The news was so shocking that Janie
could only stare at her best friend for several long minutes, too dumbstruck to
say a word. “Have you lost your fucking mind?!” she asked finally. She couldn’t
believe what she had just heard. She’d thought it offensive enough when Rhett
had asked Leah to be his slave; he would have even more control over her friend
if they got married.
“I hoped you would be happy for me,
Janie. If the situation were reversed I’d be ecstatic for you.” Leah was hurt
more than she would have thought possible by her friend’s reaction, and felt
herself get angry. She'd expected a little reservation, and some concern, but
not the anger and contempt her friend's voice was laced with just then.
“I’m supposed to be happy you’ve
just gotten engaged to an egotistical, self-centered asshole who is going to
turn you into his slave, without even the grace to call you that?” What the
hell was she thinking, Janie wondered, astounded that Leah was even considering
such stupidity. “Maybe you don’t remember how fucked up he left you just the
other night, but I do. You were practically in shock when David and I got here.
Have you forgotten that?"
“Of course I haven't forgotten,
Janie! Rhett’s knows he made a mistake, and he’s apologized for it. I wasn’t ready
for what he was doing, that’s all; I’m not as experienced as the other
submissive's he’s had. He's promised to be more careful, and to remember my
inexperience, in the future, and to tone down the dom lifestyle outside of the
bedroom.”
“And you think just because he’s
promised that he’s actually going to stick to it?” Janie was appalled by her
friend's naivety. “Honey, Rhett’s been a hardcore dom his entire life, the
chances of him being able to give that up, even a but, are almost non-existent.
He simply doesn’t know how to live any other way.”
“You don’t know that Janie. He’s
promised he’s going to change and I believe him, he loves me.” She could feel
her happiness slipping away with each comment from Janie.
“Oh, honey,” Janie sighed in dismay,
“you haven’t even known him for a fortnight yet, how can you possibly say that
he loves you, you don’t even truly know what love is, not yet. This is just
infatuation, it will pass; soon enough you’ll wonder what you ever saw in him.”
“Enough, Janie! The subject is
closed. I’m going to marry Rhett, you can either accept it or not!” Leah was
beyond angry that her supposed best friend had the nerve to tell her how to
feel. A best friend was supposed to be supportive, no matter what, at least
that’s what she had always thought.
“If you want to screw up your entire
life that’s your affair, just don’t bring me into it, and don’t think I’m going
to stand by and watch or support you while you do it!” She hadn’t meant to
blurt out the support part, she regretted her words the moment they escaped
her, but she needed Leah to realize what a colossal mistake it was for her to
marry Rhett.
“If that’s the way you feel then I
guess it’s a good thing I have Rhett!” Leah snapped. “At least he’s willing to
support me.” Turning, she snatched open the door, determined that she wouldn’t
cry until she was alone. “I’ll be back to pick up my things tomorrow, just send
me a text to let me know what time is best for you,” she told her 'friend' over
her shoulder. Holding on tight to her emotions she strode from the condo.
“Leah, wait!” Janie cried out as the
door slammed behind her friend. She couldn’t believe she'd said so much without
stopping to think, she knew she had a bad habit of doing that, and she usually
ended up regretting it. She regretted it even more than usual just then. How
was she supposed to talk Leah out of the nonsense she was getting herself into
if she was living with Rhett, she wondered.
She had to do something, she
thought, hurrying out of the condo after her friend. She wasn’t quick enough,
by the time she reached the elevator Leah was already in it and on her way to
the ground floor. “Damn it!” Janie swore aloud, the words echoing in the empty
hall.
Leah made it to her car and down the
road before she allowed the tears to fall. Janie was her best friend, and now
it seemed she had lost her forever. Before the tears could blind her and cause
her to crash, Leah pulled the car over to the curb, where she sat while tears
streamed down her cheeks. Things were not supposed to have gone this way, she
thought miserably as she sobbed; she'd truly thought Janie would be at least a
little happy for her.
Once she had recovered from her
breakdown, at least enough to be safe behind the wheel again, she forced
herself to drive back to the mansion. Rhett wouldn’t be home for hours, but
right then she was pleased about that; she wasn’t going to get over what had
happened easily, Janie had been her best friends for years, and the thought of
losing her was a life changing event.
The worst of it was, she could
understand her friend's anger. Considering how she had been when Janie
and David found her the other night, she was sure if the situation were
reversed she would have acted in the same way.
She continued to dwell on the
situation as she drove up to the mansion, only pausing as the security gates
were opened. Her heart ached as she parked the car and hurriedly made her way
inside and up to Rhett’s bedroom.
No, she thought to herself as she
entered the bedroom, she wouldn’t have done what Janie did, she wouldn't have
given her what amounted to an ultimatum; that wasn’t the sort of person she
was. That was the difference between them, she surmised. She would have at
least tried to appear happy if her friend had done something she didn't approve
of; her friend's happiness would be more important than her own if the
situation had been reversed, she concluded.
The fact that Janie had thrown it in
her face that she supported her was the worst part of it all; that hit her
deeply. Never would she allow it to happen again, she resolved; she was going
to find a job and make sure she had the ability to take care of herself. It
didn’t matter that Rhett was financially secure; she knew that to be her own
person, she needed to be able to take care of herself, financially and
physically.
With a new resolve, she forced
herself to regain control of her emotions and making her way into the bathroom
she washed her face to get rid of the telltale signs of her tears. That done
she left the bedroom and went downstairs to Rhett’s study. She felt a little
nervous being in there without his permission, but there were things she needed
to do and her laptop was at the condo.
Powering up the computer that sat on
the desk, Leah wasn’t surprised to discover that Rhett had it secured with a
password. Fortunately she was able to get onto it with a guest account; that
allowed her to get onto the net and access her online storage account, which
enabled her to carry on where she had left off with her job search, rather than
having to start from scratch again. She was tremendously relieved by that.
After hours of refining her résumé
and her search parameters, she had managed to apply to four businesses she
thought were suitable, and had sent enquiries to a few others. She was
disappointed not to be able to find more companies to apply to, but given the
current state of the economy she realized she was lucky she had been able to
find any at all.
The most positive aspect of her time
on the computer was that it had distracted her from the situation from Janie,
keeping busy had stopped her thinking about the argument she'd had, though the
moment she finished her job search her mind returned to it.
By the time Rhett made it home for
lunch Leah was in as crabby a mood as she had ever allowed herself to get in.
Despite that, she forced herself to smile as she made her way down the stairs
to meet her fiancé. Just seeing his face reminded her how lucky she was to be
loved by someone like him and she felt her heart give a little lurch of joy.
“I do believe we have plans for a
lunch date, sweetheart,” Rhett said, pulling her off her feet and into his
arms, “I hope you’re hungry. What’s wrong baby?” he asked, looking into her
eyes. He sensed she was unhappy about something, and that left him angry. As
both her dom and her fiancé it was his duty to make sure all her needs were
being met, and if something was upsetting her, it was up to him to fix it.
“It’s nothing, Sir.” She didn’t want
to tell him about the fight between her and Janie, she just wanted to enjoy
being with him again, though she knew sooner or later she would have to,
especially since she didn't have anywhere to stay.
Lowering her to the ground, Rhett
lifted her face so he could look straight into her eyes and gave her a warm
smile. “Honesty, that’s something we always have to remember between us.”
Raising an eyebrow he waited for her to speak.
“Janie kicked me out, Sir.” That was
all it took, the waterworks started again; she hated herself for being so weak
but she couldn't seem to stop the tears.
Pulling her back into his arms,
Rhett caressed her hair like she was a child and murmured soothing words to
calm her. “This is a good thing, sweetheart, you can move in with me now.”
Nothing could have made him happier. He didn’t like seeing his girl hurt, but
he needed her with him so he could be sure she was protected and properly taken
care of.
Moving in with him wasn't a problem;
in fact, she liked the idea, a lot. It didn't change what had happened between her
and Janie though, nor did it make her feel any better about it. Her sobs
increased, and she held on to him tightly. The last few weeks had been such an
emotional rollercoaster, and the confrontation with Janie was just too much for
her mind to deal with on top of everything else that was changing so quickly.
Rhett was at a loss, he was
accustomed to solving problems, it was what he did, but he had no experience
with emotions, and didn't have a clue how to deal with Leah just then.
“Sweetheart, if you don’t want to live with me until we’re married, it's okay,
I’ll rent you an apartment.” He didn’t like that idea, but it made sense to his
logical mind. If that was what he had to do to solve the problem, then so be
it.
“That’s not it, Sir, I’m happy to
live with you. Honestly, I love the idea, but Janie’s been my best friend for
most of my adult life, and the thought of losing her is just killing me.” She
found his idea of renting her a place sweet, but also funny, and the humor of
it helped her to get herself under control. Pulling herself from his arms she
realized she’d soaked his shirt with her tears, and in the process had probably
made herself look a complete mess. “I think I need some tissues,” she said
while choking back a quick sob.
“Don’t move, I’ll be right back.” A
crying woman was something he was distinctly uncomfortable with and he walked
away quickly to get her what she wanted.
Shaking her head as he almost ran
from the mansion’s reception hall, Leah found herself laughing. It was
abundantly clear that he didn’t like her crying, and she made a mental note to
avoid doing so in front of him again, if she could. She was the luckiest girl
on earth to have such a wonderful man, she thought, and no matter how much it
hurt losing her best friend, she refused to allow that to ruin the lunch he had
planned for them.
When he returned, Rhett was glad to
see that Leah was in a better frame of mind. Her tears, at least when he wasn’t
causing them in a scene, really screwed with his ability to focus, and he vowed
to spend the rest of the time available to him before going back to work making
her smile.
Turning away self-consciously, Leah
blew her nose as quietly as she could in the tissues he handed her. When she
felt a little more presentable, she turned back to him a smile, albeit a
slightly forced one, on her face. “I do believe you promised me lunch and
dessert, Sir.”
“And that you shall have my sexy
little vixen.” Returning her smile, he took her hand in his and led her through
to the kitchen. A hamper sat on the counter, along with a large, neatly folded
blanket. “I’ve given the help the afternoon off so we won’t be disturbed,” he
said, confident that everything had been prepared to his instructions. Picking
up the basket and the blanket in one hand, he led her toward the veranda, still
holding her hand in his.
The scent of fragrant blooms filled
her nostrils as he led her deeper into the garden, stronger than it had been
the previous night. There had been no time for her to explore the gardens the
night before, or that morning, and she found herself looking all around as she
was guided through the scenery.
It was like she had found her way
into a hidden paradise, and she felt her soul lift, knowing that this paradise was
a part of her new home. It was somewhere she could come whenever she wished,
and she was sure she would enjoy exploring it regularly.
Leah’s eyes widened as she was led
into a maze and guided around corners with shrubs that reached higher than the
top of even Rhett’s head. It would be so easy to get lost in there, she thought
as she continued to follow, glad that he knew the way. When they finally made
it to the center, she gasped softly, the scene before her was extraordinary,
and like nothing she could have anticipated.
A stone path led up to pool that was
fed by a man-made waterfall. It was breathtaking, and she could only stand
there and gaze at it in amazement. She would never have believed that such a
scene could exist in real life. The grounds of Rhett’s mansion were large, but
it just didn’t seem possible to her that he could have created something so
marvelous in them.