by Giselle Fox
Contents
Title Page
Copywrite
Dedication
By Giselle Fox
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Epilogue
More
Rock Candy
by Giselle Fox
No part of this e-book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews. Please note that piracy of copyright materials is illegal and directly harms the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are a product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
© 2016 Giselle Fox - All Rights Reserved
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.
-Rumi
Books by Giselle Fox:
Rare and Beautiful Things
Slow Burn in Tuscany
Claire and the Lady Billionaire Series:
This is an ongoing series of steamy contemporary lesbian romance featuring one of my favorite couples, Claire and Camille. Please check them out!
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Giselle Fox Amazon Author Page
Giselle Fox on Facebook
Gisellefox.com
CHAPTER ONE
Spring was beautiful on the West Coast. The cherry blossoms were out and tiny pink and white flowers blew like snowflakes in the warm breeze. People were back on the streets enjoying the sun and warm air, holding hands and laughing. I was spending time alone down in Seattle while my partner, Christa, worked another busy weekend in her salon back home in Vancouver.
The fact that I was a romantic at heart was probably one of my best-kept secrets. I liked to sit with a coffee and watch couples be cute together. Young couples, old couples, and whenever I could find it, couples my age that looked like they might still be in love. I took another sip from my big red bowl full of cappuccino. I was wired already since it was my second of the day and still before noon. I watched an older couple walk arm-in-arm down the street and wondered to myself, are they in love? From the way they held onto each other it seemed they were doing more than just staying upright, they actually wanted to touch.
Maybe I should hold Christa’s hand more, I thought to myself. Then I spotted a bath and body shop across the street and made a mental note to pick up something nice for her before the drive back. Yeah, she’d like that. A massage is always a nice way to warm things up.
The hostess sat another couple at a table on the patio near me. They looked about my age, mid-forties. I watched them from the periphery of my sunglasses as they sat and made themselves comfortable. They scanned the menu and said a few terse words to each other. Once they’d decided, the husband watched people pass on the street while the wife alternated between checking her phone and staring off into space. Neither smiled nor seemed particularly happy to be where they were. They didn’t speak to each other the entire time they waited.
The wife glanced at her husband and he glanced at her, but never at the same time. If there was something there still, I couldn’t see it. If one of them would only reach across the table and hold the other’s hand, I thought. Or if the guy would just touch her knee under the table, maybe that would make their silence less heartbreaking.
I thought of the little gifts inside the bag on the chair beside me and wondered if it was too late for small gestures like that. Inside the bag were twelve handmade chocolate and caramel clusters shaped into delicious female body parts. Four breasts, four perfect little chocolate pussies and four sets of lips with tongues. Christa loved chocolate. Not so long ago she loved sex too. I was hoping the combination would set the mood and get her thinking about old times. If by some miracle the chocolates worked, maybe then I would show her what I had specially wrapped in black tissue inside the glittery gold box at the bottom of the bag.
In the old days, Christa would have melted over gifts like that. But after twelve years, I really wasn’t sure how she’d react. Still, I thought to myself, nothing says I missed you babe like a box of chocolate covered cooters. It seemed a bit ridiculous but… what did I have to lose? No, if I want to make a change, I thought seriously, I have to do something big and grand. I had to plan a weekend away for just the two of us. I would conspire with her shop manager, Mel to clear her weekend schedule and then, surprise her with a trip to the coast, or something romantic. I figured she’d love that. I smiled when I imagined the look she’d give me when she found out. But I knew once we were alone, we would wrap ourselves in each other against a log and just watch the waves like we used to. I sat back in my chair and remembered that for a moment. How it felt to love her and life so much that I was convinced I could do anything. It seemed like such a long time ago.
It was obvious we’d grown apart. I couldn’t remember the exact day it happened, or whether I ever thought it would happen. In the last few years, there had been friction and the last few months had been plain lonely. We were together but separate. At the end of the day, we said goodnight and rolled over. When I came home she barely looked up, and when she came home, I wasn’t always there. Like that Sunday afternoon when I was sipping coffee alone in Seattle.
I focused on a young couple across the street from where I sat. They were kissing playfully. I remembered those days with Christa, where even the softest touch was fully-charged. It seemed that love was only easy when it was new and that erosion by time was inevitable. I left a tip and grabbed my bag of gifts. I glanced back at the table I’d been watching just in time to see the husband check out my ass.
I’d been a music junkie for years. If there was a show or a festival worth watching, I was usually there. By that point in my life, I’d worked for enough acts that I was almost always on someone’s guest list. That weekend was a combined work and play trip. I had an album cover contract for a band I’d done a lot of work for and wanted some face time with the drummer, an old friend.
“Hey, Rocky!” Bruce hollered across the alley where all the tour buses were parked.
“Brutus! What’s shaking?”
He wrapped his big arms around me and lifted me off the ground. “How you doin’ girl?” he asked and planted a sloppy one on my cheek.
“Gah! Your beard is taking over the world,” I said. “When did you become such a hipster?”
He put me back on the ground and stroked his fingers through his fur. “The wife told me to grow it or lose it,” he said. “So I did the obvious. How long are you down for?”
“Heading back this afternoon,” I said.
“Too bad. Thought maybe you’d want to ride with us. We’re heading to San Francisco tonight.”
I gave the idea some consideration. Partying on a tour bus didn’t mean what it used to but being back on my old stomping grounds would have been a lot of fun. “Hmm. If I didn’t have to be back in the shop tomorrow, you know I would. How’s married life?”
“Great. We’re pregna
nt!”
“No shit!”
“For real. Due in September. It’s totally freaking me out.”
Bruce was covered head-to-toe in muscles, tattoos, and piercings but under all the ink, metal and facial fur, he had a heart of gold. “You’re going to be a great dad,” I said.
“Thanks! Got no choice now,” he laughed. “How about you? Ever think about kids?”
“No, I think that ship has sailed, know what I’m saying?”
“Nah, you’re in good shape, you could still do it.”
“Maybe. It’s just not... I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I can’t picture it with what we have going on now, you know?”
Bruce nodded. “Sure, I get it. How’s she doing? Everything good?”
“Sure, yeah, everything is... you know.”
Bruce looked at me a moment and nodded again. “Good!” he said and gave me a big warm smile. “Well, she must be something special to make you up and leave everything behind like that. What’s it been, ten years?”
“Almost twelve. She’s... something alright,” I said with a smile.
“Well... good for you,” he said and gave me a pat on the back. “Hey that cover you did for the Dukes was fantastic.”
“Thanks. When is your next one coming out?”
“Probably Christmas. Did the marketing guys get in touch with you about that?”
“Yeah, I got something a couple of weeks ago.”
“You want to do it?”
“Yeah, why, do you want someone else?”
“Fuck no! You’ve been with us since the beginning. What the fuck would I want with another designer now?”
“Good then. I’ll work on it.”
“Are you going to stick around for the show? We’re on at five I think.”
“No, I’ll be heading back before then. I got a new dog. Christa forgets to let him out sometimes and I want to take him for a run.”
Bruce nodded. “Gotcha. Well hey, I was just heading back to the bus. Wanna say hello to the rest of the guys?”
“Sure,” I said. “That would be great.”
***
When I walked in the front door of my house, there was a group of people in my living room and even more in the kitchen. People that were so used to being there that they helped themselves. I didn’t usually mind since it saved me from playing hostess.
“Hey, Rocky,” Mel said. “Did you just get in?”
“Yeah,” I said. “This very second. Hey, do you know if Christa put the notice up at work about my condo being for rent again?”
Mel looked puzzled. “I haven’t seen it. Maybe she forgot.”
I shook my head. “Well if you know anyone, it’s a nice place. They can move in anytime.”
“I’ll ask around, for sure,” she said.
“Thanks. Hey, where’s Christa at?”
“Don’t know. She was here a minute ago. She and Sam were moving a piece of furniture upstairs.”
“Okay,” I said and peered up the old fir staircase. The lights were off and I couldn’t hear anything over the music. “Hey Rocky,” I heard someone yell from the kitchen. I held up my hand and gave Griffin a wave and then decided I should probably get myself a beer while there was any left. I walked into the kitchen and everyone smiled and said hello.
“Hey, lady! Where have you been?” Teresa asked as she gave me a kiss on the cheek. She wiped the lipstick off with her thumb and giggled. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. Her girlfriend Annie was out on the back deck and I could smell the weed from where I stood.
“Down in Seattle seeing some friends at the Summit festival,” I said.
“Oh right, I heard about that. I loooove Seattle,” she said. “Me and Annie used to go down all the time and stay at the Claremont. Remember that Annie?” she hollered. She turned back to me and grinned. “She won’t remember anything right now.”
“Have you seen Christa?” I asked
Teresa looked around as if she might be hiding over her shoulder. “Um… I saw her and Sam moving a dresser. It looked heavy.”
“Okay,” I said and pulled the fridge open. There were a few beers left but none of them were mine. “Help yourself, Rocky,” I heard Tony yell from the back deck.
I gave him a wave and took a Phillips from the box, popped it open and took a big swig. I poked my head out the back door just in case Christa was hiding in plain sight but she wasn’t there either. “Hey,” I said to everyone. The pot belly stove was stuffed with logs and a few people had pulled the kitchen chairs out onto the deck and were lounging in front of it.
“Pull up a seat, Rocky,” Colin called.
“I will, I’m just going to find Christa. I have something for her.”
“Check upstairs, I saw her and Sam...”
“Moving a dresser,” I said. “I’ll check up there.”
I walked back through the kitchen and living room and up the old fir steps. Radiohead started playing and some kind soul went and turned the stereo up. I played air drums with my half drunk beer as I walked up the steps. When I got to the top, I had to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. At the end of the hall, I could see Christa’s legs hanging over the edge of the double bed in the spare bedroom.
“Baby?” I called down the hallway. I saw her legs jump and then her head peek around the edge of the door. She didn’t smile. She turned and spoke to someone behind her and then wiped her mouth. She stood up and stared down the hall at me.
“What’s up?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
Christa looked to the side again but the door obstructed whoever was there. Then Sam appeared and she wasn’t smiling either. As I stood there, I had this crazy feeling that something was going on between them but I laughed it off because that was ridiculous. I was probably just being paranoid from whatever secondary smoke I’d inhaled on the back deck.
“So I heard you got a new dresser,” I said cheerfully. There were no smiles, just a whole lot of weird energy from both of them. Skip skulked out from the master bedroom behind me and tucked his head between my knees. I reached down and pet him and then bent and gave his furry head a kiss. “Even you, Skip? What is up with you guys?”
Christa took a couple of steps toward me. “We need to talk,” she said.
I scratched Skip’s head and looked up at her. “Okay, what?”
“Sam and I have something to tell you.”
I looked at Sam, a good friend for the last couple of years. She was an administrator at the art college. We’d hit it off when I’d done a guest-lecture there for the print-making class and we’d been friends ever since. Sam didn’t look directly at me. No matter how hard I tried to make eye contact, she just wouldn’t do it. I guess that’s when I knew.
“No fucking way,” I said and stared at Christa for some guidance.
“Rocky,” she said and put her hand on my chest. “There are people here, don’t make a scene.”
“You’re shitting me. Don’t make a scene? You’re fucking my friend in my house while a party of your people are downstairs and you’re asking me not to make a scene?”
Christa sighed dramatically and looked at Sam, who still wouldn’t look at me.
“Fucking figures,” I said. “You probably invited everyone over on purpose so you wouldn’t have to deal with this like an adult!” I shouted the last part because everything that was happening was so maddeningly Christa.
She threw up her hands and scoffed. “See? I knew this would happen.”
“Knew what would happen?! That I would be upset to find out that you’re fucking around on me after, what, twelve years?!”
Christa pursed her lips. “I’m sorry Rocky… but it’s over.”
“Did you practice that?”
“Don’t be mean,” she muttered.
“Right. I’m mean.”
“Christa was worried...” Sam began to say.
I held up my hand in her direction. “Stop! I don’t hear you. I don’t see you. I don’t fucking know you. Get it
?”
“I think you should move out, Rocky. Your condo is free now. The timing is perfect.”
“Did you do that on purpose too?”
“Yes,” she said, “I knew it would be the easiest way for all of us.”
“How long has it been, Christa? How long have you two been cheating on me?”
She looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, actually, it does! How long?”
“You’re just going to make it worse.”
“No, you did this, not me. How long?”
“Since before you got Skip.”
My mouth dropped. “That was almost six months ago!”
Christa shrugged. “You wanted to know.”
“Holy shit,” I said and turned around. “Skip!” Skip stood up and followed me down the stairs.
“Rocky!” Christa called over the banister.
Suddenly it all flashed in front of me: the chocolates, the trip to the coast, the glittery black box with the black tissue, the time I first told her I loved her, and the last time I’d said it months before. I thought about freedom, children, marriage and the fact that I would have to buy new furniture; that she would want the truck and how lucky it was that I’d bought a condo as an investment; that for six months she’d been fucking my friend and that I’d been oblivious. Where had I been? I wondered. Where had I been when all of it was happening? It was too late anyway. So when Christa called my name again I held up my middle finger and kept walking.
CHAPTER TWO
6 months later
I had the dream again. I was leaning in the back corner of the elevator in my building looking down at the bundle of keys in my hand. Below my hand were the blurred outlines of my black leather lace-up boots and my frayed black jeans. There was ink all over my legs from the screen-printers in my shop. There was ink on the skin beneath the rips at my knee and my thigh where the rough edge of my work table had worn through. The tips of my fingers were black and there was gold spray paint splattered across my blue nails.
