Insufferable Proximity 2 (34 page)

“What shall I say? Who shall I be?” Sybille was ready to put her acting chops to good use.

Heaven smiled widely. “You pick.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a clothing designer or a nurse. Or maybe a chef,” Sybille chuckled as her eyes widened.

“Well hello, Ms. Deville.” Heaven and her mother turned to see Gloria standing there.

“Gloria, darling?” Sybille squealed as she grabbed the girl in a big hug. “Where have you been, you just disappeared?”

“You were right about that guy,” Gloria said with sadness in her eyes.

“That evil bastard! Did he hurt you?” Sybille was alarmed.

“Let’s just say that I learned my lesson, and I should have listened to you,” Gloria admitted.

“I didn’t know the two of you were so close,” Heaven smirked at their reunion.

“Yes, dear; I’m surprised you don’t remember her. Glowey Jean?” Sybille raised her perfectly arched brow.

“Glowey Jean? That girl whom I found unconscious on the front steps?” Heaven asked her mother as she recalled the day. She looked at Gloria with shock and horror written all over her face.

Sybille grinned. “The one and only.”

“Sevigne!” The women turned to see Petal running towards them. 

Petal wore a cotton-candy pink gown that shimmered with each step. The bright light from the chandelier bounced off the mounds of crystal-infused costume jewelry and gave her a glowing appearance.

“I’ll be right back,” Heaven informed her mother before walking towards Petal.

“Congratulations, lovey.” Petal hugged Heaven and kissed her cheek.

“Thank you. Remember, no brothel talk,” she felt it was important to remind her.

“Of course not. I got you a special engagement present.” She handed her the small red suitcase, “But don’t open it until you’re alone. You’re liable to send your guests into cardiac arrest.”

“I can only imagine.” Heaven smiled as Petal giggled.

“Trust me; you are going to love this. You’ll be thanking me later,” she purred as she winked at her.

“Oh, there’s Sybille and Coco.” Petal rushed over to them.

“Sevigne?”

Heaven turned to see Juliette with a present in her hand.

“Yes.”

“I wanted to give this to you.” She handed her the white box with the big red bow.

“Thank you.”

“I also wanted to apologize for any trouble,” she shrugged her shoulders awkwardly.

Heaven smiled. “It’s water under the bridge; thank you for coming.”

***

“You’re looking lovely tonight,’ Ian said as he stood next to Gloria.

“Thank, Mr. King, you’re looking spectacular yourself.”

“I thought you were going to stop calling me Mr. King?” he asked as he took a step closer to her.

“I thought you preferred that I did?”

“I prefer Ian.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

There was a loud collective gasp as the secretaries watched Ian kiss Gloria’s hand.

“You’re drunk.” It was a statement, not a question.

“A little,” Ian shrugged.

***

Julian was looking for Heaven when he saw Lila coming towards him. She was trying to be sexy, but she was too drunk. She looked more like a staggering drunkard with twitchy hips.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I thought everyone from work was invited.”

“You weren’t invited.”

“I thought maybe you’d want to see me. You know—maybe one last time before your wedding.”

“No, I don’t want to see you, get out of here,” Julian barked at her. He was feeling disrespected.

“Just one last time, King. No one will ever find out, no one will ever know.” She tried to rub against him, but he stepped away from her.

“It will never happen.”

“If it weren’t for that bitch, you’d still want me, wouldn’t you. Just admit it.”

“Don’t you fucking call her that! I want you out of here.” He shook his head and took a step to leave.

“Wait!” Lila grabbed his arm “Are you sure you don’t want one last taste, King; you know how submissive I can be. I’ll let you do whatever your heart desires. Don’t forget how good we are together.” She pressed her body tightly against his and grabbed his cock.

“Get the fuck off me!” He grabbed her arms and yanked them back. He was ready to toss her across the room when he heard Heaven’s voice.

“Really Lila? At my engagement party? I didn’t think anyone could be as desperate as you, but you managed even to outdo yourself. Bravo,” Heaven taunted her as she walked towards them.

“You’re just jealous, Sevigne Deville.”

“Jealous of what?”

“That I had him first, and you know in your heart that he still wants me.”

“Get out of here! You’re delusional!” Julian roared.

“No, let her keep going…this is hilarious,” Heaven smirked mockingly. “Why should we stop her from making a fool of herself when she’s doing such a phenomenal job at it?”

“This thing between the two of you won’t last,” she slurred at Heaven, angered by her mocking disregard.

“You’re drunk, Lila, go sleep it off. Be thankful I’m in such a good mood. I’m enjoying my party too much to be bothered by a desperate, drunken slut like you. Tell me again why the guys from the advertising department call you the local ATM?” Heaven’s poker face was gone as she repeated the gossip she’d heard the secretaries discussing over a dozen times. In its place was a look of pure smugness. It was a look that clawed up Lila’s back like nails. “How does one get the nickname Ass-To-Mouth?”

“That’s disgusting,” Lila hissed.

“I know; I’m so glad that’s not my nickname,” Heaven chuckled.

“Slanderous bitch! You act so innocent, but how many dicks did you suck to get your position? Everyone knows you’re an undercover slut!”

“Careful,” Heaven warned her. Lila’s words had sparked her anger, and Heaven was ready to pummel the drunk.

“What are you going to do—hit me again?”

“I don’t need to hit you again to hurt you.” She laid her head against Julian. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Heaven smiled at the look of pure jealousy on Lila’s face. “Ouch.”

“Bitch,” Lila took a step towards Heaven.

“On the other hand, slapping you would be a great way to relieve a little steam.” Heaven closed the distance between them and raised her hand.

“Get out of here,” Julian yelled at Lila as he grabbed Heaven’s extended hand.

“But—" Lila turned to Julian.

“You’ll go if you know what’s good for you,” Heaven threatened her as she raised her other hand. Lila jumped back and almost stumbled.

“This isn’t over,” Lila slurred before she turned around and staggered out of the door.

Once she was gone, Julian started talking, “Look, she barged in here, I had nothing to do with this—“

“Shush.” She put her finger to his lips, “I know; I saw the whole thing.” She removed her finger from his lips and replaced it with a kiss.

“Good, I wasn’t looking forward to explaining that one.”

“You handled yourself quite well. The man whore has officially retired,” she smirked before wrapping her arms around his neck.

“More like he fell in love,” he said with a grin before accepting another kiss from her. “If you want to make it through the rest of this party, you better stop kissing me.”

“I guess so.” She smiled as she slid her hand down to his impressive erection.

“You better stop doing that too,” he chuckled as he hugged her tightly.

***

Juliette and Ronnie sat at one of the small, red, glass tables. They were sharing a large strawberry shortcake and extra-large strawberry daiquiri.

“Wow, she’s even more repulsive than I thought,” Juliette frowned as she watched Lila stagger across the floor.

“She should probably make her way home before she embarrasses herself,” Ronnie said sympathetically.

“Too late. I still can’t believe you were in a relationship with her,” Juliette said. She didn’t like the compassionate look he was directing towards Lila.

“Not a relationship; I mean, we had sex a few times,” he answered, feeling awkward.

“Do you just go around having sex with women whom you’re supposed to be securing? That’s not your thing, is it? How many women from work have you been with? That’s not what this is, is it?” she snapped.

“No, not at all. I really like you, Juliette, I always have. I’ve never been with any other woman from the building. Only Lila and that was a fluke.”

“A fluke?”

“I think she wanted something from me, but I was never sure what it was. She was hot and heavy for me for about two weeks before she went back to ignoring me.”

“Why would she ignore you, especially when she seems so desperate for a man’s attention? Did you do something she didn’t like?” Juliette asked.

“No, it wasn’t me. Part of me thinks that it was because of Mr. King and Ms. Deville being exposed. I don’t think she wanted our relationship to get out. She ended it directly after the sex tape incident. I think she was afraid someone would find out. She saw the hell that Ms. Deville and Mr. King went through, and she didn’t want to go through that.”

“Maybe,” Juliette murmured, although she highly doubted that Lila left him for those reasons. With the exception of Julian, Lila only used men for what she needed. If she had stopped seeing Ronnie, it was not because of what happened to Julian—it was because she probably didn’t need him anymore.

***

“Let’s stay here tonight. We can go home tomorrow night or early Monday morning.” Julian ran his hand over her cheek before sliding his thumb across her lips.

“We could have like a mini-engagement-honeymoon.” Heaven beamed at the great idea.

“I thought honeymoons were exclusively for weddings?” Julian raised his brow.

“Not anymore.”

“Let’s go.” Julian grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“You mean just bail on our party?” she gasped in excitement.

“We already announced our engagement. We can slip away unnoticed, and they can continue to party all night long.”

“You’re like a fountain of excellent ideas tonight.”

He grabbed her hand and led her out of the party. He took her to the elevator and headed towards the penthouse.

***

Gavin hid the handmade shank in the only place he knew they wouldn’t check. They only did body cavity searches after receiving visitors, and since Gavin had no visitors, there was no reason to check him. He wrapped the weapon in cloth to protect himself from being cut, and he also limited his movements.

Gavin was still receiving threats from the other prisoners who considered him a snitch. His seclusion from the population increased after another inmate started a physical altercation with Gavin. He was even showering by himself now, with none other than the man he had saved guarding the shower room door. He was the guard who trusted Gavin the most. He periodically checked in on him, but not enough to ruin Gavin’s plan.

It was the perfect setup, since the other shower room next to him was full of prisoners and there was a locked door between the rooms. Fortunately, it locked on Gavin’s side but could easily be picked and opened from the opposite side.

Gavin squatted down and braced himself as he quickly removed the shank that was hidden inside of him. He then went to the door that separated the general population shower from the private shower. He unlocked the door, but left it closed; then he used the shank to make it look as if someone had tinkered with it.

He went over to the water and took a deep breath. He clenched his jaw and braced for the pain as he stabbed himself in the arm with the shank. His arm began to bleed profusely, and Gavin smeared some blood across his chest to make it look like another wound.

He dropped the weapon on the floor and opened the door that separated the showers. He dropped the bloody shank right before the door and smeared blood on both handles, and then turned around and headed for the main door, where the guard waited on the other side for him. He threw open the door and staggered out. The shocked guard took a step back and immediately called for backup.

“Please help me,” Gavin cried as he dropped to his knees before the guard. “He came in from the other shower and stabbed me.”

“Who did this to you?” the guard asked as if he expected Gavin to die with the truth.

“I-I c-couldn’t see him, b-but he called me a c-cop-loving s-snitch,” Gavin said before he fell to the floor and closed his eyes.

It was a dramatic display that was easy to achieve since Gavin was actually becoming weak from the blood loss.

“Hurry!” the guard yelled as his fellow guards came running. “This man saved my life; we have to help him!”

The Engagement Honeymoon