Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (10 page)

“Bye Kerrin,” I called out as I left, and she actually responded with a wave.

Rushing down the steps, I checked my watch and hoped that the bus was running on schedule today. I wanted nothing more than to go home and soak in a nice hot tub and sip on a margarita, but instead I had to go see Marco. I had to go let some stranger nitpick my look then make it ‘better’ so I could go to an event with my boss that I didn’t want to attend.

As soon as I rounded the corner of the building, I saw him standing there. He
’d ignored me for two weeks, yet my stomach did flip flops at the sight of him standing there with a bouquet of roses. It was crazy, but I had missed him. Seth wasn’t a guy that was easily forgotten, and he had successfully snaked his way into my every free thought. I wanted nothing more than for him to take me into his arms and kiss me passionately, but I knew from our other encounters that wasn’t going to happen. I put on my best poker face as I approached him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, crossing my arms defensively in front of my chest.

“These are for you.” Seth said, holding the roses out towards me.

“Why?”

Seth smiled, and I quickly looked away not wanting to be affected by his sexy smile.

“Most women don
’t ask why they are getting roses, they’re just happy to get them.”

“Most men don
’t show up giving roses to women they barely know and for no reason,” I countered, walking past him.

If I missed my bus I
’d never make it on time to my appointment. I didn’t have time to let myself get distracted by Seth.

I felt his warm hand wrap around my wrist. “I do have a reason. You just have to let me tell you what it is.”

He gave me another smile that made his eyes sparkle. Closing my eyes, I pulled free of his gentle grasp. I was not going to go down this road; I was not going to be sucked in by his good looks, no matter how happy I was to see him again.

“You don
’t have to tell me anything. We aren’t dating. Hell, we can’t even say that we’re friends. I’m sure I was just...never mind, it doesn’t matter. I have to go.” I turned just in time to see my bus pulling away. “Shit!”

“Problem?”

“Yes! Thanks to you, I just missed my bus, and I have an appointment to get to. One that I will now be late for.”

I couldn
’t even call Macy because even if she was off work, it would take her at least thirty minutes or more depending on traffic to get here. I looked up at Seth. He wore an amused expression on his face that only served to annoy me more.

Chapter 9

This was an unexpected side of Calida. During our other encounters, she
’d always been more reserved and shy; this little display of anger was intriguing. Seeing her again surprisingly made me feel better than I’d suspected. I was pleased to see that she hadn’t caved to her boss’ apparent demand for skimpier clothing, choosing instead to wear a pair of black slacks and that same cream colored sweater she wore the day we went out to eat. Unfortunately, her hair was once again pulled up and away from her face.

“Well, I would be happy to make up for the inconvenience I just caused you. Allow me to drive you to your appointment,” I said, smiling at her annoyed expression.

She looked as if she was debating her options before turning and walking back towards my car. After unlocking the door, I opened it for her. Once she was seated I placed the roses in her lap and closed the door.

“Where to?”

Reaching into her purse, Calida retrieved a piece of paper and handed it to me. I guess I was getting the silent treatment, and I found that mildly amusing. She was a very interesting subject indeed.

“How was your day?” I asked once we were on the road.

“Just peachy,” Calida replied, keeping her eyes focused elsewhere.

“I should have called. I got caught up with something, but I still could have at least called you.”

“You don’t owe me any explanations, Seth, really. I should have known better.”

The last part was said quietly, almost to herself. Glancing over, I saw color creeping into her cheeks, so I suspected she hadn
’t meant to say it out loud.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

“No, it
’s something. If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be embarrassed about saying it.”

Calida turned her head so that she was looking away from me. Her fingers nervously played with the bouquet wrap that was around the flowers, filling the car with the light crinkling sound of her actions.

“I’m waiting.”

“I
’m not embarrassed,” she said in a huff. “I’m angry.”

“At me?”

“No, at myself. So no need to discuss it with you.”

“I don
’t agree because I think it has something to do with me.”

“And why would you think that? I
’ve known you for what, three maybe four weeks? And in that time I’ve only seen you twice, three times if you count today? So…”

“So you are upset that those numbers are so low,” I said, finishing her statement.

“You sound a bit full of yourself,” she retorted angrily.

“Ah, so then I
’m right,” I replied, trying not to smile.

***

I was relieved when his GPS indicated we had arrived at our destination. Once Seth put the car in park, I quickly opened the door before he could stop me. Unfortunately I had to walk past his side of the car to get into the building, and he was standing in my way.

“Not even going to thank me for the ride?”

“Thank you,” I replied, attempting to move forward. I heard the beeping sound of his doors locking before he quickly fell into step next to me. “Where are you going?”

“With you.
We haven’t finished our conversation.”

“Yes we have,” I said, turning to face him. “Look, I don
’t know what game you’re playing, but I don’t want to be a part of it. If not for the fact I was a total klutz, we would have never met. We hung out a few times, and it was nice, really nice, but reality has sunk in. There is no need to keep prolonging this unless you get off on making a fool of people.”

Seth took a step closer to me, his presence suddenly invading my every sense. His smell, those sexy lips that I longed to have kiss me, and those piercing blue eyes, together it was all too much. I needed to distance myself, but my feet were unwilling to move.

“I’m not trying to make a fool of you,” he said softly.

“Seth, I…I have to go,” I said, finally stepping back to put more space between us.

“Then let’s go,” he replied, grabbing my hand.

I should have pulled it free, but it felt too nice. I hated that his simple touch made me warm all over.
 I hated knowing that continuing this, whatever it was, would probably end with me heartbroken. It was only a matter of time before he got bored with me. I was not his type, I knew that, but still part of me couldn’t help but to wonder. Was I so desperate for attention that I was willing to set myself up like this? As I stole a glance in his direction, the answer was undeniably yes.

“So why are we here?” he asked as we walked up the steps to the building.

“I have to attend an event with Patrick on Thursday at the High, and I need to look like someone other than myself in order to do that apparently.”

“For the record, I like you as yourself,” he said, and from the tone I thought he was sincere in his comment.

The door opened before I had a chance to respond. The man that greeted us was not at all how I’d imagined Marco. He was a heavyset man whose hair was cut close on one side, but kept longer on the other, covering his eye partially, and the tips were dyed purple. He wore thick, red-rimmed glasses. The brightly-colored print shirt coupled with the skinny jeans he wore made me wonder if I actually had better sense of fashion than he did.

“You must be Calida,” he greeted me in a nasally voice.

“Yes, thank you for seeing me after hours.”

Marco rolled his eyes before turning towards Seth. “And who are you?” he asked, giving Seth a slow once over.
 I couldn’t help but smile. I guess woman weren’t the only ones who found him attractive.

“Her chauffeur,” Seth replied, unfazed that Marco looked ready to devour him at any moment.

Marco let his gaze linger on Seth a bit longer before returning his attention to me. “Okay hunny, let’s get this done. I’m not trying to be here all night.” He started walking signaling for Seth and me to follow behind him.

We walked into a small dressing area. Seth took a seat in one of the makeup chairs, wearing an amused expression on his face.

“Alrighty, take it off then get up on the platform in front of the mirrors?”

“What?” I asked in shock.

“Look hun, I gotta see the full picture of what I have to work with so strip. What are you anyway, a six or eight?”

“An eight,” I replied mortified, at the idea of getting undressed in front of this man, gay or not.

Glancing nervously over at Seth, he quietly left the room without being asked. Reluctantly, I took off my clothes, leaving on my bra and panties. Marco walked around me checking me out from all angles. I’d never felt so exposed.

“I don
’t know if I have anything in your size. You are a little larger than my average client,” he stated flippantly, adding to my embarrassment. He walked out of the room and came back with three dresses. “Go behind the screen and get dressed. Hopefully you will be able to squeeze into one of these.”

I took the dresses and headed towards the screen he indicated.
  After putting on the first dress, I knew it was not something I would want to be seen in. The golden yellow color of it wasn’t bad, but the front dipped too low, exposing way more cleavage than I was comfortable showing, especially for a work related event.

“Come on,
hunny,” Marco called out. “I ain’t got all night.”

“I can
’t step out in this.”

“Yes you can. Get that sized-eight ass out here.”

Slowly, I came out from behind the screen, stepping up onto the platform I had recently vacated. Marco cocked his head to the side as if he were trying to decide what he thought. I watched in horror when he stepped over to the door and called for Seth to come back in.

“What
’d you think, Driver?”

Seth
’s eyes slowly looked over me, making me feel even more self-conscious. It was the first time I’d seen him look at me that way, like he saw me finally the same way I saw him. Desirable and sexy. Shaking my head, I quickly told myself it was most likely my hopeful, yet over-active, imagination.

“I like it,” he said finally.

“Well, I don’t. Don’t you think this is a little low cut for a charity work event?” I asked, directing my question at Marco.

“Are they real?” he asked.

“Are what real?”

“Your breasts.”

I felt my face heat up at least twenty degrees. “Yes,” I croaked out, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“Then flaunt
‘em girl. Do you know how much women pay to get a set like those?”

Marco waved his hand; I assumed indicating for me to go change into the next dress. I made my way behind the screen, stooping down a little to make sure Seth couldn
’t see me from the other side and wishing now more than ever he had just left.

The second dress was worse than the first, low cut in the front and the back. The third dress was the only one I felt comfortable in, but both Marco and Seth ruled it out. Marco wasn
’t sure which one he wanted to put me in, and I apparently had no choice in the decision. He told me he would have it figured out by the time I came back on Thursday.

“Sorry you had to sit through that,” I said once we were in the car.

“No apologies needed, I quite enjoyed myself.”

“That makes one of us,” I replied dryly. “Macy will get a kick out of hearing about this. She tries to play dress-up with me often.”

Seth gave me a look similar to the one he gave when I had on dress one, before he shifted into reverse. He eased into traffic, and we rode in a comfortable silence. I thought it odd he never had the radio on when I was in the car. At first, I thought it was so we could talk without distraction, but we didn’t really talk much. Rather, he didn’t really talk much.

Glancing over, I noticed scratches on his hand for the first time. “Seth, what happened?”

“I got a new pet,” he replied, holding his hand up a bit. “It’s a little feisty and scratched me. I’m thinking of declawing her.”

“I didn
’t see you as a cat person,” I said thoughtfully. “But it would be cruel to declaw her.”

“Well, she
’ll need to learn to behave.”

“Maybe she was just scared and will settle down in a few days.”