Authors: Vivienne Harris-Scott
Vi and James
The party was in full swing when they arrived to the
McCarty Estate.
It was only 5:30 p.m., but if the number
of guests, liquor and waiters present, were any indication, this bash would go
well into the night.
Vi had rung James two days earlier, right
from Sydney airport telling him she was flying back to LA. She informed him
Julian
’
s birthday was only days away and she
wanted to surprise him; could he find out if his party would be happening at
his estate, and if so, get an invitation so she could be his plus one?
James had laughed and said, since she
asked so nicely, he couldn
’
t refuse, and would take care of it. He was also
coming to pick her up at LAX, they needed to catch up, and it was damn time
they did since her abrupt departure from LA four weeks earlier.
“
I
’
m really digging this!
”
said James, picking a flute of champagne
from a passing waiter as he swallowed a
blini
topped
with caviar.
Just barely over the noise of the music,
loud splashes coming from the pool and the sound of people chatting, she heard
a woman snap, "I wonder where my brother is
…
probably upstairs, or worse he left his
own party
…”
At that
moment, she heard James say,
”
Vi, let me introduce you to someone,
”
and as she turned she was faced with the
woman the voice came from,
“
Melissa. This is Victoryn McGregor. Vi, this is
Melissa Patterson, Julian
’
s sister.
”
The two women just look at each other,
obviously surprised to be at the same place and meet.
At the mention of the identity of the
woman behind him, Charlie Patterson turned from his interlocutor, to look at
his wife and the woman they had heard so much about.
Shock tainted Melissa
’
s features, and Charlie, walked away from
the group to reach his wife and the woman dressed in a stunning green balloon
chiffon dress. He recognized James Marshall, and wondered what this was about.
Her presence was a surprise, since last they all heard, Julian and Vi were over
and she was in Sydney, and what was James doing here?
More importantly, what was she? And where
in the world was Julian?!
At the mere sight of her, things had just
turned from entertaining to promising for Charlie. As he kissed his wife on the
cheek, he murmured to her ear,
“
Does he know she
’
s here?
”
Melissa tilted her head in sign of
ignorance, but broke a smile, as she introduced her husband to Vi, saying,
“
Well, this is Charlie, my husband. We both
have heard so much about you, you must forgive our shock at seeing you here
…”
Vi, simply smiled, nodding in complete
understanding of the situation, and replied,
“
I
’
m delighted to meet you both, and we must absolutely
talk before I leave, but I need to inform the guest of honor of my presence
…
A birthday isn
’
t a birthday until one receives a gift,
and I have one for him.
”
and she left them both stunned, as James
was running at her back when she entered the house through the terrace.
((~~!~~))
Purposefully I took a step forward in the foyer. I
didn't know what I was going to say to him, but that didn't matter.
I saw the cordon and the sign prohibiting
anyone to access the 2
nd
floor of the house. There was no guard
ensuing the order would be respected.
Lucky break
, I thought.
I was only about two steps away from the
staircase when I felt a rough hand tightly grab the back of my elbow.
"Don't do it," James whispered
into my ear. His warm breath brought me back to reality as I realized we'd only
ever been this close when we were flying to Dubai. I could smell his cologne
and aftershave, and it was distracting me from what I wanted to do.
Shaking my head, I tried to take a step
forward only to have James snatch me back. I turned to tell him to let go of
me, but the closeness of his boyish face startled me. His grey eyes were
focused on mine and I could tell he would not let me go until he had said his
piece.
“
What?
”
I asked, trying to relax my face into an
innocent mask.
“
It
’
s a bad idea,
”
he said simply.
“
James, this is none of your business.
”
I countered.
“
It
’
s yours, so it
’
s mine. I don
’
t want to see you hurt by him. Vi, think
about what you are going to find upstairs
…”
I winced, as he pursued,
“
What if he is with another woman? With
Frances?
”
“
Well, what if? I don
’
t care, it
’
s not like we are together
…”
I replied, challenging him.
“
God, you can
’
t lie for shit!
”
he chuckled.
I was getting angrier, and said,
“
Really?
”
I knew my eyes were blazing, and
James had the good sense to lower his gaze.
“
Ok, so you can lie, but not when Julian is
concerned.
”
he said softly, his eyes again resting on
mine,
”
Look, what are you going to do when you
find him with her? Being angry is not going to do any good
…”
his voice insisted, trying to infuse some
sense into me. He knew I was going upstairs, hell or high water.
I smiled, a full 100-watt smile, and said
with a grin,
“
James, Lesson no 7 in the Understanding Vi
manual. She doesn
’
t get angry, she gets even.
”
And as I let my arm slip from his, I
added,
”
I
’
m just going up, to let that bitch know
what time it is
…”
and I
moved forward, ascending the stairs, leaving him rooted to the spot.
((~~!~~))
Vi and Julian
She heard the muffled noises as she was approaching
the last door on the corridor before it split in two aisles.
She stood in front of it, the distinctive
sounds becoming clearer, and she knew exactly what she would find on the other
side.
She softly turned the knob, opened the
door, stepped into the room, and caught them
…
in flagrante delicto.
Another woman would have gasped, or walked
away, or been angry.
She wasn
’
t that woman.
She just walked further into the room until
she was a mere two feet away from the bed, taking the full sight in, the naked
redhead
’
s back, undulating on him, as she was
asking between moans,
“
How
…
do you
…
oohh
fuck
…
like
…
your
…
aahh
... birthday
…
present, baby?
…”
While he was grunting against her
shoulder, eyes closed, thrusting as her hips jerked.
As she silently watched the tightening of
his jaw line, and his squeezed eyes shut, a sure sign of impeding release if
her recollection was accurate, she said in a crystal clear voice,
“
Julian, your chew toy needs to take a
walk.
”
She saw his eyes brusquely open, his hazy
gaze shifting from the body of the woman he was screwing to her, his eyes
widening and then narrowing, as he took her full presence in.
She smiled as she saw his face register
confusion, then guilt, and she fully grinned watching him scramble and try to
disengage the woman from his body as the redhead had turned her head, hastily
covering herself with a sheet, as their gaze met.
“
Hello, Frances,
”
she said mockingly,
“
I see, that you heeded my advice
…”
her voice trailed, as she noticed Julian
had finally extracted himself from the compromising position and was putting
boxers on before standing up from the bed.
Vi didn
’
t spare Frances another look. Her eyes
focusing on Julian alone, watching him put his pants on. Once semi dressed, he
looked at her with a hard stare but said with a smile,
“
LA
’
s latest Lazarus...
”
She arched her eyebrow and returned his
smile, but she reiterated with an icy tone,
“
Your chew toy needs to take a walk."
He had just slipped and buttoned on his shirt, and their eyes met again.
God
, he knew
that
tone.
“
Excuse me?!" Frances snapped,
breaking the stare down the two were engaged in.
This was one of those times where silence
really is a girl's friend. With that tone, how could she not know that?
Julian turned to Frances, and said as
calmly as he could,
“
Frances, I need to speak to her. Please,
get dressed and see yourself out.
”
Frances didn
’
t move, her gaze going from one to the other.
Julian picked her garments from the floor and threw them at her, which seem to
kick her from her stupor. She shrieked,
“
What the
fu
-
…”
But Julian interrupted, his voice
dangerously strained,
“
Frances, You really do not want to push me
right now
…”
while his
eyes rested on Vi, the woman who really was at the root of his anger, making
him lose his temper.
Frances eyes widened, seeing the staring
contest had resumed. She threw the clothes back at Julian forcing him to look
at her.
He approached the bed, and took her arm
forcefully, giving her the dress back. Real anger was rolling off him, and for
the first time Frances realized, maybe she didn
’
t know Julian as well as she thought she
did.
”
Sweetheart
…”
he started lowly, watching her, his voice
increasing in hardness at each passing syllable,
“
Bartering sex can only get you so far, and
you really don
’
t want to go round for round with me at
this precise moment, you
’
ll get hurt! Now, get the fuck out. As you
can see, I have company that demands my immediate attention
…”
She must have felt the veracity of the
underlined threat in his words because she didn
’
t attempt a snappy comeback, quickly
slipped on her dress, and walked barefoot out of the room, glancing murderously
at Vi who seems unfazed.
Frances wasn
’
t the only one angry. Julian was irate,
close to livid, actually.
Turning a new leaf, my foot! Happy fucking
Birthday!
When the door slammed shut, his eyes met
hers again, and he was shocked by what he saw. Challenge.
Is she fucking kidding me?!
He felt tension creep up in his shoulders.
One of her perfectly arched eyebrows
raised, returning a disdainful gaze from the rumpled bed she surveyed to him,
she said with mordant,
“
Lucky I
’
ve got your number, so I
’
m not at all surprised!
”
His eyes narrowed
.
Really, she
’
s come back to give him grief?
His jaw ticked in annoyance, at the
thought
.