Day

by Jessica Florence

My head was a mess, and I still felt like shit.

  I walked until I found myself at a familiar door and knocked. It took a few minutes before he answered, but once I looked into the eyes of my friend, everything that happened just came flooding out of my mouth.

  Chapter Six

  Leon

  “Never thought this day would come. You finally let a woman into that heart of yours. Did you claim her like the caveman you are and put a baby in her belly?” Charles was laughing at me while I sat on his couch. Scowling.

  It didn’t affect him whatsoever, so he just kept laughing. I shot him a sour look.

  “Jesus Christ, Leon. You must have been pretty drunk to get yourself into this mess.” He ran his hand through his medium-brown hair then moved to the wheels of his chair. He rolled toward me with a push, stopping to my right.

  “You were beating yourself up over my call, weren’t you?”All laughter was gone, and now he just stared at me with his soul-searing blue eyes that could get anything out of me with just one look.

  “It’s stupid they didn’t accept you. You are healthy, and it could help you. I don’t see the problem.” I really didn’t. He deserved to be able to feel again.

  “Shows me how much you were listening when I told you. I’m not a candidate because the nerve damage is too extensive. Plus the fact that they would need to build me a new lumbar spine, to boot. I’m not angry, Leon, and you shouldn’t be either.” Charles had always been someone who just accepted what fate dealt him. Never complaining, or looking at things from a darker angle. He was Mr. Positive all the time.

  And here I was, letting my guilt eat me up and not accepting my set of life cards. Instead of saying something else that I would probably regret, I moved our conversation back to my newest complication.

  “What am I gonna do about my wife?” The word made my mouth tilt into a grimace. But sadly the asshole strikes on my side kept adding up, because I couldn’t even remember her name. I should have looked at the marriage certificate to find out, but I was so freaked that I wasn’t thinking right. Seemed to be a theme for me in the past twenty-four hours.

  Charles shrugged.

  “Go be married to a hot-ass dancer, sleep with her daily, and then at the end of the month if you wanna get divorced then do it. If not, stay married to a really hot chick. I don’t see the issue.”

  When he said it like that, it sounded so easy. But this situation was anything but easy.

  “Let me stay here?” I threw the question out there just to see if he would let me. High chance his answer was going to be no—he couldn’t handle my rain cloud for too long, and I wished I knew how to turn it off for him. I’d grown into a man who was consumed by resentment and guilt. It was how I lived my life day to day, and by some miracle he hadn’t given up on me yet.

  “And bring the crazy to my house? No way.” He chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. She seemed crazy, but that might not be who she really was. Maybe she was a nice, normal chick, and I could explain my situation. We could work it out like adults, right?

  “All right, I’m ready to go work out, and you need to go figure your shit out. Maybe learn your wife’s name,” he suggested with a wink, wheeling himself to the door and opening it for me. I was being kicked out.

  “Yes, Mother.” I sighed. I stood and looked at my only friend. He still looked so young, like he was in his early twenties. He took better care of himself than I did, though. He worked out a couple times a day, and ate healthy. Only occasional drinking, and I was almost always around for that.

  I walked over and stood just outside his door.

  “Thanks.” Before everything happened, I was never a man to keep anything inside. I wasn’t afraid of emotions and couldn’t think right until I got everything off my chest. He knew it meant so much to me that I could talk to him, even if he gave me crap for it sometimes.

  “Yep. Now go fuck your woman,” he said, and shooed me away.

  I shook my head and started my journey back to the boat.

  We could talk about this like adults. I’d tell her what was going on with me, and she would understand how it wasn’t going to work between us.

  I tried to think of what all I was going to say if she was there when I got home, but she wasn’t. Maybe she wouldn’t come back, and I could wait it out.

  Of course, things with me were never that easy.

  A few hours later I was talking with Tony about what all it was going to take to fix Lily Blue when the clicking of high heels echoed around the marina.

  “Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” he commented, and I just knew by the tone of his voice that it was her.

  Lilith.

  I’d looked at the certificate to remember her name. What a name it was, and it fit her perfectly.

  She was walking toward me with a big grin on her face, her black hair flowing behind her in the breeze, and an outfit that was causing heads to turn: cropped top with seashells printed over her breasts, showing off her toned stomach, and a tutu-looking skirt that came to her knees. Pair that with tall black heels, and she was the perfect package of crazy.

  “Well if it isn’t my super-amazing husband.” She dropped her large purse and leapt into my arms, wrapping her legs around mine. I didn’t help hold her up like I probably should have; she did all the work herself as she pressed her lips to me. Her tongue pushed past mine, and she kissed me like she truly missed me.

  It was maybe only a minute later that she dropped her legs and smiled at Tony.

  “Hiya. I’m Lilith, Leon’s wifey,” she explained, smiling.

  “Well, uh. Congrats, guys,” he said through his shock, knowing full well this was a weird move for me.

  “Thanks. We’re gonna go.” I grabbed her lightly by the arm and started pulling her toward the boat after leaning down to pick up her bag. It was light. Odd.

  “Nice to meet ya!” she called out to the gaped-mouth Tony behind us.

  I helped her onto the boat, and she walked down to the cabin without hesitation. I’m sure everyone could still hear everything that was about to happen, with the big holes and all, but at least I felt like we had some sense of privacy.

  Her bag made a light thump as I set it on the table and looked at her. She was leaning against my small kitchen counter. Were all her belongings in that bag? The protective instinct in me started to filter through my thoughts, but I wasn’t going to let it out. This was all one big misunderstanding, anyway.

  “Let’s hear it.” She looked comfy as she hopped up onto the counter.

  “If you already know what I’m gonna say then why are you still here?” I retorted, feeling slightly asshole-ish for blurting it out instead of being the calm one.

  “Because you obviously still don’t remember, but I didn’t make a mistake marrying you. I chose to do it, because I saw something in you that I wanted to be with. So I will not be going anywhere.” She started playing with her nails like this was a boring topic and that there was something better to focus on.

  “I don’t remember shit,” I bit out and dropped onto the bench next to the table.

  “Look, you saw I’ve got other stuff going on in my life, and I could hurt you. Even by accident. I’m not meant to be with anyone. You seem like a nice woman. But you are way better without me. So let’s just wait this month out separately, and then get it annulled. You can find someone that can’t break your bones from having a nightmare at night.” It was as truthful as I could get with her.

  She looked at me and slowly slid off the counter before she walked over to me. Like a lioness, her eyes were locked on her prey: me.

  “You see, Leon? This guy right here, the vulnerable one? That’s the guy that locked me in, and I’m not going anywhere. Nothing is going to change my mind once it’s made up.” She stood in front of me and reached down to lift my hand to examine it.

  “I’ve had many broken bones by the hands of men. Despite your extra gift, you would never hurt me. Not even by accident. You might not
remember it, but you were the one to ask me to marry you. You saw something in me that you wanted to keep.” She patted my hand then set it back down.

  Chapter Seven

  Lilith

  He looked at me, and I knew he heard me loud and clear. But he wasn’t going to accept it. He was still out to protect himself from hurting anyone else. Stubborn man.

  But he was my man, and I wasn’t backing down. I’d just have to prove to him that we made the right decision. This was no light matter for me; I’d chosen to marry him after I had decided years ago I wouldn’t marry again unless it was to the man I truly wanted to be with forever.

  “I can’t do this.” He stood and started moving toward the door. I probably should have stopped him, but I could tell he needed more time to process this new info of me not going anywhere. He had probably hoped I would call this thing one big mistake and wait out the month without him as he planned.

  “See you later, honey,” I called out to him as he left, using the pet name that wasn’t truly his. He would get Star back when the man I married was back.

  I looked around, thinking about what to do until he returned. I wasn’t going to stay here; I hadn’t really brought anything to add to his home because I knew he was going to fight this. No sense in packing everything up just to be tossed out. Plus the life of a minimalist did have its appeal. Half of the stuff that cluttered my home was just that, clutter. I didn’t care for most of it; it was just there.

  My stomach growled, and I decided to look for some food.

  He didn’t have too much, but I found some fruity cereal and made it my bitch.

  Once my belly was full, I quickly became bored. I needed to do something as I waited for Leon to either come home or hide somewhere, so I could find him. I was good at finding people, so he could run, but I would follow. He wasn’t going to get out of this month easily with me. Nope. I was going to fight for him, whether he thought himself worthy or not.

  With my purse in tow, I left the boat and went out into Seahill to find some mischief.

  Using the special bronze key to the small warehouse I’d rented a year ago, I grinned as I opened the door to see my favorite place to be.

  I set my bag on the plush purple love seat that was to my right and slipped off my heels. Turning back around, I locked the door and pushed down my skirt until it lay in a puddle on the floor. Freedom. I had a love-hate relationship with clothes. I loved them because of how fun they were, but there was nothing like being able to move and being in your own skin.

  In nothing but my cropped shirt and lace panties, I walked over on my dancer’s feet toward my silks.

  My fingers lightly grazed the soft material, like a lover’s touch. Silks had been my only reprieve from the dangers of my mind for a while. I’d finally gotten control of myself, but there had been a time where the only silence I could get was when I was all tangled up in my silks, hanging from the ceiling.

  I walked around it once before gripping tight above my head and began pulling myself up the strong fabric till I was about halfway up. Aerial dance was not for the weak; you had to be strong to hold yourself up and move with grace.

  “Play ‘Make It Rain,’” I told my little electronic slave, and the sexy, sultry beats of Ed Sheeran’s version of the bluesy song started to echo around the space.

  The music wrapped itself around my skin, and I let my body move with the flow, dancing with the two long, silk fabrics as my only hold onto the earth.

  Twisting, turning, upside down, and all around…My mind was on silent as I moved with the music.

  When my muscles ached from the exertion of strength, I tied the silks together into a hammock and cocooned myself inside it, letting my mind slowly open, one section at a time.

  With my eyes closed, I started to think of the look in Leon’s eyes when I knew he was mine forever.

  It was the look that would drive me to do anything for him. To protect him, to bring him back from his pit of despair.

  That look was burned into my brain.

  Wanting to see where his head was now, and if he had gone back to the boat, I decided it was time to get dressed and go find out.

  I was probably a mile down the street when I spotted the familiar face of the man I was looking for, but he wasn’t alone. Instead of walking right up to him, I stood to the side of the brick building between us and eavesdropped instead.

  “Stay at the Society for the rest of the month. You don’t have to participate unless you want to; I’ll give you a key card if you change your mind. I’ll also fix your boat up, and when the month is over, we part ways with no expectations.” The stranger spoke to him with confidence, as if knowing very well Leon was going to take him up on his offer. It does sound like a good one; Leon can hide from me, and not be a part of what this man is actually up to. Although he obviously wanted Leon very badly to do so much with no guarantee of return.

  “Probably don’t even need to answer; you know I’m gonna do it, Phillip.” Leon shook hands with the blond man, and then he was handed a little card.

  “Get your stuff and meet me at Pizza Pazza in say, like an hour? I’ll show you around.” The blond man named Phillip walked off, and Leon stood there, looking at the key card, unsure of the choice he’d made. Interesting. Looks like I’ve got some work ahead of me.

  First, I need to find out what is happening here. Who is Phillip? And what is this society that he wants Leon to be a part of?

  Without letting my husband catch a glimpse of me, I strutted off toward my friend Mina’s lair.

  Mina’s place was at the top of one of the tallest condo-rises in Seahill. She had a weird complex about being ruler of the world, so the need to see all of her pretend domain was her goal. Meh, who was I to judge?

  I knocked three times, and then waved at the camera that was in the upper left corner of her door. Security freak, but if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, I knew I would be very safe here.

  “Lilith. Came to finish your handiwork, huh? What’s it this time? Rearrange my drawers so I have no ideas where my panties are this time? Switch my sugar with salt?” Her sweet voice echoed over the little intercom speaker that was eyelevel to the left of the door.

  “Nope! Just came to witness the magic of the almighty ruler of Seahill.” I sweetened my voice a little, knowing she loved to be flattered.

  “I know you’re just messing with me, but I love hearing it anyway.” She opened up, and I twirled in as she shut the door behind me. Her condo was really big, but was covered with all sorts of pop culture memorabilia. Mina was a big nerd, and I loved her for it.

  “What’s up?” she asked while moving back over to her laptop that was sitting next to a few empty cans of energy drinks. I looked her over and wondered how her little petite heart didn’t give out from all that sugar.

  She looked at me with her cute, green eyes that had black liner around her lids, making them pop. Her blonde hair was long but piled high in a very messy bun. All in all, she looked like your average angsty young adult. Family issues. She also lives on a really shitty diet, but must have great metabolism to keep her short, skinny frame so tiny—a small frame that was currently dressed in a Chewbacca onesie.

  “I wanna get some info on someone. Up for a challenge?” I plopped down next to her. She looked at me with excited eyes. I could have figured out who Phillip was without her, but I liked to give her something to do for me every once in a while.

  “Of course. Give me all the deets.” She started typing away on her laptop as I described Phillip.

  “Oh hell, I don’t even need to use my laptop for this one.” She looked at me like I was a dumbass for not figuring it out right off the bat. I stared at her with a waiting grin.

  “Phillip Griffin? The hottest and most important man in all of Seahill?”

  Obviously I was supposed to know that, but unless he was a criminal, I wouldn’t pay much attention to him.

  “Okay, give me more.” I gestured for her to continue on.r />
  “Ah, he owns Griffin Enterprises, leading the world in clean energy and technology. He’s at least a millionaire. Has a nice family, one sister. As far as I know, he doesn’t have any bad extracurricular activities. What’s going on?” She was very curious.

  “He was talking to my husband today, and offered him a safe space to hide from me until he can get our marriage annulled. He also said something about a society, too. Just wanting to figure out what all I may be getting into via the hubs, ya know?” Life of a married woman.

  She looked at me, a series of weird expressions crossing her face.

  “Chill your face. I feel like you’re either going to fart or have a stroke,” I told her.

  “You got married?” she muttered in confusion.

  “Yeah, two nights ago, where’ve you been?”

  “Uh, I’m confused.” She looked like she just found out her favorite computer program was designed by a baker.

  “You’re the all-knowing, remember? You should have notifications on my name so it would have popped up when our marriage was registered. I’m honestly a little sad you didn’t know.” I faked heartbreak, dabbing at pretend tears. She rolled her eyes and was back to normal again.

  “I don’t stalk you, you know.”

  “Yeah, but apparently you put a little extra attention toward Mr. Griffin.” I waggled my eyebrows and smiled knowingly. Her cheeks blushed.

  “Now to figure out my next move.” I contemplated how this was going to go down. Obviously I wouldn’t let Leon hide, so I was going to need into this society too. More digging, it seemed, was next on my next agenda. What is this society?

  Chapter Eight

  Leon

  I’d been in this apartment for a week, doing nothing but watching TV and eating food from the restaurant below. I was bored, and feeling the need to get out. After making sure my keycard was in my pocket, I left for the elevator. For a few seconds I just stood there, looking at the buttons:B2,B1,P,AG1, AG2, and T. Phillip had explained what they meant, and before I could stop myself, I hit the button B2.