I walked back toward where the girls were still sitting
waiting for me to return.
Samantha’s hands shot up as she screamed, “Where the
hell were you? I thought you bailed.” I shook my head no, but
Samantha stared at me. “Eva, is everything all right? You are
flushed, babe. Can I get you something to drink?” She motioned
to Michael to come over.
Michael stared at me with a wide grin on his face. “What
can I get you, love?”
“Scotch please!” I steadied myself onto the chair, ignoring
the gaping stares coming from Samantha and Chrissy. I felt like
I had an I just came sign on my forehead.
I couldn’t help but turn to glance at him across the room,
and sure enough, Marcus was in full conversation with him,
but he was staring back at me, smiling devilishly at his success.
Michael returned with the scotch, and I took it in one shot.
Half a glass of scotch would surely numb my senses that were
still aching for Alexander to finish what he had started in the
bathroom.
After a short while, Chrissy felt tired and kissed us good
night, mouthing I love you from across the bar.
I, feeling numb and oversexed, needed some payback before
this night ended. Alexander had no idea how I was when I was
fully in control. He had had his fun, and now it was my turn to
make him ache.
“Come on, Samantha. Let us go thank the gentlemen for
the champagne.” Without waiting for her to agree, I leapt off
the stool and headed in their direction.
But I could hear Samantha whispering, “Be nice, and remember,
Marcus is mine.”
Stepping a second ahead of Samantha, I strode directly
toward Marcus. When I reached the table, Alexander tensed,
watching my closeness to Marcus. He wanted me nearer to him,
in him!
“Gentlemen, we apologize for the interruption, but we wanted
to thank you for the generous bottle of champagne. It was…just…
lovely!” I glanced at him as I slowly reiterated the words he had
used to describe my voice in the note.
“Anyway, Marcus, I was wondering, since you’re new in
town and really need to have a good time before you begin
your new job…Well, we are taking you out on the town. There
is no better way to see the town or have a good time than with
us two. So, what do you say?” Samantha and I smiled glaringly
at Marcus. I wouldn’t look at Alexander; I felt edgy, shaky in
his presence.
“Well, I don’t think I could say no to such a request made
by two of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen, but so
that I’m not outnumbered—”
I cut Marcus off. “If you’re worried that you won’t be able
to handle it, I can assure you, we’ll give you time to rest in between.”
The insinuation I was making was so obviously sexual,
but I didn’t want to give my game away. “ Dancing, that is.
We’ll let you rest your feet in between dances. You like going
dancing? Regardless, we’ll hop around; it’ll be fun. Listen,
here’s my cell.” I took a small piece of folded paper and ripped
it into three. It was obvious that I wanted him to notice every
move. Alexander caught that the paper I was ripping was the
note he had sent with the bartender.
“OK, we have to meet some friends, but will meet you back
here, say, midnight and then start the fun from there. How’s
that?”
Marcus had to be feeling awkward. They were friends, and
Alexander was pained by our exchange. But this would surely be
pushing him over the edge, and Marcus seemed to play along.
“Sure, Eva, Samantha. I’ll be here waiting. Oh, and by the way,
my dancing is superb, and I too shall let you rest.”
Samantha stared at Marcus intently; you could sense that
she felt a bit of jealousy over my little game. She had obvious
feelings of desire for Marcus. Marcus was her type in every way!
“You know,” I said, “you and I are going to get along marvelously.
I’ve never been challenged or made to need to rest, so
I really look forward to it. Till then, ciao.”
Noticing Samantha’s stare, Marcus gave her a sweet smile
as he winked his eye at her; she looked reassured and smiled
back.
Saying good-bye, Samantha spoke softer than she had earlier.
“Marcus, Mr. Mason, thank you, and enjoy the rest of your
evening.”
I purposely turned back before walking away. “Mr. Mason,
how rude of me. Thank you again. It was…um…interesting to
see you here tonight. Oh, one thing. You must have misplaced
this earlier.” I placed the other half of the note I had ripped
on the table before him. Putting my arm into Samantha’s, we
walked out of the lounge.
They watched us. The look of dread hung on Alexander’s
face. Slowly reaching for the small piece of paper, he turned it
over just as I left the lounge. I had to think fast and write small;
the note read:
I never imagined you to be a stalker, Alexander! Don’t let
my lovely voice fool you; my dark side may scare you…
oh and you haven’t earned the privilege of calling me by my
full name…not even with that show earlier! I would have
expected more!
CHAPTER TEN
Ring…Ring…Ring…Ri—
“Hey, Chris, I’m downstairs getting out of the cab now.
You need anything before I come up? I brought iPods and
books and crosswords. Anything else, babe?” I spoke swiftly as
I grabbed my bags out of the cab; it was 7:00 a.m., and I was
already late to meet Chrissy.
“No, no, I just wanted to see if you were coming, I’m on
the fourth floor. See you in a bit.” I could hear the nervousness
in Chrissy’s voice.
“’K. Be right up.”
Hanging up, I paid the cab and jogged toward the entrance
of the hospital. Chrissy was having another round of chemo,
today and I had promised to take the day off to be with her.
Getting into the elevator, I was panting from running, from
the anxiety of being late, and mostly from the exhaustion of
not sleeping all night with thoughts of Alexander swirling in
my head. The elevator arrived at the fourth floor, and I got out.
The sign on the wall in front of me had an arrow pointing to
the right and read: Chemotherapy Suite.
Walking swiftly, I entered the suite, and there was Chrissy,
frail and uneasy, not as I had seen her last night.
“Hey there. I’m so sorry I’m late. I overslept.” Leaning over
to kiss Chrissy on the cheek, I noticed her skin was cold. She
was shivering, panicked.
“It’s OK. Did you at least oversleep because you were having
steamy, wild sex with that piece of ass of a boss of yours?”
Chrissy giggled, and regardless of the reason, I was glad to see
even a faint smile on her face.
“Don’t you start, young lady. There is nothing like that
going on. But since you are the only person I could never yell
at or leave in the dark, I have to say, I couldn’t stop thinking
about him all night. And that is why I was up all night and
slept late this morning. Sad but true! Trust me, I would have
preferred the hot sex with the piece of ass boss much more than
me, myself, and I.”
As Chrissy went to speak, the nurse called us back into
the chemo suite. We grabbed our belongings and followed.
The air was ice cold; neither of us could move fast. The
thought of the effects that chemo had on Chrissy were daunting,
painful to watch. I couldn’t imagine what Chrissy was
going through.
The chemo suite was cold; they kept the rooms cold to
avoid infection and bacteria. It was a typical hospital setting.
There were reclining chairs lining the walls, with wooden partitions
between them to make them more private. Most of the
chairs were filled, and in most areas, the patients had visitors
with them, like I was for Chrissy. There were two patients who
caught my attention. They sat in their reclining chairs, covered
in blankets, already hooked up to the chemo-dispensing machines.
But they were alone, no one beside them, no books in
hand, and no music, nothing to occupy them but the thought
of their disease. I could feel my chest tightening as I imagined
these people alone, crying, hurting from the effects of the
chemo, just like what Chrissy was about to endure. I couldn’t
imagine anyone facing that alone, and as I walked past, my
mind fluttered into a soft, hopeful prayer for them to have love
and peace waiting for them.
“Here we go, ladies. Chrissy, make yourself comfortable, my
dear, and we’ll take your vitals and get you started. Today is the
first of the third round, my dear; it’s going to be a tough one.
OK, I’ll be right back.” The nurse, Amy, smoothed Chrissy’s
hair and walked to prep her treatment. All of the nurses there
were so warm and caring; you’d have to be. Most of the people
there were slated for death, so the least they could do was offer
kindness and love in moments of pure blackness.
Chrissy had sat down and reclined herself a bit, almost as
if she were on automatic pilot. She had been doing treatments
for a year, so this was standard to her. For me, I had only been
with Chrissy once before, and I hadn’t remembered being this
frightened for her. Probably because the disease was getting
worse and the outcome, which was not going to be good, was
coming too soon.
The doctors originally told Chrissy she would have three
to four years with the surgery and chemo, but the cancer
that started in her stomach had spread, and they couldn’t
tell how far.
“Hey, Eva, come sit near me. Let’s bullshit a bit. We haven’t
done this in so long, Ms. Director of the World!” Chrissy was
always the comedian of the group; she could lighten up any
moment, even this one.
“Yes, boss! And, stop with that director shit. I work hard,
but I am sorry I haven’t been around more. You know I love
you, Chris, and I’m so, so—”
Chrissy grabbed my chin and pulled me close. “Stop apologizing.
I’m not dead yet. So if you want to regain the time you
missed, here’s your chance!” Chrissy let go and noticed the tears
in my eyes. The thought of losing her was burning my heart.
“So,” she continued, “speaking of ‘boss,’ what’s doin’ with
hottie? And please don’t ‘oh nothin’’ me. You were calling
him out last night with those ‘please spank me’ eyes. No wonder
you got no sleep. Probably needed to pull out the vibrator.
So, what happened after I left?” Chrissy sat with one hand
holding her chin up. She looked like a little girl waiting for
a bedtime story.
I was about to give her the details of the night, when the
nurse walked over. “Oh, no need, dear. Keep on keeping on. It’s
actually better if you distract her, especially in the beginning.
Doesn’t feel too good.” The nurse motioned with her hand to
me to keep talking.
Chrissy turned her head away from the machine that held
her poison, and focused on my story.
I had no way of knowing how many more moments like
this we would have, and I wanted to enjoy every one that
was left.
“After you left, after you…Oh, so I forced Samantha to go
with me to the table to kind of thank them for the champagne,
but to also flirt with Marcus and piss Mason off a little more.
Which, I must say, I put on a great performance. He looked like
he was going to either kill me or Marcus or both, right there
and then. So, I acted like the flirty bitch I am for a bit, invited
Marcus to go out with us.”
Chrissy opened her mouth to speak but I knew what she
was going to say.
“Yes! I only invited Marcus. Fuck Alexander. He’s making
me miserable, and if I should invite him anywhere, he’d
ruin the night. And anyway, I wasn’t actually going anywhere.