by NM Facile
She rolled her eyes and giggled, “I’m sure you were.”
The people around them stood and moved towards the doors. He didn’t know the protocol, but not wanting to look clueless, he stood up, as well. He held his hand out to Mary and they made their way out to the lobby.
Many of the theatergoers were carrying glasses of wine. He wasn’t much of a wine drinker, but figured it would help him relax a bit. He asked Mary if she would like one, and then made his way to the bar and waited in line. Ty had no idea which wine to choose for her, so he pointed to a bottle of red and hoped she would like it.
He carefully weaved through the crowd and back towards Mary. She was facing him, but her attention was focused on a large silver-haired man who was speaking to her. As Ty approached, he thought the voice sounded familiar, but couldn’t quite place it. Mary’s eyes lit up when she saw him. She smiled and said something to the man, who turned towards Ty.
“Mr. Raylyanu, you remember Ty Jaden?”
“Ty? Ty Jaden?” Vasile Raylyanu’s questioning gaze made something inside of Ty clench.
Mary stepped forward and took a glass from Ty before linking her arm with his. She wore a pleasantly surprised smile.
Vasile Raylyanu turned towards Ty, his shrewd eyes assessing him. Ty couldn’t help but feel that he didn’t measure up.
“Ty, it’s been a long time.” He reached out his hand, and Ty shook it.
“It has been, sir.”
“How have you been?”
“Good, sir.”
His eyes never left Ty and the smile stayed on his face. “I heard about some of that legal trouble you were in. I trust that you no longer have that problem.” His voice was stern, making Ty feel like a child being reprimanded by a teacher. Ty forced himself to maintain eye contact. He felt Mary stiffen beside him, her arm again linked with his.
“How is it that you two know each other?” Her question was innocent but her voice had a guarded edge to it. She was sure she knew the answer, she just needed it confirmed.
“I had the pleasure of mentoring Ty while he was in school. He was such a brilliant boy, a true prodigy.” Vasile looked at him with a mix of pride and something Ty couldn’t quite name. “That was before he got himself into trouble.”
Ty cringed inwardly, but held his own. “Yes, Vasile was a mentor, and then I worked for him briefly.”
“Ah, yes. That was all too brief. Ty, my boy, I could have taught you so much more.” He almost sounded wistful. “You left entirely too soon.” The old guilt settled in, making Ty wish to hell he had a do-over, a free pass to change all the fuck-ups in his life.
He gripped Mary’s hand and nodded at Vasile; no words could express the shame and regret he felt at that moment. Mary, always perceptive, picked up on his need to get away from the conversation.
“Mr. Raylyanu…”
“Vasile, please, for such a beautiful young lady as you.”
“Vasile, it was nice meeting you, but we should be heading back to our seats before the second act,” Mary said with a forced smile.
“I hope to see you at Karen’s next fundraiser. She hosts the most creative events.” His smiling face politely moved from Mary to Ty. “Ty, it’s good to see you have your life back on track.” His eyes shifted to Mary briefly, and a concerned look crossed his worn brow, disappearing when he met Ty’s eyes. “You wouldn’t want to taint a lady as beautiful as this with the dealings you were involved in.”
Humiliation and anger simmered in Ty long after Vasile excused himself. Ty downed the wine quickly before leaving the lobby and they returned to their seats. He struggled to keep his voice even as he asked Mary how she happened to meet Vasile. She said he had approached her, saying that he recognized her from Safe Works and telling her that he served on the board. She shrugged it off as nothing.
He didn’t know which bothered him more, Vasile’s knowledge of his past crimes or the way he casually mentioned them in front of Ty’s date. What was his goal in bringing that up? Was it to embarrass him? Remind him what he gave up? Maybe he was simply telling him not to fuck it up this time.
Mary’s slight squeeze on Ty’s knee reminded him why he was there. He tried to pay attention to the action on the stage, but soon found he was hopelessly lost. He gave up on it completely and just watched Mary. Her eyes followed the dancers, and sparkled in the throwback of the spotlight near them. She watched the second half with the reverence of a child at her first movie. Ty would like to say that he watched her the same way, but there was nothing innocent in the way he looked at her. The red dress begged to be unfastened, one knotted button at a time.
When the house lights finally went up, he was more than ready to take her home with him. Visions of her astride him with her head thrown back, skin glistening in the moonlight, had haunted him throughout the last act of the performance. He held her close as he guided her through the crowd and out into the night. Mary chattered excitedly about the ballet. He would bring her back again, if it made her that happy.
She hesitated as he held open the car door for her. “I can’t take you back to my place.” Her expression was wary.
“Come to mine.”
It was a huge step and they both knew it. She nodded, and he brushed a kiss over her lips. She forwent the seat belt in favor of sitting close to Ty on the bench seat. He desperately wanted a cigarette but instead kept one arm around Mary and the other on the wheel. Her hand was slowly trailing up his inner thigh, teasing him deliciously. At every red light he would lean into her, taking little nips at her lips or brushing them with his own, never really giving her the deep kiss she desired. She whimpered in frustration each time he looked back at the road. The buzz of his phone broke the silence.
Mary looked at him questioningly, but he just shrugged. He would check the text later. Within ten minutes another came in. Apprehension crept over Ty as he began to suspect who was sending them. He silently cursed the gods for having a shipment come in tonight of all nights.
He decided to ignore the texts. He would claim that his phone had died or that he had been delivering pizzas. He was not going to give up what lay ahead with Mary. Within minutes it buzzed again.
“Shouldn’t you check that?”
“No.”
Mary tried not to let her suspicions overtake her, but it was hard not to when she could feel how tense Ty had become. His hand stopped stroking her shoulder and his grip on the wheel tightened.
“Why aren’t you going to check it?”
“Because it’s not important.” He pulled her closer and smiled down at her. “When you’re here, nothing else matters.” She settled back against him and he kissed the top of her head.
Another buzz. Mary slid away from him. “I really think you’d better check that.” Mary’s eyes were accusing and the lines had appeared between her brows.
Ty sighed and pulled his phone out. He fumbled with the keys as his eyes flitted between the phone and the road. From the light of the display she could see the dread in his eyes as he read. He glanced up at her and a cold foreboding sank in.
“I have to take you home now,” he turned back to the road, and she hoped she had misheard him.
“Why?” She felt the bile rising in the back of her throat, choking her.
“I have to be somewhere.”
“Ty, what’s going on?”
He couldn’t tell her about the order he had received in the last text, and he feared what would happen if he didn’t follow it. He had known it was coming, but had hoped to keep it quiet a bit longer. Ty had been notified of a meeting and ordered to take Mary home. If he didn’t, someone would be coming to collect them both. He wanted to call the bluff – Mary wouldn’t really be brought into it, would she? He couldn’t risk it.
“Are you dealing?”
“NO!”
“Then what is it?”
Ty knew she wasn’t going to let it drop. He was defensive, almost pleading with her, “It’s my PO, my parole officer. He says I need to come in.”
>
“Why would they need you right now? It’s almost eleven pm.” Mary wasn’t sure she should buy this shit.
“Some things are just better for you not to know.”
“Why not?” Her voice went cold.
“Because you don’t need to!” He shouldn’t have yelled, but the fear that her life could be in jeopardy had his temper flaring.
Her jaw clenched and she turned away from him. He silently seethed as he turned towards her apartment. The silence between them intensified. Ty tried to break it.
“Mary?”
“Don’t. Just take me home and go.” Her voice was flat and she refused to look at him.
“Mary, please? I’ll end this as soon as I can,” he pleaded, hating himself and his promises.
“Home.”
The silence was constricting. Ty felt as if all the air in the car was gone. He was going to lose her when all he wanted was to keep her. He slowed as he drove closer to her place. She still wouldn’t speak to him. It wasn’t until he stopped in front of her building and killed the engine that she finally turned to him with tears in her eyes, crushing his heart.
“Just do what you need to. We’ll talk later.” She reached for her door.
“Mary…” She shook her head, cutting him off, and left. She felt his eyes watching her as she hurried inside. She didn’t look back.
She fumbled with her purse, trying to get her keys out as her vision blurred. She took a few breaths and tried to hold it together, in case Faith was awake. Mary dabbed at her eyes and went into her apartment. Faith had left the light on above the kitchen sink, but the rest of the place was dark. Mary went to turn the light off.
She hit the switch, leaned on the counter, and sobbed.
Chapter 15 - Rooftop Fireworks
“I’m coming in, so there had better not be any naked people in there! In 5…4…” the knob turned, “3…2…1!”
The door burst open.
“What the hell, Faith?” Mary replied, without lifting her head from the pillow.
“Just announcing myself in case you had company,” Faith looked around curiously.
“He’s not here, so you can stop.” She still didn’t turn from her pillow.
“I can tell that by the fact that there is only one lump in your bed,” Faith shoved Mary’s legs over and sat down beside her. “I actually thought I would find your room empty this morning.”
When no reply came, Faith took another look around the room. Mary’s red dress and all its accoutrements were strewn on the floor in a trail leading to the closet. Last night’s makeup was still on her face, smudged by the repeated wiping of tears.
“What happened?”
Mary finally faced her friend. The tears were gone; the controlled burn of frustration had dried them up hours ago.
“I take it the ballet didn’t go well,” Faith sighed.
“The ballet was fine. It wasn’t until afterwards, when Ty got a text from someone, then took me home. Everything had been going great up to that point.” Mary’s voice was hoarse so she coughed to clear it.
“That asshole,” Faith handed her a bottle of water from the table beside the bed. “I’m sorry, honey.”
Mary held the bottle but didn’t drink. She looked over Faith’s shoulder and shook her head, biting her lip to keep the sob at bay. Faith patted her leg and waited for Mary to get herself together.
Mary blinked back the tears, and finally took a drink. “Nothing to be sorry about. I knew I was taking a risk. I knew there was every possibility that Ty wasn’t being straight with me.”
“Is he still dealing?” Mary and Faith had had a number of talks about this; Faith was forever skeptical.
Mary shrugged and looked back towards her window. It was hard enough to tell Faith her suspicions, let alone look her in the eye as she did it.
“Mysterious texts and a sudden urge to take me home,” Mary faced her again. “What else could it be?”
“If it were anyone else, I could list off a whole number of things. With Ty, I can only think of one.” Mary had to give Faith credit; she was toning back the ‘I told you so’ voice.
Mary got out of bed to walk off her frustration. “I know. I just don’t know what I should do about it. It’s not just a matter of ‘it’s been fun, time to move on.’ There’s more there. I feel it.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know what you should do? It’s not like you’re going to go out with him again.” Mary held Faith’s steely gaze. “You are not thinking about going out with him again, are you? Please tell me this has opened your eyes.”
“But what if there’s something else?” Faith scoffed at the hope in Mary’s voice, “Something more to it all. He did say the text was from his PO, and that he had to go meet with him. It could have been, right?”
“I can’t believe you’re even entertaining that idea. Even if it was true, the fact that he’s getting called in at night means something is wrong. Mary, he is a convicted felon, after all.”
“And there it is.” Mary dropped back down on the bed by Faith. She had been waiting for Faith to bring that up.
“I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, so don’t act like I’m the bad guy in all of this.”
“I know you’re not. I just think that maybe there is more to it, that Ty isn’t the bad guy either.”
“Doesn’t last night prove that he is?”
Mary’s shoulders slumped and her face fell. “I guess. I asked him if he was dealing and he said no, but there were things I was better off not knowing.” It sounded even worse out loud than it had in her head.
“That, right there, should be a red flag.”
“It is, but still…”
“There’s no ‘but still,’” Faith cut her off. “You’ve been warned about him by several people already, and now this. What other proof do you need that he’s bad news?”
Mary wished she could feel like Faith. As much as she pretended to be open-minded, it was all black and white in Faith’s world, bad or good, with no middle ground. Mary might even have agreed with Faith’s view of the situation if she weren’t involved in it herself. But she had seen the resolve in Ty’s eyes when he said he’d changed. She’d heard the remorse when he’d spoken of the past.
Then there was the way she felt about him. Yes, he was dangerous and still mysterious – and God, could he kiss – but he was also kind, caring, and funny. Some nights she would lie in bed, picturing how it would be to have Ty there every night, to talk to him about her day, or listen about his.
“Well, what are you going to do?” Faith was waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know, Faith, I just don’t know.”
Mary’s phone sounded, and a text alerted her to the fact that Ty was outside her door, waiting to see if she would talk. She glanced up at Faith with guilt written all over her face.
“You are not going to talk to him now!” Faith was incredulous. “So help me, Mary. If you go back to him we will need to reevaluate our friendship.”
Mary jumped off the bed and ran her hands through her hair with a brief glance in the mirror. Faith was fuming and making threats, but Mary didn’t care. All that mattered at that moment was that he had come back, that he wasn’t in trouble. She wanted to believe that it had all been a silly misunderstanding. Ty would explain and apologize, and they would laugh about it and make up, and it would all be good again.
Mary flung the door open to a desperate-looking Ty, holding a cup of coffee and a rose. She went cold instantly at the sight of him. She could tell from the closed-off look in his eyes that he wasn’t going to tell her anything. She composed her face, using every trick she knew to steel herself against the sheer agony on his. His dark eyes were not just cracked coal, but dust. There was no trace of the shine she usually saw in them when he looked at her, they were just broken. It was obvious that he hadn’t slept. Mary had no idea where he’d been all night, just that it hadn’t been in his bed with her, as it should have be
en.
Looking him over, she realized that Ty was going to continue keeping secrets from her, and she would need to wrap her head and heart around that, and decide if she could live with it. She wasn’t ready to deal with it yet. Whatever he was going to tell her could wait; she needed more time. He lifted the rose to her, and she crushed it in her hand, letting the petals fall through her fingers.
“Mary?” Ty didn’t even try crossing the threshold, just handed her the coffee, with remorse oozing from every pore of his body.
“Not yet. I have some thinking to do.” She kept her voice cold, praying that it wouldn’t waver and give away the turmoil she was feeling inside. “I will contact you when I am ready.”
“Please, Mary, I have to explain this. It wasn’t a deal. I swear. On my life, I am not dealing. Please, please just let me talk to you.”
Mary steadily closed the door, feeling her heart compress a little more with each inch the door moved, until it was finally latched.
Faith was watching her with her know-it-all eyes, and Mary snapped. She threw the cup of coffee against the wall in frustration. The creamy brown peace offering trickled down the bright yellow paint.
Mary stopped Faith dead in her tracks. “Don’t touch that! I’ll get to it later. I need to take a long, hot shower and do some thinking.”
Faith watched Mary storm off to her room, and decided that it might be a good day to take her dirty clothes to the laundromat.
Mary spent the weekdays wrapping up the summer semester. She went into work early and stayed late. The air conditioner in the apartment wasn’t working, and being at home was like living in a sauna.
Faith jumped at any opportunity to work extra shifts, whether it was volunteer hours at Safe Works or on-call shifts at the hospital. Both places were preferable to being stuck in the hot apartment with a stressed-out Mary.
Faith thought it should be obvious: Mary should just get away from Ty and move on. The lies and the secrets were even more troubling than his past; how could any woman subject herself to that? She reminded Mary every chance she got that Ty Jaden was nothing but bad news, until finally, Mary told her to back off.
