XXIII: Lost & Found
THE TIP TAP OF my calf boots was the only sound that could be heard in the hallway as I hesitantly walked forward. I bit down on my lip, uncertain of what I was about to do, and brought my fisted hand to rap against the metal door. The door opened after a few moments, and when I saw him I offered up a paper bag full of junk food with an apologetic smile. "Peace offering?"
Cole eyed the bag and sighed before stepping back from the door to let me inside his condo. "There better be ice cream in there."
I walked ahead and placed the paper bag on his kitchen counter. "Don't insult me," I teased while removing my coat.
"What's this about, Elle?" Cole asked with a sour expression on his face but nonetheless accepted the spoon and quart of ice cream I handed him.
I cleared my throat, buying myself time. "I uhh came to apologize. For the other day, I mean. With Maxton."
"Apology accepted. But my face isn't feeling very forgiving right now," he said pointing to his swollen jaw. Laughing, I reached for the other quart of ice cream and smacked it against his face.
"Better?" I said innocently as I watched him wince. He sent me a glare when I laughed and pulled the cap off to take a spoonful into my mouth.
"Yeah. That really helped, thanks. Now if you're all done messing with me go ahead and let yourself out." I looked down at my hands and frowned. I couldn't exactly explain why I came here of all places. I liked hanging out with Cole (along with our mutual friend vodka) and if I were being honest with myself, I really needed a friend right now.
"What's wrong?" he asked when he took in my expression.
"Can I trust you, Cole?" I said in a low voice, avoiding his eyes and fidgeting with my hands.
There was silence as Cole walked around the kitchen island and came to stand beside me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and another on my chin, tipping it up to meet my gaze. "Course you can. What on your mind?"
I swallowed and took a soothing breath. "I did something stupid."
His puzzled expression gave his confusion away, but he didn't push me to say anything. Cole simply sat down in the stool next to me and waited for me to decide how much I wanted to share with him. "Did you ever loose a toy when you were a kid? You had resigned to never see it again and then one day you find it and you want it so much but it turns out it belongs to another kid now?"
"I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me here, Elle." I looked at him: into his honest, kind eyes the color of the sky and smiled. For whatever reason, I trusted Cole Richmond.
So I told him.
I told him about the day I ran out of my house that December afternoon five years ago. I told him about the little coffee shop I discovered as I wondered the streets of the city. I told him about the charming, down-to-earth barista I met. I told him about the next time I visited the shop nearly a week from the day we first met, and about the fun date the barista took me on after his shift was over.
I told him how hard and fast I fell for that boy; I told him about how comfortable and happy I was with Max. I told him of our disagreements concerning my world and my family. I told him about Max's and I's argument on our three month anniversary.
I told him how badly I ended things with him. With a teary smile on my lips, I allowed myself to remember Max's heartbroken expression as I ran away, leaving him frozen on the sidewalk as the storm beat down on us.
I told him of my arranged-marriage engagement to Dexter Arbogast. And then I told him about my suicide attempt. I kept the details to myself though, stubbornly refusing to divulge the horrors of that night. Instead I toyed with my diamond bracelet as I told Cole the events of the last week I've been back in the States.
When I finished, the only signs of life were our quiet breaths. It had felt good to tell someone, even if the story was censored. I knew I could trust him to keep my secret. But was Cole gracious enough not to judge me? Is he a good enough friend?
My worries were assured the second Cole's arms enveloped me in a tight embrace. I'm usually a strong person, but the understanding look in his eyes caused the walls of my well-guarded heart to crumble.
I cried into his chest: hiccuping and sobbing and everything. I didn't care at the moment how ugly I look in this state, or how I was ruining his t-shirt. All that my brain could register is his presence holding me, comforting me.
And the words he said when my tears dried that arose a small smile to appear on my lips: "I'm gonna kick Hastings's ass."
"Seriously, though, what are you going to do about the whole Max thing?" I heard Cole ask me once all the junk food had been consumed and we lay paralyzed on the couch about an hour later.
I angled my head to look at him and shook my head. "I don't know. Leave town, most likely."
"What?" he said sitting up with an incredulous look on his face.
"Wouldn't you do the same, If you were me?" I asked
"Nope," he said with a mischievous look in his face. I raised my eyebrows, almost afraid of whatever plot was cooking in this playboy's head. "If I were you, I would get my 'toy' back."
24 HOURS LATER
AS I STARED at my reflection in the mirror, admiring the way the cream-white dress with crisscross cutouts looked against my olive skin, I thought back to what Cole said the night before. If I were you, I would get my 'toy' back.
That incredibly tempting idea could potentially be catastrophic. Max and I were a...passionate couple. We were constantly fighting; screaming, cussing, slapping (on my part at least). But the bigger the fight, the more the all-consuming heat within us burned when we made up. We are polar opposites, Max juxtaposing my ice with his intense fire, yet the same; our profound romance, whether it was because of our desire or the chilling frost of reality, was destroyed.
We are a flame best left extinguished.
"The way I see it, you've got two choices," I remember Cole saying. "You can either leave, leave for good, and let your sister marry Maxton. Or you fight fire with fire and get your man back. I for one, favor the latter. I always knew the world would end with unhindered desire."
Unhindered...more like uncontrollable, I thought as flashes of Max and I's recent encounters assaulted my mind. I turned away from my reflection then, and walked out of the room. I shut the door behind myself and took a deep breath before opening the door adjacent to my bedroom.
The door swung open to reveal Max sitting behind a desk in the study. At the sound of my entrance, he snapped his head up and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" I said in a sultry tone.
His face displayed his amusement as his eyes swept up and down, eyeing me with piqued interest. "It appears you don't need me to seeing as you've already strutted in here like you own the place."
A smile formed on my lips then as I innocently shrugged. "Perhaps you're right. I would have come in even if you hadn't extended an invitation."
"Hmm," he remarked as he stood and walked around his desk. "Well then, to what do I owe the visit?"
I watched Max for a moment, my eyes taking in the smart three-piece suit, the five o'clock shadow sprinkled over a sculpted jaw and his messy hair. "We need to talk."
A knowing smile that he had trouble concealing finally broke free on his lips as he watched me watch him with growing impatience at his indifferent attitude. "Oh? What about?" Was he really going to pretend the other day didn't happen?
"You can't possibly imagine?" I asked as I tried to keep my temper in check. This felt like a game of chess, each wary of the other's next move.
"Can't say I can," Max responded in an aloof tone.
That was the last straw. I found myself strutting forward with determination in every step. "Then how about I show you?"
The stupid smirk had slipped right off Max's face as he stepped back. Like a lethal tango, I reciprocated, keeping in step with him until I'd backed him into the other side of the study. The back of Max's knees touched the edge of the brown leather couch, and with a wicked smile, I pushed him back.
My face inched forward to press a teasing kiss against his pulse like he'd done to me as I straddled his lap. "Does this ring a bell?"
My hands found his shirt and with a pull, I ripped it open, scattering buttons everywhere. "Faintly familiar," Max breathed out as his glazed-over eyes met my own.
Tangling my fingers in his hair, I froze with our faces an inch away. I silently begged for him to react to me, and finally with a curse word uttered under his breath, Max's lips dove in search of mine.
His hands wound around my waist, his hold tight enough to leave bruises behind. As our tongues met, an overwhelming feelings of power ran through me, and so with a tug on his soft hair I began to rock. I heard his groan and a smile formed on my lips as I fervently kissed him back. His hold on my waist loosened, his hands sliding down my thighs and underneath the skirt of my dress.
"Jesus," Max muttered as his hands encountered the straps of what I wore under my dress. I was all grown up now; no longer was I that awkward 18 year-old who with a blush bought a nude slip for her first time. His hands followed the lines of my stockings to the garter at my waist.
Suddenly, I jumped back to my feet to stare down at a very disheveled Max. With a smug smile, I allowed my hands to sneak underneath my dress. Looping my fingers over the strap of my lace underwear, I inched it down my legs.
Kneeling in front of him on the couch, I smiled at him as one of my hands picked up the discarded fabric and brought it up to stick it in his pocket. "Keep that as a souvenir of the day you leaned not to mess with me, Max."
I rose to my heels and walked towards the door. Before I left through, I turned back to his shocked form and smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot. Your fiancee is coming over with the future-in-laws in a half hour. Enjoy your cold shower!"
And then I was gone.
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A/N:Next update won't be for a while (a week and a half at the latest), but it will center around this dinner with Elle's family at Max's condo.