Alexander

 

 

 

“Is he mangled?” Aria asked with worry surrounding her words.

She sounded faint. Like her words were being muffled. I opened my eyes and had no idea where I was. This wasn’t my bedroom but the smell of coffee had me smiling.

“Just a sprain then? Oh, that’s good. I was worried when you came back and said he would have to stay in the hospital. But everything is fine now.” Aria’s voice was coming from the bathroom.

I sat up and realized I was naked. In Aria’s bed. In her room.

We came back here last night after Tiffany told us she would stay the night in the hospital with her son. From what I gathered, her son, David, had an operation a few months ago to help him walk. The doctors wanted to make sure the fall didn’t have any negative effects on what the operation helped.

I got up from the bed and went over to the bathroom. The door was open enough that a sliver of light shone through. Aria was sitting on the sink speaking on her cell phone wearing a long yellow T-shirt.

“I’ve got to go, Tiffany. Alex is spying on me.” Aria lifted her middle finger toward the door as she curled the corner of her mouth.

She tapped at her phone and put it down on the counter. Pushing open the door I let my full-on erection guide me toward her.

“Can’t a woman have a private conversation in her bathroom without a Hawthorne spying on her?” she said as I pushed myself between her legs and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“No. You know us Hawthornes. Besides, there’s lots of work to be done,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her neck.

“Work in bed or on the mural?” Her words full of questions but her hands full of temptation as she dug her nails into my back.

When we came back here, I was worried her place might be bugged too, so we wrote down our plan. Handing the paper back and forth like children passing notes in class.

Growing tired and horny, we came to bed and fooled around.

“The mural,” I said and I could see the disappointment in her face. “I know it seems weird but when we do have sex, I want it to be right. If that makes sense. I don’t want to be worried that we’re bugged or hiding from my mom.”

“I get it. But when will that be, Alex? I feel like your mom will always be watching us.”

Maybe it had nothing to do with my mom. Maybe it’s because I was worried that I wouldn’t be good enough for Aria.

“How about after the mural is complete? Can you wait that long?” I said.

I fought my body every day when I was around Aria. Part of me wanted to sink so deep inside her I might never come out. And the other part, well, it was rotted. It had been controlled by an evil woman for so long that it would make any excuse to keep me hidden.

She reached down to tug at the T-shirt she wore. “Yeah, I can wait.”

Tilting her head, she peered up at me with a sly grin. We kissed for a while. Aria had already showered before I woke up so I took one while she went to the kitchen and made us breakfast.

After the shower and a belly full of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee, we made our way to the L train. We decided taking the train was another way for us to discuss our plan without my mother hearing about it.

Having never ridden the L before, Aria showed me the ropes and I loved the feel of the rumbling wooden platform and being surrounded by all the people going about their day.

For a moment, I felt real. Like I was an average person, and not some weird man sheltered by his crazy mother. It was now mid-May and an unusually nice day. Warm enough to be without a jacket, even in the early morning. Aria looked beautiful as the warm breeze rippled her lavender blouse across her skin. I loved watching the contrast of her. The fire in her eyes and soft warmth of her skin.

Aria glanced down the tracks looking for a train. “When we get to your place I’ll start to sweep the place for bugs so you can take care of your thing. When I got up this morning, I Googled what we should be looking for.”

 “And I know my part,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets trying to prepare myself for the worst.

The train arrived, almost knocking me back with a gust of sound and air. Once we were inside and seated Aria turned to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “It’s not going to be easy, Alex. I understand if you don’t want to do this.”

I didn’t. That rotten part of me wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and never come out. But having met Aria and gotten to know her, that sick part of me was shrinking every day.

“No. It has to be done. And when it is,” I said as I glanced around and pulled Aria closer, “I’m going to lick you. I’m going to eat you. And I’m going to worship every part of you.”

My finger outlined the blush that swept across her cheeks. When we came to our stop I followed Aria out. It took a few minutes and many blocks, but we finally got to Michigan Avenue and to Haute Tower.

When we walked through my condo door Bradley was standing there. I wondered if my doorman tipped him off that we were on our way up.

His dark, brown eyes flipped between me and Aria. “Alex, glad you’re home. There’s an urgent matter I need to discuss with you . . . in private.”

That was the excuse I needed. I nodded to Aria as she nodded back. Waiting for her to move down the hall, knowing she was heading toward my bathroom as I told her to start there first, I turned to Bradley. “Of course, Bradley. There’s something I need to discuss with you, too.”

He waved for me to follow him. When we got to the security room, he shut the door behind him.

“I mentioned two months ago that I saw Aria in the security room.” Bradley waved his hand toward the monitors. “Since that day, every time she has been here I have kept my eye on her.”

I held up my hands. “Bradley, that isn’t really necessary. I know Aria. She would never steal from me or try to deceive me.”

“Are you so sure, Alex? Because what was she placing under your bed all those weeks ago when she first started that project in your bedroom while you stepped out?”

Bradley leaned over the desk and typed away at a keyboard. The screen of the monitor closest to me was nothing but static before it flickered and finally a video of my bedroom appeared.

“This is from the day Aria first came to work on the mural about a month ago,” Bradley said pointing to the monitor of my bedroom.

Anger surged through me as I stared at the screen.

Aria was looking at the wall. Her hand touched her chest. After a moment, her head swiveled as if looking for something. She glanced around the room and lifted some things from my end table next to my bed. At one point, I could see her bending down and reaching back behind the table.

“There. Right there. I think she placed something right there. Also, a minute later, you see her do the same thing but under your bed.”

I didn’t care that he was right. My heart sank as I watched Bradley’s words come to life. My fists tightened as I turned to face my cousin.

“You were filming my bedroom?” I said through gritted teeth.

His eyes grew wide. That wasn’t the reaction he expected.

“I’m your security Alex. It’s my job to keep you safe.”

“Are there cameras in the bathroom too? Or am I allowed to take a shit by myself?” I asked as I took a step closer. He stood a little straighter but he wouldn’t lift his gaze.

That was my answer.

 “I’ll take care of this, Bradley. You don’t need to worry about Aria anymore.”

He nodded and just before I turned to leave I said, “But we do need to discuss your job later.”

That sickening feeling, the one that came over me whenever my mother said she had to speak with me, erupted and sank to the bottom of my stomach. There were so many people in my life that were using me and I had no idea who to believe anymore.

As I maneuvered down the hall I went straight to my bathroom. Aria was still there. She was lying on the floor with half her body inside the cabinet.

My eyes softened when I watched her smooth legs flex and twist. But then the images of her digging through my things, probably tapping my room like my mother, caused every muscle in my body to harden.

“Aria, let’s move into the bedroom. I want to get started in there,” I said.

She pulled out, her cheeks flush with a beautiful smile on her face. As unhappy as I was with what she had done to me, I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t miss that breathtaking smile.

“Okay, but I haven’t completely finished in here.”

Once we were in my bedroom, I pointed to my bed. “I’ll start here and you can start in my closet.”

I watched her eyes closely to see if she was worried. Waiting for her to protest or make an excuse for her to work on the bed, but nothing came.

Aria nodded and gave me a thumb up before turning to the closet. Perhaps she believed I would mistake it for one of my mother’s bugs so she wasn’t worried.

I immediately pulled back the side table to check where I saw her reach back on the video. There was nothing there but some dust. I removed the lamp and pulled out the drawer but everything was fine.

That’s when I turned to under the bed. I got on my back and scooted as far under the bed as possible. I tried to find anything unusual but only felt the wood frame and box spring. Twisting my head, something metal caught my eye.

I reached over and pulled it toward me. Scooting out I stood to get a better look at it in the light. Holding it up I knew immediately what it was.

“My lucky charm necklace. You found it. I was wondering if I lost it here,” Aria said as she walked over to take the simple gold heart charm.

“You did?”

She nodded studying the gold jewelry. “Yeah, I even searched your room about a month ago to see if I could find it but couldn’t.”

Aria threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Alex. This may not look like much but the necklace is very important to me.”

I stroked her head as I gazed out my door. “Then it’s a good thing I found it.”

Or I would have let the wrong person go.