by Julie Adams
“What happened?” I can hear the worry in her voice and I want to hold her and tell her it’s all okay.
“Someone broke the front window, did a little spray painting. It’s nothing, probably unrelated.” As I say this Inspector Bisset is coming towards me.
“Jesus!” It’s an angry whisper like if she said it any louder she might explode. She doesn't believe it's a coincidence.
“I have to go, Bisset is here.”
“Call me later.” It’s not a question. My calm cool not working with her. I know what she’s thinking, that the murder, the break-in, and this are all connected. I can’t say I’m not thinking the same thing.
“I will. I love you.” And I pushed too far. She hangs up without so much as a send-off.
“Mr. Erickson, can’t say I’m happy to be seeing you again so soon.” He says gruffly standing in front of me and surveying the damage. “This isn’t looking good.”
“No, it’s not.” I say as the other inspector, Franks, goes to talk to the cleaning crew cleaning up the glass. They nod, prop up their brooms and step back. Inspector Franks goes in and I can see him milling about in the dim lobby, searching the floors.
“Got surveillance?” Bisset asks.
“There’s millions of dollars of equipment in there, of course I do.” I reply, irritated. The man does not like me, and the feeling is mutual.
“I’m going to need to see the feeds.”
I hold out a hand letting him go in front of me as we go inside to the security desk. I had already seen the video. I know what happened but I follow anyway wanting to see it again. Hoping I saw it all wrong.
The security office is a bit cramped with three of us inside, myself, Bisset, and the security guard.
I hold my breath as the recording plays.
Someone comes up near the building looking like they’re out for a casual stroll. Their outfit a bit odd, dressed in all black that shows up white on the infrared. A ball cap and hood hiding their face and any defining features. The clothes baggy enough that you can't discern whether it’s male or female.
Gloved hands flip the cap off a can of spray paint and they hastily scrawl the obscenity on the window.
They take five steps back, raise their arm, the handgun glinting. They fire two shots shattering the window then take off.
Bisset sighs. “I’ll have to get CCTV footage for the area and see where they got off to. This is going to be a pain in my neck. I would ask for a list of any enemies, but considering what a web search brings up on you it could half the women in Paris. Not to mention the business side of your life.” He sighs again.
Inspector Franks pokes his head around the door and holds up a clear plastic evidence bag with the shell casings inside. “Found the cause.”
“Good. Good.” Bisset says then looks at me. “I’ll need a copy of this. And be careful Mr. Erickson. Make sure you tell your girlfriend to do the same. Someone is obviously targeting you and they’re willing to use her to get to you. Hopefully, I won’t be seeing you until we’ve caught whoever is doing this.”
The guard gives him a drive with the video, and Bisset and I shake hands adieu. I'll say this for him, he's professional.
As soon as they leave I can feel my chest constricting. My tie choking me. I’m undoing it as my fingers swipe across the screen of my cell phone. I have to get out of here and get some air.
I’m halfway from the office when Lily picks up. “Hello?” Her voice like the sweetest salve to my nerves.
“We should meet up. This is more than a coincidence and I need to see you,” there’s a tremor in my voice that doesn’t at all sound like me. I’m working on my argument, why we should meet if she still doesn’t want to see me.
“Okay.” Simple words that hold the weight of the world. My world. “Where?”
“Our restaurant? There. I’m sending a car for you. Don’t argue, please.” It’s not a demand but a plea.
“Okay. What is wrong?”
“I’m fine. I just need to see you. And I want to talk to you about what happened and I don’t want to do it over the phone.”
“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” She hangs up before I can tell her I love her, again.
The restaurant is busy as always, when you have drinks and food that smell like this you don't need advertising or even a proper name. It's simply Restaurant.
I'm shown up to the private dining area and I order coffee for myself and a latte for Lily.
The Windows are open to let the fresh spring air in and the smell of cherry blossoms mingles with the scent of coffee, sugar, and butter.
I check my watch four times, force myself to sip my coffee slowly. It's only been ten minutes since I've arrived but the anticipation of seeing her is killing me.
I hear a creak on the stairs and whip my head up.
Lily's standing there looking like the modern American dream girl. Her dark hair in a loose braid over one should, tendrils loose around her face. The thin lilac cardigan fitting her like a glove, ripped jeans and white sneakers complete the effect.
My heart is beating fast, my body responding to her.
She looks good. There's no hint of her hurting for me like I'm hurting for her. And I admire that so much, her strength and will. She can be a pillar in the storm until she's ready to yield and wash away.
We just stare at each other, her brown eyes wary. Remembering my manners I stand.
“Hi, how are you?” I ask pulling out her chair.
“Fine,” her voice is just as wary as her eyes. Only that tells me that she's hurting, too. She sits her bag beside her and points to the latte. “For me?”
“Yes, if you want something else I can call the waiter,”
“No, this is fine. Thank you.” She takes a sip and looks at me over the mug.
I'm not hiding my pain nearly as good as she is hers. I haven't bothered to shave, my eyes have dark circles and my skin is sallow from lack of sleep. I've been surviving mostly on coffee and whatever morsel I can force myself to eat.
“What happened?” She asks sitting the mug down and looking me in the eye. Her fingers tracing the little handle nervously.
“Someone shot out the window at the office, we have them on video, but we can't tell who it is. They also spray painted 'fucker’ in a charming shade of Scarlett.” She's scowling, she grips the mug to hide her shaking fingers. “Bisset thinks it's all related, that you're being targeted because of who you are to me.” Who you are. I won't say were. I have hope that she'll come back to me.
I can see the strain in her face. Her teeth clamped so tightly shut her jaw takes on a new shape. “What if he's wrong?” I narrow my eyes unsure of where this is going. “What if they're targeting you because of who you are to me?”
“Who would do that? The woman who attacked you is still in jail right?”
“Yes,” she lets go of her mug and wraps her arms around herself.
“Then it's not you. I've got reasons to have enemies, Lily.”
She nods, but I can tell she's still thinking it might be because of her. “What do we do?”
“Bisset said we should both be careful. It's driving me crazy not knowing if you're safe. Not knowing you'll be in my apartment with me at the end of the day, so I can protect you.”
She stares at me now, so much confliction in her gaze. Then she grabs her bag. This is it. I've fucked it all up. I completely went against Beth's advice and pushed too hard. She doesn't need me proclaiming my feelings, she needs space.
She pulls out a book and now I'm confused. She doesn't stand and my heart begins to beat a new rhythm.
“Beth found this, thought you might like to see it.” She opens it to a page bookmarked with a sheet of paper. And then my heart just stops.
It's a photo of me and my mother, one I haven't seen before. But I remember it being taken. I remember how we were laughing. I remember chasing the other kids around the room. I remember my
mom tucking me in right before the show.
Tears fill my eyes and take a breath willing them back.
“She was beautiful,” Lily says looking at the picture. “You can see how much she loved you,”
I nod. Squeezing my eyes shut and forcing the tears away. They coat my lashes anyway.
“Tell me about her, tell me about your life back then. I want to understand.” Lily takes my hand in hers, resting them on the table. And my heart is aching from all the dramatic shifts it's had today.
I think for a moment of where to begin. She squeezes my hand encouragingly. And then I just let it go. Staring at the picture of my mother brings it all back to me.
“She was the most vibrant, happy person I ever knew. She got pregnant with me when she was young. My dad took off, but it didn’t matter. She said she loved me from the moment she knew, enough for herself and my father, too. We didn’t have a lot but we had a roof over our head and food on the table, sometimes it would be spaghetti for the third night in a row but she would change it and say we were pirates eating squid, or some other pretend game to make it fun.” I smile even though everything's blurry through the tears in my eyes.
I clear my throat. “My grandparents tried to help but they died when I wasn’t much more than a toddler so it was just her and me. Then she started dancing at the theater, the pay was good. She became the star of the show. It was there she met my stepfather. And he was a good man. He had been sick when he was young and it made him sterile, so I was a bonus. The son he couldn’t have,” I point to the picture, “he asked me if he could marry my mom right in that room. It’s where everything changed, we didn’t just survive anymore, we thrived. We had a big nice house, I had a room filled with toys. Dinner was whatever I wanted. Mom didn’t have to work anymore, she could spend all day with me. It was a security I never had. And then when I was just out of college my stepdad got sick again and passed, and it was the first real grief I ever knew. He was my dad.” I wipe my eyes and Lily gets up from her seat and comes and wraps her arms around me. Her warmth giving me the will to tell the rest of the story.
“Then a few years later my mom passed, too. I think she was just too broken hearted to go on without him. And so here I was, 23-years-old and left all alone. No one giving a damn what I did, where I went. No one caring if I made it through the night.”
Lily kisses me on the temple, her lips soft and I’m sinking into her. “That’s not true, Nathan.”
“I keep people at a distance, Lily, I never let anyone in.”
“Not even your assistant? She seems to care for you very much,”
“Caroline?” I ask wondering how she knows about her.
“She called after I spoke to you this morning, told me not to be upset with you. That she was the one who contacted Shadows of Sins about the theater.” I don’t know what to say. Had Caroline set this all up for me to speak to Lily again, to make sure Lily’s theater had the break it needed on opening night.
Lily sliding into my lap breaks me from any thought but her. “I’d say that’s someone who cares about you.” She’s got her arms wrapped around my neck and is looking into my eyes like she used to. “I get it now. I understand why you kept going back to the theater, it’s where everything changed in your life for the better. It’s where you felt safe and close to your past. Your mom's presence is in those walls. You didn't feel alone there.”
I nod, unable to speak, afraid my voice will break. She's already seen me cry more than I'd like, I can at least keep some dignity.
“I love you, Nathan. I understand it now. I understand you.”
“I messed it all up. I should have told you from the beginning,” She opens her mouth to speak and I silence her with a swift kiss. “But I’m glad you forgive me, because I love you with every breath in my body.” I kiss her again, slow and languid feeling her lips yield to mine. Her thumbs swipe beneath my eyes wiping away the tears and it nearly undoes me. “I love you,” I whisper my lips never leaving hers. Her tongue presses into my mouth, sliding along my own.
I pick her up and sit her on the table, easing myself between her thighs. I nip her bottom lip and she smiles, her hands holding onto my jaw as she leans back. “We can’t here,” She breathes looking up at me and it’s like it was before, all of it. All of us.
“To hell, we can’t. I haven’t had you in days. I thought I lost you. Only you or God could stop me now.” I tug at her legs pulling her hard and taut against me and she can feel just how serious I am.
“We’ll break something,” She says, my lips on her neck.
“I’ll buy it,”
“Nathan…” She breathes, my tongue dipping into the hollow of her throat. I wrap her legs around me and stand with her, backing her into the wall next to the window. My fingers gripping her ass through the denim.
“I gave very specific instructions for no one to bother us once you arrived. So, you’re either going to let me fuck you right here against this wall, or we’re going back to my place.”
She looks at me and bites her lip, “I can’t wait that long, here, quick.” She demands and her eagerness has me straining even harder against my slacks. She pulls at my belt, undoing it as I work on her jeans.
“Sacre Bleu,” I groan. “Remind me to buy you lots of dresses and skirts,” I say yanking her pants halfway down revealing a black lacey pair of bikini panties. I cup her through them, my middle finger rubbing the seam of her sex. She gasps and clutches onto my shoulders. My free hand works open a button on her blouse revealing a matching bra, I pull the cup down and flick the hard bud of her breast with my tongue.
“Nathan!” She hisses. “No time for this. I want you inside me.” She wriggles beneath my hand, trapped by the wall she doesn’t get far. “There’s always time for this,” I grin and suck her nipple.
She reaches for me, massaging my length through the fabric of my pants. I lean into her strokes. It feels too damn good. It's been too long without her. I need this to confirm it's all real.
“Fine.” I relent and turn her around, I tear the lace down her legs and pull her hips back. I free my length and slide between her thighs, through the wetness gathered there. My tip hitting her clit. “Ready?” I whisper into her ear.
She arches her back signaling for me to do it already. I press against her entrance. She doesn’t wait for me, she slides back and takes me in all the way until her ass is against my pelvis. I sigh. She’s fucking heaven. Neither of us moves, we stand there enjoying the sensation of being this close again. Her heat gripping me, urging me to move. I slide out until just the tip of my cock is inside her.
“What do you want?” I whisper, holding her hips to keep her from thrusting back on me.
Lily dips her head back against my shoulder looking up at me with the same frenzied look I'm feeling inside. “Make me come, Nathan. Make me yours.” A whispered plea that owns me.
I slide into her hard. “Mine.” I groan into her ear, suckling the lobe. My hand snaking down her stomach to her bundle of nerves. Gently I circle around it, spreading her wetness as I thrust. “Mine.”
“Yours.” She breathes.
I thrust into her, again and again, her body responding to mine, getting tighter and wetter. “I love you,” I say picking up my pace, the tops of my thighs slapping against her ass.
“Love you,” she pants bracing one hand against the wall, the other holding on to my forearm, my finger still dancing around her clit. Two long strokes over the smooth bead is all it takes before she's hissing out her orgasm, her body stiffening and arching into me.
Her pussy clenching around me sends me over the edge. I thrust into her hard following her into that state of bliss.
We fall against the wall, breathing heavy. Her wrapped up in my arms. I could stay here just like this, sated, content, still semi-hard inside her warmth forever and it wouldn't be long enough.
“Nathan,” she taps my arm. “We have to get dressed,” she pushes agai
nst me.
“Okay, but this was just round one. I haven't had enough of you to make up for the nights I've missed you.” I buckle my belt and show her to the adjoining restrooms.
After we’ve freshened up and paid the bill with a tip that could've bought the place, we take a car back to my apartment.
And my world has righted itself once more.
Thirty
Lily
In the cab on the way to Nathan's I call Beth and let her know what's happening. “Be careful, they could try to come back to the apartment,” I warn, hating that they’re in this position.
Nathan's hand squeezes my thigh, reassuring.
“Don't worry about us, Lily,” Beth says and I can practically hear Brent's teeth breaking as he listens on speakerphone.
“I'll be careful.” I promise. “I'm going back to Nathan's now,”
“Oh, really?” I can hear Beth's smile. And literally, Brent's groan of brotherly disgust.
“Yes. I'll call later,” I can’t help but grin.
“You better. Love you.”
“Love you.” We hang up and I look at Nathan who's grinning.
“Is your brother going to kill me?” He asks.
“No. He might want to, but that's just Brent, he's wanted to kill us all at some point or other.”
“Might as well get it out of the way.” He says as we pull up to his building.
He hands the driver some cash and holds open the door for me.
When we step into the apartment Frankie comes bounding up to me and I drop my bag and sink to the floor enveloping him in a hug. “I missed you!” I scratch behind his ears and down his back, earning me lots of pug grunts and huffs. “Who's a good boy? Yes, you are!”
Nathan chuckles behind me, leaning against the island. “I think he missed you, too.”
After a few more minutes I stand. “I could really use a shower,”
“Me too. Your clothes are where you left them.”
I don't know why but that makes me grin. He kept all my stuff right where I left it. He hadn’t given up on us.