by Sable Sylvan
The silence was broken by the sound of Aiden’s alarm going off. The sound startled the both of them visually, and they both couldn’t help but laugh at their reactions.
Aiden got up from his chair and opened the drawer again, but this time, he pulled out five things.
The first, a journal, reading To Carmen on the front. The journal was made of dark black leather, and Aiden opened it to the front page. Inside, there was an inscription.
Dear Carmen,
I had so much to tell you this week, but I knew we couldn’t risk talking, and we’d only have an hour...so I wrote down everything I wanted to tell you in this journal.
I will be keeping two journals. Bring me this journal next week, so I can write in it again, and I’ll give you its twin, so you can read what I wrote that week.
Along with this journal, I’ll be giving you three journals.
One is for you to write in this week, to bring to me next week, to share with me your thoughts, your feelings, your hopes, your dreams, your everything.
The other is for you to use in the weeks I have the first journal. This way, you will always have something to write in. Of course, every week, I will also buy new pads of paper and pens for us to use.
The last journal is for you, to keep, to use for all your private thoughts, to write whatever you want to write that you may not wish to share with me, now or ever.
Finally, open the last box.
Yours,
Aiden
Carmen put the stack of journals down and opened the last box. Inside, there was a gorgeous ball-point pen, in dark crimson resin that looked like marble, swirled with gold and bronze metallic pigments that made it look like liquid fire. There were refills included, as well as a note...
For Carmen,
To write things as beautiful as she is, so every curve of an a or an e can hope to match the beauty of her curves, for truly, i-o-u.
From Aiden
Carmen’s eyes welled with tears at the beautiful gift that Aiden had prepared for her. She couldn’t help but break one more unwritten rule.
Carmen put the note into her apron, and looked up at Aiden, who was wiping a tear of his own from his eye, and she did the unthinkable.
She wrapped her arms around the firm torso of the man who she knew it was forbidden to love, who was from a world unlike hers in every conceivable way, and she pulled him close, into a hug.
It didn’t take more than a second for Aiden to realize that yes, that was Carmen with her arms wrapped tight around his body, and he pulled her close, her head barely reaching his chest, given their difference in height, and he stroked her back as he smelled the top of her hair. At her core, past the shampoo and the cleaning supplies, he could smell her, what she smelled like without any other scent on top, muddling it, and it was a scent that he and his bear memorized, a scent that would forever remind him of her and her alone. He pulled her in close and felt the wetness from her eyes soak into his designer shirt. He gripped her even more tightly, until she moved beneath him, and he loosened his grip, letting Carmen look up at him.
Carmen looked over Aiden’s strong, chiseled face, to his kind smile and his sparkling eyes. He was unlike any man she’d ever met. There was no frikkin’ way that what they had was anything other than a true love connection, and she couldn’t help herself from leaning up, getting on the tips of her toes to brush her lips past Aiden’s soft mouth.
That touch, that one brush of her soft lips against his, was all Aiden needed. He picked Carmen up with one arm. Carmen leaned in to the embrace as Aiden held her up with his strong arms before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned into the kiss, the kiss that was stronger and more passionate and needy than any that Carmen had ever felt before. Aiden’s desire for her was evident from his ravenous smooching of her lips, from the raking of his fingers through her hair, from the pressing of his arms against her every thick, luscious curve, as his lower tumescence started to throb and ache with even more desire.
Aiden’s bear roared. This was the beginning of something special...something that the bear had wanted to see the human do for a very long time. They’d talked, they’d touched, and now...they’d connected. Aiden’s eyes flashed bright green as the bear roared with pride. Maybe the human side of the soul really did know how to romance a woman after all. Aiden let Carmen back down and helped her get her things together, putting the journals and pen into a large black leather tote bag he’d purchased for her. Carmen gave him a kiss on the cheek as they walked out to the miniature lobby outside his penthouse, to wait for the elevator.
As the elevator came, signaled by a ‘ding’ and the opening of doors, Aiden held the door for her as she gathered her things...but he couldn’t stop himself now that he’d started something that nobody could stop; the process of wooing the woman he was absolutely certain was meant to be with him, not in this elevator, not even in the fancy bedroom of the luxury condo, but down in Port Jameson, in the mating cabin, to be filled with his thick seed before the winter started, so he could wake up and a few weeks later, have a litter of spring cubs. The usually cool and collected man, who was able to control his every emotion in the board room, had let the bear take over, just like his cousins had suggested. The calm and cool man, he could handle things like figuring out ways to help Carmen not break, but subvert, the rules...but the bear, the force of the lustful beast could not be contained.
Carmen was the one who had to break the kiss. She pulled away, and pointed at her wrist. She wasn’t wearing a watch, but Aiden got the message. She didn’t have the time to stay and smooch. She was practically Cinderella, trying to get home before the carriage (or in this case, the cleaning van) turned back into a pumpkin. Aiden put his hands up: say no more. He gave her one last smooch on the cheek before hitting the L button for her, and waving her off.
***
That afternoon, Carmen got back to the cleaning headquarters in record time. Polly noticed, as she was taking special care on Fridays to make sure she could look out over the headquarters floor and watch for Carmen’s van to get back on time...but Polly looked at the clock. First, Carmen shows up late, twice in a row, but now, she shows up this much earlier? Something didn’t add up, and Polly was going to get to the bottom of it...
Before Polly turned to go back to her desk, she saw something odd. A flash of black. She turned again and looked. Carmen was walking out the door to catch a bus, but...what was that on her arm? A black tote bag? Designer, from the looks of it, as Polly was a purse nut. How the heck did Carmen get her hands on a designer bag? Maybe it was a knockoff, but maybe there was something more to this story...and Polly had an idea about where her niece had gotten her hands on those designer duds. The only concern was...how?
***
On the bus back to her house, Carmen couldn’t help but finger the fine edges of the journals that Aiden had gifted her. She’d never seen journals like these in stores. These weren’t spiral bound, nor college ruled. They were made of fine Italian leather, according to the manufacturer’s notes on the inside of the journal, and crafted in France. She held them up to her face and inhaled. The leather smelled like leather, but it smells like something else too. It smelled like the beginnings of true love.
What was she going to write? As Carmen fingered the pages of the journal, she was sure she would figure something out...after all, she had so much to tell Aiden. The only question was, what would she tell him first?
Carmen resisted the urge to open the journal Aiden had given her containing his words. After all, she was sure what he’d written was awfully personal. Even if it wasn’t, it felt personal, like the kind of book that she shouldn’t just be reading on the bus. Now, if he’d written his notes on an e-book and given her an e-reader, nobody would suspect her of reading intimate notes from the man she could call ‘her favorite author’. The big journal he’d given her was awfully conspicuous, as was the nice leather bag...which, as nice as it was, she was sure she’d have to swap for a bor
ing plain cotton tote, like one of the ones she’d bought at the grocery store to avoid a plastic bag surcharge.
As soon as Carmen got home, she put the bag away in her closet, as her family usually stayed out of her room, and the last thing she needed was one of her siblings snooping and finding something to tease her about. As the oldest sibling, it was her job to help her mom out, especially given her father had passed in an accident a few years after the youngest sibling, who was now nine, was born. Carmen got changed, swapping out the maid’s uniform for a pair of sweats and a plain old worn graphic shirt she’d bought back in high school, and she tossed her dirty clothes in the hamper.
As Carmen walked out of her room and into the house, it was like the fairy tale with Aiden had ended. Gone was the fancy dinner, and instead, there were frozen pizzas that needed to be put in the oven and a bevy of kids that she had to ensure were all in place and not fighting and were doing their homework. She had to account for which kids were missing, either because they were at a sleepover, at some activity, or they were just not home yet, and she had to figure out which neighborhood kids were allowed to stick around and which needed to make themselves scarce before her mom got home.
The pizzas came out of the oven, and of course, she hadn’t made enough, but with her quick wit, she figured out that this was the perfect time to empty the fridge of leftovers, and made a potluck of leftovers for the kids to pick at, before recruiting them to do various chores according to their chore wheels, with modifications needed as need be. She had two of her sisters helping with drying and putting away plates, while the boys had to take out the trash and clean the bathroom tonight. Other kids had to help clean the shared bedrooms, as well as clean up their toys from the living room. This had the bonus effect of tiring all the kids out, to the point that after they finished the chores, and all had their single scoop of ice cream with sprinkles as a dessert, they just wanted to hit the hay, but not after lining up to brush their teeth.
By the time Carmen’s mom had come home, the kids were all asleep in bed. Carmen’s mom kissed her on the top of the head as she came in and put down bags of household supplies. “I couldn’t do it without you, kid,” said Carmen’s mom, Bianca.
“We just gotta do what we can do without...” started Carmen, before choking up.
“Here, here, honey,” said Bianca, pulling Carmen in. “I miss him too, every day. But we’re gonna make this work. The fridge has food, our lights and water are on, and we’ve both got jobs. We’ll be okay. We’re gonna make it.”
“Speaking of which,” said Carmen, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and handing it to her mom. “I’m sorry it’s late, but...”
Her mom looked at the paper. It was a check, for a few hundred bucks. She sighed. Carmen tried to give her money every damn month. Her mom pocketed it. “Carmen. You know you don’t have to pay rent.”
“But I live here for free,” said Carmen.
“Baby, you do more work than any girl your age I know,” said Bianca. “You take care of these kids because I have such long shifts at my job. I don’t need your money.”
“Take it, mom,” said Carmen.
“Fine, fine, but I’m putting it in that special account,” said Bianca. “You know every check you give me...”
“...Goes into a special college account, and you try to match it,” said Carmen. “But mom —”
“That’s right, I’m the mom here. Listen, hon. You are not supposed to have to be the parent. I’m the parent. I’m the mom. And I’m telling you...you gotta follow your dreams, Carmen, and if I gotta deposit these checks to make you happy, I will, but it’s all going in that college account your dad set up,” said Bianca, hugging her daughter tight. “I’m so glad his sister looks out for you. I know Polly can be a...”
“Hard ass?” said Carmen.
Bianca laughed. “Exactly. But she didn’t get where she is by messing around. Gee, sometimes I wish I had her life, but I wouldn’t trade you kids for anything in the world, not for any fairy tale life.”
“I love you too, mom,” said Carmen, hugging her mom tight. “I better hit the hay.”
“You and me both,” said Bianca. “We’ve got a long weekend ahead of us. Who knows what disaster will await us tomorrow morning?”
Carmen and Bianca went to their rooms. Carmen, as the oldest, was the only sibling with a room all to herself. She hadn’t had the money or time to even think about changing the decor in her room, which still had old band posters on the walls from middle school. Half the bands weren’t even together anymore. The kind of room she wanted...that was for girls that had fairy tale lives, not for her. Even if she wasn’t living some princess life, she could still dream of it. Too tired to even start to read one of Aiden’s journals, she hit the hay, and left the life full of drudgery for a world filled with fantastical wonders, a world of dreams, filled with a man who haunted her every waking and sleeping thought...billionaire by day, prince by night...Aiden Dixon, the man who had finally kissed her...
Chapter Four
Waiting to see Aiden again was the hardest part of Carmen’s week, but what helped her survive was reading the notes he’d left her in the notebook. It was a thick notebook but it had already been filled with a few dozen pages of notes to Carmen. These notes included everything from lists of songs that Aiden thought Carmen would like to famous poems to personal notes. Carmen had rationed the notes out, so that she couldn’t read them all in a single sitting, but of course, on Tuesday night, she accidentally found herself turning page after page until there were no more notes left for her to read. At that stage, there was only one thing to do. She wrote lots of notes of her own to Aiden, some replying to things he’d written, some that had barely anything to do with Aiden, and she found herself starting to use the journal he’d given her for private usage as well.
That Friday, Carmen took the journals out of her house for the first time. She put them in a plain cotton tote bag with a logo for a grocery store that, from frequent usage of the bag, had faded, and when she got to Aiden’s place, she left her cleaning supplies in the car and took the tote bag with her up to the penthouse floor.
As soon as she got to the penthouse lobby, she was greeted by Aiden. She didn’t even have to ring the doorbell. He was right there, waiting for her. He took her things from her, and led her into the penthouse, one hand on the small of her back. Being greeted by the man who she’d developed such strong feelings for over the last week was supposed to relieve some of her tension...but the fact that this love was forbidden, that it had to be silent, kept her from smiling.
Aiden looked over Carmen. She was tired, from a long week of work, but she had been the other weeks as well. No, there was something different...something in her eyes, a twinkle or sparkle that had been lost. He wanted to say something to her, but knew that he couldn’t...so instead, he pulled her close, ran his fingers through her hair, and then kissed her on the top of her forehead.
Carmen pulled away and kissed Aiden on the cheek and forced a smile. The last thing she’d want would be to see him sad. Aiden led her to the kitchen, where he’d arranged a selection of classic American foods from a gastropub. He’d had the restaurant include copies of their menu, and he had used scissors to cut the items out of the menu and leave them next to the plates. While of course, Carmen could tell what type of food was on each of the platters, the notes let her know that the burger was made of an exotic Japanese beef, that the fries were made with truffle oil, and that the root beer was made with real cane sugar in an independent soda shop in Seattle.
However, instead of eating at the counter, Aiden led Carmen to the living room. She’d seen this living room before, obviously, as she’d cleaned it, but as a professional maid, with an emphasis on professional, she never would have dared to have sat on any of the fine furnishings in the room. She knew some other cleaners did, at other services, but her aunt’s service prided itself on not being just any ‘service’. The large couch was white with tufted d
ealings, but with straight lines along the back and arms, rather than the traditional curved arms of a standard sofa. It was modern, and looked like it belonged in an art gallery, on either side of the glass. Carmen gingerly sat down, but the sofa was very soft so her ample hips soon sank into the surprisingly comfy couch.
Aiden turned on the TV and opened it to a movie and television streaming site. He passed the remote to Carmen, and didn’t even have to write down what he wanted her to do. Carmen flicked through the options. They only had an hour, less by now, and so they couldn’t exactly sit down and watch a sweeping epic romance...so instead, she picked a comedy sitcom, standalone, with no cliffhangers, that they could finish by the time she had to go.
Aiden sat close to Carmen, so close she could feel his hot breath against her neck. When they finished their food, he cleared their places. They had the notepads to use to communicate with one another, but they were so in sync that they really didn’t need them. While the last meal had been silent, the sound of the television, of some people talking at all, made the condo seem warmer, made everything seem more...normal.
And what added to that cozy feeling for Aiden was the sound of something that reminded him of the wind dancing with glass chimes, of bamboo flutes and autumn breezes. It was the sound of Carmen laughing.
He walked back into the living room. Carmen was holding her stomach and laughing, hard, at some of the slapstick antics of the crew on the television. She looked up, to Aiden, and she stopped herself from explaining what was so funny. She couldn’t have talked if she had tried anyway, because she was laughing so hard. She went to her pad of paper to explain what happened, but instead, Aiden grabbed the remote and rewound the show, to rewatch what happened with Carmen.
The premise of the show was goofy, and the antics were even goofier. There was something about an eggplant, a frog shifter, and a fairy tale. No matter, as they watched the sketch unfold, Carmen found herself laughing again, hard, and so did Aiden, but instead of holding his own sides, Aiden held Carmen’s curves in his arms.
