by Kat T. Masen
I’ve already planned on when and where all those items will be used on you.
Holy shit! I fumbled with my phone, dropping it under the table. As I excused myself to find it, I couldn’t help but look over at Lex’s legs. I nearly had a coronary as I watched his hand rub the front of his pants. SON OF A BITCH! When had he texted me that? It probably was during that time I had avoided all eye contact with him. I sat back up and tried to compose myself as best as I could. He wasn’t looking my way but the smirk on his face said it all.
“Time to open your gift from Lex!” Adriana pushed Lex’s hand towards me. Instead he stood up and walked over to me. “Happy Birthday, Charlotte.”
Lex was always known for giving extravagant gifts. I fumbled with the bow that sat on top of the brown box. I was nervous and having the whole table watch me, anticipating my every move, made it even worse. As the bow came undone, I lifted the lid. Inside sat a Tiffany’s box. Already my heart was fluttering, terrified of the contents that lie underneath. I lifted the lid of the box, and my heart stopped when I saw what lay there. It was a necklace but it wasn’t the necklace that made me want to cry, it was the pendant attached. A white gold Phoenix bird encrusted with diamonds.
“Lex… I… Thank you.” I could barely get the words out. The emotion was written all over my face. If only he knew what it meant to me, how this tiny little bird represented so much. I stood up, legs shaking, and…I hugged him. Really tight. I knew the table was watching but for all they knew it was a present from a good friend. I whispered in his ear, “How did you know?”
“Your tattoo. I know it means a lot, I just wish you would tell me why.”
I completely forgot about the tattoo and the night he asked me. He pulled away from me and grabbed the box. Pulling the necklace out he motioned for me to turn around. Placing the necklace on my chest, he fastened the clips at the back. Like placing the missing piece from a puzzle, it felt right. This felt right.
The night went on and we relaxed, drinking away, telling stories. An announcement came on advising us that the karaoke stage was open. The restaurant cheered. I noticed that the cheering came from the busload of Japanese tourists who sat towards the front of the stage.
“Oh em gee, Charlie! Duo time!” Eric raced to the stage and grabbed the karaoke books. Five of them to be exact. My friends scoured through the books, discussing songs they would sing. I drank another glass of sangria. I fucking needed it if I was gonna sing karaoke with Eric. I heard Julian rustle his belongings beside me. I noticed that he had remained quiet since Lex had given me the necklace.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, pretending not to know.
I could tell he was annoyed and he had every right to be. “Look, Charlie, I’m going to go.” He got up from the table. I followed him, unaware he would actually just get up and leave and not say goodbye to anyone. We were met by the cool breeze outside. He turned around to face me.
“Is something going on between you and Lex?” he said flatly.
I was caught off guard, my mind catching up, thinking of how to answer this question correctly. “Julian, he’s just a friend.”
“I’m not a fool, Charlie. I know what type of guy Edwards is. Is that what you want?”
“Julian. Lex is the past. I don’t want anything with him.” The words hurt as they left my mouth. Here I was trying to save this relationship, but why? My heart had made up its mind but my head was fighting tooth and nail to not let Lex be part of my life.
“Listen, Charlie…” He hesitated then reached in his pocket and produced a small box. “Happy birthday. You decide what it is you really want.” He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek before he walked away. I stood there alone on the sidewalk. My hand clutched the tiny box, not knowing what to do. I walked back into the restaurant and stood by the doorway. I opened the box. It was a key, the top part shaped like the batman symbol. I read the note attached to the key.
The key to my batcave…and my heart.
I placed the key back in the box. A tear slipped down my cheek. What the hell was I doing and most importantly what the hell did I want? Well I knew what I wanted, but I was afraid that if I said it out loud then there would be no way back. I returned to our table, a little unsteady as the sangria had taken over. When I finally spotted everyone, they were cheering on Rocky who was singing “Call Me Maybe.” I had to laugh, it was impossible not to. Bull’s looked mortified but that only meant she loved his goofy ass. As the song finished, the crowd roared and the Japanese tourists pulled out their pens and autograph books, begging him for an autograph. He grinned as he signed away and took photos with the tourists. Our table was in hysterics. Finally Bull’s cracked a laugh, shaking her head in disapproval.
Eric was still trying to decide what to sing. He sat there belting out lines to each song, trying to get pitch-perfect like he was auditioning for The Voice. It made me laugh a little as I remembered the time we reenacted that TV show in our office. Emma and I had pretended to be the coaches sitting behind the chairs. We would turn around pretending to choose Eric and he would go into this long speech about how singing was his life and that God guided him to The Voice. It was hilarious.
My attention moved to Adriana who was persuading Lex to sing. Lex had a beautiful voice, smooth and soothing. He wasn’t the type to get up and sing in front of crowd however his sudden burst of courage intrigued me. He walked over to the stage as they called his name, speaking briefly to the man in charge of the music. He walked on stage and settled at the piano. The lights dimmed and the crowd roared as he began playing the notes. My heart beat so loud I feared it would overpower the music he played. I knew the tune: it was Bruno Mars, When I Was Your Man.
I closed my eyes, taking in every word of the song. This meant more to me than anything. Was it time to finally forgive? He was hurting… My Alex was hurting. My heart was telling me that he needed to know that if what he sang was true then I owed this to him. It wasn’t just about me anymore. He was right; he did have feelings too and I couldn’t have become that cold that I couldn’t acknowledge that. We needed to talk, but not tonight. For now I looked at him on the stage, admiring his courage to bare his soul to me in front of everyone.
“I know the song we will sing,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“What is it, Charlie?” Eric asked.
I leaned in and told him. If I couldn’t talk to Lex, I would follow his lead, bare my soul through this one song and hope he understood what I needed from him. What I needed in order to fix us.
Chapter 22
Lex
I was due to fly back to London on Monday morning. I knew Charlotte’s birthday was on Saturday and I didn’t know how to approach her. The little blue box sat on my nightstand, a constant reminder of her, tormenting me. It had taken me most of yesterday morning to pull the strings at Tiffany’s to get the diamonds encrusted into the pendant. Thank my fucking lucky stars the manager knew who I was so after a shitload of money was sent their way, it was hand-delivered to my suite. I knew this meant a lot to her. When I asked her about it she brushed it off in typical Charlotte fashion. When the fuck will she open up to me?
My cell buzzed, startling me from my thoughts. Please be her, I prayed. I didn’t recognize the number.
Lex,
We are having a surprise birthday party for Charlie at Tango 7pm sharp. I’m sure she will appreciate you being there, “friend”.
Nikki Romano
What an egotistical bitch. Seriously, someone needed to pull the stick out of her ass. I could only assume Adriana would be there. She hadn’t said anything to me but what about that fucker Julian? I’d hope that Nikki wouldn’t be that fucked up to invite both of us but who knew.
I’ll be there, for my so-called friend.
We were huddled in a private area of the restaurant. The room was decorated with emerald balloons, Adriana’s idea of course. I stood next to Elijah. He was telling me about a new job he was starting in Brooklyn.
&n
bsp; “So I’ll be teaching art classes for the youth down at the YMCA. It’ll be a nice change,” he said.
“Sounds good. How are you feeling though… Are you sure you’re up for it?” I knew I sounded worried but he was the closest thing I had to a brother. The cancer bullshit scared our family; there was no way in hell we could lose him. Thankfully a well-known cancer rehabilitation clinic in Geneva had an opening for him and even more grateful that one of my clients knew the owner so all I had to do was wave my AMEX and they suddenly had an opening. I didn’t give a shit about the money; we just needed him to live. He recovered well but I knew he still had to take it easy.
“Much better. You know I owe you my life, right?”
“How about you just take care of my sister and make sure she annoys me less and we’ll call it even?” I chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.
“Deal. But hey, you know Adriana. I can promise to try.” Elijah laughed.
We chatted amongst ourselves until Julian walked in. Nikki was all over him, grabbing his arm and acting like a love-struck teen. What the fuck? So she played nice with him and treated me like the scum of the earth. He walked around greeting everyone then left me till last.
“Edwards. Didn’t think I’d see you here.” He shook my hand, that stupid prick.
“Well, she is my friend and I was invited.”
Adriana hushed us as she announced Charlotte was here. We closed the curtain and dimmed the lights. When we yelled surprise, her face was priceless. She saw me then looked at Julian. I knew she was panicking. Good, I thought. Maybe now she will get rid of him. She hugged me last. She looked so fucking hot in this tight black dress with these sexy heels on. I wanted her legs wrapped around me; I wanted to taste her sweet pussy on my lips.
I wished her a happy birthday followed by a comment about her dress. I knew what I did to her. It was so fucking obvious. It didn’t stop her from sitting next to that fucker though. What the fuck could I do? It irritated me to the core that he had his fucking arm draped over her like she was his property. Not for much longer, buddy. Enjoy your moment of glory because soon you’ll be back in the dating scene wishing you were me.
The group told stories about how they met Charlotte. It seemed that everyone at this table meant something to Charlotte, even that fucker. I tried to be mature. OK that’s a fucking lie; I was ready to get all UFC on him so I did the only thing I could do: I flirted with the little blonde chick beside me. I laughed, pretending to be engrossed in her story about her trip to Cancun. It was so obvious she was flattered with my attention, constantly pushing her tits together to show me her non-existent cleavage. I could see Charlotte was getting pissed and when she decided revenge was the way to go and leaned into him, I fucking left. I may have damaged the toilet stall in the bathroom by kicking it but fuck she knew exactly how to piss me off. Surely she realized I had an anger management problem. After calming myself down as much as I could, I ran outside the bathroom, into her.
She asked me what my problem was. I warned her but she didn’t want to listen. I had no choice, I needed her. It had been too long. The taste of her lips felt like heaven on Earth. Her skin enticed me; the smell was driving me insane. It drove my addiction further, I couldn’t hold back. I knew we were fucking in a restaurant bathroom but I had never wanted her so badly, it was the dress! She made me feel things that no other woman had in many years, and fuck, the way she took my cock deep in her mouth; I was ready to blow right then and there. Goddamn, the girl had skills. She look up at me through her lashes, her eyes were pure lust. The sight left me speechless but I needed more. So I grabbed her and fucked her hard against the door. I held back as long as I could, that was until she said I was hers. The first thing that registered was that I needed to blow in her pussy right NOW. As the waves of intensity subsided, her words echoed in my mind and I liked what I heard. No, I loved what I heard. Until she did a complete 180 on me and took it all back.
We fought over everything. This was bullshit. Every time we fucked we argued afterwards which made me want her even more. I tried to clear my head; there was no way I was walking out with a boner. Especially with my big dick, it was impossible to hide.
I walked back to the table and avoided eye contact with her. I sat there chatting with Rocky about sports. He actually turned out to be a pretty neat guy, too bad his wife was a stuck-up bitch. Adriana interrupted us by shoving the karaoke book in front me.
“C’mon Lex, just one song,” she pleaded.
“You know I don’t sing in front of crowds.”
“Stop being a fool. You know you have a fucking awesome voice. Just do it.”
“I never said I didn’t. I just don’t want to sing in front of a crowd. You know it’s not my thing.”
Eric announced it was gift time, thank God Adriana was momentarily distracted. I had to admit Charlotte got some awesome gifts. The heels again did not help my obsession with her legs. When Nikki gave her all this kinky shit I couldn’t help but send her a text. I knew she was avoiding me, I mean Christ, she just had me in her mouth then I fucked her till she came. She probably still had my cum dripping out of her pussy. Fuck if that didn’t stir things up again. I took the opportunity to rub my cock as she bent down to pick up her cell. I knew she saw, she couldn’t have come back up any more flushed. I turned away, unable to hide the smirk on my face.
“Time to open your gift from Lex!” Adriana said eagerly.
Charlotte looked apprehensive. I walked over to her and wished her a happy birthday. As I handed her the box she slowly took it from me. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me, that I needed to find a way to heal us. I watched closely as she pulled out the phoenix pendant and necklace out of the box. She held it her hands and if you looked close enough, you could see her hands trembling. She thanked me, then stood up to hug me, real tight. I was taken aback by how long she held on for. I knew this bird represented something significant in her life. I had Googled the meaning. To be reborn, new beginnings. Did she get the tattoo after I left her? I wanted to ask but if I pushed again, I could lose her for good and I wasn’t willing to take risks like that. I took the pendant from her hand and motioned for her to turn around as I fastened the clips. The phoenix sat perfectly on her chest. Her heart was beating fast. I could see her chest rising and falling.
The party continued and several times I would catch Charlotte in a daze touching the phoenix. It wasn’t until a short time later that Julian stood up and walked out. She followed him but I wasn’t angry like last time. He looked pissed, and maybe a little defeated; he had, ever since the comic book story. He would have to be the stupidest moron to not see that there was something going on between us. I mean, I fucked her in the bathroom. She smelled like my cock. What more evidence did he need?
In the meantime, I had an idea. She wouldn’t talk and therefore wouldn’t listen, but music meant more. I would find the courage to sing.
“Great, Lex,” Adriana squealed when I told her. “What song?”
I didn’t answer her. Instead I got up and walked over to the stage and spoke to the head of the band. I asked him if I could borrow the piano. Charlotte was seated at the table, her expression confused. I didn’t know what happened outside but it was time.
I took a seat at the piano, taking a deep breath. I positioned my fingers over the keys. The lights dimmed and my heart was going a thousand miles a minute. The crowd cheered loud and somehow, somewhere I found my voice.
The words flowed freely as did my fingers along the keys. I knew she had to have known this song, my eyes focused on her as I sung, she sat there, still. I wanted her to know how I felt, how much pain I was in, how much regret I felt about leaving her. That it was always her and would always be her. After, the crowd erupted into a loud roar followed by whistles. I stood up and walked down the stairs. I was stopped by a few cougars on the way back to our table, something that Rocky couldn’t help but comment on.
“Excellent job, man,” he said, leaning in c
loser. “Did you see the MILF in the red dress? Holy mother of—” Nikki slapped the back of his head, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
She sat there, her eyes never leaving mine like she was about to say something. I wished I could read her mind. Fuck, was I finally getting through to her? She leaned and whispered something to Eric. He quickly got up and walked over to the man organizing the music. I watched her knock back a whole glass of sangria and almost instantly she looked calmer. Eric and Charlotte’s names were called and they made their way to the stage. I couldn’t help but admire her stunning figure as she walked past me; those emerald green pumps looked amazing against her tanned legs. I grabbed her wrist as she walked past.
“Good luck, Charlotte,” I offered.
Her gaze met mine again like she was searching for something, but I had no clue because she wouldn’t tell me. Eric ushered her along and they walked onto the stage. Her body looked more relaxed. Yep, she was fucking drunk. I recognized the song almost immediately. Her voice was angelic. She closed her eyes as she sang her part. I sat and stared, taking in every word as she began to sing Pink’s song: Just Give Me A Reason.
Eric sang the male part but I was lost. Was this how she felt? That we were broken. I pushed the thought away. Of course we could be fixed, it was us after all. This wasn’t some high school fling. If I was the one who broke us by leaving then what exactly did she need from me in order to fix us?
The crowd cheered and whistled as the song finished. The words were plain and simple. We can learn to love again. We weren’t broken. At least I acknowledged the mistakes I made, and kept making. At least I was trying. That means something, doesn’t it? She had to see that or else she wouldn’t have so openly sung this song. She came back to the table and plonked herself on her chair. Eric poured her some sangria, why the fuck for I had no idea. She was gone already. As she continued to gaze at me, I watched her. Not knowing who would break eye contact first, like we were both trying to read each other’s mind. I was the first one to look away only because a lady beside me asked for a light to which I politely indicated that I didn’t smoke.
