by Day, Laura
Ivy was standing next to her, her arms crossed as she smirked over at Blake. He had to restrain himself from kissing that smirk off of her face. Blake walked over to her and they stood side by side in front of a long mirror. Her purple dress complimented her dark hair and pale skin; they looked like a good couple. Blake smiled at Ivy’s face in the mirror and his heart swelled when she smiled back.
“It’s going to be a lovely wedding,” Ivy said and Blake saw the slightest hint of sadness in her eyes. He knew she was still worried about what people would think about their relationship. He wished she didn’t care; he wished there was some way to explain to her that nothing they were doing was wrong.
Blake drove with his mom in her little red Ford. They were following Ivy and Jonas to a nice restaurant in town for dinner. Glancing at his mom Blake wished he could tell her that he and Ivy had come back together. It would make Ellen so happy, she had always loved Ivy and had in fact taken Ivy’s side after Blake had bailed on prom. It wasn’t normal for him to keep things from her. His entire life it had just been the two of them and his mom had always been there when Blake had needed her. She had managed to get him out of a lot of tight spaces during high school when the police visited the house more than once. But Ivy had asked him not to and he needed to respect that, no matter how hard it was.
They arrived at the restaurant and parked in the lot. A light mist of rain was falling from the grey sky as they walked towards the restaurant. Jonas took Ellen’s arm and guided her to the door and Blake watched them with jealousy and he kept a respectful distance from Ivy.
“So, Blake, I saw your fight the other night. We were worried for you for a second there,” Jonas said.
They were at the nicest restaurant their town had to offer, sitting at a table sipping wine as the sun set behind them. It was a nice Italian restaurant with a large dance floor in the middle surrounded by tables. There was a live band playing slow jazz music as couples dipped and twirled on the dance floor. Their trip to the tailor was done and there was little left for them to do to prepare for the wedding. Now they were relaxing for the rest of the night, enjoying each other’s company.
“Yeah,” Blake said. “I’m training hard this week. I have another fight coming up and I need to step up my game.”
“You still won,” Ellen said. “I don’t want you to push yourself too hard.”
“Pushing myself is part of the job, Ma,” Blake said taking a long sip from his drink. “I always have to keep working and getting better. There’s no sitting still in the MMA. I always need to be stronger and faster than my opponent and he thinks the same thing about his training. It’s a competition and the person who put in the most work wins and I always win.”
He glanced over at Ivy; she was looking in a different direction and taking a delicate sip of her wine. He wondered what it would take for her to finally be on his side about this. Fighting wasn’t just his job, it was his life. He needed to eat healthy and he trained every day. It wasn’t like some office job where he punched a clock to start work and punched it again to leave. Every moment of his life was spent preparing for his next fight. It wasn’t an easy life, but it was exactly the life he wanted.
“I think that’s a fine attitude,” Jonas said. “I believe hard work is its own reward. You should always be trying to improve. That’s how I run my business.”
“Thank you, Jonas,” Blake said, tipping his glass to his future father-in-law.
“Ellen, my dear,” Jonas said, taking Ellen’s hand in his own. “Would you care to join me for a dance?”
“Of course,” Ellen said a smile covering her face. With eyes only for each other they stood up and walked hand in hand to the dance floor.
Blake saw Ivy smile from the corner of his eye and he looked over to her and thought about everything he had missed about her since their messy break up.
“What are you looking at?” Ivy said, a blush creeping up her chest.
“The prettiest girl here,” Blake said.
Ivy shook her head, “You are so cheesy.”
“Hey,” he said and Ivy finally turned and looked at him. “When we get back to Seattle maybe you should stay with me until this whole Darryl thing is figured out.”
Ivy looked down with a sigh and then looked towards the dance floor. He could see her trying to figure out what to say. He wished he could figure out why she fought things like this so hard, why she denied herself happiness.
“I don’t know, Blake,” she said shaking her head. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“You want us to move in together? We just started doing this again. We haven't even figured out what we are yet and you want me to move in.”
“Temporarily,” Blake said.
“There’s no end in sight with this Darryl thing. It might never end.”
“Then you’ll never move out,” Blake said with a shrug. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“What are doing?” Ivy said, turning to fully face him.
“We’re dating, Ivy,” Blake said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not that complicated. We used to date and now we’re dating again. Did you really want to start from square one? We already know everything about each other; we know how much we care for each other. Why are we pretending that we’re anything but what we are?”
“What about your swinging bachelor life?” Ivy asked. “I don’t want to be in an open relationship or have a friends with benefits things. I don’t do that, I’ve tried it, it’s not for me. If I’m with someone then I’m all in. Are you willing to give up all your side pieces for me?”
“Yes, as long as the same thing goes for you. I want to be with you and only you and I want you to be with me and only me,” Blake said. “We want the same things. We should to be together. Why are you fighting it?”
Ivy didn’t say anything. She looked up at him and then bit her lower lip. Finally, she nodded. “Okay, I’ll stay with you. Thanks,” she said giving him a weak smile.
He reached over and took her hand in his. “You don’t look very happy,” he said and she finally smiled for real. “It’ll be fine and if it’s not we won’t do it anymore. We can still be friends. We can still be civil. But we deserve to give this thing between us a real fighting chance. We’re so good together. It’s not that complicated, Ivy.” Blake said.
She shook her head at him, but she was still smiling as she pulled her hands from his. Their food arrived and Ellen and Jonas were returning to the table. As he cut into his steak Blake glanced up at Ivy and could still see the lingering pink blush on her chest.
***
She didn’t come to his room that night. He debated going to hers, but, in the end, decided against it. She seemed so skittish about their relationship. She was like a deer in headlights, liable to run off in any direction. He needed to give her space. He had already lost her once and he didn’t want to risk losing her again. He rested on his back and stared up at the popcorn ceiling of her guest bedroom.
He was ready for Ivy. He was already getting bored with his parade of friends with benefits. Those women seemed so empty and cold compared to Ivy. Ivy was so sweet and caring and thoughtful and sexy. He had never had anything that compared to the sex he had with her.
Back in high school she had been just as eager as Blake and they would find any and every opportunity to rip off their clothes and explore each other. The backseat of cars, back rows of movie theaters, their bedrooms when their parents were out, a particularly secluded spot in the library, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They were older now, but the passions were still there. Blake didn’t want to be separated from Ivy for even a moment. He wanted to sleep next to her every night. He wanted to be able to reach out and touch her whenever he wanted. He wanted her in bed next to him right now. Down the hall wasn’t good enough anymore.
Chapter Seventeen
Ivy unlocked the many locks on her door as Blake stood over her shoulder. She felt a little
self-conscious about the locks, but there was no such thing as being too careful with Darryl. Finally, she pushed open the door to her apartment and then entered the code to her alarm.
“You can never be too cautious,” she said over her shoulder as she turned off the alarm.
“I’m not complaining,” Blake said shaking his shoulder.
Ivy’s apartment was different than his. It was in an old building and it retained its old fashioned feel. The wooden floors creaked a little as they walked and the molding and doors were ornately carved. She loved it, though. She liked its old fashioned feel. It had a sense of history and character; she would be sad to leave it.
Ivy had left all the lights on the other night when she had raced out of there. The apartment was brilliantly lit and she quickly walked around the apartment and turned most of them off. “What do you think?” she asked Blake, who was standing in the small living room with his hands in his pockets.
“It’s like a dollhouse,” he said with a smirk. “It’s very you.”
“Hey, I loved my dollhouse growing up,” Ivy said. It had been a large, pink Victorian house. Her father had made it himself. He intended to leave it in the window of his hardware store as something to draw customers in. But Ivy fell in love with it. She would stay up late at night watching her father carve the the doors and window frames. Finally, when it was finished, Jonas gave it to her instead of taking it to the store.
“I remember,” Blake said.
Ivy walked into her bedroom and pulled her large suitcase out from underneath her bed. Blake walked in and joined her. He looked at the paintings she had on her wall, all things she had picked up at art shows around town. She had a large bed with a white frame and a pristine white sheets. There was a large purple dresser with jewelry and makeup scattered across the top.
Ivy walked over to her dresser and began to pull clean underwear out of the top drawer. Blake smiled as she worked and when she walked back to her suitcase he turned to the drawer and began to rifle through it.
“What are these?” he asked, pulling out a lacy black thong.
“Get out of there,” Ivy said, grabbing her panties out of his hand and throwing them back in the drawer.
“I don’t know why women spend money on lingerie,” Blake said. “Don’t get me wrong, we appreciate it, but all we really want is for you to be naked.”
“Maybe we don’t buy it for you,” Ivy said raising her eyebrow at Blake. She walked back the dresser and grabbed a couple of bras and some socks.
“So sometimes you wear sexy underwear just for the hell of it?” Blake asked.
“Yup,” she said, smirking at him. She was piling her clothes into the suitcase and Blake walked behind her and wrapped his arms her.
He pulled her close and leaned down and softly kissed her. She sighed and leaned into him as he kissed up her neck and then gently bit her earlobe. “You walking around in that lacy thong is a very sexy image,” he whispered. Ivy pressed herself back against him. He kissed the other side of her neck and reached down for her breast and she sighed even louder as his hands went to their delicate work.
“So, I should pack the thong?” she whispered as she reached around and ran her hands through his hair.
“Yes,” he answered. He dropped it into the bag and Ivy pulled herself away from him and went to her closet to pull out work clothes and some clothes that were not for work and folded them into her suitcase.
Blake flopped down on the bed and Ivy went to the bathroom to grab her shampoo and conditioner and the million other cosmetics she secretly liked to collect.
She couldn’t stop smiling as she packed. She loved when Blake held her like that; she loved when she could feel how excited he was. She loved how he always was for her. Anytime she wanted Blake she knew she could have him and that was such a sexy thought. She had a few boyfriends, but none as passionate as Blake.
She was walking back to the bedroom, her arms filled with toiletries when the doorbell rang. Ivy froze in place, but Blake was on his feet and next to her in a second.
“Go in the bedroom,” Blake said, putting his hand on her shoulder and pushing her gently towards the door.
“Blake, no.” Ivy said. “It’s probably nothing. I’ll get it.”
“What if it’s Darryl?” he asked.
“Then I’ll handle it,” she said, she emptied her arms on the bed and turned to walk towards the door, but Blake was blocking the way. “Blake, you can’t fight Darryl. I’m telling you not to. If you do, they will punish you to the full extent of the law. You could get a felony charge. I could never forgive myself if anything like that happened to you. You have to promise me you won’t lay a hand on Darryl.”
“No,” Blake answered. “If he touches you, I’m going to crush his face.”
“He doesn’t touch me,” Ivy said. “That’s his whole game plan. He doesn’t do anything that could actually land him charges. But if you attack him, he will have you arrested and tried. Promise me you’ll leave him alone.”
“I’ll keep my hands to myself,” Blake said with a nod. “But I’m not going to promise anything else. I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect you.”
“Fine,” Ivy said, shaking her head as she pushed past him, but it felt good to know she had Blake in her corner. He was strong and tough and might be formidable enough to deal with Darryl. She walked to the front door and looked through the peephole, but the hallway looked empty. “There’s no one there.”
Blake looked, too, and then he stood in front of Ivy and opened the door. He took a step into the hallway and then he shook his head.
Ivy stepped out with him and saw there was no one. “Maybe it was just a kid playing,” Ivy offered, but Blake didn’t look convinced. She turned to go back inside when she saw it and froze in her tracks. It was a stuffed animal. It had been white elephant at one point in time, but now it was covered in some thick black goop. The eyes had been ripped out and replaced with cheap, plastic Halloween spiders. It looked stretched out, like someone had been pulling at its limbs and it lay limp against the door. There was a nail right to the center of the chest holding it up.
“Go inside,” Blake said. He took out his phone and began to take pictures of the elephant.
Shaking, Ivy walked back into her apartment and tried to quell her nausea. Just a few moments ago she had felt so safe and happy and now she wanted to curl up into a little ball and cry. But she couldn’t do that; she needed to stay strong. Feeling suddenly jumpy and nervous Ivy looked at all the nooks and crannies in her apartment, wondering if any of them were large enough for someone to hide in. She didn’t feel safe in her own home anymore.
Blake managed to pry the elephant off the door and threw it in the trash before washing his hands. “It’s just paint,” he assured her as the water began to run black.
Ivy nodded but she wasn’t sure if that was supposed to make her feel better. Was it because it wasn’t blood? Was she so desperate that she was happy about paint? “I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” Ivy said.
“You don’t have to apologize for him,” Blake said as he dried his hands.
She walked over to the door and quickly did all the locks. She hated this; she hated the power the Darryl still had over her. People had been quick to assume she had done something to provoke him. She hadn’t done anything. She had simply ended things with him; she had done it politely over dinner. But now she wished she had done something. Maybe if she deserved the strange gifts and the phone calls, it would somehow make it better. If only she had cheated on him, or said hateful and mean things to him, then there would at least be a reason for this.
She walked back to the bedroom and began to pack quickly. She dumped jeans and shirts into her bag as she hastily wiped a tear from her eye. She hated this. She felt so weak and powerless. It was maddening that he could do this to her and not suffer any repercussions.
“Stop, stop,” Blake said. He came over to her and pulled the pile of clothes out of her
arms. “Relax,” he said as a tear slipped from her eye. “I’m here. No one’s going to hurt you. Take your time. We’ll leave when you’re ready.”
“Thanks,” Ivy said, barely managing to get the word out. She began to refold her clothes, calming herself down as she went. She had gotten so used to being on her own. She liked having her own space and answering to no one. When Darryl had become scary, she had been determined to handle it herself. But that hadn’t worked. Darryl was too good. He was scary and intimidating and impossible to stop or catch. There was no way she could take him on her own.
But she could never forgive herself if anything happened to Blake. Darryl fed off of people’s reactions and Blake had never been good at controlling his temper. Darryl would peck at him like a crow until Blake lost it and retaliated against him. Then Darryl would run to the cops and Blake would end up behind bars. Darryl would be free to harass her, and the one person who could protect her would be locked up far away. She needed to do everything she could to keep that from happening. She just wasn’t sure how.
