Desire

by Jezebel Jorge

Just as she was about to drift back off to sleep she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs… pounding on the door… the key turning in the lock…

  Daddy!

  “I should have known not to trust you.”

  He dashed across the room and jerked Billy out of the bed before Lizzie had time to react. It was horrible. Her daddy let loose with a punch that snapped Billy’s head back with a sickening crunch of cartilage. Poor Billy had been sound asleep and hadn’t stood a chance of defending himself. Blood splattered every which way as her daddy took him down to the floor, trapping him in one of those submission holds he uses in the ring.

  “Daddy, stop it! Don’t hurt Billy!”

  He ignored Lizzie, wrapping his arms around Billy’s neck in some kind of chokehold to where she was afraid he was going to kill Billy.

  Since he wasn’t listen to her, she acted on instinct, jumping on his back, clawing at his eyes just like he’d taught her to defend herself… go for the eyes, bridge of nose, groin… scream for help…

  Just when she thought Billy had passed out, her daddy released him to stand up and drop her backwards on the bed.

  “You little slut!”

  Lizzie had never seen her Daddy this mad before. She cowered back against the wall actually afraid he was going to hit her too. He’d never laid a hand on her before, but this time it wasn’t like he was thinking straight.

  He must have sensed her fear because he stepped back from the bed and took his anger out on Billy with a kick to his ribs.

  “I give you a free place to live, treat you like a son. And this is how you repay me?” He kicked at Billy again. “You sneak around and fuck my daughter. You could have any damn rat you want. Why the hell did you have to fuck my baby girl?”

  “Daddy, just stop it… now!”

  Lizzie ran to Billy, putting her body in front of his and pressing his battered face into her breast until the white undershirt she wore was covered in his blood.

  “Put some damn clothes on and get the hell out of here.”

  “No!”

  “Cover yourself up.” He yanked a sheet off the bed and tossed it in her direction.

  It took Lizzie that long to realize all she had on was Billy’s undershirt. It came down over her thighs but from the way they had been tussling around, it was obvious that she wasn’t wearing any panties and Billy was completely naked.

  Lizzie helped Billy sit up and wrapped the sheet around the both of them, refusing to budge until her daddy calmed down. Paul paced the length of the floor looking like he wanted to smack both of them around some more.

  “Lizzie baby, go on and get dressed.” Billy tried to nudge her toward the bathroom.

  Fat chance. She wasn’t leaving his side.

  “How long have you been fucking her?” Daddy glared at Billy like she was suddenly invisible. “Does she know about all the other women you’ve been screwing around with?”

  “Paul… Mr. Bryson… it’s not what you think,” Billy had to spit out a mouthful of blood to keep talking. “I love Lizzie. I’ll marry her today if you’ll let me.”

  “And I love Billy.”

  “Isn’t that just sweet?” Her daddy’s tone was anything but. “Elizabeth Bryson, get up this instant. Go into that bathroom and get dressed.”

  “No! I’m not about to leave you alone with Billy.”

  “Okay, then tell your boyfriend to stand up and fight me like a man.”

  “There’s not going to be any fighting.”

  “You can kick my ass from here to kingdom come and it’s not going to change the way I feel about your daughter.” Billy struggled to his feet, clutching the sheet to his face to try to stop the blood still spurting out his nose. “I love Lizzie and I want to make her my wife.”

  Paul surprised them by retreating to the bathroom. He came back with a wet washcloth and threw it in Billy’s direction. Lizzie bent to retrieve it for him as Paul just stood there watching her press the cloth against Billy’s nose.

  “I’m going to give you fifteen minutes to clean up and get the hell out of my house and out of my daughter’s life. Don’t show up in Greenville tonight because I plan on getting you fired. I might not have enough clout to get the strap, but I’ve damn sure got old man Crockett’s ear. You’ll never work this territory again.”

  “I’m going with him.”

  “No you’re not. I came looking for you because your boss called. That couple made an offer on the house you showed them yesterday. You’re going to get dressed and go to work.”

  “Go on, Lizzie,” Billy said. “Me and your Daddy will work it all out.”

  “There’s nothing to work out. You’re finished in the Carolinas and you’ll never see my daughter again.”

  Chapter 13

  Fourteen minutes later and Billy was in his Rivera cruising down Providence Road with everything he owned right back in the truck of his car. There was no use in trying to reason with Paul, not as upset as that man had been. Tomorrow he would take that $100 William had given him and go buy Lizzie a ring. Maybe that would make Paul realize that he was serious about spending the rest of his life with Lizzie.

  His nose had stopped dripping blood, but there was no doubt it was broken. His left eye had already started to swell to where he was going to have quite a shiner. Worst of all, it hurt to even breathe. Hard to believe Paul cracked a rib with one swift kick. That is until it hurt so bad Billy thought he was going to black out every time he hit a curve.

  Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to go on over to the office to try to explain this to Mr. Crockett and beg for his job. Right now he was mad enough to want to face Paul in the ring – after he healed up a little bit.

  Billy knew he must have been a wreck when the secretary told him to go on and sit down. She even got him some coffee and aspirin while he waited for Crockett to get out of some ‘important meeting’. At least the caffeine cleared his head to where he could halfway think straight and realize what a predicament he had gotten himself and Lizzie into.

  “Please tell me you weren’t beaten up by a mark.”

  Billy looked up with one good eye, the other being about swollen closed by now, and saw William standing over him looking elegant as always in one of his tailored suits.

  “The only thing Paul Bryson is a mark for is himself.”

  “True.” William chuckled as he offered a hand to help Billy to his feet. “Let me guess, this has something to do with your relationship with the lovely Elizabeth?”

  “He caught us in bed together. I was sound asleep and didn’t know what hit me until he had me on the floor in a Crossface.”

  “Damn.” William grimaced. "I have to work with him tonight, but of course he knows better than to try to get cute with me in the ring.”

  “He said he was going to get me fired. That’s why I came over here to try to save my ass.”

  “If you’ll give me a ride to Greenville, I’ll smooth things over for you with the office.” He opened the door for Billy. “Go on and wait in the car, I’ll just be a few minutes.”

  The walk to his car seemed like a mile when really it was only a few feet. There was no way he was going to be able to work tonight, even if William did save his spot.

  Billy had barely made it to the car when William returned smiling confidently.

  “Mind if I drive?”

  “Be my guest.” Billy gladly eased over to the passenger seat.

  “First thing we’ve got to do is get you to the emergency room to get that nose set,” he said before they hit South Blvd.

  “I ain’t worried about my looks.”

  “Me either.” William laughed. “If you don’t get it fixed you’re not going to be able to breathe through your nose any time soon. You’d blow up in no time trying to wrestle like that.”

  ***

  “Good Lord, what happened to you?”

  Carol Ann had to be the nurse to walk into the cubicle where they’d stuck Billy to wait for a doctor. She was just about
the last person he wanted to face in his drawers and a hospital gown so soon after what her boyfriend had done to him.

  “Paul caught me in a compromising situation with Lizzie this morning.”

  “He did this to you?” She scrunched up her nose like she wasn’t quite sure. “I can’t believe he’d lose his temper like that.”

  “It might have been a lot worse if Lizzie hadn’t stopped him.”

  “Didn’t you even try to fight back?”

  “I wasn’t about to hit him in front of Lizzie and besides he already had me hooked and on the floor before I knew what hit me.”

  Billy cringed as she cleaned up his battered face.

  “This will numb it a little but it’s going to hurt like hell when the doctor puts in the splint. I don’t have to wait for the x-rays to know your septum is shattered.”

  Billy screamed like a little girl when they shoved that thing up his nose and packed it with gauze. At least it made him forget about the cracked rib, until it was time to get back in his clothes.

  “Here’s something for the pain.” Carol Ann came back in the room, screwing the top off a prescription bottle to offer him two pills and a cup of water. “Mr. Fletcher took care of the bill, so you’re all set. Don’t you even think about wrestling tonight.”

  “It’s the furthest thing from my mind,” Billy assured her as he pocketed the to-go medicine bottle she handed over. “All I’m worried about is getting to see Lizzie again.”

  “I’ll try to talk to Paul. After last night, I just knew he was going to be more accepting of you two dating. At least until this happened.”

  “Just look after Lizzie for me and tell her I love her.”

  “I know you do and she feels the same way about you.”

  ***

  “You know Lizzie’s my god-daughter?” William didn’t wait for a response. “That Lois used to have quite the crush on me back in the day. It’s a shame such a beautiful girl was such an ice princess in bed. For your sake, I hope Lizzie takes after Glenda instead of her mom. That Glenda.” He shook his head, exhaling too loudly. “She sure made my first trip up to the Carolina’s memorable.”

  Billy appreciated all William had done for him, but he couldn’t wait for him to shut up and take the car on to Greenville. The pills, along with a shot from the bottle of Jack he pulled out of his bag, were starting to kick in.

  “I called Lizzie for you. She’s going to come over after she gets off work.”

  Now that picked Billy up.

  “You just be sure to get her back home and asleep alone in her own bed before Paul even leaves that Auditorium.”

  Chapter 14

  Lizzie had been in such a hurry to get away from her daddy that she had rushed off to work with no makeup or stockings. She'd wanted to get away from him so bad that she hadn’t even grabbed her coat or purse. She knew she was a wreck and didn’t really care – until she got to work and found Mrs. Kaplin sitting behind her desk with a box right there waiting to be packed.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

  Seeing Mrs. Kaplin’s perfectly teased and coiffed platinum blond beehive made Lizzie run a hand through her own disheveled curls. Hopefully she had a band in what used to be her desk to twist her hair up in a knot before she was shown the front door.

  “I think I must be getting that stomach virus Mr. Kaplin had last week.”

  “You do look awfully pale,” She sighed as she stood to obviously let Lizzie pack up her belongings. “He didn’t have any virus. The bastard ran off to Aruba with Mr. Greenbrier’s daughter.”

  “Alice? I thought she was married to that lawyer in that fancy office down the street.”

  “Not anymore and he’s representing me in the divorce. I’m going to take your former boss to the cleaners.”

  Former? As if her day could get any worse, now she was going to be unemployed. Was there anyone, anywhere who wasn’t cheating on someone? Or ruining someone else’s life?

  “Oh, no-” before she could say another word Lizzie had to dash to the restroom, barely making it in time to puke in the sink.

  She wiped up the mess and splashed water on her face to try to clear her head. After all she had been through this morning, she certainly wasn’t going to cry over some silly job that she didn’t even like all that much to begin with. For all she knew, Mrs. Kaplin might think she had been carrying on with him too. Never, not in a million years would she have done something like that.

  “Lizzie, sit down a minute and have some tea before you try to get your desk cleared.”

  She offered Lizzie a mug filled with brown murk. Just the smell made the bile rise back up in her throat. There was no way she would ever be able to keep that down.

  “I’ll be alright.” Lizzie said more for her benefit than Mrs. Kaplin’s.

  “I’m sure you’ll be just fine in taking over Larry’s clients. I’ve already removed every trace of him from that office, so it’s all yours as soon as you feel like packing up.”

  When she finally stopped babbling Lizzie let out a relieved sigh of her own. “You mean I’m not fired?”

  “Why of course not.” Mrs. Kaplin laughed. “You just sold a property that had been on the market for well over a year, and in less than a week of that closing, you’ve already got another sale to finish up. We’re going to turn this place around. I’ll take over all the typing and phone answering while you get out there and sell, sell, sell.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  Lizzie was so happy she could have kissed Mrs. Kaplin’s over powdered cheeks. Instead, she sank back into the chair and closed her eyes to keep the room from spinning in circles. Mr. Kaplin might have been faking it, but her stomach certainly wasn’t.

  “Why don’t you just go on in that office and look over his client list. Take it easy until the Smiths get here to finish their paperwork. I’ve already got it all typed up for you.

  “You are an angel, Mrs. Kaplin.”

  “From now on, it’s Martha.”

  Mrs. Kaplin picked up the photo collage that Lizzie had put together with photos from her first date with Billy. Their names in calligraphy and a red background set off the simple black frame.

  “Your gentleman friend is so handsome,” she gushed. “I hope you aren’t planning on running off to marry him any time soon.”

  If she only knew about Billy’s whirlwind proposal. Had he really meant it? Or had he only said it for her daddy’s benefit? She guessed she would never know the real answer.

  That horrid tea, actually did settle her stomach - after she held her nose to get it down. Mr. Kaplin’s – or Lizzie’s - new office chair was so huge that she could almost disappear into the soft brown suede. Martha had closed the door behind her – the door to her very own office. Lizzie placed the photo on her desk and got busy learning all about her new clients.

  Anything to stop thinking about Billy.

  She was nearing the last page when her Daddy barged in without bothering to knock. He sat down on the edge of the desk, actually having the nerve to use that fake smile that he works on TV and all his publicity photos.

  “Hey, Pumpkin, what say you let me take you to lunch?”

  “Don’t call me that and I’m not hungry.”

  “I know it hurts right now, but someday when you meet a nice respectable young man you’ll thank me for running Billy Dalton out of your life.”

  “He’s not out of my life.” Lizzie also wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of looking up from her papers. “If you make me pick, it will be you that’s gone.”

  “You don’t have any say in the matter.”

  “I am a grown woman,” Lizzie stood to emphasize her point. “And I’ll date whoever I please.”

  Maybe she shouldn’t have bothered, since at 5’2” and in flats, even with him sitting, he still had her beat on height.

  “Not while you’re living under my roof.” Now he stood, arms folded over his broad chest, like he could intimidate her with his brawn.<
br />
  “That won’t be a problem - Billy and I can find an apartment. We’re going to get married whether you like it or not.”

  “He’s not going to marry you.” Her daddy snorted with laughter. “Why would he buy the cow when he’s already getting the milk for free.”

  “I’m not a cow!”

  “No, you’re a spoiled brat who has always had everything handed to her. You have no idea how tough it is to make it out there in the real world.”

  “I’m ready to find out.”

  “You’ll get your wish if you keep carrying on with Billy. I only hope you’ve been using protection.”

  They hadn’t been using any birth control after going through that first box of condoms. What if that was the cause of her queasiness? She could be pregnant. While he kept right on talking, Lizzie tried to calculate the days from her last period in her head without glancing at the calendar.

  “If you’re going to become an arena rat, you’d better learn real quick never to fuck a wrestler without using a condom. When are you going to smarten up and realize that Billy’s got girls throwing themselves at him every single night? In fact on Christmas night, the very day he met you, I caught him sneaking outside to screw some slut right there in the parking lot.”

  “You were probably right out there with him, cheating on Mom and Carol Ann.”

  “Yes, in fact I was. Not that it’s any of your business. Free whores are just one of the perks of my job.”

  “You disgust me.” Lizzie sat back down, rummaging through her desk drawer to find a day planner to try to figure out if her period was late.

  “Then why do you want to marry a man who’s going to be just like me? Hell, he’s a good looking kid.” He picked up the photo and laughed. “I bet he’ll get more action than I ever did and that’s certainly saying something.”

  Lizzie stared at the planner, trying to fight the tears welling in her eyes. December 16th was the last day with a red circle. If she remembered back to biology class correctly, she was most likely in some serious trouble.