Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1) (12 page)

“Not much,” I admitted, “but I know what he can do...
his mind thing,” I frowned, wondering if there was a
special name for what Eric was.

“And I suppose you also know what Christy, my
husband, and I can do as well.” It wasn't a question but I
nodded anyway.

“I know what you've seen,” I said surprising myself.
“About me, my past.”
Mrs. Wilson looked at me and nodded slowly. I turned
away from her, staring at the stores and buildings as they
zipped past me. “I'm sorry,” she finally said.
At once, I turned to her. “No disrespect Mrs. Wilson,
but I don't need your sorry and frankly I don't want it. I'm
not the one who’s dead, Brandon and Daren are.” I turned
away from her so she wouldn't see my eyes fill with tears.
“I don't deserve it,” I added under my breath, so low that I
couldn't hear myself.
I felt her grab my hand and automatically I stiffened,
then forced myself to face her. She was leaning to me, her
eyes wild and fierce, burning like blue fire. “You honestly
can't believe that.” I stared at her confused. “What
happened wasn't your fault Jenifer. It wasn't.”
“Oh, it was... I-” I broke off, my voice cracking. I
cleared my throat, took a breath and then said “Well... it
doesn't matter now, does it? I can't change what
happened.” This time bitterness coated my voice thickly.
“No... but it helps to know... It helps you move on,”
she replied.
I was silent for a long while. “Did you tell Eric,” I
whispered instead of saying what I really wanted to. I
didn't want to move on. I deserved all the pain I was
feeling.
“That story isn't mine to tell. When you're ready you
can tell him. I've told no one, nor would I ever.”
“Thank you,” I breathed out feeling as if a heavy
weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Just then the car came to a stop and seconds later the
door opened for us. I got out and stepped directly onto the
pavement of a well-polished town. It was quiet and lovely
with small, quaint stores, well-mannered, easy going people
and petite apartments.
Mrs. Wilson walked up to the restaurant directly in
front of us. “Where are we?” I asked looking for a sign
that gave some sort of hint.
“This is my hometown.” She turned around pointing at
something. “Do you see that church?”
I followed her hand and a grey antique looking church
greeted me. Even though it was partially hidden by
buildings, I could tell it was huge. I looked back to Mrs.
Wilson waiting expectantly. “My dad was the pastor of that
church.”
“Oh,” I heard myself say, trying to picture her life
before she got married. I couldn't do it. I couldn't conger
up a decent image of her being a pastor's daughter.
“Kate!” a male voice cheered and I jumped. Both Mrs.
Wilson and I turned at exactly the same time.
“Ah Mr. George, it's been a while,” Mrs. Wilson replied
and I realized a moment later her first name was Kate. My
middle name was Kate; how weird was that?
The man who was speaking to her was tall, thin, slightly
balding and looked around his early thirties. He was
wearing a worn out, waiter's uniform. He did air kisses
with Mrs. Wilson and then proceeded inside the small,
quaint restaurant to what he called her usual table.
On the way to the table, which was at a sectioned off
part of the restaurant, Mrs. Wilson asked him a series of
questions about his family. I took the chair opposite Mrs.
Wilson. The waiter immediately placed two glasses of
water in front of us and then gave us our menus. I was
surprised when I saw burgers on the menu. I didn't think
that such a classy restaurant would serve burgers. I was
even more amazed when Mrs. Wilson ordered it.
“It's the only thing I come here for,” she said when she
saw my face. “Like you, Jenifer, I suffered from an
arranged marriage and during the first year I would sneak
out just to get a taste of home. Whenever I went missing
Harper, my husband, found me here,” she laughed.
After that we talked until lunch came. Her questions
were mostly easy to answer. They were mainly about me what I liked to do, what books I'd read and music I
listened to? Then her questions started getting much
harder and soon I found myself stumbling out answers.
Like when she asked why I agreed to spend the day with
her.
“Well...” I thought, “I think it was mostly because you
gave me a choice. I was free to decide, and this,” I
gestured to everything, “was bound to happen sometime. I
might as well get it over with.”
“I must admit I thought you'd have turned me down.
You're supposed to hate me.”
“About that,” I began remembering when we met. “I
don't, I'm sorry for what I said. I was hurt and-”
“You don't have to apologize Jen,” she cut me off. This
was the first time she'd called me Jen and not Jenifer. It
made me feel warm and joyous.
“I just want you to know I don't hate you. I don't hate
Eric either...”
“Speaking of Eric, as his mother I am ashamed. I didn't
raise him to hit girls. What he did was awful... I am so
sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I breathed out. “We both got angry and I
hit him too... twice,” I admitted.
“You did?” Her eyebrows went up. I nodded ashamed,
expecting to be scolded. “I hope you got him good. It
should teach him a lesson.” I frowned at this wondering
how much Eric had told her. “But what of your
relationship now?” she asked after a while. “For this
marriage to work and serve its purpose you two need to
work with each other. You both need to be there for one
another.”
I was confused. She had made it seem like marrying
Eric was just a small part in a master plan. I had always
known Eric was keeping things from me, could this be it?
But what was so special about me? Why was I so different?
Why couldn't another poor, unfortunate soul be forced to
marry Eric? Besides I was sure there were tons of girls that
would willingly and gladly accept his offer.
“Jen?” Mrs. Wilson called, breaking me away from my
thoughts.
“Oh sorry,” I said, filing away that new information for
a later date. “Rig ht now it's easier. We're still getting to
know each other. Eric is really... easy to be around, but I'm
not in love with him.” Nor was I ever going to be, I added
mentally.
“I understand,” she said letting the subject drop. She
then paid for our meal and soon we were on our way back
to the house.
For most of the drive, I looked out the window, staring
at everything. England was beautiful. The buildings were
gorgeous and I found myself marveling at them.
When the car pulled into the driveway of the house, I
got out shocked by the beauty of the Wilsons home yet
again. It was even more gorgeous in the day. Mrs. Wilson
leaned to me, still sitting in the car. “Jen?” she called and I
peeled my eyes away from the castle towering in front of
me and looked to her. “It was great spending the day with
you. I hope we can do it again.”
“Sure, but aren't you staying?”
“No I'm afraid not, there's some last minute changes
and preparations for tonight that needs to be handled.”
“Right,” I frowned, “tonight.” I forced myself to smile.
I didn't want to think about tonight. I wasn't going to
think about that until it was absolutely necessary. It gave
me comfort knowing Eric was going to be there with me
though. At least I wasn't alone.
I stepped back and watched as the car circled around
the fountain and then drove out the long stretch. When it
was completely out of view I turned on my heels to face
the front door and there too, staring at me like a silent,
deadly protector was another black widow engraved into
the door. What was it about the this spider that intrigued
the Wilsons?
As soon as I was inside, small arms wrapped around
my knees. “Jenifer!” Christy shrieked excitedly.
All through the house there were people dressed in
black and white carrying flowers, moving furniture, laying
out carpet, and shouting orders. Everything w as chaotic
and exciting as they bustled about the house. I felt panic
swell in my chest at once. Not thinking about tonight was
going to be impossible.
Suddenly Christy latched onto my leg tightly, forcing
me to look down at her. She was scared and on the verge
of crying. All the excitement had drained out of her face as
she looked up at me with eyes that mirrored what I felt.
“Oh my God,” I muttered horrified. Absentmindedly I
clamped a hand over my mouth for just a second. Then
acting on instinct, I bent down and picked her up, turned
and bolted out of the house.
I needed to calm down because it was making Christy
panic. We clutched onto each other as I went around the
house. I didn't know where I was going, but I needed to
get myself and Christy away from here.

Except for a few garden chairs and tables, a swing set
and a tall hedge towering over us, there wasn’t much at
this side of the house. Inches away from the hedge were a
stone path wide enough to allow a couple to walk side by
side. As far as I could see the stone path and the hedge
went all around to the back and most likely to the other
side of the house.

As I walked down the path Christy loosened her hands
from around my neck and looked up to me with a blank
face. I knew it was no good, yet I forced a smile. Her
expression didn't change. Instead she let out a huff of air,
nestling back into the crook of my neck. She was tired and
sleepy, and from the day she probably had it was
understandable. Even I felt tired. My lack of energy
stemmed from something else though. How long could I
keep on pretending that everything was fine? How long
did I have left to pretend?

Before I could try to figure it out Christy stirred in my
arms, her breathing uneven and I realized I was upsetting
her again. Trying my best, I searched my head for happy
things that didn't make me sad or flinch. I couldn't think
of Daren because it only reminded me that he was dead
and I was the cause. Kris was out too because she
probably hated me now. Basically everyone in Trinidad
was out, which left Eric.

Eric and I, we did have some happy times. I couldn't
deny that if I wanted to, like when I splattered him with
cheese and butter. That was the first time I laughed since
that night. And then there was falling asleep wrapped in
his arms on the sofa... I would never admit this to him but
being in his arms felt nice - warm and protected.

I wondered why that was. Why didn't I flinch away
from his touch like I did with everyone else? Why did I
feel so comfortable around him? What was this thing - this
unearthly attraction - between us? All Eric had to do was
look at me and my heart raced off. I had never felt
anything so intense and pure before, and I was fighting it
as hard as I could.

Christy let out a small contented sigh at my neck then. I
sneaked a sideway glance at her and saw that she was
asleep. An involuntary smile played on my lips as I walked
over to the swing, sitting down. Then gently and being
careful not to wake her, I cradled her in my arms. Christy
was four, but she w as small for her age. She could
probably be passed off as a three year old and so she fit in
my arms perfectly. She was like an angel, so easy to fall in
love with. I was beginning to realize that all the Wilsons
were like this.

Just then Eric rounded the corner, entering my line of
vision. He walked over to me smiling, as if he was relieved.
“I was looking for you,” he whispered, letting out a breath.

“Why?” I questioned as he sat down at my side on the
other swing.
“No reason,” he said, but I could tell he was lying, or at
least keeping something from me. He had that guarded
look on his face and his eyes wouldn't meet mine.
“You sounded relieved,” I pointed out staring him
down, giving him a chance to tell me whatever he was
hiding.
“How was your day?” he asked instead and I turned
away from him, staring directly in front me.
“Good. Your mom is great.”
“Good,” he muttered and something in his voice made
me look up to face him. He was watching me intently,
almost as if studying me, then his eyes shifted to C hristy
and a small smile traced his lips. I followed his eyes and
found her smiling in her sleep. My aunt used to say when
children smiled or laughed in their sleep, it meant they
were talking to angels. I wondered what she was saying.
“You know she adores you,” Eric said breaking me
away from my thoughts. I looked up and saw him staring
at me again. “At first I thought she was only feeling what I
felt for you, but today I realized her feeling for you has
nothing to do with me.”
I smiled at this. “You'd be surprised to learn Eric,
everything is not always about you,” I teased.
He let out another one of his chuckles that made me
want to melt away. “I was expecting that,” he pointed out
and I found myself laughing with him.
We stayed there for a while, just ta lking and laughing
then just as the sun was about to set Eric got up, standing
in front me. “It's getting late, we should go in,” he
suggested. “And you should get some sleep. You're going
to need it.” I nodded and began to stand up, making sure
to be careful with Christy.
“I can take her,” Eric said already holding out his
hands.
“It’s fine, I got her,” I insisted.
Eric led me to the back of the house instead of
returning the way we had both came from. There was a
huge wooden deck and pool. This house just got more
amazing with each passing moment. Pool chairs lined the
sides and at the far back was a grill. It was the perfect place
to spend on a Sunday.
Eric took us through the deck and into a door that
opened to the back of the kitchen, where there was a
hidden staircase. Then it was through corridors and finally
Christy's room, which was only a few rooms away from
ours.
I placed her on her bed and was about to straighten
when she clamped on to my shirt. “No,” she moaned still
asleep, clutching on to me tighter.
“Christy you're in your bedroom,” I said. Her eyes
opened slowly and she sat up, staring at me innocent, wide
eyes.
“Don't go,” she pleaded. “Stay with me.”
I looked to Eric frowning. He was standing at the door,
eyebrows raised. “Speaking from experience, she won't let
go.”
I looked from him to Christy, who still had a handful
of my t-shirt, and then back to Eric, sighing. Christy
smiled triumphantly knowing she already owned my heart.
“I saw this coming too,” Eric smiled walking up to me.
He hugged me, kissing my forehead for a brief moment.
“I'll wake you when it’s time,” he whispered into my hair
and I nodded. The moment felt unreal, like a dream. It was
brief, like a routine Eric and I had been doing for years.
Like we could continue on this way forever.
He then released me and bent his head down to
Christy. Holding her head in his hands, he gave her a slight
brief kiss on her forehead and then left us. As soon as the
door shut behind him, Christy yawned and laid back on
her pillow still refusing to let my t-shirt go.