. I felt it would be good for me to have someone, completely unlike my best friend. I had tried to get over Valerie by pouring all of the emotion that I had into my relationship with Dalilah, but now, I realized that I was completely wrong in doing so. I would have to deal with the consequences.
“Stay with me,” she answered simply. “Dump that whore and promise never to leave me.” Dalilah’s wicked grin grew now as she explained, “Between what I have on you, that really did happen and what I am willing to say, I have enough to not only humiliate you both, but I could probably even get you jailed. Please…Just…Run away with me and this could easily become a bad dream, from which you will awake as soon as you say yes.”
She began to move toward me on her hands and knees, with a seducing look in her eye. She ran her tongue over her plump, pouting lips and when she stopped, mere inches from me, she raised herself up and began to pull the strap of her tank top off of her shoulder.
For a few moments, I honestly thought about it. I wasn’t the least bit turned on. In fact, I was horrified, but seeing as how I would be protecting Valerie and getting away from people who didn’t care about me at all to begin with, this didn’t exactly seem like such a bad plan.
However, I thought of Valerie and how badly I actually wanted to be with her. Perhaps that was selfish, but I just couldn’t go through with it. I had to be with her, at least one more time, if not for the rest of my life.
“No,” I answered unwaveringly and bent down so that I was glaring hatefully into Dalilah’s eyes. “I have no interest in being with you anymore. If you don’t want me to call the police and tell them everything that you said you were going to do to me and to Valerie, in addition to breaking into my house, you need to leave. Oh and don’t you even think about laying a hand on Valerie. Don’t even look at her,” I hissed. “Or you will see a side to me that I guarantee you aren’t going to like.”
With that, I saw her eyes narrow hatefully. She doubled up her fist and slammed it against my jaw. It knocked me back and might have even knocked a tooth loose.
“Get out!” I screamed when I
recovered from staggering backwards; however, when I looked up again, I realized that Dalilah was already gone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Valerie
I had the music turned up loud and I was rocking out freely to the radio when I pulled into the driveway that led to Shawn’s mother’s house.
Of course, her car was nowhere to be seen. Go figure… I thought, but it was just as well. I didn’t need anything to ruin my good mood.
I made my way up the stairs and knocked on the door. I knew never to bother Shawn before ten, but it was almost eleven now and considering the news that I had to share with him, I was pretty certain he would be alright with me showing up.
I knocked on the door and bounced on my heels as I waited for him to open it. However, when he did, nothing about his appearance looked right to me. His hair was all messy and he looked beaten and angry.
He was also covering his cheek with an icepack and I wondered what had happened to him, but before I could say anything, he screamed, “What the hell do you want?” Then, as though he had just realized who it was, he stopped short. “Oh…it’s you.” He heaved a sigh from the depths of his chest and moved away from the door for me to come in.
I felt my heart begin to beat fast as I rushed to him and carefully placed my hands on his shoulders.
“What happened?” I asked, feeling fear course through me. Shawn was not the kind of man who would ever get into a fight. I had always thought that if backed into a corner, he would do all right, but I had never truly given much thought to him fighting. He just wasn’t that person and therefore, the sight of him having been hit, at least once very well was all the more disturbing.
“Dalilah…” he hissed as he broke away from me and shut the door. He moved over to the couch and flopped down.
“Oh God…” I said. “Let me see…” I moved closer to him and sat down. I carefully took his hand and the icepack away from his jaw and noticed that it was bruised and inflamed.
Dirty Stepbrother - A Firefighter Romance (The Maxwell Family) Page 78