by Penny Ward
“I know I’m probably the last person you want to speak to right now,” I continue, “but I’m going crazy. I need you to hear me out, Anna. Please.”
She peers over her shoulder at me and sighs. “You’re right. I won’t find closure until you do. So go on then, spit it all out.”
When she returns her gaze to the city, I fill the rest of the space between us and join her by the railing. Taking a deep breath in, I tell myself to just say it straight.
No excuses. No dilly-dallying. Just say the truth. Even the stuff she doesn’t want to hear.
“Everything I said that night, before we… slept together, was true. I did plan to seduce you, but then I realized it had backfired. As cliché as it sounds, I’ve been in love with you since we were damn teenagers.” I pause to wait for a reaction, but she just orders me to carry on.
“Before I came back to the penthouse… yes, I went and saw Monique. I didn’t think I had a chance with you over that inane comment I said about your work uniform, and so I just wanted to-”
“Fuck me out of your mind again?!” Anna cuts in with a harsh tone. “Just like you did back in high school.”
I nod in defeat, acknowledging that what she’s said is correct. “But that’s just it, Anna. As soon as Monique and I started things off, it didn’t feel right. I felt like I was cheating on you or something. So I put a stop to it barely before she’d even…”
“I get the picture,” Anna says with a hint of humor.
It’s clear that she’s grossed out but, at least, she’s still listening. That gives me some hope.
“Let’s say I believe you, Lucas. And that getting a prostitute to suck your dick is what made you realize you loved me, yadda, yadda, yadda. What the hell is with her coming to New York and being on top of you?”
“Well, there’s actually an easy explanation for that,” I tell her, shaking my head. I’m still kicking myself over the fact that I never, not even for a second thought that Monique would grow to really like me. Love me even.
“Really?” Anna asks, turning to face me, her forehead creased with apparent intrigue. “Please, enlighten me.” There’s that sassy tone of hers.
The one that I’ve always admired.
The one that makes my cock jolt.
The one that reassures me, even more, that this strong, independent, beautiful woman, is the right companion to have by my side.
“She’s a little in love with me,” I say with caution, looking out to the skyscrapers. “I had no idea, of course. But she couldn’t handle me wanting to be with you, so she threw herself on me, thinking it could somehow change my mind. I know what it looked like, but man does she know how to pin a guy to a chair.”
The last thing I was expecting Anna to do was to break out into hysterical laughter. She tries to cover her mouth and take calmer breaths but she can’t stop herself.
“I’m glad you think that’s funny,” I state with a chuckle.
“Oh, it is,” she says between gags. “I wish I’d be a fly on the wall. Seriously.”
When her laughs finally peter out, I put an arm around her waist and pull her close. To my utter happiness, she lets me.
“Please say you believe me, Anna. I don’t want to lose you. Not again.”
She takes my face in hers and stares into my eyes like she sees the truth in them.
“I believe you, Lucas. But despite all that you’ve said, some trust has been broken. You still planned to seduce me, and went to see Monique. I need some time before we can move forward. Before we can be a real us.”
Even though disappointment is flooding through me, I accept what she says and bow my head. “I understand. I’ll prove to you that you can trust me again, Anna. I promise.”
She reaches up on her tippy toes and kisses me with raw passion, and in full view of everyone inside, who has undoubtedly noticed us by now.
After all, it’s been way longer than fifteen minutes. I don’t want to think about what emotions must be running through both Mom’s and Frank’s head right now.
When Anna pulls out of the kiss and flattens her feet back on the terrace beneath us, she carves one of her notorious wicked smiles.
“I won’t make it easy for you, though,” she teases, stepping away from me and towards the door to the penthouse.
With a whole-hearted chuckle, I cock my head to one side and call out my reply, “Well, Miss Fitzgerald. It’s a good thing I love a challenge…”
The End
Hard
By
Penny Ward
HARD
A mysterious billionaire. A girl whose life has fallen apart. One night of uncontrollable desire...
There are three things you need to know about Amber Spencer: she’s smart, safe, and she lives life by the book. She’s learned the hard way that if you open your heart, you give it a chance to be broken.
Then she meets Mr. White, a billionaire art collector. He’s everything she doesn’t want. Everything she wants to avoid. Everything that is bad for her.
He gives her one night of unbridled passion, but her body longs for more.
One night. Two broken hearts. An uncontrollable lust…
1
My new city feels like home.
This crazy, funky, busy, hip, mad city is the first place that I have felt comfortable in my life. I have only lived in New York City for one month but it already feels like I belong here.
Only one month ago, I was studying History at a college a long way from New York City. I was studying in the farming town where I grew up, but it was a place where I never felt comfortable. At the time, I thought that life was ok – but I knew nothing else. I didn’t know how exciting life could be.
My life was safe. There was no risk or excitement. Everything was sheltered.
But that all changed very, very quickly.
My college professor, the charming David Dyson, started making sexual advances on me after class. One day, he grabbed my bottom and said if I didn’t sleep with him, he would fail me. I complained to the school but there was no evidence – so they threw the complaint out and I failed my class.
Bastard.
I did everything with my best friend, Nicky. We grew up together and started studying History together. When I complained about the sexual harassment, Nicky defended the professor, saying he would never do anything like that. And then she finished top of the class. Nicky was caught only one day later giving David Dyson a blowjob in the janitor’s cupboard at college.
Bitch.
I thought my boyfriend of five years, Richard Davis, was perfect. He was tall, sweet and so handsome. He was delicious. Turned out that Nicky thought he was delicious too. Only two days after the David Dyson incident, she was caught banging my boyfriend in the college hall at midnight.
Pricks.
So I packed it up.
I put everything I owned into a suitcase and went to the airport.
The cheapest ticket was heading for New York and so that’s the one I bought. The only things I knew about New York were from television. I landed with $1000, a few clothes, no make-up and a heart full of hope.
Anywhere had to be better than my hometown.
Anywhere had to be less embarrassing than facing everyone’s judging faces day after day.
Luckily, I found Marissa Parker.
Or she found me.
I responded to thirty job ads the second I landed on the JFK tarmac. I had to find something, and fast. Marissa responded within ten minutes of the online application. She said I was the only job applicant worth calling.
After only chatting for five minutes on the phone, she offered me a job – ‘You just know with some people,’ she said. I spent the first night in a hotel room, and I started the next day.
And I LOVED it.
It turned out that I applied to be an assistant in a small, hip art gallery in a happening neighborhood of New York. Marissa is the eccentric owner – full of life, vigor and advice. Although Marissa is onl
y in her early forties, she has experienced more in life than I had thought was possible.
Marissa also set me up with a small rental apartment not far from the gallery – it was the greatest stroke of luck that has ever brushed my life.
“Good afternoon,” she sings as she walks into the gallery. “I have something for you.”
“What is it?” I question.
“Look!” Marissa pulls out the most sickening green iced cheesecake that I have ever seen. “I spent hours making this for you last night!”
“For me?” I force a smile. Unfortunately, baking isn’t Marissa’s strong point.
“Sure is! It’s to celebrate one month working here, Amber. And with a last name like Sheehan, I thought that green would be your color!”
“Yay,” I try to be excited but the cake looks horrible.
I bite into the first slice and Marissa watches for my reaction. I force a smile and raise my eyebrows, “Yum.”
Hesitantly, Marissa also takes a bite, “Oh My Gosh!!”
She spits her bite back out onto her hand.
“That is horrible!” she laughs. “Don’t pretend to like it!”
I laugh, “It’s not that bad.”
“Are you kidding? I have eaten worms that have tasted better than that!”
“Worms?” I laugh again.
“Absolutely. I spent one year in outback Australia eating things called ‘witchy grubs.’ They were like little worms, and trust me, they tasted better than this cake.”
Nothing would surprise me about Marissa.
She could tell me that she has signed up to travel to Mars and I wouldn’t even batter an eyelid.
Marissa laughs as she throws the cake into the bin, “That is the best place for the cake.”
“It wasn’t that bad…”
“You’re too nice, Amber. You need to lose that nice country-girl attitude and toughen up if you want to thrive here in New York. This is a tough city, girl.”
“I don’t have to thrive – I’m ok with just getting by.”
“No, no, no,” Marissa protests. “There will be none of that. Throw away that old attitude – it’s time to live your life now. You need to take control of your life and live it for the moment.”
“I wouldn’t know how to do that.”
Marissa ponders her own thoughts as she slowly looks over the books after last night’s exhibition opening, “I’ll tell you how.”
“I thought you might.”
“He was here again last night.”
“Who?” I pretend not to know who Marissa is talking about.
“You know who.”
I can’t contain my smile, “He was looking good, wasn’t he? That suit fitted him so well…”
“Oh my, he was looking more than good. He was looking amazing. And if I were ten years younger, I would tear him apart. But he didn’t have eyes for me, he only had eyes for your beautiful figure.”
“But I’m not ready,” I try to deflect her statements.
“No-one is ever ready, Amber.”
“But I’m really not. I have just turned my entire life upside down and I need a little time to adjust. It’s hard for me to change. Before last month, I’ve never done anything crazy in my life. I’m not as wild as you, Marissa. I like things…”
“Boring.”
“No, not boring… but safe.”
“Safe is for accountants. You are not an accountant. You are a beautiful, sexy young woman. You need to take advantage of your assets.”
“My assets?”
“A figure like yours is a blessing from whoever it is you believe in. Most people aren’t blessed with beauty – they strive for it every day of their lives. And you… you’re lucky. You have an amazing face, a wonderful figure and a sexy, sexy pair of legs.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Not sexy enough to keep Richard from straying…”
“Stop it!” Marissa interrupts me before I can go any further. “I will hear no more of that. That is the past. You are in New York now baby!”
I roll my eyes to Marissa.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me,” she playfully pokes me in the ribs. “Now, what are we going to do about this beautiful man that can’t take his eyes off you?”
“Nothing. I’m not good enough for a man like him. Did you see the way he dressed? Not only was he the most handsome thing in New York, but clearly he has a lot of money because that suit was the finest. That man would have models hanging off him everywhere he goes.”
“Stop it! There is no man on earth that is too handsome for you. You are beautiful. You just need to let go of the past. I know that some prick has hurt you before, but you need to forget about that. You need to forget about Richard and move on with your life. Leave him in the country town. Live a little.”
“All that doesn’t matter anyway,” I reply. “I’m not ready for anything long term. I just want to be by myself for a while. I just want to live my life and be single without the stress of having a man to worry about.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” Marissa laughs.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you serious, girl?” Marissa stares at me.
“I… what are you saying?”
“You don’t have to have a relationship with the man. Just screw him senseless,” she laughs.
The thought never even crossed my mind.
“A one-night stand?”
“Yes, girl. A one-night stand.”
“How does that even work?”
“No way!” she laughs. “Well, when a man loves a woman…”
“No!” I laugh at Marissa. “I mean, what do you do after you do… you know… the deed?”
“You kick him out.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. You can snuggle with him for a while if you like that sort of thing, but don’t get too attached to him. Just have a wild night of sex and forget about him.”
“I have never even thought about that sort of thing.”
“Look, men and women have desires. There is no use denying that. We all want nights full of wild sex,” Marissa laughs. “It’s just that some people are too scared to go after it. You shouldn’t be scared of it. While you are still in your early twenties, you need to screw as many good-looking men as you can. Think about it as life experience. When you get to my age, they are some of the best memories that you have.”
“But wouldn’t…”
“No excuses. Even if you just do it once and find that it is not for you, then that’s ok. At least you tried it. Don’t have regrets. We are having another opening in a fortnight, and I can guarantee that he will be here. Mr. White comes to all our gallery openings, and he usually spends more than anyone else.”
“But he is not even my type. He is all business and rich money, when I would prefer a free and exciting artist to date.”
“You’re not dating. And Mr. White is everyone’s one-night stand type.”
“Is that even his real name?”
“Nope. I have no idea who he really is. But I always send an invite to the address provided and he always shows up. I tried to find out who he really is but I couldn’t find anything. His name isn’t Mr. White but that’s what he wants to be known as. And with the amount of money he spends, he can be known as anything.”
“So, what do I do?”
“You tell him that you want to spend the night with him.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. It is so, so easy.”
“What if he says no? What if he is married? Or has a girlfriend?”
“Then he says no and you move on.”
Damn.
That sounds too easy.
“You have to do it now. Ok?”
I nod but nerves flood my body. He may be handsome but he is not my type. I want an artist, not a cold businessman.
He may be the sexiest thing I have ever seen but I’m not
sure I could go through with it…
2
“What are you working on?” Marissa asks as I bury myself under papers in the back office to the gallery.
“You remember how you said that you love Joel Mitchell’s work?”
“Are you talking about the most elusive painter in modern art?”
“I am.”
“Then I’m listening.”
“I have a lead in finding him.”
“Go on…” Marissa sits down slowly next to me in the office.
There are countless small galleries in New York all fighting for recognition and cutting edge work. Marissa prides herself on finding not only the newest, but also the most sought after artists in the country. Her gallery relies on it.
Her patrons love the modern art that she brings to her small gallery but they are a fickle bunch. They are always looking for more. They are always looking for the next best thing.
The first task that Marissa gave me when I started here was the task that she couldn’t complete: find Joel Mitchell, the world’s best up and coming contemporary artist.
He is as elusive as he is admired.
His paintings are stunning, thought-provoking and full of life, color and love. His first sculpture, a small whale being held by a life-sized child, sold at auction for over one million dollars.
But his identity remains hidden.
The New York Times, The London Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post have tried to track him down for an interview. They looked up every Joel Mitchell in the developed world in an attempt to land a meeting with him.
And nobody seems to know anything.
All of his interactions are via email addresses that change constantly, he delivers his work quietly at night when no one else is around and he has never given an interview.
He is the art world’s greatest mystery… and I love a good mystery.
“Well,” I begin. “His art work is quite distinctive. The colors that he uses, especially the blue for the skies that he paints, are quite bold and unique. So I started looking at all the winning college graduates over the last twenty years.”
