Chapter Twenty-Two

Maddie

Beth was quiet at first, not as friendly as I’d expected. She was so kind the day I had my breakdown and knew exactly what to do to calm me down. Now, she just seemed distant, like we’d never even met before.

She drove, and since I didn’t know anything about the area, she offered to take me to the large mall just outside of town. “I don’t know what your tastes are, so at least there is a little of everything there,” she smiled. It was a weak smile, almost nervous.

“Perfect,” I agreed, and sat back against the seat of her little blue convertible and enjoyed the brisk winter air on my face.

“What kind of music do you like?” she asked, turning on the stereo.

“Whatever you listen to is fine,” I replied, realizing that classical music wasn’t a genre that most people enjoyed. At least Isaac didn’t. I could see him cringe when I turned the station to it, so I normally put the dial on classic rock: something we both enjoyed.

Beth turned on the stereo and a woman was singing with the most amazing voice I’d ever heard. The song was powerful and strong, and the lyrics nearly brought tears to my eyes. “You like Adele?” she asked.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her,” I admitted, but I knew I loved her now.

The lyrics gave me goosebumps. There was something familiar about the song, but I wasn’t sure if it was an actual memory or just an emotion from the heartfelt words she sang so beautifully.

“So, how come we’d never met?” I asked.

“Isaac’s a very private guy,” Beth shrugged.

“Yeah, but you guys work together all the time, so wouldn’t he have mentioned me?” I asked.

“Oh, he’s mentioned you plenty,” Beth laughed.

“He has? Like what has he said?” I probed.

“He’s just talked about how much he loves you, how he’s always loved you,” Beth smiled and then turned into a large parking lot. “It’s crowded for so early in the afternoon,” I exclaimed.

“It’s Friday,” Beth sighed, driving up and down each aisle until finally finding a spot near the front entrance.

“So, he told you he’s always been in love with me?” I asked, still beaming from the sweet things he’d said about me. I felt better knowing at least she knew about me, but still found it strange that we never met. I waited for her answer, but none came.

“Have you always lived in Miami?” I asked, trying desperately to break through her frosty shell.

“No, I lived in Ohio most of my life,” she answered as she hit the button to put the top up.

I got out and followed her to the entrance doors, still eager to find out more about her. “Why did you move to Miami?” I questioned.

As soon as she opened the doors, a wonderful smell filled my nostrils. “What is that smell?” I asked, forgetting my previous question.

“Cinnabon,” she grinned. “You’ve never had one?” she asked.

I shook my head. Beth gripped my hand and pulled me towards the delicious aroma. We stopped at a small round booth in the center of the mall. “Two large buns please, extra cream cheese, and,” she paused to look at me, “do you like iced coffee?” I nodded, not really knowing if that was true or not. “Two large iced coffees,” she finished her order to the redheaded boy with freckles stuck in the small booth.

The boy placed two extremely large buns lathered with melted cream cheese in a to-go box, and then handed us each a large iced coffee. “You’ll love this,” Beth assured me as she led me to a small metal café table near the booth.

I sipped the coffee, at first not sure if I liked it, but then once it hit the back of my throat and notes of vanilla pulled through, I was hooked. “Wow,” I exclaimed.

“Try the bun; the coffee is crap compared to these babies,” she boasted.

I picked up my fork and tore off a piece. As it entered my mouth, I instantly melted into my chair, no longer caring that the metal back and un-cushioned seat were so uncomfortable. “Oh my,” I moaned.

“Better than sex,” Beth sighed.

“I don’t know about that,” I beamed, my cheeks instantly turning red.

“You really love Isaac, don’t you?” she asked.

“I do,” I admitted.

“Even though you can’t remember anything?” she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, shoving another bite of the bun in my mouth before answering. “I remember loving him from before, like when we were younger, but I just can’t remember anything past that,” I responded.

“But, you love him now?” she questioned.

“I do,” I admitted again.

“Then that’s all that matters,” she smiled.

We fell into a comfortable silence, both of us attacking our food.  When she spoke again, my bun was halfway gone.

“I moved here from Ohio five years ago for a man, one that I thought I loved, and that I thought loved me,” she answered my earlier question without my repeating it.

“So, it didn’t work out?” I asked, saddened by the fact that Beth had been hurt. She was so kind, so compassionate, it didn’t seem fair.

“He was abusive, and if it weren’t for Isaac, I might have never gotten away from him. I owe him my life,” Beth said with a warm smile.

“How did Isaac help?”

“He was hired by my husband to follow me. He was insanely jealous. So, Isaac went above and beyond the normal duties of a private eye, which Frank, that was his name, expected. He watched the house, figuring I may be sneaking men in, or sneaking out at night, and what he found was me being abused by the man he worked for.

“So, he took it upon himself to give Frank back his money to void his contract, and continue watching the house, getting pictures of the abuse, recordings of the fighting, and called the police. Frank was arrested, and they weren’t going to be able to use the evidence he had gathered, but he told them he worked for me, and that I’d paid for his services, which then allowed them to use the footage and the images of the abuse.

“He gave me a look across the room as he spoke to officers, telling them that he was working for me. I knew Frank had hired someone to watch me, he’d had several others before Isaac, but none of them either ever saw what Frank was doing, or cared enough to get involved,” she added.

I watched her sip her coffee, and then dig into her cinnamon roll. It was obvious this was hard for her, and that the topic was a scratch on her soul that hadn’t quite healed, but she was strong, able to move on, able to tell her story, and for that I admired her. “So, he gave me a job, and here I am,” she laughed.

“That is so amazing. I’m so glad Isaac stood up for you,” I smiled, reaching across the table to her hand. I held it in mine as her dark eyes lifted to mine. They were watery, but no tears fell. It was obvious she was used to holding herself together.

We didn’t talk about anything else, except how good the cinnabun was as we finished it. I watched people walking by, all dressed up, carrying bags in each hand from various stores, and wondered where they were going, what their weekend plans were, and if they were as truly happy as I was, even with a diminished memory of my life.

There was a dull pain in my side that I couldn’t shake. Something about Beth’s story hit me hard, real hard. I didn’t know what it was, maybe just hearing that someone could be treated that way, but my nightmare, the feelings I’d had all along, something wasn’t right.

“So, what do you want to wear?” Beth asked as she tossed the empty cardboard box in the trash.

“Something formal, but sexy,” I smirked.

My cheeks blushed as I thought about the night in my sexy formal red gown on the hill. Yes, something that would bring me the same results. That would be perfect. I wasn’t sure exactly how to describe it to Beth without going into detail about what it’s true purpose would be.

“So you want a dress that he loves to see you in, but that he can’t wait to rip off of you?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

“Exactly,” I giggled. “How did you know?”

“Those bright pink cheeks told on you. Remember, I’m trained to read people,” she winked.

She pulled me into a store where mannequins wore some of the most amazing gowns I’d ever seen. “Holy shit!” I gasped as I looked at one of the price tags. Beth pulled me aside and laughed.

“Don’t worry about money. Isaac has plenty. So, don’t look at the price tags; just find something you like,” she advised.

Isaac has plenty? I knew the beach house had to be a pretty penny, and the Escalade, A.K.A. gas guzzler, wasn’t cheap, but I assumed he had an inheritance. A private eye business couldn’t pay that well. I hated that I didn’t know so much about the man I loved, the man I was going to marry.

I browsed the store, carefully peeking at each of the dresses price tags when Beth wasn’t looking. I remembered the feeling of not having much, at least not enough to not look at a price tag before I pulled out my credit card. “Can I help you?” an uptight middle-aged woman approached me with lipstick so bright red it was nearly orange against her pale skin.

“I’m just looking,” I smiled.

“Yes, you can help us,” Beth chimed in. “We need something that will turn every head in the place, something that will torture her man all night long while he dreams of ripping it off of her,” she added.

I blushed to the point my cheeks ached from the burn. How could she be so straightforward, so brass, so bold? I want to be like that.

The woman’s painted on eyebrows lifted and her orange lips cocked to one side. I watched her cold eyes scan the room, and then she shook her head. “No, none of this will do,” she hissed. “Go to the dressing room, and I’ll bring you the elite line from the back,” she demanded.

Another woman instantly appeared, as if she’d snapped her twiggy fingers to alert her to serve our needs. The elite selection in the back sounded extremely pricey. The dresses on the floor were more than I could imagine spending on one outfit, so the stuff from the back had to be twice that much. “I think we should go somewhere else,” I whispered to Beth as the sales girl ushered me to the dressing room.

She pushed her way into the room with me, her cold hands gripping at my arms as she ordered me to stand up straight. She pulled out a measuring tape and began taking my measurements. “Okay, get undressed to your panties, no bra,” she ordered.

“Excuse me?” I choked.

“You want sexy, so no bra,” she ordered again with a thick Russian accent.

I was expecting privacy, but apparently that was not part of their plan. She stayed in the dressing room with me while I undressed. I could hear Beth giggling outside the door as I continued to tell the woman I could handle getting dressed on my own. “These are very delicate and expensive dresses; you must have assistance while in the store,” she demanded.

Well, who the fuck is going to give me assistance when I’m not in the store? It’s not like I have five servants on hand at my mansion. Ugh!

The stiff woman with orange lips and twiggy fingers slung open the door without concern that my tits were on display. Beth made a face from behind her back that made me laugh. “I hate you,” I mouthed to her, and the flipped her off with a playful smirk.

“Quit making faces, not ladylike,” the Russian dressing room Nazi said.

I rolled my eyes.

“Just give me the dress,” I smiled as politely as possible.

It was royal blue, sequence covering the sheer material, and when the woman helped slide it over my head, it felt heavy, rich, and expensive against my skin. The neckline was low, so low that it nearly showed my belly button, and when I turned in the mirror, the back was just as low, with my ass crack actually showing as I turned. “No way,” I protested. “I want something sexy, not slutty. I love the color, but maybe something shorter, not so low of a neckline, and not backless,” I requested.

The woman with orange lips looked offended as she took the dress away. She quickly returned with another, the same color, made of silk with metallic embellishments on only the top; the dress was long but slit high on the leg to show off my long, lean sticks. Only one strap held it up, and the back was barely there, but at least didn’t go to my crack. I loved how I looked in it. I felt like a star ready to walk the red carpet. My dressing room attendant smiled, something I didn’t think she could do. I opened the door to show Beth, who immediately covered her mouth and let out a squeal. “That’s the one,” she screeched in delight.

It was perfect, but I was still concerned about the price. This dress, unlike the others, had no price tag, scaring the living hell out of me. “It’s too much,” I insisted.

“No, it’s the one. We’ll take it,” Beth announced loudly as she jumped up to hug me.

It was strange, watching her go from so cool and frosty to so warm and lovable. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t remember what it was like to have a girlfriend, and according to Isaac, I really didn’t have any, at least not since college.

“Okay, but I’m paying him back every penny,” I insisted as the dressing room attendant was already removing my dress. Ugh! If this is how rich people live, I don’t want to be rich.

When the lady swiped Isaac’s credit card for the dress, and matching shoes, of course, at Beth’s insistence, I nearly croaked at the amount of zero’s in the total.

I managed to get her into a lower-end shop where I bought some cute panties, an anklet, and some fake jewelry that could pass for diamonds as long as no one showed up at the party with a jewelers glass.

By the time we got home, I was terrified to enter. “What if he kills me?” I whined. Beth laughed, pushing me inside.

Isaac sat on the couch reading a magazine and his eyes lifted as we entered. “You girls get everything you needed?” he asked, and then looked at the bags in my hand. “Did you leave anything at the store?” he teased.

My heart raced, both with excitement, and fear. I’d pushed him to go to this party. It wasn’t even something he wanted to do. And now, here I was, spending a fortune on a dress and shoes. He couldn’t be happy.

His warm smile soothed my worries, and his eyes looking into mine lovingly made me nearly melt. “I think it was too much. I can take it all back. We don’t even have to go. It’s a silly idea,” I rambled.

Isaac shot Beth a look, somewhat of a glare, and then grinned. Beth leaned in towards him, handing him the receipt. I watched his eyes widen, and I could see sweat beading up on his forehead. “Damn, you’ve created a monster,” he teased Beth, who didn’t seem bothered by it at all. I, on the other hand, was freaking out. I mean, totally freaking out.

“You’re worth every cent. I’m happy if you’re happy,” he smiled with his eyes still offering the same loving glance in my direction. Wow, he was truly amazing.

“I’m happy with the dress, just not the price,” I admitted.

“It’s just money. Having a beautiful woman on my arm in a dress that compliments her beauty and makes her feel confident, that’s priceless,” he smiled. “Can I see what you got?” he asked, lifting up from the couch.

I jerked the bags behind me, “No way,” I exclaimed.

His smile fell crooked on his face, and his eyes narrowed as he shook his head. He was already dressed, wearing a white tux shirt and pressed slacks, and a jacket was hanging over the back of the couch. His tie was untied, dangling around his neck, and the musky cologne he’d chosen was wafting through the room and driving me wild with desire. “I’ll go get dressed,” I announced and pulled Beth by the hand up the stairs.