Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas) (41 page)

“Well, that wasn’t the face you left this car with five minutes ago,” his mom said. She laughed. “Tried to push your luck a bit too much?”

He snorted. “I just want to go home,
M
om.”

Fifty-
two

Two days later and Sebastien was at the
s
enior prom with his supposed girlfriend. He didn’t even know why he was with her
,
but
he
was relieved
to have
the distraction. Seven times he had called and texted Elena apologizing, with no response. Was it that hard to forgive him after all they’d been through? He shook his head. He’d acted like a total asshole so she had the right to be angry. He would give her ’til the end of the week. They were flying out together to Vegas
-
she would have to talk to him then
.
 

Sebastien scanned the room. All he saw were seniors bragging about how successful they were going to be or how they were going to miss each other.
Blah
blah
blah
.
He really wanted to get to the after-party
,
where he could at least get drunk. He fulfilled his obligation and danced with his girlfriend, putting on a brave smile and looking adorable for her photos. He thought the night would never end.

At eleven, his girlfriend, Simone, linked her arm through his and smiled.

“How about we head to the after-party?”

“I am so in!” Thank God!

He didn’t have high expectations for it. He knew many seniors
,
but he simply wasn’t in the mood. A drink would fix that. But Frankie and Letitia barred his way

“What are you two witches doing here?” Sebastien asked. “I thought you and Jay were in Los Angeles, and she was in rehab?”

“We were,
”
Letitia said. “We got back a couple of hours ago so we came to the party. Frankie came with me.”

“Birds of a feather.”
Sebastien sighed. “Good to see you’re still alive, Frankie.
Thought you would be lying in some ditch.”

Frankie’s lips curled into a snarl and her eyes narrowed into slits. 
“How about some tequi
la shots,
Sebbie
?”

He eyed the glass suspiciously but as they were drinking with him, he
pounded
it. He swayed
slightly,
surprised at the impact of the drink
but then he’d already a few at the prom
. He had to slow down or he’d be trashed. But then, he would be numb too.

“Who are you here with?” Frankie asked.

“Simone
Reevers
.
I took her to prom.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“I guess.”

Frankie stared at Sebastien, then arched her eyebrow and twisted her hair around her fingers. “You know, there are some spare rooms upstairs.”

“Frankie
,
you are way too high and really not my type.”

“And who is your type
? Elena?” she spat out.

“What’s it to you?”

Frankie and Letitia looked at each other, understanding passing between them.
That was a bad sign.

“Your darling Elena is upstairs screwing the brains out of her beloved Jay,” Frankie said.

“She wasn’t even at the prom. What are you talking about?” Sebastien replied, confused. He really had to stop drinking. A tray of shot glasses passed by and he picked up two and downed them straight away.

“Didn’t you hear Letitia? They just got back. They missed the prom. All Jay had to do was snap his fingers and she came running,” Frankie said.

Letitia smiled and Sebastien knew this couldn’t be good.

“You’re lying. I would know if Elena was here.”

“Fine, I’ll prove it to you,” she said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him upstairs.

“Frankie, this is crazy.” Sebastien’s head was spinning and he really didn’t want to play these games. Frankie went to open a door.

“
Frankie, there
are people in there.”

“Duh, that’s my point.”

She opened the door slightly so that Sebastien could hear the sounds. There was lots of moaning and groaning with “Oh Jay, Jay, that’s it.
Ohhh
.”
They were definitely having sex.

“And?
There’s no way that’s Elena and there are plenty of Jays in this world. Leave me alone.”
He turned to walk away.

“Look what I grabbed from the room.”

Frankie showed him a
red chiffon
scarf. Sebastien grabbed it from her hands
. It looked exactly like Elena’s
.
No
, it was
just a scarf. But he’d never seen anyone else wear it.
This had to be Elena’s. It wasn’t possible.
He
frantically
searched for the stitching. There it was
-
E.M, just as he had
sewn it when he gave it to her so many years ago.
There
was
no way she would
-
would she? He staggered back, straining to think straight. He looked at Frankie’s smug face and back at the scarf. Elena was angry with him
-
maybe she was trying to prove a point.

A loud scream echoed in Sebastien’s head. “Why did you show me this?” he yelled. “Why?”

“You’re the one who thinks she’s little miss perfect. I know you’re in love with her. Maybe now you can finally believe me when I say she really is a little slut.”

“Fuck off, Frankie. Get out of my face.”

“Hey
,
it’s not me having sex with Jay,” she yelled back.

“I wish it were,” he hissed and walked away. He needed more alcohol. This was not happening.

He bumped into Simone. “Where have you been hiding?”

“Uh.
Nowhere.”

“Whose scarf is that?”

Sebastien looked at the scarf again. He held it tight against his chest. Despite the alcohol, he could feel the pain of losing Elena. He wasn’t numb. He had hoped that once she let go of Jay, they would be home free. “I need another drink.”

He felt Letitia’s eyes on him. No doubt she was thrilled with all the excitement.

“Hey handsome, want another shot?” Letitia said.

“Sure.”

Three shots later and Sebastien’s sense of reasoning was gone. He was staggering across the room and had no idea what he was saying.  “
I need to lie down,” he said out loud, clutching his head. He looked at the staircase and slowly made his way up, clutching the handrail. He stood up the top and hoped the spinning would stop but it didn’t.
If he could just lie down.
The next thing he knew he was pulled into a quiet dark room. Peace at last.

“What? Where am I?” he said to no one in particular.

Unexpectedly, he was pushed against a wall and felt a warm body
pressed
against him.

“What?”

One of his hands was on her breast and his other hand directed up her short dress as his mouth was overwhelmed by her tongue.

Despite his inebriated state, he heard himself groan.

“Oh come on, honey, don’t tell me you don’t want this,” he heard Letitia say.

“No, No,” he heard himself saying, moving his hands away. He tried to push her off
,
but his limbs were so loose
that
he had no strength. “I can’t.”

“I’m sure Jay isn’t pushing Elena away,” she whispered in his ear. “Yeah, I bet he’s feeling her breast like this.” She pulled her dress straps down revealing her two hardened breasts. Letitia grabbed his hand and placed it back against her breast
. He
i
nstinctively cupped
it
.  She groaned and thrust her tongue down his mouth again. He was dizzy and confused and she was making him angry and aroused. He had to get out of there.

“And I bet she’s just begging him for more. After all you have done for her, after all you’ve been through, she runs back to him,” Letitia continued. She lifted her right leg and wrapped it against his hip while she rubbed her body against him.

He recalled the moaning from Jay’s room and felt the warmth of Letitia’s body as she pressed in closer. He thought about Elena looking at him at the sophomore party like lovers and remembered the way she pushed him away at the door, as Letitia caressed his bare chest. The alcohol was pumping through him and the pain tore at him while Letitia unbuckled his pants and directed his hand over her bare buttocks. He’d thought there was hope once Jay left
,
but now he knew there wasn’t, not if she was sleeping with him. It was over. And as Letitia rubbed him some more, fuelled by alcohol and anguish, he grabbed her, flipped her so she was
pressed
against the wall and roughly thrust into her.

“That’s it
,
Sebastien, fuck me, fuck me,” she moaned and grabbed onto his head as he continued thrusting into her over and over again until all his anger and frustration was let out in one final orgasm
.

“Elena!”

“Oh Sebastien,” Letitia panted as he let her go and stumbled back. He looked up to see Letitia grinning like a Cheshire cat. She wasn’t Elena.

“No,” he moaned. “No.
What have I done?”

“Oh honey, you did plenty, again and again. I always said you’d want me in the end.”

Sebastien stared at her, horrified.

“It’s not the usual response I get, but since I feel good, I don’t really care.” Letitia said as she adjusted her dress and sprayed on some perfume casually. Letitia stared at Sebastien and laughed.  “What would the darling Elena say if she saw you now?”

Sebastien saw the red chiffon scarf lying haphazardly on the floor. He picked it up and buried his face in it.

“Oh that old thing
,” she said, looking into the mirror as she put her hair back into order.
“
I found it in Jay’s room last night. I knew you would be here tonight and
I
figured I’d give it
back to you
,
so
Jay
wouldn’t have
to see her.
” She chuckled as she
picked up her handbag and kissed Sebastien on the top of his head.
“
Who would have thought it would be such a lucky charm
, lover boy
?”

Sebastien moaned and lay back down against the bed. Letitia glanced at herself in the mirror
one last time
and left the room.

Sebastien tried to sit up but he felt dizzy each time. Oh man, he felt sick.
Both from the alcohol and by what he had done.
And then he remembered Elena with Jay.

“
Aagh
,” he screamed, clutching his stomach. He ignored the state of his disheveled clothes
, shoved the scarf back int
o
his pocket
and stumbled to the door. As he reached the hallway, he saw Jay coming out of the room. He was about to charge into him when he saw a brunette following him. It wasn’t Elena. What the hell?

“Hey you!” he yelled at Jay. “What the hell are you doing with her?”

“Excuse me
?
This is my girlfriend, Caroline.”

“What? Then why the hell are you catching up with Elena?”

“I was being nice! She’s a good kid. I thought if we met up again, she would finally realize it was over!” Jay said.

“You piece of shit! You had her hanging all this time, telling her it was just your career separating you! You could have told her you had another girlfriend!” Sebastien screamed, charging at him. But he was so drunk he could hardly walk straight, let alone cause any damage. He tried to drive into Jay but found himself
face down
on the floor instead. A few able hands picked
him
up
by
his arms and legs and
un
ceremoniously dropped him out into the street. He was drunk, battered and bruised and had to make his way home. He assumed that Simone had long disowned him, but he really didn’t care. He’d let Frankie and Letitia play him. How gullible could he be? They knew Jay was having sex with his girlfriend and not Elena, but they were much smarter than him and played on his one true weakness
-
Elena. He shook his head. Letitia had always sworn revenge and now she had it.

Oh God, he had to get home. How was he going to tell Elena? And tell her what? T
hat t
he love of her life had been dating someone else for months or that he screwed her worst enemy because he
’d
thought she betrayed him? With those thoughts circling his mind, he threw up in the gutter until most the alcohol had left his system. He had never felt so worthless in his life
. He slowly rose from the gutter and
staggered home.  He crashed onto his bed and prayed the morning would never come unless it was to tell him it was all a bad dream.