After the trip to the clinic, Monday was a day of relaxation. Destiny and Aubrey lounged around on his living room couch watching movies and eating, when he wasn't stepping out of the room to make a call to Sullivan Elevation or the construction company who was helping to fix the damage done to the ground and second floors.
Tuesday, the Graham Enterprises headquarters was still closed for business. Some executives were granted permission to work from home, while the vast majority of employees had the day off. For the first time in a long time, Destiny woke up before Aubrey did, and worked out on the elliptical machine in his home gym. He joined her in the gym, and they worked out in silence, while sneaking glances at each other. These were days that Destiny was savoring, days when her life felt halfway normal. She had mixed feelings about the upcoming weekend, mixed feelings about dating two men that she cared about very much. While a part of her dreaded it, there was also a part of her that was excited. She hated to admit that any part of her was excited, especially considering how high the stakes were, but it was the first step to making sure she was choosing the right man to be with. As apparent as it seemed that choice was at times, she couldn't deny that she was still thinking about Brian, still missing him.
On this day, Aubrey had all of the furniture from his other condo cleaned and donated to charity. Neither he nor Destiny had dared to venture there much after the dead body of his condo groundskeeper and handyman was found there - another gift from Palmer. Aubrey stood just inside of the condo door, surveying the unit. "As much as I hate to, I kind of want to sell it," he said. "Just seeing the place now, I can't get the image of Rafael out of my head."
"I definitely want nothing to do with this place," Destiny told him, still standing in the doorway. She didn't even want to venture inside.
He watched the furniture movers heft up one of the large living room couch pieces. "I won't put new furniture in here until we decide what we're going to do with it."
"We?" Destiny asked.
He arched a glance at her. "I gave it to you. This place is yours, as much as it is mine."
They spent the day together as much as they could. Aubrey made a habit of disappearing upstairs to his home office, so he could get some work in and keep tabs on what was being said about Graham Enterprises in the news. That evening, he drew a bath for both of them and held her while running a fluffy crimson washcloth down the slope of her breasts. She asked him about the time he spent at Palmer's, asked what it was like. His hand froze while hovering over her belly, water dripping from the soaking wet washcloth.
"I'm...sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked," she said quietly. "But back in D.C., you were so vague about it. You didn't really go into detail."
"No, it's all right." He continued washing her. "The doctor we saw said that talking through it could help, right?"
She nodded and turned her head, not able to fully see his face from how she was positioned.
"There's not really much to tell. It was dark. For most of the time, especially in the beginning, I was kept tied up. I don't remember if I told you, but he said that he hoped that I appreciated the irony of me being tied up."
Goosebumps raised along the length of her arms. "Meaning he knows about some of the things you're into."
"Which is expected, since he saw us in the sex club, Decadence," Aubrey said, dipping the washcloth in water. "But it was still disturbing to know, yes. I was barely given any food. No television, nothing for the sake of entertainment. Just...lying on the floor, in and out of consciousness."
"Your dreams," she said, turning her head again.
"They were the only entertainment I had," he said, and cleared his throat. "But, yeah. It was a dark period. I wasn't sure I'd ever get out of there. I made a lot of promises to myself, promises to be a better man once I got out. Promises never to let you go again."
She leaned back against him, staring straight ahead while he rubbed body wash into her skin.
"And before you ask me, no I don't think that this agreement we have in place is letting you go," he added. "It's my way of fighting for you, fighting to keep you in my life. Fighting to prove that I'm the man for you. There's a difference."
She smiled at her words. "There are movies, out there. A lot of movies who do the love triangle thing," she said, raising her eyes to the ceiling. "Twilight is probably one of the best known, but there are so many. And in those movies, it's never clear why two men are head over heels for this one girl. For instance, in Twilight. It was hard for me to even enjoy the movie. Throughout the entire movie, I just kept asking myself, Why Bella? You know? What is so interesting about this girl who seemingly has no personality at all? Why would two guys be completely head over heels in love with her?"
Aubrey continued to wash her in silence.
Her eyes lowered down to his hands, his perfectly crafted fingers wrapped around the washcloth. "Now I'm in that exact same situation, with you, and with...with him. And I can't help but feel like I've been thrown into some crazy movie. It doesn't feel like real life. I find myself asking-"
"-What is it about you?" he interrupted. "What is it about you that has two men head over heels in love with you?"
A tremor shook her voice as she answered, "Yes." She released a sigh as he circled the washcloth around her nipple. "Not just two average men. Two amazing men who are attractive, successful in their own right. Two men who could, without a doubt, have just about any woman they wanted."
Aubrey laughed.
"I'm serious," she said, pouting at him over her shoulder. "You met me in a bakery. I'm only...I'm only anything because of you, because you worked some crazy magic to enable me to work at Graham Enterprises despite the fact that I'm not even a Canadian citizen."
"Technically, you were hired through the Calabasas office," he said, dipping the cloth into the water again. "But I don't ever want to hear you make the statement about me being the only reason you're anything. You're underestimating yourself, selling yourself short. I don't approve of that."
"It's true," she said, sitting up and turning around so that she was facing him. Water sloshed in the Jacuzzi tub.
"It isn't true," he told her, his voice growing stony. "Not at all, and you insult me."
"Insult you? How?" Destiny demanded.
"By thinking that I would choose a woman who was worthless," Aubrey said, wringing out the towel with both hands. "I have standards. High standards. You could ask anyone. Don't ever compare yourself to a character from Twilight ever again, by the way. You are a real woman. You are...beautiful. Sharp. Funny. A very talented journalist, and I do agree that journalism is your true calling. You are sexy." He stopped himself. "This reminds me of the first real conversation that I had with you."
She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
"You're usually very confident, very assertive," he said, looking concerned. "This self-doubt that you have going on..."
"Is it a turn-off for you?" she asked him bluntly.
"Not quite, but it does make me worry about you."
"That makes two of us," she whispered, resting her chin between her knees.
He tilted his head, studying her. "I would expect most women to have the opposite problem. Two attractive, successful men, as you put it, both vying for her attention...I would expect that to make a woman full of herself. Overconfident. Not...lacking confidence." The confusion in his eyes cleared. "This is similar to how you were talking when you broke things off with Chad. Speaking as if you were deserving of some harsher punishment than I could deal out to you."
Her eyes dropped down to the rippling water.
Aubrey grabbed both sides of the tub and scooted forward. He continued to move forward until he was seated right in front of her, with his long legs on either side of her. "You are thinking of all of this in the wrong way. Instead of thinking of it as a situation where you are being given attention you don't deserve, think of this as a chance to get to know more about me. More about him. And more about yourself. Think of this as a chance to live out your wildest fantasies, indulge in your deepest desires, and discover what you like and what you don't like...what you want and what you don't want. Whenever we talk about this situation, we tend to make it all about you, which is probably why you feel this way. But trust that this is also a chance for me to get to know more about myself."
She looked up at him.
"I went through a period of denying myself love, denying it even exists. And now, I'm leaning what I'm willing to do for it. What I'm willing to do to keep it. In terms of our sex life...I'm learning about the different ways that I can incorporate the BDSM lifestyle into my relationship without letting it overshadow what's truly important in the relationship. And Brian...all right, I admit that he's had a tough break. Between the Sharon situation and you...he hasn't had it easy. But this is also a chance for him, to see what he's made of. He loved Sharon, but he didn't really fight for her. You know? He was a doormat, and allowed her to walk all over him - for a long time, before I even came into the picture. We're all growing. We're all evolving. We're all learning - about each other and ourselves. Think of this as a chance to learn and grow."
"Okay," she said.
"All of us will be okay after this, no matter what happens," he told her. "You may think I'm saying that because I feel like you'll choose me, but even if you didn't...I'd be okay. Stop internalizing all of this guilt and confusion and doubt, and talk about it with me. It's tearing you apart, and it's painful for me to see it."
"I'm sorry."
"No." He shook his head and scooted even closer to her. "No apologies. You are a beautiful, self-empowered goddess. You are a queen, in your own right. And if you don't believe that, just wait. I'm not one to shy away from demonstration."
~~~~~~
Wednesday marked the return to work. The elevator that crashed was still deemed inoperable, pending reconstruction of the elevator shaft and repairs to the elevator cables. All other elevator were deemed safe, and Sullivan Elevation reported no foul play to the elevator that crashed.
Destiny was still curious as to where Zorica went, so she politely asked. "Brian and I were looking for you. We all wanted to return to the office together, but you beat us out of the conference room."
"Being trapped in rooms like that with stuffy executives just sends my nerves through the roof," Zorica muttered with a wave of her hand, her voice thick with a Russian accent. "I needed a cig so badly by the time it was over. When I heard that you and Brian were trapped in an elevator, I freaked. I felt so bad."
Destiny told her not to worry about it and expressed the sentiment that at least no one was seriously hurt. As she spoke the words, Brian walked out of his office and leaned against the doorjamb, managing to still look amazing in one of his trademark designer suits, despite the fact that one sleeve of the suit jacket hung empty at his side, since his broken arm was in a cast and sling. A corner of his mouth lifted into a grin. She smiled back, and returned to her office.
Thursday. A boring work day, nothing notable. Brian found excuses to stop by her office. While handing her file folders, the hand attached to the good arm would brush against hers just a few seconds longer than it had to. Whenever he touched her, it sent tingles throughout her body, not much unlike the tingles she felt when Aubrey touched her. It was both tantalizing and aggravating that she could feel such an intense reaction to two men, but she was beginning to embrace Aubrey's way of looking at the entire situation. This is an opportunity for me to learn more about myself, and the men that I love. This is an opportunity to learn more about what I like, what I want, and what I need in a relationship. This is a chance for me to grow and evolve...
Meanwhile, Brian was extra buoyant around the office, joking with staff, smiling at almost all times. He was clearly excited, and he had every reason to be. Why? Because...
Friday...