Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (46 page)

     
Douglas came to
get us at seven. The ride home would take at least two-and-a-half hours without
traffic. I triple-checked to make sure I had all my belongings - shopping bags,
gun, and strawberry glaze included. I said goodbye to our bed, wondering if
anyone else had lost their virginity on there. The thought made me feel a bit
odd. I admit that it would have been nice to have done it in Ethan's bed for
the first time, but there was no denying that yesterday had been absolute
perfection. It made sense to do it here with the ocean's blessing. Besides, now
that I knew just how fucking wonderful sex with Ethan was, I could still look
forward to christening his bed. With that thought in mind, I said goodbye to
the house and the great body of water.

     
Once in the
car, I texted Coops to let him know I was on my way home.

     
Where have
you been? I was starting to worry. - Dale

     
Needed to
speak with the ocean. It was like, 'Stay, baby. Chill with me.' And I was like,
'Yeah, okay.' - Me

     
Sure those
weren't the words of Big? - Dale

     
I refuse to
acknowledge Big as a nickname. Think of something else. - Me

     
How about
Dr. Crane? - Dale

     
There can't
be more than one doctor at a time. And which Crane? - Me

     
Isn't it
obvious? Common now, Niles and Daphne. - Dale

     
I don't
think so. - Me

     
A couple
seconds later my phone started ringing. I really hated talking on the phone in
front of others, but it was Coops so I didn't really have a choice. As soon as
I answered, his voice came through. "What's wrong with Niles?"

     
"He lacks
the major mojo needed." From the corner of my eye I could see Ethan
looking over curiously at me. "And I don't even like that show."

     
"What
then, Bruce Wayne?" Dale scoffed.

     
"Too
obvious."

     
"Don't
tell me you're thinking of something lame like Mr. Darcy."

     
I rolled my
eyes. "God, will you stop hating on Mr. Darcy already..."

     
"Alright,
maybe we should consider something outside of character names."

     
"Does he
even really need one?"

     
"He does.
This might be the only time we ever get to choose a name for your guy, and
given his status we can be a lot more creative. Jillian's are too boring now.
Ah, speaking of…I wanted to let you know that she called for you yesterday. I
went ahead and gave her your cell since you didn't get around to doing it. But
for now, she's just waiting for you to call her back."

     
"She
okay?"

     
"Not
really. She and The Doctor are officially over."

     
"Oh
no…What happened?"

     
"He's
married."

     
I was at a loss
for words. "Holy shit. Are you serious?"

     
Ethan glanced
at me from the side.

     
"Yeah. It
was pretty ugly, too," Dale continued. "Apparently they were getting
cozy back at his place when, out of nowhere, his wife shows up."

     
"But
they've been seeing each other for months now! How do you hide the fact that
you have a wife?"

     
"They live
separately. The wife seemed unconcerned about the fact that her husband was
cheating, as though it were just a natural occurrence. Jillian will give you
the details when you talk to her."

     
"God…I
thought this kind of stuff only happened in soap operas." I almost laughed
when I suddenly remembered all the telenovela-worthy shit that had gone down in
my life.
What a world.
Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"…Did she kick his ass, at least?"

     
"She
trashed the place a bit."

     
"Hope she
got the TV."

     
"He's one
of
those
, Babydoll. He probably doesn't have time for TV."

     
"Wine
fridge. Tanning bed. Omega Rez Thermionic Food Processor. Whatever rich people
use." I peeked over at Ethan, trying to remember what kind of things he
had in his home. Certainly none of the things I had just listed.

     
"You been
watching infomercials again or did that last one come out of your ass? Anyway,
she said there was no rush, but she sounded pretty bad and even said she was
thinking about taking a few days off work. You going to call her tonight?"

     
"Yeah, as
soon as I get home. Thanks for letting me know."

     
"Of
course. I'll see you then. Oh, wait - I just thought of the perfect name.
Sterling."

     
"Sterling…Sterling Archer?"

     
"It's
perfect, right?"

     
"The hell
it is! It's worse than Niles. They have absolutely nothing in common."

     
He laughed.
"Who said Archer? You're the one who made the connection, Babydoll."

     
"Ugh. Bye,
Dale."

     
"Everything alright?" Ethan asked when I hung up.

     
"Um...Just
love troubles with Jilly." As I was putting my phone away, a question came
into my mind. "Hey, you aren't secretly married or anything, are
you?"

     
He chuckled and
pulled me close to him, keeping one arm around me and using his free hand to
hold mine in my lap. I looked over at Douglas in the front seat, feeling weird.
How many girls had he seen Ethan with before?

     
"Ignore
him," he whispered in my ear, his breath like a warm caress against my
skin. I relaxed and leaned my head against him. It was impossible to ignore
Douglas, but I at least felt comfortable around him.

     
About a
half-hour into the journey, I put my headphones on while Ethan did some work on
his laptop. Every so often he would grab my hand, stroke his fingers over it
and squeeze before letting go again. There wasn't a single time that my heart
didn't leap when he did that.

     
I hadn't meant
to fall asleep, but that's what happened. I heard Ethan speaking into my ear,
but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

     
"...Hm?"

     
"We're
here."

     
My eyes slowly
opened and I looked around, confused. It was so dark that I couldn't make out
what was outside of the window, but I assumed we were at my apartment. I pulled
out the other headphone and put my iPod away. Ethan grabbed my bags and opened
the door, telling Douglas he would just be a minute.

     
"Goodnight, Douglas. Sorry for all the trouble," I said as I
slid towards the door.

     
"Not at
all, Miss Myers. I look forward to the next time. Have a goodnight." I
think he winked, but it could have been my imagination. I was still out of it,
after all. I smiled at him and exited the vehicle. When Ethan and I reached the
lobby door, I turned to take my bags from him.

     
"Thank you
for the…um…Well, just thank you." I didn't really know what to say.

     
He cupped my
face with his hand, studying me intently. It was hard to tell, but he almost
looked a little sad. Placing my hand over his, I kissed his wrist. That seemed
to cause a slight crease to form between his brows.

     
"Are you
alright?" I asked.

     
"I hate
having to leave you," he admitted. "And it's killing me to know that
you're left here unprotected while there's someone out there who wants
you…"

     
"I'm
perfectly safe. And there's no reason for anyone to come looking here. Not yet,
at least."

     
He closed his
eyes and shook his head, but let it go for now. "I should be the one
thanking you. I think you've just given me the best weekend of my life."

     
I smiled,
unbelievably relieved that he was able to overlook all the crying fits I'd
thrown. Not only that, but he had accepted me entirely. "...Ditto."

     
He kissed me
slowly. Softly. It was bittersweet and left both of us wanting more. With a
sigh, I said goodnight and went inside.

     
I sat with Dale
for a few minutes as we went over the details of our weekend. Of course I left
out the more explicit details, but I did tell him that I'd told Ethan
everything - to which Dale gave me a hug and a pat on the back. He himself
still didn't know what 'everything' entailed, but he understood how hard it
would have been for me.

     
When we were
done, I quickly changed and got into bed with the phone, prepared for a night
dedicated to listening. Jillian ended up being more angry than she was sad, but
that didn't stop her from tearing up every once in a while. We spent two hours
talking in great detail about the men in our life. I didn't particularly want
to talk about Ethan, but after the first hour, she didn't want to talk about
The Doctor anymore. She'd been confused when Dale had told her that I was
'probably with Big.' Jillian was well aware of my disinterest when it came to
relationships, so naturally she wanted to know more about him. I caught her up
with everything that had happened so far, but kept it as light as possible. Eventually,
we were all talked out and decided to call it a night.

     
I fell asleep
not long after that. In my dreams, I rested comfortably on the sand. My eyes
were closed and I could hear the ocean. His scent was all around me. I was
home.

When
I woke up the next morning, I didn't want to leave my bed. But I got up anyway,
telling myself that I would be close to Ethan since I'd be in his building. I
stuck to neutral colored clothes, using creams and beiges mostly. For the
entirety of the morning, my mind was still on that beach, staring out into the
sea. My body moved on its own, even as it downed my favorite strawberry and
banana smoothie. It was as though I was still dreaming.

     
The walk to the
Luxadigm was peaceful. I glided through the streets as though I had lived there
for years instead of just under three months, most of which was spent locked up
indoors.

     
I stayed with
Samantha for a few minutes to make some small talk. She mentioned that she
would be cooking dinner for Dale tonight and wanted some pointers on what kind
of food he liked. I was glad to hear that things were running along so smoothly
for them. I listed off his preferences, cherry pie included, and ended with a
guarantee that he would eat just about anything that she made, especially given
the fact that it was bound to be better than anything he would have cooked for
himself. Coops was good at many things - cooking was not one of them. Although
he was extremely helpful when it came to getting the meat ready.

     
I said another
small hello to Zach at the elevator just before getting in. As the doors began
to close, a man holding a bunch of files in one arm and a briefcase in the
other came rushing in, only just managing to make it through. He exhaled in
relief and hit the already lit button. When he looked at me and smiled, I
realized that he was one of the familiar faces. Ash brown hair and a bit plain,
but not at all bad looking. What was his name...?
Henry, I think?

     
I smiled back
and decided to ask. "Are you Henry?"

     
"Yes?" His smile widened in surprised delight.

     
I nodded, glad
I hadn't gotten it wrong. "Sorry. I was just curious since you're one of
the few faces I see up there." I motioned my head towards the top floor.

     
"Ah, yeah.
I would've introduced myself, but Desmond told us not to talk to you."

     
"…He
did?" My smile turned a little stiff. I wasn't sure what to make of that.

     
But Henry just
laughed. "Actually, if I remember correctly his words were something like,
'There's going to be a girl working in the back. Refrain from any idle
chit-chat.'"

     
"Oh."

     
"But since
we're here…" He set his briefcase down and held out his hand. "Henry
Collins. Good to meet you." His plainness wasn't as obvious when he
smiled. He didn't have Douglas' adorable cheekiness, but there was some amount
of charm there.

     
Hiding my
nervousness, I shook his hand. "Daphne Myers." I felt extremely
uneasy about giving my name away, as I always did, but I figured there was
little point in denying it. Chances were that he already knew it.

     
"Daphne," he nodded.

     
The elevator
door opened and I walked out first. As we neared the waiting area, he rushed
ahead towards Ethan's office, wishing me a good day with a wide grin.

     
I gave my final
hello to Patricia and then headed to my area to paint.

     
I didn't really
think too much as I worked. I just made sure to keep the memory of Ethan's body
at the front of my mind when coloring in the male angels, carefully contouring
the sections of showing skin. I had painted for nearly four hours straight without
any break when I finally heard my phone buzz. It was a text from Ethan:
Break
room in five.

     
I looked around
at the mess I had created.
Shit.
I wanted to tell him in ten instead,
but I knew he was a busy man. Setting the brush down, I took off my apron and
slipped my feet into my fuzzy slippers, then rushed to the bathroom knowing I
wouldn't have enough time to wash all the paint off my face. Rather than scrub
viciously in attempt to get it all off, which would no doubt result in pink and
red splotches once my face dried, I gently did as much as I could before
deciding to give up. I had a couple seconds left to spare and figured it might
be a good time to take lunch, so I grabbed my bag of food before heading into
the break room.

     
I was just
about to bite into my sandwich when Ethan came in. My breath caught as I took
him in. It'd only been three days since I had last seen him wearing one of his
suits, but I sure as hell missed them. Today he was in all black, except for
his stark white shirt and his tie, which was an extremely dark cobalt blue.

     
The edge of his
mouth curved up as he stared at me, and it wasn't hard to imagine why. I
probably looked like a fool with my dirty face and lack of proper shoes. Not to
mention that my mouth was probably hanging open. It was, I realized as I shut
it closed.

     
"Hey,
you," I said.

     
"
Kitten
."

     
I don't know
how the hell he did it, but I know he did it on purpose. The name wasn't
directed at me, but to the area between my thighs. I flushed, instantly turned
on. Trying my best to ignore it, I took a big bite of my sandwich and chewed
loudly. "How's your day been so far?" I asked with a full mouth.

     
His smirk
turned into an endearing smile as he came to sit with me. "Horrible, thank
you very much. Don't talk with your mouth full," he admonished, playfully
ruffling my hair.

     
I swallowed
before speaking this time. "Why horrible?"

     
He exhaled and
leaned back, crossing his legs and resting both arms on the top frame of the
sofa. "I can't stop thinking about you," he answered, clearly
annoyed. "Do you have
any
idea how hard it was to take you home to
another man last night? I don't care if it's not like that between you
two," he quickly added when he saw me open my mouth to interject. "I
know you'll say it's too soon for
that
, so I won't ask, but good fucking
grief…"

     
Hopefully he
didn't see the way my breath hitched in panic at his words. It
was
too
soon for
that
. And not only was it too soon, but it was also
implausible.

     
"I want to
be able to see you all the time," he continued quietly. "I want to be
able to see you freely."

     
"…Freely?"

     
He sighed and
leaned forward, running a hand through his hair. "Have you considered the
fact that being with me could be a threat to your identity?"

     
"Yes, of
course."

     
He frowned.
"…And?"

     
"There
never seemed to be any reason to worry during our few outings. Only a handful
of people know my real name, most of whom work here. Even fewer people know
about us, so it's unlikely that anyone would be able to link me with you."

     
"We've
been lucky up until now, that's all."

     
"Are you
saying we shouldn't go out together anymore?" I asked. "I'm fine with
that. As long as I can be with you, it doesn't matter what we do."

     
"You don't
know how much that means to me," he smiled warmly before looking over
towards the window. "But there are other things. Work-related things.
Events and such. As much as I hate them, they're unavoidable sometimes. And I
would like to bring you along. I would feel infinitely better with you at my
side."

     
"Oh…"
That wasn't good. Those kinds of things meant publicity. And though I still
wasn't sure about how much of a public figure Ethan was, it would only take one
photograph of us together and one person to point out my name. Then a single
internet search of that name and bam -
she
would have a lead. No,
definitely not good. Add in the fact that
those
kinds of public events
pretty much sounded like the equivalent of a picnic featuring folks from all
nine circles of hell. Yeah, I know…That was just me being a judgmental bitch.
Still, the idea of going to one of those things was downright painful - for
more reasons than one.

     
"Hey, it's
alright. I didn't mean to upset you," he said gently. Too gently. Look at
him, trying to apologize for simply telling me what was on his mind.

     
"I'm
sorry."

     
His frown
returned. "Hey…"

 
    
It was too late. I said the words. The
pity party was on now.

     
I'm sorry I'm
so fucking screwed up that I can't even be a proper girlfriend and attend a
fucking outing with the man who does everything for me.
I'm sorry.
I
already know - no one has to tell me. I'm a failure. A sad excuse for a human
being. Worthless. Pathetic. Selfish. I shouldn't even be here. Why the hell am
I still here? I should have left before this all got started. No, I should have
left years ago. How much pain could I have avoided if I had just let the w-

     
"Daphne,
look at me
now
." Ethan's words were hard as he forcefully took my
chin and jerked my head in his direction. "Talk to me."

     
I breathed,
glad that I hadn't started crying. My voice was very small, though. "You
should…be with someone who can do those things…with you."

     
"I don't
want anyone but you."

     
Why
.

      
I almost
asked it. Almost. But I knew that question would make it seem like I needed
some kind of reassurance that I was alright. That I was acceptable as a human
being to someone - anyone. I didn't need that. I
knew
I was alright. I
had a few issues like everyone else, true, but I was human. There was no right
or wrong way to be human. I knew this. So
why
then…Why did I need him to
tell me? What was I looking for?

     
"Oh
God," I breathed.

     
"What is
it?"

     
I didn't want
him looking at me so I covered my face with my hands. "I thought I was
okay. I
should
be okay by now." I felt a sickening pain in the pit
of my stomach. My chest became heavy as a surge of dejection washed over me. I
held my breath and started counting. I would
not
break down in front of
him.
Not again
. I was afraid to speak, afraid to even move. Afraid that
any little action would cause me to crumble. I'm not sure how much time went
by, but he sat by my side, saying nothing.

     
Eventually it
passed, though I still felt it lingering just beneath the surface, likely
waiting for another chance to attack again. I dropped my hands and inhaled
deeply. "I'm sorry," I repeated. I was already in 'the deep,' so the
words had no effect on me. "I was just having a small sort of
revelation."