Authors: Vivienne Harris-Scott
“
I think she is married, that's why she
left...
”
he said, in a semi-convinced tone.
“
Married? You don't do married women, too
many single ones chasing after you as it is...
”
she chuckled.
“
Mel...
”
came the warning, he was in no mood for
banter tonight.
“
Alright. Bite me. So, how do you know
she's married?
”
she asked, irritated.
“
She has an Irish name, but she's black and
doesn't have an Irish accent, her accent is from somewhere else, so there must
be an Irish or Scottish husband, that's the only explanation.
”
he deducted.
“
Well, if she's married
…”
she countered hesitantly,
“
Maybe upon waking up, she realized her
predicament and decided to flee, so she could think about what happened between
the two of you? Clearly, if she is indeed married, you can't expect her to
leave her husband overnight...
”
her voice trailed.
“
She has to leave him...
”
he stated
adamantly.
“
Jul
…”
she tried to interrupt him.
“
She is mine. I just found her, and I'm not
going to lose her. Not without a fight anyway. No fucking way. I don't care who
her husband is...
”
he said, his voice rising, as he was
feeling the anger constrict his chest once again.
“
She is mine,
”
he repeated in a tone that bore no
contradiction.
“
Julian...Please...
”
she pleaded.
“
Look, I've got to go for a swim, I'm all
wound up. We'll talk soon. I promise.
”
he said in a tired voice.
“
Julian...
”
she cut in, trying to reason with him.
“
I promise. Thanks for calling back sis.
Say hello to Charlie and the girls for me, I've got to go.
”
and he ended the call.
After a few empty days coupled with
restless nights, without any news and finding himself dishevelled, frustrated
and unravelling, Julian decided he needed to get out of the house or he would
suffocate.
He had cancelled all his appointments for
the rest of the week and even his shoots were rescheduled thanks to Ari who had
convinced the studio he was ill.
Julian knew he looked like a sleep-deprived
man, and he was. He considered it unprofessional for anyone to see him like
this. He simply wouldn't allow further humiliation.
Damn her!
He decided to go to his beach house in
Malibu and invite Marcus and Todd over for much needed banter and
boys
’
time.
He had spent the past few days trying to
decipher his emotions regarding Vi, and the gruelling exercise had worn him
out. He knew it wasn't just the sex that made him have these feelings for her.
Yes, the sex had been good. Strike that, incredible. No, actually spectacular,
by his very own standards. His body had responded to her in a way it had never
done with any other woman, but being bitterly honest with himself, he realized
even before touching her, his heart had already made the decision to surrender.
For lack of a better explanation, he could only say, he felt like finally
coming home, every time he looked at her. And, when she looked back at him
…
Well, when she looked at him, he felt
raw, yet curiously accepted, as if no matter what he did or say, as long as he
could get her to look at him as she had, all will be fine in his world. This
feeling was indescribable and had no price.
From the first time he had laid eyes on
her at the airport, he felt protective of her, like she was already his and he
was just regaining someone he lost a long time ago.
He needed her back. Until then, he had to
keep on living.
Being with his mates would ensure
a definite improvement of his mood.
Or at least,
he hoped
.
((~~!~~))
Vi
In the meantime, Vi had gone home. Well, if you could
call it that. She was renting a serviced apartment in Santa
Monica while in LA, and had been for the past two years. But, seeing that
she was actually out of the country every three weeks for two months or more each
time, she could hardly call it
‘
home
’
. It was just the place she was staying at.
She had a home, once, a long time ago, but
she couldn't think about it now.... Not, when she had more pressing matters to
attend to.
No one from her former life knew she
was based in LA and she wanted to keep it that way. Only a seldom few
people knew where she was in this world and it suited her just fine.
Any involvement with Julian McCarty would
ruin that the minute any media outlet would connect them.
Ethan would find out, and the pieces she
had carefully put back together in the past five years would shatter once
again.
She had called her usual car service the
morning she left Julian, making sure she didn't wake him in the process as it was
5:00 a.m. and she needed to think about what had transpired between them.
She knew he would not let her leave upon
waking up, and her own resolve would be faltering if she saw his blue eyes
staring at her.
Besides, she also knew falling in love
with him was simply out of the question in spite of her heart telling her it
had already happened.
She had given her all to a man once, only
to have it thrown back in her face.
She would not make that mistake again.
Never. The price had been too high.
Getting home at 6:00 a.m., she felt
concerned. She wanted to write him a letter to explain but couldn't find the
courage to do it. How would he react upon learning the truth about her?
She wasn't sure; and for her, certainty
was paramount in the life she created for herself in the past five years.
So far, she was just a random woman he met
at LAX and had his fun with, but what if he found out about Ethan? Not to
mention Luca!
Thank God, she hadn't given him her last
name. He would have made the connection instantly. If there was one thing
Julian McCarty was not, it was a fool. He was connected and she knew if he
suspected she was linked to Ethan, there was no telling what he would do.
Shaking herself, she went to bed, and fell
into a slumber for twelve hours.
Waking up in cold sweat that same evening,
she recalled her night with Julian, and realized they hadn't used any
protection.
With your luck, you might already be
pregnant
, said her inner voice.
“
Not a chance in hell!
”
she replied out loud, "or have you forgotten
what all the doctors said after Luca?"
She could barely recognize her own voice.
She was shivering in fear.
“
Well, it happened once, who's to say it
won't happen again? History has a funny way to repeat itself!
”
,
said the nagging voice.
Vi held her temples shouting,
“
Please, just shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
”
tears welling up in her eyes.
I
’
ll buy a test tomorrow just to make sure
,
she thought to herself, fear
still making her queasy.
She headed to her bathroom, barely
standing on her feet.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw
the same woman she had seen for the past five years.
A survivor.
“
You are fine,
“
she said to her reflection.
“
Nothing has changed.
”
She turned the faucet on to draw herself a
bath. She needed to relax, and forget about Julian McCarty and whatever it was
that he made her feel.
Feeling was a luxury she simply could not
afford.
Feeling. She was feeling. She needed to
regain control. Immediately.
She simply did not feel. Ever. That
’
s how she managed to live, to function, to
survive.
Feeling was the open door to trouble.
She needed to focus on her work, as she
had in the past three years. Work never betrayed her. Work didn't hurt. Work
had kept her alive, if not content.
Maybe she could take her trip to Dubai
earlier instead of in four weeks as scheduled?
Yes, she would call her client in a few
hours to see if she could leave immediately.
“
See?
”
she smiled to herself,
“
Everything is fine.
”
She placed candles around her tub,
thanking the Lord she could afford this little pleasure, poured some Moroccan
rose oil in the steaming water, set her
Ipod
on
Madame Butterfly, let her silky gown down and slipped into the water.
In the dim light of her bathroom, the
water holding and soothing her body like a cocoon, she closed her eyes,
and tried to forget the ache she was feeling.
Vi
December 1
st
, 2000. Circular Quay. Sydney.
Australia.
They were on the sofa, a cool breeze coming from the opened
door balcony overlooking the harbour. He was slowly massaging her feet while
she was immersed in her reading.
“
Will you marry me?
“
he asked softly.
Her head jerked up from her legal
brief, her spectacles almost falling off, the gesture being so brusque; she
looked straight into his cerulean blue eyes, and asked,
“
What did you say?
“
“
Will you marry me?
”
he repeated.
“
Ethan...Is this a joke?
”
she blurted, gasping.
“
No Vic, you know I love you, I know you
love me. We've been together for over a year, and I don't see myself with
anyone else, ever... so I think it's time I make it official...
”
he explained, caressing her legs.
“
You know I'm flying to New York tomorrow
night for three weeks...
”
she replied, her voice trailing off,
getting distracted by the circles he was drawing on her flesh.
“
About that...How would you feel about
moving permanently to Sydney?
“
he asked, hesitantly.
"Is this what this proposal is about?
You want me to move here?
”
she slowly retorted, suspicious. She
watched his face but couldn
’
t detect deceit. The blonde man in front of her only
showed passion and his blue eyes were unwavering under her scrutiny.
“
Babe, of course I want you to move here!
This is where I live. But no, that
’
s not why I
’
m proposing. I love you. I need you. I want
you to be my wife, the mother of my children. I mean it. Think about it. You
always say you want a family, as do I, but we can't start until we are
married...You always say you want to set roots somewhere, because you are sick
of feeling like you belong nowhere... Well, baby this is what I'm offering
you...We're not getting any younger...
”
he explained, letting his arguments
linger in the air.
“
Ethan, I say a lot of things. I'm 27
years-old, I have my dream job at the UN in New York, and you knew this when we
met...I'm barely starting my career. Besides, I don't know anyone in Australia,
except you and your mother who, by the way, will not be thrilled when she hears
about this...What would I do here?
”
she argued.
“
You'll be my wife! You're a lawyer! You could
do any type of work or not work at all! Whatever you
’
d want sweetheart! Hell, you can even be a
socialite or a full time lady of leisure...if you wish!
”
he passionately countered.
“
Money will never be an issue
…
so you really can do whatever you want.
”
he smiled, winking at her.
“
Ethan...
”
she sighed, pouting, her hand running
through her wavy hair, dishevelling her ponytail.
“
Vic. Please
…”
He shook his head, trying to stop the
opposing argument he knew was coming and added,
”
I'm 33. I have aspirations to one day be
in charge of this country. I need a woman by my side, and right now, you are
the woman I love. I need to know you are committed to this relationship...
”
“
Ethan...I...
”
she tried to interrupt.
“
Look...
”
He held his hand up, stopping her from talking,
and said,
”
I've been groomed my entire life for this.
The elections are next year, and I will be the Premier of New South
Wales providing all goes according to plan. This will only be the beginning
baby...
”
He smiled.
“
My days of having different women in my
arms stopped the day I met you in The Hague over a year ago. You mesmerized me
then, and you do even more now. I simply need to marry you. Please.
”
He looked at her with pleading eyes. He
loved her. She knew this with every fibre of her being, but marriage? To a
politician, no less?
Never mind Ethan was a talented lawyer and
the son of a mining industrialist letting his own company be run by other
lawyers and MBA holders; he lived and breathed for politics. He was one of the
youngest members of the house, and by all accounts was destined to leave his
mark on the Australian national political arena in the years to come.
"I'll think about it.
”
she capitulated.
“
That's all I ask... for now.
”
he said embracing her, and caressing her
wrist. He knew, that simple touch would make her weak.
((~~!~~))
That night, as they were in bed, and Ethan lay asleep
next to her, she started to think about her life.
She was 27, soon 28, and Ethan was the
first man she truly loved, body, spirit and soul. He was by all accounts the
love of her life, whatever the expression meant.
She had already proved her love for him by
coming to Sydney that first time last year, only six weeks after meeting him at
a cocktail party organized aside a conference at the International Court of
Justice in The Hague where she was presenting.
Meeting him, she was charmed by his
Australian accent and his wit. His physical beauty was of course immediately
attractive
–
what woman could resist a blonde
Adonis?-, but she had met and slept with plenty of aesthetically gifted men
before, so there was nothing new there. What had been was his air of
dangerousness that intrigued her, coupled with his relentless pursuit of her
after they had their first time.
The intimacy they shared. What they did to
each other, the way their bodies responded to each other. A new world had
opened for them both, from their first night. She became complete as he gave
her something she didn
’
t know she had been missing her entire
life.
Their first kiss had been violent. Their
coupling, urgent, unrelenting, unforgettable.
After the party, being the perfect
gentleman, he had accompanied her back to the Intercontinental Hotel where she
was staying for the duration of the conference. They had had a romantic dinner
and a final drink at the bar, and then she had taken the elevator to go to her
room. Alone.
As she had been fidgeting with the
electronic key to open the door, she had felt his presence behind her. She had
turned around and looked at him expectantly. No words were exchanged; He had
just pushed the door open.
He took her lips and she nearly drew
blood, biting his tongue and digging her nails into the back flesh of his neck.
He responded in kind, pushing her against the door, holding both her wrists
above her head with one strong hand while pressing his hardness into her body
as his free hand slid her dress up and in a single motion, ripped her underwear
before he lifted her leg around his waist. She moaned into his mouth as she
felt one of his fingers graze her clit and apply hard pressure to it, as
another entered her core. She whimpered when his tongue left her mouth to reach
the crook of her neck, only to bite it, as his hard member penetrated her in
one swift, determined stroke.
Under his ferocious touch, a side of her
she didn
’
t know she had, had awakened. Irrevocably.
"Oh...God...yes," she had
hissed, accepting him completely as he fucked her with deep and brutal strokes.
Her essence, her spirit, her total consciousness flowed down to the hard and
pulsating part of his body between her legs. Every sensation was
centered
on his heavily veined member
plowing
in out of her clinging cunt. In and out, he drove
himself into her again and again, striving to make them one.
The top of her dress open, her nipples,
getting chewed between his teeth in complete rhythm with her hands holding and
pulling his hair equally matching harmonically each stroke from his body into
hers; her sanity snapped, and only the fire in his pounding mattered.
Time stopped as she and he fucked and
fucked.
“
Mine,
”
he had claimed her, taking her mouth
again, when she reached her first climax, as if his only purpose in life was to
bring pleasure to her. As he had continued to hammer himself into her with
boundless energy, he had been rewarded again when her body violently trembled
and writhed against him as she had climaxed for the second time. Not slowing a
beat, he had continued to pound, deeper and harder, without pause. Her cunt was
full of him, sweat poured down her neck and breasts, as he continued to lick,
bite, and suck so hard, her flesh was almost raw. Yet, she found herself
whimpering and moaning against his neck, urging him on, uncontrollably.
Finally, she had felt him explode inside the clenching, squeezing, clutching
core of her womanhood.
Pleasure, so pure, so intense it hurt, had
burst upon her brain filling her with agony and ecstasy at the same time. He
had cried out
“
Mine,
”
with tears his eyes, as they had looked
at each other, almost mystified by the intensity of what had occurred.
“
Yours.
”
she had surrendered, crying into his ear,
as they clung to each other while the spasms subsided.
He had spent the rest of the night getting
acquainted with every inch of her body.
Their affair was intense, unconventional,
consuming.
Yet, they needed more; and now, he wanted
to make it official.
((~~!~~))
She was beautiful and knew it. It was her eyes, gold, green
and a hint of silver, a shade resulting from the combination of her mother
’
s Spanish and Swedish descent, and father
’
s African ancestry. Adding, smooth
luminous skin, a button nose, long shinning curls, and a slender figure, curvy
in all the right spots; she was all woman, destined to turn heads.
From the age of 3, her father told her he
had to prevent boys from harassing her at the pre-school. After yet another
barrette pulling incident, him and her mother enrolled her into an all-girls
Parisian catholic boarding school at the age of 7; she would be without
disturbances, and could develop the talents she was already showing as a child.
She had a younger brother, Deric, whom she would only see during the weekends
or the holidays until she turned 15.
Being alone at school, she grew up hedging
barriers to protect herself. She was the only colored girl and she was the
smartest student. Teachers loved her, while her classmates detested her. Too
smart, too pretty, too much, was something she heard daily. She only had one
girlfriend during her entire time there; Lily, an American girl from New York,
whose parents had also sent there because they were too busy with their
international jet setting to educate her. The fact that both their mothers were
Spanish sealed their bond. They were sisters.
This had been the only lasting bond she
experienced in her life thus far, apart from her brother, and of course
her dearest friend, Kevin.
She met Kevin at The International High
School in Paris, yet another private school, but at least a mixed one.
Her mother had died suddenly from an
aneurism at the age of 41. She was 15 years-old and fought with her father to
be released from the all-girls school. She wanted her independence and
threatened to file to be legally emancipated so she could claim her mother's
inheritance and start living her life on her own terms; he compromised by
allowing the change of school.
Being surrounded by teenage males on a
daily basis for the first time, she found out on her own that her beauty attracted
them. They didn't care that she was smart, only beautiful. She took advantage
of it and started to explore her sexuality. Kevin was the exception. Being
strikingly aesthetically beautiful himself and totally uninterested in his
appearance or hers, he understood her and they connected on a level she had
never experienced before with the opposite sex, including with her own brother.
During their two years there, he protected her, kept encouraging her, and
ultimately, became her first and only male friend. Her best friend.