CHAPTER 7
For the next several weeks, Veronica’s life at Franks estate went much like the first several days. In the morning, the each worked out and then met for a rendezvous in the kitchen before the girls arose, and then they went their separate ways, Frank to his office and Veronica remaining at home to take care of the girls.
For her part, Veronica grew to feel like this was the home, and practically the family she had always wanted. When she was a little girl, she had always imagined what her life would be like as an adult, and this was very close if you subtracted the mansion-like home.
Every now and then, of course, she had her moments of doubt. She remembered that she was no more than an employee here, and in spite of Frank’s assurances that he had feelings for her and that his intentions were to win her over, the cynical part of her mind insisted that she was just a way for him to pass the time until the next nanny got there.
It was in these moments that Veronica felt exceedingly guilty for ever even entertaining the thought of cheating on Calvin. In spite of the fact that their relationship was less than thrilling, there had been nothing truly wrong with it. And up until recently, they had both been faithful to one another.
It certainly didn’t help that while she was delving into a potential relationship with Frank, Calvin was still trying hard to save theirs. It seemed that he had actually listened when she voiced her complaints about their relationship, and was actively seeking to build her up more. Unfortunately, he was only serving to fuel her guilt for being constantly unfaithful to him.
They spoke on the phone every day, though, and one day, Calvin suggested that she take an afternoon off and go see him. Veronica had no idea what to say.
“Just one afternoon,” Calvin pressed, his tone hopeful. “It doesn’t go against the terms of your contract. Davenport should be home at that time, right?”
“Yes, of course,” Veronica said. She didn’t know how to tell him how much the terms of their contract had changed in the time she had been there.
“Great!” Calvin said. “So that’s a yes?”
Veronica sighed, and ran her hand over her face.
“I can’t say,” Veronica said. “Davenport is my boss; I have to run it by him.”
“But I mean it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Calvin said easily. “I mean he said he would allow you time off.”
“Yeah, of course, you’re right,” Veronica said a little snappishly, her emotional turmoil starting to rise to the surface.
“I mean, if it’s too much trouble for you, you can just forget about it,” Calvin said kindly, but Veronica could hear the disappointment in his voice.
“No, no,” veronica insisted. “Of course I want to go, baby. I just have to ask first, okay?”
“Okay,” Calvin answered, and his voice was filled with relief.
“I’ll talk to him about it tonight and I’ll tell you what he said tomorrow,” Veronica said. “And if it all goes well maybe we can set a date and time.”
“Great!” Calvin said, excitement evident in his voice. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Veronica said, her heart heavy. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” she heard Calvin say, and she immediately hung up the phone.
Veronica let out a long sigh and leaned back against the wall, shoving her phone roughly into her pocket. This whole thing was really starting to wear on her, and she didn’t know how much longer she could effectively keep it up.
“Calvin, I assume?” Veronica turned to see the familiar figure of Frank in the doorway.
Veronica nodded, and took in his appearance. He wore a pair of dark wash jeans and a grey cable knit sweater. He stood with his arms crossed and his brow raised, a somewhat cold look on his face.
“Please don’t look at me that way,” Veronica said to him.
“Fine,” Frank said, raising his hands, and then putting them into his pocket. “So are you going to ask me or what?”
Veronica’s brows met and she cocked her head at him, annoyed.
“So did you just eavesdrop on my whole conversation, or what?” Veronica asked.
“Well I couldn’t help but hear,” Calvin said, his voice very calm and measured.
“Well since you asked,” Veronica said, irritated. “Calvin wants to know if I can take an afternoon off to go on a date with him soon.”
Frank raised both eyebrows.
“Would that be agreeable with you?” Veronica asked. “My contract states that I am not absolutely required to be here if you are present with the girls, and it assures me some time off as well.”
“I am not opposed to abiding by your contract,” Frank said, his voice as a calm and cool as ever. Somehow, that made her even more furious than if he had raged at her.
“Fine then,” Veronica snapped at him. “I’ll be calling him back tomorrow so I can set a time and a date.”
Frank said nothing, merely looking back at her.
“Say something!” Veronica hissed at him.
“What do you want me to say?” Frank bit back. “That I don’t want you to go? You’re a grown woman Veronica. That’s your relationship. You have a right to do what you want with him. I can’t stop you. As you’ve already pointed out, you’re well within the limits of your contract to take an afternoon off and spend it with him. To be honest I’m a little surprised you haven’t already done so.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” Veronica said, her voice now betraying her conflicted emotions.
“Well then here’s something else,” Frank said, his voice incredibly low and deadly cold. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want you to speak with him. I don’t want you to ever see him again. The truth? I’m horribly jealous. I want you to myself Veronica. I don’t want to take you to bed every night knowing that there’s another man out there with a claim on you. If you were any other woman in the world, there is no way on earth that I would ever put myself through what I am going through now.”
Veronica could have sworn her heart stopped at his words. She could feel the sincerity of his words resounding in her bones, and she knew that he meant everything he said. She felt numb in the face of such raw truth.
Silence stretched between them for a long moment, and the only communication that occurred between them was solely between their eyes.
“I don’t want you to go,” Frank said.
Veronica stayed still as he pushed off the wall behind him and began to move toward her. He came to stand in front of her, and she covered his hands with her own as he cupped her face. He lowered his head and kissed her softly. Then, he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.
“I want you all to myself,” Frank said softly. “And for a while I thought that you wanted me too. But right now, … I get the feeling that you don’t even know what you want.”
Veronica said nothing, and lowered her eyes. If she was completely honest, Frank was really right. She stayed silent, and she heard Frank release a long sigh through his nose. His hands moved down to rest on her hips, and his fingertips slipped beneath the hem of her shirt.
Veronica’s eyes flicked up to Franks, and she saw darkness and lust swirling there. She felt his hands move higher up inside of her shirt, and she gasped as he easily undid the clasp of her bra.
“Frank, we’re in the kitchen,” she protested in a hushed whisper, but she couldn’t deny the heat that had started to build up in her core.
“Very observant,” Frank growled into her ear as his hand moved back to her waist and roughly jerked her into his body. He unabashedly rolled his hips into her, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
“I want you,” Frank growled, and Veronica couldn’t help but gasp as he roughly bit down on the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
“But you have to be quiet or we’ll wake the girls,” he warned her with a dark whisper, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “We wouldn’t want them to walk in on something like this, now would we?”
Veronica panted and shook her head. Frank forced his knee between her legs and rubbed it against her sex, nearly causing her knees to buckle. She knew there was no way she could resist, and deep downs he knew she didn’t want to.