Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (70 page)

“No. I do appreciate the offer, but hearing your voice was all I really needed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Thank you. Sorry for waking you.”

“No problem. Goodnight, Calida.”

“Goodnight, Seth. I love you.”

“Sleep well, Ms. Alexander.”

“You too, Mr. Jokobi.”

I hung up the phone with a smile on my face. I was able to drift off to sleep afterwards, feeling at ease and not plagued with those wayward thoughts.

Chapter 47

“So have you figured out what you’re gonna do for his birthday?” Macy asked.

The day was very pleasant, even for mid-October. The leaves were changing, making for very pretty scenery while we walked from stall to stall at the Green Market at Piedmont Park. Seth wanted to come, and she and Mitch tagged along since they didn
’t have anything planned till later. Neither of Macy nor I had ever been to the open aired farmer’s market before, but I had to admit the set up was very fun. Seth stopped to look at some vegetable stand, so we left the guys because Macy wanted to look at the homemade soap stand.

“I got him a book,” I replied. “He
’ll probably think it’s corny, but hopefully he’ll appreciate the fact that it’s old and in French and overlook what it is.”

“What kind of book is that?” s
he asked with added interest.

“Um,
La Belle et la Bête
,” I replied, butchering the pronunciation in the process. “It’s the original publication of
Beauty and the Beast
,” I added when she looked at me, clueless to what I just said. “I still had been pulling my hair out over what to get him. Then I remembered his library. The man loves to read, so I went by Vintage Reads, talked to Mr. Bradford for a while and he recommended it.”

“Sooo you bought him a fairytale. What I wouldn
’t give to see his face when he opens that,” she said, laughing.

“Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda stupid. But Mr. Bradford said this was the truest version of the sto
ry. Not watered down or Disneyfied. It’s not a first edition or anything, but it’s still the unabridged version and in French,” I said, explaining the idea to her in an attempt to make it sound less immature.

“Oh, Lee
, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” Macy said, noticing the hurt expression on my face. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“I
’ll love what?” Seth asked, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

I inhaled deeply, drinking in the scent of him. “How do you know she was talking about you?” I asked, turning to give him a quick kiss. He gave me a hard look as he waited for me to answer his question. “It
’s a surprise,” I said quickly.

“Hey, B
abe, if we are gonna catch the movie, we’d better get going,” Mitch said, pulling Macy into his arms.

“You
’re right,” she replied, glancing down at her watch. “Alright, Lee, I’ll catch you later.”

I watched as she walked off holding hands with Mitch. He said something to her then playfully hit her on the butt. She took off running like a kid, and I laughed watching the two of them.

“So,” I said, linking my arm in his. “Did you find everything you wanted?”

“Yes
, I did. I put the stuff in the car already. Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

We walked towards the food vendors to order lunch. I rested my head on Seth’s shoulder as we walked. I loved fall; the temperatures were near perfect to me, not too hot, and not too cold. As we got closer, the smell of kettle corn and veggie burgers filled the air, making my stomach grumble loudly. I couldn’t decide on what I wanted, so Seth finally ordered veggie burgers with sweet potato fries for us both. I wasn’t keen on the non-meat burger, but I’d learned not to question his selections. He was normally right.

“What were you and Macy talking about?” he asked after we had gotten seated with our food.

“I told you it was a surprise,” I answered, taking a bite; once again pleased with his food selection.

“I
’m not particularly fond of surprises.” Seth’s voice took that familiar undertone that made me squirm in my seat.

“Seth, it
’s for your birthday. Can you please not pressure me into spilling the beans on what your gift is?” I pleaded.

He quietly sat finishing his meal
, giving me curious glances intermittently. I kept quiet, hoping he would drop the subject, because we both knew that if he really wanted to get the information out of me he could.

“You bought me something for my birthday?” he asked
, sitting forward.

I nodded in response
, taking a sip of my soda. A smile spread across his face, making his eyes sparkle.

“I haven
’t had anyone buy me a gift in a very long time. I’ll try to be a good boy and wait until next week,” he replied, giving me a wink.

“Maybe I
’ll give you a nice reward for your good behavior.” I replied, smiling, feeling the relief wash over me.

We stopped and bought some baked goods from a cute little girl sitting with her mom. She was very
excited when Seth largely overpaid for the two brownies I wanted.

“A nineteen dollar tip, I think you made her day.”

“I liked her entrepreneur spirit. She had a very convincing sales pitch.”

“Yes, two for a dollar.
Very convincing,” I replied with a laugh.

 ***

Calida stretched up on her toes to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. She appreciated the nice gestures I made even if they weren’t directed at her. I saw how she watched her friend’s interactions with Mitch, the fleeting look of wistfulness that would cross her face. She probably wanted our relationship to be more like that, but nothing worth having ever came easy. That was the one thing
he
used to repeat over and over when it came to business, but said it could be applied to all aspects of my life.
“Son, never marry the one that chases you; marry the one you have to chase. That’s the one that will be the bigger prize.”

I smiled down at Calida and slid her hand into mine as we walked towards my car.

“So what are you fixing me for dinner?” she inquired once we got to the car.

“Who said I was cooking?”

“I thought that was the whole point of this trip today. You’re supposed to be making me some elaborate meal with fresh ingredients,” she responded, wrapping her arms around my waist.

“I
’m sorry to say you’ve been mistaken,” I replied, stepping forward, pinning her against the car. “Tonight you get another lesson,” I whispered, before placing a kiss on her neck. I smiled seeing the slight blush that crept into her cheeks. “And cooking
is
supposed to be woman’s work. I really think it should be me coming home to a nice hot meal every day.”

“I enjoyed my last lesson,” she replied with a coy smile. “But, since
I’m
the only one that actually goes to an office every day, I think our current arrangement works out nicely.”

“Do you now?” I asked.

My hands moved down, grabbing her curvaceous behind. Calida responded by linking her hands around my neck, stretching up on her toes, then giving me a slow, sensual kiss.

“Uh huh,” she replied with a smile.

I gave her ass another squeeze before stepping away. She was dangerously pushing my limits, making me ready to take her on the hood of my car, not caring who saw.

“So
, what would you like to do with the rest of your afternoon?” I asked, opening the car door to drop her brownies inside one of the bags.

She shrugged her shoulders before sliding her hand in mine again as we walked back towards the park
. She casually looked over some of the vendor tables as we passed by but didn’t stop for long. We eventually made our way towards the playground.

“Give me a push,” she said, turning to me with her radiant smile before running over towards the swings.

Calida sat on the swing, twisting from side to side as she waited on me to catch up to her. She looked so innocent, and her eyes sparkled when she looked up at me.

“Hold on tight,” I said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

Moving around behind her, I took ahold of the black plastic swing. Pulling back, I gave her a hard push forward. 

“Higher!” she squealed with delight.

I stood back watching as she leaned back, letting the momentum of the swing carry her. With her eyes closed and her face tilted up towards the sun, the ponytails she’d put into her hair flowed in the wind as she moved. She was a vision of beauty. 

I
enjoyed seeing her like this, happy and carefree, and I liked knowing that she could be that way around me.
This is who she is, who she really wants to be
. This was the woman that wormed her way into my very existence with her innocence and zest for life. I’d always believed my life was fine as it was until she came along and shined her bright light on the emptiness of it. 

Calida was everything I didn
’t know I wanted. She was beauty, she was light, she was life. My life. Mine. I walked around to the front of the swing, catching her legs which brought her to a stop.

“Hey,” she whined
but was quickly silenced when I pulled her into my arms for a kiss.

“Are you done playing?”

“Nope,” she answered with a smile, pulling me towards the slide.

I stood at the bottom of the steps watching her climb up.

“Are you coming?”

“No, I
’m enjoying the view from down here.”

A slight blush crept into her cheeks as she turned to go down the slide. I stood by the ladder
, listening to her laugh as she went down. She walked over wearing a large grin, and I couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Going again?”

“Maybe.”

This time
, I followed her up the ladder holding on to her waist as we went down together. Both of us were laughing when we reached the bottom. Our behavior was absurd, two adults playing on a playground,

“Thank you,” she said quietly, looking back over her shoulder at me.

“For what?”

“For not making me feel silly for playing like this.”

I could hear that bit of worry that had returned to her.

“Thank you,” I replied, tightening my arms around her then giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“For what?” she asked, turning to look at me.

“For being you.”

***

I spent the rest of the day feeling like a giddy school girl after our time on the playground. Seth telling me he appreciated me for me was probably one of the best things he could have said, well next to him telling me he loves
me. I was still waiting for that, so happily took being appreciated. When we got back to his house, he’d barely had time to put away the groceries before I attacked him. I never got tired of being intimate with him. We spent a few hours working up quite an appetite.

“Pay attention
, Cara Mia,” Seth said stepping up behind me. “I don’t want you to cut yourself,” he continued, taking the knife from me.

I took a step back so that I stood closer to him
, inhaling the light, woodsy scent of his Burberry cologne. The slight ripple of his muscles could be felt as he continued to show me how to ‘properly’ cut carrots. I leaned back, cupping his cheek in my hand. He smirked when he cut his eyes over at me. I turned, wrapping my arms around his neck, unable to resist kissing him.

“Something tells me you aren
’t very interested in chopping carrots,” he said seductively.

“I am, really. But you were so close and you smell so yummy and your lips were right there I just couldn
’t resist,” I answered with a shy smile.

“I don
’t think I’ve ever been described as smelling ‘yummy’ before, but I think I like it,” he answered with a soft chuckle. “And you also have irresistible lips,” Seth continued before leaning down to kiss me again. “But if we both don’t focus, we won’t have dinner tonight,” he stated, pulling away.

I gave him a little pout
, and in return he gave me a playful slap on the butt before ordering me back to work. We managed to finish dinner with only a few additional distractions. The mini meatloaves with mushroom gravy, glazed carrots, and homemade garlic mashed potatoes was probably the most labor intensive meal I’d ever attempted. It was made from scratch using the ingredients he bought earlier, and it turned out well. Even if it had tasted terrible, I would have enjoyed it simply because I made it with him. There was a definite shift happening with us, he was opening up to me more. Not in the traditional ways, but he was sharing parts of himself with me with the piano and now the cooking. I still didn’t understand how he’d never had a serious relationship before me, but I felt special knowing I was his first.