Picture Perfect

by Maguire, L. E.

  My hands dropped to his waist when he started grinding his growing erection into my belly. Unable to lift my leg due to the dress, I quickly grabbed the beaded material on my thighs and pulled the dress up. Grabbing onto his waist, I wrapped my leg around his upper thigh and gyrated my hips along with his in a perfect rhythm. He gasped and pulled away from me.

  We both stood there with our tear streaked faces, lips red and swollen from our brutal kissing, chests heaving from our quickened breaths, and just stared at each other.

  Finally, Evan spoke. “I loved you so fucking much, Ember.” It was not lost on me that he said loved instead of love. “But I don’t know if there can ever be any kind of future for us now. I can’t have you slamming the door in my face every time the media posts a suspicious looking picture. And trust me, baby, it will happen again.”

  “Evan, please don’t say that. I’m so in love with you. I know now. Please. We can work this out.” He was shaking his head before I was even done talking. A fresh torrent of tears ran down my cheeks. “Please,” I whispered, reaching out for him. While still shaking his head at me, he backed up toward the door.

  “Goodbye, my Gem.” With one final glance, he turned and opened the door and left me devastated in the ladies room.

  I don’t know how long I sat on the floor of the ladies room. All I know is that no one made any attempts to come in the entire time I sat on the floor in my beautiful beaded dress crying my eyes out.

  When I finally realized that being a pathetic mess on the floor was not going to get me Evan back, and my God I was going to get him back, I gathered up the photos, got up off the floor, and headed over to the vanity. My eyelids were swollen from crying and my make-up was smeared down my face. I was a total mess. Opening my clutch and gathering up my make-up, I definitely had my work cut out for me.

  Once I was finished, I took a deep breath as I looked at the woman in the mirror. Other than my red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes, no one would ever know that I had just had one hell of an ugly cry. Now, it was time to get back to work.

  Turning to head for the door, I rounded the corner and walked right into Daniel.

  “Omph. Excuse me. I didn’t…see you.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you doing in here?”

  He did not say anything. He only gave me a leering look that morphed into a sleazy smile. Reaching behind him, I heard him click the lock in place on the door.

  Taking a step back, I quickly glanced around the room trying to find either something I could use as a weapon or to come up with some way to get away from Daniel, but there was nothing. The look on his face had my heart pounding in my chest. As fear spiked my adrenaline, I began to shake. Taking another step back and to the right, he mirrored my move.

  “What do you want, Daniel?”

  “I want to know if I’m good enough for you now?” Licking his lips, he made another move toward me.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, shaking my head and taking another step away from him.

  “I saw Evan come in here. You two were alone for a while.”

  “We were just talking.”

  “Sure you were.” He took another step closer. “That’s why you’ve got that freshly fucked look.”

  “What?” His comment had me confused and frowning. Realizing that he had thrown me off, he lunged for me, causing me to stumble back.

  Slamming me into the wall hard, he knocked the breath out of me. Before I could recover, Daniel’s body pressed up against mine. His hand quickly covered my mouth to keep me from screaming. Desperately trying to get my breathing back under control, the sickening smell of his cologne penetrated my nose with each strangled breath.

  “Evan seems to be no more of a womanizer than I am and you fucked him.” The smell of some strong liquor washed over my face making my stomach roll. “So I figured I ought to be good enough for you to fuck now.”

  My eyes widened as the realization of his words hit me. Shaking my head at him, I placed my hands on his chest and desperately tried to push him off me, but I was emotionally and physically drained from being so upset over what happened between Evan and me that I could not budge him. My weak attempt only had him pressing into me harder.

  “I’m going to take my hand off your mouth now. If you attempt to scream, I will shove you down onto your knees and stuff that pretty little mouth of yours with my hard cock until you’re chocking on it. Understand?”

  Unable to speak, I simply nodded at him. I could not believe this was happening. The shock of the situation had my blood roaring through my ears unable to fully concentrate on how I could get out of this.

  His warm, sweaty hand lifted off my face, and I gasped for clean air as he took two steps away from me.

  “For as badly as I want to fuck you, I think we will start with you on your knees,” he said as he started to undue his belt.

  A twisted idea hit, but I knew this was the only way I was going to get out of this. Pushing off the wall, I approached Daniel. I tried to smile sweetly at him, but I’m sure it didn’t look genuine as it felt forced on my face.

  “You know, Daniel, you may be right.” He looked at me wearily. “There isn’t much of a difference between you and Evan.” Fuck, it killed me to say that. Placing my hand over his, I stopped him from undoing his pants. “Allow me,” I whispered.

  He gave me a smug look as I unbuttoned his pants and pulled the zipper down. Pushing my hand past the waistband of his boxers, I wrapped my palm around his warm steely length and slowly stroked him up and down. The whole entire time I fought the urge to throw up.

  As soon as his eyes drifted closed and he started moaning, I knew I had to make my move. Slowly I ran my hand down to his balls and cupped them gently in my palm before I squeezed and twisted them as hard as I could.

  Daniel’s eyes flew open in shock before his face scrunched up in pain. I watched with great satisfaction as he crumpled to the floor in front of me, quickly stepping out of his reach as he made a grab for me.

  “You fucking bitch,” he moaned, cupping his crotch as he withered in pain on the floor.

  “Don’t you ever lay a hand on me again, you filthy, fucking asshole.”

  Grabbing my clutch off the floor, I ran over to the door. I could hear Daniel crawling along the marble floor trying to get to me. His palms slapping on the tile had the panic starting to rise within me. I fumbled with the lock for several seconds before I got it opened. Pulling the door open, I glanced back at Daniel before I dashed out the door, running right into the hard chest of Jake.

  Jake’s hands immediately wrapped around my upper arms to steady me. “Whoa, Em. Easy there.”

  “Jake,” I whispered before wrapping my arms around his strong waist.

  “Hey,” Jake said, wrapping his arms around me.

  Feeling the comfort and strength of my best friend wrapped around me like a security blanket, the enormity of what just happened came crashing down around me. Shaking like a leaf, I could not stop the sob that tore from my chest. Jake whipped the ladies room door open, and before I could stop him, pushed me inside.

  Daniel was still on the floor cradling his balls and moaning. My grip on Jake tightened as I pulled him toward the door.

  “Let’s go, Jake. Please, let’s just go,” I urged.

  Jake’s arms wrapped around me tightly as he began to put two and two together. Looking from me to Daniel and back to me, he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.

  “What’s going on, Em?” he asked in a tight voice. I could see the anger swirling in his honey-brown eyes.

  “Jake, please.”

  “Did that fucking scumbag touch you? Did you do that to him?”

  Sighing heavily, I leaned my forehead against his chest. “Yes,” I whispered.

  “You gotta speak, Em.”

  Slowly I raised my head and met Jake’s eyes. “Yes, okay? Yes, he touched me. Yes, I did that to him. Now can we please just go?”

  Jake began to vibrate with anger.
Releasing his arms from around me, he grabbed my upper arm and led me out the door. Glancing around the room until he found Eli, we started to make our way through the thinning crowd with purpose.

  Eli looked in our direction as we approached. His beautiful smile morphed into a questioning look as he took in the hulking mass of vibrating anger that was my best friend. He quickly excused himself and approached us.

  “Ember, are you all right?” he asked, sounding concerned.

  “Take her home. Now,” Jake demanded. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Jake turned to walk away, but I grabbed onto his arm tightly. “Please don’t. He’s not worth it.”

  His features softened for a moment, and he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t you worry about a thing, beautiful,” he whispered in my ear.

  Jake started to walk away again, but it was Eli who stopped him now. “Jake, you want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked carefully, glancing around at the people surrounding us.

  Jake leaned in so no one would overhear. “That dirty little bastard, you know the one you were worried about, got his hands on Em in the ladies room.” Eli pulled back and looked at me. His beautiful blue eyes ran over my face, my neck, and down my body before focusing back on Jake. “Other than being shaken up, she’s okay. She did a number on Daniel though. Little fucker is holding onto his balls and rolling around on the floor moaning.” Eli’s eyes snapped back to me. I simply shrugged my shoulders at him. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I’ve got to go take the trash out.” Jake started to walk away. “Get her home,” he said once again over his shoulder.

  Eli turned to me and ran his hands up and down my arms. “You’re all right?”

  I nodded. “What did Jake mean when he said the one you were worried about?”

  “Daniel has a bit of a reputation.”

  “Of being a man whore? I know,” I said.

  “Yes. He was also very adamant about his gallery hosting the Soft Caresses showing, which made me suspicious.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and began to walk. “My suspicions told me his eagerness had something to do with you, so I contacted Jake. That’s when he told me you two had a bit of a history. Suddenly Daniel’s motives became very clear.”

  I stopped walking. “So, wait. Are you telling me that you and Jake knew he might try something with me tonight?” Eli didn’t answer me. “Eli?” I pressed. He looked away. “Oh my God.” I started backing away. Eli’s hand clamped around my wrist before I could take off.

  “Ember, please. Hear me out.”

  Remembering how I did not give Evan the chance to explain and how angry he is at me as a result, I nodded at Eli. “Go ahead,” I said. “Explain.”

  “You were never supposed to be left alone tonight. Between Jake, Lucina, and myself, we were never going to let you out of our sight, but you still managed it somehow. Jake was going crazy looking for you. Last I saw him, he said he was going to storm the ladies room to see if you were in there.”

  “I was,” I whispered. “First with Evan and then Daniel.”

  Eli gave me a sympathetic look. “Double whammy, huh, beautiful?” He pulled me in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re all right. Don’t worry about Jake. He’s spoken to Daniel’s mother. They’ve formulated a plan to deal with him.”

  Nodding at him, I took a deep breath and allowed him to lead me out of the gallery.

  ***

  As the elevator opened to the floor my unit was on, I leaned heavily into Eli. The adrenaline rush from all that happened earlier receded once we got in the limo and it has left me feeling emotionally drained and physically exhausted.

  Stopping before the door, Eli held his hand out to me. “Keys?”

  Fumbling around in my clutch, I found the keys and handed them to him, watching as he opened the door with ease.

  As we walked down the hall to the main living area, I headed directly into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

  “No, thank you,” he said, walking over to the wall of windows that faced CenturyLink Field. “Are you a football fan?” he asked, pointing a finger over his shoulder toward the stadium.

  Opening the bottle, I drank from it greedily. I hadn’t realized just how thirsty I was. “I am. Very much so.”

  He smiled widely at me. “When you’re ready to see a game, let me know. My father has a suite.”

  “I will, thanks. That would be awesome,” I said, walking over to him.

  Stopping at his side, we both looked out the window for several quiet moments before we turned to face each other. Eli was such a strikingly handsome man. Those blue eyes of his were beguiling. I could get lost in them for hours. He was sweet and a total gentleman too. Why couldn’t I fall for someone like him?

  “I should get going,” he said.

  “Eli, you don’t have to run off.”

  “Yeah, I do, because if you keep looking at me like that I’m going to kiss you,” he said, his eyes focusing on my mouth.

  My breath left my lungs in a rush. “Would that be such a bad thing?” I whispered.

  He nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, it would. You’re a beautiful woman, Ember. I would be thrilled if I could call you mine, but your heart still clearly belongs to Evan.”

  Frowning, I shook my head at him. Tears welled up in my eyes though, totally giving me away. Eli gave me a knowing smile as he brushed a thumb under my eye to catch a stray tear.

  “My heart might, but not his,” I said softly.

  “Oh, I don’t know, Ember. He’s angry right now. Give him time and I think you’ll find he’ll come back to you. There was no denying the way he looked at you during the Soft Caresses shoot.” He gave me a small smile. “I purposefully egged him on during that shoot.”

  “I knew it,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

  “I had to be sure, because if he wasn’t going to go after you then I was. But you’ve got nothing to worry about. He’s crazy about you. He will be back.”

  I so wanted to believe what Eli was saying was true, but the look in Evan’s eyes when he said that final goodbye before walking out of the ladies room said otherwise. His eyes and tone of voice all said he was done with me, and the very thought had a chill running down my spine.

  “Hey, baby girl.”

  Jake’s cheerful greeting as he strolled into the living area of our shared apartment had me glancing up from my computer and smiling. We’ve been so slammed over the last month that I had taken to editing some of the pictures myself to help lighten Jake’s workload. Not that I minded doing it either. I welcomed anything that kept my mind busy and away from all thoughts Evan, who, as I feared, never did get in touch with me. Then again, I never reached out to him either. It’s not that I didn’t want to. I fought the urge every day. It was the fear of him rejecting me that held me back from getting in touch with him.

  Walking up behind me, Jake placed his hands on my shoulders and squeezed before kissing me on the cheek. Leaning toward the monitor, he examined the picture I currently had up on the screen.

  “Watch your color saturation with this one,” he said, pointing to a particular spot on the screen.

  Playfully I slapped his hand away. “Go make me some coffee now that you’re awake,” I teased.

  “Still can’t figure out how to use this machine, huh?” He laughed as he headed into the kitchen. I just stuck my tongue out at him.

  For my birthday, Jake had gotten me a Verismo Brewer, hoping it would cut back on all the money I was spending on caramel macchiatos. Personally, I think he did it just so he would not have to run to our local Starbucks all the time. It’s not like one was far away either. This was Seattle after all.

  “I got you something,” he said, heading back over to me with a steaming cup of coffee.

  Handing me my mug, he placed a folded piece of paper on the desk in front of me.

  “What’s this?” I asked, setting my cup down.

  “Something we sho
uld have done two months ago, but we’ve been so slammed we missed the grand opening.”

  As I unfolded the piece of paper, my stomach dropped as soon as I saw the logo for the Seattle Great Wheel. The sight of Evan standing before me with his arms spread out telling me how being in love with me made him feel like he was on top of the world was forever seared into my brain. The paper began to blur as my eyes filled with tears. Blinking to clear them, a few drops fell and splashed on the paper.

  “Fuck. Em? What is it?” Jake asked as he squatted down next to me.

  Feeling foolish for getting so emotional, I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes. “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing, baby girl.” Gently grabbing my chin, he turned my face to his. With raised brows, he gave me a questioning look.

  “Evan and I rode the wheel before it opened. He knew the man who ran it. His daughter was a model who had worked with Evan before.” Looking back down at the piece of paper, I ran my hand over the printed ticket . “It was the VIP gondola that we rode in,” I said softly, my voice breaking.

  Jake’s face softened as a sympathetic look came over his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” His hand began rubbing my back softly.

  “It’s okay. How could you know?”

  He gave me a small smile. “We don’t have to go.” The disappointment was evident in his tone of voice.

  He was so excited about this, having gone through all the trouble to surprise me. How could I deny him? Besides, I couldn’t avoid the wheel forever.

  “Of course we do,” I said, giving him a small smile.

  “Even though it’s for the VIP gondola?” he asked, raising his brows at me.

  “Yeah. It’s okay,” I said to him, trying to sound reassuring.

  “I love you, Em,” he said, leaning in to kiss me on the forehead like he always did.

  “I love you,” I responded.

  “I thought we could go to dinner at The Crab Pot before going on the wheel. Sound good?” he asked as he headed back into the kitchen to make himself some coffee.