Page 12 of Phoenix
“Because she isn’t a conquest,” I reply, though I have slept with her like some sort of fucking randy mutt. “She’s someone I’m looking after, a…job with a slightly altered outcome.”
“Sounds interesting, what’s her name?”
“Why do you wanna know?” I reply, sounding stubborn. His reaction is a little strange and I want to know where he’s going with his line of questioning.
“Can you believe this asshole?” he says to Aiden with a smug smirk and his thumb pointing my way. “Getting all possessive and shit!”
Aiden chuckles but chooses to remain looking firmly at the glass he’s cleaning, shaking his head as if to tell Jake he refuses to get involved in our argument.
“Not at all, but you can ask her in the morning yourself…asshole!” I quirk my lips at him, giving the smallest smile as I turn back to clean the bar. I hear him laughing at me before shuffling off out back.
“So, what are you going to do with said young lady, Boss?” Aiden breaks the silence of sweeping and grabs my attention with his gruff, loaded question.
“Not sure yet, Aid, but don’t mention her name to anyone else,” I tell him, now wearing a serious expression, “if anyone asks, tell them her name is…Grace.”
“Sure,” he replies with a shrug and returns to cleaning glasses.
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When the bar is cleaned, I slink off back to go to bed, having already said goodbye to Aiden. I walk toward my room, an almost empty room, bar a few pictures of the people who mean the most to me - Dad, Mom, and me posing with Louisa on her wedding day. However, my thoughts of a cozy bed for one are pushed aside when I see Lou’s door slightly ajar. I instantly rush over to look inside, just to make sure Jess is alright in there.
To my relief, she is sound asleep in the bed, wearing nothing but a vest top and her long, dark hair lying out like a fan across her pillow. Her skin almost blends into the white linen, while her brow remains furrowed with anxiety. I wonder if she always sleeps like this; her dreams must be full of fear, with her always wondering if she’ll ever escape her past. I can relate to that. A lot.
I must watch her for nearly half an hour. She doesn’t move an awful lot; she’s still in the exact same position as I found her in. Apart from the odd twitch of her eyebrows, she remains as still as a statue. The clock in the living room quietly signals the new hour, and I realize how long I’ve been standing here staring at her, so much so, I slap myself around the face a little. I then tell myself to get to fucking bed before I pass out in the corridor, only to turn around and find Jake watching me with a strange expression on his face. His arms are folded, his jaw tight, and he seems almost suspicious of me, much like I was with Lou’s husband when they first got together.
“You ok, Phoenix?” he eventually mumbles through his teeth. “You look lost.”
“Just checking on our house guest, why?” I stand up tall and cross my arms, as though I’m the mirror image of him. It’s true we look like one another, being related and all we would, but I’ve never seen him looking so confrontational against me.
“No reason,” he eventually says at the same time as he turns back around to go inside Dad’s old room. “See you in the morning, Phoenix.”
“Yeah, ok,” I mutter back, lost for words over his strange behavior.
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Jessie
When I wake, I am completely disorientated. I end up screaming bloody murder because it feels like I’m right back in that basement, feeling dirty and frightened, just waiting for him to come back. Once I’m mentally back inside the room, one that’s equally as alien to me as that basement was, I begin to remember all that has occurred in the last forty-eight hours. It doesn’t put me much more at ease. Though at least this room is above ground, the walls are white and clean, and I can hear the sound of birds singing instead of the knocking of old water pipes.
Before I can even take note of the cold sweat running down my back, my door bursts open and the man who I gave my virginity to comes rushing inside with a look that is ready to kill. His presence only has me crawling up the bed in abject fear with my fingers lacing through my knotty hair. All I can do is close my eyes tightly and let my body tremble because it no longer knows what else to do.
Warren walks slowly toward the bed, his arms stretched out before him, trying to get closer to me, the wild animal who is about to bolt.
“Jess,” he says cautiously, “it’s ok, it’s ok, you don’t need to be scared, it’s alright!”
“Bullshit!” I shout. Only it doesn’t come out as a shout, it comes out as barely more than a whisper; nothing seems to be working as it should be.
“Hey, Jess, hey, look, I’m not going to hurt you. I took you to make sure nothing would happen to you, I promise,” he rushes out, but at least keeping well back.
Before I can respond, or he can get any closer, someone else bursts inside of the room, someone as nearly as big as Warren. However, this man doesn’t stop at my door, he doesn’t show the same restraint that Warren does. Instead, he throws his arms around me and pulls me in close to him, all the while shushing me in a calming way and stroking my hair down my back.
“Jess, it’s ok, I’m here,” he says in a voice I never thought I’d hear in the open again. “Trust me, baby, it’s ok. He won’t ever get to you…ever. I made sure of it, Jess.”
I screw my face up in complete shock, half wondering if this is all a weird dream, but when I eventually pull back and look into his eyes, I can see it is him.
“Jake?” I whisper, leaving my mouth gaping open, and my brow furrowed in confusion, much like Warren’s expression. Jake smiles softly, still stroking my hair down my back. “What are you doing here?”
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