A/N: I dedicate this chapter to KenzieJolie and Greenpepsi21. Thank you guys for all your great feedback and votes! I look forward to hearing more from you guys ^^
The last ten minutes had been seeming surreal as I thought it back. Garren's ambush, me brushing him off and the look on his face before he left. I could see it every time I closed my eyes and I wondered why. Did I regret it? But I couldn't go distracting Garren with my personal matters when he had to focus on Coeus.
That was selfishness speaking. I'd only jeopardise myself by wavering. Which was the result of missing the unknown number calling Hess' smartphone due to mulling over kicking out Garren. I had to though, with everything his prodigy brain was putting together in seconds, in a room I wasn't sure was still being bugged. Ms. Shepherd could've still been listening and that would've ruined everything for sure.
I needed to get my act together.
Hess' phone was password protected, making calling the number back an obstacle and after several failed attempts, I gave up on trying to unlock it. The wallpaper depicting the prick's face at each guess felt mocking and only served to infuriate me so I tossed it aside.
My nice, long soak in the tub aided to ease some frustration and once pruned to every fingertip, I got set for bed. Sleep would be another step I'd reach probably after reading a few chapters of my novels. As I nestled in the covers and disconnected my phone from the charger, there was a new message.
Shaun- sorry for the late mention but do u want me to pick u up or we meet there??
Our movie date.
In all the hectic turn of events, I'd completely forgotten it was tomorrow. Perhaps cancelling was the best way to go with X stating he'd 'be in touch', whenever that was. Except I'd already had to bonk off my personal time with Shaun for a self assured, domineering snob before. Also, my memory of Shaun's lips was getting foggy and I could definitely do with refreshing.
Me- you can pick me up ;)
After adding the address, I hit send. Attention rotated to novel. I began flipping through the pages for when I'd last stopped, bookmarks and I had a slippery relationship since I always misplaced them.
Late into the peaceful night, my nose was drawn out of the pages of sultry exchanges and steamy affairs by ringing. I saw my phone immobile and registered it wasn't my own then scoured for Hess'.
I discovered that the place I'd ditched it was by the drapes. This time, the number was titled as 'F*ck boy Frank'. Feeling generous, I answered. "Hey sorry but Hess can't come to the phone, do you mind passing it on that he left it—?"
"Evening, Buns."
His voice was particularly poise.
"...You left your phone with me on purpose."
"Well you wouldn't give me your number, how else was I meant to call you?"
"Are you serious?"
"It worked, didn't it?"
"I might not have answered the phone for all you know."
"Actually, it's because of what I know. You think I just randomly borrowed my mate's phone with the interesting name to call? I told you I know you."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Don't act like you're not."
"You planned this whole elaborate scheme you could've avoided by just, I don't know— not doing it. You've literally gained nothing."
"On the contrary, I'm the last voice you'll be hearing before waking up tomorrow. And that achievement alone is worth going through this hassle."
I placed a hand on my hip, mouth partially ajar. Geez, what was with this bloke? "...Right, and that's where I'm meant to swoon at that sentiment. As if throwing away your phone when you could easily buy a dozen others was a 'hassle'?"
"I can tell your touched. I'm not throwing away my phone either, I'll come round any time you're ready to meet."
"Would you still want it when I've fried its circuits in the microwave?"
There was a chuckle on the other side. "Like you'd actually do that."
"Try me." I pressed to terminate, not letting him squeeze in another word and settled back in bed.
That boy was seriously way in over his head, thinking the device was in safer hands with me compared to a stranger. Microwaving was just a mere final course on the menu I'd mentally listed to channel out some unchecked stress.
**
I'd made the right choice getting up at day break to browse through my outfits purchased by Ms. Dion for what I'd wear to the date. I ended up posing in front of the mirror, throwing off skirts and other garments for a good hour or so. Eventually, I'd reached a decision and spent the next hour online scouring for a hairstyle I could pull off as an amateur. Perhaps I was putting a bit too much effort in appearance when Shaun and I would be sitting in a dark room where we'd hardly see each other's faces for a while but I at least wanted to capture all of his attention before we hit the cinema.
The choices appeared endless with so little time to try them all out and in which, I had a breakthrough; I recalled Ivanov's French braids she wore on the academy which looked splendid and quickly searched it up. In the midst of following the steps of tutorial and checking with my mirror, I recalled how I'd expected the first time I dressed up for a date Ashton would've been by my side, offering tips and encouragement mixed with teasing.
Now that idea was nothing but a pipe dream.
I came across this glum, bereft girl sat alone and I hurriedly shook it off. Yes, the gap Ashton made as my first friend was still prominent but this was not the time to sulk in its depths. I had plenty of other days to silently weep, but not today.
Once done, I stepped a little forward to inspect every inch and it didn't look half bad. No, more than that. I looked great, even if I'd wanted to hear those words from the supportive friend like in books or movies, I was fine feeding the compliments to myself. Soon, Shaun texted me he was at the lobby and I skipped out of the suite, antsy as to what expression I'd been greeted with.
In all the planning, prepping and contemplating I hadn't given a single thought Shaun would present me with his own gift. That in this case, the lovely jacket which was in my favourite colour and greatly complimented those jewel eyes. I'd never mentioned how I liked turquoise to him, it was a wonderful grace of coincidences that only amplified I was right in going for him.
A warm smile spread on his lips when he saw me. "Stevie you look..."
I kissed his mouth before he could get it out. Funnily enough after all the anticipation I had to his reaction, it got tossed aside from the bubbling excitement at familiarising myself with the taste of Shaun Goy-Smith. Sweet, toe-curling and colourfully tender to rival a Renaissance tapestry— yes, it was all flooding back.
Before the ecstasy to fill to have me afloat and cruising, Shaun withdrew. "Stevie whoa, hold on." His voice audibly stunned and flustered.
"What?" I asked. An immodest blush had already spread up his neck and ears, eyes flickering to something behind.
I turned to spot Nadia and several other prying staff smirking at us or gawking. Ugh, I forgot about that.
"Okay, stay here. I'll go get rid of them." I offered. I could completely understand his reluctancy to PDA was purely shyness, which I found cute but I was craving to snog. Right there, right then.
Shaun shook his head. "No it's fine. I actually messed up the time for the movie screening so we gotta leave now or we'll miss the start."
"Oh. Alright." I complied with a smile.
When Shaun turned his back to me, starting to the revolving doors, I threw a resentful glower to the staff and they scattered like a flock of pigeons.
Admittedly, it was hard to stay chipper when I felt Shaun was in more than a hurry to get to the movies, more than just to get away from nosey staff. Hadn't I looked good enough for even a little smooching, regardless of being late? What was the problem with arriving late for some movie?
"What movie are we going to see by the way?" I questioned.
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" I shook my head. "It's actually a sequel to one that came out last year, but you don't need to see the first to get what's going on, y'know."
When Shaun supplied the name, I couldn't help the frown that slipped out. The name rang instantly because I'd seen the first installment with Liam and Ashton. It was one of the very first outings I had with them. Another coincidence but I wasn't appreciating the sting this one was rupturing in the pit of my stomach.
"Something wrong?" questioned Shaun.
"No." I quickly denied. "I've just never seen a sequel first before, I'm hoping it really won't be a problem."
I didn't know why I lied, it wasn't like telling him would cause an issue but some part deep inside of me held that outing as sacred or something. Anything reminiscent of those two kindled a mixture of unease and longing. I wanted to hate them for it, they were ruining my first date.
The theatre was rather packed, it seemed to be quite a popular film but the crazy thing was, I could hardly recall what the plot had been. Liam and Ashton were fighting over snacks and popcorn through the first half, then I had to join Ashton to the toilets at one point because she needed to borrow a Tampax. The other half filled with Liam trying to explain what we missed, except he did a poor job and led to more bickering. I wondered if they knew there was a sequel out.
What if they had gone to see it and were in this same theatre box right now?
I shook off the dread, trying to concentrate on the men in ski masks breaking into a bank vault. One man stretched forth his hand to the combinations, an eery background beat exuding as the vault was unhinging on its own. Oh, so these guys had powers huh. I propped an elbow on the arm rest, finally growing an attention to what was on screen. It lasted for mere seconds until I heard peculiar noises to my left.
I squinted my eyes to configure what the two individuals sat beside me were doing in the seats that consisted of the guy hunched and his female company slanted so close. I came to grasp that their lips were connected and she had a hand delving down his jeans.
I held in a scoff. Like, seriously? Could they not?
They showed no signs of stopping soon and recalling the bottle of Pepsi I had wasn't empty yet, there was no thinking twice on it. The guy tensed, tearing apart from his partner at the sensation of a cold liquid trickling down his shoulder. He spouted curses, the girl catching on to the spill with alarm and they turned their glares onto me.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." I apologised.
"You're damn well going to be if this stain doesn't come out." He growled, for whatever feeling the need to be indignant over a shirt that was easily a basic plain T from Primark.
Chill, mate. It's Pepsi, not ink. I mentally rolled my eyes but persisted with the apologetic attitude while his girl seemed ready to let it go, he wasn't having it.
"Is there a problem?" intervened the voice of Shaun, craning his neck into the picture.
I could tell he was in no way intending to be intimidating. But Shaun's fit athlete figure paired against the bloke's scrawny build was unrivalled. It was obvious this guy was fixated on that point only, gulping if he'd be getting pounded in front of his girl.
"I accidentally spilt my drink and he—"
"Forget it." He hastily cut me off. I had to bite down on my bottom lip to prevent the snickers at how quick he was trying to evade it. He'd definitely watched one too many flicks if he assumed a softie like Shaun would harm a hair on him. "Let's go, Shannon."
Shannon shot him a discreet jaded look, like she hadn't been the one trying to prevent him from this embarrassing moment. I sincerely hoped he was better at sucking face that running his mouth, for her sake. In a flash, the pair departed, much to my delight.
"You okay?" Shaun whispered to me.
"Uh-huh." I smiled brightly and unable to completely fight off the urges, I stole a kiss at his cheek.
His face grew flushed at the single peck and he groaned something under his breath, worrying me I might've upset him until he interlaced his fingers with mine. We kept our hands in that position for the rest of the film.
We hit an arcade next, played a few rounds of bowling and grabbed a bite at the food court. I loved each second of it but I couldn't say I was that upset when we called it a day and Shaun's car drove us back to the hotel. As hoped, he walked me up to my hotel door and thankfully, the nosey staff were too preoccupied with their work to interfere.
I opened my door, lingering for Shaun's footsteps to gradually accept the invite. I shut the door.
We were alone. Finally.
Airy silence swept in, with one thing dancing in my mind. The same thing that had been dancing around all day and he had to have caught onto it. It didn't matter how shy or sweet, he was still a teenage boy. I was a teenage girl. He knew I liked tasting him. It was simple maths, really.
His eyes were currently skimming around my room and I leant by my dresser, partly amused at how he was trying to smoothly move this to the final stage. When he ran out of things to look at, he looked to me.
I smiled widely.
His Addams apple bobbed and I observed him rub the base of his neck, sheepishly. "So um, this was fun. Where do you wanna go next time? Or should we talk about it later? If you're tired I can just—"
"I'm not tired." I firmly assured him. He didn't dare blink as I stepped closer, slimming the space between us to mere inches. I snaked my arms over his shoulders and his breath hitched right before I merged our mouths.
The rush came faster than the last one, feeling the implosion down to the soles of my feet. How could I ever get bored of this in just three weeks? Ridiculous.
I discarded Garren's stupid analysis as quickly as my shoes, navigating Shaun to my bed while our eyes stayed shut. He buckled once his legs hit the mattress and I situated my knees at both his sides, the moment we broke our lips apart for air. By my propped position, he had to shift his gaze up to get a good look at me and strangely, the act had me elated.
"Stevie," he spoke nervously as I treaded my fingers along his face, "look, b-before we think of doing that, I really don't want us to rush this. And keep in mind, we're not doing ourselves any favours without protection."
"I have condoms in my drawer, don't worry." I watched Shaun's face pale and could only sustain a straight face for three seconds flat before a barrel of chuckles tumbled out. "I'm kidding, I don't want to rush either."
Every tensed muscle in his body relaxed, breath exhaling in sheer relief. He couldn't possibly get any cuter and I couldn't withstand another moment longer apart, urges itching to be succumbed. I held no protest.
However, my cruise was disrupted once again by a horrid thundering noise. Something hard resonating against wood. We whipped our heads to the side where the indestructible box lay, wet from defrosting by the lamp and brimming with life and no essential reason to be vibrating. Other than its plot to foil it all when the wallpaper flashed.
I cursed.
"Is that Hess?" Shaun faced me with a deep frown. "Why is your wallpaper Hess?"
"It's not, that's not my phone." I should've thrown that thing in condensed waste, it was a vermin set to ruin me. Like its owner.
"Who's phone is it?"
I sighed. "Who else would decorate their phone with that face? It's obviously his."
Shaun stared at the faulty pest, then slowly looked to me. I presumed he'd be puzzled or panicked with dread, instead his light dimmed and anger flared. "You slept with...?"
"What?! No!" I shook my head. "Ew. How did you even reach that conclusion?"
He shifted off of me, springing up so suddenly that I nearly fell. "What else am I meant to think with his bloody phone in your room?" He seized the phone from the desk, scornfully waving it. "Well, Stevie?" There was a crunch when he slammed it back down, whether it was the metal or the wood I wasn't sure.
I was bound to my eyes steadied on the hostile greens narrowed on me.
I stared, bemused.
My silence resulted in him assuming I had no answers, eyes squeezing shut and seemingly along with it any chance to be heard. "How?" His voice lividly distraught. "How could you...? After everything you promised— and I actually believed you." He spewed an assortment of curses, shaking his head and pacing around the bed looking more heated at each lap.
He was pissed. Way more pissed than at that court when I lied. God, why couldn't I just have this one day go smoothly? "Shaun," I spoke softly, "I know what must be running through your head but please, listen to me."
"Listen to you for what? You're nothing but a liar."
It wasn't just the statement alone that gouged me, it was the disgusted look he had. It made me sick. What right did he have to look at me that way?
"Shaun just calm down for a moment."
"No!" He bellowed, my eyes widening as he took defiant steps closer, shoulders squared. He seemed to stand so much bigger, towering me. I didn't like it. I didn't like his tone, he wasn't meant to speak like that me. That wasn't my Shaun.
"I was right from the start." He sneered. "You're exactly like Rosita, but I went and trusted you—"
Before another foul note could leave those lips, I stopped it with my raised hand that had been winding up. Where I had seen red, Shaun had seen my fingers claw across his face, snapping his head back.
Still, replenishing silence fell and my ears were freed from the nasty crude voice that dared rise against me. Shaun slowly brought a hand to the reddening mark on his cheek, any of that hideous hostility those gorgeous eyes briefly had were hollowed out. Traded with bewilderment.
"Trusted." I spat out the word he'd only spouted seconds before so blindly it made me want to laugh. "You say you trusted me? In what part just now did you trust me? When you were yelling? Calling me a liar? Comparing me to that promiscuous sorry excuse of a friend and girlfriend? There was no trust.
You saw something you didn't understand and just blew up. Proving you never even trusted me, that's what you just did here, Shaun."
The figure in front of me was no longer towering but stumped. "Now what you should've done was give me space to explain and be rational." I said the words slowly for him to process it better. That agro adrenaline would've done a number on his head before fleeing his system. "If you did, I would've told you I ran into Hess at the park. I tried to leave but he wouldn't go away unless I had coffee with him, then he left and forgot his phone. I would've met up with him to return it but I didn't want to cancel our date so I decided to handle it later.
You think I'd stupidly just leave something like that lying around if I was demented enough to sleep with him? Don't insult me, Shaun." I stalked to the door.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"The security room. Since you have so little faith in me, I can get you to see the surveillance camera footage in all the hotel rooms to show Hess has never even stepped foot on this floor. Be bright back." By the time I fastened my hand on the cold steel, I knew I'd hear hurried steps.
"No! Wait." Shaun clambered a hand over mine on the door. His eyes were stricken with what I'd hoped; remorse and guilt.
"Move your hand, Shaun." I ordered sternly.
"Please, you don't have to go get evidence. I... you're right." The words were like a string of melodious chords, irrespective of the anguish in his tone. "I didn't try to trust you at all and I've still been thinking this is just some set up again. It's stupid, but a part of me is waiting for you to screw me over. I'm messed up."
"No," I said softly, "you're just careful. Careful on who you give your heart to and that's to be expected with what you went through." I shifted my hand to his forearm, rubbing it tenderly as he concentrated deeply.
He didn't utter a word but I was more than confident I knew everything he was thinking. Right on the cue his hand was on its way to hold mine, I withdrew. The stupor stricken in those gems were a mental picture I swore to keep forever.
"Look," I lowered my voice to be down casted, "maybe us dating was rushing it too. Maybe you need time on your own. That way, when the right girl comes along you can give her everything. Since you're not ready."
"No, I am." He insisted hastily. "I'm ready, Stevie. For this."
I probed his features momently, noting the desperation, fright and ambitious determination. "You sure?"
He nodded, vigorously.
"Tell me you want this then."
He immediately obliged. "I want this."
"And you'll trust me? Like, really trust me this time?"
"I will."
I gave a pause just to admire having someone stuck awaiting uncertainty, at my will and mercy. "Okay, we'll try again." The smile he broke into was pure dynamite. I wielded the power to evoke that smile, nobody else.
"Just never speak to me like that again, or say your ex's name in front of me. It really hurt."
He swiftly complied to my conditions with a timid nod. I pecked his cheek in approval, he briefly winced as it had been right on the mark. A lesson well taught and well learned, as grandma May would call it. And so long as Shaun kept his word, then I was sure our paradise would last.
Shaun left my suite half an hour after that and I lay back on my bed in pure bliss, running my thumb along my swollen lips with satisfaction.
I'd almost forgotten there were still other issues to be settled in my life until I was woken up in the middle of the night by the incessant ringing at the hotel room telephone. I fumbled through the dark and detached the set from the wall, groggily. "Hello?"
"Fraiser Palace place, nine pm. Tell them you're there in regard of Russell."
That was all that was uttered before the line went dead and I fell back to sleep, half convinced it had been a dream. Then when morning arrived, the sliminess of the voice rang and I recollected the event, words crystal clear and mind fully alert, I'd soon face this final hurdle.