Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (4 page)

The microwave dinged, interrupting my not-so-fun trip down memory lane. I hopped off the counter to retrieve my meal and carried it into our cozy living room, dining room combo. Plopping down onto our secondhand sofa, I flipped through the channels until I found something decent. I curled up with my dinner and the book of wallpaper samples.

Macy had hated the décor of this place when we toured it, but I convinced her it had great potential. Her eye for fashion meant she wanted a house that was already done, one that was shiny and new, but I saw what she couldn’t. I saw the potential of how great this place could be. Yes, the floral wallpaper was ugly and dated, but it was a cosmetic fix. The character that old bungalows like this one had couldn’t be beat. The hardwood floors were original and were surprisingly in great shape. The woodwork around the doors and windows, the crown molding, were all pieces that made this house so charming. Having one bathroom was the biggest concern, but so far we’d managed to not get in each other’s way. It was a small house, but it was mine. I loved it here, and couldn’t wait until all of the changes were done.

Macy still wasn
’t home by the time I got ready for bed, and I knew what that meant. After double checking to make sure the front door was locked and the alarm was set, I left the front porch light on for her then turned in. If things went well with the doctor, or at least until Macy got bored with him, I saw myself having more quiet evenings alone.

Chapter 3

“Come on, Lee. We’re gonna be late!” Macy exclaimed, storming into my room.

She was taking me out to celebrate. After giving up on all hope of getting the job, Patrick Thorn
’s assistant called me two days ago to ask when I could start. I told her I had to give notice at the bookstore so that my schedule could be arranged there. She was ok with me starting in a week’s time. Mr. Bradford was sad to hear I was quitting, but he understood. He allowed me to work just weekends or evenings for the remaining two weeks and said he’d happily rehire me should things not work out.

Macy had planned a complete girl
’s day, which meant a trip to the spa and some shopping. She thought that, as an executive assistant, I needed to change my wardrobe, but I told her as a secretary my wardrobe was just fine. Her comeback, ‘I had to learn to properly decorate myself if I wanted to decorate people’s homes.’ Fashion was her thing, but I just conceded and let her win like usual.

“You aren
’t even dressed?” she asked as she scrutinized my choice of outfit.

“What are you talking about?” I responded, taking another look at myself in the mirror. I did look
bummy in comparison to her, but I always did. Macy wore her favorite pair of light blue Dolce and Gabanna jeans, a fitted dark blue turtleneck shirt and a gray wool blazer with quarter sleeves. “You said shopping was going to be involved, which means I need to be in comfortable clothing.”

“You are not leaving the house with me looking like that. Yoga pants are meant for two things: bumming around the house or yoga class.”

She walked over to my closet to pick out something different. We went through this same routine nearly every time we left the house together. She started mumbling under her breath about how she needed to burn most of my wardrobe since it consisted mostly of jeans or workout pants. I gave up arguing with her over this point a long time ago. Taking off my pants and sweatshirt, I slipped into the dark-wash jeans she gave me. After vetoing all my shirt options, she left to get one from her closet. Macy returned with a cream V-neck cashmere sweater. It was a size smaller than I normally would wear, but she ignored my complaints about how much it clung to my body.

“Happy now?”
I asked, giving a little spin. The change of outfit snowballed into redoing my hair into a more acceptable ponytail and adding some basic makeup.

“Much happier.
Honestly, I don’t know how I have allowed you to keep your bad sense of style all these years.”

“I think I
’m insulted,” I replied, feigning sadness.

“Be insulted in the car,” she retorted, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door.

The spa was very relaxing. I needed to unwind, and my massage therapist had the hands of an angel. By the time we were done with the massages, pedicures, and manicures, I was actually relaxed enough to allow Macy to use me as a life-sized Barbie, but that relaxation quickly wore off by the sixth boutique. I was tired and hungry. The ‘lunch’ they’d fed us at the spa was not enough to even fill up a child. It didn’t help that she kept grilling me about trying to find Seth while she forced me to try on more outfits. The times I had gone back to Carroll Street Cafe I secretly hoped he’d be there, but he never was. Short of taking out an ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I didn’t know what she wanted me to do to find him. Macy continued to chat about how I always just let life pass me by and how I should learn to go for it more. She was probably right, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.

After three hours of shopping, I
’d reached my end. Sitting in the chair outside the fitting room, I watched Macy check the fit of the latest dress she tried on. “Macy, I need to eat or I think I’ll pass out from starvation. Aren’t you hungry?”

“Huh? Oh, okay just let me try on these last items and we
’ll go,” she answered dismissively.

Her last few options consisted of around fifteen pieces. I knew it would still be about half an hour before she was ready. That woman could lose all track of time when she was shopping.
 I headed outside for some fresh air. Juggling our bags, I stumbled on the steps, and I felt myself falling forward. I was for sure going to land on my face when strong arms caught me.

“At least I don
’t have coffee this time.”

I think I stopped breathing for a few moments when I heard his voice. I already felt the heat creeping into my face. I thought I would never see him again, and when I do, I literally bump into him. Again!

“Yes, um. Sorry. I promise I’m really not a klutz,” I replied softly. “Thank you for catching me.”

Seth
’s hand lingered on my waist until I took a step back to collect my fallen bags. I was suddenly very thankful that Macy had forced me to change. I would be sure to thank her later.

“Well, I wouldn
’t be much of a gentleman if I just stood by and watched you fall,” he replied smoothly.

My stomach was doing somersaults, and my palms started to feel all sweaty. I didn
’t know what to say, so I stood there waiting for him to say his goodbyes before continuing on to wherever he was headed. The awkward silence stretched on since he didn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave.

“So, did you manage to get your shirt clean?” I regretted the words the instant they were out of my mouth. Asking about his laundry was just as bad, no, it was worse than asking about the weather.

“Yes. It’s as good as new,” Seth replied with a soft laugh.

“That
’s great,” I responded a little too enthusiastically, which only made him laugh more.

“Has the state of my laundry been keeping you up at night?”

“Yes. No. I mean, I’m just happy to hear that I didn’t ruin anything.” I felt myself getting flustered and knew I needed to end this disaster before it got any worse. “Well, it was nice to see you again, but I should go check on my friend. Make sure she’s not buying out the place.”

“Looks like you
’ve already accomplished that,” he countered, glancing down at the numerous bags sitting on the ground.

“Oh no, these aren
’t all mine…” I answered, feeling the need to explain for some reason.

A lazy smile spread across Seth
’s face. “What does your friend look like?”

“Um, light brown skin, with
goldish brown hair. Why?”

“I think she
’s looking at us.”

Seth took a step back as I turned around to see Macy standing at the top of the stairs.
 I don’t remember ever seeing her smile as big as she did when she saw me. She gave Seth a once over from head to toe before giving me a nod of approval.

“Hi, I
’m Macy, and you must be Lee’s dreamy mystery man,” she said, extending her hand towards him.

I let out an audible gasp and elbowed her in the side. She looked at me and shrugged, trying to pretend she didn
’t just embarrass me with her statement.

He looked over at me; the smile on his face grew larger, before turning his attention back to Macy. “Nice to meet you, Macy,” he said, taking her hand. “I
’m Seth.”

“Seth. Do you have a last name?” she asked while I just stood by saying nothing.

“Jokobi.”

“Well, Seth Jokobi, we were heading to have a late lunch or early dinner. Would you care to join us?”

I shot her another look of disbelief, which she ignored. I silently prayed he would say no, that he was on his way to meet someone or that he had some place to be. Instead he smiled and graciously accepted her impromptu invitation. Seth also insisted on carrying our bags so now he was following us to Macy’s car, which meant I couldn’t fuss at her properly for what she had done.

***

I
’d watched Calida over the last week to get an idea of her schedule and found she led a very basic life. She liked to run, though the times varied based on her job at the bookstore. She had returned to Carroll Street Cafe a few times, but never stayed long. It was almost as if she were looking for someone when she went there. Other than that, she rarely left the house unless she was with the friend. When I realized the two lived together, I made it a point to get an idea of the friend’s schedule as well.

Now as I walked behind them with their bags, I got the chance to better observe them. Calida was feverishly whispering to Macy, and on occasion, they would look back at me. The dynamics between the two were interesting. Macy was clearly the more outspoken of the two.

“Thank you again for carrying our bags,” Macy said when we arrived at her car. “We were going to eat at Roasters off Lenox Road if that’s okay with you.”

“Whatever you ladies prefer,” I replied with a smile.

They got to the location a little ahead of me and were waiting by the front entrance when I arrived. Macy was busy texting on her phone while Calida gave me a shy smile when she saw me approaching.

“I hate to do this,” Macy said, putting her phone back in her purse, “but I
’m gonna have to go. Something came up.”

“Oh, okay,” Calida replied to her, looking confused and a little disappointed. “Sorry you followed us here for nothing, Seth.”

“Another time maybe,” I replied.

“Oh, no.
Sorry. Lee, you stay. Enjoy yourself,” Macy said.

“What?” Calida exclaimed and quickly became embarrassed by her outburst. “Sorry. What I mean is how do you expect me to get home? Walk to the Marta station from here? That
’s like two miles.”

Macy looked over at me briefly, and I smiled back at her in return. “I
’ll be happy to drop you off at home,” I offered.

“Great! Then it
’s settled,” Macy stated quickly.

Calida shot her a pleading look, which her friend simply ignored as she waved goodbye to us.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” I said, opening the door for her. She glanced back at the retreating figure of her friend before turning to give me a nervous smile.

The place was a little busy. As I walked over to the hostess station, I looked back to see Calida pull out her phone and fire off a text. I assumed it would be to her friend for abandoning her in such a way.

“We have about a ten minute wait,” I stated, taking a seat next to her.

“Oh, okay,” she replied, glancing over at me. “You don
’t have to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Eat with me. If you can drop me at the Lenox Station, I can get home from there. Then you can continue on with your day.”

I took a moment to study her. She never held my gaze for long, choosing instead to tuck imaginary strands of her hair behind her ear or to look at the blank screen of her phone tightly in her hand.

“I rarely do things I don’t want to do, so if I didn’t want to eat with you, I wouldn’t have accepted the invitation. But if you’d rather not dine with me, then I will gladly take you wherever you want to go.”

Her phone buzzed, bringing the screen to life. The reply from her friend popped up instantly before she could block it.

live a little. :)

A small grin tugged at the corner of her mouth when she read it. Taking a deep breath, she slid the phone into her pocket then looked up at me.

“I would enjoy having lunch. Dinner? Linner? Oh my goodness, did I just say linner?” Calida asked, giggling.

“Yes, I believe you did,” I replied, laughing as well. “Guess it makes sense, after all there is brunch.”

“Yes there is,” she agreed, laughing again. It was a lovely sound, and her entire face lit up when she did it.