10 Nights (34 page)

“I know you’re right,
Janie,” she said finally. “It’s just hard as hell to think of never seeing or
talking to him again.” She couldn’t even begin to describe the level of pain
that thought filled her with. Tears threatened to spill and she quickly blinked
them away. “I really can’t talk about this right now.”

It hurt Janie to see
her friend in such pain. “I’m sorry, honey, I wish I knew what to do to make
you feel better, but short of building a time machine, going back and stopping
you meeting Rhett in the first place, I don’t know what I can do.”

“It’s okay, seriously,
I just need some time, and to focus my mind on something else until I can
breathe without thinking about him.” She couldn’t help but wonder if there
would ever come a day when she didn’t think of him almost every minute. Before
meeting Rhett she wouldn’t have believed it was possible for her thoughts to be
so consumed by a man, now she found it hard to believe she would ever stop
thinking about him.

“We could take another
vacation, I’m sure that would take your mind off things.” Janie waggled her
eyebrows suggestively, trying to lighten the mood. “We can go anywhere you
like, my treat, well daddy’s treat, but it’s the same thing really.”

“I’m still recovering
from the last one,” Leah said, though she couldn’t help admitting to herself
that the idea was a temptation. “Actually I’m thinking a job hunt might be the
right thing to do just now.” She noted the rolling of Janie’s eyes and shook
her head at her friend’s response. “Come on, Janie, we should find something
useful to do with our degrees, now that we’ve actually got them.”

“I’ll help you look,
but I have no intention of joining you on the job trail until the summer is
over.”

“Well I’ll definitely
take the help.” She could only imagine how difficult it was going to be for her
to find a job in Chicago, even with a degree.

“Okay then, but let’s
not start on this until tomorrow, not seriously anyway, it’s a little late in
the day to start something that is going to require so much brainpower.” Janie
got to her feet abruptly, reaching out a hand to Leah. “Come on, we should
probably get back in there before David thinks I’ve abandoned him and demands I
serve us dinner in the nude or something as punishment.” Janie laughed.

“He would do that?”
Leah asked uncertainly; she didn’t know David well enough to know what he would
or wouldn’t do to or with Janie.

Janie burst out laughing.
“No, he wouldn’t make me do that, but maybe I should talk to him about it one
day; it could be a fun little fantasy to play out,” she said with a mischievous
smile on her face.

Leah fought to hold
back a fresh batch of tears as she realized there were going to be no more
fantasies for her. “Well then, let’s get inside; I’d hate to be the reason for
you to become demoted to the hired help.” With an effort she hid her pain from
her friend.

The famous Mushroom
Ravioli by David was delicious. Equally delicious was the dessert that followed
it, Devil’s Food Cake with French Vanilla Ice Cream. It was sinfully good, but
none of them gave any thought to the calories the food contained.

Once they had eaten
Leah asked to be driven back to the condo; since Janie wasn’t of a mind to
start on job hunting just then, and neither was she, she wanted to start
getting their things sorted. That was when she remembered about the furniture
and electronics she and Janie had bought the previous day, quickly she turned to
Janie to ask about it.

“Don’t worry about it,”
David told her with a grin, “I took care of it. I sent Jackson over early this
morning to wait for your deliveries. I couldn’t have you two girls without
something to sit on the next time I visit, or more importantly, somewhere to
sleep. Though of course you are both welcome to stay here as long as you wish.”
Jackson was his newest employee, he’d hired him as a favor to his cook, since
he was her son, but he didn’t have a firm position for the boy at that time,
which left him doing whatever odd tasks came along.

“Thank you for taking
such good care of me, Sir.” Walking round the table Janie wrapped her arms
around his neck from behind and kissed his cheek.

“Can I ask you guys
something without offending you?” Leah wanted to know, curious about the
differences between their relationship and what Rhett had shown her of the
lifestyle.

“Absolutely, Leah,
what’s on your mind?” David queried, his arm still around Janie’s waist.

“Well, why doesn’t she
call you Sir all the time? I thought it was necessary for a submissive to show
respect to her Master at all times.

David chuckled in
answer. “I don’t live this life all the time, Leah,” he told her. “I enjoy
playing in the dungeon, and so does Janie, but to me it is just something fun
to do occasionally. It isn’t a lifestyle to be maintained twenty-four seven as
far as I am concerned; there are times in life when the lifestyle gets in the
way so I restrict it to the bedroom as much as possible.”

“So Janie can pretty
much do what she wants?” Leah was confused, especially after his earlier
comment about punishing her that night.

“Janie and I came to an
agreement about what we wanted from each other when we got together. I believe
she showed you the contract.” At her nod he smiled and continued. “Outside of
the boundaries we agreed on she can do whatever she wants, and even those
boundaries are up for negotiation.”

“I guess I’m just
surprised, the two of you seem to have a regular relationship, outside of the
bedroom anyway.”

“Leah, Rhett has only
shown you a very narrow view of the lifestyle. There are many different ways
that people choose to live out this life, and everyone will tell you their way
is the right way. The truth is, if it works for the couple then it doesn’t matter
what anyone outside of that relationship believes.” Janie winked, looking up at
David with adoring eyes.

“Thanks for being so
open about your relationship; I know it’s none of my business.” She wasn’t
normally so inclined to ask people about their relationships, generally she
wasn’t interested in the slightest since she had no desire to be in a
relationship, but what she saw between Janie and David was so different to what
Rhett had shown her that it made her curious.

“Don’t worry about it,
Leah,” David told her with a smile. “Feel free to ask Janie or me anything you
wish to know; we’ll tell you if something is too personal, other than that we
will answer as best we can.

“If you are okay with
it I would love for you to consider Janie and me your mentors, if you decide
you wish to continue in the lifestyle. We can show you a different side to it
than what you have seen so far.”

“Thank you, I really
appreciate it.” Leah found herself liking David more and more, and could really
understand what her friend saw in him. “For now I’d better get home and get
some sorting out done. I have to make a plan so I can start hunting for a job
tomorrow.”

“I’ll have my driver take
you girls home then. I need to do a few hours’ work this evening, before I lose
some clients.” He leaned down and kissed Janie deeply. “Call me later, babe.”
He let go of her and walked them out to the car, leaving the dirty dishes to be
cleaned later.

23

Life

Both Leah and Janie
were amazed when they walked into the condo, the transformation was beyond
belief.

“Um, someone has been
busy,” Leah said, staring around her. Instead of an empty space filled with
boxes they now had a living room, in more than just name.

“Apparently Jackson
decided to arrange everything for us,” Janie remarked, also looking around in
surprise.

Not only had the three
piece suite they’d purchased been positioned to gain the best of the light that
came in through the windows on the far side of the room, the glass coffee table
was sat in the middle of the suite, ready for use. On the coffee table was the
remote for the huge flat screen television, which had already been hung on the
wall.

Picking the remote up
Janie hit the power button.” David should give him a raise,” she said when she
saw that not only did the television turn on, but all the channels had been tuned
in properly.

When they entered their
bedrooms they discovered they too had been organized. All of the furniture they
had bought was in place and the rooms looked as good as they might have done if
an interior decorator had been hired to arrange everything. The only things
missing were the boxes containing their belongings.

“You don’t think
Jackson unpacked our stuff do you?” Leah asked Janie, joining her friend in her
bedroom. “The boxes with my stuff are gone from my room.” She found the idea
that David’s man had been through her belongings a little disturbing.

“I’m sure he didn’t.”

“Then where are the
boxes with all your stuff? I didn’t see the boxes we left in the living room
either, the ones with the stuff for the living room and the kitchen.”

“No idea,” Janie said
with a shrug, crossing the room to her new closet she pulled open the doors to
reveal that it was empty, as was the chest of drawers. “Come on, let’s find
them.” Leaving the room she made a quick search of the condo, which took almost
no time at all, and found the boxes in the spare bedroom.

“He definitely is
thorough,” Leah said, pleased to see that the boxes had been kept separate to
avoid any confusion. Her boxes were on one side of the room, while Janie’s were
on the other, and the boxes containing the stuff to go in the living room and
kitchen were in the far corner.

“Shame he couldn’t have
put the boxes in our bedrooms after he finished with the furniture, after all,
he managed to figure out what furniture belonged in which bedroom. “

“Come on, Janie, given
everything else he did for us, which he didn’t have to do, the least we can do
is shift the boxes into our rooms,” Leah said. She’d expected to have to spend
the evening moving furniture about, and was greatly relieved that that chore
was unnecessary. Compared to the furniture, a few boxes were nothing.

“Fine.” Janie gave an
exaggerated smile. “I’d like to be able to find my underwear. Wearing the same
clothes two days running is just about acceptable, I suppose, but there is no
way I am wearing the same underwear for more than a day.”

They spent the next
hour shifting the boxes into their rooms and then sorting the contents, putting
all of their clothes away. A task that Leah allowed to take over her thoughts,
to the point where she was oblivious to almost everything around her, including
the CD that Janie decided to play loud enough to be heard throughout the condo.

The doorbell ringing
cut through Leah’s thoughts where Janie’s music hadn’t. It was Rhett, she was
sure of it, and her heart thumped heavily in her chest, fear and excitement
combining in her, as she stood as still as a statue until she heard Janie thank
someone. It was clear from Janie’s words, and the tone of her voice, that it wasn’t
Rhett.

“Leah, you have a
package,” Janie called out. For a moment she had considered refusing to sign
for it and insisting that the courier take it away, but in the end she hadn’t,
it wasn’t up to her to send the package away, that was Leah’s decision.

“Just put it on the
counter, Janie,” Leah told her friend as she wandered out into the living room.
The package was from Rhett, she was sure of that, no one but he would be
sending her anything, and she wasn’t sure she had the strength to deal with
whatever he might have sent her just then.

Janie nodded and tossed
the package casually onto the kitchen island, thinking idly that the best thing
she could do with it would be to toss it out of the window. “We could do with
taking a trip to the shop,” she said, hoping to distract her friend from the
package, the look on Leah’s face indicated she needed a distraction. “We really
need to get some food in, at the moment the fridge is bare. We don’t even have
any coffee or wine, and that, honey, is a fucking tragedy.” She laughed.

Leah joined in the
laughter, as Janie had hoped she would. “We could do with getting some decent
cutlery and kitchenware as well, not to mention pots and pans; neither of us
has much of use.”

“That lot can wait
until tomorrow, honey, we have wine glasses, that’s enough on that front for
now, wine, and something so we won’t starve tomorrow is far more important this
evening.” Janie grabbed her keys and together they headed out.

The next couple of
hours were taken up with a shopping spree as Janie endeavored to keep her
friend occupied, and stop her thinking about Rhett. They not only bought food,
and more importantly wine, but they also found themselves cutlery and
kitchenware.

Leah knew what her
friend was doing, and was grateful for it, but realized that she couldn’t avoid
things forever. Sooner or later she would have to face her memories and learn
to cope with them, she just wasn’t ready to do so then.

When they made it home
Janie went off to take a bath, while Leah sorted out their shopping. She tried
to ignore it but her eyes were constantly drawn to the package from Rhett as it
sat on island. Finally she could resist the temptation no longer and was
compelled to pull the package toward her.

Tearing the wrapping
off the package she slit the seal and opened it. Her breath caught in her
throat as she saw the beautiful figurine that sat in the velvet lined box. It
was a crystal ballerina. For a few moments all she could do was stare at it,
tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

With a shaking hand she
reached out to pick up the small card that rested on the figurine.
‘The
night you danced for me I felt my heart come alive for the first time. I am
sorry I hurt you. I hope you can forgive me. RH.’

The beginning of their
ten nights together, it felt like a hundred years ago when it all started, she
thought, wiping her cheeks as tears trickled down them. Setting the card down she
carefully lifted the figurine from the box and set it on the counter; the
weight of it surprised her, at the same time it gave her some idea of the value
of the piece. The figurine, which was about a foot high, looked even more
beautiful out of the box than it had in it.

Her tears increased as
she stared at the dancer and she felt a strong desire to call up Rhett, or to get
in her car and race over to his house. Angry with herself she hurriedly
returned the figurine to the box and closed it up before carrying it into her
bedroom, where she placed the box carefully on top of the closet. She hoped
having it up there, out of sight, would stop her thinking about it, and Rhett.

A beeping sound
startled Leah as she was putting the box on top of the closet and she almost
dropped it, catching it just in time. With the box out of the way she looked
around the room for the source of the beeping noise. It was a few moments
before she realized that it was the iPhone Rhett had given her, beeping to
alert her to the arrival of a message, she had forgotten all about the phone.

Dropping onto the bed
she grabbed up her purse to take out the iPhone. When she unlocked the phone
she was surprised to find not just one message but dozens, all of them from
Rhett, the first was from the early hours of the morning. Looking at the time
on the earliest of the messages she realized he must have sent it shortly after
Janie and David had found her.

Not sure if she was
really ready to see what Rhett had to say Leah tentatively opened the first of
the messages, reading it quickly, she then moved on to the next.

The messages ranged
from
‘I’m sorry’
to
‘I know you must hate me’
to
‘I was such a
fool, please forgive me’
. On and on the messages went until tears blurred
her vision and she could barely make out the screen. Reaching the last of the
messages she sat there for a minute or two sobbing, tears streaming down her
face once again as she tried to get control of herself.

Finally she got the
tears to stop, much to her relief, and got to her feet. Turning off the phone
she dropped it onto the bed behind her and made her way into the en-suite
bathroom attached to her bedroom, where she washed her face quickly.

Hungry, and needing to
distract herself, Leah made her way into the kitchen so she could put together
a Caesar salad for her and Janie. She wasn’t a very good cook, never having
learned to do more than the basics, Caesar salad being one of the few things
she could manage, but after the food she had eaten over the course of the past
week she was determined to learn.

“So what would you like
to do tonight, honey?” Janie asked, walking into the kitchen. “Do you fancy
hitting a club? Or perhaps a movie? We can always rent a couple of movies and
watch them with some wine if you’d like.”

“Why don’t you go on
over to David’s, he must have finished his work by now. I need to work on my
résumé; I’ll just spend some time doing that and working out a plan for job
hunting tomorrow.”

“It’s alright; I’ve
spent the whole day with David, besides, I don’t really want to leave you alone
right now.” The thought of going back to David’s was tempting, and she knew he
wouldn’t object if she went over, but her friend needed her more.

“I’ll be fine, Janie, I
promise. I really want to get the résumé done and research some companies, not
to mention work on some cover letters.” She appreciated what her friend was
doing, but she felt as though she needed some time alone.

“If you’re absolutely
sure you don’t need me.” Janie was reluctant to leave her friend but realized
there was no point in her being there if her presence was going to be
intrusive. That aside, David had told her about a new club that had opened, a
discreet place that was dedicated to the lifestyle, and she couldn’t wait to
see it, she just hoped he was in the mood to take her there.

Leah nodded as she
began dishing up the salad, filling both their plates while Janie opened a
bottle of the wine they’d bought and poured out a glass for each of them. They
ate in comfortable silence, finishing the food quickly and then washing up,
Leah doing the washing while Janie did the drying, as was their usual division
of labor.

With the dishes put
away Janie disappeared into her bedroom, where she shucked off the casual
outfit she’d picked out after her bath and dressed again in an outfit more
suited to a night out with her boyfriend. “Are you sure you don’t want me to
stick around?” she asked, returning to the living room.

“Go, have fun with your
man; we can hang out tomorrow.” Smiling at her friend’s worrying Leah ushered
her toward the door. “I’ll be fine here. I have my computer, wine, and ice
cream, what more could I want.”

Janie laughed quickly.
“Okay, well you have my cell number so if anything changes, or you just get
freaked out, you call me immediately!” Reaching over impulsively she hugged her
tightly. “I mean it; call me if you so much as break a fingernail.”

“You’re starting to
freak me out, mom,” Leah said with a giggle. “Please, go and have fun with
David before you drive me nuts!” She was exhausted by the time she finally got
Janie out of the door and got it closed behind her. Knowing her friend was
worried about her was sweet, but it was also driving her nuts. It was not the
norm for her friend to be hovering over her and what she needed most just then
was normalcy.

After a nice long,
steaming hot bath she settled herself on the couch in her pajamas, a carton of
her favorite rocky road ice-cream at her side and her laptop in front of her.
With the television turned to a music channel for background she got to work on
her résumé, going over and over it until she felt it was perfect, by which time
she had gone through half the carton of ice-cream.

Having completed the
résumé Leah Googled internships for business majors in the Chicago area. There
were a few decent companies listed, companies whose names she recognized, and
she searched each of their websites for details on how they preferred to
receive submissions. She bookmarked each of the sites so she could get back to
them easily in the morning.

The next step Leah took
was to find employment agencies that dealt with business graduates, bookmarking
those sites and adding them to her mental to do list for the morning. All in
all she felt pretty productive as she turned off her laptop and set it aside,
it was getting late and she couldn’t think of anything else she could do to
aide in her job search just then. She wasn’t tired however, sleeping in so late
had really messed her body clock up, so she decided to settle down and watch
some television until she got tired.