A Brush With Obsession

by Theresa Papa

  “Don’t patronize me, bitch!” She kicks me with her pointy toe.

  “No really, I can tell Nico it’s not working out between us. I’ll leave him. Just put the gun down. He will be here any minute. I’ll tell him, and that way it will be clear …”

  “Shut up! Don’t say another word, you stupid whore.”

  I zip my lips immediately, but that’s not good enough for her. She reaches in her pocket and pulls out one of her kinky props. I shake my head as she bends to put it on me.

  “Open your mouth, or I’ll make you,” she growls.

  She places a ball gag in my mouth and secures the strap tightly behind my head.

  Oh my God, she really is going to kill us! I have to warn Nico. Can I get to my phone? I can’t let her hurt him.

  He’s everything to me.

  He’s the air I breathe and the force that grounds me to the earth.

  He’s the man who has claim to my soul and the key to my heart.

  I look around for my purse and overnight bag. It’s not anywhere in my line of vision, so she must have put it underneath.

  My phone rings as if I called to it with my thoughts. Giselle hears it, and she quickly descends the stairs. I listen to hear if she answers it, but it just stops. A few moments later, the sight of my man as he hops over the side so unsuspecting mesmerizes me. He is handsome beyond any man I’ve ever seen with the last rays of the sun that glow around him. If I didn’t know better, this would be a movie set, and Nico is the handsome hero making his favorably lit entrance. The sight of him fills me both with hope and terror. Tears begin to flow down my face when I witness his expression at the first sight of me bound, gagged, and bloody. Frantically, I point in the direction of Giselle using my hands and my head. My screams through the gag are muffled gibberish, and Nico is too focused on me to worry about himself. He lunges toward me only to be caught off guard by the force of Giselle’s bat that violently knocks him unconscious.

  A muffled scream keeps coming from my throat at the sound of the crack as the wooden bat meets his skull. Giselle puts all her strength into the blow to make sure she knocks him out. Through my watery vision, Nico sprawled on the floor face down next to me comes in view, blood seeping into his dark silky hair. Giselle walks over, straddles his lifeless form with those stupid heels still on, and cuffs his hands behind his back. Then she chains both his feet to the brackets of the passenger chair and leaves to go underneath without a word.

  I try to move as close to him as I can, and since my hands are cuffed in front, I can reach Nico’s head. I lightly run my fingers through his hair, being careful of his wound. My face is wet so apparently, the tears are reluctant to stop, and I’m left without the ability to control them. The situation seems hopeless and unknown. His face is peaceful as if he’s asleep. A sob escapes my throat as I gaze at his angelic features to help restore my faith. My fingers lightly trace his face, the gentle slope of his brow, his strong masculine jawline, and then over his full, sensuous lips. These thick dark eyelashes, that women pay a lot of money in mascara to achieve; Nico has them naturally. They begin to flutter, and my heart skips a beat when his gorgeous azure eyes look up at me finally. He blinks a few times, and then the terror returns to his expression to make his brows crunch and mouth tight. He jerks around while he tries to get loose from the restraints. When it’s no use, he lays back down so he can be nearer to me to talk. He softens as soon as he makes eye contact.

  “I love you, sweetheart. I’ll die before I let her hurt you again.”

  I sob again, touched by his words, and I’m upset that I can’t return the sentiment. If we’re going to die, I want to tell him all the things he needs to hear beforehand. The stupid gag makes my jaw hurt too.

  “Listen Sam, I might have to do and say things that are not true to get her to give me the gun. It will all be an act. I will pretend to play a scene like in a movie. Don’t believe what you hear me say to her and never, ever take it to heart. You are my only beloved, whom I will cherish deep in my soul for all eternity. No matter what happens, always remember that, please.” He kisses my fingers that linger near his lips because we can’t reach each other to really kiss. I nod my head in agreement to let him know I understand. He doesn’t know that she’s high on something. I can’t talk so I can’t tell him either. I’m not sure the act will work. It sure backfired and got me gagged.

  Giselle’s voice travels up from the lower level, and she’s on a phone call, speaking French. Then we hear her come up the stairs. She has a bottle of water and a packet with some pills in her hand. Nico sits up to get ready to perform his act.

  “Nico, you’re awake! That’s good. Now I can get started with my plans as soon as Ivan gets here.” She stands tall to look down on the both of us.

  “Giselle, this is all unnecessary; let’s talk about what’s bothering you. I can make this right for you. If you want help to escape the police and you need money, I can get you some. Please untie us and give me the gun before someone really gets hurt. I know you didn’t kill Marcus. I believe you. I’ll help you whether you want me to talk to the police on your behalf or to help you disappear.” He gives her his best convincing expression that any estrogen-fueled human would swoon for in a second.

  “Oh Nico, you are so very far off when it comes to what I want, my love.” She walks over to him where he leans against the backbench. Still in her stilettos, she lifts her leg to sit on the bench so that Nico’s body now sits between her legs. He’s slightly slouched because of his hands tied behind his back, so when he looks up at her, she bends until their faces are close together.

  “You are what I want! But every time I tried to tell you that, you brushed me off. Well, now I won’t be ignored!” She puts her palms on each side of his face to hold him still. Nico’s face grimaces momentarily; I can tell he’s mentally preparing himself for what he has to say and do next.

  “Okay Giselle, you win. I’ll do what you want, learn to become your submissive. We will leave together and disappear. Just release Samantha unharmed.” His eyes look up at her as she starts to laugh maniacally.

  “You can’t fool me into believing that you would actually do that. It’s too late, Nico! I’m wanted for murder, and they have all the stupid evidence I left on Marcus Dent’s body when we got rid of it.” She drags her blood red fingernails through his hair. Her eyes are hungry and crazy when she touches him, and I have to look away.

  “Don’t you worry, my sweet, handsome, loyal man. Too bad your loyalty lies with her. But that’s fine because I have found a way to solve all my problems in one shot. And in the end, you and I will be together for all eternity. If I can’t have you my love, no one will.” She puckers his mouth between her thumb and forefinger and kisses him. I’m overcome with disgust and want to retch.

  “What are you going to do, Giselle? I don’t care what you do to me, just let Sam go, please.” Nico’s face is pained as he looks over at me.

  “Samantha is just unlucky that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Don’t worry, it won’t be painful. Now I have to prepare us to begin our journey on the lake. But first, be a nice boy and take your medicine for me.” She holds Nico’s nose with her fingers while he struggles. She points the gun at me and mumbles her orders while she simultaneously grinds her teeth. “Open your mouth and swallow the pills willingly, or I kill her now. It doesn’t matter to me whether she dies now or in an hour from now.” He opens, she pops the pills in, and follows with a sip of the water from a bottle she produces from the trench coat pocket. She grabs his chin to make him open again so she can check his mouth is empty.

  He pulls his face away roughly, and demands, “What were those pills for?” Giselle grabs his chin and tilts his head back again so their faces are inches apart once more.

  “Those little blue pills are to make sure you will satisfy my fantasy before we take our journey together. I only have one shot, and I won’t take any chances.” My stomach roils again whe
n her tongue licks his lips. He violently pulls away again.

  With that, she rises, keeping her crotch level with his face for way longer than necessary, and steps off the boat onto the dock.

  Nico lies down again to be close to me. I stroke his face again with my fingers just to be able to touch him. He smiles up at me.

  Chapter 57

  Samantha Marconi

  Giselle boards the boat again with a duffle bag in each hand. What they contain is anyone’s guess. She disappears directly down the stairs with them. Nico tries to see what she’s doing but I’m not sure if he can from where he sits. I shift my position as much as I can move because my legs are numb.

  Nico sits back again. Giselle returns from below as she explains her intentions with a heavy French accent. It is more pronounced after she spoke French to her lackey that brought the duffle bags.

  “Ivan has brought me the last piece of the puzzle. We will be on our journey now, my love. Wait until you see what I have in store for you. You won’t be disappointed. The fireworks will start soon, and we need to be in our perfect location for the best results to my plan. Location and timing are critical.” She leans against the driver seat and maneuvers the large vessel out of its slip and onto Lake Michigan. I can’t see over the side because I am on the floor just trying to hold myself up from her erratic driving. She’s still high so her driving is not very stable. Maybe the water police will observe her driving crazy and stop us. I can only hope. When I look up at the slowly darkening sky, the stars start to twinkle more and more as we get farther out on the lake. The night would have been so romantic out on the lake alone with Nico. We have to get through this so we can have our night together and many more nights together.

  The boat slows to a stop. Giselle takes a vial out of the pocket of her raincoat. I assume its cocaine because she proceeds to snort a great deal of it up her nose. Then she picks up the gun and goes to Nico while she pulls the keys to the handcuffs out of her other pocket.

  “This is how we are going to proceed, my love,” she says to Nico as she sits on the bench behind him again, her legs hugging his body.

  “I’m going to release one of your hands momentarily so you can switch to being handcuffed in front. But if you try anything, Samantha dies in front of you now. Sit up.” She points the gun at me with her right hand and unlocks one of Nico’s hands from behind him with her left. Nico takes a chance and grabs her right wrist of the hand with the gun. Giselle surprises him with a scissors out of her left pocket and stabs his hand with it. He involuntarily lets her go and yells out in pain. She moves away from him and puts the gun to my head. I squeeze my eyes shut with a prayer for some kind of salvation. Thankfully, the gun stays idle and I hesitantly peek through squinted eyelids.

  “No! Giselle! Please! I’m sorry I’ll do everything you say. Please don’t hurt Sam,” Nico pleads from his position on the floor, his bloody hand forgotten.

  “Lock the other cuff on your wrist, and from now on, you do what I say. This was your only chance.”

  He puts his hands together and relocks the cuffs in front.

  “Good boy, you know how to follow orders well this time. Keep doing what I tell you, and Samantha won’t feel any pain.” She sits back down, takes the scissors, and begins to cut off Nico’s shirt. Now naked from the waist up, Nico stares intently at me with his radiant eyes. I want a baby with those eyes someday. We can’t let this happen. We have to fight her.

  Giselle runs her grubby hands over his torso from behind her long claw like fake nails dig into his skin. It makes me sick when she moans as if she’s aroused. Nico’s eyes still pierce a hole through me and never leave my face.

  “Stand up now and put your hands out in front of you,” she orders. He hesitates, still focused on me. She gets to her feet with the gun pointed at me to make him follow her request. With one ankle still cuffed to the seat, he uses it to keep steady himself as he stands. Then he immediately resumes his stare. I can only guess that he needs to concentrate on me to get him through what she’s doing to him. His control over his own body is being taken away. This is how he’s coping with the loss of control. I’m his strength.

  She takes a rope and attaches it to the cleat on the side of the boat, then ties his handcuffs to it. This is so he can’t move his hands to try to hurt her again. Giselle unzips his pants with her left hand, and then puts the gun down to slide them off. Nico is only in his boxers, the front is tented.

  “It looks like the little blue pills I gave you are working right on schedule too. Excellent!” she gloats.

  Nico’s still looks steadfast at my face as the wind blows back his hair. He won’t give her any kind of reaction at all. I bring my hands up to my mouth and mimic blowing him a kiss the best I can with handcuffs and a ball gag on. His face softens to a sad smile, but then he nods slightly and widens his gaze to let me know that we will be okay, and he’s going along until it’s time. My heart hurts for him to have to endure the humiliation of her assault again.

  Giselle’s voice interrupts our subliminal communication as she backs up to the middle of the floor. “We are almost ready to meet our sublime destiny together Nico. I picked out a special bikini just for you. I won’t have it on for long.” She unties the belt on her raincoat, lets it fall off her shoulders, and then throws it on the floor. She’s doing her best stripper imitation to try to get a reaction from Nico. He just keeps his eyes trained on me, giving her no reaction at all. Now that takes restraint because this woman has a body that is perfection. If she were a different person underneath, she could actually warrant a girl crush. The whole package exudes sex and domination. She’s an amazon, over six feet tall with the shoes on, and she is strong and muscular; not one ounce of fat anywhere on her. The minuscule bikini in black leather has little ties that hold it together. The only thing she ruined herself with is to make her breasts too huge for her size. Her top basically only covers her nipples and the rest is on display. The bottoms? Well, let’s just say I can tell she’s waxed clean from head to toe. There’s nothing wrong with that. I get waxed clean too. I just don’t advertise that to everyone who sees me in my bathing suit.

  She picks up the gun again and waves it around while she starts to explain her plan to us.

  “Nico and I will be making love on the front of the boat while we head toward the rocks of the shore. When we crash into the wall, the boat will explode with the help of all the explosives I have just stored underneath. If I time it right, we will climax as the fireworks show is at its crescendo, then we explode. A monumental end for us to share together for all eternity.”

  “Giselle, this is crazy. Why do you want to die?” Nico asks.

  “I won’t go to prison for the murder of Marcus Dent. And if I can’t have you while we are alive, I can have you this way. She can’t have you!”

  Nico just shakes his head; we’re dealing with someone who has clearly gone insane. He looks at me again more serious this time, and I nod understanding. The fireworks show begins above our heads. Giselle puts the gun into Nico’s side, unwinds the rope attached to the cleat she unhooks it from his cuffs, and flings it over her shoulder. She kicks off the stilettos. Finally! With one last look back at me, Nico is forced onto the front hood of the boat.

  Tears stream down my face, and my thoughts are a jumbled mess.

  What is this propensity for people to want to achieve my demise by propelling my body into the rock wall barrier so that I end up a gruesome, pulpy mass on the rocks? Is it maybe because since Jennifer’s parents were killed that way, it has always been my worst fear? Do I attract these negative aberrations with my fears? First, the crazy guy on the wave runner and now Giselle.

  The pain in my head and jaw threatens to overwhelm me as I try to push myself up and look over the side. We are alone, and no other boats are in this area. It makes sense that the fireworks are not directly overhead. She needed to get away from all the other boats enjoying the show.

  The f
eeling of suffocation travels through me. Between my gag and the stuffy nose, caused from all my crying, it’s difficult to breathe. Then I sit back down, discerning that she will most likely come back to start the boat in the direction of the rocks. What if he can’t hold on? What if we hit another boat? What about the explosives; are they set to go off at a certain time or on impact?

  I pray all the prayers I know by heart from my Catholic school upbringing. I pray and plead with God to let us live through this nightmare. Then there it is, jumping out at me like a beacon of hope. The key to win this battle, a sign that God shows me.

  I know now in my heart that it will all turn out all right.

  Chapter 58

  Nico Pope

  When Giselle put the gun to Samantha’s head, something inside me snapped. No more macho attempts to overcome her. I need to just be calm. I need to concentrate on following her orders until the perfect time to outsmart her.

  As the fireworks begin, Giselle pushes me with a sharp jab of the gun in my side to climb up toward the bow of the boat. I make my way forward, careful to keep my balance, to the point of the bow. Giselle makes me lie on my back and raises my arms over my head. She uses the rope again. Threading it through the cuffs, she ties it to the cleats at the point. I close my eyes to keep them from the disgusting X-rated sight of her as she leans over me in the leather bikini.

  “We could have been so good together Nico, if you would have given it a chance. I’ve loved you since the day I walked into your office for my interview. Then when you rejected me in the hot tub and again at the club, you broke my heart. When I saw you about to buy her an engagement ring, it was the end because my heart shriveled up and just blew away. When the cops pinned the murder on me, it was the last straw. It’s too painful to go on living without a heart. So I made my plan for us to be together forever. I couldn’t let her have you. Only I will have you with me. In death.”