Chapter Nineteen
~Raphael~
I headed to the elevator and down to the lobby in a daze, still in shock from everything that had happened during the afternoon. If I had thought that he opened up during our lunch together two weeks ago, he really blossomed in front of McKenna. In fact, it almost made me a bit jealous.
Almost.
The way his eyes lit up, to the non-stop babble that came out of his mouth, to the way she listened and jokes with him about things that I didn’t quite get; all of it was everything I could hope for. She really got him. And for that I was incredibly grateful.
Why had I messed everything up by sleeping with her? It was clear that she was a bit uncomfortable around me, but she was willing to even tuck that down just for Dom. I needed her to spend more time with him, I knew that down to the core of my being, which meant I needed to get whatever was going on between us done and buried.
For the sake of Dom.
“Man, McKenna is so cool,” my little man said as we rode down in the elevator. “Can she come over the next weekend we’re together?”
“We’ll have to see what her schedule is. She works nights, so we were very lucky that she was free to hang out.”
“Yeah, but I think she came because she likes us. She has a lot of fun too; did you notice that?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, but thankfully the elevator doors opened and saved me from having to force a response. Sure enough, his mother was standing in the center of the lobby, practically posing.
Figured. She was always trying to set scenes that put her at the center of attention. Heaven forbid that she ever dropped her guard and just lived in the moment with her own damn child.
“There you are,” she said, holding out a hand with perfectly manicured nails. They looked quite fresh and I wondered if that was why she was so late this time. It figured that her nails mattered more than her son. “Mommy’s been waiting, let’s go.”
“Actually, you were two hours late to pick me up, Mom. So, I’ve been the one who was waiting.”
She frowned and gripped my boy’s hand. “Sweetie, that’s no way to talk to your Mommy.”
“Actually, he’s telling the truth. You haven’t managed to be on time once in the past three months. If showing up on time is too much for you, I’m more than happy to readjust the time to accommodate your schedule.”
She just let out a short noise and walked off. At least Dom looked back and gave me a wave before he disappeared out of the front doors.
God! She made me so mad!
Honestly, mad didn’t seem a good enough word for it. Mad was juvenile and sounded like we had a tiff and she keyed my car. No, she was messing with the health of my child. Our child. Her cavalier attitude made me want to rip things apart and bash somebody’s face in.
But not hers. As much as I hated her, I never wanted to lay hands on her. Harming her wouldn’t make my son happy or give him the attention he deserved. In anything, she would take that right to the courts and wrest him away from me. No, not even once had I been tempted to hit her, but I did certainly hope that karma got hers.
I was bristling as I headed back to my place. I knew I needed to calm myself before I got back inside, but I was afraid I didn’t quite manage it.
“That bad, huh?” McKenna asked, a wry look on her face.
“Not the worst it’s ever been,” I admitted. For a moment I had been tempted to try to deny anything was going on at all, but I quickly realized it was no use. The cat had been out of that bag since the moment that she met my ex, so that was pretty much that.
“That still doesn’t sound that great.”
“It’s not.” I stood there for a moment, stuck in the door, before heaving a sigh. “Hey, do you want to go grab a drink, or something?”
For a moment it looked like she was going to say no, but then her face softened, and she sighed too. “You know what? Yeah. I could use one at this point.”
I didn’t expect her to say yes, so I gawked at her a moment before recovering. “Alright, good. I’ll call a cab. You have any preferences?”
She shrugged, and I tried not to clock how her breasts bounced ever so slightly in her casual outfit. I had to admit, I liked how she looked. It was different from her super dressed up look, but also different from her work uniform. It made me feel as if she was more relaxed around me, which in turn made me feel like I could be more relaxed around her. “To be honest, I haven’t had the time or funds to go out since I moved here. I know nothing.”
That made it easy then. “I’ll pick the place I guess, then. I guess I should change. I probably shouldn’t head out in my pajamas.”
“I’ve done worse things,” she said with a laugh. “But yeah, changing probably would hurt. But please keep it casual.”
“Don’t worry,” I answered casually. “I am really not feeling dressing up. At all.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.”
It was the most we said to each other since our little tryst, and it made me smile just a touch. With that, I headed to my room and picked out some of the comfiest clothes I had.
Grey sweatpants and a simple t-shirt with a zip up jacket. Warm enough if the night grew cold and cool enough if the bar was too heated. Plus, there were plenty of pockets, which was more than most women could say about their going out outfits.
My phone buzzed that our ride was on the way. We could take my car, but that would prevent me from quenching my thirst just how I wanted to. I needed a few cold ones, preferably on the double-shot side.
I headed out of my room a bit before our ride was due, and McKenna was waiting for me, her messenger bag back over her hip. She gave me a weird smile and the weirdness started to seep back in. I hoped she didn’t back out at the last minute. I was going to go out and drink no matter what, but it was always less depressing to have someone else to down a bottle with.
“Our ride’s almost here, do you want to head down to the lobby?”
“Sure,” she said with a bit of a nod. “I gotta say, it’s weird to see you look so…”
“Normal?” I supplied, holding the door open for her.
“Lower Class,” she finished instead, shooting me a prim sort of look before walking past me into the hall. Oh, so she was feeling comfortable enough with me to snark? That was good. Or at least I hoped it was.
We walked to the elevator and headed down without saying much else, but it was a relatively comfortable sort of silence. Possibly the first time we’d been relatively at ease with each other in a while.
“Is it rude to ask if we’re taking a cab, or some other sort of fancy rich people service?”
I chuckled at that. “As much as I love my fancy rich people services, I figured a cab would work best for us. My treat, of course.”
“Of course,” she parroted. “I should have assumed that.”
“Well, you know what assuming does,” I reminded her as the cab pulled up.
Once more I was opening the door for her and she slid right into the vehicle. Then I joined her, and we were just a few inches from each other.
I hadn’t been this close to her since…well, I had been literally inside her, and I didn’t know quite what to do. Normally I was so at ease with women, mostly because I treated them like people with their own lives and interests and that worked wonders. But with McKenna, it was different. She seemed so important, so… outside of my world. And I didn’t just mean that she was poor. No, it was just that we had both experienced such vastly different lives with vastly different circumstances.
I told the name of the pub to the cabby and she laughed lightly. The sound was just as appealing like the rest of her, full of light bell tones but with an alto chord beneath. “Something funny?”
“I think I heard about that place on the news,” she answered. “That it’s won best pub in the city, like, three years in a row and that a single beer costs eight dollars.”
Crap. I never stopped to think that might make her uncomfortable. “Is that alright with you?” I asked cautiously.
But she just shrugged. “Hey, if you’re buying, you can choose whatever place you want.”
“Alright then.”
Normally that kind of comment would send all sorts of gold-digger warning bells off, but I could tell that she was still much too uncomfortable to be aiming for my money. No, guessing by the look on her face, she was just looking for a nice way to relax for once.
I couldn’t imagine what her life had to be like before I met her. Her ex was so bad that she had changed cities and changed her name. What all had she left behind to save herself from the man chasing her? It made me shutter to think about it.
Suddenly, I very much wanted to help her forget about all of that. I didn’t know what I could do, considering we were strangers who knew nothing about each other except for how we looked naked.
Well, I knew quite a bit more about her than she knew about me, but that was mostly due to a PI and not to her personal forthcoming.
Finally, we reached the place and I slid out of the car. It did feel better to stretch out my legs, but I made sure to turn back and help McKenna out as well.
I tipped the cabbie and headed in. There was a bit of a line, but I just walked to the front of it, flashing a grin to the bouncer.
“Ay, Raf, I haven’t seen you in forever!” The bouncer said, offering his hand in a high five. I slapped his open palm and sent him a bright smile.
“Hey Mark. I’ve been busy. You know how it is.”
“I don’t, actually, but I’ll take your word for it. Head on in. I’m sure Brenda wants to see you.”
“Heh, yeah.” I headed in, opening the door for McKenna yet again. I wasn’t sure if she was fond of that or not, but it was such an ingrained habit that I wasn’t going to break it anytime soon.
“The bouncer here knows your name?” She asked incredulously once we were inside.
“Uh, yeah. I used to come here quite a lot.”
For a second, I thought her reaction was a negative one, but then she just laughed and playfully gripped my arm. It was the first time we had touched since that night together, and electricity ran through me once more.
“Oh my God, it was like something out of a movie!” She laughed a bit more before shaking her head. “And who the hell is Brenda? The owner of the place?”
By that point we had reached the actual bar and a short, plump woman with jet black hair turned around. “Not quite, but I am the best bartender they’ve ever had.” She shot McKenna a wink before looking to me. “Rafael, you glorious bastard! Where have you been?”
“Oh, you know, just running my business empire.”
“Just like your daddy always knew you would.” She reached under the bar and grabbed a cold glass. “So, what shall I do you and the lady for? Is this a business celebration, or are we trying to forget something?”
“Just de-stressing.” McKenna answered. “And I’ll take the biggest, most citrusy screwdriver you’ve got.”
“Alright, and for the gentleman?” Brenda raised her overly drawn on eyebrow and looked to me.
“The usual.”
McKenna snickered. “You have a usual?”
“Doesn’t everybody?” I shot back coolly.
She laughed again, and I felt like I could listen to her make that sound forever. “Maybe in your world.”
“Oh, was I mistaken in thinking we were both here on Earth?”
“We may be on the same planet, but that doesn’t mean we’re in the same dimension.”
“Is that more of that sci-fi talk you’ve been planting in my boy’s head?” I countered, watching her face as she bantered with me.
She snorted, but the sound wasn’t unappealing, like it should have been. “Believe me, those seeds were there long before I ever walked into town. What I’d like to know is how the little guy got into all of that. Huh? What was his first exposure?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Our drinks came, and McKenna quickly downed her. Both Brenda and I were impressed as she set the cup down and ordered another. “Why don’t you try me? Nerds have the best origin stories.”
“Well, two years ago he came down with pneumonia. I was beside myself and I spent every aching moment at his side. I couldn’t even sleep. I rarely ate, or even went to the bathroom.
“But eventually, I crashed. Just after his fever broke, I could feel myself falling asleep, so I turned the TV on and let it play. I worked for a while, but eventually I passed out right there on the floor below his bed.
“When I woke up, it was two am and he was watching one of those cheesy sci-fi movies that make you cringe. From there, anything with men in monster suits got his goat. And of course, once you’re into sci-fi monsters, you eventually get into zombies, and once you’re into sci-fi and zombies, you’re pretty much into anything considered remotely nerdy.”
“Ho boy you have that right. It’s like an infection, but the best kind to have. It follows you everywhere and makes you a part of a community no matter where you end up.”
“Is that what it’s like for you?” I asked, sipping at my drink. “Do you have a community?”
She grimaced, and I realized how that might not be the best question to ask. “I had to leave it. Maybe one day I can go back, but for now I’m better on my own.”
Although she tried to play it cool, there was a certain woundedness to her voice that made me want to find the man who terrorized her and show him what kind of filth he was. McKenna was obviously a one in a million kind of woman, and he had had the gall to treat her like trash in the gutter.
“Fair enough,” I said, quickly trying to change the subject. I finished gulping down my drink, the whiskey burning the back of my throat. I was going to ask her something about work, or maybe her favorite nerd movie, but instead something else entirely came out. “So, what happened that night?” I blurted.
I could kick myself if I was that flexible. We were out drinking to forget about all the tensions of the day, not trot them out between the two of us where anyone might overhear.
“Aw, come on,” she groaned, signaling for yet another drink. For a moment I worried that she was imbibing too much too fast, but this one she only held, letting her finger slowly circle around the top.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” I quickly retreated and signaled for my own second drink. I wasn’t used to being out paced by my drinking partner.
“No, no. It’s fine. I owe you an apology.” She sighed and rubbed her face in her hands. I waited patiently, not wanting to press the issue, but eventually she sighed and looked at my face. “I guess I was… scared.”
Well, that certainly wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Scared? Do I frighten you?”
“No!” She responded far too quickly, her eyes going wide as she spoke. But then she seemed to catch herself and groaned. “Yes. It’s complicated.”
“A lot of things in life are complimented. Like you said before, why don’t you try me?”
Now she took another swig of her drink, swirling it around her mouth before finally speaking again. “Look, it’s nothing personal. It’s just that, with everything I’ve learned, I know that it’s bad to mix work with pleasure. It’s even worse to mix that with someone who’s whims could affect whether I have a job or not.
“But despite everything I know, I still slept with you. I didn’t even try to resist. And, as good as it was, once I came back to my senses I knew I had done something terribly stupid.”
Oh. That wasn’t too bad then. I mean yeah, it wasn’t sunshine and roses, but at least I hadn’t done anything specifically to scare her off.
Also, she was right. It was a terrible idea to sleep with your boss in the same way it was terrible for a boss to sleep with an underling. Except I didn’t really have to worry about her firing me on a whim.
“That’s fair,” I answered. “But if I’m hearing right, it was good for you then?”
She rolled her eyes at that. “Of course, it was good. I think I made my enjoyment of the situation very obvious.”
My mind instantly called up the cries she had made while she climaxed, and my body started to respond instantly. “I vaguely remember. But a little assurance never hurts.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure a big, strong playboy such as yourself gets real insecure about your sexual prowess.”
“Only when women go running from the room like I’m literally Satan himself.”
She choked on her drink at that. “Alright, you have a point. I maybe could have explained the situation more, but I panicked.”
“It’s alright,” I said, waving my hand. And I meant it. Now that I knew I hadn’t offended her or scared her with direct action, I was feeling a whole lot better about the situation. “In your position I might have done the same thing.”
“Really,” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “You’re cool with it?”
I nodded. “Look, I know what we did wasn’t wise, and that it would be best if we made it a one-time thing. But I’m not going to pretend that you don’t have a way with my son that no one else has.
“I really, really would massively appreciate if you would keep visiting him every once and a while. I’ve never seen him be able to talk about his hobbies with someone so openly. You know, I try, but sometimes I feel like he’s more patronizing my wish to be included rather than actually enjoying explaining them.”
She nodded. “It can be hard if you don’t have all of the backstories from across different medias. There are thousands of worlds in his head; it’d be impossible for you to keep up.”
“But not you?”
She smirked. “I’ve been playing in the proverbial geek sandbox since I was a kid. I’ve had a whole lot more years than you do.”
“Huh, I guess I never thought of it that way.”
She drained the rest of her drink and then called for a glass of water. Good. I was enjoying the conversation far too much for us to become too drunk to communicate. “So, you’d really do that for your son? Have me around and never have sex again? Just play with him, watch movies and eat pizza?”
“Well, we probably shouldn’t have pizza every time. But yes, that’s basically the idea.”
She just shook her head, laughing quietly. “You really are something else, you know that?”
I smiled at her over my own glass. “That might not be the first time I’ve heard that.” Her shoulders relaxed, and a familiar pink flush crossed her cheeks. The hesitancy, the aloofness that she had been holding onto all night faded and for once I didn’t feel like I was being viewed as someone she needed to be cautious around.
There was still a little something there, a wariness to the convers of her actions, but it was a rampant improvement over how we had been when the day started.
Lifting my glass to her, I gave her a crooked sort of smile.
“To Dom,” I said. “And being better people because of him.”
“I can drink to that!”
We clinked our glasses, my whiskey and her water, then downed them. Almost immediately she belched, and I laughed like it was the funniest thing I had ever heard.
This was going to be a great night.
Chapter Twenty
~McKenna~
My cheeks were warm, my stomach was warm, everything was warm, and I liked it. I looked over my glass of water at Rafael, the beautiful douchebag that he was, and giggled.
Wow, this night wasn’t going how I expected it. I had honestly thought I was going to have to field off his advances and lay down the law, or deal with passive aggressive bullshit.
But no. Raphael was reasonable and just wanted to know why I had bolted like a bat out of hell. I couldn’t exactly blame him. I would have been pretty concerned if my partner had suddenly disappeared too quickly to even get dressed.
It turned out that he was human, much like me, and he just wanted some clarification. Clarification was good. I could do that.
So, I did. I explained to him why I felt the way I did and why I had reacted so rashly. And he understood. It was great, and I found myself wishing that I had just talked to him first.
Oh well, typical McKenna, always making things as hard as possible.
But now that the topic had been broached and sussed out, we were free to just have fun. The surprising thing was, that we did.
For being some rich, high faulting CEO, Rafael and I had pretty similar senses of humor. We also employed sarcasm as our main line of defense. After long enough, I realized that I was definitely feeling him, and not just in the raw, sexual way I had earlier.
But I couldn’t feel him. Hadn’t that been the point of my entire speech to him? That mixing work and pleasure was only a recipe for disaster and nothing else?
Ugh. No fair.
He was the best sex that I had in ages and I really wouldn’t mind dipping my toe into that pool again. But I was pretty sure that I had closed that door as hard as possible and barricaded it with my little speech just a few minutes earlier.
Oh well. It was for the better.
Even if I could feel my thighs pressing together and my core growing wet while my heartbeat picked up, I knew that I needed to be an adult and put my foot down.
How lame.
Despite my internal grumbling, I had a great time. We laughed, we drank, we drank some more. And the best part was that I didn’t have to pay. As much as I always said that I didn’t really care about money, it certainly made for a nice night out.
But even with all the laughs and libations, I felt myself grow tired. Getting up at eleven had totally messed up my sleep schedule and now my body had no idea what time it was.
“Hey, I’m getting sleepy. I think I’m gonna head home.” I said to Rafael, draining another cup of water.
“What? It’s only three in the morning. Isn’t that like the middle of your shift?”
“It is,” I countered, slurring slightly. “But someone dragged me out of my house early and had me babysit their son all day.”
“Hey, I was there the whole time! It wasn’t babysitting. It was… supervised hang out time.”
“Uh-huh, sure it was.” I laughed and slid off of my stool, the world only swaying a little bit. Although I had drunk quite a bit, it had been over four hours and had plenty of glasses of water in between, so I felt like that was helping.
“Here, let me call you a cab,” he said. “Least I can do since you normally take public transport home.”
“How do you know what I normally take home?” I countered, poking his chest then trailing my finger up to flick his nose. “Have you been watching me, Mr. CEO-sir-man?”
“I’ve been working from home all week,” he countered, only half paying attention as he typed into his phone. “But it was an educated guess.”
“Well it was a good guess, because you’re right.” I giggled even though nothing particularly funny had happened. “I take the bus to work and the train back because the buses don’t run that late. It takes forevvver.”
“Yeah, I bet. I don’t know how you do it.” He looked to his phone then back to me. “The cab is gonna be here in like, ten minutes. Let me pee and then I’ll walk you out.”
We were both as relaxed as we had ever been around each other, but I wasn’t sure we were that relaxed yet.
Oh well, might as well roll with it. “You go pee! Imma wait to go home.”
He nodded tipsily and stumbled toward the facilities. I watched him, giggling, and decided to go outside to catch some fresh air before I had to slide into an undoubtedly stale taxi.
The wind was cool but refreshing once I stepped onto the sidewalk, with the line having long since either come in or dispersed. The sounds of the city washed over me, and I closed my eyes, absorbing the peacefulness.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
A chill like ice slid up my spine, it’s cold tendrils piercing through my heart with no mercy. My eyes flew open, and I whipped around just as someone grabbed my arm.
“Look at how you’re dressed! Like a damn common whore!”
I was yanked roughly to the side and suddenly he came into view. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, I could only stare up in shock at the familiar face that often haunted my dreams.
“Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through to find you?” He shook me again and tears rose to my eyes. This couldn’t be happening! It couldn’t be real! I had to be dreaming. “No, I suppose you don’t. You never think of anybody other than yourself, do you? Well, we’ll have to fix that, I guess. We’re going home now!”
“W-what?” I managed to sputter. “N-no! I have a restraining order! You can’t be here!”
But he kept pulling, kept yanking me towards a life I had sworn to leave behind. I looked around in a panic, trying to see if there was a single soul to save me, but the streets were unusually empty with only the occasional taxi or sports car speeding by. My previously tipsy buzz faded as stone-cold terror took over most of my brain.
Every nightmare I had ever had was coming true. The deepest, darkest fears that haunted my subconscious all flashed before my eyes and I heard myself start to hyperventilate.
“S-stop! I’ll call the police!”
Suddenly I was yanked to his strong, broad chest and I remembered just how terribly strong he was. “Look, I know what we both have our flaws and things got a little crazy last time, but it’s time to stop the theatrics. You belong with me, McKenna! Me and no one else!”
I let out a cry and dug my feel in, trying to pull away. But his grip was like iron, unforgiving and cold. It dragged me mercilessly and my sobs fell unchecked.
“Hey! Let her go you son of a bitch!”
Abruptly the hand on my arm let go and I stumbled backwards. A dark shape set upon my assailant, knocking him to the ground and tumbling along the sidewalk.
It took several seconds for my poor, drunk brain to realize that it was Rafael, come to save me and pummeling the absolute crap out of my ex. I stood there, shocked, as they rolled across the concrete, cussing and spitting.
My ex managed to get free and stumbled back, his lip bleeding and eye already swelling.
“Are you crazy!” He screamed. “Who the hell are you!”
“Who am I?” Rafael countered. “Who the hell are you!”
“I’m her goddamned boyfriend!”
“Boyfriend?” Rafail looked to me, confused, and I shook my head desperately.
“N-no, that’s not right,” I gasped.
“Shut up, McKenna, you don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Rafael snapped back. “Get lost!”
“You get lost!” He tried to grab for me again, but Rafael knocked his hand away. “She’s coming home with me!”
“McKenna,” Rafael said somewhat blearily. “Do you wanna go home with him?”
“N-no!” I gasped, my wits slowly coming back to me. But mot nearly fast enough. “Rafael, that’s my ex-boyfriend!”
“You’re…”
I watched as what could only be called blind range flooded Rafael’s face and he spun at my attacker once more. His punches came one right after the other, all slamming into my ex’s face until finally he was flat on his back, his visage a bloody mess.
“Rafael, stop, you’re going to kill him!”
“He deserves to die!”
As much as it felt good to see him hurt, as much as I felt a vindicated sort of justice that he was getting his fair comeuppance, I didn’t want him to be dead. That would involve police reports, and funerals, and contact with his family. I would much rather have him leave me alone of his own accord rather than have his ghost weighing over me for the rest of my life.
“I know. But I don’t deserve to have to deal with the consequences.” That was a surprisingly coherent sentence given how inebriated by brain was with both terror and alcohol.
“…fine.” He spit on my ex before standing. “Get the hell out of here. And if you ever show your face again, or if McKenna even thinks she sees your shadow, I’ll gut you like the pig you are.”
My ex sputtered something then scrambled to his feet before limping away. I had never seen him so defeated, and it filled me with a type of hope I had never had before.
“McKenna,” Rafael murmured, turning to me. “McKenna are you okay?”
Once more, I found that I couldn’t answer. But instead of being muted by my fear, I couldn’t get words around the relieved sobs constricting my throat and shaking my chest.
Rafael’s strong arms reached out for me, pulling me to his broad, strong chest that was so much more comforting than others I had been forced against. I clung to him, using his sturdiness to prop myself up.
“Hush, hush, it’s alright. I’m here now.”
And he was. In the churning maelstrom that was my life, Rafael was the constant. He was strong enough to protect me, and in fact, he had been looking out for me ever since he found out I was using a fake name. Quite a strange streak of kindness considering our relationship had started because I lied to him.
“Take me home,” I whispered between my wracking sobs. “Please take me home.”
“Don’t worry, the taxi is coming and it already has your address.”
“No! Not back to my place. He might know I’m there!” My stomach squeezed painfully at the idea, making me almost dizzy from the pain. “Take me to your place, please! I just, I need to feel safe. At least for tonight.”
“Okay, okay. Whatever you want. I won’t leave you alone until you want me to.”
I sagged against him even more and we waited those last few minutes with me crying into his chest. But even after everything I had been through, I felt so much better with Rafael holding onto me.
That whole meeting could have gone so much worse. I guessed I was incredibly lucky that I had Rafael with me. If he hadn’t… I shuddered to think about it. One thing was for certain though, I owed him the truth. The whole truth.