Twelve Nights

by Remy, Carole

  Jimmy paced the room, though his eyes never left the tape as it continued to the end of the interview. When Aggie lost her temper for the second time, he pounded Richard on the back.

  “Isn’t she something?” he exclaimed. “Get her on the phone at the hotel. I’ll ask her to come back. Danny put her in the Queen Anne suite.”

  Richard had his reservations. She had been pretty angry, though her fury had blown away as quickly as it had arisen. Still, this holocaust was between Jimmy and Aggie. Let them fight it out. He dialed the number of the Vancouver Hotel, ready to hand the phone to Jimmy as soon as she answered. He asked for the Queen Anne suite. The phone rang once, twice, ten times. At last the hotel operator clicked back in.

  “I’m sorry, sir. No one is answering at that number. Would you like me to leave a message?”

  Richard thought quickly.

  “Is the suite still registered to Miss Trout,” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” the operator confirmed. “Miss A. Trout.”

  Richard covered the mouthpiece with his hand.

  “Do you want to leave a message?”

  “No,” Jimmy growled.

  Richard thanked the operator and hung up the phone.

  “Hire more detectives,” Jimmy continued, more thoughtful now than angry. “By tomorrow night, I want to know everything. What clubs she joined in high school, who her roommates were in college, what brand of toothpaste she uses. Everything.”

  Richard hung up the phone. He considered arguing with his employer, then shrugged his shoulders. Jimmy’s ears might listen, but his penis was making the decisions.

  Chapter 15

  At 6:05 the following evening, Jimmy waited in the lobby of the apartment building. He waited hopefully though as far as he could tell, Aggie had disappeared into the Vancouver fog. She hadn’t left for their rendezvous from the Vancouver Hotel the evening before, so the tail had never picked her up. Consequently, he hadn’t been there to follow her when she left after meeting with Richard. The chambermaid had revealed that the bed in the suite had never been slept in.

  A cab pulled up to the front of the building and Jimmy waited for the occupant to alight. His anger exploded when Aggie stepped out, looking as cool and possessed as if she hadn’t just vanished from the earth for almost twenty-four hours.

  “Aggie!” Jimmy raced out of the hotel and pulled the young temptress into a hug. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Been?” she responded, pulling back to look him in the face. “Nowhere. At the hotel.”

  “I know you’re not staying at the Vancouver Hotel.”

  Jimmy expected contrition, maybe tears. Instead he heard a cool laugh.

  “Is that what the fuss is? I moved to another hotel.”

  “Why?”

  “Jimmy,” her voice was sexy and insinuating, “when I got here, I didn’t know who you were. I was answering a newspaper ad. I’m cautious. I moved to another hotel.”

  “What hotel?” Jimmy demanded.

  “I don’t think I ought to tell you,” she stated simply as she stepped back out of his arms.

  “Why not?”

  “You have my nights, Jimmy,” she reminded him. “That’s all you bought.”

  “What are you hiding, Aggie?”

  “Nothing,” she insisted.

  She turned toward the lobby door and Jimmy followed. Where had the tigress of the video disappeared to? This woman was a fox, beautiful but sly and dangerous. Jimmy’s patience ran out. He grabbed the woman by the elbow and dragged her down the hall to the elevator, determined to aggravate her, maybe scare her, anything to provoke the real Aggie into appearing. Though rigid, she followed him without protest. When they entered the apartment, the woman, Jimmy could no longer think of her as Aggie, walked straight to the bedroom.

  “You told Richard you weren’t satisfied the first night,” she told him as she walked into the room in front of him. “Tonight you will be.”

  She stripped off her clothes in a teasing dance as Jimmy leaned against the door jam. Though her body was as gorgeous as ever, her legs as long, her bosom as firm, her face as enchanting, he was unmoved by the performance. At last she stood naked before him. When he didn’t react, she walked to the bed and sat on the edge. She patted the spot next to her.

  “Join me,” she invited.

  Jimmy remembered her words to Richard the first day. The one thing she didn’t like the idea of was discipline.

  “I’m going to punish you,” he growled. He pulled off his belt.

  Though she paled, she didn’t explode. He swung the belt at a chair; it cracked hard on the back and the fabric split.

  “You promised not to hurt me,” she reminded him. She was as pale as the sheets, but still she didn’t crack.

  “No blood,” he promised.

  The woman nodded. Christ, she should be frightened out of her skin by now, a sobbing puddle on the floor. He’d pick her up and assure her that he’d never struck anyone in his life, that he would never hurt her. But she just sat, statue pale and still, waiting.

  Jimmy sat beside her on the bed and pulled her down across his lap. Her bare bottom swelled in his lap but he felt no enticement. Why wasn’t she fighting him? For the first time it occurred to Jimmy that maybe she had a mental condition, a genuine split personality. He righted her and sat her on his lap.

  “Aggie,” he began.

  A tear slipped down her cheek and he reached up a finger to wipe it away. Before he could touch her face, she slapped him hard across the cheek. When Jimmy regained his senses, the woman was prostrate across his lap and his hand was raised above her flaming red bottom. His hand descended of its own lingering will though the blow wasn’t hard.

  “Keep going,” she urged.

  She liked it? Jimmy lay back on the bed and put his hands over his face. What had he done? What had she provoked him into doing? He felt her weight lift off his legs and settle on the bed next to him. Her hand found his crotch. She lowered the zipper and freed his limp cock.

  “Don’t you like discipline?” she asked, her voice teasing. “I thought you wanted to spank me.”

  “No,” Jimmy admitted. “I wanted to make you angry, afraid.”

  “You made me very horny,” she purred.

  She lowered her head toward his cock.

  “Don’t,” he protested and pushed her head away.

  “You don’t like oral sex either?” she asked.

  Of course he liked oral sex, Jimmy thought. He was just confused. Too confused to think.

  “Do you want me to masturbate for you?”

  The voice reached him from a distance. What the heck.

  “Sure,” he agreed.

  The woman lay back on the bed beside him and spread her legs.

  “You can look,” she invited.

  Where was Aggie?

  Jimmy turned his head and watched as the woman put her hand between her legs. He should be aroused, incredibly aroused. He loved to watch his weekly lay pleasure herself, though he usually finished the job himself. The woman’s hand began to circle over Aggie’s crotch. His Aggie’s. God, he wanted her back. She wasn’t faking. Her arousal was wet and hot. She drew a moist fingerful to her lips, then offered the next to him. He shook his head.

  Aggie’s nipples had peaked to hard buds and gooseflesh skimmed across her belly. Aggie’s free hand gripped the sheet as the fingers of her other hand drew her toward climax. But Aggie wasn’t here. The climax shook her to red painted toenails. She shivered for a long moment then turned to him.

  “Let me make you come,” she offered.

  Jimmy gave in to despair. Aggie wasn’t here. If this impostor wanted to jerk him off, let her. He lay back on the bed.

  “Go ahead,” he said wearily. “Use your hand.”

  He closed his eyes and thought about the real Aggie, the Aggie he wanted, the Aggie who was and wasn’t in his bed right now. He pictured her squeezing his cock as the unseen hand was. Her fingers twined in his pub
ic curls and tugged them teasingly. His cock lifted and he shifted his buttocks to a straighter angle.

  “That’s better,” Aggie’s voice coaxed. Not Aggie’s voice.

  “Don’t say anything,” he instructed.

  As long as he kept his eyes closed. As long as she didn’t talk. He imagined Aggie’s angry laughing eyes. The fingers tightened on his cock and began to move, skillfully squeezing and stretching. It felt good. The pace quickened. He released himself into the moment. The first climax came quickly.

  “Keep going,” he ordered, his eyes still closed.

  “Was that…”

  “Don’t talk,” he interrupted.

  Anything to keep the illusion. He imagined himself poised over Aggie’s inviting body, her eyes smiling at him as he lowered himself into her. The hand kept pace with his growing arousal, squeezing and milking him with professional dexterity. Not his Aggie’s hand. She would be tentative. Too tight sometimes, then not tight enough. He shifted back to the image of himself lowering into Aggie’s body. He rocked his hips gently and again the hand on his cock adjusted smoothly. The second orgasm was stronger and lasted most of a minute.

  “Again,” Jimmy gasped. “Is your hand too tired? Don’t say anything, just stop when you want to.”

  The hand lifted and Jimmy sighed. His cock was still rock hard. Her weight shifted. Another hand settled on his well oiled shaft. She had switched to her left hand. The image of Aggie came easily to Jimmy now. He relived the videotape of her with Richard, trying to time his climax to her angry outburst.

  “Harder,” he ordered the servicing hand.

  He was almost there. The hand tightened obligingly and just as Aggie’s fist swung down to the desktop, Jimmy came. Her fist swung again and again as his fluids pumped out over his chest and the hand milked him hard. Finally he opened his eyes.

  Tears poured from the not-Aggie’s eyes. They mingled with the cum on his chest and he wondered how long she had been crying. The woman rose and picked up her clothes. He thought about protesting, but was too exhausted. The ordeal of the day’s waiting combined with the release of three orgasms had drained him. She went into the adjoining bathroom and a moment later he heard the shower. He had shot his cum all over her, he remembered. What if she really was Aggie, he thought. Would she mind?

  By the time she came out of the bathroom, Jimmy was awake. His head had cleared. He knew he had to break this enigma tonight. She might not come back. Not after he had spanked her. Maybe not now that she knew he could come three times without a pause. He knew he was too much for most women, for any woman.

  “I’m sorry about tonight,” he apologized to the woman who wore Aggie’s skin.

  “It’s all right,” she smiled shyly.

  With her hair towel dried and no makeup, she looked achingly young and vulnerable. She looked just like Aggie.

  “Aggie,” he whispered softly.

  “Yes,” the woman answered.

  He held out his arms. She stepped into them and melted into his embrace, molding herself to his planes.

  “Aggie?” he whispered into her hair.

  She stepped back out of his arms, her eyes glistening.

  “I’m going to go now, Jimmy.”

  “Will you come back tomorrow night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you promise?” he asked, hating himself for begging.

  “I promise.” She held three fingers over her heart and grinned and for a moment she was Aggie, the real Aggie.

  After even the fragrance of her had dissipated, Jimmy left the bedroom. He walked to the living room and turned on the VCR. He fell asleep moments later as his Aggie pounded her fist on his desk.

  Chapter 16

  Angela told the taxi driver to go anywhere for thirty minutes, then to take her back to the corner of Robson and Denman. As they wound through the blustery rain soaked streets of Vancouver, her tears slowly gave way to determination. Jimmy was a man in torment. Her sister was unhappy and confused. Angela’s deception had done far more harm than she had ever envisioned. She knew she would not be able to last nine more nights. The hundred twenty thousand dollars was out of her reach.

  Still, she deserved compensation. The contract was all or nothing. Twelve nights or no money. Angela knew she had earned payment and she saw in her mind’s eye what she felt would be a just recompense. She had to get back into the apartment one more time. Angela kicked herself mentally for her failure to seize tonight’s opportunity. Jimmy had been asleep. She could easily have lifted the small Giacometti statue that sat almost hidden in a niche in the library. But her eyes had been blinded by tears and her brain by remorse. No more. She would take the statue the next time she was in the apartment and then she and her sister would leave Vancouver forever.

  All traces of Angela’s tears had dried by the time she walked through the door of the hotel suite. She greeted her surprised sister calmly.

  Aggie looked at her watch. “It’s only ten o’clock.”

  “He let me leave early.”

  “Did something go wrong?”

  “He just wanted me to jerk him off,” Angela told Aggie bluntly.

  Her sister winced.

  “He’s got balls of steel,” Angela added. “He came three times without deflating. A regular he-man.”

  Aggie stood up from the sofa, her face pale, and walked out of the room. Angela followed her to the bathroom and stood in the door as Aggie splashed cold water on her face.

  “He’s really confused,” Angela tried to explain. “I think he likes you a lot. He knows somehow that I’m not you.”

  Aggie scrubbed her face in a towel.

  “I think he thinks I’m crazy,” Angela continued. “A split personality. I swear sometimes tonight I thought he was trying to get me to turn into you.”

  Aggie walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Angela followed her twin again. Why didn’t she say something?

  “You should go tomorrow night,” Angela tried again to get a response.

  “We’ve been through that. I’m not going.”

  Angela wrapped her arms around the stiff torso of her twin. She toppled them both onto the bed and hugged her until her limbs softened. She shifted their bodies so Aggie’s head rested on her shoulder.

  “Oh, Boo,” she sighed. “I think I’ve made a big mess.”

  Aggie nodded into her shoulder.

  “What should I do?”

  “We should both get on the first plane out tomorrow morning.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I promised Jimmy I’d come back tomorrow night.”

  Aggie lifted her head and looked at Angela.

  “After all you’ve, we’ve done, you feel bound by a simple promise?”

  “He’s hurting, Aggie. Besides, if we leave now, we walk out with nothing.”

  “Nothing but a little self-respect.”

  “Mine’s not real high anyway, Boo. I need to stay and fix things if I can.”

  Angela pulled her sister’s head back onto her shoulder so she wouldn’t have to look into her eyes. She did want to fix things somehow. She also wanted the Giacometti.

  The next morning Angela awakened fully dressed, her sister’s head still resting on her shoulder. Someone was pounding on the door to the suite.

  “Aggie,” she shook her twin. “Wake up.”

  “Wha…?”

  “There’s someone at the door.” Angela shook her again. “You have to wake up.”

  “Why would anyone knock on our door?” Aggie asked as she sat up and stretched.

  “Maybe Jimmy found us.”

  “Oh, God.”

  “I’m going to go answer the door.”

  “We’ll go together.”

  “No,” Angela contrived. “You wait in here, in case it’s Jimmy or the lawyer.”

  She smoothed her hair back from sleep encrusted eyes and walked down the hall. When she opened the door, she was momentarily speechless.
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br />   “Hi, Blossom,” her father greeted her. Mary smiled nervously behind his shoulder. “You are Blossom, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I’m Angela,” she agreed and walked into her father’s embrace. “What on earth are you doing here? How did you find us?”

  “I called him last Saturday.” Aggie’s voice drifted down the hall from the bedroom door. “Hi, Dad.”

  Angela’s father released her and walked to his other daughter.

  “Peach Fuzz.” He pulled her into his arms.

  “Hi, Mary,” Angela greeted her father’s friend. “Come in out of the hall.”

  She noted the older woman’s hesitation and reached out to pull her in. The grab turned into an tentative hug that quickly melted into a genuine embrace.

  “It’s good to see you, Angela,” Mary said softly. “I warned your father not to come by so early.”

  “Like trying to stop a steam engine,” Angela laughed. “Where are you staying?”

  “Right down the hall. We have a lovely suite with a view of the water.”

  By now, the four had moved into the living room and stood awkwardly silent.

  “Sit down,” Angela motioned. “I’ll put on some coffee.”

  Her comment broke the tension and the three sat, their Dad and Mary on the sofa and Aggie in an armchair. When Angela came back from the kitchen, she dropped into the other armchair and spoke.

  “What are you doing in Vancouver, Dad?” she asked then appended, “and Mary.”

  “You two are on my twelve steps,” their father explained.

  The import of his words reached Angela slowly. Her twin caught on faster and jumped from her chair to her father’s arms.

  “Twelve steps?” Angela echoed.

  “He’s joined AA,” her sister explained.

  Angela sat rooted to her chair though tears misted her eyes. She looked at Mary, who nodded.

  “Wow,” Angela sighed.

  Her father lifted Aggie from his lap and sat her back down in the armchair. He stood looking nervous and yet dignified in the center of the room.

  “I have to apologize to you two,” he began.

  “You don’t have to,” Aggie protested.

  “Yes, I do.” He held up his hand to stop further argument. “I haven’t always been a good father, especially since your mother died. I know you’ve both been worried about me for a long time.”