Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (68 page)

“Good morning, Ms. Alexander.”

“Good morning, Stacy, and it’s Calida,” I replied to our newly hired receptionist.

She was a sweet young woman in her first year of school at one of the local community colleges. Kerrin and I had discussed it and came to the agreement that we would hire from the local schools to help keep cost dow
n while giving that all-important work experience they would need later in life.

Stacy was going to school to be an office manager. It was only a two year degree, and she was eager to do a good job. She had been turned down several times before answering our ad. We had two receptionists that worked part time and one intern from the local design college.

“Yes, Ma’am. I mean Calida. Ms., I mean Kerrin is upstairs talking to Jason, she said to send you up when you got here.”

“Okay. Thanks
, Stacy,” I said, heading into my office to drop off my stuff before joining Kerrin.

I loved the way this space had turned out. Kerrin wanted to have her office in the back. She said it was farther away from the front door and distractions. She was great at what she did, but still
needed to work on her people skills. Most of our current clients were used to her brash nature, but she thought that me being in front would work better for any walk-ins. I was happy with that decision because I loved this room with the bay windows. It was so bright and cheerful. Her office was going to be the space that was once the kitchen. It was taking longer to convert since there was plumbing and electrical to deal with. She didn’t mind since she planned to spend most of her time in the bedroom turned drafting room upstairs.

“I
’m sorry, Ms., I mean Calida, I know you just got here, but there is a gentleman asking for you. I didn’t have you down for any appointments today, but he said you would see him without one. I can tell him you’re busy and schedule him back at a later time if you need me to.”

“No, that
’s fine.” I replied. “Just let Kerrin know someone is here and that I’ll be up in a bit.”

A few moments later
, Mitch was escorted in.

“Hey, Lee, I didn
’t catch you at a bad time did I?” he asked, giving me a welcoming hug.

Stacy turned to exit quietly
.

“No, not at all.
I just got here not long ago actually.” I directed him over to the chairs by the front windows. “This is a surprise. What brings you by?”

“Well, work. I want to hire you.”

“Mitch, I’ve been to your house, you don’t need me for anything,” I commented, giving him a quizzical look.

“Yeah, I know, that was done by a professional. I
’m smart enough to know where my strengths lie and interior design is not it. Left to my own devices, I would have only furnished the living room and bedroom. I just need a bed, a couch, and a TV. My mother, on the other hand, took matters into her own hands and hired me a designer that
she
worked with. I only signed the checks,” he replied, laughing.

“Okay. So what do you need me to do? The house l
ooks great as is.”

“No, this is for my office, or my soon to be new office. The hospital is making some renovations. My office will be moved to the new annex building, and I want you to work your magic on it.”

“Did Macy put you up to this?”

“What? No. Actually, when I called her a little bit ago to talk to you
it was the first she’d heard of my idea.”

“Aw,
Mitch, thanks. I’m honored you’d trust me with this.”

“I didn
’t even consider anyone but you.”

After talking with Kerrin and Jason, I spent the next half hour going over the basics with Mitch. The annex was scheduled for completion in six months. We would be doing his entire office suite which consisted of the waiting/reception area, his office, break room, bathrooms, and exam rooms. He also said that we could get free advertising by leaving business cards in his waiting area.

Kerrin thought this was a great opportunity and we could possibly get more hospital business since all the suites weren’t going to be full at opening. New doctors coming in could be potential clients. We talked over our other current projects, and by four, I was ready to call it a day. Stacy popped her head in to say bye as I was shutting down my laptop, preparing to head home.

“Crap!” I muttered when I realized I couldn
’t go home yet.

I was supposed to get Seth so that I could give him back his truck. Pulling out my phone, I dialed his number since I needed to make sure he was home and realized also I had no clue how to get to his house. I had been there countless times, but sadly
, never paid close attention on how to get there.

“Hello.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. Um, I’m leaving the office and was going to come pick you up if that’s okay with you.” I laughed a little at the sound of that. It sounded strange to say I was picking him up since he’d been driving me around for nearly a year now.

“Something funny?”

“Oh, yeah. Just thinking how weird it sounded for me to say I was going to pick you up.”

“Ah. Well, obviously I
’m home, so feel free to come by.”

“Okay.
Um, one small problem with that. I don’t exactly know how to get to your house.”

“That could be a problem. Are you in the car now?”

“No, getting ready to walk out.”

“Okay, well the car has GPS. When you get outside turn on the navigation system, go to address book, hit home. It will bring you right to me.”

“Huh. Um, okay thanks.”

“See you soon.”

 
He hung off the phone, and I stood perplexed for a minute as to why home would be his address instead of mine. When I got out to the car, after sitting for five minutes trying to figure out how to activate the GPS, I followed his instructions and sure enough it was not my address in the home slot. Maybe it was because in theory I already would know how to get home.
That had to be the reason. 

On the drive to my destination, I had to admit the ride was smooth. It was very quiet, and I was alr
eady in love with the XM radio. I still wasn’t completely comfortable accepting such an expensive gift, but I knew better than to tell him that. I had a hard enough time when Macy told me about the roundabout cost of my necklace. When she asked about it, I told her it wasn’t the little blue box from Tiffany’s, which was the ritziest jewelry on my radar. When I showed her the box, she was appalled that I had never heard of Cartier. She was online instantly, showing me some of the necklaces from that place, and I nearly had a heart attack. It never dawned on me it would be super expensive; I just thought it was pretty.

I absentmindedly fingered the swan pendant as I drove towards his house. It looked even creepier approaching it alone.
No matter how many times I’d been here, it still reminded me of a haunted house. The sun setting in the distance, casting a shadow over it, didn’t help that uneasy feeling at all. Pushing the call button on the box, I waited for his voice to come over the speaker. Instead, moments later, the gate slowly creaked open. My wheels crunched on the gravel as I continued my journey. Glancing up at the rearview mirror, and seeing the gate close behind me, only added to my anxious feeling.

“You found me,” Seth
said with a smile as I got out of the car.

He stood on his porch leaning against the doorframe
. A lazy smile was on his lips as he stood arms crossed in a white A-shirt and black athletic pants; barefoot. His hair was disheveled and still looked slightly damp from what I guessed was his evening workout.

“Yep.
It brought me here with no problems,” I replied, giving him a quick kiss.

Seth closed and locked the door behind before guiding me towards the kitchen. I should have known he
’d feed me dinner.

“What
’s on the menu?” I asked.

“Salmon with zucchini and squash.”

“Sounds good. You know a girl could get used to this,” I commented, taking a seat.

“To what?” he inquired, sitting a plate down in front of me.

“Coming home to a nice meal after a long day at work,” I replied, smiling at him.

He just gave me a half smile in return.

“So how are you liking the car?”

“I love it. It drives like a dream. Thank you again. Mmm, that smells delicious,” I said as
I inhaled the appetizing aroma wafting from the plate. My stomach growled in agreement since for lunch I had only eaten a bowl of ramen noodles. “Sorry,” I said softly, placing my hand over my stomach in an attempt to quiet it. “I didn’t have much to eat for lunch.”

“Well, we can
’t have you starving to death, so eat,” he responded, giving me a slight smile.

Dinner tasted as good as it smelled. I moaned in appreciation as the succulent fish fell apart on my tongue. I really wished I could thank his mother for teaching him to be such an excellent cook.

“I enjoy that sound.”

I blushed at his comment, but then I took another bite moaning even louder this time.

“If you keep that up, you may not get to finish dinner.”

I smiled at the playful look on his face. “You wouldn
’t want me to starve to death,” I countered.

“I think I could get a few hours out of you before that happened.” His eyes darkened when he looked at me
, making everything south of the border jump to life with desire.

I took another bite, but kept the sound effects to myself this time. He winked at me as he took a bite. After dinner
, Seth helped me clean, although I tried to tell him I would do it since he cooked. However, in true Seth fashion, he promptly ignored what I said and did what he wanted. Now, as I waited for him to get out of the shower, I meandered down the hall towards the library, but paused outside of his music room instead.

I hadn
’t been in there since the night I’d told him my secret. He’d never given back my pills, and I knew better than to ask for them. Slowly, opening the door, I flipped the switch on the wall, flooding the room with light. Like the other rooms in the house, this space was done in dark tones, deep mahogany wood walls and chocolate brown carpet contrasted against the ivory window treatments. The sofa that sat against the wall across from his piano was an exact match to the one in his living room.

I walked over to his black, baby grand piano, letting my fingers walk across the keys. The random sounds that rang out sounded harsh, lacking in skill and refinement. It was a very different sound in comparison to the beautiful music he produced.
 

I sat down at the bench
, letting my fingers rest against the cool ivory keys, trying to think back to my brief stent of lessons so long ago. Looking at the keys, I tried to remember what they were as I attempted to play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

***

When I stepped out of the bathroom, it didn’t take me long to figure out where Calida was. I winced hearing the merciless pecking as she attempted to play a rendition of something; the melody was unrecognizable. Since the night she’d finally told me the truth, something had been different with her. She seemed to have reached some new level of understanding once she started to let go of that day. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but her demeanor had shifted somehow. There was something very alluring about this new attitude of hers. My Calida was forever evolving and changing in the most surprising ways. After getting partially dressed, I went to join her.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pr
opping up in the doorway.

She jumped at the sound of my voice
, dropping her hands into her lap.

“Oh, I
’m sorry. I was bored, and I didn’t mean to touch but…”

“But you couldn
’t resist butchering some poor song,” I said, approaching her.

“I wasn
’t that bad was I?” she asked, sliding off the bench.

“Yes,
Cara Mia, you were,” I replied, unable to resist giving her a kiss.

Her lips parted
, giving me an open invitation to deepen the connection. She let out a soft moan of disappointment when I pulled away and walked over to my piano. I took a seat at the bench. Calida stood with her hands clasp together, looking worried. Turning to face her, I put my hand out. She placed her soft hand in mine, and I pulled her onto my lap.

“What song were you attempting?” I asked, giving her a kiss on the back of her shoulder.

“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,’” she responded, glancing back at me.

I could see she was trying to determine if I was upset at her or not.

“Ah,” I said, unable to contain my laugh. “I did not get that from what you were producing.”

She hung her head and gave a little pout. Bringing her face closer to me, I let my tongue run across her bottom lip before sucking on it gently. Her tongue darted out to greet mine briefly
, making me give chase when she pulled it back into her mouth. I felt her smile as she shifted in my lap.