by Amy Muscat
I loved it.
It was hot.
It was passionate.
It made my heart beat like a drum.
And it was us.
Any one person walking past us, or looking over at us, would be able to feel our love. Feel our passion for each other.
When I had no more air to breath, I pulled back gasping and leaned my head on his chest, feeling it heave with exertion.
“Baby...” He breathed out, his lips touching my hair, and I felt the strands move from his exhale, “Wow.”
“Yeah… Wow.”
****
We walked into the restaurant hand in hand and waited in line for a couple in front of us to be seen and seated.
"Hello," I heard a voice purr. "Reservations?" The pretty brunette said to Keller, not even glancing my way.
Rude much?
"No reservation, but is there a table available for two?" Keller asked her smiling politely at her.
The woman, reluctantly, tore her eyes from Keller. When her eyes landed on me, it seemed like she was sizing me up.
When she had gotten her fill of looking me over, she gave me a dirty look and turned her nose up at me. She was acting as if I was shit on the bottom of her fake Louboutin's, and looked back at Keller with a flirty smiling gracing her puffy lips.
"Sure a couple just left, so you and your sister can sit there."
Bitch.
"Girlfriend, actually. And I don't take too kindly of you looking at her like that, and I don't think your boss would either, do you?"
Her eyes went huge, and her mouth dropped open in shock.
Ha! In your face, I wanted to say, but figured the smug smile that pulled at my lips was enough.
"No, he wouldn't. I'm sorry about that," she said to me this time, looking ashamed and embarrassed.
So you should be.
"The table, please?"
"Right... This way, sir... ma'am," she said picking up two menus from under the podium and ushering us over to the table in the corner of the room.
Keller held my chair out for me, like a real gentleman, and pushed me in, closer to the table. I gave him a smile of thanks and, smiling back; he went to his chair and sat opposite me.
The ambiance in the room was soothing and relaxed.
The restaurant was all cream and black. Cream walls with black patterns on it, then there were black and white pictures high-up on the walls. They had finished decorating by placing quotes all over the open spaces and around the pictures.
It was a really nice place, and it smelled amazing. Some of the scents were making my mouth water.
“Mmm, smells good, let’s see what’s they have on the menu.” I told Keller.
“What can I get you to drink?” The waiters question made us both peak up from our scouring the menu.
“Erm, I’ll have water please, I’m driving, so I can’t drink. Pey? What’d you want, baby?”
“I’ll have the same, please. Two waters,” I said to the waiter. “Oh and I’m ready to order my food.”
Keller chuckled and told the waiter he was too.
“Okay, let me go grab your drinks, and then I’ll take your orders,” he said scampering off.
“What are you having baby?”
“I’m having the chicken and sweet potato, with a side salad. Sounds really good, you?”
“I’m going to have a steak and fries, no salad,” he said smirking at me.
I laughed, and he smiled at me.
“Love that sound baby.”
I blushed under his stare. I could feel the blood rising to my cheeks at the look he was giving me- in public, for all to see.
He chuckled again and was just opening his mouth- probably to say something dirty- when the waiter came back over with our drinks.
“Here you go, two waters.” He said placing them at the table and then he pulled his notepad out and said, “What can I get you?”
We repeated our orders for him, and when he’d walked off, we turned back to each other.
“So there was something I wanted to ask you.” Keller started, looking apprehensive. “I know I’ve already asked, and you said no, but I’m hoping you’ll say yes this time.”
Butterflies filled my belly, and I was hoping he was gonna ask me what I think he was gonna ask me.
“What?”
“Will you please move in with me? I want us to be a proper family Peyton. One where we wake up next to each other and fall asleep next to each other, every night and every morning. I want- no- I crave that every day. Every time I go home and have to sleep in my big lonely bed without you, I hate it. I feel like I’m missing a piece of myself Peyton. I want Ivy to grow up in a family home. With both her parents in the same house. I need that Peyton. So… Will you, please?” He was begging me. I could see in his face that if I said no, it would break him.
“Yes…” I breathed, my emotions getting the better of me.
“Oh, thank God.” He said and stood up from his chair and came over to mine; he grabbed my hands and pulled me out of my chair and into a bone-crushing hug. His excitement exuding from his pores.
“Thank you, baby. Thank you, so much. You don’t understand how happy this makes me.” He said into my neck.
“I do, ‘cause I feel the same way.” And I did. After everything that had gone on today, I felt like I could- and would- take that leap of braveness.
I loved Keller with all my being, and I wouldn’t want anything more than to live with him.
“Love you, Pie.” He said lifting his head and kissing my lips.
And this time I liked the slow, soft kisses. They said so much more than the hungry ones.
****
Forty-five minutes later we had finished our dinners.
I was stuffed. But when the waiter came back over and asked if we wanted any desserts, I suddenly found room.
“I’ll have the chocolate cheesecake with cream on the side, please.”
“And I’ll have… I’ll have the Pie.” Keller said, emphasizing the word ‘pie.'
I laughed at him, and he threw me a wink, while the waiter looked at us like we were crazy.
Oh well.
Suddenly I had the urge to pee, so I got up and told Keller that I needed to go to the ladies room.
“Okay, hurry back, or I’ll end up eating your cake.”
“You will not,” I said narrowing my eyes on him. Don’t come between a woman and chocolate cheesecake.
Holding his hands up in surrender, he said, “Okay, okay. I won’t eat your cake, just hurry,” and gave my ass a slap.
Yelping at the unexpected sting, I turned and admonished him, “Keller!”
With a smirking grin on his face, I couldn’t really find a reason to be mad at him.
So with a shake of my head I walked off and down the hallway where the bathrooms were.
After doing my business, I walked over to the sinks and started washing my hands.
I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe the woman looking back at me.
The woman staring back at me didn't have black bags under her eyes anymore. She didn’t have fatigue written all over her face and body from stress and too many hours working and not enough sleep. And I couldn’t see the self-hate in her eyes that was once there.
All I could see was clear glowing skin. I could see rejuvenation in her body, from a lot of caught-up sleep. And I could see eyes that were sparkling with love and happiness. Smiling to myself, I turned the water off. I was so lost in my thoughts as I reached for the paper towels to dry my hands with that I didn’t notice the man standing behind me looking menacing and extremely angry.
I lifted my head from drying my hands and my eyes clashed with a sea of hate.
Gasping I turned, and there stood creepy Andrew.
“Andrew, wh- what are you doi-”
I didn’t get to finish as his fist came up and crashed into my temple, knocking me out.
The last thought I had was; Keller hel
TWENTY-FOUR
~Keller~
“Okay, hurry back, or I’ll end up eating your cake.” I told her with a smirk.
She spun back around with narrowed eyes and said, “You will not.”
Holding my hands up in surrender, I said, “Okay, okay. I won’t eat your cake, just hurry,” and just because I couldn’t resist, I gave her perfect ass a slap.
“Keller!” The look of astonishment on her face was comical; beautiful emerald sparkling gems surrounded by thick lashes were wide open, puffy ruby red lips dropped open in the shape of an ‘O’ and a pretty pink blush on her cheeks.
She was the most-beautiful woman I had ever seen.
I just smiled innocently at her and with a shake of her head she walked in the direction of the restrooms; I saw her lips twitch as she went.
While I sat there waiting for Peyton to come back I thought back to when I’d first seen her again.
It had been my buddy Nate’s bachelor party, and when he’d told me we would be going to a strip club, I hadn’t wanted to go- strippers were never my thing.
But after moaning and calling me a pussy, I finally gave in and went to the club.
Thank fuck I did.
If I hadn’t, I knew I probably never would’ve seen Peyton again.
But most importantly I would never have meet nor known my daughter.
Ivy was the third woman I have ever loved.
First was my mom.
Second was Peyton.
And now Ivy.
She had me wrapped so tightly around her little finger; it was unbelievable.
The moment I met her it was like my heart exploded, expanded, it was instant love.
A love only a father can have for their child.
Her pretty chocolate brown eyes and her silky hair reminded me of my mother.
I couldn’t believe the resemblance. I knew people who saw the two of us together would say we were the spitting image of each other, but it was my mom staring back at me when I looked at her- only a younger version.
My mom was beautiful. And so was Ivy.
But I could see bits of Peyton in her. She had her cute button nose, and she had Peyton’s eye shape. She had her innocent smile.
They were my life.
So I was very thankful that I’d gone to Entice. Very, very thankful.
A commotion broke me from my thoughts, and I looked up from the table but saw nothing out of place.
But it was then that I realized that Peyton had been gone for a while now.
Frowning, I got up from my chair and walked in the direction of the bathrooms.
Knocking on the door, I called out to her.
“Peyton? You okay in there baby?”
When I got no answer, I started knocking louder.
“Peyton! Open the door!”
When I still didn’t hear anything, I pushed the door open, and the silence in the room was deafening.
“Pey?”
“Peyton, it’s not funny no more.” Silence again, I could hear the noise from the patrons in the restaurant, but nothing from this room.
“Peyton come-” I felt the air leave my body.
Right there at the bottom of the sinks, was Peyton’s cherry red bag. The thing resembled a fucking suitcase. I’d know it anywhere.
I ran towards it, digging my hand through and when I saw Peyton’s iPhone. It had one of those crystal encrusted cases, the letter P standing out. It was red while the rest of the crystals were just the plain colored ones.
Peyton…
Getting back up, I rushed out of the bathroom and raced around the restaurant looking for my redhead. But I couldn’t see her, anywhere.
Spotting our waiter I rushed over to him and asked if he had seen her.
“No sir. Is she not here?” He asked looking around with a small confused wrinkle on his brow.
“No she isn’t.” I snapped at him.
“She went to the bathroom about twenty minutes ago, and I just went looking for her and I found her bag on the floor next to the sink. There’s something wrong; I can feel it.” I ran my hands through my hair, a frustrating habit.
“What do-?”
“I think someone has taken her,” I said my voice sounding hollow.
Gasping he said, “Do you want me to call the police, sir?”
“Yes.” My voice broke, and I could hear the anguish in that one, simple word.
****
“So you’re telling me that you think someone has taken your girlfriend and that you didn’t have an argument prior to Miss Emerson going to the bathroom?” The asshole Officer asked me yet again, with a condescending looking on his face.
“Yes,” I hiss out from between my clenched teeth. The man was starting to wear on me now, and if he didn’t stop asking these fucking ridiculous questions, I was going to knock in his teeth.
The police had come about ten minutes ago, and two had gone in the backroom and were going through the CCTV and Officer Berg, the dick, was out front interrogating me.
“Look arsehole, he’s already told you that they didn’t have a fucking row and that everything was all jolly, stop asking him. Can we just get to the part where my best friend has been abducted and concentrate on that please?” Lottie snapped at him, her pretty face red from anger and her tears.
Sliding his eyes over to Lottie and giving her a look that told her to shut up he said, “Miss Carter, I’ve already asked you twice now, not to speak to me like that. If I have to do ask again, I’ll put you in a cell for the night, okay?”
Fucking dick.
“No, it’s not okay! My best friend is out there with god knows who and you are just fucking standing there asking ridiculous questions, when you should be doing something more constructive!” She was glaring at him, tears dripping from her bloodshot eyes, silently daring him to follow through with his threat.
I fucking loved this woman. She had balls. Bigger than most of the men I knew, she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, regardless of the situation.
Lottie had arrived at the restaurant about twelve minutes ago. I had called her to ask if Peyton was there- longshot I know- she wasn’t and with that I had told her that I had thought someone had taken her. A sob had ripped its way out of her mouth when she asked me where I was and that she was coming here. I asked her about Ivy and who she was going to stay with as I didn’t want her seeing me like this and then start asking where her momma was. Lottie told me she was with her parents at her house and that Ivy could stay with them. I told her okay and gave her the address; she had gotten here in minutes. When I asked her how, she replied back saying that she just broke about twenty laws and that she didn’t give a fuck, she just wanted to know where her best friend was.
But as much as Lottie was hard-faced, she was breaking up inside, I could see it.
The same thing was happening to me.
“Sir? I think you should see this.” The urgency in the young Officers tone brought me out of my musing.
Following him to the backroom I noticed the four screens on the wall; three were playing footage, but one weren’t, its paused screen got my attention.
“What did you find?” Berg asked them, walking further into the room.
“This,” the blonde Officer, who was sitting on a chair a mouse in his grasp. He clicked a button, and the screen came to life.
My eyes were fixed on the screen where I could see the hallway to the ladies’ bathroom.
There was nothing for a couple of seconds. Then the door opened a touch, and I inched closer to the screen, waiting with bated breath for what I was about to see.
I saw a shoe pop out, a man’s shoe, then a leg, propping the door open.
And then a body filled the doorway.
A large body, what looked to be a man that was holding another over its shoulder. An unconscious body.
An unconscious body with red/ ginger hair.
The body of Peyton.
“Oh god!”
My mind went blank, numb.
“Holy shit!” Officer Berg said as he watched the man walk away with Peyton’s limp body.
“Wait, for it.”
What? Confused I looked back at the screen and watched as the man slowly turned back around.
His head tipped back, and his hood slipped.
“Mother fucker!”
I knew that face. I would know it anywhere. It was the same face I beat black and blue. The one I thought about repeatedly beating.
Andrew the creeper.
“What?” Both Lottie and Berg asked me.
“Do you know who that is?”
“Yeah… That’s Andrew Whiteman. Peyton’s stalker friend.” I told them.
Lottie gasped and started sobbing hard, her whole body shaking.
Berg asked if Peyton had reported Andrew to the police, after telling him yes; he got on the phone and started demanding things from whoever was on the other end of the line.
But me? I couldn’t move. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen, from the smug evil smirk that Andrew was pulling at the camera. It was taunting me. It was like he didn’t care if we knew who he was. It was like- fuck!
It was like he knew we- I would see this, see him. And he wanted to let me know that he had her. That I had failed. And now she was his.
“We’re sending some Officers to your apartment, Miss Carter. I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes, abductors take the victims back to their home’s letting them see and be in their own environment, goading them with it. If you get what I mean. Sick fuckers,” he mumbled the last, but I still heard him.
Snapping my head up I said, “Where’s her bag?” At the confused expressions on all their faces I said, “Peyton’s bag, it had her house keys inside. He may have taken them.”
The young policeman ran out to get it and was back in seconds, passing it to me.
Grabbing it from him I quickly searched through it. Riffling through all the shit she had in there before I heard the unmistakable sound of keys rattling. Once I touched one key; I opened my hand and just grabbed a handful of stuff, pulling it all out.
Seeing her keys, seeing a picture of Ivy and me on the keychain, made my heart ache.
“No, he didn’t take her keys,” I said, pointing out the obvious.
“Keller…”
I looked up and saw Lottie’s eyes fixated on my hands, or more like my right hand. The one that was still holding all the things from Peyton’s bag. Taking in her horrified expression, I looked down at my hand wondering what could’ve made that look grace Lottie’s face. At first I didn't spot anything out of place. There was the usual shit all women had in their purses; lipstick, mascara tube, gum, loose change…
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