Bree was startled when Danielle burst through the front door. She'd been tidying the living room, moving objects that to any other person would have seemed to be in a perfectly acceptable place.
"I'm going to the library!" Danielle shouted. All Bree saw was a brightly dressed blur run past her and up the stairs. When she returned, her hair was up in a pony tail and she'd changed her clothes. "Did I say library?" Danielle asked Bree. She'd lied by reflex, realizing after she said it that it was nowhere near believable. "I meant shopping."
Bree shook her head, puzzled.
"Danielle, do I need to take you to a psychiatrist? You're showing signs of manic-depression."
"Motherrr, shopping is the only true therapy. Can I have some money?"
Bree gave Danielle a look, but she still felt bad for their dinner fight.
"Yes, Danielle. How much do you need?"
"A hundred?"
Bree gave Danielle another, more meaningful look.
"Okay, jeez! Forty?"
"Fine. Let me get my purse."
"Don't worry, I already took it! Thank you soooo much!"
Danielle gave Bree a kiss on her cheek and bolted from the house.
"And they say I need pills." Bree muttered.
The phone rang then, and Bree was happy for the distraction.
"Van de Kamp residence." Bree sang.
"Hello, gorgeous."
"Orson!" said Bree, going all fuzzy inside. She hadn't spent more than 4 hours awake without him but it felt like an eternity had passed. "Where did you go this morning? I thought you didn't have to work until eleven?"
"I got called in early. You'd be surprised how many people wait until Saturday to take care of their tooth emergencies. Did you get my note?"
"Yes, it was lovely. It was the next best thing to waking up next to you."
"Next time I'll tell them to call someone else, because you don't deserve the next best thing."
"You know," said Bree. "For a second there I thought I'd scared you off..."
"How so?"
"The things we did...the things we said...?"
"Have been on my mind all day." Orson finished. "Bree, leaving you alone in that bed this morning was the hardest thing I've ever done."
Bree smiled, in spite of Orson's obvious exaggeration.
"So...what are you wearing?" Orson asked.
Bree looked down at herself; it was an average outfit.
"Oh, just a cardigan and a tweed skirt. The usual."
Orson chuckled, wondering if Bree had understood the way he really meant it.
"And," he said. "If I were to tear those clothes off, what would I see?"
Bree could have smacked herself in the head for missing the subtext. She bit her lip, feeling pleasantly bothered, and tried to play along. She lowered her voice and made sure Orson could hear her raised eyebrow even though he couldn't see it.
"Why don't you come over and see for yourself?"
"I'll be there in ten minutes." Orson said abruptly, and Bree heard the click as he hung up his end of the line. Bree looked at her phone, a smile slowly spreading across her face. She couldn't believe he would leave work in the middle of the day just to see her. As the minutes passed, her anticipation grew. If she hadn't been craving his touch before, she could barely contain herself now. The only thing keeping her clothes on was the knowledge that Orson would be ripping them off of her himself. Bree's heart started to beat a little faster. Should I wait here, in the living room, or should I put on something sexy and pose on the bed? After fretting for a while in her foyer, Bree decided she should at least make sure the bedroom was as tidy as she'd made living room.
Bree was on the first stair when she heard the door open behind her. She spun around and saw Orson in the doorway, looking at her like a ravenous animal.
"Hi." she said, almost giggling with excitement. Orson took a step toward her and she instinctively took a step back. Oh god he could pounce at any moment... Bree continued to climb the stairs backwards, steadying herself with a hand on the banister. Orson was smiling at her the way he had last night, and she felt like she was on fire again.
He took two more steps toward the stairs.
"Orson..." Bree warned him playfully. "Try to be gentle..."
He bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Bree squealed, turning and running away from him. On the landing she spun back around suddenly and surprised him with a kiss. Orson wrapped his arms around her and squeezed until she could scarcely breathe. His hands were all over her, and she thought for a moment he really was going to tear her clothes off.
Bree flashed back to their near-tryst in the coat closet. Every time felt like that time, like the first time he'd ever touched her this way. She was a different person when he took her like this. Or am I just becoming more like myself? she wondered. Oh just shut up and enjoy being used!
They were still on the landing. Without breaking their kiss Bree moved a foot toward the next step, trying to pull Orson up with her. She felt him budge, but they didn't get very far before Bree stumbled, falling right on her ass.
Orson caught himself on his hands so that he wouldn't crush her. Bree laughed, embarassed, but Orson didn't show any signs of slowing down. He'd gone straight for the spot on her neck that drove her crazy.
"Mmm," Bree whined. "Help me up!"
"We made it upstairs, didn't we?" countered Orson. Technically, they were on the second floor. Only Bree seemed to mind that they were literally on the floor. All it took to distract her was one irresistible phrase whispered in her ear.
"I need you..." said Orson, his way of asking her permission. "Now."
Without another word, Bree let Orson hike her skirt up. She couldn't even feel the floor digging into her back anymore, or the itchy scratch of the carpet on the exposed parts of her body. She wanted him so badly she could almost feel him inside of her already. She whimpered as he ran his hand up her thigh; her underwear wasn't going to be pulled down, merely pulled to the side, but even in his rush he wanted to make sure she was ready for him.
"Yes..." Bree said breathlessly, nodding as he touched her. Permission granted.
Danielle posed in front of the mirror in a dressing room.
Forty dollars? she scoffed, admiring the $200 price tag as much as the fit of the pair of jeans she was trying on at the moment. Good thing I took Mom's credit card too! Danielle chuckled, and sat down on the velvety padded bench the store provided. She took out her cell, scrolling down her list of contacts until she got to the D's. Danni, Darla, Deb...so many frenemies that never called her, and that she would never call herself. She got to Dylan's name, and pressed send.
Dylan heard her phone ringing in her purse. The manicurist was just finishing the pinky nail on her right hand, and she reached in with her untouched left hand to see who was calling.
"It's Danielle." Dylan said, a little puzzled.
"That's random." said Julie.
"Not really..." Dylan said, not sure if she should tell Julie about Danielle's visit. It was a simple story, but Dylan was having such a good time with Julie and she didn't want to ruin it. "She came to my house this morning. She said she needed mascara, but then she left and said I didn't have the kind she liked."
Julie rolled her eyes. "Typical Danielle, trying to mooch and then telling you your stuff isn't good enough."
Meanwhile, the phone kept ringing.
"Pick up, stupid!" said Danielle.
Someone knocked on the dressing room door, an employee asking if it was occupied.
"Yes, someone is in here!" Danielle shouted back. "Now leave me alone or I'll boycott this stupid store!"
"I won't answer it." Dylan said, trying to silence the ringer left-handed.
"No, go ahead." said Julie. She hadn't meant for Dylan to feel bad about talking to Danielle. "I'd love to know what she wants now."
Dylan put her thumb on the button to answer the call, feeling foolish. Go on. It's not like you're interrupting a date.
"Hey Danielle, what's up?"
Danielle smiled to herself, smoothing the wrinkled peice of paper on her lap.
"Hi, Dylan. I need to talk to you about something. I need to get something off my chest."
"Um....okay...." said Dylan. Julie looked at her quizzically.
Danielle cleared her throat. "Well..." she said, and began to read Dylan's note to her. "I've always considered you one of my best friends. Ever since we were little, you have been nothing but nice to me and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you."
What is she talking about? thought Dylan. She didn't know me when we were little...
"I do remember playing teddy bears with you..." Danielle continued, making her voice dramatically lovey-dovey. "It was one of the many things you did to make my life bearable when my parents were fighting."
Dylan's blood ran cold as she realized what was happening. Danielle had found her note, and now she knew her secret. She could even hear the sound of the paper crinkling in Danielle's evil little hands.
"And I will never forget what you did for me the night before we came home....Dylan? Are you there?"
"Yes." Dylan said. Danielle could hear the seething anger in just the one word.
"Oh no, am I interrupting your date with Julie?" Danielle snickered. "I'll let you go...for now. Maybe I can read you the rest later. Have a nice day, Dyl-pickle!"
Dylan pulled the phone away from her ear, not quite believing what had just happened.
"Dylan? What's wrong?" Julie asked. Dylan was staring at the phone like she'd heard a ghost on the line.
"Nothing." Dylan said, though her cheeks burned red.
Is she angry? Embarassed? Scared? wondered Julie.
"Hey," Julie said aloud. "Whatever she said, it's bullshit right? Don't worry about it."
Dylan needed to cry, but if she did, how would she be able to explain what was wrong to Julie?
"Yeah, total B.S." Dylan agreed, her voice a ghostly whisper from the lump in her throat.
Danielle closed her phone, feeling quite pleased with herself. She stood up and took another look at her ass in the mirror.
"I'll take them!" She chirped, and ripped the price tag off. She stuffed her old jeans into her oversized purse. "I guess I won't need that credit card after all."