Lingering Liaisons
Push and pull played her heart
Barging through memories, tearing them apart
Searching for answers only he seemed to own
Fighting with moments her psyche had sown
Vienna
My phone rang just as I walked into my room. I’d been busy doing my laundry and cleaning up the house this evening and was ready to call it a night.
“Hello?” Who was calling me this late?
“Hey.” The voice on the other end sounded happy. “It’s me, Melissa. Mel. Remember, we met briefly this morning?” Her English accent filled my ears as I recalled who she was.
Why was she calling me and how had she gotten my number? I sat on my bed. “Oh hey, Melissa, how are you?”
“I hope I’m not disturbing you. I’ve been meaning to call you since lunch today but didn’t get the chance. I grabbed your number from reception.”
Her tone was effortless and friendly, encouraging me to relax.
But why was Kingston’s…why was she calling me? “Is there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?”
“Oh, I was just wondering… If you’re not up to anything right now, why don’t we meet up for a drink and get to know each other?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t overthink it. Say yes.”
“But we don’t even know each other.” Where was this going?
“Vienna, it’s Friday night and you seem to be home just like me. I don’t have friends in the city. You seemed like a cool girl to hang out with, so I thought to give you a call, and hopefully hang out.”
“Umm.” I didn’t know what to say.
“Vienna, stop being a bore and get over here. We can dish the dirt on both the Sharp brothers…I can send you a ride if you need.”
That got my attention. “No, I have a car.”
“Great! I’ll text you the address. See you soon.”
“But…”
She hung up before I could protest, before I could even say no.
Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed in my jeans and red check shirt and driving toward Melissa’s house. The entire situation felt weird. What did she want from me? And why couldn’t I say no?
Because it has to do with Kingston.
I watched the skyline of the city pass by as I drove to the address Melissa had given me, taking in the scenery of this new part of town. Carbon beach was beautiful even at night, the scattered homes creating a jeweled necklace around the coast with their glimmering lights. The entire drive passed through one-of-a-kind homes—some gorgeous, some almost tackily ostentatious, all of them huge and luxurious. I could hear the ocean waves crashing as I followed my GPS. I took everything in, forgetting my worries as I captured mental images of all these amazing houses. Architecture had always intrigued me, and I wondered how great it would be to someday be able to build my own dream home in such a beautiful location.
A strange memory kicked in as my thoughts scattered into another scene.
I was standing outside this beautiful English manor, the flowerbeds filled with flowers every shade of the rainbow, trying, and failing miserably, to capture the lines of the building in my sketchbook. My curls were all over the place, my white t-shirt smudged with black charcoal as I erased and redrew the lines, wanting to capture the beauty of this stone building onto paper.
Unable to replicate the manor, I looked at the charcoal in my hand and the paper on the easel and berated them. “Why won’t you follow my instructions? Why won’t you bloody draw what I see, what my mind wants you to capture? Why are you torturing me with these stupid, ugly, crooked black lines?”
“It’s because your approach and your expectations are completely out of tune with each other.”
The voice behind me jolted me to an abrupt stop.
“Here, let me show you.” A strong muscular hand came up to my shoulders and reached past me, flipping the sketchbook page and grabbing the charcoal from my hand.
My entire body stilled at his arrival, shivered as his fingers ever so softly touched mine.
My breath left me, and my heart ran along with it.
It was him behind me.
The man who’d been ruining my sleep and my sanity.
The man who had, only two days ago, stolen my first kiss, just to win the argument we’d been having, just to shut me up.
I’d wanted to kill him after that moment of insatiable shock leading to ecstasy, as his soft and warm lips had met mine. But instead of wrath, I’d allowed myself to be wooed.
He’d walked away, and I’d stood there, speechless, falling, surrendering, giving a little part of myself to him.
“Move, Vienna,” he whispered, so close to my ears, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and lean back a little into his warm body.
When I didn’t respond, he grabbed my shoulders and shoved me aside, completely unaware of the frenzy he was arousing inside my body. “Now, pay attention to what I’m doing. It’s one of the very first things they teach when you start university for this.”
Unaffected by me, he focused on the building in front of him, and, very gently, he started.
Effortlessly, he created flawless strokes on the blank paper, taking my attention and anchoring it to his movements and ministrations. With each stroke, the building transferred onto the paper, leaving me no choice but to admire his skills. I knew he was using a certain technique, hoping I would catch on, but my attention wanted nothing to do with it. It was glued to him, and how his corded and toned arms moved as he drew on the paper, flexing the muscles under his short-sleeved cotton tee.
“So, you see, Vienna, you need to keep your hand very light. Make faint marks that you can sculpt more accurately once you have the foundation outlined on the paper.” His hands stopped, and he turned.
I was somewhere else, in a world of dreams of him and his hands doing wicked things to my body.
“Vienna. Hey.” He waved his hands in front of me, but I still kept drowning in the Kingston-infused daydream, craving his warm lips on mine for more than a few seconds, for an eternity, devouring me, making me melt, making me moan.
“Hey, snap out of it.”
I wanted to respond, but the pull of his thoughts was too strong.
He reached up to my chin, and the daydreams fizzled out as my eyes lifted and met his.
“Your destination is on the right.” The GPS voice broke my stupor.
It took me a moment to acknowledge my surroundings as I parked my car. The tremors of my thoughts faded, and the present took over, placing me in front of the most magnificent home I’d ever seen. It was like someone had walked into my dreams and stolen the very blueprint of my two-story dream house and given it life. Standing tall in its glory was a home like no other. Behind the black metal gate, gray slabs of concrete wrapped around a beautiful home adorned with thousands of lights. I parked my car on the street and walked up to the gates, pressing the buzzer. The gate automatically opened as Mel’s voice filled the intercom. “Come on in.”
“Okay,” I said meekly as I stepped onto the premises.
A long, winding but well-lit driveway welcomed me as I walked toward the beautiful contemporary home, with colonial arches decorating the door. Old and new styles merged seamlessly in the architecture, with the lush landscape of beautiful flowers surrounding the house. Even in the dark, I could see how beautiful it was.
Mel stood by the door as I took everything in, enjoying the gentle crash of the waves nearby.
I couldn’t help but imagine how this house would look during the daytime. I was sure it was built on the perfect-sized land, not too big, not too small.
“Glad you could make it.” Melissa walked up the path to meet me as I passed a few cars parked on the side, wondering why she needed so many cars if she didn’t even live in the city full time.
She leaned down to give me a hug.
I hesitated for a second before I returned it. She was a few inches taller than me, and her perfume filled my nostrils. Maybe it was strange to feel so comfortable around Kingston’s new…Kingston’s friend, but Mel had an ease about her.
“Come on in.”
My steps faltered as I stepped inside. Was I dreaming?
White marble floors invited me into a breathtaking hallway. Everything was white with splashes of colors in the form of timeless abstracts decorating the walls. Ornate showpieces sat on chrome furniture, as I walked up to the living room, facing floor-to-ceiling glass, looking straight out at the Pacific Ocean. I could see a pool past the glass, illuminated by lights, right in front of the massive living room.
“You hungry? I have some chicken risotto and also some steak,” Melissa offered.
“No, I’m good. I had dinner at six.”
“That’s been a while. Let me get you a little bit of everything.”
“No, Melissa, I’m good. I’m not hungry.”
“First…” She turned and gave me a smile. “Call me Mel. And second, have a little risotto. I bet you’ll like it.” She gave me a wink and turned to the kitchen. “Make yourself comfortable, Vienna. I’ll be there in a sec.”
“Okay, thanks.” What a strange night this was turning out to be.
I looked around in awe. The house was beautiful. Exploring, I walked toward the glass wall, seeing Mel in the distance prepping my dish in the beautiful white kitchen. I wanted nothing more than to explore the place, but I didn’t want to overstep. So, I made my way to the plush sectional sofas and took a seat.
Instantly, a familiar scent filled my nostrils, and I couldn’t stop myself from connecting it with Kingston’s.
His smell was everywhere. I could practically feel his presence in the air.
“How do you and Kingston know each other?” I blurted as soon as Mel walked in. This question had been killing me since this morning.
“Oh, Kingston never talked about me?” Melissa turned and walked to me, putting my plate on to the center table and heading toward the bar to pour us drinks.
“No.”
“Well, he’ll hear about that from me.” Mel turned around. “White or red wine?”
“Thanks, but I’m driving. I’d better not,” I answered hesitantly.
“Okay… Kingston and I have been best of friends since the day we were born—I’m also his aunt’s daughter. You have nothing to be afraid of. I’m not his old ex or something. I’m his cousin.” She winked and put a glass of water beside my plate as I tried to come up with a valid response.
“I wasn’t. It’s not—” I stuttered.
“Oh, chill and stop trying to play coy. I’m not blind. I felt the heat go up in the room as you stepped in. I saw how my cousin’s eyes went from calm to a blazing inferno in a split second. And don’t think I didn’t notice how sexy you looked in that dress you wore just for him. Well played.”
My cheeks turned red, and I grew more and more embarrassed as I tried and failed miserably to defend myself. “Melissa. It’s not—”
“Mel.”
“Mel. That’s not the case.”
“Be honest with yourself and me. I know passion when I see it, and there’s definitely that between the two of you.”
“Is that why you called me here?” I finally managed to ask.
“Yup. I needed a better perspective on your relationship.” She took a sip of her wine and made herself comfortable on the sofa.
“There’s no relationship.”
“Bullshit.”
“Excuse me?” I was shocked at her reaction.
“You’re way more than mere work colleagues. Come on, Vienna, be honest with me. Tell me what’s going on, and how you’re feeling about this entire situation. You need to let go of your doubts and trust me if you want me to help you.”
“But I never said I needed your help. There’s nothing between us.” I looked at her, baffled by how straightforward she was. Still, despite everything she’d done to get me here, it was proving very hard to get mad at her.
“Bullshit. Let me tell you this. I know it all, at least Kingston’s side of the story.”
What? Kingston told you?” He’d told his cousin about me? About us?
“Like he had a choice. I’m very persuasive and very intrusive when I want to be, so cut to the chase and tell me your side of the story. And eat.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to see him happy. And I believe, despite everything, that his happiness lies with you.”
Oh.
I didn’t know what to say, how to react to her claim. “I don’t think so,” I argued. “I’ve never felt that from him. All this time, all he’s been with me is distant, curt, and at times rude. He treats me like…” I couldn’t find the right words.
“Here, have a bite.” She pushed the plate closer to me.
I picked it up, in no mood to eat but not willing to hurt her feelings. The moment the food touched my tongue, flavors burst in my mouth. “Wow, it’s delicious.” I took another bite and almost moaned at how delicious it was.
“You like it, huh?” Melissa’s face carried a sly look I couldn’t decipher.
“Yes. It’s not a stretch if I say it’s the best risotto I’ve ever had.”
“He’d be happy to hear that.”
“Excuse me?” I asked mid-bite.
“Nothing. Glad you like it. What do you think of the house?”
“It’s breathtakingly beautiful. So similar to the house of my dreams.” I looked around, lost in thoughts of having a house of my own like this with the love of my life.
An image of Kingston passed through my thoughts, running around in this very house with a curly-haired boy, followed by two silver dogs. I shivered at the intensity of the thought.
Catching myself in time, I looked at Melissa, waiting for her to say something, but she just stared at me and kept sipping her wine.
She gave me a smile as I heard a car pull up in the driveway.
Confused, I looked at her as she gave a Cheshire-cat smile and stood up.
“Are you expecting someone?” I placed my plate on the table beside my glass. “Your husband?”
“No, it’s not my husband. You both are so meant to be,” she said and walked toward the kitchen to grab some new plates.
“What are you talking about?”
The engine shut off, allowing the sound of barks to fill the space.
The very early dreams I’d had about two silver dogs chasing me flooded back.
I looked at the door as the barks got louder and someone told them to stop.
“Who are you expecting, Melissa?” I asked, my pulse rising as a faint realization started to dawn on me.
I’d been set up.
“It’s Mel, not Melissa. And, as for both the compliments about the food and the house, you should say them to the one who deserves them. The one about to walk through that door.”
Somehow my heart knew exactly what she was talking about.
Kingston, it beat, just as the main door opened and my eyes met his…a moment before the very same dogs I’d dreamed about ran toward me, jumping on me and breaking our eye contact.