regained his composure and grinned at her “OK, Kristen. I will do that.” He handed her his business card. “Here you go, I hope you will call. I won’t play games anymore either.”
She took it and held it, rubbing on the edges. She hesitated “Karl, I don’t know if I can call you.” Karl said seriously “We’re both on the same island now. We will run into each other again, I am sure.” He smiled and walked back to his table, doing a few Cha Cha steps for his girls as he came up to them.
Kristen walked over to join Melanie who had just found out that her male friend was married. She was ready to go somewhere else. Kristen wanted to sit in the Breakers a while longer to see who else would come in. She kept looking towards Karl. She wanted to go with him, but felt a stronger obligation toward Anthony. She knew she loved her fiancé and she didn’t understand why Karl still held a place in her thoughts. She was afraid she was never going to resolve it. Palm Beach was too small to share.
Karl and his entourage stayed for another half-hour and then they departed. Kristen watched as he put his arms around their shoulders and laughed loudly as they walked to the lobby. She wished Karl could have acted as light and superficial around her when she first met him. There might have been a different ending. Now it was too late.
She thought “Why does he have to be so deep?” She knew that even if he tried to act normally towards her now, that he would be the one doing all the acting. He would always have his dark side. If this had been another century, she would have sworn he was Satan.
When Kristen returned home, she was surprised when Anthony called her right after she walked in the front door. She laughed as she picked up the phone. “What are you? A Psychic? I just got home.” He wasn’t as cheerful. It was late for him and his voice sounded tired. “Where were you earlier? I tried to call you.” Kristen said “You should have tried my cell instead; I was out with Melanie.”
He said “Did you have a good time?” Kristen said “It was OK, but I would have rather been with you.” He chuckled “That’s my good girl, I’ll see you tomorrow. I am flying in at noon.” Kristen said “Great! I’ll see you.” He said sweetly “Good night Kristen, I love you.”
Then his attitude changed. He firmly said “Stay home! Will you?” Kristen thought it was strange that he said that. He sounded like he really meant it. It was still tough for her getting used to living with someone. It kind of felt like prison. She was too used to being free to do whatever she wanted. Lately, Anthony seemed to be more possessive and she was not comfortable with how he was acting. He also seemed to be critiquing and judging her. It was as if he was setting new standards for her to adhere to. She wondered if she was just imagining this.
The next day Kristen prepared a lovely lunch for Anthony’s return. She pulled out his best china and even went to a florist to buy an elaborate arrangement. She sat at the massive dining room table drumming her fingers impatiently. It was already 2:30 PM. He should have been already home from the airport since it was not very far away.
Another half-hour went by and not even a phone call! She took his plate of food outside to the garage and shoved it in the garbage can. She returned to the table and stripped it bare so he would never know that at least, she was thoughtful enough to make things so nice for him.
Anthony had been flying to New York too many times lately and it always bothered her that he refused to say why he was needed so much by his brothers. He said there was a family business, but he never told her exactly what they did. He just didn’t want to talk about it, so she knew not to further ask. Lately, it seemed that he was more concerned with it than he was with his multi-million dollar conglomerate.
She was bored and mad and decided to go over to the boutiques on Worth Avenue and do some major damage to one of his many credit cards. She took her anger out on her Ferrari and pushed the pedal to top speeds along the ocean stretch before slowing down to 25 M.P.H. when she was back in the residential section.
And just in time! There was a Palm Beach cop sitting in a driveway hidden behind a large ficus hedge. He waved at her and smiled. He knew exactly how fast she had been going. The police never interfered with the island’s occupants or they knew they wouldn’t be working there much longer. Kristen had never read about any resident ever getting a DUI or anything. It was always the outsiders that had crossed the bridge from West Palm that made the local paper.
When she reached the Worth Avenue shops, she gave up her car to one of the valet boys and went inside her favorite shop. She already owned most of the items in there. She considered driving to Bal Harbour, near Miami to have a really good shopping experience, but she knew that Anthony would eventually get home and wouldn’t be happy if he learned she went so far away. He probably had plans for their evening.
Kristen asked the Manager if there were any new cocktail dresses. Her wish was granted as his assistant went to the backroom and re-emerged with six hangars of really cute outfits in her size. She tried on each dress and decided on a very hot looking black and silver one with shiny adornments on it. It was cut very low and would need to be kept hidden in the back of her closet. It looked like something she would have worn back in her wilder days, a time that she had almost erased from her memory.
She then walked over to one of the top hair salons on the block. For her, there was never a need for an appointment. She had a relaxing Mani-Pedi and lightened her tresses. While her feet were soaking, she called around to find someone to meet her for dinner. One of her married girlfriends was also mad at her husband and would be the perfect companion to drown their sorrows together. They agreed to meet at Ta-boo’s bar first for drinks.
Kristen returned home and placed her bags on the foyer table. Anthony was still not there, so she happily dressed in her new risqué outfit and headed out. It made her both excited and a little nervous knowing how she looked. She was asking for trouble, and unless Anthony called, she was going to have a late night! They hadn’t been together long enough for him to start taking her for advantage. He needed to be taught a lesson.
She was reverting to thinking the way she would have in her past and decided not to leave a note to tell him where she was. She turned off her cell phone too. On the ride over she thought even more about how bored she was being the perfect girlfriend and keeping up her Anthony-imposed Palm Beach Princess facade. It was so contrived and phony!
When she arrived at Ta-boo her friend had already found them a pair of the most highly coveted bar stools in town. This was a feat during Season since the place was always packed! The crowd was very jovial tonight and Kristen started feeling better as she downed icy Strawberry Margaritas. She just wanted to numb herself.
She hadn’t been in there very long before Gregory appeared. She had not seen him since Anthony’s Miami nightclub. Tonight, he had slicked back his hair and was looking fantastic as usual. She felt the heat follow him as he walked in the door. She was strongly attracted to him again and she wondered if she would ever be happy with just one man. She forever wanted to taste all the new candy that came her way and she knew Gregory was the most delicious! Of all her past mistakes, this was the one that could generate the worst repercussions for her future plans and happiness if she repeated it. She was so close to everything being perfect.
Gregory now knew she was engaged to Anthony and this made Fiore's fiancée even more desirable to him. Kristen was the one girl he could see himself settled down for and seriously married to. He had immediately felt her presence too and looked around to see if Fiore was in sight. Then he quickly slid into the small space next to her. In just that short time since he last saw her he had missed her.
Like a moth to a flame, Kristen looked into his eyes and couldn’t prevent a blush from sneaking out on her cheeks. Her girlfriend smiled at him and excused herself, gesturing him towards her chair. Gregory sat right down and ordered the girls another drink and one for himself.
Kristen knew that she was still capable of f
alling hard for Gregory, but his only problem was that he couldn’t commit to anyone. She still worried about that other woman. Just who was she to him?
She felt her nerve endings fire up as his hip pushed into her side. He was deliberately doing it and he looked down for her reaction. She let her body discreetly rest back on him and it almost felt like she was having sex with him again.
Again, Kristen could not understand why she could not control herself around him. They both knew that the pull between them was too strong and that there had to be some way for them to come together, if not just for one more night. Being this close to him, Kristen was now in very serious doubt that she was marriage material. Again, she had the uncanny feeling that she was not calling the shots.
Gregory did all the talking because Kristen found it impossible to even speak. She was mush. Gregory reached his hand towards her face to touch it and admired her necklace. “You look absolutely beautiful tonight” he said. Kristen could only smile. Her eyes held the answer for him, they were filled with desire. He slowly stroked the small pendant on the chain with his thumb as he continued. “Where is your betrothed tonight? Why isn’t he with you? I would
The Devil's Intended-Love & Evil In Palm Beach Page 38