Animalistic Galley Fin

by Lizzie Lynn Lee

  “Ah, where are my manners?” said John. “Trent, this is Allessandro Severo, the Broadway producer I was telling you about. He and I are discussing the possibility of producing a modern take on a Shakespeare classic,” John said as he introduced his brother to the producer.

  Trent shook the producer’s hand. “How are you?”

  “Fabulous. Tell me Trent… do you act?” Severo asked.

  “Fuck no.”

  “My brother is a former Air Force intelligence officer. He just returned home from his last tour. He’s still adjusting,” John interjected smoothly as an apology for Trent’s curtness.

  “Oh, shush. Your brother is intriguing. Everyone loves a man who is a little rough around the edges. Oh, does he have a job?” Severo asked John.

  “I have a job, thank you,” Trent answered quickly before Severo could offer him one.

  The man tsk-ed disappointedly. “We could have used a strapping young man like you in the production.”

  Trent rolled his eyes. Maybe a gun wouldn’t be enough to put him out of his misery. A grenade started to sound promising…

  He knew he had to extract himself from the conversation before he lost his patience entirely. Clearing his throat, he whipped an excuse out of his ass. “Excuse me, I need to refill my drink. I’ll be back.” Yeah, not in a million years. He planned to sneak out of the party and hail a cab home since John had the keys to the car. Coming here had been a bad idea.

  He went to the buffet table and put down his champagne flute. He was searching for the exit when suddenly, he caught her scent.

  Her.

  The mysterious lady in black, Arielle Winter.

  That’s it, I’m losing it. I’m so obsessed with her, I’m starting to smell her everywhere.

  But his tiger disagreed. She was close. She was somewhere in this room.

  Trent started sniffing around slyly. This time he was convinced that his alter beast was right. He got a lock on her scent and he followed it. It was getting stronger by the fireplace. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching what he was going to do. The fireplace was an ancient one and wasn’t being used. Cautiously, Trent called in a low voice, “Hello? Is someone in there?”

  He didn’t expect someone in the chimney to return his call. It was a woman’s voice and it was very familiar.

  It was Arielle.

  “Help!”

  Jesus Christ. She really was in the chimney. “Arielle? Is that you?”

  The garbled voice yelled back, “Superman, is that you? What are you doing here?”

  “I believe that’s my line. What are you doing inside the chimney?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just having a tea party with my friends. I’m stuck. What do you think I’m doing?”

  Trent had a hard time not laughing. “I figured that much. How did you get stuck?”

  “You know when you force something into a space that doesn’t really fit? That’s how you get stuck. Now help me out.”

  “That sounds like an order; not a cry for help.”

  “Please help me. I’m seriously stuck in here.”

  “I don’t know. The last time I helped you, you called me a creep.”

  “I’m sorry, Superman. I really do need your help.”

  “You didn’t even bother to ask my name. And you’re pretty rude too.” Trent was having a ball.

  “I’m sorry. But I’m obviously having a rotten day. Help me please. Pretty please?”

  Trent had to tease her. He couldn’t resist. “Hmm. I’ll help you if you say, ‘O mighty and handsome Lord Trent, please help stupid me get out of the fireplace.”

  “Did you just call me stupid?”

  “A grown woman got stuck in a fireplace at a party. That’s self-explanatory.”

  Arielle swore at him.

  Fuck, she curses like a sailor, Trent mused. “Okay, then, I’ll be going if you—“

  “Wait, don’t go!”

  “Yes?”

  Silence. And then, she said, “’O mighty and handsome Lord Brent, please help me get out of the fireplace.”

  “You forgot ‘stupid me.’”

  She cursed again before finally conceded. “Please Lord Brent, help stupid me out of the fireplace.”

  “Trent. My name is Trent. Well, I guess it’s good enough.”

  Trent looked around and caught John’s eye. His brother pulled himself from the conversation and stalked into his direction.

  “What is going on?” John asked.

  “She’s stuck in the chimney,” Trent explained.

  “Who’s she?”

  “Her.”

  John couldn’t stop laughing. “Is she going to be as funny as Vanessa?”

  “You watch for people. I’m going to help her out.”

  “You got it.”

  Trent bent down and peeked into the hearth. “Arielle, how far are you from the ground?”

  “About three feet, I think.”

  “Did you climb in from the chimney?”

  “What? No. Please just help me out of here. I’m getting claustrophobic.”

  “I need to know where you’re getting stuck. Do I need to get some grease or to call the fire department or something?”

  “I’m going to kill myself if you call 911, I swear! I can’t take any more humiliation today.”

  “You’ll do no such thing. I’m going to help you out, I promise. Is it your body that got stuck or your shoulders or your legs; explain it to me.”

  “My costume. It got stuck in the damper.”

  “Costume?”

  “It’s pretty big in here; I think you’d fit. Just help me cut the freaking costume.”

  Trent poked his head inside the hearth. It was an old fashion commercial fireplace that came with the original building. The firebox was huge, so it could easily accommodate two people standing side by side. It also seemed that the fireplace hadn’t been used for a long time. There was no grate and the wood logs were fake.

  Trent crawled inside. It was so dark that a normal person wouldn’t be able to see anything. But as a weretiger, his eyes were almost as good as having night vision. He spotted the problem immediately. Whatever she was wearing had caught on the protruding part of the smoke shelf. The costume was pulled up to her arms, making it difficult to free herself.

  Trent slowly crawled up. It was a tight fit, but he managed, his body pressed against hers. With one arm, he reached the damper. He willed himself into a partial transformation and cut the material with his claws. As soon as he did that, Arielle dropped down onto her feet. She wriggled so much trying to get out, he got an instant boner from the friction of her body against his own.

  “Arielle, chill. Let me get out first, okay? I’m the closest. It’s easier that way.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Stay still.” Trent climbed down. He turned around and fixed his pants, and then he then helped her out. What he did, he attracted some attention, but John slickly fended off any inquiries.

  Trent couldn’t stop grinning. Arielle was dressed in a Santa suit, complete with a white beard and fur-trimmed hat, but the beard and hat were covered with soot. He couldn’t fathom what she was doing.

  Arielle was visibly shaken and despite his amusement, his protective instincts overcame him.

  “Can you walk?” he asked.

  She only nodded, wordlessly.

  Someone from the hotel came over to ask John what exactly was going on, as there was no hiding the scene they had caused. John requested some privacy, since Arielle was clearly in distress. The hotel employee directed them to the manager’s office, since it was currently empty. John asked the man to bring them some water.

  Arielle looked like as if she were ready to cry, so Trent handed her some tissues.

  “My name is Trent. Trent Alexander. And this is my brother John. Now, will you please tell me what were you doing in the chimney? If you’re actually Santa, you’re a little
early this year.”

  Her eyes were red and so was her nose. Up close like this, her complexion was very pale. Her eyes were a striking blue and her hair was a darker black than he’d realized in the sunlight. She had the allure of a vintage pinup.

  Christ, even in this condition, she was beautiful.

  She cleared her face with a yank and threw the fake beard and hat onto the carpet. Then she dabbed her eyes and blew her nose like a foghorn.

  Still, Trent found her very cute.

  The hotel guy returned with the water and excused himself.

  Arielle drank from the water bottle and exhaled a deep breath. “I was trying to serve a summons to a man named Frank Darbo, but I couldn’t get past his bodyguard. My boss told me he was going to be at this party, but I’m just a paralegal; I wasn’t about to get invited. I saw the snow machines being wheeled into the hotel, so I assumed the party had some sort of Christmas theme. Of course, once I got inside and saw the devil waitresses, I realized I’d made a horrible mistake, but it was too late to do anything about it. Before I could find Darbo, his bodyguard recognized me, even in my disguise. I panicked and tried to find a corner to hide in but there wasn’t one, so I climbed in the fireplace and got stuck. And then you came.”

  “You poor thing,” said Trent automatically. He stopped just short of hugging her.

  She blinked back tears. “I must look pretty pathetic, huh?”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  John held a hand out to Arielle, “Let me see the summons.”

  She reached inside her Santa suit and pulled out a piece of paper.

  John read it briefly. “I think I know that guy. Small, weasely-looking, a real scumbag. He was chatting with Severo when we came in.”

  “Is his bodyguard still around? I need to get rid of this,” she asked.

  “You shouldn’t go back into the party looking like… that. I have an idea, wait here.” John gave the paper back to Arielle and exited the room.

  “What is your brother doing?” she asked Trent.

  “Don’t worry; John has great people skills. Aren’t you hot in that getup?” Trent pointed to her Santa suit.

  “I’m boiling in it.”

  “Do you want to take it off?”

  “I’m not wearing anything decent underneath. My stuff is at the office.”

  “Shall I get you some clothes?”

  Arielle looked at him suspiciously. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

  “I’m a nice guy. I have a soft spot for people in need.”

  “You saved me twice today. I don’t know how to repay you.”

  “I can think of a way. Let me buy you a dinner.”

  “Dinner?” Arielle eyed him doubtfully. “I shouldn’t… I mean… I can’t. I’m seeing somebody.”

  So she wasn’t single, thought Trent in dismay. He didn’t smell the scent of a human male on her. Not recently. Not in a long time. Still, he didn’t want to give up. “It’s just dinner. Don’t tell me your boyfriend is the jealous type?”

  She hesitated, then shrugged. “He’s just… I don’t know. Maybe.”

  The door opened and John entered with Frank Darbo, who was accompanied by three beautiful women, each in different, yet shockingly similar, little black dresses. They were laughing and chatting until Darbo realized what was going on. He recognized Arielle.

  “Hey, you’re that broad from this afternoon,” he mumbled in a thick Brooklyn accent.

  Trent went on alert mode. He snatched the paper from Arielle’s hand. “You’re Frank Darbo?”

  Darbo glared at him. “And what is it to you?”

  Trent shoved the paper into Frank’s hand. “Frank Darbo; you have been served.”

  Arielle took out her phone and snapped a picture.

  For the first time since Trent had met her, Arielle was smiling.

  Frank was flabbergasted, his face dark with fury. He looked as if he was going to say something rude to Arielle but changed his mind when Trent glowered at him. The cowardly man couldn’t do much without his bodyguard. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

  “Yeah, I look forward to it,” Trent snapped back. He grabbed Arielle’s hand and escorted her out to the lobby, then made their way to the front entry. “Did you drive here?”

  “I don’t have a car.”

  “Taxi?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You look as if you could use some ice cream.”

  “Ah. I’d love to. But I have to get back to the office. Rain check?”

  Trent was happy to hear that. Friends for now was more than he could ask for. “Sure.”

  John followed them outside.

  “How did you get Frank to go with you?” asked Trent.

  His brother waved his hand dismissively. “You know I have a superb power of persuasion.”

  “Yeah, okay, and in the real world?”

  “I told him I had some good coke, uncut, pure Nicaraguan, and asked if he wanted to party. Easy.”

  “I bet he was pissed at you.”

  “Yeah, he was. He took a swing at me. I knocked him out.”

  “Are you kidding?” Arielle chimed in.

  John patted Arielle’s shoulder like a doting parent. “There, there, little sis. I was only returning the favor for the misery you endured while trapped in the fireplace, and gave him a solid black eye. He won’t be getting up for a while.”

  Arielle joined in their grins. “Best news I heard all day. But you do know, he can sue you for assault or even have you arrested, right?”

  “Self-defense. I also have a very expensive lawyer on retainer. Don’t sweat it. How about we drive you home? You didn’t drive here, did you?”

  “I need to get back to the office.”

  “Then we’ll drive you back to the office to make sure you get there safe and sound.”

  Chapter Four

  The day didn’t end as badly as it had started, Arielle mused as she rode shotgun in the black Lexus. After everything that went wrong since the morning, she was looking forward to unwinding after work. God, she really needed it. A hot bath and the bottle of wine, she didn’t finish yesterday were definitely in order. She had earned it. She’d been exhausting herself at work all week. She had been handling three-person workloads since she returned to the firm six months ago, courtesy of Sabrina.

  Arielle allowed herself to relax a little and found she wasn’t as tense as before. She was able to serve Frank Darbo, and get that one thing get out of the way; then she could start getting her life back on track tomorrow morning.

  It really was nice of Trent and his brother to help her.

  Without them, she’d probably still be stuck in the fireplace, and the hotel would probably have had to call the fire department. There’d be a dramatic rescue while some reporters that covered the silly incident would explain why a woman masquerading as Santa got stuck in a chimney.

  Arielle would have died if that had actually happened.

  Not to mention if Chris found out, or God forbid, Sabrina. The incident would give that bitch plenty of fodder to mock her misfortune for the next five years. She was miserable enough without giving Sabrina any more ammunition to make fun of her. It seemed ensuring Arielle’s continued misery was Sabrina’s sole reason to get out of bed in the morning.

  Arielle chatted with Trent and John during the ride. She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over how she had treated Trent earlier in the day. She thought he was one of those glory-seeking jocks. Chris was one of those guys and he never let her forget how lucky she was to have him as her man. Sometimes Arielle suspected that Chris was actually the one with the self-esteem issues.

  But Trent—he seemed different. He looked genuinely concerned for her. She even suspected he might have some interest in her. But after finding out that she had a boyfriend, he wasn’t coming on as strongly as before.

  Still, he looked so happy when she told him she w
ould accept his invitation for ice cream. He knew an old-fashioned ice cream shop on Amsterdam that churned their own soft serve and made their own frozen yogurt. Trent invited her to go there tomorrow after work.

  Trent dropped her off in front of her office building. John refused to move into the passenger seat and ordered his brother to continue to drive like a chauffeur, which annoyed the hell out of Trent. As the two bickered like an old married couple, Arielle said her goodbyes and went inside.

  It was close to ten o’clock when she entered her office. She quickly changed her clothes and folded the dirty Santa costume; the rental place wouldn’t be happy when she returned it tomorrow. The costume was covered in black soot and smelled like smoke. There went her deposit.

  After tidying her desk and checking her voicemail, she was ready to go home. Just because it was late didn’t mean the law firm was empty. A few people were still at the office; there was a night secretary and a couple of associates who were pulling an all-nighter. Arielle collected her folders to put on Sabrina’s desk while she wasn’t there to give her a hard time. Unlike the associates in the firm who worked nonstop, desperately scrambling to make partner, her boss rarely stayed past eight o’clock. Sabrina often bragged she had a life outside work, taking pleasure in the fact that Arielle had spent most her adult life in the office.

  She walked past Sabrina’s secretary’s desk and pushed the door open. She was so lost in her thoughts that her brain didn’t immediately comprehend what was happening.

  Sabrina was draped across her desk, legs splayed out, while Chris stood frozen with his pants down his ankles.

  What?

  Her first reaction was to wonder what Chris was doing in Sabrina’s office at all.

  Then it hit her.

  Sabrina was the woman he had been cheating with.

  Chris withdrew from her boss and hurriedly pulled his pants up.

  Sabrina just cursed.

  And Arielle stood there like an idiot.

  After the first wave of shock, all she could feel was numbness.

  She should have seen this coming.

  Chris cheating, of course. But not with Sabrina.

  No. Not her.