Perfect Opposite (5 page)

For a moment or two I watched as he began removing his things, trying to adjust to the idea that a man I barely knew would be sleeping just a few steps away from me.

I’ll start locking my door when I go to sleep.

When he’d finished, he tossed a sheet clumsily across the bed and started removing his
t-shirt, as if he’d completely forgotten I was there. I felt myself start to blush as I quickly turned away.

“Don’t go anywhere while I’m asleep
.” I heard Alex’s voice follow me, “If you have to go somewhere, wake me up. Understand?”

I didn’t grace him with an answer, but left the room and pulled the do
or closed behind me with a thud. When I got back to my room I crept into bed and involved myself in the task of writing my paper, grateful for some peace at last.

Darkness was falling outside and my eyes felt fuzzy after long hours spent gazing at the screen. I didn’t know how much time had passed while I was writing, but the paper was almost finished when the silence was broken by a shrill and piercing scream from the direction of the kitchen.

I leaped out of bed and headed for where the sound had come from, almost colliding with Bethany in the process. She was standing near the entrance to the kitchen, a hand over her mouth and a terrified look on her face. Following her gaze to the source of her anxiety, I almost screamed myself… but whether out of fear or something else I couldn’t say.

Alex was standing by the open fridge, leaning on the door with one hand while holding a carton of milk in the other. And he was wearing just his sweat pants.

I found myself staring in astonishment at the web of interwoven black tattoos covering the entire surface of
his chest, continuing around his back and down his arms as far as the knuckles on his fingers. They were scary and magnificent at the same time.

O
nly when initial shock had passed, I noticed that the black pattern was broken in some places by pale marks. Scars. And there were more than a few. It didn’t take long for me to realize that two round ones, on his stomach and right shoulder, had to have come from bullet wounds.

That bizarre interplay of dark shapes, symbols, tribal patterns, words and scars would make anyone feel disturbed, but his sculpted body, with its perfectly toned muscles, could only leave you breathless in the end. With the ruffled hair, his half-open eyes and that certain aura of pent-up aggression, he reminded me of a model from some stylized, avant-garde Diesel ad.
Again, a million little butterflies started twitching in my belly and I wondered whether the bald gorilla might have been a better choice after all.

“What's wrong with her?” Alex drawled, pointin
g the top of the carton at Beth and bringing me back to reality.

“I don’t think she expected to see a tattooed monster jumping out of our
fridge.”

Hoping no one could detect too much emotion behind my
tone, I wrenched my eyes away from him and turned to Bethany, who maintained the same pose, looking utterly confused.

“I’m so sorry, I should have told you
earlier... mmm, this is Alex. Our new roommate.”

Beth turned to me with wide eyes, “Excuse me?”

“Well, it seems we’re somehow related, unfortunately, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’d been some mix-up at the hospital. He’s transferred to our university and I basically agreed that he could stay here with us. You know, we have the spare room and all… I just hope you’re not angry with me?”

I put this question to Beth carefully, since in all the confusion it had totally slipped my mind to tell her about our new houseguest. She started shaking her head, a disapproving look on her face as she raised one finger in accusation, her shiny
blond hair flying in all directions.

“You’ve been forgetful lately and see what’s happened now! There was no need for me to give the guy such a fright.”

I was wondering whether to point out that she was the one who’d screamed, when I found myself being shouldered out of the way. I could only watch as Beth rushed to offer Alex her hand, her red lips spreading into a wide, inviting smile.

“Hi! I'm Be
thany, but you can call me Beth.” she chirped in a syrupy voice, almost eating him up with her eyes.

“Hi
.” Alex replied in a bored tone as, not paying attention to us any more, he retreated to the living room with his carton of milk.

Looking him over from top to bottom, Beth didn’t take her eyes off his back until he was finally out of sight, and then quickly turned to face me.

“You and I need to talk. Now!”

She grabbed my arm and dragged me behind her until we reached her room. Pushing the door closed loudly, she sat me in a chair and, hands on hips, fixed me with a stare.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“Well I'm sorry, I completely forgot. He showed up unannounced a
nd...” I began to explain.

"I didn’t mean that. Well yes, that as well, but... I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you have a piece like that in your family!”

“What?” I asked, probably looking kind of stupid.

“Don’t make like you’re all naive now. Maybe you kept it quiet ‘
cause you want him all to yourself? Well OK, I could understand why! But God I do envy you! He’s so….ahhhh!” she let out a gasp that reminded me of an animal’s cry in mating season.

“
Beth, I...”

“You know, to me you never looked like the kind of girl who’d fall for bad boys, but boy was I wrong, ‘cause Tyler was no kitten, even if he did have a cute face… Do you remember when…
”

“Beth!” I tried to stop her, but she wasn’t paying any attention to me.

“...last winter he got into a fight with that guy? Wow... he looked so homicidal.”

“
Beeth!”

“
But this guy! I guess he’s everybody’s type. Mmm… Did you get a load of those abs? And all those tattoos. Sooo sexy! My gosh! I’m getting hot just thinking about them!”

“BETHANY!” I shouted and finally managed to get her attention.

“God!” I nervously ran my fingers through my hair, “I’m happy for you, but I don’t share your enthusiasm and the last thing I wanted was some jerk crashing at my place. If you like him, feel free to do whatever you want. He might be everybody’s type, but really, he’s not mine!”

“ You
sure?”

“Yes!”

“And, does he have a girlfriend?” she asked, trying to sound innocent, an idiotic grin on her face.

“I have no idea and I don’t care. You'll have to ask him yourself.”

I saw that she was ready to continue this line of questioning, so I got up quickly and headed for the door, shaking my head in disbelief.

“There’s s
omething I gotta do. Talk later.” I called back as I left the room.

I decided that I wouldn’t stand in Beth’s way if she wanted to hook up with
tattooed ogre, even if I was sure it would end badly. But, if she did make moves in that direction I’d have to let her in on a few facts. Subtly, of course. Without going into details.

Even if it didn’t seem like it, Beth was actually naïve as to the ways of the world because she’d grown u
p protected from a lot of stuff and she’d certainly never come into contact with characters like Alex. If she had even an inkling of the line of work he was in, she’d run away and never look back. I’d tried to do that myself, but it seemed I could never escape, no matter how hard I tried.

I wondered sometimes what it would be like to be part of a normal family, the way Bethany was. It wasn’t because I felt my life was awful or anything. I was just... curious. How would it feel to spend childhood with other kids, playing in the park, going on vacations? All those things had been denied to me. Ever since they’d first tried to kidnap me, just after I turned five, I’d been under constant surveillance wherever I went. Nikolai even tried to home school me instead of letting me go to ordinary school, and probably would have had it his way if it hadn’t been for my mother.

To an outsider, my life might have looked perfect. Anything I asked for, I got. Anyone looking a little closer, though, would have seen that a life lived in constant fear wasn’t so great. I’d been locked up in my own gilded cage. It might have been a beautiful cage, but it was still - a cage. However, I didn’t know any different. Without anything to compare it to, I couldn’t judge.

I stopped at the door to the living room and studied the possessions around me.
When I left home, I made a vow that I would never again have to deal with my father or his business and decided to open a new chapter in my life. That’s easier said than done when you’re the only child of one of the biggest arms dealers on the planet, of course.

I caught sight of Alex then, standing on the balcony, his arms resting on the rail. Deep in thought, he was smoking a cigarette, his eyes cast down over the rooftops below. It fascinated me, I realized, that he could radiate such an aura of dominance while appearing so calm. I wondered what had brought him to Nikolai.
Money? Excitement? Something else?

Unable to help myself, I found that I was tracing the lines of his bare back and arms with my eyes, admirin
g this template for perfection.

For as long as I could remember I’d been surrounded by a host of men. As part of Nikolai’s entourage they lived with us, so running into them from time to time in various states of undress was inevitable. It goes without saying that in their line of work they had to be strong specimens of manhood, a fact that wasn’t lost on me as I entered puberty. Even so, I was certain that I’d never seen a more beautiful body than that of my new guard dog. Though his muscles were all
well defined, he didn’t look like one of those gym types who spend every spare minute lifting weights. He was more like one of those adrenaline junkies who climbed up sheer rocks with just some chalk on their hands and no ropes at all.

Realizing that I’d been ogling Alex
like some teenager, I mentally gave myself a slap in the face and quickly run to my bedroom. However irritated I might be by Alex’s presence, seeing him almost naked sure made my thoughts race.

I looked for something to take my mind off Alex’s body and started going through my stuff, trying to find the curtains I’d put away a few months earlier. After investigating a few boxes and emptying several bags, I saw them and smiled to myself.

Still grinning, I pulled out a wad of pastel-pink material embroidered with
flowers. Tucking it under my arm I left the room, trying hard to suppress a chuckle as I tiptoed down the corridor imagining the look on Alex’s face when he saw this latest addition to his decor.

When I got to his room I dragged a stool over to the window, climbed up and, with one foot balancing on the sill, started to hang the curtain. I was humming to myself cheerfully, and feeling proud of my efforts, when a sharp voice came from behind me.

“What the hell?”

I flinched and tried to turn around, when my left foot, which was resting against the window, started to slide from under me. Unbalanced, I let out a scream as I found myself falling. Trying to regain my balance, I grabbed the silky curtain, which o
nly slipped through my fingers.

Closing my eyes shut, I braced myself for crashing down on the floor, but instead I was swept up by two strong arms, my head coming to rest against a warm, bare chest.

Inhaling the subtle smell of soap and aftershave, I slowly opened my eyes and came face to face with Alex’s dark scowl.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Watering the plants!” I shouted in his face, “Isn’t it obvious? Haven’t you seen anyone hanging curtains before?”

“Are you totally nuts? You could have broken your neck!”

“If you hadn’t given me such a fright, I wouldn’t have come so close!”

Registering that I was still in his arms, my eyes just inches from his own, I forced myself to look anywhere but at his bare chest and tried to wriggle out of his arms.

“Let go of me... right now.” I hissed

“
I’m no good at following orders. Maybe you should try asking. Nicely.”

“Hah!
In your dreams!”

“
OK. As far as I’m concerned, we can stay like this till tomorrow...”

It didn’t cross my mind to reply,
so I immediately began flailing around, doing my best to get free of his arms, but it was no use. He didn’t budge at all and held me like I weighed nothing at all. Figuring out there was nothing I could possibly do to wrestle free, I let out a groan and sunk my teeth into his shoulder, biting down hard.

“You crazy bitch!” he barked
and threw me down on the bed below, making me bounce twice.

I had a feeling that I wouldn’t come out of it well if he got his hands on me, so I clambered over to the other side of the bed and sprang down. Taking a quick look in Alex’s direction, I saw him clenching his jaw. Catching a murderous gleam in his eyes, I yelped a
nd fairly flew out of the room.