Taming the Whirlwind

by L. M. Heidle

  “Elizabeth. How are you feeling?” I heard voices in the background. One of whom was a woman. Who was that and why did I care?

  “I’m fine, thanks. Sorry if I’m interrupting something but we had a question. Where did you get your tattoos done?”

  “You’re not bothering me. Did I hear you right? You want to get a tattoo?”

  “Don’t sound so shocked. Meg and I have been talking about getting one for years so why not do it today? The only problem is we don’t know where to go. We were hoping you could recommend somewhere good that isn’t too expensive.”

  “You’re a walking surprise. I go to Renegades. I’ll send Tony to take you guys there. You may want to take a couple aspirins before you go.”

  “Thanks Kade.” I hung up and turned to look at Meg. “He’s sending his driver to take us to Renegades. I can’t believe we are really going to do this.”

  Forty minutes later, we were walking through the front doors of Renegades. I was instantly terrified. What was I thinking? Was I seriously going to do this? A lady completely covered in tattoos walked over to us. “You two must be who Mr. Parker called about. Follow me this way. Are you guys going one at a time or same time?”

  I looked at Meg. She looked terrified. “Umm, Liz, you go first.”

  “Okay, but you’re still doing this!” She nodded as we followed the lady down the hall.

  “Buzz, these are the ones Kade called about.” With that, she turned and walked down the hall.

  “Hello, ladies. I’m Buzz. Kade said he wanted to make sure you got the best and I’m him. Who is going have a seat first?” I took a deep breath and sat down. I was starting to have doubts. No, I had wanted this for so long. I wasn’t going to stop now. “Do you know what you want?”

  I pulled the picture out of my bag and handed it over. It was a rose weaved with barbwire that started at my shoulder blades and went down to my lower back. The barbwire went around my waist and met in the front above my panty line with a rose.

  He took a look at it then back at me. “Did you draw this?” I nodded. “Nice. This is pretty big. Sure you want to do this for what I’m guessing is your first tattoo?”

  “Yep, I’ve wanted this tattoo for years. Can we hurry before I chicken out though?” He laughed but nodded and started. I grabbed my iPhone, stuck in my headphones, and blared my music, hoping to distract myself. As soon as the buzzing started, I closed my eyes. It wasn’t the worse pain I had ever felt, but it wasn’t pleasant.

  Meg pulled a headphone from my ear. “Does it hurt?” Meg still looked terrified. Should I tell her the truth? If I did, she wouldn’t get hers today.

  “It’s not painful, just annoying.”

  She didn’t look convinced but she surprised me by saying, “Okay, can I get mine done now too? I want to get it over with.” Buzz hollered for another artist to join us. He led her to another booth to start on hers.

  An hour had passed when I heard him or more like felt him when he painfully ripped the headphones out of my ears. “What in the hell are you doing?” Thankfully, Buzz had stopped for a minute because Kade made me jump.

  “What does it look like? I told you I was getting a tattoo today.”

  “I thought you meant something small.” He looked at my shirtless back then down to my lowered jeans. Ah, that was his problem. “You didn’t tell me you were getting one like that.”

  “Why would I have told you? It’s my body. What’s the big deal? Your tattoo is twice as big as this.”

  “I know, but…I mean,” I don’t think I’d ever seen him flustered before. “I just didn’t think you would get one this big.”

  I shrugged, “Go big or go home, right?” He shook his head and pulled a chair over to sit beside me. “I’m fine. You don’t have to stay. I’m sure you’re busy.” I knew he wasn’t about to leave when I was pretty much shirtless. If he only knew where the front of the tattoo ended, he would freak even worse. I wasn’t about to tell him, at least not until I got up.

  “I can stay.” He was so predictable. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it every time I made a face. If I didn’t know better, I would say this was hurting him worse than me.

  “You’re finished.” Finally! I can’t believe I finally did it. As I stood up to look at it, I heard Kade suck in a breath. Yep, he just noticed where this tattoo ended. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I could only imagine what he was thinking.

  Lucky for me, Meg walked around the corner as I was standing up. “Liz, that looks sweet! Oh, hey Kade. I didn’t know you were here.”

  I had to answer for him because he was still staring at me, or rather the tattoo. “Yeah, he got here a little while ago. Turn around, let me see it.” She turned around, and I was shocked. “You didn’t get your flowers?” She had gotten stars down her right side. “Meg, I am so proud of you! That looks awesome.”

  “What was it you said? Go big or go home? I saw a picture on the wall and decided to go for it.”

  “Derrick is going to be so surprised. I bet he’s going to love it but it’s probably a good thing he’s out of town for a week.” Meg broke out in giggles as Kade looked at me. “Are you ready to go? The pain we went through is probably going to be nothing compared to when we pay.”

  Kade finally found his voice after I lowered my shirt. “Don’t worry about it, ladies. This is on me.” Shocked, we both turned to Kade. Should I let him pay? He had already done so much for me. I didn’t want to feel like I owed him anything.

  “That’s okay, Kade. You did enough by recommending the place.” That look was back again. The one that said ‘don’t push it’.

  “I’m paying, Liz. Why do you have to argue about everything I say?”

  “No, Mr. Parker, why do you insist on arguing with me?” I snapped back. “I’m not looking for a handout. I wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t pay for it.”

  We stood there toe to toe, glaring at each other. Finally, he broke the silence, “I’m paying. End of discussion.” He didn’t take his eyes off mine as he handed his credit card to the lady.

  Meg just kept looking back and forth between us like she was watching a tennis match. She finally broke the tension-filled silence. “Thank you, Kade. That’s very sweet of you.” I turned to glare at her.

  He smiled at her, “You’re very welcome, Meg. At least someone isn’t too stubborn to accept a gift.”

  “Whatever!” I snapped as I walked out the door and down the sidewalk. He was at my side in no time.

  He tried to grab my elbow but I jerked it away. “You are the most difficult woman I have ever met! Most women love to have men pay for things, but not you. It straight up pisses you off!”

  I spun around to face him. “Friends don’t go around spending lavish amounts of money on dresses, roses, and tattoos! Hell, I’m not even sure we’re friends with the way you blow hot and cold.” I was practically screaming right now but I was pissed. I’m not sure why I was so pissed but so be it.

  “I like spending my money to make other people happy. And of course, we’re friends! Why wouldn’t we be?” Really? Is he that much of an idiot? Whatever! I’m not in the mood for that argument. “I didn’t just pay for your tattoo, you know.” Okay, so he made a good point there, he paid for Meg’s too. “Can we please stop making a scene and leave? I have somewhere to be in a few hours.”

  “I’m sorry, am I keeping you from something?” I sneered. Why was I acting like such an evil bitch? He did something nice and I was furious about it for some reason. I took a deep breath, “Fine, let’s go.” He wisely didn’t touch me but put his arm out for me to lead the way to the car. I climbed in beside Meg.

  Tony dropped us off at the apartment. I could tell Kade was still steaming about our fight when he didn’t say a word as I got out. I turned around, “Thank you, Kade.” He only nodded.

  Meg was quiet until we got into the apartment. “What in the hell was that?”

  “What do you mean ‘what was that’? I didn’t want him to pay
for the tattoo. Thanks for backing me up, by the way.”

  “Why were you so pissed? He tried to do something nice and you flew off the handle. Friends do buy each other stuff, maybe not as lavish as he does, but still it was a nice gesture. What he just spent is probably like you spending $75 on me. Money, in his world, is completely different.”

  “I don’t know why I was so mad. He is just so infuriating, sometimes. That’s exactly why we can’t be in a relationship. All we’d do is fight. I’m going to take a nap.”

  “I can see that, but that doesn’t change the way you two look at each other.” I glared at her, hoping she would shut up. “Wow, okay. Have a nice nap.”

  When I woke up, I looked at my clock. Holy cow! I had slept four hours. I sat up and winced. I guess I had rolled onto my back sometime during my nap because my back was throbbing. I went to the bathroom to get some aspirin when I heard voices in the living room. I walked out to find Meg and Derrick snuggled on the couch.

  “Finally wake up, sleepy head?”

  “Why did you let me sleep that long?”

  “Because you needed it. You were bitchy as hell. Plus, Derrick stopped by to surprise me.”

  “I thought you had to work.” That came out a little sharper than I meant it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  He laughed, “That’s okay, no worries. The meeting got pushed to Tuesday so I don’t have to leave until tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind; I pretty much invited myself over.”

  “Of course, that’s fine. I’m just going go for a walk so enjoy yourselves.” I headed towards the door thinking how nauseating they were. I wanted that too. Maybe someday it would happen.

  “Ms. Day, do you need a cab?” I shook my head no to Billy.

  I decided to relax in the park instead of going for a walk. I didn’t want the hustle and bustle right now. I needed peace and quiet.

  I sat there watching children playing Frisbee with their parents. Then I noticed a grey haired couple holding hands. They looked at each other like the world started and ended with each other. That’s what I wanted. I wanted that kind of love. I knew Kade and I could never have that. He wasn’t capable of it so why couldn’t I just walk away?

  I sat there until the stars came out. They were beautiful but they weren’t as crystal clear as the ones back home. At that moment, I was a little homesick. Things were simpler there. I could pretty much predict without a doubt how my life would have been. I would have gone to the local college, married Brent, had two children, and worked a 9-5 job. Here, it’s all unknown and confusing. That could be very exciting, but it was also very tiring. No matter how stressful my life in New York could be, I still loved it. I didn’t regret a single choice that had brought me here.

  I sighed and stood to go home. Hopefully, Derrick was long gone by now. I didn’t want to fake nice tonight and I didn’t want to have to listen to them.

  They weren’t in the living room when I walked in, but as I walked down the hall, it didn’t take me long to figure out where they were and what they were doing. I shook my head as I got ready for bed. I put my headphones in and turned up the volume.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sunday, September 8

  I woke up exhausted. This emotional rollercoaster I was on was draining me big time. Why did men have to be so damn complicated? Why couldn’t life be black and white? At least then it would be Kade and I are together or we aren’t. Period. None of this in between crap.

  I grabbed a quick shower before heading out to the living room. Meg was sitting at the bar reading the paper. “Where’s Derrick?”

  “He left late last night. He had some last minute things he had to do before he left. We said goodbye already.”

  “Yeah, um, I heard.” She choked, she was laughing so hard.

  “Sorry about that but it was amazing! He can go forever.” I held up my hand to make her stop. I didn’t need or want to hear about her sex life. “Hey, let’s do something today.”

  “The last time you said that we ended up with tattoos.”

  She smiled. “Yeah, but you love yours. Don’t lie. I thought since we didn’t have to pay for them that we could splurge for lunch. We haven’t done that in a while.”

  “That does sound like fun.”

  “Where did you want to go? There’s that café down the street I’ve wanted to try.”

  “Sounds great. Let me get a shower and get ready.” We both went to get ready and an hour later, we walked to the café.

  It was such a beautiful day that we sat outside. The waiter took our orders and we sat in silence, people watching. Meg broke the peace first, “What would you say to Brent if he walked up right now?”

  “Huh?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I would probably apologize for how we ended it. Why did you ask that?”

  “Well, because you’re going to get your chance in about thirty seconds.” I turned my head to where she nodded. Brent was walking towards us with a huge smile on his face.

  “Well, ladies, it’s been a long time.” My mind was frozen for a moment. Brent was in New York.

  Meg spoke first, “Hey Brent. What are you doing in New York?” I just stared at him.

  “My aunt needed some help with a few things and I was hoping to see you,” he said turning towards me. Meg kicked me under the table.

  “Sorry. Hi Brenton, it’s great to see you. How have you been?” He gave me my favorite lopsided grin.

  “I just got here and already I’m getting the Brenton treatment?” He winked at me.

  “Sorry, Brent, how have you been?”

  “I’ve been doing great. How about you? Your mom tells me you graduated and found a job.” I frowned; he talked to my mom?

  “Why don’t you sit down?” Meg offered. I stared at her. What was her game? Brent didn’t seem to notice the stare down between us, or he chose to ignore it.

  “Sure, that would be great.” He pulled out a seat and sat down. We spent the next hour catching up on the past.

  “Well ladies, I need to get going. My aunt is going to wonder where I am. It was great to see you, Liz. And of course, you too, Meg. Maybe we can get together again before I leave. I’m here for two weeks.”

  “That would be great, Brent. Let me write down my new number.” He hugged us both before walking away. I turned to face Meg. “Did you know he was in town?”

  “No, why would I?”

  “Because I know you. It’s weird that he’s here and that he’s talked to my mom. I barely talk to her myself.”

  “I promise I didn’t know he was here. It was a coincidence we saw him. You’re the one who suggested this place, remember?”

  “If I find out you knew, you are so in for it.” She nodded. We paid and started the walk back home.

  “Brent looks good though, doesn’t he? I mean he was hot before but he has crossed into sexy territory.” I had to agree with her on that one.

  As soon as we walked into the parking lot of the apartment, I stopped. Meg pulled on my arm until she saw what I was looking at. She looked back at me, “Are you kidding me? Can’t he go one day without seeing you?”

  I held my breath. Tony could just be here. It didn’t mean that Kade was here. As I thought the words, Tony stepped out to open the back door. As we were getting ready to walk past the SUV, Kade stepped out. He looked amazing as usual in faded jeans, a black sweater, and a brown leather jacket.

  “Ladies, perfect timing. How are you two feeling?” He looked sincere but I couldn’t imagine him driving over here to ask that question. What did he want now?

  Meg answered first as I just frowned at him. “We’re good, nothing a little aspirin can’t fix.”

  He smirked at us. “That’s good.”

  I blurted out, “What are you doing here?”

  “Besides checking up on you two, I needed to ask you a question. I’m going to a charity event next Saturday. It’s to raise money for the homeless shelters in town. I was wondering if you’d be my plus
one.” I looked at him dumfounded. “These things tend to be very dull so I was hoping you’d go to make it a little more bearable.” Wow, what a compliment. Bearable? “That didn’t come out quite like it was supposed to. I thought the night would be more pleasant if you came.”

  I started to protest but was interrupted before I could get more than his name out.

  “I promise to be on my best behavior. If it’s the dress you’re worried about, that isn’t a problem. If you say yes, which I hope you do, you and Meg can go dress shopping. Meg, you can pick something out, too.” She lit up like a Christmas tree. Crap! If I didn’t say yes, I would never hear the end of this. That was low, pulling out the roommate card.

  “Since it’s for charity and if I don’t go, my roommate will probably kill me in my sleep, I better say yes.” He smiled politely but his eyes sparkled.

  “Go ahead and get all the things you’ll need for that night. You have a personal shopper set to meet you at Madison Avenue in thirty minutes. They will send me a bill.”

  “Hell yeah!” Meg screamed as she jumped up and down. We climbed into the back of the SUV and Tony pulled into traffic. He pulled up in front of Vera Wang.

  Tony let us out the door as Kade said, “Have fun, ladies, and don’t worry about the price.” I smiled. This man was crazy.

  I whispered in Meg’s ear, “Doesn’t she just do wedding dresses?”

  “No, she does a few formal dresses too.”

  As we stepped onto the sidewalk, a woman in a pantsuit approached us, “Hello ladies. I’m Jenny; I’ll be helping you today. Mr. Parker said you were going to a formal charity event this weekend?”

  “Hey Jenny. I’m Liz and this is my friend, Meg. Yes, I’m accompanying him to the event.”

  “Alright, let’s start with the dress,” she said as she opened the door for us. “Vera Wang has just put out some gorgeous dresses that would look beautiful on you.”

  We tried on dress after dress for over an hour. Meg was enjoying herself beyond words. Me? Not so much. I would rather have been at the dentist. She was like a child in a candy store. She had found several she loved but I hadn’t found anything. Then Jenny brought me one of the most gorgeous dresses I had ever seen. It was stunning. It was a strapless coral gown. It was tight around the middle and had a beautiful pattern made with rhinestones crossing in the middle and running the edge around to my lower back, way lower back. The front went to my knees and flowed to a full-length dress in the back.