Positive/Negativity (38 page)

My cell phone buzzed and I put it on speaker.

“Hey, baby,” I said to my beautiful girl on the other end.

I knew a smile was on her face by the way she answered, “Hi, bear.”

“Did you call just to hear my voice?” I laughed.

“Get over yourself, hot shot,” she said. “I left a list on the refrigerator, but I can’t remember all of the ingredients for the dessert. Could you please get it and text the list to me?”

“Sure, baby. Maybe you should make an extra dessert for home.” It was a vain attempt to get my girl to make some goodies for me.

“Hmmm. I’ll think about it,” she teased. “But only if you’re a
good
boy.”

“Tempting me, beautiful? That sounds like a challenge.”

That made her giggle; it was a sound that made my day.

“Be careful, baby. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“See you soon. Love you,” she said and hung up the phone.

Thoughts of her continued to cross my mind, and I mentally chastised myself for allowing business to interfere with our relationship. I needed to find a way that I’d be able to interact with Marisol in a professional capacity that wouldn’t affect my personal life. I wasn’t blind to Marisol’s manipulations, but she was more an inconvenience to me than a threat. Aria believed her to be more of a threat due, in part, to not knowing her as well as I did. I did, however, have to acknowledge every point that she made about the unpleasant encounters with Marisol. They did occur every time she was in Aria’s presence. I thought it was just Marisol’s catty bullshit that she pulled all of the time. Maybe Aria was right; maybe she was a bit more dangerous and threatening than I had noticed. The fact was that Marisol was in the industry. She had client contacts the same as every other model I knew and she could be an occasional presence at The Studio. I couldn’t change who was significant and brought business to the industry. A better strategy, in my mind, would be to make certain that Aria felt more safe and secure, rather than concentrate on removing Marisol.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts and I realized Carter must be here. Rushing to the door with a huge smile, I swung it open, preparing to give my brother a hard time for knocking at all instead of just walking in.

“Hey, Carter! What the hell?! You forget how to get in my house?” I said as I swung the door wide.

“I see I wasn’t who you were expecting, but I’ll let myself in anytime
you like,” said Marisol with a sardonic grin.

What the hell was she doing here?

“What do
you
want? We concluded our business last night. I thought you went back to New York,” I said, turning my back to her.

“Oh, Declan. I’m hurt that you aren’t happy to see me,” she said, following me into the house. “I have some papers for you to look at with regard to the group that was at The Studio last night. Sign off on them and I’ll be on my way.” She held out a folder for my perusal.

“Why didn’t you give this to me last night? Better yet, why didn’t you just fax it or scan and e-mail it?” I took the folder from her.

“Well, that would be my professional ethics, Declan,” she said as she came closer to me. Resting her hand on my arm and pushing her pelvis closer than she should. Lifting just her eyes to look at me, she concluded her statement. “You know I would go above and beyond to deliver my
best
work.”
TT

I moved away from her. “What kind of game are you playing, Marisol? Don’t play the
bitch in heat
game for me. I’m not interested.” I shook the folder in front of her. “Is this really necessary and is it about work? Or is it a ploy for you to get into my house?”

She moved toward me again. “Yes it’s about work! Look at it and sign it. If you don’t believe me, then call Blake.”

I opened the folder and looked inside. The papers were legitimate and they did require my signature. Moving to grab a pen, she followed me.

“I’m signing these and you’re getting the hell out of my house. The next time you have business to discuss with me, you send it to The Studio, got it? I don’t want you ever coming here again.”

My signature flowed on the last document and I shoved the papers back into the folder. As I turned to give it back to her, she was up against me. My one hand held the folder as my other grabbed at her shoulder to keep her from coming closer, but she still managed to place her other hand on my cheek.

“Declan, Declan…what happened to you that makes you dislike me so? Last night in the meeting, you were smiling at me and being pleasant to me. I thought we were becoming friends again. Isn’t that what you want? For us to be friends again?”

She slid her free hand down my chest and as I still held her shoulder, she placed that hand against my pelvis. I gained instant clarification. My thoughts were immediately solidified—Aria was correct. Marisol was unstable. Having known her for so many years had made me desensitized to her cunning ways. I could play at this game and get her out of my house; and when Aria returned, I’d tell her of this latest Marisol game and confirm her suspicions. Together, we could plan how to deal with her. The immediate dilemma I faced was to play this bitch’s game and get her out of my house in the shortest amount of time. My brother would be here soon and Aria would be returning. I didn’t want Marisol to derail our plans. The primary need was to engineer a believable scenario to Marisol to achieve a prompt result to get her out of here.

I took her chin forcefully in my hand, making her look at me as I spoke, “Is that what you want, Marisol?” I demanded of her. “For us to be friends?”

She never released her hands from their place on my body; instead, she looked me over skeptically, searching my face for signs of foul play. Thinking she could manipulate me, she relaxed her body into mine slightly, mistakenly thinking I’d respond to her on a sexual level.

“Yes, Declan. I want us to be friends.
Very, very good friends
. I could make you want me as more than a friend…
if you let me
.”

Marisol moved the hand at my pelvis to sensually cup and grip me, catching me off guard. I gripped the shoulder I was holding as my intent was to throw her back and away from me, but my attention was diverted to the sound of something hitting the floor.

Aria’s eyes locked on mine as she looked from the scene in front of her to me. I watched the breath leave her body as both of her arms came and wrapped around her waist to bring comfort to herself. Her cataclysmic gaze registered rapid sequences of blue hues as a multitude of emotions registered in rapid succession. It only took seconds, but it seemed our eyes locked forever. Shock, betrayal, anger, and devastating hurt were reflected to me as I couldn’t tear my stare from her and a scene that I knew had gone horribly wrong.

As I stood transfixed and frozen within the devastation Aria was witnessing in those agonizing moments, Marisol took the opportunity to make the scene appear that she had interrupted a consensual scene of playful lust.

“Oh, Aria!” Marisol feigned surprise, diverting both mine and Aria’s attention. “We didn’t expect you so soon…”

Aria’s breath left her as if someone had just punched her taking all she had. Looking from Marisol to me, she turned running out the kitchen door.

I pushed Marisol away from me with explosive physical force.

“You bitch!” were the only words that formed as I attempted to go after Aria.

Marisol grabbed my arm. “It was only a matter of time…” she said, displaying a wicked smile.

I started down the stairs in an attempt to catch Aria, who was now running across the street. I loudly and fiercely shouted her name as if my life depended on it, because she was my life. She wouldn’t stop. I chased her, running down the street and around buildings. I needed to get to her to explain. I had to tell her that she was right and I was wrong. I couldn’t let her get away, she didn’t see the truth and I had to let her know. I couldn’t think about anything else except the pain I caused her, and I felt desperate. I had to make her stop running, ease her hurt and pain and nothing else, for nothing else mattered to me except getting to her.

…and as Marisol decided to witness the aftermath of the little escapade, she noted that she might purchase a new accessory when this was over…

T
Whatcha Gonna Do – Imelda May

TT
Fade Into You – Nashville Soundtrack Featuring Sam Palladio & Clare Bowen

I ran. There was only one image burned in my brain, and it was driving my feet to take one hurried step after another to get as far away as I could from what I just witnessed. The scene was like the cars of a freight train that you watched pass by on a track, and they kept passing before my mind’s eye.
T

Declan leaning back…

Marisol’s hands on him…

Declan’s hand under her chin…

Marisol smiling at him…

Declan’s hand on her shoulder…

Marisol’s hand feeling him…

With each pounding step, I wanted to erase the scene from my brain. Questions filled my mind with the images.
When did this happen? Was it real? How long had it been going on? Is this why Declan was so defensive when I called Marisol unstable? How long was she here? Where was she staying? Oh my God…please, please make the thoughts stop! I can’t think! I can’t concentrate! I can’t slow my brain down! I can’t rationalize! I can’t breathe…

“Aria!”

I thought I heard Declan’s voice, yet I still ran. The tears were flowing as quickly as the adrenaline was flooding my brain.

“Aria! Stop!”

It’s Declan. He must have come after me the moment I left the house. I don’t want to talk to him, yet I do. I don’t want to see him, yet I do. I want him to hold me and tell me that this has all been a terrible mistake, but I don’t know if I’d believe him. I can’t control what I’m thinking. Everything’s a complete jumble of thoughts in my mind. I have not one collective, rational thought. I just want to keep running, but if I do, I don’t know where I’ll go. Just then, it hit me. I know where I’ll go, I’ll run to the bayside and sit by the water to clear my head.
Run to the bayside, run to the bayside…