by Avery Aster
“Welcome to Eden, where reality is whatever you want it to be…”
My reality was that I’d been screwed. What I wanted was for this trip to be o-v-e-r. I’m done with modeling. “F” the French, and dagnabbit I wanted my bedazzled Swarovski crystal flip-flops back.
Vive seemed happy though, which was a far cry from the suicidal face she had on the plane. I humored her and asked, “Like Club Med?”
“Kinkier.” Vive selected a pink orchid off the ground and handed it to me.
Succulent smells filled my nostrils causing hunger pains to ache in my empty stomach. The aroma made me ravenous.
“Meaning?”
“Clothing optional, BDSM dungeons, marijuana and LSD are legal here. We can drink too. Daddy should get Farnworth Firewater an account at this place.” Vive was a picture of debauchery.
Oh brother! My eyes narrowed, noticing the acres of nature. Tropical trees, white sand and green ferns at our feet it was breathtaking. I hated to say it but it was.
“There are fitness and beauty services at the spa. All the food and juices are organic. Eden has something for everyone.” Vive talked faster, perhaps trying to cover up her wishful party aspirations, which she usually camouflaged as her family business.
“Who owns this place?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.
Leon and Fabian hadn’t followed us. They’d gone for a walk near the water. I wondered what they were talking about right now. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away, holding one another, two brawny men.
“A gazillionaire named Theodosius Vardalos. They call him the Master. I’ve only seen him once. He checked in on Blake, gave him a jar of face cream for his injury. He promised it would heal him.”
Vardalos…
I took in a shallow breath, thinking about my GBF. Blake’s insecurities about his looks were ten times worse than all three of us girls put together. I hope his injury wasn’t going to leave any scars.
“Take me to Blake.”
“You can stay with him. He has two bedrooms, and this insane marble tub. I’m already unpacked in Lex’s suite.”
Thank heavens I wasn’t sleeping near Vive. She snores loud enough to make the wallpaper peel.
“Why does Theodosius Vardalos sound familiar? Is he from Manhattan? Did he live on the Upper West Side?” I smoothed my hair back. Lordy it’s getting hot out here. I wanted to take off my towel and be naked again. There was something freeing about not wearing a bathing suit yesterday in the water.
“No. Don’t you remember the article that came out on him last year in Vanity Fair touting he was next Richard Branson?” Vive loved her gossip magazines. Lex and I refused to read them.
“Ahhh…yes. You tried to get Avon Porter to book our senior trip here.”
“Right! Eden wouldn’t allow minors. But now we’re adults. It’s fate.”
“Fate?”
She nodded with enthusiasm and said, “We need this trip Taddy. Avon Porter, the court trials, juvie, Lex’s mom being a junkie, it’s all been a funky few years. I can’t imagine college being any easier. The universe brought us here.”
“To do what?”
“Heal!”
“I see,” I said, and licked my blistered lips. I didn’t want to argue with her. She hadn’t been excited about anything in a while.
“The Master’s staff put us up for free. Joely is Eden’s pilot. She gave us seats on the next charter flight back to Miami.”
“Tell her thank you, but no more flights. I’ll take a boat back to New York.”
“I hear ya girlie. Eden has ferry service. They say it’ll take about eight hours to get to Florida from here.”
We glanced out at the water. The waves weren’t as intimidating as when I was in the middle of it all. Regardless, as nice as this place appeared, I didn’t want to stay.
“What time is that boat?”
“Not for two more days.”
“What?” I panicked. That meant I’d have to spend the next 48 hours avoiding Leon and Fabian. I’ll just stay locked in Blake’s room. I didn’t trust myself around them.
“The ship is on its way back from England. Apparently Eden is all the rage with the Brits.”
“I can see why…” That meant I’d have to spend the next 48 hours avoiding Leon and Fabian. I’ll just stay locked in Blake’s room. I didn’t trust myself around them.
“Joely is nice. She’s been working with the passengers, helping them overcome their anxieties about the crash. That’s how we met.”
“No flights. Not now. I’m sure I’ll fly again, just not this soon.”
Vive stopped walking and grabbed me by my shoulders. The disappointment was obvious. “My VBF who just survived a plane crash doesn’t want to get sushi, book a facial, and sun at the beach?”
“No fish. No sun. Maybe a spa treatment.” My cheeks hurt from being outside for so long. I shook my head and said, “I want cement and noise. Let’s go home to Manhattan.”
“What about the photo shoot for their magazine?” Vive started walking again. I could tell by the spring in her step she wasn’t going to quit. Raised-up by a Swedish mother who advocated socialism, Vive mantra was all for one, one for all. Meaning we pretty much did everything together.
“I can’t go through with another round of pictures. Not again. They can use what they’ve got.”
“Won’t they not pay your fee if you don’t finish the job?” Vive eyed me with care as if I hadn’t thought this through. “Maybe after you eat and rest you’ll change your mind.”
No way. I’d already been made an idiot by Leon. In a snit, I tied the towel around my breasts tighter and looked back at the beach. They were gone. Leon and his lover were out of sight, now if I could just get them out of my mind, I’d be good. “Can I take you up on that offer to borrow money for school? I’ll pay you back.”
“Including your living expenses?”
Calculating the money in my head, I picked at my lip, and said, “Seventy thousand dollars. Man, that’s a lot of money.”
“Not to us Farnworth’s, that’s lunch.” Vive smiled. “Claire La Femme offered you six figures for this editorial…didn’t they?”
“Yup.” I slipped the flower she’d given me behind my ear. Maybe the yummy smell would send nice thoughts by osmosis into my mind about Eden.
“Didn’t you want to start your own business with some of that money?”
“Ah-huh. I did. But right now, I wanna go home.”
“Heard ‘ya the first time girlie.” Vive looked back at the beach, to where my attention had been all along. “Did something happen out in the water with Leon? You don’t seem like yourself.”
“Umm Viveca, I was sucked out of a plane, left in the water for a day swimming with nothing but a life jacket. No, I’m not myself. Not anymore.” Avoiding the conversation, I walked over a drawbridge made of gold. Eden’s castle, like something out of a fairytale, was over the top.
“Hold up.”
I stopped, glancing over the edge. A moat filled with colorful fish swam below.
“You can talk about it, if you want to, I’ll listen.” Her chin rested against my shoulder. I smelt the clean scent on her again as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Promise to refrain from giving me your sassy opinion?” I studied Vive’s face assessing any traces of self-control. Hmmm.
“I swear.” She crossed her heart.
I held onto the cast-iron railing, glancing at four fish swimming together, side-by-side. “Out there, I thought about life and death. About what would happen if I’d lost you guys…” I blinked a tear.
“Honey, don’t cry. Your life would go on, without us.”
“No it won’t, and I don’t think it would for you either.”
Vive froze. Her entire body tensed. She knew what I meant.
Waiting for her to say something, she didn’t. So I provoked her and reminded, “After watching you unbuckle your seatbelt I’m not sure you believe what’s
coming out of your own mouth, because I sure as heck don’t. You wanted to die up there, Vive.”
“I did not!” Vive seethed through her teeth.
The sun’s brightness started feeling all too warm upon us.
“Do not insult our friendship and lie to me. So help me, I’ll throw you over this railing into the moat.”
I would too.
“Taddy…” The whites of her eyes doubled.
“Tell me what was going through your pretty bleach-blonde-head when you unbuckled.”
“No!”
“You handed Hedda off to Lex. That dog would die without you in its life. And you just tossed Hedda away like your friends would take care of her.” Without thinking, the words pelted out of me. I felt sick after I spoke. I didn’t want to hear her answer. But I had to know.
“I’ve already apologized to Lex and Blake, who finally agreed to drop it. I’ll apologize to you too. I’m sorry for wanting to die up there. Now…let it go.”
I grabbed her tight. My face pressed up against hers. “You promised us you’d never do that again.”
A span of our lives together had been spent in darkness. Once before, Vive had tried to kill herself. We’d been in juvie. Somehow she’d gotten her hands on a knife from the cafeteria. After we’d gone to bed, she’d slashed her wrists.
Her eyes had changed colors again from white to red. “Don’t remind me. Last night none of slept, between worrying about you, Lex and Blake went off on me about that non-stop.” Rubbing her forearm against her nose she fought back a sob.
Pulling her close, I hugged her. “I’m…sorry.”
Her breath in my ear, she muttered, “We had a moment on board where everything started to shake. All I thought about was Sanderloo, and the night he died. I wanted to punish myself.”
Hearing Vive’s reasons made my own problems with Leon feel embarrassingly small.
“We were cleared of all charges. If the state of Connecticut can drop the case, then we have to forgive ourselves. We’ve gone over this a million times.”
“I’m allowed to stumble, Taddy. I’ll never be one hundred percent. I’ve made peace with that, which in my own way is me forgiving myself.”
“We’ve got too much to live for now. There’s college, our future.”
“I swear on Hedda, I won’t ever try again.” She cupped her hands with mine. “I’m looking forward to college. If you want the money, girlie, it’s yours. We’ll catch the boat in two days.”
We walked into the castle.
“Look honey, that’s the pretty lady that got sucked out of the plane,” a passenger said.
“Thank heavens you’re alive,” someone else exclaimed.
With an Irish flare for the dramatic the building was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I felt like I was in another world. You know that look that some amusement parks have where everything is pristine and picture perfect, so much so it appears fake, almost tacky.
Not here at Eden.
Idyllic yet real, this place felt good. There seemed to be something intangible in the air causing everyone to smile especially me.
I introduced myself to the Eden staff. They called their doctor and wanted me to get an exam to make sure I didn’t have a concussion or anything from the crash. After all, I had been sucked out of an airplane and plopped into the middle of sea.
* * *
Two hours later, the Eden doctor told me, aside from my scrapes and bruises, everything seemed fine.
I ate two servings of Eggs Benedict in Lex’s room with her and Vive. Hedda sat on my lap which oddly enough gave me a huge feeling of calmness. The girls drank a pitcher of mimosas and talked about college days ahead.
Did I tell them about Leon?
Hells no! I couldn’t. Shame? Perhaps. I didn’t want to hear it from them. They’d think I was a freak of nature, finding these two guys hot and all. I mean really.
When I came into Blake’s room he was sound asleep. Vive had mentioned the pain medication the Eden nurse had given made him sleepy. And that he’d been up most of the night hollering at her as I had just done probably left him exhausted.
A pot steeped in our room. The Master had sent up herbal tea to help with my nerves. He had some sundresses in various bright colors and sandals in size large, placed in my closet. I ran a bath, filling the basin with a creamy paste the Master had promised would alleviate the abrasions on my skin.
While I waited for the bathwater to get to a temperature I liked, I sat on the edge of Blake’s bed, and drank the tea.
Admiring his hands, they were the only part of him that wasn’t blistered from the fire. I could tell, his scars were going to be bad.
“Taddy…” he muttered. His piercing gray eyes opened.
“Hey babe,” I swallowed back a cry, leaning down I planted a peck on the lip.
“You’re okay.” He tried to sit up.
“I am now,” I said, taking him against my bosom. I fixed his pillows on his bed. We talked for a while. The sweet aroma from the bath came down the hall into Blake’s room.
“Maybe you should skip college, you know, enter the Olympics for swimming.” Blake swiped the mug out of my hand and took a sip.
“Leon could, he’s a great swimmer,” I said, feeling my lips curve into a grin when saying his name.
“I’m sure that’s not all Leon is great at, boo.” Blake’s manicured eyebrows shot up with provocation.
“Did you know, he and Fabian were together?”
“Nope. Hadn’t a clue. I put a call in to Mother Nature and asked her to repair my gaydar. Apparently it’s broken.” He pouted.
“Hahaha! Well are they gay or bi?”
“Potato, patato—tomato, tamato.”
“Huh?”
“Does it matter? They both suck cock. Who cares!” Blake’s sarcasm that I’d grown to love over the years never ceased.
“Jealous?” I thought about Leon and Fabian as Blake described, sucking one another’s cock.
“No, boo. School starts in one week. I’m sure I’ll make some new friends. Ones who don’t get us arrested like Vive, blown up like Lex, or plane crashed like y-o-u.” He put a hand up to his face as if suddenly realizing he might be starting class not yet healed.
“What-the-flip-ever.” I had to keep his spirits up. “You’d be lost without us.”
“Ditto.” He rolled over on his side.
“Let me ask you something. Do you ever think about being with a woman?”
“I tried that already. Remember?” Blake smirked.
During our sophomore year, or was it our junior year, Blake had slept with a girl before coming out. He said he had to try it just once to make sure he wasn’t straight. He’d owed his family at least that much.
Blake told us the girl was beyond livid. Had made him swear he’d never tell a soul. And he hadn’t. We didn’t pry. Although, at first I thought he’d made the story up, perhaps for a cool factor with the classmates. But why lie about that?
When I’d agreed to help him come out to his family and had gone to his parents house for Thanksgiving, he’d said, “Mom, Dad, I had sex with a girl at school. It’s not for me.”
“Well have you tried having sex with a boy?” His mother had asked.
“No. Not really.”
With relief his mom had cried out, “Good—”
“But I want to.” Blake had admitted.
His father moved his dinner plate to one side and had encouraged, “Son, maybe you should try another girl, a redhead like this Tabitha Adelaide.”
Crying, sick and nervously laughing, Mrs. Morgan had such mixed emotions that day. Months later, everything had turned out okay.
“I never forgot.” I ran my hands over the plush blue comforter Blake’s legs were lost under. “Want me to bring you anything?” I got to my feet, looking down at him.
“Nope. You’re alive. I got my VBF back. That’s enough for today.”
“Ha!”
“Girl, you smell. Go bath
e. I’m going back to sleep for a bit.” He closed his eyes.
“I love you Blake Morgan the third.” Addressing him by his formal name from time to time I hoped would remind him of how important he was. Not just to me, but to his community. Blake’s father and his grandfather are prominent upstanding people in New England society who loved their gay son very much.
“VBF—I heart you more.” Blake snapped his fingers for me to get to the bathroom. “Go before it gets cold.”
Exhausted in the bathtub, I pressed my back against the marble, and closed my eyes. Images of Leon flashed before me, his sweet face, those big muscles, that thick cock. Slipping my hand into the milky water I rubbed my sensitive clit.
Moaning softly, I submerged deeper into the water, releasing tension. I tried my best to relax…
The bathroom door opened.
With a turn I expected to see Blake.
“Bonjour Tabby,” Fabian said in a playful voice. Stepping in, he closed the door.
Every fiber of my body stood as I lay in the tub. Covering my breasts with a nearby hanging towel I shouted, “Get outta here Fabian!”
Not listening, he came closer. Black sexy cat-eyes focused. “We need to talk.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you, your lover, or that photographer. I quit.”
“Tabby!”
Water dripping from between my legs, I stood. Fuck this. I tossed my towel on the floor and glanced down to where I’d looked every morning when he’d done my makeup—at the large bulge in his pants.
Clear as day, under his shorts, Fabian’s erection stood nice and firm.
“Let me dry you.” He rolled up his sleeves revealing his forearms.
“No,” I said but I didn’t mean it.
“Oui.” He scooped up the towel.
Turning my back, I allowed him to towel-off my shoulders. Okay I’ll be honest, my nipples pebbled. Fabian Henry turned me on. He was exotic. But I wasn’t going to let him know that.
“This week…I’ve washed your hair.” He ran his strong fingers up then down the back of my neck. My pulse quickened.
“Yup.” I tried to act as if this was just work. Inhaling the yummy smell of his heady tuberose, I knew Fabian hadn’t come to talk about Claire Le Femme.
