Chapter Twenty-Two

First there was the aromatherapy mineral bath. Then there was the holistic massage, followed by the hydrating anti-stress facial. In between there was a delicate repast of varied vegetarian tidbits served in a gleaming lacquered bento box and a dainty porcelain cup of steaming jasmine tea. The grand finale was an exfoliating pedicure that nearly made Kendall purr.

All the treatments she'd indulged in had left her face and body somehow both stimulated yet relaxed, and her skin glowing. They'd even managed to calm her churning mind for a brief time, and Kendall appreciated the respite. Unfortunately, though, despite the rejuvenating treatments, she couldn't wholly forget where she was…or why, and as soon as she returned to her dressing room where her own clothing hung on the wicker clothes tree, she was only too reminded of the reason.

Once removed from the thick white terry robe and slippers with the Seasons logo embroidered on them—which Frieda Swenson had graciously informed her were hers to keep—and into her own casual clothes, Kendall knew she would shift right back to the real world where she still needed to figure out what the hell to do about Miranda, Greenlee, Ryan, and J.R., while at the same time agonizing over the fates of Bianca, Erica, and Jack, mourning Ethan,…and trying to fathom Zach.

But first…whoa…I need a napAnd her private spa dressing room was almost the size of a small bedroom; in addition to containing an individual lavatory cubicle, its décor included a miniature wicker secretary's desk and chair that matched the clothing tree and, more invitingly, a deeply upholstered bright floral chaise longue which Kendall looked at with longing.But the one thing there wasn't was a clock. Nor was there a phone. No doubt by design.

Kendall padded out in search of Frieda or someone to help her track down Zach and find out when he planned to leave, because presumably he did remember she was still in the day spa and hadn't left without her. But Frieda was busy conducting another client to a treatment room, so Kendall wandered away from the spa entrance and into the larger foyer from which the other health and relaxation areas of the casino—the sunken swimming pool and the gym—extended, looking for a house phone.

All of the outer walls were glass, permitting viewing of a section of the gym, and of the pool. Feeling pity for anyone taking a beating in the gym, when he or she could have been spectacularly pampered instead as she had just so thoroughly been in the spa, Kendall went over to witness their masochism and gloat. And there she spotted the man she was looking for: Zach, aggressively alternating jabs at a long-suffering punching bag that had clearly never done anything to him. The single-minded way he was going about it made Kendall shiver. Better it than me!

There didn't appear to be anything personal animating Zach's punches, though. From what she could see of it, the expression on his face, which was visible mostly in profile, reflected extreme concentration only, not bad temper. The longer Kendall watched him, the more vicariously swept up she became in the flow of his motions. As he danced from foot to foot before the punching bag Zach did have quite a rhythmic as well as a violent form of negative energy release going on.

In any event he made an effective advertisement for the benefits of his own casino. My god, I didn't realize what a perfect specimen he is, she thought approvingly. Even his worst enemy would have to grant him that. The near perfection of Zach's physique was rather evident under anything he wore; it was even more evident now it was on such athletic display. Admiring both the grace of his athletic prowess and the muscles glistening from his exertions, Kendall was actually disappointed when he slowed down at last and came to a stop.

Leaning down and seizing a towel from a nearby bench, he draped the towel around his neck and looked up—and right at her. In her current state, the unexpected effect of that look on her made Kendall feel almost weak. This pumped, magnificent male animal was the guy she'd recently attacked with her bare hands? Whoa. How truly fortunate she'd been that he hadn't taken the opportunity to snap her neck between his two bare hands.

The surprise registering on Zach's face when he realized she'd been watching him seemed to indicate he'd been unaware of her scrutiny but, unnervingly for Kendall, she possessed enough awareness of him for the two of them. She certainly seemed almost pathetically destined to be caught ogling him, too…trying to save face, she tapped lightly on the glass wall and gave him a little wave, as if she'd been trying to attract his attention all along.

Taking his time as he wound his way along the path through other equipment between himself and the gym entrance, Zach finally made his way to where she stood. Dispensing with preliminaries he asked, "Was the coddling process a success?"

"Are you kidding? I mean—I could move into and live full-time at your spa, Zach.," Kendall said sincerely, trying to keep her gaze above his chest.

"Yeah?" Her compliment seemed to momentarily please him. "You can stay as long as you want."

Seeing a chance for a plug in return for her own business, Kendall added, "The only thing that could make it any better would be if you used some Fusion products. Otherwise it's everything you said it was."

"Fusion? Sounds like a good idea. I'll put Frieda on it. Did you get something to eat over there too?"

She nodded. "I had a wonderful lunch. Vegetable sushi and herbal tea. Absolutely delicious."

"That's not even an appetizer. It's not even food," Zach snorted.

"Hey, don't look at me! It's your casino and that's what they serve."

"Oh. Then don't quote me."

"Okay, that remark will be edited from the reprint of the brochure."

It suddenly seemed to occur to Zach that they had begun to engage in what could be considered banter. "I meant it if you want to stay longer at the spa. I'm going up to my private suite to grab a shower. Kendall?"

"Um…actually? I'm kind of spahhed out. I think maybe I've actually reached my coddling limit for now. If I get too used to it it'll be dangerous."

"Suit yourself. Listen, I haven't eaten, and more to the point I haven't finished up in the office yet. If you don't want to wait around, someone will drive you home."

Zach's abrupt disengagement felt like a deliberate slap in the face after an unexpected caress which Kendall regretted allowing. "Hey, Zach…what's with the early dismissal notice?"

"I have loose ends to tie up," he said curtly.

"So…pat little Kendall on the head, give her a nice treat, and then send her toddling along when she gets in the way, is that it?"

"Don't take it personally."

"Kind of like that punching bag you were working over in there shouldn't take it personally?"

Gazing off into the distance, Zach returned his gaze to her in a maddeningly unreadable way, replying soberly, "No. I don't choose to inflict myself on you."

"You don't?" she asked in feigned disbelief. "Since when? You've been inflicting yourself on me and everybody else from the first day we met, Zach. What's stopping you now?"

Almost in spite of himself it seemed, Zach snorted again, very briefly. "Jesus Christ. I have never met anyone as argumentative and confrontational as you."

"Think again, Zach. You've met Erica, haven't you?" A stricken look contorted Kendall's face as soon as she realized what she'd said. The carelessly dropped reference to her missing mother ricocheted from Kendall to Zach and then back to Kendall again while she tried her best to recompose herself. "Never mind."

"Kendall…." Zach was atypically tentative. "You know what, that was a compliment. Your mother is too damn pig-headed not to survive. Neither one of you will ever take no for an answer."

"Gee, thanks, Zach—I think—but I haven't even asked you a question first!" she pointed out. "I simply objected to your dismissing me like—wait, are you just walking away while I'm trying to talk to you?"

For that was exactly what Zach had done. While Kendall was talking, he simply turned and headed for the elevator lobby across the foyer. At her challenging him on it, he came to a quick halt and called back to her, "I told you I had things to do. Hurry up then."

"You son of a bitch," Kendall muttered, stomping over to him. "Fuck you and the overpriced SUV you rode in on. Why am I even doing this?" She was too annoyed to remember she was still dressed for the spa, until she stepped into the elevator behind Zach and faced herself in its mirrored back wall. There she received such an unattractive glimpse of her unmade-up, scrubbed face, floating palely between the terrycloth turban wrapped around her hair—from which wild tendrils were escaping—and the matching voluminous spa robe that she nearly shrieked in alarm.

This letting Zach see her at her absolute worst and most vulnerable was getting to be a habit she needed to break. Especially when it always seemed to happen when they were in close quarters and it was impossible to overlook that he was more than half-naked himself. But this was getting ridiculous.

"Stand back, Kendall."

"Huh?"

"You're in the way." Zach's arm snaked past her. His hand held a keycard which he inserted into a slot on the elevator control panel.

"So what happens now, Zach? Does that turn the elevator into own private dungeon?"

Cocking his head slightly, he replied, "'That' turns this elevator into an express. Shoots us nonstop to my suite."

"I'd like to shoot you," she continued to grumble. "You didn't even give me a chance to get dressed before you abducted me again!"

"See how irresistible you are?"

Knowing she was anything but, Kendall muttered more invective against him.

She wasn't the only one calling Zach names.

I'm a goddamned fool. It was the first truly cognizant thought Zach had not filtered out to some extent since leaving his office earlier and attempting to elude his despair through the mindless routine of demanding physical exercise. A complete, utter, stupid, hopeless fool.

But…as always with him these days…when two choices were before him, he seemed unable to avoid the one guaranteed to make any matter worse, because now instead of shaking her off his tail with his long-practiced ease, he actually intended to admit Kendall to his private suite. Was anything he could inflict on her even remotely equal to subjecting himself to an encore performance of her complaints and jibes, more of her endless need for attention…god, it was so fucking annoying…. If it's that annoying, why didn't you leave her downstairs?

The elevator doors slid back to reveal immediate access to Zach's suite. Decorated tastefully in contemporary style furnishings in neutral earth tone fabrics and woods, with the occasional accent of a deeper color such as gold, terra cotta, and burgundy, the space was slightly less impersonal than his condo, but not much less so than one of the guestrooms in the casino hotel.

"Home sweet home," Zach said briefly, waiting for her to glance around.

The suite consisted of a spacious rectangular room divided into two distinct areas. One was a living/dining area with a kitchen alcove; the other was a sleeping with a bathing/dressing alcove. A modern light wood wall unit stretching along the long wall opposite the entry tied the two areas together. Among other things, including several ojects d'art, southwestern in appearance, the wall unit held a large stereo system, but closed doors above and below it hid from view whatever CD's or albums Zach may have used it to listen to, and also concealed whatever books he may have stored there—if he did. The only window seemed to be in the kitchen alcove, a small one that looked out on the mostly treed countryside surrounding the casino.

The other most notable thing, Kendall supposed as she took it all in, was a small fireplace, with a flat-screen television installed above it, along one of the short walls, opposite the king-side bed whose head was against the opposite short wall. No, it wasn't a particularly personal space, but it was clearly a private one; with more the air of being a personal fortress than a public salon.

"Much more conservative than I expected," Kendall said with a breeziness she was far from feeling. "I'm really kind of disappointed in you, Zach. No red velvet-covered heart-shaped bed, no bunny-tailed serving wenches…."

She thought she heard him choke off a guffaw. "No, but the weapons of mass destruction are in the tool shed out back."

"Locked or unlocked?"

"Locked while I take a shower."

"That's too bad. I guess I'll just have to twiddle my thumbs in the meantime."

She wondered again what kind of crazy impulse had made her insist on sticking to Zach to this degree. Instead of working on a plan to deal with Greenlee's arbitrary confiscation of Miranda, or camping out by Derek Frye's desk around the clock, or even lying in her own bed sobbing her heart out over Ethan—her life had somehow suddenly become just as hijacked by Zach as Miranda's had by Greenlee. Only she, unlike Miranda with Greenlee, was completely free to walk away from Zach any time she chose…he kept giving her that option, didn't he? He just didn't make it very easy for her to take.

"There's the phone. The various lines are numbered. Call down to my chef for some dinner, will you? Have her send up anything except vegetable sushi. Then make yourself at home. Retrieve your clothes—or have them delivered." Zach handed her the elevator keycard. "Your choice."

What was it he had just said to her? That she never took no for an answer. Well…neither did Zach. But he was far more subtle than Kendall about how he achieved the results he was after. More subtle, and more dangerous. There was no doubt a weapon of mass destruction already right there in the room.