Authors: Sofia Cruz
"How did you know?"
"I didn't. Lucky guess," Melanie said with a shrug. Felicia burst out laughing, but it sounded hollow to Melanie, without any heart in it. She waited in silence, hoping Felicia would elaborate.
Felicia went back to staring blindly out the window, debating her next move. She wanted out of here, away from Lonna, but thought she was in too deep. But Melanie was here now, sitting right beside her, and she seemed to have figured everything out anyway. If anyone could get her out of this mess, it was Melanie, but a part of her was very afraid of what would happen if she went against Lonna. Felicia was so lost in thought, she jumped when she heard Melanie's voice.
"Did you know Lonna was your uncle's ex-fiancé?"
Felicia nodded. Feeling ashamed at being duped, she couldn't seem to find her voice. Then she felt Melanie wrap an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against her, and Felicia felt the dam inside her break open. Her head on Melanie's shoulder, the tears spilled out in waves.
Melanie laid her other hand against Felicia's head and held Felicia against her, giving her time to cry it out. She pressed a kiss to the back of Felicia's head and gently rocked her. It took some time, but she heard Felicia's jerky breathing and could tell that her tears were starting to subside.
Melanie turned towards Felicia on the bed, pulling one leg further up, and pulled Felicia against her so she was sitting between her legs, leaning against Melanie's chest. She kept her arms wrapped around Felicia and laid her cheek against the top of Felicia's head.
"Just tell me what happened, Felicia, so I can figure out how to get you out of here and someplace safe."
Felicia snuggled closer and took a deep breath. "Jessica and I couldn't go two seconds without fighting, and I couldn't even make myself look Uncle David in the eye, I was just so ashamed of myself. And I knew Jessica was hurt because you were gone, that she partly blamed me for it, and I blamed myself too." Sitting up a little, Felicia looked at Melanie and gave her a weak smile. "To be honest, I missed you too. I...I think that's why I started sending you e-mail. I needed someone to still like me."
"Oh, Felicia! I always liked you. I never stopped. I left because," but Felicia laid her fingers against Melanie's lips, stopping her.
"I know why you left. It wasn't your fault, Melanie. I'm the one who made a mess of it all."
"You didn't do it alone, Felicia. I dug my own hole. Just forget about that for now, though, and finish telling me what happened."
Felicia leaned back against Melanie and went on with her story. "I need to get away, just for a little while. I told Lonna that, and she suggested I come up here and stay with her for a while, so I took out some money, packed my things, and drove up here intending to stay for a few months, or so. I just wanted some time to get my head straight, but when I got here, told Lonna it was just for a little while, she turned on me. She starting laughing, really mean like, and told me my place was with her now; that I belonged to her. She said if I tried to leave, she'd give the police all the evidence she has against me."
Felicia laid a hand on Melanie's chest and pushed herself away. "I bumped into her almost a year ago at a restaurant back home. I recognized her and we started talking. We ended up lovers. After a while, we started talking about my family and what happened to my parents. She started talking about what happened to me afterwards, starting filling my head with all this stuff about how unfair Uncle David had treated me, about how I always ended up in Jessica's shadow. I was falling in love with her and, like a fool, hung on every damn word; even started to believe her. Finally, she started talking about how I needed to put Jessica and my uncle in their place, and she had this whole plan all worked out."
Felicia sat upright on the bed and hung her head. "I bought into it, lock, stock, and barrel." She gave a humorless laugh, and then continued. "Lonna laid out the plan for me to embezzle company funds. 'You wont really steal it, just hide it for a bit.' That's how she explained it to me. She had this computer whiz available to help me do all of it. What I didn't find out, until I got here, was that this computer geek was able to make it look like it was all me, that I did it without help, and he had copies of everything, which he gave to Lonna. She has enough evidence against me that, if the D.A.'s office saw it, they'd press charges in a heartbeat. The case would be a slam dunk for them."
Melanie sucked in a deep breath. If Felicia was right, if what Lonna told her was true, Felicia would be in jail in a nanosecond. It wouldn't matter if David chooses not to press charges. In the case of a felony, the D.A.'s office could press charges themselves. If they had enough clear-cut evidence, it wouldn't even matter that David would be testifying as a hostile witness. Hell, with enough proof, they probably wouldn't even need David's testimony.
"Did you see this so called proof?"
Felicia nodded yes and Melanie swore under her breath. Now that she had started telling Melanie everything, Felicia desperately needed to finish, so she pressed on. "When Lonna saw that I knew I was trapped, she tossed me keys to this apartment and papers giving me a new identity. She told me it was all taken care of, that she was even saving me a job at her club. All I have to do to stay free, is work at her club and be available when she wants me."
Felicia's last few words had Melanie's fist clenching in anger, her gut knotting up. She knew exactly what 'available when she wants me' meant. If Lonna walked into this apartment right now, Melanie knew she'd probably beat her to death, she was that angry. Standing up, she grabbed Felicia's hand and started for the door.
"What are you doing?" Felicia asked, her voice panicky.
"I'm getting you the hell out of here! Hell'll freeze over before that bitch touches so much as a hair on your head, every again." Melanie's eyes were locked on the front door and she didn't immediately notice that Felicia was trying to pull away from her. When it finally registered, she let go of Felicia's hand and spun around, fire in her eyes.
"Don't tell me you want to stay!"
Felicia bristled. "I don't want to go to jail! That's exactly what'll happen if Lonna finds out I skipped town. The minutes she shows up here and finds me gone, she'll call the police and hand them everything she's got against me." Felicia took a few steps back, afraid Melanie would try and bodily drag her out the door.
She knew Felicia was right, but hated the thought of leaving her here. "Ah!" she screamed in frustration, beginning to pace around the little apartment.
Felicia stood in the middle of the living room, nervously watching Melanie prowl back and forth. "I have to stay," she whispered.
"Shit!" Melanie whirled around to stare at Felicia, feeling torn in two. Felicia was right, but she didn't think she could leave her behind.
Felicia saw it in Melanie's eyes and walked over to her, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. "I don't think I can watch you leave anymore than you can walk away and leave me here, but there's no other way."
Melanie couldn't bring herself to hug Felicia back; she just stood there feeling like complete scum. Felicia stepped back.
"Tell Jessica I'm sorry," Felicia whispered. "That is, if she's speaking to you?" She forced herself to grin at Melanie, trying to lighten things up.
Melanie pulled the key out of her pocket and held it up for Felicia to see. Felicia gave her a quizzical look.
"It's the key to your front door, so yeah, she's talking to me," Melanie explained, grinning back.
Felicia felt her heart lift a little. At least something was going right. "Good. Good. You two are good together. At least I'll know she'll be ok. You'll take care of her."
Melanie felt her smile disappear. Felicia was talking as if she would never go home again.
"I'll take care of you too, Felicia. I know I have to leave now, but I'll be back for you, and soon. I'm not leaving you with that bitch a moment longer than absolutely necessary."
She could tell by Melanie's voice that she meant it, and took heart. If anyone could get her out of this mess, it was Melanie. She trusted her completely. Giving Melanie the best smile she could manage, she pushed her towards the door.
"I'm going to hold you to that. Now go." She pushed a reluctant Melanie out into the hallway and slowly shut the door. Once it was closed, Felicia sank against it and slid to the floor, fighting tears. She hoped Melanie came back for her soon, because she wasn't sure how much longer she could live like this.
Chapter 6
It took everything she had to make herself leave Felicia and drive back to New Orleans. She grew more and more angry with each passing mile, vowing to not only get Felicia home, but also annihilate Lonna Tassin in the process. Pulling up in front of Jessica's house, their house now, she slammed out of the car and shoved her way into the house.
Hearing the front door slam shut, Jessica ran out of the kitchen into the hall, all smiles, to greet Melanie. Her good mood quickly deteriorated when she saw the look on Melanie's face, and it was quickly replaced with fear.
"Did you fine Felicia? Is she ok?" Jessica reached out and to grab Melanie's arm, but she pushed passed her. Ignoring Jessica, Melanie marched into the parlor and went straight for the liquor cabinet. Pouring herself a glass of bourbon, filling it almost to the top, she tried to calm down enough to tell Jessica what happened. She tossed back almost half of it, and then slammed it down on the bar, liquid spilling onto her hand as it sloshed over the top.
Jessica felt ice cold; fear like a dead weight in the pit of her stomach. Clearly, Melanie's trip hadn't gone well and she was afraid to hear about it. Suspecting the worst, she started picturing Felicia in the hospital, or worse, and couldn't stop the tears quietly spilling down her face.
Melanie heard a soft sob and spun around to find Jessica in tears. Rushing over, she wrapped her arms around Jessica and held her close.
"Felicia's alive and healthy. Don't worry."
Jessica pulled away, brushing the tears from her eyes. "But not happy. You didn't say happy, or safe."
How did Jessica get to know her so well in such a short time? Frowning, mad at herself for scaring Jessica, she grabbed her hand and pulled her into the living room so they could sit down on the couch. She pulled Jessica against her and told her everything.
When she finished, Jessica leaped off the couch and tore out of the room. Melanie rushed after her.
"Where are you going, Jessica?" She followed her into the kitchen and saw her reach for the wall phone.
"Who are you calling?"
"The police. I want this bitch in handcuffs within the hour."
Melanie yanked the phone out of Jessica's hands. "If you call the police, Felicia will be the bitch in handcuffs, not Tassin. Please, Jessica, let's sit down and try to talk this over. Better yet, I'm calling your uncle and asking him to come over." Melanie dialed as she spoke. As she listened to the phone ring, she faced Jessica and held out a hand. Jessica accepted it and she pulled her against her side, hugging her tight.
David answered on the fourth ring and Melanie gave him a quick summary of her trip to Baton Rouge. David hung up, promising to be there within the next ten minutes. Keeping her arm around Jessica, she walked them both back to the living room and sat down to wait for David. She and Jessica didn't speak; Jessica just sat, leaning against Melanie while Melanie kept her arms around her.
It wasn't long before she heard a car outside. She started to unravel herself from Jessica to go answer the door, but barely made it up off the couch before David came striding into the room.
He sank into the nearest chair and Melanie retook her place beside Jessica, pulling her back into her arms. The three of them just stared at each other, lost in their own thoughts, none of them sure as to where to start.
David was the first to break the silence. "The ball's next week. It was always her favorite event of the year."
Jessica jumped up. "She's not dead, damn it! She's an hour and a half away with that...that..." but she couldn't seem to finish. Melanie reached up and tried to pull Jessica back onto the couch, but Jessica brushed her off and started pacing around the room, glaring at her uncle.
Watching, Melanie decided she felt a little better seeing Jessica mad, rather than tears. Jessica fired up was a lot closer to normal than seeing her cry. She watched her pace for a while, David staring at the floor, and her mine raced, trying to find a solution to Felicia's problem.
"What ball is that, David?" At this point, Melanie was just trying to break some of the tension that seemed to be squeezing all the air out of the room.
"The Halloween costume ball at the social club. The club is one of the oldest in the country. Most of the prominent families of this city have belonged to it since before the Civil War. Every year, at Halloween, they throw a party that's kind of a cross between a costume party and the old fashioned ball's they used to have back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century."
"You mean women wearing dresses with corsets and guys in bad white wigs?"
David laughed. "Yes, something like that."
"How big of a social event is this ball?"
"Well, it's one of the most popular events in the city every year, and you can always count on the fact that the who's who of the city will attend. These days, the club sells tickets as a community fund raiser, and all the proceeds go to several select charities."
Jessica was getting angry. What the hell was Melanie doing making small talk about some stupid party?
"So, really, every important person in town attends, right? Politicians, the D.A., members of the city's wealthiest families, people like that?"
"Yes." David studied Melanie's face and would swear he could see the wheels starting to turn. He remained silent, though, letting her work through her thoughts. He glanced over at Jessica, who was staring at Melanie looking as if she was ready to spit nails. He saw Jessica start to cross the room, so he held out a hand, silently asking her to stop. Jessica turned her glare on him, instead, but he held a finger to his lips and pointed at Melanie. He saw Jessica look back at Melanie, noticed that she had caught on, and let out a quiet sigh, settling back in his chair.
The trick would be proving that Lonna had set Felicia up. Melanie had known people like Lonna her whole life. They were arrogant and self centered, more in love with themselves than anyone, or anything else, on the planet. Eventually, it made them stupid. Give a fool enough rope and sooner or later, he ends up hanging himself, or herself, as the case may be.
"I've got an idea," she announced.
##
That night she and Jessica lay in bed, Jessica asleep in her arms. She'd tried to get something started, thinking that making love might help Jessica burn off some of her tension, but she just wasn't interested. She felt relieved when Jessica had at least let her hold her. She was afraid Jessica might have been too angry to let her, but that hadn't been the case, thank God.
She went over her plan again in her head. The three of them had stayed up late into the night, working out the kinks. So late, that David was spending the night in one of the many rooms. Jessica had offered him one near their own room, but David had given her a knowing smile and headed for the other side of the house.
David seemed ok with the fact that she and Jessica were a couple now, even happy about it, and that had been a relief too. Everything would change, though, if her plan failed. If she didn't get Felicia home, safe, keep her out of prison, then Melanie had no doubt that David's opinion of her would completely dissolve. She was afraid her and Jessica wouldn't survive it either. That terrified her as much as thinking that she wouldn't be able to protect Felicia, to get her away from Lonna.
Restless, she slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Jessica. Tip toeing out of the room, she went back downstairs and poured herself another drink. She walked through the doors that opened out onto the wrap around porch and plunked down on the porch swing. Pushing with her foot, she slowly rocked back and forth, sipping on her glass of Jack and staring out across the expansive yard.
Jessica woke up and instantly knew, without rolling over, that Melanie was gone. A little panicky, she jumped out of bed and went down to the kitchen. Finding it empty, her sense of panic increased, afraid that Melanie had left. Walking though the house, she saw the open French doors that led to the side porch. Getting closer to the doorway, she could hear the creak of the porch swing. Taking a hesitant step outside, she almost sighed with relief as she saw Melanie on the swing.
Feeling someone approach, Melanie looked up, yanking herself out of her trance, and smiled as she spotted Jessica standing nervously at the edge of the swing. She patted the empty space beside her and Jessica quickly took it, pulling her legs up under her and curling against her side. She wrapped her arm around Jessica's shoulders and pulled her in close. The fact that Jessica had come looking for her made her insanely happy, for some reason.
"I'm sorry," Jessica whispered.
"For what?"
"For not being in the mood earlier."
She laughed. She couldn't help it. "Oh, angel, don't ever apologize to me for that. There's no need for it. Besides, if you feel like you have to, then we have a problem."
Melanie looked down into Jessica's face and those beautiful green eyes that she'd swear she could see sparkle, even here in the dark. Leaning over, she brushed her lips over Jessica's.
"I should be apologizing. I screwed up today."
"How so?"
"By not throwing Felicia over my shoulder and bringing her home."
"No! You did the right thing, the best thing. Felicia was right. If you had brought her home, she would have been met by the police and dragged off to jail. Lonna wouldn't have wasted any time turning her in. No, you did the right thing, walking away. Now Lonna doesn't know that we know the whole truth, and we have room to take the proper steps, and do it right, not rushed."
Melanie sucked in a breath, fighting back tears. Jessica had no idea how much it helped to hear her say what she said. She felt Jessica lay her arm over her stomach and pull her a little closer.
Jessica could feel all the tension in Melanie and knew there was something else wrong. "What is it?" she asked, tugging on Melanie's body as she asked.
"I don't even know what this bitch looks like, yet I can't get the image out of my head of her with Felicia. Of her..." Melanie couldn't make herself finish.
Sitting up, Jessica pulled the glass out of Melanie's hand and set in on the porch. She wrapped both her arms around Melanie and pulled her down against her, guiding Melanie's head to rest on her chest as she stretched both of them out, so they were lying across the seat of the swing. She kissed the top of Melanie's head.
"I know, cher, I know. I can't help but think the same things, but you're not to blame. No one's to blame except that...that...bitch, Lonna Tassin. And you and I, love, are going to see to it that she pays for it. With everything she's got and then some."
Melanie heard the steel conviction in Jessica's voice and felt reassured. Sinking into Jessica, she closed her eyes. She tried to remember the last time somebody held her and promised her everything would be all right, and came up blank.
"Don't let go, Jessica. Not tonight."
"I won't, I promise. Not ever." She held Melanie in her arms and they both fell asleep in the porch swing.
##
It was Devil's Night. Tomorrow was the Halloween Ball and, quite possibly, their one and only chance to get Felicia out of trouble and back home. Melanie was stretched out on the leather sofa in Jessica's room. She'd started a fire in the hearth and was lying there watching the flames flicker. It was the end of October and she was amazed at how warm it still was. There was just a little dampness in the air tonight, just enough of a slight chill to warrant a small fire, but nowhere near as cold as it could be back home. She could remember Halloween's when it had snowed.
Staring into the fire, she listened to Jessica bustling around the room. She was getting their costumes together for tomorrow night and had already modeled one of the ones she was thinking of wearing.
Melanie grabbed the back of the sofa and pulled herself up a little, curious as to what Jessica was doing, as she'd been listing to the rustling of clothes for the last five minutes. Peeking over the top, she saw Jessica standing in the doorway of her closet, fusing with two sets of costumes. She was wearing a half-slip in an eggshell color and a matching pair of silk French cut panties. That's why Melanie had retreated to the sofa, in an effort to keep her hands to herself.
"I thought you had already decided on a costume?"
"These are for you."
"Oh." Watching the way the silk panties moved over Jessica's firm, round little ass, Melanie decided it was best to lay back down.
Jessica was watching Melanie out of the corner of her eye and smiled as Melanie shook her head and disappeared behind the sofa again.
"Depending on which one I choose, I might have to change my costume again."
"Which one did you choose," Melanie's voice drifted over the couch and across the room.
"Well, since you're obviously not going to do it..." Jessica couldn't suppress the tiny grin.
"Oh, ok. What are my options?" Again, Melanie stayed stretched out on the couch.
"Zorro, or The Phantom of the Opera." Jessica watched Melanie's head pop back up over the top of the couch and tried not to laugh. It made her think of that game at the arcade where all those little groundhogs jumped up and you had to try and hit them with this big mallet.
"I thought this was some old fashioned ball. I figured I'd just wear a tux, or something."
"No, silly. It's a little more modern than that." Jessica reached for the hangers the two outfits sat on and pulled them out of the closet. Walking about half way towards the couch, she held them up so neither one dragged on the floor, and let Melanie have a look.
On a huff, Melanie stood up and walked over to inspect the costumes. She was paying more attention to the masks than anything else. If she was hidden well enough, she could move around during the party with a relative amount of freedom.