Taming the Whirlwind

by L. M. Heidle

  I shook my head. I was way too full to think about dessert. Surprisingly Brent turned it down too. “No thank you, but I’d like the check.”

  “Your bill has been taken care of. Have a lovely evening.”

  He started to walk away, but he stopped when Brent asked, “Who paid?” through clenched teeth. I already knew the answer to that question and I’m pretty sure Brent did too.

  The poor waiter looked so nervous. “Umm, it was paid by Mr. Parker.”

  “How much would the check have been if Mr. Parker hadn’t paid?” I knew exactly what Kade’s plan was. He wanted to flaunt his money, but Brent was way too proud for that to happen.

  “It, it would have been $84.45 sir,” he stuttered. Brent nodded then handed the waiter a tip and pulled out $85.

  He stomped over to Kade’s table and threw it on his plate. “I don’t need or want your money. I wouldn’t have brought her here if I couldn’t afford it.” He leaned closer so he was inches away from Kade’s face. “You don’t know Gel very well if you think money is going to win her over!” Even with the tension, I still smiled a little; I had always loved his abbreviation for ‘Angel.’

  Kade’s face was forced indifference as he stood up. The whole restaurant had turned to look at the scene. I grabbed Brent’s elbow and pulled, but he wouldn’t budge. “I was just trying to be nice,” Kade replied.

  “Bullshit! I know exactly what you were trying to do and trust me, it won’t work. I’ve known Gel for a long time. I know her better than she knows herself sometimes.” I grabbed his elbow with two hands this time to pull as hard as I could. This was going to get ugly.

  “Life in the city is a lot different than where you’re from, so why don’t you just go back? You’d never survive here.” Oh crap. “And where did you get that ridiculous nickname ‘Gel?’ Let me guess, you were trying to spell leg, but couldn’t, so you made it her nickname to cover your stupidity.” Now I tried to push my way in between them, but Kade grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.

  Brent yelled, “Let her the fuck go!” I jerked my hand free and tried to get in between them again. The expressions on both of their faces terrified the hell out of me. Everyone around us made a smart move to step away before punches were thrown. “For your information ‘Gel’ is short for Angel, because she is my angel, the love of my life.” What? I was the love of his life? I would have to think about that later; right now I had to stop this fight. “I know you don’t understand the word love, because I’m guessing a self-centered asshole like you has never been in love.” That was the last straw. Brent pushed me out of the way right before Kade hit him in the face.

  Before I knew what was happening, Brent had punched Kade back. After a couple more punches were thrown, I finally found my voice. I screamed but it didn’t sound like my voice, “BOTH OF YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!” In mid swing, they both stopped and looked at me with wild eyes. Kade had a cut above his eye and Brent had blood coming from his mouth. “This is ridiculous. You’re grown men throwing punches in a restaurant. You two should be ashamed of yourselves!”

  Brent tried talking as he reached for me, “Gel”

  “Shut the hell up, Brenton Michael Hahn!” Brent wisely stopped talking and dropped his hands to his sides.

  “Looks like she has you whipped,” Kade snapped.

  “You shut up too, Kade Parker!” I was shaking with anger.

  His eyes didn’t leave mine, “I won’t shut up. I’m not going to let this jerk happen to anything that is mine.” Excuse me?

  “I’M NOT YOURS! I HAVE NEVER BEEN YOURS AND NEVER WILL BE YOURS! I’m not some hydrant you can piss on and give me attention whenever you want. You made it very clear on several occasions that we were never going to be anything, so stop this!” I grabbed Brent’s arm and dragged him out of the restaurant to the sidewalk. Now it was Brent’s turn. “What in the hell were you thinking? You couldn’t just say ‘thanks but no thanks’ and walk away, could you? You had to mouth off!”

  “What? You’re mad at me?” he started.

  “Shut it! Do you realize how stupid you sound right now? We aren’t in high school anymore, Brenton.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. Please, don’t be mad at me. You know my temper.”

  “Yeah, I know you and your stupid temper. I also remember how many fights I had to break up because of you. I’m not mad at you; I’m pissed. I know why you did it, but that doesn’t change anything. Tomorrow night is going to be that much worse now. Maybe he won’t come, if I’m lucky.”

  “You’re still going with me?”

  “Yes, I told you I would. In sort of a weird way, you defended me in there, so I can’t cancel on you. Now can we please go to the club? I need to get drunk.”

  “You drunk? This should be interesting to see.” I stuck out my tongue at him as we climbed into the cab.

  My mind was reeling. I was so mad at both of them; no, I wasn’t mad at either. I couldn’t make up my mind. No, I knew for sure I was pissed at Kade. I was not his. Brent defended me in the only way he knew how, regardless of how stupid it was.

  We arrived at West Side and I headed straight for the bar. I ordered a beer and two shots of Vodka. I took one right after the other. I barely felt them go down. Then, I started on the beer. Brent pulled it from my mouth, “Slow down or you won’t make it an hour.” I grabbed my beer, tipped it up, and sucked it down in record time. “Wow, I guess New York has changed you. I couldn’t ever get you to drink.” I smiled and dragged him to the dance floor.

  Brent grabbed my hips to pull me close. He started moving suggestively and I was shocked, to say the least. He never danced like this before, but I didn’t care because it was hot. I ran my hands up his arms then over his chest. Then, I started rocking my hips into his. One song blended into another and finally, I had to get a drink. I ordered another beer and turned to watch Brent dancing. It had taken him no time to find someone to dance with. After I’d finished my beer, I started walking back towards Brent when something caught my eye.

  I turned towards the door to realize it wasn’t something that caught my eye, it was someone. Kade was standing at the door, scanning the room until he found me. Our eyes locked and the whole room disappeared. Before I knew it, he was at my side. He grabbed my arm and started to pull me to the door. “We are leaving now.” He stressed the word ‘we’.

  “What? I am not leaving, especially not with you. Did you not hear anything I said at the restaurant?” I jerked my arm lose and stopped. He turned so we were face to face.

  “Don’t argue with me, Elizabeth. This is not up for discussion. You can’t honestly want to stay here. Look at him dancing with every girl he can get his hands on. Do you want to become one of them? They look like sluts hanging on him like that.”

  Once again, my hand was across his face before I registered what I was doing. “You did not seriously just call me that.”

  He grabbed my wrist so I wouldn’t hit him again—smart move considering I was about to do it again. “I didn’t say you were. I said if you hang out with him, you’re going to become one. He has no respect for you, can’t you see that? He’s just going to use you. He came here with you, but he has his hands all over someone else.”

  “We may have come together, but we aren’t here together. We’re friends. He can dance with whoever in the hell he wants just like I can.” My anger from the restaurant and the adrenaline from the night in general caught up with me, because I screamed at him, “Get the hell away from me and stay away!” He dropped my wrist and just stared at me. I flipped around to make my way to the dance floor, and he didn’t stop me this time.

  I caught Brent at the edge of the dance floor. His eyes were glaring behind me. I shook my head no and grabbed him by the hand and stood on the balls of my feet to whisper in his ear, “Forget it, I want to dance.” He looked at me then back at where Kade was. He shook his head and dragged me back to the floor.

  His dancing before was suggestive but now it didn’t leave
much to the imagination. I wasn’t sure if he was just having that much fun or if it was for Kade. We danced a couple more songs together then started dancing with other people. Before I knew it, the bar was closing.

  When we finally hailed down a cab, I collapsed in the back seat. I rolled down the window to feel the cold air on my face. A black SUV across the street caught my eye. Are you freaking kidding me? Couldn’t this be considered stalking? I stuck my hand out the window to flip him off.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Saturday, September 14

  I woke up on the bathroom floor, but I had no idea how I got there. I barely had my eyes open when Meg banged on the door. It sounded like she was playing the drums. “Not so loud.”

  She giggled, “That’s what you get for getting that wasted. You look like hell warmed over.”

  “Thanks,” I grimaced. “What happened last night?” I could only remember bits and pieces of the club.

  “I heard—or read, actually—that you had quite the night. A fight at the restaurant ring any bells? Then, you went to the club, got wasted, and Brent brought you home. You puked for like an hour. How much did you drink? You owe me so big for holding your hair.”

  “I don’t remember, but I didn’t think it was that much. I remember the restaurant. Wait, you just said read about it. What are you talking about?”

  “Ah yeah, the fight is all over the tabloids. You look great though. What exactly happened? The magazines didn’t give a lot of details. They just showed a lot of pictures.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me! Could this get any worse?”

  “Of course it could. You could have looked horrible.” I frowned at her. “So quit holding out on me. What happened?”

  “Short version: Kade was at the same restaurant and paid for our dinner. You know that ticked Brent off, so he went over to throw the money at Kade. They got into each other’s faces and started fighting. Kade pulled me behind him, which of course made Brent even madder. They said some more stuff to each other, Brent pushed me out of the way before Kade punched him, and then Brent punched him back. Then they had a punching match before I was able to break them up. Brent said ‘she is the love of my life’ not was. Oh, and Kade said he ‘didn’t want someone like Brent happening to something that was his.’”

  “Wow. That was some night.”

  “It gets better, trust me. The tabloids apparently didn’t get the fight at the club. Kade showed up to take me home to stop me from becoming one of Brent’s ‘sluts.’”

  “He called you a slut?”

  “Basically. He said that Brent didn’t respect me because he was dancing with other women and that he was going to use me. I slapped him again. After that, everything gets a little hazy. I know I danced with Brent and some other people. Then when we were leaving, Kade was across the street in his SUV, so I flipped him off. That’s a pretty good summary of last night.”

  “Okay, its official. Your life just became better than a soap opera.”

  “You have no idea how happy that makes me,” I replied sarcastically. She stuck her tongue out at me.

  “Are you still going tonight? You know it’s probably going to be worse, right?”

  “I know, but Brent has to go and I promised him I would. I thought about backing out until Kade called me a slut.”

  “I figured that was what you were going to say. I can’t believe he called you his. That man has some issues. Well, anyways, get your butt up. We have mani’s and pedi’s in an hour. Here is some orange juice and aspirins.”

  “Huh? What time is it?”

  “It’s one.”

  I looked at her, panicked. “Why did you let me sleep so long? Brent will be here at six. I’m never going to be ready in time.”

  “Did you forget who you’re talking to? Don’t worry. I’ll have you ready. I already know exactly what I’m doing to your hair. Plus, it’s good to be fashionably late.” I just nodded, took my aspirins, and jumped into the shower.

  The water felt amazing and I stayed in there far too long because I heard Meg pounding on my door that she was leaving in ten minutes.

  Four and half hours later, my nails and toes were done, my hair was perfect, and Meg was putting the finishing touches on my makeup. “There, you’re done. I out did myself this time,” she giggled. She turned me to face the mirror. “You look gorgeous.” I flushed at her compliment. I stared at myself in the mirror, not believing it was me. “Now, let’s get that dress on.”

  She helped me step into the dress. “Liz, you are going to make mouths drop tonight. This color looks amazing on you. Plus, that tattoo adds a little sex appeal.”

  I rolled my eyes at her. She went to get the door as I put my shoes on. I looked in the mirror again, and I had to admit I did look pretty good.

  She came rushing back into the room. “You’re going to be shocked. Brent looks downright sexy in his tux.” I’m sure he did. That reminded me I forgot to tell her about his dancing.

  I looked at her. “Ready or not, here we go.” I walked down the hall and Brent whistled.

  “Holy shit, Gel. You look amazing. I’m going to be the envy of every guy there.”

  “You don’t look too bad yourself except for the cut lip. Does it hurt?” I still felt bad for dragging him into the middle of my problem.

  “Nah, its fine. Don’t worry about it; chicks dig scars, right?”

  “If you say so. Are you ready to get this night started?” He nodded at me with an impish grin. “On a serious note, can you try and be good? This is a charity event, not a fighting ring. Plus, I don’t want to be plastered all over the tabloids again. You stay away from him.”

  “What fun would that be?” He laughed like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Come on. It was fun being on the front of a magazine. I sent some back home.” Of course, he did. Like the humiliation wasn’t bad enough.

  Meg had turned into my mom apparently, because she made us stand together so she could take pictures. It felt like prom all over again.

  “Okay, you’ve had your fun; that’s enough.” Meg air kissed my cheeks as we walked out.

  She smiled at me, “Have fun tonight. Don’t forget how I love my soap operas.” I shut the door to her laughter. I’m glad everyone else found this situation funny.

  The closer the limo got, the more nervous I got. This was a mistake of epic proportions. He was going to hit the roof. What was I thinking? I know what I was thinking: revenge. That didn’t seem like the best idea right now.

  Brent grabbed my hand. “Gel, it’s going to be okay. Ready?” I shook my head no, but I let him help me out of the car.

  As soon as we got out of the car, the cameras started going off. All I saw was bright lights. Then the questions started. “What was the fight about?” “Who won?”

  I tried to ignore them. This night was seriously going to suck. As soon as we entered, I grabbed the first glass of champagne I could find. Brent raised his eyebrow, “Starting early?”

  “I think I might need a few of these to get through this night.” He laughed and pulled me into the dining area.

  “I have to go check on something for my aunt. Will you be okay here?”

  “Yes, go do what you need to. I’ll be fine.”

  I had my back to the entrance but I knew as soon as he walked in. The charge hit me hard. I tried to ignore it, but once he put his hand on my lower back, I couldn’t ignore him.

  “So this was the new plans?” I simply nodded at him. I looked into his eyes and they were a deep warm blue. He just stared back at me. The silence was getting awkward, but he finally spoke again, “I have no words for how beautiful you look tonight. The word ‘gorgeous’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. That dress looks like it was made for you.” I wanted to snap something about this being the dress he bought, but he was being so sweet. Why couldn’t he always be like that?

  “Thank you. You look handsome as ever. Does it hurt?” I reached up to touch the cut above his eye, and he leaned his
head into my touch.

  He sighed then straightened his head, “No, it’s fine.” Suddenly all the softness left his eyes and his whole body tensed up. I knew exactly what his mood change was for. “You’re here with him?”

  “Yes. His aunt helped start the charity but she couldn’t be here tonight. He had to come in her place last minute.”

  His jaw was so tight I was worried about his teeth, “So instead of coming with me like planned, you decided to come with him? In the dress, I’m sure, I paid for nonetheless.”

  I simply replied, “Yes.” He stepped back to walk away when I grabbed his arm. “Kade, please. Can we put all this aside tonight? This is about the charity.” He looked at my arm on his then walked away.

  Well, that went well. I finished my champagne and went to look at the silent auction items when I almost ran into Grazia. What was she doing here? I thought she was out of town. She looked stunning, of course. She wore a low cut red dress that matched her red lipstick. She walked past me like I didn’t exist to put her arm through Kade’s.

  I had never felt so betrayed in my life. Not even twenty-four hours earlier, he got into a fight over me and then followed me to a club, trying to get me to leave with him. He leaned his face into my hand minutes ago, but now he looked at her with glowing eyes. Why did he act like he cared about me when he obviously cared deeply for her?

  Brent walked up beside me. “Are you okay?”

  I turned, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Are you sure you want to do this? I’ve made my appearance; we can sneak out.”

  “That’s sweet, Brent, but you need to do this for your aunt. I’m fine.”

  “I know I do, but you don’t look fine. I hate to see you like this.”

  “You know I knew when I met him that this would happen; I would end up with a broken heart. I don’t even know why I feel this way. It’s not like we were ever together.”

  “I can’t help you with that, but I can tell you it’s his loss.”

  “Thanks, Brent.”

  “You know I’m always going to be here for you, right? I will always love you.” The look in his eyes changed when he said the last part.