Chapter 3: February Ninth
I had gotten up around three in the morning, my body telling me that there was no way in hell that I'd get back to sleep. Drinking hadn't exactly been my best choice when I knew that I needed to get some sleep. Getting dressed in a randomly picked, black pencil skirt and crème blouse, I slipped on some black heels and walked downstairs. I didn't bother making any coffee since I was fully awake and all, and I decided to get out of the house and go somewhere...else.
Sliding into the driver's seat of a new Cadillac, I drove myself to the nearest mall, which was nearly an hour away. I wasn't big into going to the mall all the time, and I sure as hell wasn't anywhere near the kind of girl who had a bunch of shopping bags hanging from her arms, but a little luxury didn't hurt anyone. Especially when I was supposed to endure living under the same roof as Roy and pretend to be engaged to him. And plus, I only had enough clothes to last me through the week and I really didn't feel like wearing them over and over again after that.
It was nearly five in the morning when I got there. With the time spent driving and the time I had used to make myself look actually legit and presentable, I had arrived just as the doors began to open. I spent about fifteen minutes just walking through the almost empty, lightly tinted halls, watching as late staff opened their stores. That's when I walked into a candle shop.
I didn't know why I walked in, but I just did. I searched and seized a few extravagant and decorative candles for the dining room in hopes to...lighten the place up a bit. I mean, after all, I was going to be living there for a week or more, and it wasn't exactly my credit care. My being Sarah's.
Wrapping up the candles and handing me my card back, the young woman at the counter smiled and bid ado, awkwardly enough. That's when I was called out.
"Rhea! Rhea!" I heard a high-pitched voice call out, I turned and saw none other than Kathryn and a bunch of what I thought to be her friends. I put on a smile and walked over to her and she embraced me in a tight hug. "What are you doing here? All alone I might add?"
"Oh, I was just doing a little shopping to pass the time. The house is so dreary and I just...can't stand the look of it." It was a total lie. And I knew that. But Kathryn and the rest of her gang seemed to buy it.
"Well, Lilac here's doing the same thing." Kathryn said, motioning to a small-boned, young-looking Asian girl. Her dark hair was highlighted and her outfit, a loose-fitting skirt and button up blouse, seemed to make her look older. "Maybe you two could help each other. Lilac's good at couch-shopping and you're probably good at everything else by the look of it."
"Oh, no..." I said with a smile. I held up the bag that contained the candles. "I'm only good at candle shopping." We all laughed and I felt even more confused. What was so funny? Seriously, I was only half-good at candle shopping. "Anyway, I guess Lilac, you could help me with couches. I've been dying to replace the ugly thing lying in my living room."
"Okay. Let's get going." She said brightly, with a smile glued to her face. I sighed. God help me...
"So, you live in the neighborhood?" I asked, walking down an isle of wicked chairs. Lilac, who was in front of me, nodded slightly.
"Uh, yeah. I live three houses to your right. I've lived there for almost eight years now. If you can believe it."
"Wow. So do you live with..."
"My husband. He's an Italian surgeon."
"Oh, where did you guys meet?"
"Uh, I ended up studying abroad for a year in Italy. I was getting my major in anthropology. At the time I was undergoing some physical problems with heart and lungs. They just couldn't seem to fit in what small of a chest cavity I had. And then one day it all went to hell. My heart was way too rapid and I ended up having a heart attack. Spent forever it seemed like in the back of an ambulance and worrying about a stupid credit bill. Then I was operated on. Antonio was there and helped with everything. He was such a gentleman paying the bills and all that and I vowed that I'd repay him someday. After that he became like my foreign doctor. I'd go there almost every week, we'd talk as he checked how I was doing. Then one day he asked me to dinner and it just sort of happened. Love."
"That's nice. The story, it's different. It's not cheesy like most of the love stories I've heard..."
"What about you? How did you meet your husband?"
Oh, shit. Make something up quick!
"Uh... I was twenty, excited as hell when the school recruited me out of the other ten thousand who qualified to watch a huge private trial in Miami. It was the second day and the defense attorney was sick and therefore absent. So my professor bargained my way to the attorney position. I had done my research and ended up winning the case. Clayton was...impressed and just asked me on a date. I denied at first, but damn Clara was pushy. Clara was one of my best friends in college."
"You say 'was.' What do you mean?"
"Uh, Clara committed suicide a few weeks after that. Evidently she had gone through some rough times and the professor wasn't exactly giving her an A for nothing."
"Oh, God...I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. It was a long time ago..."
"Hey, not to be pushy, but how 'bout this chair? You say you have an outdoor pool. This brand is by far the most trustworthy with wicked chairs. And it has probably the most extravagant and beautiful ones I might add."
"God, your right. Damn, your good. Remind me to drag you off every week and have you pick out some badass chairs for me." Lilac laughed at my statement.
"No. I think I'll be the one dragging you off every week for candle shopping. Damn, these are so my style. And these ones have the most beautiful fragrance ever." Lilac said, taking out a candle from her bag. I smiled.
"Just as long as you don't flirt with that phoneboy. God, he was trying to work. And your married!"
"We wives have to have something to do during the day. I mean husbands don't get off the computer themselves you know. You should see me at clubs. There's a lot more where that came from, dear."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Where the hell have you been all day!?" Roy practically yelled. I rolled my eyes.
"Since when have we truly been married?" Roy glared at me. "God, calm down. I was just socializing. You know with the neighbors who sorta matter in this situation."
"You could've told me. Or left a note."
"What would be the fun in that? A plus, it was three in the morning and I wasn't exactly up for grabs if you know what I mean."
"Where the hell did you go, anyway? By the looks of it you've been gone for most of the day."
"It's noon. I spent less than six hours at the mall total. And all that time was dedicated to digging info out of a certain slim Asian."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean that I got some pretty damn good information about the Calare family. Mostly information about their newly deceased son."
"So you're telling me that during a six hour window you were able to dig information out of an Asian by pretending to shop at the mall?"
"No. I actually did shop. A lot, actually. Kathryn was probably the most intense to shop with. She was not letting me leave the store unless I bough a whole bag full of lingerie."
"Good to know. Back to the information part..."
"Oh, yeah. Uh, Lilac, the Asian I was talking about, had sex with Kathryn's son."
"Wait. What?" Roy's eyes were huge and I sighed.
"I know. Talk about age difference. Jax had been going through some rough times, his father had just threatened him, his long-term girlfriend broke up with him, and the college that he wanted to get into denied his entrance. He was already on the brink of life when he came in contact with alcohol. He got drunk one night, left home and ended up at Lilac's house. At the time her husband was gone on a business trip in Nicaragua and she couldn't help but take advantage of him."
I stared at my cup of coffee blankly, not knowing what to think. The whole situation was a disaster. And I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel for Jax's end story.
"So let me get this straight. A thirty-nine year old woman, who's bored out of her mind and hasn't been sexually active for what? A month? Decides to take advantage of a drunk, depressed seventeen year old boy who's awkwardly her best friends' son?"
"Damn right."
"God. I'm really starting to think that this is one fucked up neighborhood."
"And I'm starting to believe that we're the only sane ones in a one mile radius."
"That's definitely a shocker seeing that we completely hate each other, but whenever we talk sex ends up being our main topic."
"Not my fault that you haven't had any in a while."
"God, sometimes I wish that I never came back to the god-damned team because of you."
"Why? Because you know that I can totally beat your ass in hand-to-hand combat?"
"No, because all you seem to be able to talk about is sex."
"Oh, hell no. You're the one that brings it up every damn time. I just sit back and relax and watch you try to change the subject."
"No, no, no. You were the one who just brought it up with your Lilac plus Jax inside a circle shit."
"Excuse me? That's true and personal information of Lilac's. She told me first hand. And a bunch of the other girls in their little gang confirmed it!"
"How do you know that it wasn't just all made up?"
"Because! I just do! Will you stop for God's sake!"
"Why should I?" I growled at Roy's smart ass question.
"I could punch you right now."
"Why don't you try?"
"Because if I do, I don't know if I could stop. And plus, we don't exactly need a bruise on your pretty little face or rumors going around saying that I'm an abusive spouse."
"You think my face is pretty?" Roy cocked his head and I rolled my eyes.
"Don't think so highly of yourself. It was only a figure of speech. And an exaggeration."
I had fallen asleep around three in the afternoon, precisely two hours after reading a book about court appeals. It was boring as hell, but I had learned a lot about what I was supposed to be acting as. I knew that I wasn't going to have my alias for very long, but I felt like it was good research for the future too. Learning about trials and courts and prison and jail. It...awkwardly fit into my life.
"Hey! Wake up!" Roy snapped me out of what I thought to be a sleeping phase and I jolted up, eyes wide, looking at Roy's smirking face. With the book in hand I hit Roy in the torso. It was a playful hit, not too hard, but not too soft, but I was pretty damn pissed at him for startling me in my moment of weakness.
"Scared much?" He asked, recovering slightly from the impact of the heavy book. I sighed.
"You wish." I said, slightly smiling. "What do you want?"
"Who says that I want something?"
"You yelled at me while I was sleeping. I'd say that that isn't exactly normal. Even for you."
"Fine. You're rapist friend called and said that she wanted to get together. Dinner tonight. You and me, her and her husband. Fancy restaurant. They're paying."
"Oh God..." I groaned as I laid back down on the couch. "What time?"
"Seven. You have about an hour to get dressed and do whatever the hell you do to get ready before we need to leave."
"Uh...I hate you..."
"Yeah, well I hate you too. And right now I feel more like a father than a fiancé, so get your ass up, dear."
"I swear I'm going to kill you someday."
"No you won't."
"Yes I will."
"No you won't."
"Yes I will."
"No, you won't because you know the consequences."
"Damn, when did you become an expert on the other side?"
"When I met the true you."
"Makes sense."
"Yeah, now get dressed, we have a dinner party to survive through."
"I hate this dress." That was the first thing I said when I met Roy in the car nearly an hour after he had woken me up from my peaceful rest. Roy's eyes scanned up and down, his eyes awkwardly tracing my body.
"You look good."
"Oh, is that a compliment I just heard? Oh my God..." I smiled and Roy rolled his eyes.
"How is it that every time I say something nice, you turn it into something else?"
"What do you mean? I was just shocked that you complimented me."
"I complimented your outfit."
"Yeah, right. Tell that to the judge."
"Please say that you aren't actually hiring a judge for this."
"Damn, you took my idea!" I laughed. "No, I didn't get a judge for this. I'm not that insane and I wouldn't exactly risk my life and career to beat you in a stupid word game."
"It's not a stupid word game, it's our relationship."
"What relationship?"
"Exactly."
"That makes no sense at all."
"When has anything made sense to you?"
"That's my line."
"Not now it isn't."
"God, I hate you."
"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."
"Well then scratch that. I don't hate you. I love you."
"What?"
"I love you Clayton. Let's get married tomorrow."
"God, you're pathetic."
"Um, excuse me, but I'm the one who broke the ice with the rapist. And surprisingly I feel comfortable with it..."
"That's because you two have a lot in common."
"Yeah because I totally raped a guy twenty-two years younger than me. By the way, if you didn't already notice, that's completely impossible."
"No, I mean that you're both complete bitches. From what I heard about that Asian chick and the way that she spoke to me on the phone, I could've sworn that she was trying to seduce me verbally."
"Hm. Interesting. Well, that gives me another reason to break up with you. If only we were married I could divorce you. There'd be so much more enjoyable drama in a divorce than in a break up."
"You just love attempting to torture me, don't you."
"Oh, I don't attempt. I do."
"So what do you do for a living, Clayton?" Antonio asked Roy right after we ordered.
"Uh, not much. I just own and manage my father's business. He passed away a few years ago, and I naturally took the reins."
"Oh, what business to you own?"
"Uh, I like to keep my information on the down low..."
"Oh, come on, you can tell us. You can trust us."
"Clayton's a little shy to admit it, but he actually just sold the business off before we moved. It was a fairly large business, but you wouldn't have heard of it. Underground Miami type business." I defended.
"Oh, that makes sense." Lilac commented.
"And you're a law student Lilac has said."
"Uh, yeah. Almost completed with my Masters."
"At twenty-two? Wow. Damn, you got one smart girl there on your hands Clayton." Antonio said, smiling brightly. Roy laughed.
"Yeah, well sometimes looks aren't everything, you know. I guess I'm just attracted to women who can beat me at a game of chess." I faked a smile at Roy's comment, but on the inside I seriously wanted to punch him. God. What a dick. If only these guys knew what he was really referring to.
The conversation stopped for a little bit as we ate and in nearly an hour we were finished with our meal and ready to leave the restaurant.
"Hey, uh, do you guys think you'll be free on Valentine's Day? I mean, I know you probably have some little plans in the morning or at night...but we're going to a horse derby in Kentucky and we just happen to have a few extra tickets. Kathryn's a little depressed to go and her son isn't exactly...here anymore, so would you like to go?"
I looked at Roy as he looked at me. Swallowing I glanced back at Lilac. "Uh, we'll just have to see. We haven't exactly written down our plans in stone for Valentine's Day, but we'll check our schedule."
And with that we said our goodbyes. Roy and I were more relieved than ever when we got into the car.
"There's no way in hell that we're going to that derby." Roy stated.
"Yes there is. We have to go."
"Sarah, you can't be serious. We have a job to do here."
"I know, but the Calare's aren't exactly going to be here in New York. They're going to the derby."
"Uh, Lilac just said that Kathryn's too upset to go and you know who isn't available."
"That's what she wants you to think. I hacked into her phone and found these text messages."
"You hacked into her phone? Who are you?"
"A bitch with a bad attitude and nothing to loose, but anyway, look at these messages, they aren't exactly normal."
"Holy shit. I can't wait to see you in Kentucky. Make sure to wear your best lace. What the hell is that supposed to mean."
"That means that Lilac's been a part of a strand of affairs and I think we just found out who the reigning queen is."
"Or reigning queens."
