Chapter 18:

-

She was an angel, disguised as a devil. It was the only way Joe saw her. She sat at the library study table, concentrating hard on her books without any room for distraction. She was always at the library this time of day, cramming in the last bit of text before she left for work. Her coat was on. Only Joe knew what she wore underneath. She always wore it underneath to save time. She claimed she couldn't change her clothes at work, for reasons she wouldn't specify.

Her costume. That's all it was. An angel, disguised as a devil.

"Hey there, Delilah."

It was how he always greeted her. She didn't even turn her head, she just smiled.

"Hey there, Sunshine," she replied quietly.

Finally, she turned to face him, closing her book and giving him her full attention.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked, putting her hand on his face. "You feel warm."

He grabbed her hand on his cheek and held it there.

"That's a good change. I'm usually cold."

She checked her watch, and began to gather her things.

"It's not that time already…?" Joe asked pleadingly.

"I'm afraid it is."

He grabbed her hand.

"Why do you go to that place?" His brow was scrunched tightly in desperation.

"Because they pay me very, very well."

"You know I have more than enough money to pay your rent."

"You mean your parents do," she insisted. "You told me yourself that you only get a certain amount from your estranged parents a month and it's barely enough for you…"

Joe leaned close to her suddenly with a fierce look in his eye.

"I'd give it all to get you out of that hellhole."

"As sweet as that is," she said with a fond smile. "I don't want your money… I need it for other reasons besides rent, like when I graduate from here, I'll need money to continue my education. I want to go to school in New York."

"Then I'll buy you every night," Joe offered.

Delilah looked to the man with a smirk, and leaned close to his face.

"Then you'd have to let me give you what you paid for…"

Joe glared at her with mock suspicion, and leaned close to her as well.

"Are you telling me that you're going to whip me in a skimpy little outfit?"

"That depends…"

"On what?"

Delilah smiled broadly.

"On if you've been a bad boy."

Joe laughed loudly and pulled away.

"I see."

-

Behind a nearby bookcase, someone listened in on the couple's conversation, and gasped. Joe and a dominatrix? This was news indeed…

-

Beatrice was having another hard day. Desiree seemed to be everywhere, insulting her casually and then leading Wayne away by the ear (so to speak). Evelyn seemed to be mad at her for a reason unknown. Her only comfort had been in James, who now was avoiding her like the plague and she couldn't figure out why.

Life currently sucked.

"What you need to do," Glenn suggested when Beatrice complained to him. "Is sort out your problems one by one, instead of bearing them all at once. You can't face Wayne until the dust settles, so try James first."

Glenn was a smart kid.

"Oh, and Bee?" Glenn called after her. "Try to keep an open mind."

That was not a comforting thing. Beatrice stopped in her tracks and faced Glenn once more.

"Why?" she asked with obvious concern.

He bit his lip. Also not a comforting thing…

"Why, Glenn?" she pressed.

"He's a little confused right now. It's mostly my fault… The fact is… He's…"

"What is going on, my man?" Wayne said, slapping Glenn's back in greeting. "Hey Bee, how's it floatin'?"

Bee looked at Glenn with suspicion, trying to piece the puzzle together, but only finding more pieces to it.

"Bee, can we talk?" Wayne asked, putting his face in her line of vision to get her attention. Beatrice just huffed and stormed off, saying:

"We've talked."

Wayne, of course, followed, leaving Glenn behind.

"There's more to say!" he insisted.

"You've said enough."

"Kiss me."

Beatrice stopped at looked at him with utter disbelief.

"What?"

Wayne smiled.

"Ha ha, got you to stop."

Beatrice could believe what she was hearing, and was starting to wonder when their conversation had turned back to that of a fourth grader. Then again, things were always immature with Wayne.

"Wayne…" Beatrice said with annoyance only skin deep.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Wayne said, cupping a hand around his ear. "You want to do what in my room later?"

Beatrice stifled her smile with a shaky frown. The man was incorrigible.

Then she saw it. She should have known he was flirting with her like that for a reason. There was always a reason lately. Desiree was already on her way over. Wayne laughed as if he was playing a game, and acted as if the three of them were old friends.

"Ah, Desiree, just the woman I wanted to see."

Beatrice frowned at that. Why would he want to see her?

"I was just telling Beatrice how I've already signed our divorce papers, and am just waiting on you. As you can guess, she's just thrilled."

Desiree frowned as if this was all news to her.

"I'm sure…"

"Wayne!" James said, running up through the hall, panting as if out of breath. "Can I have a minute? It's… It's important."

"Sure thing," Wayne said, stealing a kiss on Beatrice's cheek. She blushed at this, as James seemed disturbed by it, then watched Wayne walk off with him. She came to realize the fact that Wayne had left her alone with Desiree. Again. The two girls observed one another in silence for many moments.

"Let me tell you one thing, and you'd best remember it," Desiree broke the quiet abruptly. "He's mine, and he always will be."

"I'm sorry," Beatrice said snottily, letting her temper get the better of her. "Who was it that Wayne just kissed? I think that was me."

Desiree snickered, shook her head, and smiled at Beatrice as if she pitied her immensely.

"Ah, my dear," she said with sorrow. "Wayne has kissed many women… but loved only me…"

Desiree whirled around and sashayed off with that accentuated swagger in her hips, a strut that caused Beatrice to second guess her confidence in Wayne. Again, she began to wonder if she was just another beautiful trophy to him, one that would be put on the shelf once earned. Why did Desiree have to be so damn beautiful? And why did she have to have so much history with Wayne? Beatrice tried to stray from the thought that Desiree must have surely slept with him, but it kept coming back up. Were Wayne's once deeply rooted feelings for her really all gone? She doubted it in her heart.

So Beatrice dealt with the problem as best she knew how. By pretending it was never there to begin with. She never cared for Wayne. Never have, and never will. It was time to stop being silly about this nonsense and move on with her life. That all there was to it.

-

"Meredith Slater, I presume," said a voice over the blonde woman's shoulder. She immediately slammed shut the book in which she had been writing: "Meredith Garwin" in for the past half hour.

"Whoa!" said the boy behind her, as he moved to the side. She knew who he was. There weren't many who didn't. It was Damien Roth. A senior, who went to that rival prep in Salem. How he had found her in this hole-in-the-wall diner, and why he would speak to her, was beyond her.

"Don't be so edgy," he finished, putting up his hands in surrender. He smiled sweetly as he pulled up a chair next to her and sat in it backwards. That was also a mystery. She had heard that Damien Roth was the biggest asshole on two legs, but the man staring at her seemed kind and friendly.

"I heard you like the Garwin boy," he said with chuckle. "I didn't realize it was obsession."

Meredith wrinkled her brow in a deep frown and gathered her things to go.

"No, wait!" Damien said, putting a gentle hand on her arm. "I didn't mean it like that, honest. I want to help you, really."

She looked at him skeptically.

"How can you help me?"

"Let's just say," he said with another chuckle. "That I know things."

Meredith thought that sounded good enough to her.

"What's in it for you?"

"Plenty," Damien said with a confident smirk. "So are you game, or not?"

Meredith glared at him with her ever-present suspicion. No one gave something for nothing, but it seemed like a risk she was willing to take.

"What 'things' could you possibly know about Garwin that I don't already?"

Damien leaned close, an evil Joker smile spread on his conniving face.

"I know that his girlfriend is a dominatrix."

-

Whew! Four love stories at once is tough! Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue