"I can't believe it's already been seven years, since you first met Dom, how is he anyway?"
"He's fine. Still sleeping actually."
"That's a first," Erika joked as she and I caught up over the phone.
I didn't want to step out of our apartment and show my face since I got back from the awkward break with Dominic at Nathaniel's vacation mansion in the rural area. We didn't actually spend quality time together for the week we were there, though we still slept in the same bed, we barely said more than two or three words to each other and spent most of our time in the other areas of the home to avoid the confrontation. And we only agreed to stay the rest of the week so others wouldn't suspect something was up between us - even though it's already obvious enough.
"Anyway, your Dad is whooping my ass here," Erika said with a puff of air blown into speaker. Since graduating and landing the dream job in Lawler & Walsh, she told me that she didn't care if she didn't make partner, as long as she became a senior there, it'll be good enough for her.
"I'd assume so since Dom's not back until next month," I answered halfheartedly as I drew circles around the faces of the tabloid magazine on my lap.
"He deserves the break anyway. Who wins a month long case and earns millions from it while sleeping?"
I couldn't stop the laugh escape from me. Whenever Erika spoke so admirably about any lawyer in the firm, she always sounded like a fangirl, she'd get all giddy and excited over it. She's toned down now, but when she started, oh, it was worse.
"Plus, you two can finally plan that wedding since you're off until next month too!"
And that's where my laughter stopped. I nearly choked on the saliva that clogged along with the words in my throat. The finger that twirled on the magazine fully stopped and curled into a ball.
"Annie, I'll talk to you later, your Dad just got back from court and doesn't look too happy. Love you, boo!" She hastily spoke before she hung up.
"Ah-" I sighed and tossed my head back against the leather, my eyes closed as I felt my hair slowly drop down and hang loosely. My head was full of worries, and it sounded like people were eager for the wedding they waited a year and a half for. I couldn't break it to anyone that they may have to wait a little longer than they already have.
"Hey." A deep voice huskily greeted, stopping my train of thoughts.
The footsteps became louder as they stomped along the floorboards to the spot opposite me. I slowly opened my eyes and tilted my head back up, meeting the cold hazel eyes of my fiancé. I watched as he wrestled his fingers through his disheveled brown hair, then trailed down his face to wipe off anything that stuck on him throughout his sleep. Once he was done, he leaned forward, his elbows balanced at his knees as he clasped his hands together and leaned his chin above them while fiercely looking my way.
"What time is it?" He croaked.
"Just a little over ten o'clock, why?"
"I guess we have some time."
"For what?"
My head tilted slightly to the side as Dominic stood up, showing off the muscles and lines that curved all over his torso. He grabbed at the knot that held together his grey sweatpants as he made his way towards me.
"Dom, w-what are you-?"
He pressed his lips against mine in one swift move. One of his hands caressed its way up my arm, neck and to the back of my head, tugging me closer to heat up the kiss. I could feel his other hand push the magazine and phone off my lap before he went on to fiddle about with the buttons of my blouse, and pushed me gently down onto my back once he succeeded.
And well, we had sex.
I guess Dominic heard my comment to one of the maids in Nathaniel's mansion that he hasn't touched me in an intimate way for a while, and that I suspected that he cheated on me if his libido switched off when he got home to me. And I knew he heard me because during the time we rolled around on the hard floorboards and messed up our living room, he kept whispering that he only wanted me and only me.
A repeated phrase until the end.
"All mine," Dominic groaned against my neck, his lips left traces of light kisses all over as I lay beneath him, gasping for air.
I admit, the new him introduced me to a much more dominant lover, one who fully dominated me yet still pleasured me completely when we made love. However, I still missed the old him no matter what. And I wouldn't mind compromise, but that meant the new one needed to be 80% gone, because there were some traits he picked up that I wanted to keep (like cleaning up after himself).
"What's gotten into you?" I asked as I stroked my fingers through his locks of hair.
"You ignored me for a week," He replied. He pushed himself up, staring down at me, his hands above my head as he used his forearms to balance against the floor. His hazel eyes shifted about, but kept looking straight into mine, his face softened, I noticed the sad expression that flashed briefly before he went back to his blank look. I slithered my hands from down his hair, passed both of his ears and let my palms stay pressed at either side of his face. Within the week away from his job, the once smooth skin along his jawline were filled with light stubble, which made him slightly imperfect in his corporate law world.
He parted his lips to give them a lick of his tongue, and he began to say, "Marianne, I-"
And then loud banging came from the door.
"Dominic, Marianne, it's Uncle Nathaniel here to check up on you!" The visitor announced so loudly.
Dominic's head hung down with a groan. "I completely forgot Uncle Nate is coming," He grumbled under his breath. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek before he slid off me, grabbed his belongings and dashed out towards our bedroom.
"Oh, please do not tell me I have interrupted something!"
"In a minute!" I replied as I pushed myself up and arranged the mess to get rid of the evidence that Dominic and I romped around right in the living room. Blouse on, buttons up, black jeans squeezed in and my heels slipped on in under five minutes. On my way to the door, I stopped quickly by the oval mirror and flicked my hair about and wiped off anything on my face.
I took one last deep breath and opened the door. "Hello Nathaniel!" I greeted, the smile slapped on my face was automatic as I greeted my fiancé's uncle. "Sorry about that-"
Nathaniel raised his hand and leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek. "It smells of sex in here. I knew I came a bit too early," He joked as he made himself right at home.
"Can I get you something? Like a drink or-?"
"It's okay, my dear."
I simply nodded and sat back down to where I sat before Dominic seduced me. Nathaniel sat right opposite me, he was on his phone, checking any messages that he might have missed during the span of five minutes since he got here. Dominic did the same thing every time he got home, I assumed that it was a trait they'd all learned together because my Father did the same.
I couldn't help but examine Nathaniel as we sat in silence. His age began to show through the wrinkles on his face, the cracks on his lips and the bags under his eyes. Fortunately, he didn't wear glasses, unlike my Father, but he had a few false teeth after his accident a couple of months back. And his once luscious locks of hair slowly grew thin as signs of balding became clear on the back of his head. I still thought he was pretty good looking for a 62 year old.
And he rocked the courtroom like how I remembered it.
"Uncle Nate," Dominic freaked me out as his stern voice came from behind me. He clearly took a quick shower as his hair was freshly combed and there were still drops of water trickling down the side of his neck. He wore a dark shade of blue pants and a white buttoned up shirt, and he folded his sleeves up to his elbows properly to show off one of his favorite watches of a particular brand.
New Dominic had a high class fashion sense, when he wasn't in a suit, he'd dress like he's walking a runway. I only know that he's going to be spending time at home when he wore something far too casual.
He took a seat next to me, one arm stretched out around my back. "How are things at work, Uncle Nate?"
Work, ugh.
"Not much, I finished a closing deal that will fund us for quite some time with a company that seems to always get their hands stuck in the honey pot." Nathaniel smirked at the very thought.
'Hands stuck in the honey pot' was their term for sexual harassment cases.
"And the offending CEO is a woman." He winked as he tucked away his phone into a pocket inside his jacket.
"You don't get much of those."
"Not at all, so it'll be interesting."
I understood all their lingo, I'm a lawyer too and I spend a lot of time at their offices, so I picked up on those little things, but their cases, well, I don't work in Lawler & Walsh. I only know when Dominic opened up to me. It was either him or my Father or Erika - most of the time, Erika.
"So sorry, we shouldn't be talking about work in front of little Lawler here," Nathaniel cleared his throat, his attention focused on me.
"How is the life of a public defender? Saving enough people?" He sounded like he forced himself to talk about it. "You know that there's always room for you in Lawler & Walsh, Marianne. You and Dominic could front our other offices, maybe one day, in New York."
"Maybe," My voice faded near the end. "We have to do what we have to do, right?"
And, awkward.
New Dominic and Nathaniel sometimes made me feel low because I rejected the position in Lawler & Walsh to work as a public defender, which they really disapproved of. Old Dominic supported me at first, then he proposed and he got promoted and he started to dislike it, and he even managed to convince my Father that my job as a public defender was demeaning considering that my Father co-founded the firm. So talking about my job made them cringe, choke and vomit.
"I'm starved, come on." Nathaniel said with a bossy tone, he stood up and straightened his blazer and what was left of his hair. "It is on me," He added as he reached for his phone again.
I looked at Dominic, who viewed his uncle like a hero. He stood up and pulled me to my feet with him. "Marianne, wait," He whispered as he tugged my arm to turn me to face him and rummaged his hand through the pocket of his pants, and he pulled out the engagement ring that I slammed on his chest just last week.
"I don't want to wear that until you come back to me." I slightly frowned at the sight of the rose gold band waved in my face. "We can do all the couple stuff, but I'm not ready to proudly wear the ring again. Wearing it means I'm happy and willing to get married to a man that I barely even recognize."
"What do you expect me to do?" He hissed, a frown also on his face as his grip on my arm tightened.
I whimpered. "Look what you're doing, you're hurting me. Is that how you'll treat me forever?" I sniffed and yanked my arm out of his grasp.
"I don't know what you want from me-"
"-Are you two not coming?" Nathaniel lowered his phone and beckoned to the door. "If you wish that I leave so you two can squabble about something, then tell me-"
"-No, Nathaniel, we're good to go," I replied. I shook my head to Dominic as I took my purse and phone from the table, following Nathaniel once he turned around to lead the way.
My insides felt sick while I sat awkwardly in the car ride. Though Dominic sat closely beside me, I didn't want to touch him or be touched by him after the way he acted. I felt his gaze once and a while as we both listened to Nathaniel, who talked most of the time about his recent trip to the London office with his soon to be third wife.
I could imagine how many more women he'd end up getting married to, and I figured that his failed marriages were because of his loneliness all throughout his life spent working. He was very dedicated to the business. Then I wondered, if I did follow through with being the wife of Dominic Walsh, and then went through a divorce, he had the same level of charisma and skill as Nathaniel to easily woo another woman and marry her just like my Father and his Uncle did.
I mean, Nathaniel married twice and failed both. And he cheated on his second wife with the soon to be third, whom he impregnated during one of their late night rendezvous in the office. For the first time in the old man's life, Nathaniel was going to be a Father with one of his mistresses. He didn't like the idea or the fact it happened, but he knew way too much about growing up without a Father to leave the woman he got pregnant. I had a time where I blamed him for influencing my Father in the divorce with my Mother, more when my Father divorced his chef second wife and now has a third as well.
Would Dominic follow in their footsteps too?
At the rate he's going. Maybe.
When the car stopped, I forced myself not to ask for any of the two men's help, instead, I stepped out as soon as Nathaniel's driver walked out. One of them followed me, I assumed it was Dominic because his arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me to the side, right before the second entrance of the Japanese restaurant. I felt my body whisked around by the same arm, and I prepared myself to meet the angry face of my fiancé.
But... "Nathaniel?"
"If my nephew didn't get his hands on you, I would've taken you for myself. You would be my first and only wife. I always liked you, waited for you to reach the right age to get you to be mine," Nathaniel oozed his words so smoothly, the way he spoke to me was similar to how he spoke to the women he seduced.
"I- This is-"
His finger pressed on my lips before he trailed them down my chin and stopped right in the middle of my collar bones, a shiver went down my spine at the same time. His hazel eyes mimicked the way Dominic looked when he lust for me, and it scared me. I froze, my eyes narrowed and lips slightly parted from the weird touch. It was uncomfortable, the way he touched me was like he was desperate for the attention of another younger woman. His soon to be third wife was late-20s, which should be perfect enough for him. The thought freaked me out even more.
"What are you doing?" I pushed him with all my might, tumbling at my own steps to keep my balance. "That is inappropriate, Nathaniel, if-"
"What's inappropriate?"
We both saw Dominic walk in, his eyebrow cocked up as he came closer. My heart felt relieved at the sight of my fiancé despite how I felt for him recently, he was my knight and shining armor. I wrapped my arms around his body and looked on at Nathaniel with a worried stare.
"Oh nothing, Dominic. I'll be at our table." The old man deviously smirked at me, his focus stared right in my soul. His gaze had a heavy and perverted feeling to it, he must've imagined me in some other way because he gave me a secret wink just before he walked away. There was no way I would allow myself to be alone with the man. After all the years i have known him, the truth behind his persona was that he was a creep, but my fiancé idolized him like a hero.
I hope Dominic wasn't going to turn out the way his uncle did, I hope the change he went through could be reversed.
"What was that about? Why'd you suddenly get aggressive?" The clueless man stepped away from me, his arms crossed over his chest, judging my actions.
"Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," I nodded. Fully lying to his face.
Throughout the time we spent in the Japanese restaurant, I made sure I wasn't left alone at the table with the older man. His eyes devoured me throughout the meal, and I was surprised that my fiancé hadn't noticed the way his uncle spoke and acted towards me. Since the whole ordeal earlier, Nathaniel suddenly began to act flirtatious and in desperation for my approval. He swept my leg with his when Dominic stood up to go to the bathroom, and in my desperation for surviving through lunch, I pretended there was a phone call and rushed outside.
But I didn't know he would follow me.
"Why are you avoiding me?" Nathaniel breathed down my neck as he stood behind me. We were out in public, the people walked passed us gave judgmental and uncomfortable looks as they saw the man behind me trail his fingers up my waist and around to the front where he tugged at my blouse. "You have quite a body and the scent of a goddess," He said as I heard him inhale the scent of the perfume on my neck. "I swear my nephew stole you from me."
I cringed. The moment had to be eerie, so cringe-worthy that I couldn't move. My face would've expressed my thoughts exactly, but people did nothing about it.
"Ah, Dominic won't need you soon, anyway-"
"-What do you mean?"
"You'll be fine with me," He sounded so cocky and egotistical, the confidence levels of the man raised all the way up to the roof. I felt fingers curl around my shoulder and he turned me around to face him, the smell of nicotine blew into my face, and evident that I was disgusted by it through the wrinkle of my nose.
"Why are you doing this?'
"Because I can."
Those words haunted me. I heard those three words echo into one ear, bounced around in my head for a while before it went out the other, but the trail of those words stayed in my head. I could hear his deep, devious voice say it, the sight of his crack lips moved along with it. I hadn't experienced this type of experience in my life. Not in Harvard, not in High School, not even in the nights I partied away as a clueless 20-something trying to get into a law school.
And the man I thought was the better half of the Lawler & Walsh firm was completely the opposite to how I thought he would be. My first impression of him shattered the moment he touched me in a harassing manner.
"You were always so beautiful, little Lawler." He added.
Ugh, my body felt dirty, I had the urge to walk into the nearest apartment and take a shower. I wanted to get rid of his touch, smell and his perversion. I couldn't imagine how no one sued the man for sexual harassment. Then again, Nathaniel was the master of sexual harassment cases, so if he did get sued for just that reason, he knew how to get away with it without paying a dime.
"I- I need to get back." I shook him off of me and went back inside. I saw Dominic as soon as he walked out of the men's bathroom, but I ignored him to get my purse and leave.
"Where are you going?" Dominic caught me before I went back outside, he pulled me to the side and cupped my chin to look at him. Even then, I couldn't look him in the eyes. "What's wrong?"
I gripped on my purse tight and my eyes felt watery.
"Are you going home already?"
I nodded, a whimper followed after in response.
"Why?" He sounded worried - for once.
"I feel sick. It's not from the food, probably from the car ride and lack of sleep," I lied again.
"You're not pregnant, are you?" An attempt at making me laugh when he knew so well I took the pill each day, he'd remind me daily and watched me take it. So bossy.
"No," I sighed and placed my hand over his, finally daring enough to look into his hazel eyes. They were always so pretty when I first saw them. "I'll see you at home, Dom," I sniffed.
"You can tell me what's wrong."
"I'm fine," I kept on lying. I tiptoed and pressed my lips against his, a feeling reassurance overcame the fear inside me.
"Fine, be careful."
I could only nod. I had lacked the voice to say what I wanted to say. For a confident lawyer at work, I certainly didn't seem so right then. I was still in shock. And when I walked out from the restaurant, Nathaniel stole a glimpse from me as his soulless hazel eyes straight into mine, he smirked as he gripped the cigarette pressed between his pursed lips and pulled it out. He formed a circular shape with his lips and blew out the smoke, enough to cover his face.
I was scared, and my gut was telling me that the cause of all the change in my life all started with him.