by Eve, Melody
“I’ll never look older than you, Mufasa, you’re ancient!” she yells back.
I am ancient compared to her, and I’m getting older every day. I’m in perfect health, I eat right and workout every day, but I can feel myself aging, and I hate it.
I want to spend every second possible with Aria after wasting so much time waiting for her to realize that piece of shit, David, wasn’t worthy of her. I want to sweep her off her feet, marry her, and take her around the world on our honeymoon. But I can’t. I have to learn how to cool my jets.
Roman Forrest doesn’t cool his jets, he blazes them.
8
Roman
“I’m free!” Aria yells her voice echoing off the dull gray walls of the hospital parking garage.
“You’re supposed to take it easy,” I remind her opening the doors to the car with my key fob.
“She said I’m off bedrest, and I can go back to work. That’s all I wanted to hear.”
“She said part-time for a week while you take it easy. I think you should stay with me. You can ride into the city with me every day, and I can wait for you to close up and bring you back.”
“Roman, I really want to go home. I love it at your house. I love being with you and your family, but I need some space. You do understand, don’t you?”
“No. You can have space at my house. Twelve thousand square feet of space to be exact.”
“That’s your space, I need my space. We can have lunch together and go on dates like people who have been together for a month do. I can’t move in with you now, it’s just too soon.”
I try to act casual, but I can feel my lips pressing together in a straight line and my pulse rising. Be calm, Roman. Give her what she wants, or she’ll run so far in the opposite direction you’ll never see her again.
“When are you leaving?” I snap.
“Don’t be this way. I’m working through some things, surely you can understand.”
“I’m not being any way. I just want to know when and where you’re going.”
“I thought I’d leave tonight, and I’m going to my apartment. Where else would I go?”
I raise my eyebrows like a stubborn child without thinking. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Oh, come on now. Don’t go laying a guilt trip on me. You knew this was going to happen. I have a life to put back together.” Her phone beeps in her purse. She takes it out and smiles when she reads the message. She closes out the screen without responding, but before she can put her phone back into her purse, it rings.
She answers. “Hello?” Pause. “Hello?” she says a little louder this time. “Is anybody there?” She listens a little longer and hangs up.
“Wrong number?”
“I’m not sure, they didn’t say anything, but I swear I could hear someone breathing and a TV in the background. Probably a random butt dial or something.”
I wait for her to tell me who the text message was from, but she never does. I don’t want to be nosy, so I don’t ask, but it’s killing me not knowing.
At home, Mom and Leeza meet us at the door with drinks and balloons. “What’s all this?” Aria asks accepting the drink as my mother kisses her on the cheek.
“A celebration of your freedom!” Leeza shouts and blows a noise maker so loud it echoes off the walls of the foyer.
“Really, Mom, a party?” My Aria leaving me to go back to the city isn’t something I feel like celebrating.
“Of course, you know us, any excuse for a party. Aria deserves some fun after being cooped up in your bedroom for a week,” Leeza says putting a heavy emphasis on the word ‘week’ as if it were torture.
“I hardly think it was that bad.” I shake my head to the drink she tries to put in my hand.
“You’re such a party pooper. Come on, Aria, we have a swimsuit for you, and Ella prepared a spread out by the pool.” Leeza starts to lead Aria away looking over her shoulder at me to stick out her tongue like she did when we were kids.
She used to do this all the time. I’d bring a friend home from school, and she would glom onto them, tempt them with something, and steal them away just to drive me crazy. I look at my mother, and she smiles sympathetically. “You can’t rein her in, you know. She’s a force all her own.”
“She’s leaving me tonight,” I say when they are out of earshot.
“She’s not leaving you, love. She’s going home. There’s quite a big difference.”
“She has everything she could possibly want right here. Why would she want to go back to that tiny apartment alone?” I’m pouting, and I know it, but dammit if I’m not used to getting my way.
“She needs her independence, you know that.”
I slide my hands into my pockets and look away. She cups my cheek and brings my gaze back to hers. “She isn’t Millie. She’s stubborn and broken, and she needs to straighten her life out before she can make you a permanent part of it. You were Millie’s life. From the moment she laid eyes on you, she was completely dedicated to you and your mission. You may not believe you’re comparing the two, but I suspect subconsciously you are.”
“I know that, and no I am not comparing them. They’re two very different women who happen to look a lot alike. Period.”
She links her arm with mine and tries to lead me toward the pool. “No, Mom, I’m going upstairs for a while. I have some things to do for work before I start going back into the city tomorrow. Tell Aria I’ll be down in a bit if you will, please.”
She kisses my cheek and leaves the foyer while I make my way upstairs to the room. I stand outside the door, and like always before, I open it, and my heart accelerates, and a thin layer of sweat breaks out on my forehead.
The day I came home from a quick trip to New York for business ten years ago and opened this door, I had no idea how my life was about to change. I place my hand on the knob and hesitate. Why do I feel the need to punish myself right now? Wanting Aria to stay isn’t wrong, is it? Yes, it’s selfish and greedy. I want her all to myself no matter how it affects her life. She needs space, and I want to keep her here locked up like a hostage.
I push open the door and step inside allowing all the pain of that day to wash over me. Everything is exactly as it was the day I found Millie dead on the floor of our unborn child’s nursery. The curtains are open, and the sun streams across the crib still made up waiting for the baby who would never sleep there because of me. Stacks of diapers, tiny little clothes, an overturned step stool and a massive bloodstain on the carpet are all in the same places.
I wouldn’t allow anyone to touch a thing. This is my torture chamber, my punishment room that I come to when I start to feel like the man I used to be when Millie and our baby died. The man who put work first and forgot to change that lightbulb. The man who didn’t put other’s needs before his own.
I swore at their gravesite I would never be that man again. That’s why I waited for Aria for so long instead of just swooping in and taking her from that jackass boyfriend of hers. It had to be her choice to be with me, she needed to come to me of her own free will. I helped her along when I knew she’d left him. I didn’t give her time to grieve her almost marriage. No, I had to go and barge into her life and make my claim the second she was free of him. And now I’m pushing her too hard too fast, and I must stop.
I kneel down next to the bloodstain and touch the leg of the step stool that wasn’t strong enough to support my pregnant wife. I am like that step stool, too weak and unsteady to support the people I love most. But more than that, I am selfish, selfish enough to want Aria even though I’m not good enough for her.
I allow two tears to fall from my cheeks onto the deep maroon bloodstained rug before standing up to leave. Mother will be coming soon, she always seems to know when I’m here. She will quietly enter the room averting her eyes from the spot on the floor and lead me away from my self-inflicted pain fest.
I must do better. I will do better. Aria is my second chance at love, and I’m not going to blow
it by being a stubborn egocentric ass.
In my office, I work for an hour setting things for my return to work tomorrow. Then I put on a smile and make my way to the pool to celebrate the love of my life’s departure.
I bristle right away when I find her in the pool with Mom and Leeza. She’s supposed to be taking it easy not drinking and swimming. I approach, and she catches my eye. “Before you scold me, I’m not drinking, I’m not getting my head wet, and this is all their fault,” Aria says pointing at Mom and Leeza.
“That’s right, girl. I’ll take the blame for all this fun, go right ahead and blame me,” Leeza yells pulling herself from the water and heading to the diving board.
“And I haven’t done that either,” Aria says hitching her thumb at my sister as she does a perfect half pike off the board slicing into the water with no splash whatsoever.
“Well, I should hope not.” I take a seat, and Ella brings me two fingers of my favorite Scotch. “Thank you, Ella.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
“Ella…” I say with a warning.
“Roman. Sorry, sir.”
I chuckle. After all this time, she still has trouble calling me by my first name.
“Have they been behaving themselves?” I ask.
“Oh, yes. I made them lots of things to snack on, and the missus has only had one drink.”
“What about the Miss?” I ask referring to Leeza.
“Oh, well, I’m not sure. She’s sneaky, you know.”
“I do.” Ella is my secret spy. She helps me keep an eye on my women, so I can keep them safe.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Aria asks crossing her arms on the side of the pool.
“I might.”
“Oh, come on party pooper. Get your swim trunks on. Mom put them in the pool house. Or swim in your boxers, we don’t care!” Leeza backstrokes away laughing.
“Please,” Aria says, and that’s it. She bats her big blue eyes, and I’m on my feet going to the pool house to change. When I return, Leeza is sitting on the edge of the pool, Mom is lounging on a floating chair, and Aria is in the same spot talking to Leeza.
“Give us a show, entertain us, Mufasa!”
“What do you want to see?” I ask. Leeza and I used to dive competitively growing up. We stopped diving but never grew out of the competitiveness.
“I don’t care, do something that will impress your woman.”
Aria looks intrigued. “Let’s see whatcha got,” she says waving her arm toward the board.
I was going to warm up with something easy, but now I feel challenged. I decide to go with a forward two-and-a-half somersault with a twist, my specialty in competitions. This is the dive that always wins a medal, but tonight I need it to help me win a woman instead.
I step forward and position myself focusing on the horizon in front of me at first. Then I put the board into motion bouncing until I’m sure I have enough momentum to complete the dive. Lifting off, I tuck and twist with lightning speed and enter the water like a bullet—fast and accurate.
When I break the surface of the water, everyone is cheering and clapping, most of all Aria. I swim to my fan group and soak up their praise.
“You never told me you could dive,” Aria says with wide sparkling eyes.
“It never came up, I guess.”
“And you, too, Leeza. Wow, you two are amazing.”
Leeza breathes on her nails and pretends to buff them on her chest. “It was nothing.”
“It was most certainly not nothing. I spent a fortune on diving lessons and competitions for you two,” Mom says.
“I’m kidding, Mom. I think you need another drink.”
“She’s fine, Leeza. Aren’t you, Mom?”
“Yes, dear. As a matter of fact, I am fine. I’m cutting back on my alcohol intake. Katrina at the spa says my skin is beginning to look dull. I can’t have that.” Mom narrows her eyes examining Leeza’s complexion. “You might want to do the same, sweetheart.”
“Mother! Are you saying there’s something wrong with my skin?”
“Well, you have been looking a little green lately,” I add trying my best not to smile.
“Shut up, your opinion doesn’t count. Aria, do you think my skin is dull?”
Aria backs up a step in the water holding her hands out. “Oh no, I’m not going to be dragged into this. You’re both lovely and very beautiful. No further comment.” She swims to the shallow end and wades out of the pool.
Leeza has let her borrow one of her bikinis, and I must say it looks a hell of a lot better on Aria. The pale pink and orange strappy suit hugs her curves in all the right places. I want to follow her out of the pool, but I’m currently at half-mast after watching her walk to her chair.
“Nice going guys, you chased her right out of the pool.”
“It’s Mom’s fault.”
“No, it’s your own fault, Leeza. Mom was trying to hint at the fact that you’ve been drinking your way through your days. What are you doing with your life anyway? Whatever happened to your dream of opening a boutique? You have a very expensive college degree, and you’re killing your brain cells with alcohol instead of using them to start a business. What’s going on with you?”
“Not all of us can be money-making machines like you, Roman. Lay off.” Leeza hoists herself from the pool at the side without using a ladder. She whips a towel off a nearby chair, wraps it around herself, and storms inside.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s at a turning point in her life. She doesn’t know what to do, and I think that’s why she’s drinking so much. I spoke to her last night about it, and she broke down crying. She thinks she’s the black sheep of the family with nothing to offer.”
“That’s bullshit. She’s smart and talented and beautiful. And she has access to absurd amounts of money. She can do or be anything she wants.”
“I’m sorry she’s not here to hear you say that. She feels like she’s a disappointment.”
“I could talk to her. I mean, if she was really interested in opening a business, I have experience doing that,” Aria says.
“Why doesn’t she ask me for help? I’m the man of the house. She should be able to come to me for anything.”
“You’re her brother, it’s different.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, it just is,” Aria says stretching out on the lounge chair sipping a fruity concoction.
I exit the pool semi-gone after arguing with my sister and stretch out in the chair next to Aria. “You’re an only child. How do you know it feels different to get help from a brother?” I ask.
She takes a moment to rearrange herself on her chair leading me to believe she’s stalling.
“Did she say something to you?” She looks like she’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “She did, didn’t she? What did she say?”
“Just that she’s feeling aimless, and she doesn’t want to disappoint you.”
“Am I that unapproachable?” I thought Leeza and I were closer than that. Anything she wants, all she needs to do is ask.
“You two always have that sibling banter thing going on. Maybe she feels uncomfortable being serious?”
Mom joins us sitting at the table to my right. “I couldn’t have put it better myself, Aria. Go to her, Roman. Talk to her as the head of the family instead of her brother. Let her see you support her in her goals. I have a feeling a little will go a long way with your sister right now.”
I sigh feeling like a failure, something I’m not accustomed to. How could I have missed my sister’s need for guidance? “Okay, I’ll go talk to her. Aria, why don’t you shower and get your things together, and I’ll take you into the city when I’m done. I think this party is over.”
Aria sits forward removing her sunglasses. “Okay,” she says slowly as if she can’t believe her ears. I’m serious about not blowing my second chance. No more selfishness. Aria’s needs are my priority, and if she needs space,
I’ll give her space.
Her phone rings on the table next to her. She picks it up and looks at the screen with a puzzled expression. “Who is it?” I ask.
“It’s Unknown, just like earlier.” She answers the call. “Hello? Hello, is anybody there?” She looks at me unsure of what to do. I motion for her to hand me the phone and put it to my ear to listen. I hear what sounds like a low murmur of voices, a lot of them like a crowd maybe, and then the call ends.
“They hung up.” I hand her the phone.
“Did it sound like they were in a crowd to you?” she asks.
“Yes, like a lot of voices, but I couldn’t make out any words.”
“Weird, that’s twice in one day.”
“It is weird.” I don’t like it. Something about these two unknown calls bothers me. So much that I almost suggest she stay the night, but I don’t. She would think it’s a ploy to get her to stay. She might even go so far as to think I was orchestrating the prank calls to keep her here. It’s not a bad idea actually… No, I will not think that way. Aria needs to come to me voluntarily with her heart open and ready to be loved completely forever.
I push the ego monster back into his cave and offer Aria a hand out of her chair.
“Do you think it’s just a coincidence?” she asks sounding hopeful.
“Probably. You don’t have to worry about it, though. You have a brand-new high-end security system in your apartment. I’ll take you home and make sure you’re all locked in before I leave.”
“Thank you. I thought it was a little overkill at first, but now that I think about it, you can never be too safe in the city.”
“That’s my proactive girl. Keep thinking like that, and you’ll be fine. Go shower. I’ll be up in a bit.” I watch her walk away and kiss my mother goodnight. “What are your plans for the rest of the evening?” I ask.
“Well, since this party turned out poorly, I’ll probably go on up to bed and read.”
“I’m sorry. It was a nice idea, thank you.”
She waves her arms toward the back door. “Shoo, go and make everyone better. I’m going to help Ella clean up.”
