This Could Have Been Our Song!: A coulda woulda shoulda ballad (17 page)

“
What was that for, Lelly?”

“
Exactly, Luce. My work is done.”

Right
… not an expert in relationships,
got it Lelly
.“Anyways, Marcus, this is my very British oldest sister, Axelle Anderson.”

Marcus hesitated for a minute but finally said.
“This is going to sound insane but have we met? And I’m not referring to your striking resemblance.”

“
Nope.”

“
Luce! Manners please!” She turned to Marcus. “No, Love, I would have remembered you,” she toyed and smiled. What was going on? Axelle was flirting and Marcus was eating it up. Cougar!

“
Right, but just humor me. Where were you on August 17th 1998?”

That would have been a random date if it wasn
’t Axelle’s actual birthday day.

“
Oh my gosh!” Axelle said, turning to me.

“
Why do you ask and why that date?” I asked Marcus.

“
It’s the day I fell in love for the first time. I was in –”

“
In Glasgow!” Axelle and I both said.

How could he have recognized her? It was during the Ch
arisma Farewell Tour; Axelle was the choreographer and lead dancer and had a five minute solo number that drove the entire world mad!

“
My brother and I drove from Manchester to Glasgow because it was sold out. Then this masked goddess appeared on the stage and…I fell in love,” he told Axelle.

“
That was a beautiful number, sweetie. I had chills each time I saw you perform,” I told her.

“
Thanks, love.”

“
You were there too?” Marcus asked me.

“
Yup, with the G Band. Summer break; what else was there to do but go on tour? ”

“
I can’t believe you recognized me? How?” Axelle asked.

“
Your movements, your style. I haven’t seen it for almost eleven years, and two weeks ago… Lucia danced on that very stage and…” he just stopped and smiled. “It was magical.”

“
I see,” Lelly murmured. Really? Because I didn’t. “I like him,” she then murmured to me.

“
Lelly is the best dancer I’ve ever seen. You can’t even put us in the same category,” I tell Marcus.

“
Stop selling yourself short, Luce! You’re more than great. I have been dancing for thirty-three years nonstop. It’s not the same.” She kissed me and headed to the door. “Marcus, you RAM boy.” She gave him a quick wink, “You must come on Friday to the launch party for Noor. I will be more…presentable.” Nicely played Axelle, I remembered thinking at that moment. Now I didn’t have to do it at all.

There was no time for a quick shower, so as soon as Axelle left I just put my shirt back on and we went to the recording studio. We were in there working for more than thirty minutes then we heard an exploding sound coming from the floor below us. Marcus took charge right away, firmly pushing me in the corner and asking me to hide under the mixing tables while he went to check out what happened. He came back fifteen minutes later with firefighters. A cable broke on the seventh floor and we had to evacuate. This could have been so much worse if Marcus and I hadn
’t been there. But it was still bad enough to shut down the place for the entire week. So, of course, instead of taking a much-needed week off like the rest of the staff, I accepted an invitation to John’s place during the week to finish our work in time for Matt’s return the following Monday. What a fool I was!

This brings me to today. Marcus and I have playing this cat and mouse game of flirting all week. Okay, so Wednesday I had a pedicure done. I couldn
’t keep coming here with less-than-stellar-looking toes. Not with Marcus looking at them from time to time. Then of course I had to have my legs completely waxed by Thursday, and showcased them with a knee-length sundress. And to top it all off, Marcus wanted to write a sexual song today.

“
I don’t feel comfortable writing a casual sex song for a married couple! How are they going to sell it?” I asked Marcus earlier today.

He laughed at me, but said nothing. I turned on my laptop.
“I brought a few examples with me. Mostly ones we have to stay away from.”

“
This I want to hear,” Marcus teased.

I placed myself comfortably in the sofa across him with my laptop.
“Okay, so ‘Sexual Meeting’ by Dale Rodney. Too easy,” I said, winking at him, and played the first part of it. “The French, Claire Sauvignon
Cette Nuit La.
That night, a simple adventure has turned to much more. That’s good right?”

“
I like that the song doesn’t put the blame on anyone.”

“
Well at least the French own up to it. Let’s see what the Brits say.” I put The Candies on.

“
Please don’t,” Marcus warned and, covered his ears.

“
So, which one is worse?” I asked then mimicked the first song. “I’m hot and ready. Baby, please understand it’s destiny.”

“
It’s terrible!”

“
No,” I toyed with a big laugh. I put the other song and started mimicking again. “I have the answer to your prayers. You and I together. I’m sure it will be forever.”

“
Okay, I got it. We have bad songs in the UK. I’m sure we can come up with a much better one.”

But I kept singing.
“See my desire, see my hunger, meet my passion.”

He moved closer to my sofa.
“Please stop,” he softly warned again, his eyes on my lips.

I should have stopped there.
“Well, my George did a fine job,” I said and played “Fast Love”. “I love him,” I said dreamily.

“
He’s a nice bloke.”

“
I know; I’ve met him. He’s a sweetheart.” I held up my hand. “This is my part.” I started to sing with my eyes closed completely, surrendering to the song. I love middle eight of that song; it’s just amazing. George just says it like it is. He wants sex and he wants it now. Call it a quick fix or pure escape; it doesn’t matter! And he wants it in the BMW, none the less. That’s the kind of song we should have been writing,

I opened up my eyes again and faced a very intense look from Marcus. Have I missed something?

“That’s the type of song we should be writing, don’t you think?” I asked him. My breathing was getting faster and Marcus was getting closer and closer. And before I knew it, he started kissing me and it looked like he wasn’t ready to stop.

Who
’s to blame for this turn of events? I don’t know how to stop it or even if I want to. Marcus’ mouth on mine feels amazing; we’ve both been holding ourselves back for so long. We can let ourselves go for another minute. I pull him closer to deepen the kiss.

“
Luce, it’s been so long…too long,” he whispers on top of my mouth, before kissing me again.

Okay, just another minute then I
’ll stop. I place my legs on his hips and pull him even closer. This isn’t what I meant! Marcus is now positioning himself between them and is completely on the sofa with me. I should really put an end to this. I tighten my grip on his hips and can feel his erection against me. His hands leave my back and travel all the way down under my dress.

“
Yes…oh yes. You’re driving me crazy…so crazy,” he moans while kissing my neck.

I need to walk away from this, from him. I arc my back t
owards him and moan each time I feel his touch. I’m moaning? What the hell is wrong with me?

“
Luce, I want you so much,” he whispers, his mouth so close to my breasts now. His hand is caressing my stomach, playing with my navel; the other one is successfully attempting to remove my panties.
My Panties!

Marcus stares back at me,
“Luce…I…” but he kisses me instead.

It can
’t happen like this, in the middle of the day, in the middle of John’s living room, where anyone could just show up. I deserve more than this. I’ve got to get out of here. Now. Otherwise I won’t be able to stop. I really… really want him too.

“
Marcus…” I moan between kisses.

“
Yes, Luce…anything you want,” he moans back.

“
Please get off me,” I whisper, unable to look at him.

He stops and slowly removes his hands.
“What?”

I slowly slide away from him and try to adjust my hair, my dress, my panties and my dignity. I
’m shaken so hard it’s not easy. I find my shoes and put my laptop back in its case. Poor Marcus; he looks so shaken and lost. His hair is messy and he keeps pushing it nervously away from his face. He looks so sexy. God, I really need to leave.

“
I’m sorry, Luce. But please don’t go; not like this. Please!” he pleads while following me to the door.

I can
’t look at him. “Could you please open it?” I pull away from his touch. We’re both still breathing so hard. “Please, Marcus.”

“
This is not over; we need to talk,” he tells me, but then lets me through.

I can still feel the heat of his eyes on me when I get to the e
levator. Don’t follow me, please don’t follow. Thankfully he doesn’t; I hear the door closing at the same time the elevator does.

Twenty voice messages, seventy texts and forty-eight missed calls. All unanswered by me. I read and listened the first few yesterday after I got home, but I wasn’t ready to talk to him just yet. I honestly thought he would have stopped after a couple of hours.

“
Your phone is ringing again, Luce,” Beesly says next to me. She looks at me through my inside bathroom mirrors. “What number is this one?” Her makeup artist is putting the final touches on her makeup before starting mine.

The phone indicates the new voicemail.
“Twenty-one and forty nine,” I reply. Her personal hairdresser is doing wonders on my hair. She put it in a loose bun but left a few strands in strategic places.

“
Wow, Marcus? That must have been one hell of a kiss!” Beesly says, smiling. Her makeup and hair are done. She leaves her chair and takes off her robe. “I’m just happy the both of you got this out of your system.” She’s wearing a Gucci, simple, black dress that I had picked out for her last week, which was delivered this afternoon. She looks very pretty and classy with the dark-red pumps and bag. I also told her to wear her teardrop, diamond earrings.

“
You look so elegant, B. I like that look on you,” I tell her.

“
Not too conservative?”

I laugh.
“No, just really classy.” My makeup is nearly done and our car should be here in five minutes. “Thank you, ladies, all three of you. It’s a big night for my sister and I need to look great for her.” I take off my robe and look at myself in the mirror.

“
It was my pleasure, Luce. You look fantastic. I’m so proud to be your date tonight.” She gives me an air kiss.

I
’m wearing my open-toe, purple pumps with their matching bag and our family sapphire jewelry set. “Thank you. The pleasure is all mine,” I say, opening the main door for all us.

The car is waiting for us downstairs. We get in for a twenty minute ride to the fashion district for the awaiting private party.

Beesly surprised me by arriving on Thursday night instead of this morning. Her mentorship finished earlier than scheduled so she decided to take the next fly back to Toronto. I’ve been hearing about it for the past twenty-four hours. After she kept seeing my phone buzzing over and over again on the table I had to explain to her what had happened with Marcus. So far she’s the only I’ve told; Noor and Axelle don’t need to get involved.

We arrive at the event and I can already see the paparazzi from our limousine. Great publicity for us! Beesly will definit
ely make some best-dressed lists. She gets out of the car first and waves at the small crowd of people and photographs. I can hear it from here; my girl is a hit. I follow shortly behind, but Beesly stops and waits for me.

“
You don’t have too,” I whisper, smiling at the cameras.

“
You’re kidding! You’re the best accessories a girl can have.”

We finally get inside after a few dozen or so pictures are ta
ken. I recognize a few people and introduce Beesly to them. She does the same for the people she knows but I don’t. So far, so good. We keep working the crowd, drinking champagne and snacking on hors d’oeuvres. Neither Axelle nor Noor are here yet. After my second glass, I go to the bathroom for a lipstick touch up. I check my phone; two more texts from Marcus and one from Axelle saying they arrived with the lady of the night. I’ll deal with the Marcus mess tomorrow. Noor is close to the stage when I come out. She looks ravishing. She changed her hair color to light brown and is wearing it completely straight. We couldn’t be more different-looking tonight. Beesly is alone with her. I better go to them now.