Stanley had been gone a week and Karen was going stir crazy in the mansion that was suddenly too big. Stan took it upon himself to let all the help go, having them return at the end of the week. The place that was usually busy with people, walking in and out of the different rooms, was suddenly silent; a shocking difference.
She had been to the Club almost every night in the past 7 days. The alcohol there was endless and if you ended up smashed they would call a cab for their members; another one of their benefits.
Every night she was there Will was too. He was always dressed up in fancy suits, suits that would cost next to nothing if Stanley bought it. But here he was dressed up in some fancy suit, showing off and interacting with people as if he had done it his entire life.
Now she found herself sitting at the edge of the boat, just outside Portsmouth Harbor. It was his idea to take her out on this boat, again something that would cost nothing for Stan. Behind the flap of her giant white hat, she watched him pace back and forth talking adamantly on the phone, gesturing with his hands.
"It should have been done today," She overheard him saying. The waves crashed up against the boat as it slowly sailed, rocking it methodically. "If it's not done by the end of the week I'm taking back my check and voiding it."
He disappeared around the corner hiding behind a small cabin, leading down below. Will had been talking when she arrived, more calm than now, and no doubt just beginning his conversation. Whoever he was on the phone with wasn't adding anything to his day, making it progressively worse.
She offered to help him get started. She offered to help him with the sail or navigating the boat out of the harbor, obtaining information her father had given her when she was a child. They had a boat, he taught her the basics, and she fell in love with it. Now she had people who went to school to be sailors, people who had done this their entire lives, working for her and doing it themselves.
There was something about standing at the wheel that made her feel powerful. The entire vessel was in her hands. The shining wood that nearly melted under her touch, forming itself to her hands, it was a different feeling entirely to a car. It was more soothing while rocking on the water. It was easier for her.
"Sorry about that," Will said coming up from below. He tossed his phone onto a nearby pillow before sitting down close next to her.
"Everything alright?" She asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He nodded and just shifted back, stretching out his arm, resting it behind Karen, his fingers lingering close to her shoulder. "Are we just going to stay here?
"Is there some place you want to go?" Karen shook her head. "You've been on a boat before, right?"
"When I was a child." She said slowly, looking over the edge of the boat, watching the fish swim by. "My father owned a boat and he took us out boating before he died. It was our weekend activity."
She smiled at the memory, looking down. A gust of wind blew by them, blowing her hat off, sweeping it behind her. Gasping she turned around, leaning over the back of the boat, trying to reach for it. Will grasped her waist, not wanting her to go over. He reached for the hat as well, it only going further out of reach. It landed in the mouth of the harbor, too far for them to reach and to narrow of space to turn around. It was a lost cause.
"Damn," She sighed, sitting heavily against her seat. She crossed her arm and ran a hand through her hair. Though it was short, it still got in her eyes and that annoyed her even more.
"Was it expensive?" Will asked, crossing his arms against his chest. Karen looked at him, her eyebrow raising above her glasses. "You're hat. Was it expensive?"
"I could always buy another one," She said, shrugging her shoulders, it really being no big deal. She only got one to hide herself from the sun and if Stan was there, the hat was being used as a shield to hide behind. She was starting to get tired of the attention he was giving her. It seemed displaced, forced, and not entirely for her.
She knew he was sleeping with other women besides her. She had known that before they were married and it didn't bother her then and it still didn't bother her now. But what did bother her was him blatantly lying to her. Telling her she was the only one that he sleeps with. The receipts for the hotels, the bills that get sent to their mansion for the various adult escorts were sitting around like various pieces of newspaper; it annoyed her.
God forbid she wanted to go out and be inconspicuous full well knowing that she won't be caught and then he goes out and screws anyone with a skirt in the lower east side. And it wasn't enough that she ran into one of them in the hallway of one of the hotels they were staying at. Karen would have assumed she was just a woman, who worked in the hotel, but it was the I.D. card that got left in their room and it wasn't for the hotel either.
And him telling her that he had to go out of the country just when they were getting better footing, it all when to hell in a hand basket. And being left with Will who had made the comment of wanting to kiss her the first day didn't make anything better. Now all she did besides trying not to think about Stan screwing some hooker was trying not to think of Will kissing her.
"You're hands are too tense against the wheel," Will said coming up behind Karen, placing his hands over hers. His chest was pressed against her back. This wasn't helping her thoughts. "You'll lock up if you need to turn,"
"We're not going anywhere," Karen said turning her head to look at him. His head was over her shoulder, his cheek close, his lips closer .She hated that Stan paid for his membership, she hated that he was in her life more so now that Stan wasn't there, but she enjoyed the close proximity.
"You're tense." He repeated, moving his hands to his shoulders, kneading her shoulders. God it felt good. She moaned and leaned her head back, resting it against his chest letting him dig his fingers into her shoulders. "You're letting your problems with Stan get to you," His voice low in her ear.
"You don't know about my problems with Stan," She said after a moment. It was when his hands stilled that she spoke. Her mind was mush when his hands were on her.
"He's not in love with you," Will said. Karen turned her head again, looking over at him. She should have ripped him apart for that comment. "He's using you,"
"You're sure of yourself," She said. "But you're not wrong either," He nodded his head and took a step backwards. She watched him walk away and disappear around the corner.
He had to get away before he did something he was later going to regret. She nearly melted under his touch and who knew what would happen if he went further. There was a chance to kiss her cheek, to kiss her lips, but she was so lost in her own thoughts, it would have made him look like someone trying to take advantage of her.
The last person he kissed was the random woman in the bar; some blonde bimbo by the name of Denice, Diana, Diane, Diane. Diane. The one who cried when he told her no. The one who he remembered kissing but not how his clothes ended up on the floor with a woman next to him in bed. It didn't make sense, but that was what happened with too much alcohol.
But this was Karen. This pale, dark haired woman who had a temper, couldn't make up her mind on what she wanted. It seemed like she did, like she knew exactly who, what, when and how she wanted it, but she was easily distracted by simple things like a shoulder massage. She was strong willed, smart, and not to mention gorgeous, but she was married and it annoyed him.
Her focus was in the water, watching it rise and fall, oddly as she breathed in and out. It was a very pretty blue, matching her father's eyes. It was the only memory of him, besides the boat and the trivial amount of photographs. It was a nice feeling.
And his personality, the happy go lucky sense of adventure reminded her of him because of Will. He had the impulses to do whatever he thought right. There was something about him, some sort of pain that still made him a bit standoffish, yet it made him incredibly straightforward and she liked that. She liked it a lot. Her first husband was straightforward like that and it was what attracted her. The sense of free-will and carelessness with some sort of control made her crazy. It was all unpredictable.
She felt his presence next to her and when she looked at him, he took her face in his hands, bringing it close to hers. She hadn't realized he had specks of green in his brown; it was pretty. Something like a hidden treasure. She had light freckles on the bridge of her nose hidden by make up. Her eyes didn't look as sad as they did when he first looked at her. They looked happier when he was in front of her, drawing his thumb against her jawbone.
"I'm sorry," He said quickly. She opened her mouth to ask 'What for' when his lips crashed against hers. She was too shocked to pull away, to push him away; she just melted into him. It wasn't worth fighting.
Her fingers wrapped themselves around his belt loops, inadvertently pulling him closer. His fingers buried themselves further into her hair, tilting her head to the side, letting it rest in the crook of his arm. This felt good. This felt really good to be standing in his arms; to have her in his arms. It was foreign and it was good.
She finally pulled away, her hands immediately going to her hair, trying to smooth it out. There was no one around her to make any comment, but it became so habitual to make sure her appearance looked good, everyone had a camera.
"That shouldn't have happened," Karen said shaking her head. It was louder than she anticipated. She heard him sigh and watched him run a hand across his forehead. It didn't make a lot of sense. This was just too sudden.
He watched her move to the front of the boat and sit down, her shoulders slouched, her face in her hands. And there it was, he ruined it. He ruined whatever they had, whether it was friendship or something more, but it was all gone now anyway.
She had to pull away. God she wanted him and she knew it was bad. It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did. She shouldn't have been married while being interested in someone else. It just wasn't normal She had vowed not to do what her mother did, what Stan had a habit of doing; sleeping with someone who wasn't your spouse. But it was just incredibly tempting to do anything and everything with Will.
"What was that for?" He asked her, after she stormed back before grabbing his face and kissing him, something akin to the way he did it moments before.
"I didn't kiss you back," She smirked. "That was my chance."
With that Karen walked away from him, sitting closer to the front of the boat rather than the back. Will laughed lightly and shook his head. Yes this woman was a mystery. And he realized he likes it.