Perfect Opposite (10 page)

“Aaaalex!” I screamed as loud as I could.

I caught hold of a bar pillar as we passed it and tried to hold on, hoping this might put a stop to everything, but I only succeeded in attracting a wider audience. Seeing the bartender approach us with a quizzical expression on his face, I hoped he would call security
to rescue me from the clutches of the beast. It flashed through my mind they might beat him up for good measure, and I hoped he’d end up in intensive care. For a week, at least.

“W
hat’s going on over here?” asked the bartender, shooting a cautious look in Alex’s direction.

I sighed with relief
and was just about to open my mouth to speak when I felt Alex’s hand against me, patting my butt. Forgetting immediately what I wanted to say, I twisted my neck around as a reflex and stared at him.

“My sweet angel here can’t hold her drinks
.” he said to the bartender, his eyes on me all the while, threatening me from over his shoulder.

“
Ain’t that so, sweetheart?” he added, with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

It was good that I didn’t have anything sharp in my hands then, because I’m sure I would hav
e driven it deep into his back.

Dumbstruck and embarrassed, my grip
on the pillar was giving way, I stopped thrashing around and kind of accepted my sorry fate. The black and white tiles underneath me quickly started swirling out of sight, one after the other and I was sure I would puke my guts at any second.

When we got to the cool night air of the parking lot outside, Paolo opened the car door while Alex struggled to try to put me in the back. I swung one leg to try to kick him, aiming at his head, and was disappointed when he dodged it in time.

“Stay still!” he ordered and slammed the door.

“You monster!”
I shouted after him, brought my head against the seat in front and started hammering it with my fists. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so angry.

They’d apparently both got in, as both front doors closed. I groaned as I brought myself into a sitting position and shot one menacing look in Alex’s direction,
who was just starting the car.

I sat forward and rested my chin on Paolo’s seat, between his head and the door, so I didn’t have to look at Alex
.

“Did you see that?
He’s deranged.” I whispered in Paolo’s ear.

“What the hell happened out behind the club?”

“Alex whacked Tyler.” I sniffed once, remembering what Tyler had looked like when we left him and felt sick to my stomach. “I think he busted up his nose real bad.”

“He doesn’t look like he’s been in a fight.
Especially not with Tyler.”

“ Yeah
, but ...” I came in even closer and, with one hand cupping my mouth, whispered in Paolo’s ear “I think Alex fell into a vat of some magic potion when he was a baby.”

“What?” Paolo turned to glance at
me.

“Well, you know... like
Obelix.” I stated, my tone deadly serious.

“My God, girl, how much did you drink tonight?”

“But I'm telling you really... don’t change the subject. I mean... How else could you explain...” I made a fist and demonstrated a straight punch Alex had used, “Just... Bang... and he went down... That’s still the same rock-hard Ty, you know”.

“I don’t really believe all of this, but if you say so...”

“It’s such a shame too... Ty had such a cute nose...” I sniffed again.

Leaning back in the seat I closed my eyes, hoping my awful head might stop spinning. The alcohol was gradually wearing off as the hum of the car’s engine started to lull me off to sleep, and I was soon dozing.

Roused from my slumber by the feeling that something had suddenly changed, I forced my eyes open to find that the car had stopped moving. Feeling disoriented, I opened the door and started to get out, but it felt like I was in some boat bobbing along the river. Luckily, my hands fo
und a streetlight to hold on to and I threw my arms around it.

“
I never applied for this shit.” I heard Alex growl as he took me up in his arms yet again and started carrying me towards the building’s entrance.

Lacking any strength at all to protest, I draped my arms around his neck and closed my eyes against the walls spinning around me. My body ached from top to toe, and I felt I might fall apart at any second. Promising myself I wouldn’t go near tequila again, I buried my head in Alex’s shoulder.

“What was that nonsense in the car? Magic potion?”

“Well, you know... when you fell into it... I hope it hurt” I mumbled, my eyes still closed tight.

“Jesus! I must have fucked something up real bad in a past life to deserve this punishment.” he sighed as he carried me up the stairs.

“Alex?”

“What?”

“Why do you always look so serious?”

“Because I like it that way.”

He
let my feet drop to the floor and supporting my weight with his arm, turned the key in the lock. Squeezing my arms tighter around his neck, I clung on to him and pushed my nose deeper into the fabric of his shirt, breathing in his scent.

“Alex?”

“What now?” he nudged the door open and lifted me again.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“That's none of your business.”

“That means you do
." I yawned, “Well I feel sorry for her. Guess I’d want to off myself if I were going steady with a guy like you…”

“Feeling is mutual. Trust me.”

“The way you behave... You have a serious problem, you know that, right?”

“How could I forget about it? It’s right under my nose and it doesn’t stop yapping.”

When we got to my bedroom he took me inside and stopped by the bed. I willed my eyes to open
and gazed, letting myself study his face, eyes, cheekbones, forehead, finally bringing my eyes down to focus on his mouth. It was as if a fire had started to glow warm in my belly and I felt all fuzzy from it. Without any thought or planning I raised my own lips to his and kissed him.

I felt him draw back and noticed he wasn’t breathing, so I hugged him even harder and let my tongue move gently across his lips. To my disappointment, his mouth remained firmly closed.
It felt like kissing a marble statue, so I moved my head back a few inches and searched for his eyes, but they too were shut tight. When he did open them, the lack of emotion there brought me back to reality with a crash.

“You're playing with fire, Princess
.” he said quietly, putting me down on the bed. “Don’t do that again.”

Feeling like I’d been stabbed in the chest, I suddenly sobered up. Turning my face to the wall and closing my eyes tight, I cursed myself for being so stupid.

“I hate you.” the words came from my mouth.

“And so you shoul
d...” he answered and left the room.

Chapter
5 -
Curiosity Killed the Cat

Opening my eyes very slowly, my head pounding like it might explode at any second, I let out a stream of curses so obscene that even a sailor would have blushed. With a painful grimace, I forced myself upright in bed and, more disgusted with myself by the second, realized I was still in my dress from the night before.

“I have to shower right this instant,” I thought or spoke aloud; I wasn’t sure which.

Unsteady on my feet, I clumsily pulled the dress up and over my head, realizing as sparks began to fly that I didn’t have the strength of will to search around for a bath robe. Instead, I dragged a sheet from the bed and wrapped myself in it, small bombs exploding behind my eyes as I made my way in the direction of the bathroom.

Passing the living room
, I heard the sound of fast, shallow breathing. Turning my head to find the source of this caused another round of artillery to explode inside my skull, so that I could only shut my eyes tight and wait for the pain to subside. When I opened them again, one and then the other, I found Alex lying on the carpet near the TV, sweaty and panting, just staring at me.

“What do you think you’re looking at?” I managed, “Take a picture, it lasts longer.”

“I think... I’m gonna pass.” he answered after a pause and carried on with his sit-ups.

What a psycho...

Shaking my head as much as the pain would allow, I finally entered the bathroom. The sight that appeared in the mirror above the sink almost caused my knees to buckle underneath me.

With my tousled hair sticking out like on some shock victim, two swollen and bloodshot eyes and inky streaks of mascara down my cheeks, I might have been a demon from some Japanese horror flick.

Yeah...well, that explains his staring.

An hour later, all pink and fluffy and sort of in order, I was bent over a drawer in the kitchen, rummaging around for some aspirin. When my hand finally closed around a bottle near the back, I flicked the top and swallowed two pills straight off before collapsing in an armchair.

“Sasha!” I heard Beth scream, “You look like shit!”

“Ahh! Not so loud...”

“You’ve got these dark circles round your eyes… Like a baby panda.”

“Should have seen me an hour ago…”

“You gave me a hell of a fright. I tried to wake you couple of times but I couldn’t, so I didn’t know whether to call a doctor...”

“I’m alright.”

“Where the hell did you disappear to last nigh
t? I was looking for you and…What’s this?” she grabbed my elbow.

I bent my head and saw for the first time the black bruise on my left forearm, shaped sort of like Australia and almost as big. Narrowing my eyes in genuine confusion, I tried to remember what could have happened. I hadn’t tried to think much up till then, so it was about time memories from the night before started flooding back.

“Tyler…” I whispered, “Did you see him last night? Was he OK?”

“Well… sure I saw him. You were already gone when he appeared, well sort of tumbled back into the club, blood all over his face and his shirt, even his pants. Some guys sure must have stitched him up good…. Wait a minute, does that have something to do with the state of your arm?”

“He was starting to put the moves on me again. When I tried to get away he grabbed my arm, and then Alex appeared. I guess you saw for yourself how it finished up.”

“Are you for real? Listen to me now, I never want to see you anywhere near Tyler again. Is that understood?!”

“Trust me when I say that I don’t even want to hear about him again. Anyway, after that ‘talking to’ from Alex I guess he won’t be bothering me any more.”

“He’d better not, otherwise he’ll have to get past
me too.” she frowned and made an effort to lighten the mood by imitating a few ninja moves with her perfectly manicured hands.

“It’s a relief, I guess
.” I managed a smile, realizing I actually did feel a little better.

“So Alex was the one who did him over like that! That’s like in some fairy tale when the Damsel’s in distress and Prince Charming rides in on his white horse to save her from the ogre. Oh that’s so romantic...” she giggled.

“Yeah, real funny,” I snorted, “I can look after myself, thanks. And that psycho’s certainly no Prince Charming. One of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse maybe, but...”

Shit!

The aspirin was starting to work, so the throbbing at the sides of my head was fading some, and more scenes from the night before were starting to rise to the surface of my mind.

Oh, please God no! Tell me that didn’t happen! Could I have been hallucinating from all the tequila! Surely I didn’t kiss
him? It was a dream, wasn’t it?

“Beth, I’m not feeling so good. I
guess I need to go back to bed.” I got up awkwardly from the chair, feeling my face turning scarlet.

“You just go, sweetie. I'm
gonna make sure everything’s neat and tidy ‘fore I leave.”

“L
eave?”

“Well I promised my folks I’d spend the weekend with them. But if you don’t feel good, I'll stay
.” she looked genuinely concerned.

“It’s OK. I’m just hung over. You go.”

“Sure?”

I put on a brave face and reached a hand out to stroke her cheek. “You should go and enjoy the weekend with your family.”

“OK. But promise me you'll call if you don’t feel good.”

“I promise.
” I called behind me and entered the bedroom.

I let myself drop down on the bed face first, turning slowly after a t
ime to stare up at the ceiling.

I kissed him! I really kissed him! Someone must’ve put some serious narcotics in my drinks. Alcohol alone surely couldn’t account for a thing like that.

I very much wanted to stop thinking about Alex all together, so I picked a book up off the floor and tried to focus on ancient Greek sculpture and pottery, which was usually pretty interesting to me. Ten minutes passed before I realized that I was holding it upside down.

When Beth came to say goodbye a little later, I hugged her and went with her to the door, using the opportunity to step into the kitchen to fix something to eat since Alex didn’t seem to be around. My head was starting to throb again, and I really didn’t want to face him yet.

Taking a bite of the sandwich I’d made, I was only a few paces from my own door when
a deep voice came from somewhere behind me:

“
Getting trashed doesn’t sound like such a good idea now, does it?”

“ Mind
your own business!”

“Well I am. And I have to say, I don’t like what I see. You look like crap.”

I turned and threw him a murderous look, in keeping with my mood.

“That’s really a compliment, Alex. Has anyone ever told you what a charming son of a bitch you are?”

“Many times.”

"
Yeah, sure.”

There’d been many men I’d known who knew just how to make a girl smile and play with her hair. They’d crack jokes on cue and flatter you, knowing just the right hollow words to kill any empty silence. They spent hours in front a mirror making sure every hair was in
place, and every rip in their jeans just right, and then they’d act like they’d just got out of bed. Unlike them, Alex really didn’t care about being liked; with him it seemed to be quite the opposite. He really wasn’t interested in what other people thought. Maybe that was what made him so appealing. Just by being so sure of himself, he could get any girl he wanted.

Frowning in his usual way,
he stood in front of me in some loose and shapeless sweat pants, more suited to a boxing ring than a plush uptown apartment; and there was that awful skull t-shirt again. Nevertheless, put him up on any billboard and you’d have masses of people buying whatever brand he was promoting right the next day.

“I see you’re in fine spirits today
.” he snorted.

“You would be too with an axe buried in your skull.”

“OK, but do you feel alright?”

I don’t know why, but the worried tone in his voice
just made me angrier.

“Do I feel alright? You mean, considering I watched a psycho smash my ex’s nose to pieces last night? And that you carried me over your shoulder through the club like a sack of p
otatoes? “

Alex
tightened his jaw and something like a red mist flashed across his eyes. Approaching me with slow but determined steps, he stopped when he got near and looked even madder up close.

“You going to
wear black for that funeral?” he asked, looking down at the continent-sized bruise on my arm.

“What are you talking about?
Whose funeral?”

“That of your soon-to-be-deceased ex.”

“What!?
Are you crazy?” I squeaked.

“Well, I suppose black isn’t your color of choice, but people will talk if you go there dressed in shocking pink, you know...”

“ Stop that. You won’t kill anybody.”

“Won’t I?” he went right on playing dumb.

“Alex, please...” I took hold of his t-shirt and looked into his eyes, pleading, “You paid him back last night. Please don’t let it go any further.”

F
ear of whether or not he might be serious must have been evident from my voice, and when he finally gave one serious nod, I sighed with relief.

“But
if he so much as looks at you again...”

“He won’t, trust me
.” I whispered, and then made an effort to reassert myself by tilting my face a little: “And knock it off with that macho attitude. It's starting to bug me.”

“Oh, really?” he raised one eyebrow to look condescending, apparently suppressing a grin.

I resisted the urge to back away and instead brought my face a little closer to his. For a few moments we locked horns in a kind of standoff, regarding each other silently and waiting to see who would look away first.

“In case you’re wondering, I’m not afraid of you… looking down on me from high up. That
act cuts no ice with me at all.” I lied, but maintained the falsehood.

“You should be though, Princess.
Very much afraid.”

He took his hands out of his pockets and laid both palms flat against the doorframe, cornering me. Something like déjà vu swept over me; I was again a deer caught in the glare of a predator, and this cat looked like he might play with his dinner before moving in for the kill. Yet again, the skull was in front of me, messing with my sense of reality.

Reaching one hand behind my back, I felt for the handle, turned it and made a very fast exit, making sure it closed with a bang, and that the key turned loudly as I locked it.

“I’ll
kill you in your sleep!”

“I love you too, sweet angel
.” a glimmer of amusement came from the other side of the door.

“ Oh
... Get over yourself!”

I spent the rest of the day in my room, only opening the door again at around eleven o’clock, and then very gently. Carefully, I made my way to the bathroom, mindful of every sound. After brushing my teeth, taking care that the even light switch didn’t make a noise and that my footfalls were all but silent, I made my way back to my room and lay down grateful that sleep would take me away.

***

A dreadful clap of thunder woke me with a start.

Instantly alert, I turned to the window and looked out as a fierce storm raged outside, a cold sweat breaking out along the length of my body. Lightning forked brightly in the sky, sending an electric blue flash to the back of the room, quickly followed by a crack that reverberated i
n the pit of my stomach. It was like the sound of the earth breaking apart.

With one hand I gripped the blanket on the bed and pulled it up to my face, and with the other I fumbled around frantically for the switch to my bedside lamp. When my fingers finally recognized it, the familiar click was answered with nothing but darkness. I flicked the switch a couple more times, but still no light came. My hands shaking quite badly, I found my phone and went to ‘B’ for Bethany, but remembered straight away that she wasn’t
there. Another bolt of lightning lit the sky as the phone fell clattering to the floor.

With my heart racing in my chest
, I took sharp, shallow breaths and got out of bed to leave the room.

Shaking violently, I moved through the living room, forcing my eyes to steer clear of the windows as I made for the hallway, where I’d be furthest away from the flashing lights and the noise. Before I could make it, one astonishingly bright light came and seemed to blind me, as a sonic boom came to split my mind in two. Horror-struck, I closed my eyes. That was a big mistake.

With my eyes screwed up tight, images drifted to the surface of my mind, like bodies rising to the surface of a lake. The storm was still raging, but now I found that all the angles of the room had changed – I was back again, in that fancy hotel in Paris.

Rain lashed against the windowpanes and flew in through the open balcony doors, their white curtains billowing in the wind. I moved forward to close them, but felt my foot knock against something hard. Dropping to my knees, I brought my hands down to feel for whatever had tripped me, the darkness of the room seeming to fill me and rise like bile in my throat.

“Mom?” I stammered, terrified.

My hands made contact with something soft and warm. A thick liquid was spreading around my palms and between my finge
rs. It felt like I’d dipped my hands in syrup. Raising them up to try to see, a cold blue light filled the room like a strobe, shining a blackish red against the silhouette of my hands. The thunder came then, and I started to scream.

Suddenly, someone’s hands came around my chest, locking me in place. Every effort I made to lash out was met with equal resistance, and all my kicking and screaming could not set me free.

“No… No!” I shrieked as loud as the thunder.

“Sasha!” the sound came to me as though from the end of an old, crackling telephone line.

I continued to lash out with my arms and legs, spittle flying from my mouth as I put my heart and soul into the violent struggle, never gaining so much as an inch of freedom. When I’d used up all my energy there was nothing left but to go limp like a rag doll, cold now and shaking madly.

“Sasha! Look at me!”

Thoroughly wild and beyond comprehending, I opened my eyes slowly, reality edging back to me in short, tentative steps.

Alex was sitting with his back to the wall of the
hallway, holding me tightly from behind as I, clamped between his arms and legs, shivered against him in a tight ball. One small candle flickered nearby, from the shelf where we left our keys, but apart from that we might as well have been at the bottom of a well.