Chapter Nine: The Visitation
Hestia's eyes blinked open slowly as the sound of birds cried out through the room around her. She rubbed her eyes gently as she sat up, her eyes slowly coming into focus as she looked at the sheets around her. She had almost forgotten where she had spent her night, and she looked around for her date only to be met with running water behind one of the closed doors in the room. She tip toed towards the bathroom and found Victor standing under the source of the running water. Steam had filled the room, and it seemed as if he had just gotten in not too long ago.
Her arms had covered her exposed breasts as she made her way to the shower, and she slowly opened the sliding glass door and stepped in. She closed it carefully and stepped closer to him and to the warm water. The walk to the bathroom had been freezing, and she wanted to become warm again. "Victor?" She spoke carefully, and he was soon facing her. "May I join you?"
A slight chuckle came from his throat. "You're already in here, aren't you?" He reached out and pulled her closer, the water trickling over her body leaving trails of magma along her frozen skin. He placed a careful kiss upon her forehead and allowed his eyes to look down into hers. They were bright this morning, and she looked well rested compared to their last few meetings. She smiled up at him, and he took in this new sense of vulnerability from her. He ran a hand down her back before reaching for a bottle of soap nearby. He began to wash her carefully, and she stood with her hands cradled over her stomach. This was a new sensation for her as he carefully lathered her up to wash away last night's activities.
After she had been properly cleaned, she took her turn to wash him. The two were silent as their careful touches spoke for them. He was meticulous even in this as it seemed as if he made sure to touch every inch of her. It soon turned into the passionate touches from last night, and Hestia was soon pressed against the wall with his hands on her hips again as he moved in and out of her again. As they were in the middle of recreating last night's activities they were both startled as Zsasz's ring tone echoed off the walls of the bathroom. He groaned angrily before picking up his pace. The ring tone soon subsided, and he stopped only to turn her around. A hand rested against her neck as he pulled her closer to kiss her turned face. Her breasts pressed against the cold tile wall, and she writhed against him as he became more possessive of her.
Another interruption of his phone prompted him to finish soon, and he held her to let her shaking legs steady themselves after they had finished. They cleansed themselves off and he turned off the water to quickly grab a towel. He dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist. He removed a towel from a cabinet for her, and once he was sure she was out of the shower safely he took the phone off the bathroom counter, his jawline tight from annoyance before he dialed a number and stepped out into his bedroom. She listened as his voice rolled in the room next to her, but she continued to dry herself quickly in case he had to leave. He entered the bathroom to brush his teeth, and he stared back at her through the mirror. She moved out into his room and soon returned with a toothbrush from her clutch.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly after noticing this before he spit the paste from his mouth. He followed with mouth wash, and she began to brush her teeth as well. "I have business to attend to. I can either take you home before I go take care of it, or you can spend a few hours here to rest and I can return for you later."
She brushed slowly as she considered the two alternatives. She spit the paste from her mouth and also followed with some mouthwash. He watched her, and she could see the impatience tightening his jaw. "I think I should get back to the clinic, just in case."
She rinsed her toothbrush and followed him out into his bedroom. She moved to put on her dress again, but he stopped her. He walked to his dresser and removed a pair of pajama pants and a regular shirt. He handed them to her, and she slowly slipped them on. The shirt was more like a dress on her due to their height difference and the pants were a little long for her. She tied the strings from the pants to keep them from falling off, and she sat at the edge of his bed as he dressed. He had a routine for preparing for work, and her eyes tried to take in every detail from the way he buttoned his shirt to the way he straightened his cuffs. As he neared the end of his dressing routine, she decided to gather her belongings. She carefully laid out her dress and placed her shoes neatly nearby. She pulled a comb from her clutch and tried to tame her locks as best she could without her brush.
She tucked her underwear into the pocket of the pajama pants and stood to collect her belongings in her arms. He was silent as she followed him through the house back out to the garage. She placed her items into the backseat and then climbed into the cool leather of the front seat, and she brought her legs up to her chest before resting her head against the window. He was quick to back out of his garage and they were soon headed back towards the city. The woods around his house looked expansive, and she caught the tail end of a deer as it hid from the rest of their world. She began to wonder what he did for the mob exactly, but once she remembered the tallies over parts of his body, she knew exactly in her heart what he was.
Surprising herself, she simply shrugged it off. Of course she was bothered by it, but what did she expect when she began to get tangled up in this lifestyle? Victor had turned on the radio to a classical station, and she started thinking of her family. The song echoed into her mind, and she recalled her mother squeezing lemons for summer lemonade. She had always taken such care not to get seeds in the beverage, and it was always the perfect consistency of sweet and sour. The butterflies from their garden flew past her memory banks, leaving trails of hypnotizing colors, and soon Hestia was off remembering summer days.
"Hestia." Victor's voice was abrupt and sharp. The colors from her mind disappeared and she looked around. "I am going to be late if you don't get out."
She leaned over to him and kissed his cheek before recovering her items from the backseat. "I'll see you soon then. Have a good day." As she went to close her door she stopped to face him again. "Be safe in your business."
He didn't acknowledge this as she closed the door. How long had she been staring out of the window like an idiot? What if he had tried to speak to her all that time…? Her chest deflated in a sharp sigh and she entered into her home. She decided to quickly get dressed and she folded Victor's pajamas carefully and left them at the foot of her bed. Today was definitely going to be a simple pony tail kind of day. She dressed in some casual business clothes and decided that she would wash Victor's clothes later on, but first she needed to take the dress to the drycleaners. As she made her way down the street, she kept letting her time with Victor flood through her mind. What if she had made a mistake? She took a glance at her phone. No text, no call. She shrugged, maybe he would wait a day or so before contacting her.
"You're being so stupid." She muttered aloud to herself. She was probably getting all worked up for nothing. She was an adult, and he was an adult, and they did adult things. He never gave her promises of being inclusive with her, and he probably had other "coworkers" to keep himself busy with. She decided that she would just enjoy the time that they had last night, and the feelings it gave her. She opened the door of the drycleaners with a small smile on her face. "I need this dry cleaned pleased But you must be careful, I borrowed it from a friend. She would kill me if anything happened to it."
The man behind the counter assured that it would be taken care of and that he would call her once it was completed. They parted with a casual goodbye and she was back off towards work. She enjoyed the energy she had today, and so she took a slightly longer path. She stopped to pick up a newspaper and some coffee, and she glanced over the headline. The Waynes were murdered? She recalled them vaguely. Her parents had been to a few of their fundraisers, and they would gush over how they were friends with the couple. However, she knew deep down that her parents' invitations were more than likely out of politeness.
Still, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for their murder. She didn't understand why, but it seemed so strange to her. She continued her walk up to her clinic, and paused to give some change to a gentleman playing trumpet across the street from her facilities. He gave her a nod as he continued blaring out a melody to anyone that would listen. As she entered the waiting room, she noticed how full it was and decided to check for any messages that she might have received while she was away. There was only one from an old patient of hers. He had gotten out of prison recently, and wanted to know if he would still be a doctor for him. She notified the front desk to contact him and set up an appointment.
After that she thumbed through the files for the patients in the lobby. She went in order of first come, first serve, along with her fellow doctors. By the end of her day her feet ached and she had lost most of the energy that her partner had supplied her with from the night before. She still went back to the dry cleaners when he contacted her ten minutes before closing, and with the other borrowed items in hand, she headed off for Fish's. There wasn't a line yet, but that was probably because there was still a little sun in the sky. She entered the building quietly to find Fish watching a warm up performance. She gave cues as the performers danced along, and at the end she gave them a hearty clap. "They are going to adore you tonight."
Hestia waited until all the performers were heading to the back before she approached Fish. "I brought back my outfit from yesterday. I am very thankful you allowed me to use it." She held out the dry cleaned dress to her, the heels dangling from the fingers of her other hand. The lioness before her flashed a smile before snapping over her shoulder. The large man from yesterday was soon by her side. "Butch, would you be a dear and put these away? I want to visit with my friend for a moment." The young doctor's skin crawled with goosebumps as she heard that murderous purring come from the undertones of her voice. "How did your date go? Did he enjoy the outfit?"
Fish's sharp nails carefully grasped the stem of her wine glass. Her deep red lipstick decorated the rim closest to her, and her eyes gave Hestia a knowing look. "We shared a wonderful dinner and then he took me home."
"His or yours?" The club owner tipped her nose up slightly as she sized up the red head before her. She was on the prowl and this inexperienced prey was just too innocent for her to let slip away.
The doctor's green orbs took a dark tone as she locked eyes with the lioness before her. She pondered her answer carefully, but didn't want to leave Fish too much time to come to conclusions. She licked her bottom lip playfully before tilting her head to the side. "We went for a stroll in the woods and then he was the perfect gentlemen and he took me home to my house. He kissed my cheek at the door, and I went to bed about an hour after he left. I wanted to read a few chapters from a book, because I am so close to finishing it."
The lioness licked her canines in response before taking a step towards her. "I thought you said your date was somebody I didn't know. You know that I know Zsasz, my girl, because he was here the night you met with Falcone."
"That must have slipped my memory." Hestia made herself laugh in an aloof manner as she touched Fish's elbow gently with the palm of her hand.
Fish rose an eyebrow at the girl before smiling coyly. "You know it is funny you say that he was a perfect gentleman. From what I have heard, he is quite the contrary. He's known to uh, you know." She let the words roll off her lips in a playful manner as if the two were just a pair of girls in middle school discussing a mutual crush on their teacher.
Hestia simply smiled as she thought of her response. "Well, perhaps I made a bad impression, or maybe you've might've heard some incorrect information." She moved her hand from Fish's elbow before licking the corner of her mouth. "I should probably get back. We had a busy day today, and I need to finish filling out some case work to keep patient forms up to date. Maybe I will stop by sometime and we can have some lunch or something. I did enjoy our time together yesterday, and maybe I will pick up on some styling tips from you. God knows I need them."
The lioness was disappointed. She had been ready to strike, her fangs dripping with venomous words. Instead she calmed her inner hunger before leaning forward and kissing the doctor's cheek. "Oh, stop by anytime. It is always good to meet up with friends. Have a good night, Dr. Zaqar."
"Well, my friend's call me Hestia." Her green eyes gave a wink before she turned to exit the club.
"Hestia it is."