Ten
"You, dear brother, are a fucking pussy."
"Such language from an educated young woman of your standing!" I scold.
"Oh, eat me."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Amanda rolls her eyes and pushes me away, oblivious to the ogling stares of the passers by as we lounged outside a quaint little café on the streets of Paris.
"Must you constantly do that?"
I feel her eyes on me as I light my cigarette, "Do what?"
She runs her fingertips along the silk white headband on her dark haired head, smirking at me. "Put up this adorable act of a guy trying to act all indifferent. We both know you're not, Sebastian. What's the point in trying to hide the fact that you're a goddamn wreck?"
I take a long, thoughtful drag as I inwardly curse her intellect. Why can't I find joy in the company of vapid women?
"Amanda, is this your way of telling me that you're obsessed about me? Or is it because you've decided to pursue a career in peer counseling? I must admit that right now, it isn't working."
Her beautifully structured face twists into a scowl as a hand picks up the cup of tea she ordered from the waiter who kept complimenting her earlier.
"You're so full of yourself, aren't you? Arrogant bastard."
"I do cherish these terms of endearment you use."
"Stop being so sarcastic!" She snaps, narrowing her blue eyes and glaring at the bald, obviously old man who paused to leer at her. "We have been here for nearly a month now, and you've turned into this coward who lives in a constant state of denial. Look at how you've disappointed me, Sebastian. I was under the impression that you were the kind of man who never ran away from his problems and yet here you are."
This time, it is me who scowls. "And you'd know this how, exactly? Maybe it's not denial. Maybe it's called moving on."
"Please," she scoffs in derision. "Don't treat me like one of your idiotic whores."
"I wouldn't dream of it,"
I take another puff from my cigarette.
"Besides, your breasts aren't big enough." I add as an afterthought, chuckling when I feel her palm slap against my arm as she retaliates.
She doesn't buy my sardonic attempt at steering the conversation from the topic of a strikingly gorgeous and particularly cruel brunette. It's one of the things I sometimes dislike about Amanda: she seems to know too much about me.
"How long do you think it'll take?" she asks quietly, glancing at her wristwatch while one leg rises to place itself on the other one. I see a man seated nearby glance at the pale, long legs that peeked from under her skirt while she moves. She sees it too and merely gives the man a closed mouth smile. Her beauty always attracts attention. She loves it that way. I know what she's referring to but I play dumb. After having just started my classes, I had been trying to keep myself busy in an attempt to fit into this new life.
Maybe to forget Kathryn as well, because expecting mercy from her is like expecting Satan to cry.
What? You were expecting some sort of melodramatic moment after our last encounter? That's what happens in the movies, right?
Well, we're an entirely different case.
I check my watch as well, mentally reminding myself of the paper I had yet to write for school. As my eyes travel to her face, I realize she's giving the man who had been watching her the same flirtatious, mischievous look she gives me (only with me, there is an obvious underlying affection because of our understanding).
"I have a date." I clear my throat, my eyes twinkling in amusement while she proceeds to give him another coy smile. He is done for. I know that look.
Women of power often have this gleam in their eyes, if you could see Kathryn—
Yes, yes, I know I'm supposed to be moving on but can I help it if Amanda and Kathryn belong in the same category? Perhaps it's why I'm quite fond of my stepsister. Perhaps I'm attracted to women of power, women who present the impression that no matter how many layers you peel off them, there will always be more to find.
Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. If you could see Kathryn, the way she moved and spoke, you would see what I'm talking about. These women, (particularly these two dark haired beautiful women I dote upon) can crush you with a single look, ruin your life with a few strategically placed words, break your heart even before the realization hits you that you had even surrendered it to them willingly, they can make you do things you would normally never do, and will make you give everything you have for them without allowing you to take from them.
As I've mentioned, they never give you anything. They can be selfish, and more often than not, they are.
Since they know of their advantages, they feel as though they are entitled to everything they want and nobody should ever have to stop them from doing so. They fight their own little wars everyday: perfection, wealth, and just something more. Because of this, they find stability in solitude. No enemies to stab you in the back if you don't let them in, right?
But sometimes there are exceptions. And they do give you their trust. They do allow you in. They allow you to stay the night in bed, they allow you to claim them as yours when in fact they would never even conceive of agreeing to such a thing in the past, they allow you to kiss them and touch them and know their secrets.
They give you their trust.
"You have to swear that this stays here, okay? You can't tell anybody else, this would ruin me."
"I do, but you have to stop this. It's not right. You can't just make yourself sick all the time."
She stared at me before she sighed.
"I'll try."
They prove the fact that they're human.
"Hey,"
"Yes?"
"How long do you have to be there?"
"Why?"
A long pause.
"Kathryn?"
"Maybe I missed you." She said coyly.
"Do you, really? How unlikely for you to be so affectionate, Kathryn. Have you been snorting something recently?"
"Oh, fuck you. Fine. I'm hanging up."
"Wait! Don't, God you can be such a brat."
"You can be such an asshole." She huffed, "See if I ever let you fuck me again."
"As if you could ever resist me," I smirked, leaning against my car as I watched Annette walk to her apartment. I paused to give her a half hearted wave as she turned and smiled at me. "Where are you now?"
"With Court…"
"What!"
"…(muffled moan) Oh yes right there…"
"Dammit, Kathryn!"
She gasped. "A little to the left… Ah…"
"Okay, this is not fucking funny anymore."
She started moaning.
"Fine! I'm on my way back! Happy?"
The sexual sounds abruptly stopped, and I could hear her laughing.
I smiled. I could never stay mad at her.
"Good boy." She purred."Now hurry up."
"You're so demanding."
"Yet you love me for all my qualities."
"True." I opened the door of my car and got in. "Now tell the truth, sis. Could it be possible that my absence has affected you so?"
She laughed. It was a wonderful sound.
"If you can get here in ten minutes, I might consider giving an honest answer."
And if you're lucky (or brave or stupid or actually it depends on how you put it), they really let you in.
"I love you."
But you see, these women, my perfect nearly untouchable women, the price you pay is high for their trust. There is an even higher price for their love and loyalty. They take so much from you but when you have all three of those, the return is unlike anything you have ever experienced. They will make you feel so alive and real you will feel like if things don't work out, everything and everyone else will pale in comparison. Should you break any of these priceless winnings, I can assure you that based on experience, they will make you feel exactly what they have felt only of course a thousand times worse.
"A date?" Her blue eyes widen and then narrow into suspicious slits that oddly mirrored Kathryn's while she spots Nadia walking toward us. Tall, tanned skin, full and very soft breasts, a body structure that could rival Amanda's, and a face that would have been angelic if I hadn't had that same face on my crotch just yesterday. She was the perfect antithesis to my ex girlfriend.
"How sweet," her voice drips with venom. If I didn't know any better I'd swear she is on Kathryn's side. "Your very own walking beanpole. So which is she? Airhead model or naïve twit?"
"Airhead model."
She sighs, resembling an indulging mother to her erring child. Her eyes glance at her wristwatch again.
"To save us both time," she begins, glaring at Nadia again before turning to look at me. "I can tell you now what will happen in the next succeeding hours or even minutes… You will introduce us, I will be my usual polite self all the while detesting her even though she will appear to be nice. Then I will leave and go back to my hotel to meet with a few friends. You will exchange insinuations and flirt with each other, more her than you of course, and then you're going to take her back to your place and fuck her over and over again. Hard. Like you're trying to break her in two. Or like you're placing a different face on her. She'll love it, being the whore that she probably is. And then she'll fall asleep. Not in your arms. You'll never allow that. You will stand up, walk over to your window and light a cigarette. You'll be restless. You'll read a book. Write in your new journal. It won't go away, will it? Then and only then, my darling stepbrother, will you realize that I am correct."
"How presumptuous." I retort, "Do you think so weak of me?"
She doesn't listen, "I'm correct and you know it. You know, if I didn't hold such high regard for you, I would have allowed you to get fucked over like this. Now, as I was saying… You will realize that I am correct. You'll smoke a few more, stare out the window, back at what's-her-face, and then remember what I'm saying to you now. It's a stain that never really goes away, does it? You'll feel suffocated and finally," She winks, picking up her purse just as Nadia is a few feet away from us. "Finally, Sebastian, you will come up to my room. From there, I will proceed to tell you the very thing I have been trying to smack in your head for a while now. Whatever happens, whatever the outcome is and whether or not Kathryn decides to forgive you, it's not something you can just stop thinking about. You have to end it. Lay it all out, Valmont. Don't you think it's time you stopped trying to run?"
I hate the words that come out of my mouth next.
"It's not going to be easy."
"I never said it was."
"You don't know her like I do." I say quietly, "I've seen her at her element when she undertakes her revenge, Amanda. What she's capable of is so much more as compared to what she put me through last time. I don't care if it sounds cowardly, but I'm just tired of all of it, okay? I'm done with this game Kathryn and I have, we always pursue each other and it just never ends."
"Yet you're going to go, aren't you? Because a very small part of you thinks you can get through all that hate."
"I won't go. We had our chance. I fucked it up. She doesn't forgive anybody. It's something I've accepted a long time ago."
"You once said she told you she could never stay mad at you."
I stare at her, "Let's see, shall we? I fall in love with her and then proceed to think that she killed my girlfriend. I save her and make her think that nothing's going to change even after what happened to Annette, I sleep with her and assure her the same thing over and over again. The next day she wakes up and finds me gone. For more than a year. She goes to Monte Carlo and tries to get me back, and then I hit her, call her a murderer and a liar, only to realize that it wasn't her fault after all. I don't think that statement applies anymore, Amanda."
"I do look forward to the moment you show up at my hotel room, looking annoyed that I was right." She looks beautiful with her knowing smile and her little plaid skirt as she pinches my cheek teasingly. Her eyebrows furrow and a mocking low chuckle escapes her lips. "You're lucky to be so adorable, Sebastian." She smiled sweetly, "If I didn't respect you and Kathryn I would've grabbed you for myself. Now remember, I might have a guest in my room tonight so at least be polite and knock even though I've given you a key."
I shrug off her words and stand up, giving her a brotherly kiss on the cheek before introducing her to Nadia. She remains true to her word and graciously leaves us with a single shrewd look.
These women of power and their self assured looks. It annoys me, really. It's not like they're right all the time.
-0-0-0-
Five hours later—
I knock on her door, slightly sweaty and frustrated.
It opens. She stands there looking smug.
How I hate her.
She holds up a plane ticket with a pretty little half smile on her face.
"I should have punished you by making sure you weren't able to fly first class, but I decided against it. What can I say? I have a soft spot for you, darling brother."
I stare at her incredulously.
She wraps her arms around me and I hold her tight.
"Whatever happens." She whispers in my ear. "End this."
I nod. It feels nice to have Amanda around.
As she slowly lets me go, I feel her soft lips plant a kiss on my mouth. She's not seducing me. It's different this time.
"Annette's dead but you deserve to live, okay baby?" she finishes patiently, taking another look at my packed bags and grinning faintly to herself before she shuts the door.
A/N: As promised! Hope you liked this one! Also a shoutout to my friend oneamsoundstage! I actually deleted An Unlikely Story years ago, but she ended up saving it. She is the one responsible for its existence now, she sent me the files and I've been reediting to fix the format ever since.