All In (The Blackstone Affair, Part 2) (25 page)

I walked us into the bathroom carefully and
set her down on her feet. I found the light switch and enjoyed the
second gasp out of her when she got a good look at the bathtub and
the view.

“Is that the ocean out that window? Good
lord! It’s so beautiful in here I can hardly stand it.”

I laughed. “Now, I’m not so sure if you’re
more interested in that bathtub or in ravishing me anymore.”

“But I can multi-task just as well as you
can, baby,” she said, pulling her hoodie over her head and letting
it drop.

“Did I ever tell you how much I love it when
you call me baby?”

Her strip-show was going to be so damn good
I could already feel my body starting to hum all over.

“Maybe a time or two you’ve said so.”

She pulled off her t-shirt and that’s when I
saw it.

“You wore your necklace.”

She nodded at me, standing there in a lacy
blue bra and the heart pendant I’d given her at the beginning of
our hellish evening.

“When we changed clothes I didn’t want to
take it off.” She flipped her eyes up to mine and fingered the
heart.

“How come?” I asked.

“Because you gave it to me, and told me you
loved me and—”

“I don’t want you to take it off,” I blurted
out in the middle of her sentence.

“—because you said you were all in.”

“I am. With you, Brynne, I am, and I have
been from the very start.”

And I meant every word. I knew what I
wanted. I understood it crystal clear and there was no turning back
with her now.

All in is forever, baby...

When I reached for my girl and showed her
how much I did indeed need her, and told her with words too, I knew
then that the best gamble of my life had not been the cards I’d
played, but that one night on a London street, when a beautiful
American girl tried to walk out in the dark, and I played the most
important hand I’d ever been dealt, and went…all in.

The End

By: Franziska
Popp

Here we go again.
The one who talks with fishes is finally home. I would cross my
fins in front of my chest, but helloooooooo? I am a fish. Instead I
am doing what I can do best; I am floating through the ocean. An
ocean with walls I can see through. Better than the plastic bag he
used to get me into this flat with—a flat which couldn’t look any
lonelier I might add. Even my fake ocean looks more comfy, and yes,
he probably thinks I can’t tell the difference. Of course I
can.

Swimming closer to the wall of glass as
Ethan Blackstone, yes, Black-STONE, walks in, I wonder if he is
related to my favorite stone in my fake ocean. There are many
stones, but each fish in here needs a stone. Just like this human
needs a cigarette right now.

My fins fluttering, I am wondering why he
didn’t say anything to me. Normally I get at least a ‘Hello mate’
or a ‘How was your day, Simba?’

Wishing I could roll my eyes. I know—he
really named me Simba from
The Lion King
. And he did not
even give me a Nalla. Nope.

Where was I? Right, thank you. I was
watching him, in his chair, at his enormous desk and then I hear
him say, “I am so screwed, Simba. I met a girl, and trust me when I
say that I am fucking screwed.”

Screwed? Him? Duh…who is living in an ocean
with walls around him? Yup, the Lionfish. That would be me. I would
point at myself but you all remember I am just a fish. Watching
Ethan lean back against the chair, his eyes focused on the ceiling
as he mumbles, over and over, that he is screwed. He places his
feet on the desk. I so need a desk myself. Then I could actually
use my time much better. I could make To-Do lists for all the other
fishes in here. Especially this one over there. To the left…LEFT.
You just looked to the right. What are you? A female?

So, apropos female… because a few days later
a human female comes walking into the office. WHOA. That never
happened before. HELP!!! HELP!!! She is going to eat me, I can feel
it. She looks hungry, I swear. I can see it in her eyes. I’ve
watched documentaries about sharks, so I would know, right?

Fluttering an array of multi-colored fins at
her (my attempt of scaring her off) I’m still inwardly screaming my
S.O.S. Yeah, I know, it sucks to be a fish. I can’t even use a
phone and call Neil for help. Trying not to panic until—yes—until
she calls me…
handsome
. HANDSOME. The stroke that almost took
me over has suddenly been replaced by (I am sure she can see them)
♥
♥
in my fishy
eyes. Now fluttering my fins to draw her closer, I know I have
found my NALLA.

A few minutes, hours, days, weeks later—just
a fish here and you can’t really expect me to know how much time
has passed—I just know that I didn’t see the pretty female again.
Her eyes look just like my home. Colorful and always depending on
how the light is. Pacing (aka swimming) for days in front of the
glass wall, awaiting her to walk into the office at some point
again. But…nothing.

And then…finally…the door to the office
opens once again. Fins fluttering excitingly, moving all my
potential, everything I’ve been taught when I was still a little
baby fish and before I pulled a Nemo. Thank God I did not end up
with a dentist! Who wants to listen to dentist sounds all day long?
Shivering inwardly, and I assure you, not in a good way, before I
focus again at the door.

My excitement is barely manageable and it
is…it is…Ethan. My fins falling just like the faces of children
when they don’t get ice cream. As I am watching Ethan approach the
desk looking for something, I realize, next to his obvious
determination, that he looks sad. He can’t be sad. I don’t like him
sad. He is Ethan Blackstone, a relative to my favorite stone in
here. What the fishing heck happened to him that he looks as if he
needs two tons of krill?

Mmmmmmmmmmm krill.

Still watching him, trying to get his
attention, to get him to talk to me. Ethan likes to talk to me, and
I like to listen, not that I wouldn’t love to answer, but yeah, you
guessed right, I am still a fish. A very nice looking—wondering if
a fish can blush as I remember the words of the pretty lady that I
am handsome—Lionfish. Yup. I MUST see her again. There is no way
around it. Nemo the Clownfish will look like an amateur compared to
me. I am going on an even bigger mission. Humanity, HERE I COME!
Not to take over the world. Nope. Anyone could manage that, but I
have higher aims in life. I am going to—

A KRILL!!! Holy Neptune, Ethan loves me!

Devouring the perfect shaped krill, playing
shark for a second…man, I should have been born as a shark. Just
imagine me as a shark! I would be terrifying and could scare all
the other fishes off in here. Okaaaaaaay, I would not fit in this
tiny box full of the most perfect water ever. I could be a Peter
Pan kind of shark. I would never grow up. Yup, I am the smartest
fish EVER. Trust me on this one. I made a poll and me and I agreed
with myself. Well, well, well…at least Freud would approve.

Finishing my treat, realizing that Ethan is
still watching me, I see he is not with the pretty lady.

WHY NOT?

I would swim around her the entire day and
night. She is special, I can feel it in my fins. And my fins have
never betrayed me before. But then Ethan is speaking and I think my
heart just stopped beating. “She loves you, Simba.”

SERIAL?! She loves me. Whoa. Turning around
as I hear some of the other fishes answer with a bubble that
sounded a lot like ‘Killer’.

I am hearing voices. Nodding, knowing I have
no head to do that with, I am using my entire body.

Yes, tell her whatever you want, Blackstone,
just get her back to me…er…to us.

It doesn’t take long until I finally hear
her beautiful voice again. She is back. Good. I had to live with
Zombie Ethan long enough. I always waited for
Thriller
to
play in the background when I saw him moving through the outer
world of my aquarium. It truly should be his theme song.

It's close to midnight and something evil's
lurking in the dark

Under the moonlight, you see a sight that
almost stops your heart

You try to scream but terror takes the sound
before you make it

You start to freeze as horror looks you
right between the eyes

You're paralyzed

Paralyzed. I am sure I will be paralyzed
very soon.

In the middle of the night, when fishes are
trying to sleep, Ethan decides to talk with someone. Sometimes I
wonder why I am in the office. Okay, it is awesome. I see and hear,
like everything. But I need my beauty sleep. I am not simply
handsome like this without trying. I am not Brynne, right? She IS
beautiful. But of course Ethan realized that too.

It is so unfair. He can swim outside as long
as he wants and I have to stay in here. And humans wonder why Pinky
wants to take over the world! Hello, caged animal here! Freedom
keeps you from thinking of things like that, doesn’t it?

Sighing to myself, watching one bubble float
to the surface as I swim closer, I now totally focus on Mr.
Blackstone. I personally would not want him as my enemy. Just
imagine…no krill. I would die. DIE! Like right here and now. And I
am pretty sure Neptune didn’t want that happening to me. I’m way
too handsome for that—Brynne said so. Yup.

Fluttering around with my fins, remembering
the feeling as she smiled at me, yeah…I can understand why Ethan is
going to do everything in his power to keep her. Which means I need
to change my plans and—

What does Ethan mean by he will
protect
her
?! Is my Brynne in danger? It’s a Killer Whale, right? They
are like uberly dangerous. Ask the seals. WHOA. What?! He loves her
too. Wow, I need a glove to throw in his face. Why don’t I have
HANDS? I so need them right now.

Eyes still wide open as the darkness settles
over my world. Fishing hell, he always manages to make me sleepy
with this move of his and the lights! Just wait until I get a
button. I am so going to…close my eyes now.

A new day, a new life. Okay, some more time
has passed and today the flat is absolutely stuffed with people.
Ethan is showing them a PowerPoint and blah blah-ing a lot of words
I can’t make much sense of. And guess what? I just met Gaby. Her
HAIR! We are totally matchy matchy. Looking frantically, when I see
her leaving. Don’t gooooooooooo!!!!

The last days I’ve realized that Brynne
loves Ethan too. And once I even heard that if you love someone you
have to let them go.

Sighing, my fins falling slightly, yes, I am
sad too. BUT now I have Gaby. Call me Don Juan but I am going to
win Gabrielle for my own. I would even share my stone with her, and
all the krill Ethan would give to me. We could live a super happy
long fishy life, full of adventures.

The other day I actually found a new place
in the aquarium. Fine, I did not, it just looked like it because
one of the other fishes redecorated. She redecorated. Can you
believe it? It’s like I am already part of a very bad TV show.
Turning around, hoping there is not a hidden camera somewhere
tracking my every movement. I am not YET famous enough to get
Punk’d
.

Not realizing that again a few days have
passed, I’m sitting in the dark as I hear the door to the office
opening. I already feel, deep down in the peaks of my fins, that
this is not Ethan, not Brynne, or any other human being I know.
Paralyzed. Now I am truly paralyzed. Please don’t let it be the
thing from
Paranormal 4
.

♥

Raine has been reading romance novels since
she picked up that first Barbara Cartland paperback at the tender
age of thirteen. She thinks it was
The Flame is
Love
from 1975
.
And it's a safe bet
she'll never stop reading romance novels because now she writes
them too. Granted, Raine's stories are edgy enough to turn Ms.
Cartland in her grave, but to her way of thinking, a tall, dark and
handsome hero never goes out of fashion. Never! A part-time teacher
and a writer of sexy romance stories all the rest of the time,
pretty much fills her days. Raine has a prince of a husband, and
two brilliant sons to pull her back into the real world if the
writing takes her too far away. Her sons know she likes to write
stories, but have never asked to read any. (Raine is so very
grateful about this.) She loves to hear from readers and chat about
the characters in her books. You can connect with Raine on
Facebook
or visit her blog
at
RaineMiller.com
to see what
she's working on now.

♥