by Ford, Mia
“So, what in the world brings you wonderful ladies down here?” Chase asked. “A final hoorah before you go off to the real world?”
“Something like that,” Callie said. “How long have you been singing? I love your voice.” She said. But oddly, she looked at me flirtatiously when she said that. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to make me jealous or if she thought she actually had a shot with me, but it was pretty entertaining.
Chase took a long deep breath before answering as if he was really thinking about his answer. He was one of those guys who sometimes forgot that they weren’t always onstage and he would say everything in the most dramatic tone possible, as if it was the most important thing anyone had ever said.
“I started singing when I was twelve,” Chase said. “Some friends dared me to do some karaoke singing at this roller rink party and I just got up there and did my thing. That was when I totally fell in love with performing.”
I almost gagged. I’d heard this story so many times that it made me want to puke now.
“That’s fascinating,” Callie said.
“How about you girls? How do you know Kay, here?” Chase asked. “Kay has become kind of an unofficial member of the band. We like to call her ‘the muse’.”
I raised my eyebrows at Chase. What was he doing? Kay looked like she was going to faint. It was classic.
“We have never said that,” I replied. “But now that Chase mentions it, I do think that it’s a great idea.”
I tried to keep my laughter at bay. I could tell that Kay was as nervous about the idea as Chase was excited by it. Ever since he’d seen Kay, Chase had kind of been making eyes at her when he’d seen her, and he’d even asked a few questions here and there about her when we were at practice. I was starting to see that he might have been interested in the beautiful Kay, and who could have blamed him.
Except it pissed me off royally. Kay was mine. That was all there was to it. I wanted her and I knew that she wanted me, as soon as she broke through the senseless conditioning that her mind had been under since birth with society’s ridiculous taboos. I wanted to tell Chase to back off and to not even bother, but what was I really going to say? I knew that if I came out and told everyone how much I wanted Kay then we would both be judged and ridiculed. I could take it; hell I loved that sort of shit, but Kay would probably have had a nervous breakdown and it would ruin any chances that she and I might have had together. So for now, I just had to grin and bear it.
“You guys are lame,” Kay said with a smile.
“Whoa!” Chase replied almost choking on his beer.
I was shocked by her teasing insult as well, but it was so darn cute that I had to laugh.
“Wow, Kay is taking the gloves off tonight,” I said.
“Kay needs to get laid,” April said. “It’s been too long.”
“What the hell?” Kay demanded with shock written all over her face.
April and Callie were both splitting their sides with howling laughter.
“You know it’s true,” April said.
“That is personal,” Kay replied. “And I could have that anytime I wanted it; I’m just driven to pursue other goals right now.”
“That is hot,” Chase said. He finished off his beer and motioned to the bartender to bring him another one. He practically ignored the sexy bartender Alicia when she brought it over, even though she was throwing mad cleavage at him bending over way more than she needed to when she sat the beer on the table.
“There you go handsome,” Alicia said.
Chase didn’t respond; his eyes were on Kay. Mine too. God, Kay was so damn beautiful. Callie and April were both sexy and cute as well. Chase or I either one would have had a fun time with both of them if they’d wanted to go that far, but it would have paled compared to Kay. I knew right then and there as we were joking and having a great time with Kay and her friends that I was falling in love with Kay.
“Well, that is disappointing,” Chase said. “But I respect your decision, Kay.”
Chase then turned and focused on April in a very joking and blatant turn of events.
“So, April, you thought I looked really great up there?” Chase flirted with a big laugh.
April tried to be offended but couldn’t stop blushing. “Oh, you are such a jerk!”
“I know, but I’m a cute and talented jerk, right? That matters.”
“Not as much as you think!” Callie said. She and April gave each other high fives right then.
“Wow, some days you just can’t get a lucky break,” Chase said with fake disappointment. I was fairly certain that either Callie or April were going to go for him, at least when they both saw that neither really had a shot with me. I wanted Kay; I wasn’t about to mess up the work I’d put in so far by hooking up with one of her friends.
“Besides, I’ve always had a thing for guitar players,” April said running her slender fingers up my forearm and giving me a very flirty look.
I smiled and moved my hand away casually. “That’s not cool,” I said. “My bro here is pouring his heart out to you lovely ladies and you are kind of giving him the cold shoulder. When a bandmate hurts, I feel his pain.”
I’d missed this. It was true that we often hung out with great women after our gigs, it was not often that we met women who were cool and fun like Kay and her friends. They were all very intelligent, very sexy, and a lot of fun to hang out with. That sort of thing never used to be important to me, but I found as I got older I couldn’t really hook up with women I didn’t respect. And I respected all three of these amazing ladies.
“Wow, this is getting too cheesy for me,” Kay said. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”
As Kay got up and walked away from the table her eyes caught mine and then dropped to the floor as she began walking across the room. My gaze fell from where her eyes had been to her sweet, round, sexy ass on beautiful display in a pair of jeans. Very few things turned me on as much as watching a beautiful woman with a great can and a confident walk in a pair of jeans. I felt the need to adjust myself in my jeans, but resisted the temptation.
I couldn’t help myself; I watched Kay until she disappeared into the ladies’ room.
When I moved my gaze back to the group to try to pay attention to whatever Chase was now rambling on about, I saw Callie glaring at me. She’d caught me watching Kay. Yeah… she’d caught me red handed leering at my cousin’s ass. Well, this could have been awkward…
It would have been if I’d let it. Instead of being shocked or embarrassed, I just locked eyes right back with her and smiled widely. Callie’s eyes grew wide and then glared daggers at me before turning back to April and Chase’s conversation. She was pissed. And she was most likely disgusted.
I knew that Callie was going to tell Kay about this. Good. I was getting bored with all of this polite society crap. A good scandal or at least the hint of one would break up the monotony. I didn’t give a flip if Callie thought I was a disgusting pig or not. It was just one more thing to freak Kay out and have her questioning how she felt about me. It would give her a glimpse into how it was actually going to be if word of our new relationship ever actually got out to any of our friends or family. It was a good test. And I believed that Kay was going to pass it with flying colors.
We finally wrapped things up and I went home. When I got there, Kay was waiting for me; her friends were not. I’d offered to let them all stay at my place for the weekend, but April and Callie had decided to get hotel rooms, which they were probably thankful for right about now. I figured the party was going to continue for a bit, so I was surprised that Kay was there in the living room with a glass of wine that she acted like she might throw at my head at any moment. I was prepared to duck.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kay asked me.
I ignored the question for a moment, walked to the mini bar, and poured myself a whiskey double.
“Whatever do you mean?” I teased.
“You think this is
funny?” Kay demanded.
“Yeah, actually,” I replied. “I think this is funny as shit.”
“Why? Why would you blatantly stare at my ass in front of my friends?”
“I didn’t plan to do that,” I said. “But you have drastically underestimated the power of your ass.”
“You are sick,” Kay said. “There is something wrong with you.”
“Really? Is that why you act so nervous around me? Is that why you keep sneaking glances at me when you think I’m not looking? Is that why you keep lying to yourself about the way you feel about me?”
“This is all in your head,” Kay said. “Whatever you think could happen between us is never going to. We are cousins. I’m not prepared to take things to some other place with us.”
“I know you aren’t prepared,” I said. “That is why I’ve been so patient, waiting for you to come around.”
Kay stood up and began pacing around.
“I don’t understand how you can think this is ok,” she said.
“Because I’m open.”
“You’re open? That’s it?”
“Yeah. I’ve always lived my life open to new experiences, new possibilities, and giving full reign to my desires. I’m sorry if that scares you, but then again it frightens most people.”
“You are living in some weird fantasy world,” Kay said. “You need to sober up to the realities of the real world we live in. In the real world there are rules. There are codes of conduct.”
“I have always hated rules,” I said. “People need to understand we only have one life to live and the time on this earth is very short. So many waste their time worrying about doing this or doing that, or breaking this rule or that one. I think we should worry about fitting so snugly into these neat little boxes that others have set forth for us that we no longer know who we are. I’ve lived my life in freedom and I will continue to do so. I’m trying to show you how to do the same, but you keep resisting.”
“Of course I’m resisting!” Kay shouted. “I can’t do this. We can’t do this.”
“You can, but you won’t let yourself. Why are you ignoring your feelings?” I asked.
“Because I can’t just be whoever I want and do whatever. If this got out it could destroy me and you. We would be shamed and it would destroy our families.”
I laughed and then took a sip of my whiskey.
“You are being just a bit over dramatic. Stop worrying about destroying other people. I don’t see how your sex life has anything to do with anyone else.”
“Of course you don’t,” Kay said. “You are warped. You live in this tiny, plastic bubble where you’ve always had everything you want. Well, I don’t have the money to just let my daddy buy my way through life. I have goals and dreams of my own I want to achieve and I’m not letting anyone stand in the way of that.”
“Except yourself,” I said. “You have all of these feelings for me, just as I have for you, but you deny yourself what you want because of what others might think if they found out. It’s ridiculous. On your grave do you want it to note that you died doing whatever you could to make others happy? I don’t think so. I think you’d rather have it read that you died with absolutely no regrets. And if you keep living your life in shame of your buried impulses, of the core being beneath the façade, then you will die full of shame.”
Kay didn’t say anything for a moment. She stood there contemplating everything I’d told her and I believed that she was actually starting to get my reasoning and realize I was right about several things. But she wasn’t going to change her mind, at least not right now.
“That’s it,” Kay said. “I’m moving out. I’m going to start looking for my own place. This is not going to work out.”
For a moment panic gripped me and I felt that I might have pushed her too far, but I quickly regained myself and did not let her words cause me to falter. I knew that this might happen and I’d prepared myself for it. I really wanted Kay to be in my world under my thumb so that I could chip away at the seduction in a reasonable amount of time, but if she threw a monkey wrench into the works by moving out then I would just simply have to adjust my strategy accordingly.
“You could do that, but I think it is a mistake,” I said.
Kay laughed. “Of course you do, because it isn’t what you want. This whole thing has been a setup, hasn’t it?”
“Perhaps,” I said. “But it made you think. It made you feel. Why would you want to throw all of that away to go back into your closeted and sheltered way of thinking? You are on the cusp of a huge breakthrough in your life. Don’t let your fear throw it away.”
Kay groaned and headed for her bedroom where she slammed the door shut behind her. I was tempted to follow her and beg her to talk with me, but that would have been decidedly the wrong move to make here. I needed to give her time. Just because she said she was moving out, did not mean it was going to happen soon. Finding an affordable apartment when you didn’t have the security deposit, utility deposits, first and last month’s rent, etc., was very hard to do. And Kay hadn’t even received one paycheck yet. I figured I’d have at least a month and probably closer to two before I even had to worry about her finding a place. Even if she got a roommate she would probably have to have some rent money saved up before she could hope to just move out.
I sipped my whiskey and thought about the next step in my strategy. During Kay’s arguing and her resistance speech she never did say that she didn’t feel the same way I did. She was having all of the attractions that I was, but she was just not giving in to them. It was all going according to plan. I just had to stay strong and vigilant. My baby was going to be mine very soon.
I just knew it.
Chapter Eleven
Kay
“That looks awesome!”
I’d hardly even recognized the voice or that someone else had come into my office until I caught the reflection in the glass above my desk. I’d been working non-stop on my project since seven-thirty that morning and according to the clock on my PC it was almost noon now. I hadn’t even realized that I hadn’t taken a drink, gone to the bathroom, or even stretched in almost four and a half hours.
I now realized that I was getting fried.
“What?” I asked turning around.
“The design. So far it looks fantastic.”
I was staring into the face of Bert Peters. Bert was another associate architect at the firm. He was interesting, fun loving, and a bit of a jokester. Everyone at the firm seemed to really like him and I was included in that. I’d even remarked to myself once or twice that he was pretty, darn cute.
“Thanks,” I said. “It’s still in the very early stages.”
“Modesty,” Bert said. “That’s a great quality to have. Don’t ever lose that. I wish I still had mine, but I think this place has eaten away at it. Now I’m afraid to be modest.”
I smiled and took a drink from my water bottle on my desk.
“So, what brings you by Bert?” I asked. I really wanted to get back to my work, although I was probably going to knock off for a bit for lunch soon. My stomach was rumbling something fierce now.
“Well, I was just roaming the halls killing time, and I thought I’d see what you were up to,” Bert said.
I gave him a look revealing how peculiar his reply was. Who really just walked the halls? Was he a high school kid without a hall pass trying to ditch a class?
“Ok, I’m doing alright…” I said. “But I do have a bunch to do today…”
Bert sighed.
“Well, alright since you twisted my arm by being aggressive and forceful…” he teased. Bert smiled and looked me square in the eye. “I was wondering if you planned to go to the company banquet.”
The company banquet was something I’d learned about my first day with the company. Apparently, I’d been hired just in time because the annual employee banquet was about to be held this weekend. From my understanding there was a big feast, an open bar, awards for the
best work done that year, and even some door prizes with some pretty awesome gifts. I was looking forward to it. But from some of the talk around the water cooler you were expected to have a date.
“I hadn’t given it too much thought,” I replied, curious to see where this was going.
“Well, it is a lot of fun and I was wondering if you’d like to be my date this year,” Bert asked.
I was impressed by the casual way he was asking me out. There weren’t any nerves or sweat behind it. He was just real and casual. There also wasn’t anything smarmy about the way he was asking me. He seemed genuine and sweet.
“Sure,” I answered. It did sound like a lot of fun and I knew it would be a great way to get to know the other people in the firm without the pressure of work looming over our shoulders. I wanted to show everyone that I was already fitting in and I really hoped to get to know some of the higher ups better and ingratiate myself into their little world, or at least to remind them of who I was.
And it would drive Sam crazy.
This point didn’t really hit me until later on, but I realized that this might be the very thing to throw a huge wrench in Sam’s plans about us. It would be epic to see his face when he found out. I couldn’t wait to unload all of this on him and watch his head explode. Of course he would try to play it off in cool, typical Sam fashion and pretend like he couldn’t have cared less, but inside he would be seething with rage. Seeing that in his eyes was already going to make this totally worth it.
“Great,” Bert answered. “I figured I would pick you up and we could ride here together, unless you prefer to just meet here.”
I thought a moment. Normally, since I didn’t really know Bert that well, I would have agreed to just meeting downstairs in the large banquet hall, but since I did want to rub Sam’s face in this I decided to just let Bert pick me up.
“Why don’t you pick me up? We can have some nice conversation on the way there,” I suggested.
