Paper Dolls

by Sienna Mynx

  “Well I’m glad to finally meet the man responsible for such a remarkable woman. You should be proud.” Alexander nodded to the dance floor.

  “I am. To see her dancing with her brother does my heart good,” Walter admitted.

  “Brother?” Alexander asked. He glanced to the man in Raven’s arms.

  “Yes, Raven has brothers, six of them. She’s planning to meet them all. Guess that’s what happens when you got a little one on the way.” Walter chuckled and punched Alexander in the arm with a playful hit. Alexander frowned. He looked to Margene for an explanation. She gave him a forced uncomfortable smile. “Walter’s son’s wife is pregnant. That’s what he means.”

  “Huh? Oh, um, yeah.” Walter said and smiled awkwardly.

  “Well congratulations.” Alexander said. He picked up his Scotch. He lifted the drink to Walter in a toast. Zephyr joined them.

  She touched his back. “Hi stranger,” she said.

  Alexander turned and gave her a big squeeze. “Thanks for inviting me, Zee.”

  “No problem. I need to borrow him, excuse us,” she said. She took his drink from his hand and put it on the table, then led him away. Before he could object he was on the dance floor. She stepped into his arms and they swayed to the music.

  “So why are you trying to get me alone?” Alexander asked.

  “Can’t I dance with my best-friend’s ex-husband?”

  Alexander turned her and she was graceful with her moves. He looked up to see Raven watching them while she danced with her brother. If he wasn’t crazy, he would swear she looked jealous. “Not sure the birthday girl likes sharing the attention,” he said to Zee.

  Zephyr looked back and winked at Raven. “You should make her jealous.”

  Alexander shook his head and laughed. “No thanks. I kind of like her being friendly.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about that, ” Zephyr said.

  “Here it comes,” he said.

  “You still love her, right?”

  “Yes, Zee, I still love her.”

  “Well Raven is working really hard at healing herself. Look at her, Alexander. She has reached out to her family. She’s trying.”

  “Zee, you don’t have to sell me on Raven. I love her.”

  Zephyr seemed to let go a sigh of relief. Alexander frowned. He again got the feeling that he was the only one in the room not in on the secret. Zephyr stopped swaying and led him across the floor to Raven and put them together.

  “Very subtle, Zee, thanks.” Raven said.

  “Anytime,” she winked, “Let’s dance,” she said to Raven’s brother who quickly agreed after getting a good look at her. Raven chuckled to herself that he was definitely Walter’s son. Alexander drew her in close.

  “I hope it’s working,” Raven said.

  “What’s that?” Alexander asked.

  “The set up, you and me, being together like we were,” she said.

  Alexander stopped dancing. He rubbed his brow. “You want to tell me something? Everyone here is acting like the divorce never happened. You especially.”

  She walked back into his arms and continued to sway even though the music changed to a hip-hop tune. “Would you like to take me home, to spend the rest of my birthday alone? Just the two of us, so we can talk?”

  “I’d like that,” he agreed. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “In fact I’d like that very much.”

  The sound of his voice and the familiar mix of his cologne and aftershave left her giddy with excitement.

  “Let me make the rounds, to say goodnight.” When she tried to walk away he pulled her back. She lifted her eyes to his, “Yes?”

  “You and me all night?” he asked. “No fighting, just talking?”

  “All night, Alexander. And it’s my birthday so I plan to do more than talk.”

  He let her go and watched her walk off. Feeling a tap to his shoulder he turned and found Valentina. Alexander knew the day he married Rae, Valentina and Zephyr were part of the package. That rule proved true in the divorce too.

  “Hi, Valentina,” he smiled.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me to dance?” she asked.

  He took her into his arms and turned her into the music. Valentina held on to him smiling. That smile again sent Alexander’s radar up. “This is a surprise. I didn’t think you’d be able to stomach me for the night, let alone dance with me.”

  “I have to admit, Alexander, I blamed you unfairly. The Diamonds were my group and I was instrumental in forgetting the word ‘group’. I was such an insufferable bitch back then. I don’t know how you guys could stand me.”

  “You were okay.”

  “Well I understand things a lot better now than I did before. I love Rae. And my girl loves you. So for better or worse we’re stuck with each other. It’s best we start getting along now, right?”

  “You know something I don’t?” Alexander asked.

  “Just let me give you a little friendly warning, I got my eye on you, mister. Don’t fuck this up again.”

  “Why does this feel like déjà-vu?” he chuckled. “I distinctly remember this same dance at our wedding where you gave me the ‘hurt her and I’ll kick your ass’ speech.”

  “You remember that huh?” she smiled. Valentina stopped the dance and patted his arm. “Make her happy and you’re cool with me. Who am I to judge?” She looked back at Matt. Some redhead with big boobs was at his table grinning in his face. “Excuse me, looks like somebody’s lost.”

  Before he could question her further she walked off the way she came. He glanced over to see Raven kiss and hug her guests. Shaking his head he turned and went for the bathroom. He could only conclude that therapy had helped Raven in some way. She was ready to put her life together, and somehow that opened her up to forgiveness for him.

  Stepping to the urinal and lowering the tab of his zipper he removed his dick and let go the Scotch he’d been downing all night. When the door opened he didn’t bother to look up. Shaking his dick he inserted it back in his pants and his eyes finally went to the mirror. Kevin stood behind him.

  Alexander zipped himself up and walked to the sink to wash his hands.

  “I’m sure you know that I love Raven,” Kevin said.

  Alexander continued to roll his hands under the tap clearing it of soap. This was one conversation he didn’t intend to have.

  “Did you hear what I said?” Kevin asked.

  Alexander removed the hand towels and dried his hands. He turned and looked Kevin in the eyes. “Yes, and I understand why. Excuse me if I don’t want to stand here and listen to you talk about how much you want my wife.”

  Kevin shook his head. “The two of you never divorced, not really. I didn’t see that before, but I do now. Here’s something for you to know. She’s not in love with me, but I’ll never stop caring about her. So don’t hurt her again.” Kevin sighed and turned to leave. “You’re a lucky man, not many get second chances.” He tossed over his shoulder before he left.

  Alexander fumed. He didn’t take well to being played with. He tossed the hand towels and left. He spotted Raven and marched over to her. He took her from her conversation with his hand to her elbow. She looked up at him concerned. “I want you to tell me what you’re keeping from me. Why everyone is acting like we’re back together. What is going on with you? What have you told people?”

  “It’s time to go. Let’s go.” Raven turned back to everyone. “Thanks for such a great night, everyone. Goodnight.”

  Margene and Walter came over. They said their goodbyes. Margene and Raven were whispering. He caught that argument from the corner of his eye.

  “I hope we can meet again soon,” Walter said.

  “It was nice to meet you, I’m sure we will.”

  Raven’s hand slipped into his. She walked out with him. Alexander glanced back once to see Zephyr and Valentina standing near each other. They watched. They lifted their glasses to him when they saw him staring and smiled. Shaking his head he p
ut his arm around Raven and left the restaurant.

  “Can you wait for answers, a little longer? I want to talk to you at home. Not in the car.”

  “As long as I get answers,” he told her.

  She dropped her head on his shoulder. “You’ll get that and a lot more.”

  **

  “For you!” Raven said. She fixed his favorite drink.

  “Sit,” he said and put the glass on the coaster.

  Raven sat next to him and he moved in close. “Okay what’s the mystery?”

  “I’m in love with you.” Raven smiled.

  “I see. And you rediscovered this when?” he asked.

  “I always have been in love with you. I mean I never stopped loving you. I just feel good being able to say it and understand my feelings. I’ve been denying my feelings for you because I was so scared that we couldn’t be the same. I know now that even if we’re different than we were, it doesn’t change the way I feel when I look at you. The way I hope you still feel.”

  Alexander touched her hair. “Therapy helped you come to this decision?”

  “That and other things. Sit tight, be right back.” She left him. He watched her go into her bedroom and was tempted to follow. He restrained that urge, remembering how big of a disaster it was the last time he took her to bed. When she returned, she carried some kind of book. She sat back down and placed the book in his lap. He read the cover and then remembered why she started the scrapbook. He looked over at her with a raised brow.

  “Baby makes three?”

  “Look,” she opened it and showed him the front where she inserted their wedding picture to begin the discussion. “Remember that day? I was so nervous, Alexander. Especially since I got tongue-tied on my vows. But you weren’t. You whispered to me to just speak from my heart. That’s what I want to do tonight. Speak to you from my heart.”

  Alexander turned the page, his heart stopped at the sight of the sonogram. He couldn’t bring himself to look at it. He turned the page to avoid it, but she turned it back. She forced him to stare at the child they lost.

  “I saw Kim.”

  “When? Where?”

  “At a restaurant. She followed me into the bathroom. She wanted me to know how much my lack of faith in you, us, cost me. What I did to us.” Raven said softly.

  “She had no right. You didn’t do anything,” Alex said.

  “No, Alexander, it’s you that didn’t do anything.” She touched his hand. “You were in a lot of pain that night. I was your wife. I should have been the one to comfort you. Instead I let another woman step into my shoes, and listen to your burdens. So many forget about the father when a child is lost. Especially the way ours was.”

  “It was never your fault. What I did—”

  “What you did was talk about our child. Our baby, then you fell asleep. Nothing else. You two never slept together. Kim is right. If I truly knew you then, and believed in the man you were, I would have seen through her trick.”

  “What do you mean trick? She told you we never slept together?” he dropped back.

  “Yes. She confessed it to me,” Raven said.

  Alexander’s jaw locked. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I tried.”

  Alexander closed the book. “So that’s what this is about? You told everyone but me that I didn’t cheat on you, and decided to give me another try? You playing games with me, Raven?” he stood.

  “No. I’m not.”

  “Damn it, love. You should have come to me first! For a year I’ve killed myself, tortured myself, and you said nothing? You should’ve called me the moment you knew about it. Or did you need more proof? How long did it take Kim to convince you?”

  “Wait, don’t be angry,” Raven said.

  Alexander walked away from the sofa. He went out of her lanai doors into the night. Raven pushed up and went after him. She stopped behind him, unable to see his face, but she understood his anger. “I came to you, to tell you. The moment I found out I went to you.”

  He didn’t respond.

  Raven stepped closer. She touched his back. “But you were with her.”

  Alexander looked back. “With who?”

  “At the Carlton. When you said that you’d stay the night and fight with me. I was in the lobby. I was going to talk my way into your suite and surprise you. But I saw you and her. You went into the restaurant. She was a blonde woman, who couldn’t keep her hands off you?”

  “And you assumed what? That I found something better? Just judged me right then and there? Or maybe she and I were having an affair too, and you caught us?”

  “I deserve that,” Raven said weakly.

  “I think I should go,” he said. He turned to leave. “It’s your birthday. I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “No, no, Alexander. I’m tired of running and I know you are. Let’s just deal with it. No fighting. Only talking this time, I promise.”

  He looked away from her. She wanted to touch him and make it right but resisted.

  “Yes, when I saw her I assumed the worst. I did. Not because I thought you were wrong, or doing me wrong. Because I knew I had treated you so horribly.” She stepped to him. “That’s what Kim’s revelation did, it did what my friends, you, my faith, what none of us could do. It opened my eyes and made me look at myself. I thought because my mother could never get the love of a man, neither could I. That I would have to settle. I never appreciated what your love brought into my life, because I didn’t have any faith in us.” She ran her hand over his shirt and touched his heart. “I couldn’t go to you and just start again, because you deserved better than what you got with me. I deserved better than I was giving myself. So I left the hotel that night. I was determined to prove to myself I could get over all this ancient shit and win my husband back. That’s the truth. All of it. I understand if you don’t believe in none of it. I just—”

  He kissed her.

  She was crushed in his embrace but he didn’t hold back. He devoured her softness, lips and tongue. The last of her words were smothered beneath his lips. The kiss only ended when they both needed air to breathe.

  He smiled at her.

  Raven smiled up at him.

  “She was the business partner from Australia I told you about. A placeholder for a lonely night, a night where I could think of no one but you. We had a few drinks and I walked her to her room. I left her there. You should have come to me. You have no idea how much I missed my wife, how much I still miss her,” he said. The second kiss they shared sent the pit of her stomach into a wild swirl.

  Raven put her arms around his neck. He stood over her, tall, erect, a solid form of strength and security. She couldn’t wait to give him a baby, a home, a life where he was cherished as much as he’s cherished her through the years.

  It was time. She pushed out of his arms and stepped back. She grinned and tried to summon the words to share the news. But Alex was aroused. He never could let her go, speak, or resist when he had that look in his eyes. He pulled her in closer. The brush of lips across her cheek sent another wanton shiver of desire through her. He was trying to lower her zipper.

  “Sweetheart, wait, please. There’s more,” she said.

  He scooped her up in his arms. A left shoe fell off her foot. She held on to his neck. “Tell me later,” he told her. Raven was carried inside.

  “Alexander, put me down. I really do have something to tell you. It’s really important. It’s very important. Stop! Put me down,” she protested.

  He carried her through her living room and kissed away her complaints. She chuckled. She shook her head as they entered the bedroom. He lowered her to her feet before the bed. He did so only because of his intent to remove his blazer and undress her.

  “Give me a second, just one!” She backed away from him and pointed a warning finger at him. “Don’t touch me again or I might forget what I have to say.”

  He had a look of worry on his face. Raven smiled. “Remember how we wer
e the night you returned to Miami? After we had dinner and a few drinks. Remember how I was? Not, ah, the next morning. But that night.”

  “You said it was the alcohol.” Alexander pushed his hands down in his pockets. “You were just so damn beautiful in that dress, Rae, dancing against me. I couldn’t resist.”

  “I wanted it more than you.” She put her hands to her hair. “I can’t even let another man touch me without thinking of you. I can’t touch myself without thinking of you. I haven’t been with another man. Not physically.”

  He smiled.

  She rolled her eyes and laughed. “That night we couldn’t stop what came so natural between us. I’m so sorry for making it into something ugly the next morning.”

  “It’s behind us now,” he said and stepped toward her. She put up her hands to keep him away. He stopped. He would have to listen, really hear her this time. “I’m not doing this right,” she said and hurried out of the room. She returned with the book again.

  “Sit down, I rehearsed this part.” Raven told him.

  He sat. She put the book on his lap. She turned to the last picture page. It was the picture she made him take with her professional camera before he left her. She’d pulled up her shirt and turned sideways to reveal the swell of her belly. She developed it for him to keep it with him when he returned to Israel.

  “Do you remember taking it?” she asked him.

  “I remember,” he said with a weary sigh. She understood his reaction. She’d tortured them both with blame and bitterness over the loss of their child. Neither of them had any practice at how to reflect on the beauty of the life they created. She needed that to change. She needed them to be healed.

  Alexander stared at the photo. Raven wondered what memories surfaced for him. She hoped everything about them during that time wasn’t too painful. She traced the line of her belly in the image with her finger. “We made her, Alex, our baby girl. She was a gift, and we lost her. It was God’s design. To prepare us. To teach us how to be stronger as man and wife, and parents. To teach us how to cherish and love each other through goodness and bad.”

  “I loved her, Rae, and you. I never forgot this moment. I didn’t know you kept the picture.”