Brent pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “It’s okay.” He felt the underwire of her bra press into his flesh as she lost herself and absently chewed on his shirt. Brent’s hands stop moving and she began to pull away, feeling like she’d ruined everything again. After quickly and obviously eyeing Juno’s breasts, Brent’s hand moved her head back against his chest and stroked her softly on the back of the neck. Keeping her facing to the side so she wouldn’t see the look on his face as he silently swallowed, or the beginning of something even more difficult to explain in the crotch of his pants. Part of him wishing he could go back in time and see if Juno’s oral solution to his problems held any merit. “I forgive you. I know what you two are going through. I mean, I’ve never been through it myself, but I understand. In a book learning sort of way. You don’t have to apologise anymore. If you keep on explaining yourself, you’re not going to have enough energy left to eat.” He laughed, feeling the nervousness leaving him, though the heat of Juno’s breath on the damp spot she’d made on his shirt kept him feeling alert, aroused and incredibly self-aware. “You’re going a million miles an hour with that mouth of yours. It’s okay.”
Juno blushed as she took a seat on the bench by the picnic table, closest to the grill. “Thank you.” She wiped her eyes and began rubbing at Brent’s shirt with her thumb. “Bad habit.” She worked to dry him off. “I apologise, yet again.”
“No problem, kid.” Brent’s forehead started to bead sweat. “Can you do me a favour and go knock on Cadence’s door? She wanted to rest before you came over and I’m afraid she might have fallen asleep again. All this. You two moving in. It’s tired her out something fierce.” He nudged her and winked. “Besides, you know we can’t trust those two to be alone together.”
They both laughed as she went in to fetch Cadence.
Soon, they were all outside, Cadence wearing another full body dress. This time disguising her figure with heavier fabric and dark blue colour.
“Nothing to worry about tonight,” David whispered to Juno, as Cadence stood and brought plates over to Brent so he could stack them high with boneless steaks. Brushing and sniffing at the damp spot on his shirt as he said something about the juice from the meat and Cadence smiled weakly, glaring at Juno and faking understanding.
“Shush,” Juno whispered. “Don’t make fun of her body. I was being mean before. I thought it was nice to see her in something revealing this afternoon. Just because she’s got a body like a sheet of plywood doesn’t mean she should have to be uncomfortable. When I worked the streets, I knew plenty of women a whole lot uglier than her that put a whole lot more on display, regularly.” Cadence looked back at Juno and David and smiled a practised smile as Brent continued to load the plates. “Do you think she heard me?” She whispered even lower.
“I don’t know,” David whispered back, realising Juno truly had no idea he wasn’t making fun of Cadence’s body at all. “But we should stop this line of conversation, anyway.” Juno made a gesture, running her fingers across her mouth, suggesting she was going to zip it.
I’m sorry, David said. She didn’t mean that. She’s just jealous.
No, Cadence said. Juno can see me as I am. As my beloved still does. She’s right about why we sleep in separate beds. He can’t stand the thought of laying with me. But he loves me. He’s my beloved. He cares for me and he provides for me. He never speaks a cruel word to me, and he will realise he loves me, and see the beauty you never will, in perfect time. If we’re not going to have another child yet, then it’s an acceptable arrangement. Especially since we have you here, now, and you insist on acting like one. ...Please, David. Though I do have a special place in my heart for you, if you could quit undressing me with your mind, I would greatly appreciate it. I’m not your orange-red haired crush. You’re making me feel... Please, cease the infantile behaviour.
Hold the phone, Cadence. Did you just say ‘another’—?
Another ‘what’? You’re talking nonsense. Now, cease your prattle or I’ll... ...I’ll send you to your room without supper. She tried to suppress a sly grin that turned into a grimace. You confused me and I misspoke... Now, please, let’s just... Okay?
And you knowing Melody’s exact hair colour? Was that a mistake, too?
Cadence looked away as her eyes squeezed shut. Damning herself for speaking too hastily. Not realising, it seemed, that David could hear her berating herself.
David apologised to Cadence in his head as he wrapped his ethereal arms around her from behind and gave her a hug. Making her flush and shiver as she shook him off angrily, and he asked Brent, out loud, what was cooking.
“Boneless steaks,” Brent said. “From the freezer in your garage. You see? You’re already providing. This one is always right.” He put his arm around Cadence and she snuggled her head against his chest. “I’ve already had a taste, and boy are you three in for a treat.”
“Sounds great,” David said. “I can’t wait.”
So, I’m providing food that was already in the freezers in my garage? David asked.
Cadence smiled at Brent, acting as if she hadn’t heard David’s question. Technically, yes. This time.
Technically?
Just... David. It’s not important. Not now. You will help provide tonight and then you will know. Please. Let’s just enjoy this meal in peace. Okay?
David nodded, looking disappointed. Juno considered asking him why the hell he was bobbing his head, but then figured she didn’t really care.
Within minutes all of them were seated at their places and Brent and Cadence were digging in. Cutting their steaks into giant pieces and feasting on them like barbarians. David ate his slowly, marvelling at the exquisite taste. Juno picked at hers lightly. Sniffing the meat and taking small bites, not looking at all well.
“You’ve got to tell me your recipe,” David said. “The burgers last night. These steaks. What’s your secret ingredient?”
Brent and Cadence looked at each other and smiled. “That’s a closely guarded secret, Davey. You know I can’t tell you that.” He tapped at Juno’s hand. “Maybe I’ll tell you. One day. When Junie quits eating like a bird.”
Juno looked up from her plate, grimacing.
“Come on, quit pecking away at it. Just put the whole thing in your mouth and swallow.” Brent grinned as Juno looked down in shame, remembering their argument and wondering if Brent was digging into her or just totally clueless. “You’re going to love it.”
“Go ahead, eat it, Junie.” David nudged her.
“It’s okay. I’m not feeling hungry.” She stuck her fork in a small piece she’d cut off and lifted it to her nose, sniffing it. “It smells off. Are you sure these haven’t been in that garage for the last year? Freezer burn, maybe?”
“Not as far as I know,” Brent said. “They taste fine to me. Davey?”
“Excellent.” David shovelled another piece into his mouth.
“Cadence?”
“Delicious,” she said. “You’ll love it, Juno. It may be a bit stiff at first but it melts right in your mouth.” She waved at Juno, who looked strangely relieved.
Juno looked at the meat on her fork and watched the juice from it drip down to her plate. Swearing it changed colour as it thinned and oxidised. Then, though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she took a bite out of shame. Feeling like it was the least she could do to complete her apology for calling Cadence a foul and loose woman and accusing Brent of serially molesting her.
The meat felt tough in her mouth and she fought to chew it. As she chewed, she felt the adrenaline in her system begin to pump harder and faster. Filling her with anxiety and flooding her head with bizarre visions. She flashed on a rabbit. Dead and pierced crossways with broken sticks. She saw blood shooting up against a wall. With every bite, her teeth tasted and felt more like steel blades, cutting and sawing into her flesh. Metallic and cold.
“I’m sorry.” She coughed the undigested piece of meat back onto her plate. “I can�
�t.” She gagged, threatening to vomit, as she pushed her side of the bench away from the table and curled up into a ball on the ground, grasping at her stomach and heaving. The juice from the meat was still dripping from her lips and she fought to spit it out as more and more horrible sounds and visions filled her head: The shrieking of gutted pigs. Cows at Kosher slaughter. The squishing, grating sound of meat being hacked to the bone. Chickens blindly running around, pulsing blood from their slit throats. Babies crying. Walls of dead, decaying bodies. The tear of haemorrhaging organs. Kittens being eaten alive by plagues of rats. Blood raining down from the sky.
She wiped at her face frantically.
Brent raced over to her and cleaned the juice off her face with a napkin. Cadence helped, asking Juno to take sips of water, swish it around in her mouth and spit it out. Within a minute or three, Juno was looking slightly healthier and rubbing at her stomach with less fervour.
“Oh my goodness.” Cadence paced back and forth, eyeing the meat left on Juno’s plate. “I feel absolutely terrible about this.” She looked over at Brent. “Are you sure these were all from the same batch?” Brent looked puzzled. “I don’t understand. Everything should have been perfect. My steak was wonderful. David? Brent? Were yours okay?” They both nodded and agreed that, yes, they were quite delicious. Brent made a point of noting he’d prepared them all himself and he was sure none were any different than the others, aside from Cadence’s special cut.
Cadence moved to Juno’s plate and sliced off a hunk of meat for herself. She held it to her nose, sniffed it, and bit from the piece to taste. As she did, her face flushed and she chewed vigorously. She took the rest of the steak and ate it with her bare hands. “It’s quite good,” she said in between swallows. “Nothing wrong with it at all. It’s very flavourful. Perhaps it’s too dense? It’s tastier than the others. I think this one was supposed to be mine. Our plates must have gotten mixed up. This is... Oh, my Lord.”
Brent stood and tapped his metal spatula on the grill. “This is a bit of a fix. I Could have sworn I put your portion on your plate, Cadence. I must have gotten them confused.”
“I think so,” Cadence said, nodding. “This is embarrassing.” Her face looked as if she was experiencing a higher level of gustatory delight than any of the other people at the table had that evening. Her tongue was busy licking all around the inside of her mouth, across her teeth, around her lips and chin. Making sure it captured every drop of juice from the meat. “Oh my goodness. That was definitely the most savoury cut.” She sat as she finished swallowing, running her fingers down the length of her throat while her other hand scratched at the lap of her dress and she glanced down at Juno.
“Whoops.” Brent ran inside to fill a glass with juice as Juno sat up. Her face looking peaked. Her entire body shivering like she’d come down with a case of instant food poisoning.
“Let’s get her inside.” Cadence grabbed Juno’s left arm and David grabbed her right.
Don’t lift her like you can, Cadence said. Lift her like you used to be able to. He indicated he understood, and he and Cadence both pretended to struggle to lift Juno to her feet, drape her arms over their shoulders and drag her inside to the kitchen table.
“Wow. Dead weight.” Brent looked on in amazement as they sat her down. “I feel awful.”
“It’s entirely my fault.” Cadence wetted a paper towel at the sink and dabbed it on Juno’s forehead. “I should have double checked everything. I’ve been a terrible hostess.”
“It’s okay,” Brent said. “Relax.”
“But our guests,” Cadence said. David noticed her blink rate increase as her figure flickered in and out of view rapidly and she whispered into Juno’s ear. “Though I appreciate your having the common decency to wear undergarments tonight, I will not tolerate the perversity you associate with rubbing. Especially with the thumb. And I warn you once more: You keep your hands off my men. I won’t handle you as nicely next time.” Then her blinking slowed and she continued to speak as if no one had heard her provocation. “What must they think? This is an embarrassment. I’m ashamed to show my face.”
“Cadence...” Brent motioned for David to give Juno sips of juice as his voice raised and he watched Cadence running away. “It’s okay. The meat was fine. You didn’t do anything wrong. God damn it, Cadence, she’s just—” He turned his head back around as Cadence’s bedroom door slammed shut and his voice dropped back to a normal volume. “Oh man. Now she thinks she’s going to be the gossip of the town again. I swear, she takes these little things far too seriously. Everything will be fine.”
“I’m okay.” Juno started to drink the juice more easily. “I just feel tired. I’m exhausted, actually. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe it’s me. I mean, you’re all fine, right? And Cadence? She’s okay, too, yeah? And she ate my meat?” David and Brent both nodded. “Then it must just be me?”
By the time Juno was feeling well enough to move around on her own, the clock was reading twenty-six past ten and everyone agreed it was time to go to bed.
“Where does Cadence sleep?” David asked, even though everyone already knew.
Brent motioned to David, who knocked on Cadence’s door, as Brent turned toward his own small bedroom across the hall. “She gets the big one,” he said. “That’s where you’ll be sleeping.”
“Go away,” Cadence yelled through her door. “I’m embarrassed enough as it is. Please don’t make me come back out.”
“Our guests are ready for bed. We agreed they’d be sleeping in your room.”
“I’m sorry,” David said. “We never really asked. Is it okay if we sleep in your room with you tonight?” He looked back at Brent, who seemed entirely disinterested.
There was a sound of something being knocked over and a lot of scurrying about, and then Cadence’s door opened. She was dressed in a silky white sleeveless nightgown and she wore a nightcap, under which she’d managed to hide all the hair on her head. Which seemed odd, and impossible, since her hair fell well to the middle of her back when it hung straight. Then again, the nightcap did look awfully fat and tall.
“Please.” Cadence kissed Brent on the cheek and wished him good night as he muttered something unintelligible. She closed her door once David and Juno were inside. “I’ve made places on the floor for two.” She twisted as she spoke, looking down and flushing red as Juno looked over at David and rolled her eyes. “If you’d prefer, we women can sleep on the floor and you may take the bed, David. I would offer it to Juno, since that would be most proper, but... This is a delicate situation.”
Juno turned away so she wouldn’t have to hide her smirk. “She’s your girlfriend,” she whispered to David. “Cuckoo.”
Cadence continued as if she’d heard nothing. “I would normally offer the bed to you, Juno. Because that’s only proper. You being the guest and being a woman. It’s only good manners. But...” She paused again, chewing on her lower lip. The frustration painted on her face was making it harder and harder for Juno not to laugh. “If I offer you the bed then I will be laying next to David. And that would be... Oh that would be just... Unforgivable. I don’t know what to do.”
Brent opened the door after knocking sharply seven times. “Listen,” he said. “For Christ’s sake. The settings you put on the floor are on opposite sides of the bed.”
Juno grabbed hold of David’s hand and held her other to her mouth as she fought to keep from giggling. Then she whispered to David again. “She is so your new girlfriend.” Her face began to shake, and her eyes began to tear up, as she held back her laughter.
“Seriously,” Brent said. “Junie can sleep on the bed and you and Davey can sleep on the floor. There’s nothing improper about it. You won’t even be able to see each other, much less accidentally roll over and end up making babies.”
Juno let out a laugh, which she stifled quickly. “I’m so sorry.” She turned around. “It’s just. Brent’s right. I don’t mean to be rude.” She burst out laughing to the point o
f tears as Cadence looked away quickly in anger. “I love you, Cadence. I do, but, for the love of God, will you please stop it? You’re killing me.” She stamped her feet, trying to stop the giggles. “If you’re flexible enough to fuck Davey from your place on one side of the bed to his on the other, then, God bless you. You deserve him if you want him.” She took in deep breaths. “I’m sorry, Brent. No disrespect. But—” She resumed laughing.
“None taken.” Brent looked at David and Cadence like Juno was losing her marbles. “I think it’s still the meat. She’s going to pass out soon. We’d better get her in bed.”
“There’s an idea,” Juno said, still trying to keep the laughter in check. “I’ll go sleep in big Brent’s room and you two stay in here. Then no two people will be on the same floor in the same room.” David looked at Juno crossly, while Cadence turned away and her fists clenched.
Brent looked Juno up and down quickly, while she continued to blather on and he appeared to be considering that option. “Don’t be silly.” He looked at the ceiling as he felt David and Cadence’s eyes on him. “Everything will be fine the way it is.”
“Or Davey can go sleep in Melody’s room.” Juno started to yawn. “He likes it there. It’s warm and safe and it smells pretty.”
“What?” Cadence’s face went white.
Don’t worry, David said. She isn’t talking about you. She’s talking about you back before she met me. I may have mentioned Melody once or twice when I was... before. And, maybe, six or seven times after that. It’s her hang up... Or maybe it’s my fixation, but she doesn’t know what I know.
Not when you...?
Of course not. David looked down and away. And,why in the world would that bother you? You’re not Melody. You say.
fiX - A ParaBnormal Fairy Tale Page 27
