Ava
“Thank you for coming so quickly. Come on through.”
I ushered Barry through the house, hastily directing him straight into the kitchen.
For a long time, he stood on the spot by the door, simply staring with wide eyes. “Um.” To say it was such a small word, it had a huge impact, and a small ripple of unease slithered up my spine.
“That bad?” I asked, purposely looking at his face and away from the mess.
Barry scratched his head and repeated his signature line. “Um.”
“Jesus Christ!” Mason grumbled from the chair. “Can you fix it or not?”
Upon hearing Mason’s voice, Barry finally shifted his gaze from the corner of the kitchen to Mason. His wide eyes grew even wider, and his jaw fell open. “Um.”
“Do you actually speak English?” Mason asked, growing more frustrated by the second.
Barry nodded vaguely and took a small step backwards. I was sure he was figuring out if he could make a run for it.
“It’ll be cash payment,” I offered, praying.
That seemed to perk him up, and he turned back to me. He still appeared a tad concerned, but I wasn’t too worried. After all, he was on the top side of sixty, so surely, he’d seen a man tied to a chair before!
“Tek a couple o’ days, me duck. Materials waint be cheap either, tha’ knors!” Nope, turned out he didn’t speak English, after all.
Forcing my eyes to stay on his face and not roll into the back of my head, I bit my tongue and nodded. “Have it finished by Wednesday and I’ll throw in a completion bonus. Say an extra two hundred?”
“Aye.”
Oh, thank God.
Showing Barry out after he promised to return in the morning with his expensive materials and his, hopefully, English speaking pal, I ventured back into the bombsite.
Perching myself on the toilet that now sat in the corner of the kitchen, I picked up the rubber duck from the side of the bath and launched it at my glorious bastard’s head. “You owe me a new handbag.”
He nodded hurriedly. “I’ll throw in some shoes if you untie me.”
Narrowing my eyes, I contemplated his request. “You promise not to try and fix it?”
“If my wrists weren’t tied to the chair legs, I’d lift my fingers to my temple and swear scouts honour.”
Tipping my head to the side, I sighed. “You were never in the scouts, Mason.”
“I went camping with school once, and we built a fire. That’s close enough.”
“Shame you didn’t learn how to plumb a bathtub into the kitchen sink while you were there.”
♡
Monday morning soon rolled up, and my stomach was in knots. Danny had messaged me late Sunday night to check if I was still going into work, and unsure what to do I hadn’t replied. I had caught Mason peering over my shoulder trying to get a peek at the text. Clearly, he suspected something was up with me. But what did I tell him? Every time he asked, I mumbled a reply and gave him a vague shrug of my shoulders. I just didn’t know whether to tell him or not. Of course, honesty was always the best policy, but would the backlash from a simple kiss be worth all the hassle? Except, it was never just a simple kiss, was it? It was disloyal and wrong. I couldn’t help thinking that if we had been at Danny’s house instead of in a club would I have had the strength to stop, or would we have taken it further and ended up in bed?
“Will you be back for dinner?” Mason asked when I passed him his morning cup of strong coffee. To say my man was such a hands-on, strong guy, the fact that a humble coffee machine got him all flummoxed was beyond belief.
“Yeah.”
In the quiet between us, his sigh was extremely loud. His irritation with the extent of dialogue he’d managed to get out of me over the last few days showed in the weariness on his face.
Placing his cup down, he came over to me. My heart soared with love, yet my stomach flipped with guilt when he laid his palm softly on my cheek. “Look, what I said about the kids, well, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like I did.”
I hated that he thought this was all his fault, but I still didn't dare to own up to what I had done. The repercussions wouldn’t just be dealing with Mason’s wrath, it would change everything. I enjoyed working at the hotel. It was time away from the house, and I had already made a few friends, and although it was selfish, I didn’t want to jeopardise that. The extra cash also helped. I missed having the luxuries I had once afforded. When I had first married Mason, I hadn’t particularly liked the way our money was earned. It felt wrong to gain from other people’s misfortune – or their death. But it’s funny how easy it is to overlook where it comes from when you’re enjoying the life it provides.
Resting his forehead on mine, he kissed the tip of my nose. “I miss you, baby,” he declared painfully. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
Smiling widely, he nodded and ran his thumbs under my eyes to collect the tears that had escaped. “We should make time for each other tonight. Let’s go out.”
I nodded eagerly. He was making an effort, and I was determined to make it right. “Okay. Good. We still haven’t discussed the Etta situation either.”
He didn’t say it was most probably because we’d hardly said two words to each other since I had woken up on the sofa a few days ago, and I was grateful for his tact. “True. I wish I had good news, and although it’s not really bad, the situation may take longer to rectify than I initially thought.” He was so casual with his answer that I did wonder for a moment if he was talking about our new kitchen-cum-bathroom. Although I was eager to find my grandson, I trusted Mason to do the right thing, so I wasn’t too worried.
“Morning, Ava,” Denise greeted when I walked into the hotel an hour later. The taxi had picked me up early, and the roads had been quiet, and I’d arrived at work within record time – always the way when you prayed for a delay! Luckily, Danny was nowhere to be seen, and I quickly slipped on my tabard and grabbed my designated trolley.
“You’re eager!” Denise joked when I hurried to get started. “You’re paired with Wendy. Floors four, eight and nine.” I lifted a hand to say I had heard her, and I was nearly out when she shouted after me, “Oh, and Danny wants to see you before you leave for the day.”
I swore she caught the heavy exhale that left me. If she hadn’t, she sure saw the way my shoulders dropped because she added with a small laugh, “Oops. Someone’s in trouble.”
I only wished it were as simple as me swiping a few hotel towels.
“Some people are so disgusting,” Wendy grumbled from the bedroom.
Glancing around the edge of the bathroom door, I grimaced when I saw the state of the bedding. “Jesus, you’d think if they’d had an accident that they’d leave a note apologising!”
“Been doing this job for over six years now, Ava, and believe me, no one ever leaves a note or a tip!”
“I mean,” I shouted through the open doorway as I carried on cleaning the loo, which, after seeing the sheets, was unsurprisingly cleaner than the bed. “We all shit, just most of us use the toilet. This thing’s sparkling. I don’t think it’s even been used!”
“I have the evidence to prove it!”
The morning had flown by, and I’d kept extra busy, hoping to finish early so that I could hot tail it out straight away and avoid Danny. Room 34 was my last one of the day, and I had been clock watching ever since I’d entered. I was running thirty minutes ahead of time, and if me and Wendy got a shift on, I could be home by early afternoon. It had been ages since Mason and I had enjoyed a night out, and I was thoroughly looking forward to it. I had spotted a dress in a shop window on my way in, and I wanted to pick it up on my way home. Mason had seized the reins and apologised, taken the first step in sorting out the problems in our relationship, and I hoped if I made an effort for our night out then, stupidly, the difficulties growing bigger between us might disappear. Mason was always one for burying his head in the sand; seemed I had joined him.
I heard Wendy talking quietly, and I ignored her. She was always chattering to herself. She lived alone, and although she didn’t need the money, she only came to work to get out of the house. When she had told me her story, I had to admit that she struck a chord inside me. The thought of being alone in the future was something that terrified me. Being shipped from one foster home to another as a child had been lonely, intolerably so at times. Living on the streets was also terribly isolating. Not being able to trust anyone made it difficult to make friends, and it had only been meeting Katie that had finally ended the solitude. I had sworn I would never go back to that, and I had lived a life valuing my friends and family more than the average person.
“That’s me done. I’m off before…” I declared as I walked back into the room.
My stomach sank when I found Danny sat on the edge of the freshly made bed. Wendy was nowhere to be seen, and I cursed under my breath.
“Anyone would think you’re trying to avoid me,” Danny said, quirking an eyebrow.
“Of course not,” I lied. “Just been a busy morning. I was going to pop into your office before I left.”
Fixing me with a disbelieving stare, he scoffed quietly. “You’re a shit liar, Ava.”
I took a step backwards when he rose from the bed. “Don’t.” I shook my head and forced my hands by my sides. My fingers itched to touch him. I couldn’t understand why Danny got this reaction out of me. I loved Mason with all of me, yet I was attracted to Danny in a way that scared me. I had replayed our kiss over and over in my head all the way through the last weekend, and I had come to the conclusion that I had kissed him merely because I was horny. It was just a normal, natural bodily need that had me attracted to him. Now Mason and I were sorting through our shit, I wouldn’t be drawn to Danny any more.
That’s what my head said anyway. My body seemed to have a different opinion when Danny took three long strides towards me and pinned me between his body and the wall.
“Stop denying this, Ava. I can see how much you want me.”
My mouth was so dry that I struggled to argue, and I could do nothing but shake my head against his claim. The press of his body against mine was doing all sorts of stupid things to me. It had been so long since I had felt the touch of a lover that my head was finding it difficult to find a reason not to pin him down and ride him until I forgot he wasn’t my husband.
“We’d be so good together. Fuck until the sun comes up and the world around us disappears.”
My lower lip quivered when he pushed his hand between my thighs and pressed against my clit. The need was unreal, so fierce that the clash between right and wrong was sending me dizzy. I couldn’t do this, it was wrong. What harm could it do if Danny just made me orgasm? I was still fully clothed so it wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?
“God, you’re so hot,” he breathed in my ear as his lips wet a trail across my jawline. “Think of my cock, deep inside you, Ava. How fucking good I could make you feel. How hard the orgasm I give you would rock your soul.”
“Oh, God.” I closed my eyes. If I didn’t look at him, I could imagine it was Mason, and then that would make it right.
He pressed harder against my pussy as his mouth clashed with mine, the friction to my clit and the passion in his kiss becoming impossible to move away from. My legs turned to jelly and my bones melted inside me, making it hard to keep vertical. I clung to the tops of his arms, meaning to push him away, but the more he rubbed and the deeper he kissed me, the closer I got to orgasm and the further I ventured from integrity.
As if Mason could see what was happening, the image of his face popped into my head, and his soft voice echoed in my ears. “I miss you, baby.”
What the hell was I doing?!
Finding the strength from somewhere, I pushed at Danny. Guilt exploded through me, and I choked on the sob that burst from me. “I can’t! I can’t.”
“Ava, please. I don’t care if you’re married,” Danny declared, stepping forward and trying to get close to me again. “No one will get hurt. This is just between us.”
“No! This is wrong. I’m sorry. I can’t!”
Frustrated, Danny pushed his hands through his hair, but he nodded. “I’ll send your cheque in the mail.”
Evidently, because I wouldn’t screw him, I couldn’t work for him either, and I nearly laughed in his face. “I think that’s best.”
I wanted to reach out and touch him, the disappointment on his face made me feel like a bitch. But I was married, and he knew that. It wasn’t as if I had lied to him. This time, it was his turn to walk away, and it took all the strength I had left in me to let him.