A Passionate Discovery (Self-Discovery Series) (33 page)

“I think
that’s a really good idea, Carla,” Scarlett said. “Jason could come by, and I
just don’t think you’re ready to deal with him yet.” They’d both kept quiet as
much as possible while Sylvia was there, out of respect for the professional,
but Scarlett was really worried that Jason wouldn’t be able to stay away from Carla
for long. As angry as she was with him at that moment, she knew in his own
strange way Jason cared for her friend.

“I think
maybe you’re right and we should get out of here.” The last thing she wanted to
do just then was deal with Jason, she was too drained, physically and
emotionally, for that. All she wanted to do was get some sleep.

“Don’t
even worry about packing anything,” Daniel told her as she pushed herself to
her feet and slowly made her way towards her bedroom. “I’ll send one of my
people out to grab some fresh clothes for both of you.” His cell phone rang as
he ushered the two girls out of the condo ahead of them but he ignored it, he
knew it was Jason, and he had no intention of talking to him just then.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Without an
alarm to wake her Carla slept until late; she didn’t realize how late until she
finally woke and rolled over to see that the alarm clock displayed a little
after five.

She was
shocked. She knew she had been tired when she crawled between the sheets of the
bed at Daniel’s place, which she hadn’t done until almost dawn, but she hadn’t
thought she would sleep for so long.

Reluctantly
she threw back the covers and got out of the wonderfully soft four poster bed Daniel
had showed her to. Standing up she looked around the room, seeing it properly
for the first time; she hadn’t really paid attention to it when she arrived in
the early hours.

The room
was elegant, in an understated fashion, a contrast to Jason’s house, which was
a display of wealth. The walls were a neutral cream, set off by soft pale beige
carpeting, that felt wonderful under her feet, and matching drapes at the
window.

Several
bags just inside the door of the bedroom caught her eye as she continued to
look around, the clothes Daniel had promised to have collected she realized.
Crossing to them she picked the first one up and carried it over to the bed,
where she dumped the contents out.

Designer
labels stared up at her from every outfit, reminding her of Jason and the money
he had spent on her, buying her affection. Thinking of Jason brought tears to
her eyes and angrily she dashed them away before digging through the clothes on
the bed for something he hadn’t bought.  Everything from the first bag had come
from him, and she shoved them all aside, trying not to think about how long she
would have needed to work at her job to earn enough to buy even one of the
outfits.

She had
better luck with the second bag, finding an old pair of sweatpants and a sports
bra, the kind of thing she normally wore to the gym. Grabbing up the clothes Carla
made her way into the bathroom, stopping the moment she walked through door,
stunned.

The
bathroom was amazing, like nothing she’d ever seen before, and she could only
stare at it in wonder from the doorway. The bathtub was huge, more than big
enough to hold four people at once, without them being cramped. There was also
a shower cubicle in the corner of the room that looked as though it could hold
three without them bumping into one another while they cleaned themselves.

Aside from
the bath and the shower there was two sinks; why the room needed two sinks Carla
couldn’t fathom, and a toilet. Every bit of plumbing she could see was silver,
or at least silver-plated, she wasn’t sure which.

All of
that was stunning, but it was the sight of a large flat screen television on
the wall above the sinks, across from the bath, and a laptop on a small table
next to it, that amazed her the most. Why anyone would want a television in
their bathroom, let alone a laptop, she couldn’t fathom.

Perhaps
there was such a thing as too much money for one’s own good, she thought as she
stepped into the shower, gasping as the shower heads came out from all sides,
surrounding her.

Carla
showered quickly, though not before investigating the dozens of differently
marked fragrances, soaps and shampoos in the huge egg shaped dispenser that sat
in the corner of the stall. Definitely overboard, she thought with a small
grin, though she did have fun trying out a few of them.

Idly she
wondered what Jason would have thought of it, his bathroom was almost
exclusively a male preserve. Thinking about Jason prompted a stab of pain in
her heart and she hurriedly pushed him from her mind as she finished cleaning
herself.

Stepping
from the shower she took the towel from the rail and briskly dried herself off,
determinedly thinking of anything but the man who had caused her so much
heartache.

Foremost
in her thoughts, aside from Jason, was work. Despite the money Jason had
deposited in her account she needed to find herself a new job, and the longer
she put off beginning the search the harder it was going to be to get started. Baby
steps, she reminded herself, just take it one step at a time and she would
manage.

Pulling on
her clothes Carla threw the wet towel into the laundry basket and returned to
the bedroom to find some footwear and, she hoped, her toothbrush and hairbrush
so she could make herself a little more presentable. She found what she was
looking for in the third bag Daniel’s man had brought. There was an assortment
of footwear in the bag but she settled for running shoes that went with her
sweatpants, and after pushing her feet into them she returned to the bathroom
to brush her teeth and sort out the tangle of hair on her head.

Once she
had tamed her hair, and made herself feel as presentable as she thought she was
likely to get just then, Carla left the suite and went in search of her friend.
She couldn’t help but compare Daniel’s house to Jason’s as she made her way
through it, and hated herself for once again thinking of Jason, when all she
wanted to do was forget him.

It was
with relief that she heard Scarlett’s voice, and she quickly followed it until
she found her friend in the kitchen. Walking through the door she got a bigger
shock than she had when she entered the bathroom upstairs. Daniel was wearing
an apron that read ‘World’s Best Chef’ with a cartoon character beneath it. She
couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing.

“Something
funny?” Daniel asked sternly, looking around at Carla, who was leaning against
the doorframe as she laughed and giggled.

“Sorry,” Carla
apologized hurriedly, worried she had offended him. “I didn’t mean to laugh.”
She did her best to stop and be serious but she couldn’t manage it; just when she
thought she had the laughter under control a fresh peal burst from her. “I’m
really sorry, I can’t help it,” she gasped out between laughs, “it’s the
apron.”

“Is there
something wrong with my apron? I happen to like it; it was a gift from my
mother.” He tried his best to look offended by her laugher but couldn’t quite
manage it; a smile creased his face and broadened as he too began laughing.  Soon
enough Scarlett joined in the laughter as well.

It felt so
normal to Carla, to be standing around laughing, that she began to feel a
little better. This was the type of relationship she wanted, she thought to
herself, one that was relaxed and fun and not filled with intensity.

Daniel
obviously didn’t have a problem dropping the sex stuff and being a normal person
outside of the bedroom, and he was certainly able to laugh at himself. She
couldn’t imagine Jason ever laughing at himself. Carla’s laughter cut off
abruptly as Jason filled her mind again.

Scarlett
gave Daniel a knowing look before turning back to Carla. “Come grab a seat, honey,
Daniel is making his famous Mushroom Ravioli; you don’t want to miss it.” She
was determined to make her friend smile, if it was at all possible; she wasn’t
going to let her drown in thoughts of Jason and everything that had happened.

“It sounds
wonderful, but I’m not sure I could eat a bite.” Despite the lovely aromas
wafting her way from the cooker Carla found she didn’t have an appetite.

“Okay,” Daniel
said, “but if you don’t eat, my heart will be completely shattered and Scarlett
will have to baby me all night to make me feel better.” He winked to let her
know he was only joking.

“Alright,
can’t have you making Scarlett do all that work.” Shaking her head Carla
laughed again. She hadn’t known Daniel for long but he seemed like a really
nice guy, and she was happy that Scarlett had found him.

“Thanks, hon,
you have no idea how whiny he can be when he doesn’t get his way.” Scarlett
grinned as Daniel started toward her with his spatula raised and ran round to
the other side of the island bar away from him.

“Be glad
my mushrooms might overcook or I’d take this spatula to that sexy little ass,
missy.” Shaking his head he chuckled. “Seriously, Carla, do you see what I have
to put up?”

“I think
you guys make the cutest couple.” Carla hadn’t meant to say what she was
thinking aloud and she flushed when she realized she had.

“Don’t
tell him that, his ego is already huge, I’m not sure I’ll be able to deal with
him if it gets any bigger.” Scarlett grinned, sticking her tongue out.

“Scarlett,
baby, you do know that I’m going to make you pay for every smartass comment
later tonight, right?” He lifted an eyebrow, trying to look stern, but the
apron and its cartoon character detracted significantly from the image he was
trying to present.

“Um, you
might want to take off the apron before you make threats like that.” Carla
giggled, joining in the teasing, feeling strangely comfortable with Scarlett’s
boyfriend.

“Two of
you now,” rolling his eyes Daniel turned back to the stove, “there’s no way I
can ever win.” With an exaggerated sigh he focused on his cooking before
chuckling deeply.

“I’m going
to show Carla the garden while you finish up, Mr. Chef of the Year.” Scarlett
walked over and raised herself up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“I’ll be
done in about twenty minutes, babe, you girls enjoy your walk.” He winked and
slid on a pair of oven mitts, causing both of them to laugh again. Waving the
spatula threateningly he warned them off with a smirk.

Scarlett
linked her arm in Carla’s and led her toward the back door. They walked down a
surprisingly long flight of concrete steps and over to a set of cushioned
concrete benches that overlooked a huge fire pit. “I figured you might need
some girl time,” she said sitting down and motioning for her friend to join
her.

“I’m going
to be fine, Scarlett, really I am, it’s just going to take some getting used
to.” Carla knew what her friend meant by girl time but she wasn’t ready to talk
about what had happened, it was too soon, she just wanted to push it all from
her mind, at least for the time being.

“I’m not
so sure. I know you, Carla, you’ll analyze this to death, just like you do
everything else, and I don’t want you torturing yourself, trying to work out
what you could have done differently. This wasn’t your fault, okay?” She knew
her best friend better than anyone else, and knew it would be just like her to
come up with some way in which everything that had happened was her fault,
rather than Jason’s.

“I can’t
do this right now, Scarlett. You have no idea how hard it is for me not to call
him up and tell him how sorry I am for the things I said, and for running off.”
All she wanted to do just then was to find her phone and do exactly that.

“That’s
what I’m talking about; you don’t have anything to be sorry for.” She knew Carla
was hurting, and knew she didn’t want to talk about the situation, but if she
didn’t she would find a way to excuse everything Jason had done and go back to
him. There wasn’t a doubt in Scarlett’s mind about that.

“You said
it yourself, Scarlett; neither of us really knew what we were getting into with
this.” She wanted to forgive him; it was killing her to sit there, knowing that
she’d never touch him again.

“Carla, honey,
you can’t do this. Do you think anything has changed? You still aren’t ready
for his games, and he obviously has no idea how to train someone as innocent in
the lifestyle as you.

“He needs
an experienced submissive, someone who can handle whatever situation he puts
her in, and who knows her limits well enough to put restrictions on the
relationship right from the start. And you need someone who is willing to take
the time to let you become accustomed to a sexual life, whether it involves the
lifestyle or not.”

“So you’re
saying I should go and find someone else to teach me about sex and being a
submissive?” Carla hadn’t wanted to be with a man in any way before Jason came
along, and she wasn’t sure she’d want to be with a man again.

“No, I
don’t mean you should just go out and find someone, honey. What I mean is, if
you’re going to be involved with someone, and I want you to be, I want you to
have what I have with Daniel, then you should find someone you can trust,
someone who will take their time with you.

“It
doesn’t matter if they’re in the lifestyle or if it’s just a vanilla
relationship, as long as you can trust them and they’re willing to be patient
with you,” Scarlett told her friend, hoping she could convince her. “Jason has
proven that he’s no good for you, that he doesn’t have the patience to guide
you as you need to be. I don’t want you to go back to him, and I know you want
to, and find yourself in the same position.

“If you
don’t do something he’ll destroy you. You already have problems with men.” She
saw the look on her friend’s face as she said that and hurriedly spoke again.
“I’m sorry, honey, but you know it’s true. After how your dad treated your mom
it’s no surprise that you have issues with men. If you go back to Jason and let
him continue to treat you as he has then you’ll just get worse.”

Carla was
silent for a few moments, her face turned away from her friend as she stared
out over the fire pit at the expanse of Daniel’s garden. It was beautiful, she
thought idly; a lush green lawn with a pond and water feature in the middle,
and the whole thing surrounded by beds and beds of brightly colored flowers.