Tainted Desire (Desire Series, #1) (4 page)

     Damn, I’m rather upset about having to wait to see him
; I’ve waited twelve long years! I don’t want to wait a second longer. I’m anxious to know what he will think of me after all this time. Will he still be attracted to me or will he find me boring and pathetic, knowing the situation I got myself into with Dylan. I don’t want anyone to take pity on me.

     I hope he finds me attractive. I don’t consider myself too hard on the eyes. I’m five foot six inches tall and slim at a hundred and fifteen pounds. My hair is a long natural shade of blonde, which I hope gets a little blonder once I start hitting the beach. I have blue eyes and a great complexion when I’m not bruised. I’m blessed with the traits from my mother’s side of the family and even though we are slender, we were given decent sized breast
s that seem to attract a man’s attention before anything else. It used to bother me in school, but now that I’m older, it has some advantages, especially when I was waitressing. Even Miss Betty sitting next to me said I was beautiful; then again, she could have just been being polite.

     “Buckle up honey, they just made the announcement that we’re going to start descending into Orlando,” Betty says.

     “I didn’t hear any announcement, I must have been in my own world of thoughts,” I say.

     Geez, I really need to stop being in the twilight zone. I look out the window and it’s beautiful; the sun is shining, I can see palm trees, a few small lakes, and a bunch of high-rise buildings. My tension seems to ease a bit. Orlando kind of looks like Milwaukee, except for the palm trees of course.

     The plane lands with no problem and I’m so excited. I made it! I really made it! In a few minutes, I’ll be in the terminal and reunited with Courtney. I just can’t wait to give my best friend a hug, it has been so long. The flight attendants are working on opening the door as everyone in the plane is attempting to get their overhead items. As soon as the doors are open, I can feel the heat and humidity filling the cabin of the plane. “Feels like it’s going to be a scorcher out there today,” I tell Betty.

     “Well honey, if you’re going to live here you will get used to it quick. When my daughter and her kids come to visit me in Wisconsin they do nothing but freeze the entire visit.”

     “I just want to get off this plane and see my friend. It has been a long time, and we’re both eager to be together again,” I insist with enthusiasm.

     “You’ll have to wait a few minutes longer. After we get off the plane, we have to ride the tram to the terminal. No worries though, that only takes a minute or two,” Betty explains.

     We begin un-boarding the plane, row by row. I’ll have to remember to thank Cameron for getting me a seat so close to the front. If I were in the back, I would probably want to trample everyone just to get off the plane. We pile into the tram and when the doors shut, this thing takes off like a rocket and we speed off to the terminal.
Holy shit, Betty could have warned me of how fast these things go. 

     When the tram stops and the doors open, I feel peaceful, as though the doors to my new life have just opened. This time around, I will be cautious and make better choices. I will no longer be naïve; people will have to earn my trust and love.

I enter the main lobby of the airport, searching all the faces until my eyes fall upon the lovely familiar face of my friend Courtney. The minute we see each other we sprint into one another’s arms and immediately start crying our eyes out. We really make a spectacle of ourselves. When I finally feel stable enough to let go of her, I take one-step back and look her over. Courtney’s a raving beauty with long dark shiny brown hair, and the same deep chocolate eyes like Cameron’s. We have sent pictures, Skyped online a few times but they certainly didn’t do her any justice. I feel a little self-conscious at the moment; I must look awful with my hair in a ponytail and bruising on my face from my last encounter with Dylan.

    “I’
m so glad you are here. Every day I was worried that evil bastard would find out what we were up to and somehow prevent you from leaving,” Courtney says, wiping her eyes dry.

     “It wasn’t easy to act as though nothing was going on, but I knew I had to put up with him unti
l everything was in place. It’s going to take a while to get my life back in order; you don’t know how much I appreciate what you and Cameron have done for me.”

     “Kylie, I know you wouldn’t hesitate for a second to do exactly what I did. We are best friends; of course,
we’re going to have each other’s backs. If that bastard finds out where you are or tries to get to you, he’ll have to deal with me and Cameron.” Courtney says with the most serious look. I know she isn’t joking either, she has already said she would love the opportunity to get revenge. She explained to me over the phone that she keeps a loaded pistol under her bed, so let the bastard come, he will get what he deserves. I hate Dylan, but don’t want to see anyone dead. I just want to move on and forget my horrible past.

     Looking arou
nd I notice the enormity of the airport, it even has a hotel inside. I see Starbucks across the way and a few Disney related stores for tourists. Just then my stomach lets out a growl and Courtney giggles. “Sorry, no time to eat this morning. It was all I could do to make it to the airport and on the plane in time. I did have a little bag with about ten pretzels in it,” I tease.

     “Well
, follow me; this place has a great food court. We have a long drive back to my condo, so let’s go grab a bite of something to eat first.”

     “Sounds fantastic, lead the way,” I say
, grabbing her arm. As we walk arm and arm through this long corridor, I notice all the shops along the way. I would be content just to stay in the hotel and hang out in the airport shopping. When we got to what I thought was the end of the corridor, it opened up and there was a large food court with all the foods I love, Chick-fil-a, Sbarro, Subway, McDonald’s, Panda Express, Carvel ice cream and, oh my god, a Krispy Kreme, where the donuts come out hot. “I’m in heaven Courtney, what should we eat?”

     “It’s your big day for a new beginning
, so I think it’s only fair that you choose our highly nutritional lunch,” she jokes.

    “Right now I could
n’t give a shit about nutrition. I say we start with some Chinese and then top the meal off with Krispy Kreme’s for dessert.” We go to the window, I order Garlic Chicken with white rice and an egg roll, and Courtney gets Stir Fry vegetables with pork-fried rice. Looking at Courtney’s healthier selection, I vow to start eating healthier. I want to turn heads on the beach, but not for being a beached whale in a bikini.

     We pick a seat in the middle of the food court
, right next to a huge round fish aquarium that goes from the floor almost to the ceiling. It has beautiful tropical looking fish in various colors; kids are swarming around, making a mess touching the glass with their greasy french fry fingers.  Nevertheless, they’re loving every minute of watching those huge fish.

     “Courtney?”

     “Huh,” she replies while chewing.

     “How the hell do they feed those fish? The aquarium goes
almost up to the ceiling,” I ask.

     “No clue,
but they are getting fed somehow.  Look at the size of those fish,” she says snatching a bite of my egg roll.

     “
Hey, that was mine!” I joke.

     “Sorry, I’
ve been on a diet and the smell of that deep fried egg roll was driving me nuts. Diets really suck! I start craving all kinds of shit I never really ate that often. However, now I want that crap because I’m not supposed to eat it,” she states looking sad.

     “Go ahead, finish it. You’re in trouble anyways because I plan to buy a whole damn dozen of Krispy Kreme donuts to take to your place.
I’ll start my diet on Monday, so have some fun and be bad with me for a few days. Cellulite will not appear overnight. You’ve always been so conscious about your body when you have no reason to be. You’re in great shape, must have been all those years you played soccer. Now take me for instance, I definitely need some running on the beach to get in shape.”

     “Oh, there will be plenty of beach time. My condominium is just steps from the beach. We will lay in the sun by day and watch the sexy men playing beach volleyball or surf. Then hit the nightclubs at night or spend our night’s barbequing with Cameron and his sexy friends. Maybe talk them into a midnight skinny dip,” she says finishing her
food. Courtney looks at her plate, and then she looks up at me. “Did you eat some of my food?” she accuses me.

     Laughing
, “Ah no Courtney, you did that all by yourself plus you ate half my egg roll.”

     “Well, what the hell!  L
et’s go get the Krispy Kreme’s and get on the road,” she adds while standing. “I forgot to ask, don’t we need to go downstairs and get your luggage off the carousel?”

     “No, all I have is my duffel bag. I figured the less that was missing from the apartment the more confusing it would be to figure out what happened to me. When we get in the car, I have to call my mom and dad quick to warn them
about what is going on. I don’t want them to think I was kidnapped or something.”

     A
s we enter the parking lot, it’s like walking into a wall of humidity. This will take some getting used to, but the heat feels wonderful. Back home, it’s still cool and we are lucky if it even gets this warm in August. Considering it’s only July, I have all summer to work on my tan and enjoy the sunshine. I’m starting to get more enthusiastic about this new chapter in my life.

     We get in Courtney’s sleek, little black sports car and we’
re on our way to Daytona. The parking ramp itself is like my first Disney ride. It goes round and round forever in this tight circle. We pay the parking attendant and within a few minutes, we’re on the expressway. I take out my new cell phone and try to place a call to my parents but it goes to voicemail. I find that odd, my mom should be home unless she’s out tending to her garden. I try once more in case they aren’t picking up because of my new phone number. Sometimes mom won’t pick up unless she knows who’s calling. It’s not like the old days when no one had caller ID and just answered the phone. 

    
It goes to voicemail once again, so I decide to leave a message. “Mom? Dad? This is Kylie; I wanted to let you know I left Dylan this morning and moved to Florida. I’ll be staying with Courtney. I had to get away from Dylan and this is the only way I felt safe doing it. If I stayed there, he would just stalk me and make my life miserable. There has been a lot going on that I haven’t told you two about. Just know that I’m now safe and delete this message after you listen to it.  Oh, and please, don’t tell Dylan anything, I’ll explain everything when you call me back.  Okay, talk to ya later.” I hang up somewhat disappointed. I really wanted to hear my mom’s voice. 

     I rest my head back
, enjoying the music Courtney has picked out as I watch the scenery. It really is beautiful here, the palm trees, the radiant sun, tall skyscrapers, tons of hotels and shops. I can’t wait to go shopping; I’ve been saving money, little by little, out of what Dylan was giving me for grocery shopping. I just started buying cheaper meat and store brand products instead of name brand to have some money left over. “Hey Courtney, is Daytona this pretty?” I wonder.

     “Well, I think it’
s prettier. However, I might be somewhat partial because I live there. I like being right on the beach with the ocean breezes and being able to go for a swim or lay in the sun whenever I want. We have endless hotels, restaurants, beach shops, a boardwalk and even a Joe’s Crab Shack out on our pier. Maybe we should go there tonight to eat, what do you think?” she gives me a questioning look.

  
  “I’ve never been much for seafood other than the fish my dad caught on the lake, but I’m certainly willing to give it a try,” I reluctantly agree.

     “You will love it.
It’s at the end of the pier, with waves crashing all around. You can take your drinks outside and enjoy the view while waiting to be seated. We can walk along the boardwalk so you can check out the shops on the way there. Maybe we will walk on the beach on our way back,” she suggests.

     “Yeah, I’
ll definitely need to buy some new clothes. I don’t think my little duffel bag worth is going to cut it. I also need to find a job, buy a car, and eventually find my own place. It seems a little overwhelming at the moment.”

     “Kylie, everything is going to be alright
, there are tons of places where you can find a job.  You have experience waitressing, you could clean hotel rooms, work at a nightclub. Maybe you will even want to go back to school part time while you work, to get a degree in something. We have a campus right in Daytona. The possibilities are endless without that asshole trying to hold you back.”

     “Yeah, I would like to go back to school.
I’ve always wanted to be a nurse. I would like to help people and feel like I’m making a difference in someone’s life. I will probably have to work awhile before I could afford that.”