Red Collar (12 page)

She looked at him amusedly. “How do you do that? You make it sound as if I would be doing you a favor and not the other way round.”

“Si
,” he nodded, sadly. “You will. You see, you put me into trouble the moment you spilt the beans on your family.”

She laughed again. “Thank you, Lorenzo. But I will also call my friend to help out as well. So hopefully, it won’t be too much pressure on you. But now I have to do a week’s shopping before I go.”

He sat up straight. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To do your shopping,” he said, walking out of the store.

“But I need to wait for my wages to come through,” she argued.

He spun around. “When does it come through?”

“By the end of the day,” she shrugged.

“Fine,” he said, walking on. “You can pay me tonight. Right now, let’s go do your shopping.”

“So that’s the story of my life,” she said with a sigh, as they walked back towards her apartment, their arms laden with her shopping.

“Libby sounds like a handful,” Lorenzo said, frowning.

“Libby is a great girl. Beautiful, and charming
, if she wants to be.” Kate balanced her paper bag filled to the brim with her groceries. “I don’t blame her. She’s seen so much heartache and loneliness in her short life, she’s gonna have all that frustration bottled up inside of her.”

“You’re protective of her,” he said, grinning.

“She’s family. You protect your family,” she smiled back. “You must have seen her around. Slim, tall, blue eyes, blonde?”

He shook his head. “We moved in only a couple of months ago. And most of those days I leave home early and arrive late. Certainly not the hours where I would be able to casually gallivant with high school kids.”

“Where did you move from?”

“
New Jersey. Lived there all our lives. And then I got this job at
Green
Oak
Pizzeria.
Emilio, the chef offered to provide me cooking lessons if I worked extra hours. I thought it was the best opportunity for a poor boy like me. But of course that meant more travel expenses with a lesser wage. We were lucky to get this apartment,” he said, nodding at it.

They were standing at the driveway, looking up at the lit windows of the apartments above them. They had spent the entire day together, returning home at dusk.

“Who lives with you?” Kate asked, curiously.

“Two sisters, my mama and sometimes the occasional relative,” he shrugged. “My other sisters are married.”

He looked down, frowning at the bag of shopping. “You sure this is all you need? It
looks quite little to manage for a week.”

“It’s enough,” she said, rolling up her eyes and thumped his arm, softly. “They’re mostly easy canned and micro-waved meals.
But I’ll also leave some money with Rudy and Libby, just in case.”

She smiled and walked into the building, climbing up the stairs.

“You haven’t tried the elevator?” he said, pointing at it.

She screwed her nose and shook her head. “I don’t think so. They’re most likely not gonna work. Why bother?”

“You live on the third floor,” he insisted.

Her eyes brightened. “Wanna make a race for it? You
- the elevator and me- the stairs?”

He grinned and then rushed towards the elev
ator, pressing onto its button to usher it down.

She was on the first floor
landing when she heard the elevator doors open with its familiar croaky ding. She sped up, thinking amusedly that he would be there anyway despite all her efforts to win this frivolous race.

She reached her floor
almost out of breath and managed to catch Lorenzo climb out through its rustic metallic doors, a cloud of displeasure intermixed with disappointment in his face.

She burst into a series of chuckles
. “What happened?” she blurted, when she could.

“Mrs Patterson from the fourth floor and her dogs happened. I let them
in like the good gentleman I am and then I regretted it when she decided to not walk, but crawl into it.”

“Come on, now, Lorenzo.
Don’t be such a poor loser. You wouldn’t have minded it if you had won.”

He grinned. “Next time, we race the stairs together.
I’ll beat you in no time. These abs…,” he started, pointing at it.

“No, not the abs again,”
she cut him off, rolling up her eyes.

“I haven’t finished
what I wanted to say,” he said in a hurtful voice.

“Save it Lorenzo. Don’t want to hear it.”

“But…”

She shook her head despairingly and then opened her apartment door with a smile.
The children were sporadically spread over the carpet watching television. They instantly looked up at her as she entered the room. Libby was sprawled on her stomach, reading a book with her legs pendulously bobbing in the air. She turned and glowered at her. Lily ran up to her to hug her, her face beaming with glee.

“Hi,” she said, tousling Lily’s sliver blonde locks. “
Everyone, this is Lorenzo,” she pointed behind her.

Lorenzo didn’t say much other than nod his head. His eyes had darkened, his jaw-line stiffened.
With Kate’s shopping in his arms, he followed her quietly into the kitchen.

“Just leave them on the table,” Kate directed. “I’ll sort them out later. Do you want a cup of coffee or tea?”

He shook his head as he put down the shopping.

“Hi, I’m Rudy,” Rudy introduced himself as he stepped into the kitchen. “Thanks for helping Kate with the shopping.”

Kate smiled to herself. Rudy had suddenly metamorphosed into an ideally protective brother during her absence, electing himself as man of the house.

“No problem,” said Lorenzo, shaking Rudy’s out-stretched palm.

“Do you live in the building?”

“First floor, number three.”

“Rudy,” Kate said. “I need to go away for a few days for work reasons. Lorenzo, here, will keep an eye on things while I’m away. Is that okay?”

“How many days?” Rudy asked, his eyebrow in an arch.

“Six days.”

“Yeah, okay,”
Rudy shrugged and turned to the other man in the room. “Thanks, Lorenzo. But we will be fine on our own. Kate bothers needlessly about us.”

“She’s your sister. She’s meant to. I think it’s nice having someone worry about our whereabouts like that. It makes life worth living.”

“I think people should reserve their opinion when they’re not asked for it. It makes life less stressful,” Libby interfered. “Particularly if they’re standing in someone else’s kitchen and talking about someone else’s family.”

Lorenzo
turned at her, his face taut. A muscle moved in his jaw.

Kate intervened quickly. “Libby,” she scolded. “Hold your tongue. Lorenzo is a guest in this house. And my friend.”

“I can see that,” Libby mocked. “You keep wearing his shirts.”

Kate re
ddened, her face burning with rage.

Lorenzo stepped up to her angrily, glaring down at her.

Libby glared equally back.

“That’s enough, Libby!” Rudy growled.

Libby stepped away, taken aback by Rudy’s outburst of anger.

Kate stared at Rudy
in astonishment. She had never seen him as riled before. He never intervened in her squabbles with Libby and she certainly never heard him shut her up like he just did.

Libby stomped out of the kitchen in a terrible ire.

Rudy glanced embarrassingly at Lorenzo. “I’m sorry about that. My sister has this temper which stubbornly refuses to leave her sometimes. We don’t know where she got it from. We only know she was born with it.”

Lorenzo attempted a smile but instead it appeared as an awkward simper. “
It really is fine. I have a younger one too and equally terrible with her temper if not more.”

Rudy nodded appreciatively.

“I’ll see you in seven days,
bella
dama
,” Lorenzo said, turning to Kate.

Kate smiled apologetically
. “I will, Lorenzo. And I don’t expect for you to come up and  check on the  kids.  Certainly not after that attitude.” She grimaced.

Lorenzo shrugged. “Of course, I will
bella
dama
. I gave you my word.” He ruffled her hair. “In a week,
bella
dama
. And don’t you dare forget to leave me here with your feisty sister.”

*****

With Lorenzo now gone, it was inevitable that Kate’s mind would return to her dooming future with Clayton.

She made a quick call to Bridget asking her to watch over her fami
ly and after a series of investigative questions to which Kate gave as many elusive answers, Bridget finally agreed.

She was glad she didn’t need to pack a bag as Clayto
n must have arranged for that. She however did gather a set of lingerie. She blushed at the thought of Clayton choosing her underwear for the weekend.

But after their morning showdown, s
he vowed to detach all emotion for her employer. Clayton hurt her more than anyone had and in such a short time too. She had been stupid to have felt for him any more than she should have. She had forgotten she was simply a contract to Clayton.

She now stood in the centre of Clayton’s living room. She wore an old jeans and a tee-shirt. She held onto the sides of her pants, her hands clutched tightly onto the fabric in agitation. She raised her head obstinately at Clayton, her lips drawn into a tight, thin line.

Clayton roved his eyes distastefully down her. “Is this how you intend to travel with me?”

“You told me not to bother about luggage or clothes. I was merely following instructions.”

Clayton smirked. “I can see I made a wise decision after all.”

He pointed towards a Samsonite silver travel bag. Its rib-caged scratch resistant exterior told her it was far more expensive than her weekly family expenses.

“Pick out something from there. Just make sure it’s both comfortable and presentable because the flight’s gonna be a long one,” he said. “You can use my bedroom to change.”

He left her to sort herself out while he escaped into his study.

She heard him making a few more calls. She picked up the bag reluctantly and walked
despondently towards his room. And when she saw his bed, tears whipped her eyes. Only two nights ago, they had spent a burning passion in this room. Clayton had spoken endearing words into her ears and she, like a fool had believed them.

She wiped away her tears roughly and threw the ba
g onto the bed. It contained a luxurious assortment of garments catering to both her casual and formal needs. She wondered if Jesse was responsible for putting her bag together.

She pulled out a pair of casual
beige pants and a matching striped, polo collared shirt. The long sleeves provided her with the much needed reticence.

She stepped into his dressing room
and stripped out of her clothes. As she slipped into her new attire, she caught her reflection in the mirror. A shadow of self-contempt fell over her. She was every bit the harlot she had been afraid to be.

Another set of tears walloped her eyes. She stiffened herself and brushed her hair irately into a tight ponytail at the crown of her head.

If she was going to be a harlot, she was going to be damned well sure she was a sophisticated and attractive one.

She walked out of th
e dressing room and retrieved a pair of nude pumps she had seen in the bag. They fit her perfectly. Jesse had remarkable memory, she thought.

She straightened up fro
m the bed to try walking in them and found Clayton standing in the doorway, watching her.

His eyes narrowed. “If you’re ready, may be
we can start leaving,” he said, his voice crisp and heavy.

“You’re not going to give me the approval? You criticize everything else I wear,” she remarked briskly.

A muscle tensed in his jaw.  He sauntered up to her and pulled her close against his chest.  A hand rested on her nape and the other captured her tiny waist. “I don’t need to. You’re already in the clothes I approved of. There
is
something though that has irked me even since I’ve met you.”

He leant closer to her to breathe her fragrance on her neck.

She closed her eyes from the sensuality he was driving into her. She threw her head back; her body leant feverishly into his as she felt him run his hand from her waist, up to her sides and to her breast.

His other hand travelled sensually up
into her hair. He widened the opening in her shirt, laying a tiny kiss on her bosom.