Unravel (5 page)

I wish this
were a movie,
I thought as the countryside chugged on by.
This trip is taking
forever
. I hadn’t bothered to find out how long it was going to take, and seven hours later, I was getting bored, for lack of a better word. Bored of my mind whirring round and round, resembling a stuck record with each sad song featuring Daniel. Bored of the granny sitting across from me, determined to show every photo of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren taken from day one.

Bored of it all.

If this were a movie, taking the train to Paris would have gotten me there in thirty minutes, and I would have been locked away in a private cabin, making love to my husband who had just returned from war. Instead I was stuck with who-knows-whose granny as she waffled on.

Around twenty minutes later (and I hate to think how many more baby photos), with relief I waved goodbye to the old dear as I pulled my suitcase onto the platform at Paris Gare de Lyon. Although the station was a smudge of people and energy, I felt complete serenity being away from everything that was familiar—my thoughts, Josh, my crabby boss, and more than anything, away from him. I wandered up to an information desk. “I’m looking for somewhere really cheap to stay. Do you know somewhere close?”

The lady smiled at me. “Yes! Give Hotel Tolbiac a try; it’s only a short walk away.”

I looked at her, confused “Oh, I don’t need to stay at a hotel. Do you know of anything cheaper? Anything with the word ‘hotel’ in front of it sounds expensive.”

She laughed warmly, “The hotel is only one star, so you needn’t worry about it being expensive—but it is cheerful.” And she went onto explain exactly where I could find it.

Sure is ‘cheerful’
I thought as I walked in the door.
Who decorated this place? The rainbow fairies?
Every wall, door—surface—was painted a different bright color. I would have called it more
alarming
than cheerful. I booked a single room, which, the guy proudly reported, came complete with a bed, desk, chair, and sink. The shared bathroom was apparently down the hall. The French man with the usual nasal accent then informed me with a smug smile, “Your room is on the fourth floor.”

“Can you tell me where the lift is, please?” I innocently asked.

He rubbed his chin as he tactlessly laughed at my expression. “Madam this is a 19
th
century stone building. There is no lift—just stairs.” He then pointed to a long flight of colorfully painted steps with no offer of help, despite the reception area being completely empty.

Clonk by clonk, I dragged my luggage up the psychedelic staircase until I reached the fourth floor and found my room. The room was tiny and, like the rest of the “hotel,” very brightly painted. It made my studio apartment look like a mega mansion. But it was clean, and there were no cracked tiles or roaches in sight—just squeaky wooden floorboards as I wandered across them. I wondered how anyone could possibly sleep in a place like this. It looked like the walls could easily start glowing in the dark. I shuddered at the thought.

Dumping the suitcase on my bed, I decided to go straight back out while there was still some light left in the day. Chucking on my sunglasses to avoid the glare from the décor, I ran downstairs and out onto the Parisian sidewalk. The Seine was not too far from the hotel, and I figured fresh air was just what I needed to clear my mind of all the baby photos and other spam filling it.

I stared into the murky water as I reflected on the day—it sure hadn’t been routine. I could never have imagined when Jess knocked on my door earlier that morning, that by the end of the day I would be in Paris, staring at the Seine.

“Hello darlin’.”

I turned around in utter disbelief. “God, are you
everywhere
? Have they cloned you? Seriously—you’re driving me insane. How can you be everywhere all at once?”

His dimples came out to play as his hand ran down his chiseled, sexy jaw. “What are ya doin’ here, Siena?”

I looked around, hoping that a helicopter would fly in, Fear Factor style, dropping a rope ladder above my head to whisk me out of the situation. Sighing, defeated, when I realized one wasn’t about to appear, I answered, “Trying to get away…”

He smirked. “From what?”

I looked into his deep, beautiful eyes. “You know the answer as well as I do.”

He pointed at his chest. “Moi?” Laughing, he asked “Why would you want to get away from me, darlin’?”

I fiddled with the hem of my t-shirt. “Because I find you… tiring. Really,
really
, tiring. I feel drained, Daniel.”

He chuckled. “You are very hard to please, Siena. You find roses draining? What should I have sent instead—diamonds?”

I closed my eyes in weariness. “How ‘bout nothing? How ‘bout you just leave me alone?”

I heard a crunching sound as his feet moved across the gravel closer to me. “Moved on, have ya?” he whispered in my ear.

I paused, taking a step back, knowing that the conversation was only going to get more cumbersome as time passed “I met a guy, yeah.”

“Is he good?”

I crossed my arms, feeling his eyes burn through me. “Let’s not do this, ok Daniel? Why are you here anyway? Has business dried up in Milan?”

He looked sideways as a bunch of guys came cheering towards him, one of whom had a long-legged, scantily-clad blonde wrapped around his shoulders. They stumbled across the street in their designer suits, clearly three sheets to the wind.

“Oh,” I snorted as the penny dropped. “Of course, how stupid of me. It’s your bachelor party! Even though you’re already married—Daniel Anderson is, of course, having
another
bachelor party. Stripper included—excellent!”

He shook his head, smiling as he lifted my chin with his fingertips. “It’s for the papers darlin’; it makes it look good—authentic, ya know what I mean?”

I pushed his fingers away from my jaw. “Is anything you do genuine? Or is everything just for the papers? Seriously, you make me sick, Daniel.”

“Sick with love?” He winked at me.

“I’m done!” I hissed, turning on my heels as I walked away.

“I’m not!” he yelled after me. “I’m gonna find you and serenade ya!”

Three hours later…

I opened my eyes slowly; the pokey room I was staying in was spinning.
Surely I didn’t have that much to drink—did I?
I glanced at the wine bottle in my hand—three quarters were gone. “Ooops,”
I giggled.

My phone started ringing. “Where are yoooou?” I called as I looked up and down the bed and then spotted it on the floor. “There you are!” I cackled as I accidently rolled off the mattress, trying to reach out and grab the phone, but instead landing with a thud as my butt hit the floorboards.

I answered, “Hellllllloooo?”

The familiar gutter accent started singing, “Are ya lonesome tonight? Are ya lonesome tonight?”

I smiled in my drunken haze as I picked at a lifting floorboard. “Elvis?
Seriously?
It’s all Bruno Mars and Bieber these days.”

“Alright, darlin’, I can do that too,” and he started singing, “As long as ya love me, we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke...”

I rolled over onto my tummy, listening to his terrible voice. “I’m close to all of those things, Daniel, and I don’t love you.”

His voice deepened with seriousness, and he whispered, “But you
do,
Siena. You just haven’t realized it yet. I realized it the moment I saw you, that you and I should be… one. I’ll give you everything.”

I sighed loudly, “You’ll give me multiple STDs, massive guilt for breaking up your family, law suits, and the press hounding me for being the ‘other’ woman.”

“Siena, I struggled for years trying to pay me bills and build the company at the same time. Why would you want to live in that ‘orrible rat nest of yours when you can be with me? You’ll never have to work another day in ya life. Just sing—just stand and sing.”

I sat up, leaning my back against the bed, in the hope that things would stop spinning. “Why, Daniel? Because I can sleep at night, that’s why. I don’t have a guilty conscience. I’ve got peace.”

He laughed, mocking me. “‘I’ve got peace.’ What the hell does that mean?”

I took another swig from the bottle of wine in contemplation. “I don’t know—don’t ask me questions; everything is a blur.”

“Can ya let me in, baby?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m freezing my ‘nads off out here—open the bloody door.”

I giggled, crawling to the door. I stretched up to the doorknob, swaying as I opened it.

He looked straight ahead, expecting to see me and then down to the ground where I was resting on my knees. “Hello, darlin’—there’s no need to beg, although… you know I love ya in that position.”

I looked up at his big, strong body in my drunkenness. Half of me wanted to wrestle him to the ground then and there, the other half wanted to find my lost morals and slam the door straight in his face.

“How the hell did you find me?” I slurred. “Paris is massive.”

“Well, I looked up the crappiest places in the city, close to where we bumped into each other and bingo-bango, here I am.”

I wound my finger around an escaping curl as I listened to him. “Your stalking ability scares me.”

He bent down and kissed my forehead. “Your beauty entrances me.”

“Get me a bucket, Daniel; I think I’m going to hurl. Seriously, what is it with you and all the lines?”

He walked straight into my room, unzipping his hoody to reveal his ripped, drool-worthy chest as he took a seat on the single bed. “Whoever painted this place must have been high. I feel like I’m gonna go color blind, darlin’; it’s ‘orrid.”

I laughed, watching his concerned expression. “The lady at the station told me it was ‘cheerful’.”

“She lied, darlin’; and what’s with the bed? It’s insanely small. Maybe you are an elf after all? Do you wanna go back to my ‘otel? This place is making me feel claustrophobic—are you sure this isn’t the broom cupboard?”

“Oh, ha-ha,” I said as I stood up, trying to remain conscious as I closed the door behind him. “Anyway, why would I need to go back to your hotel? I’ve got everything I need here—a bed, desk, chair… sink.”

“A sink?” he laughed. “Siena, please tell me you’re kidding.” He smiled, running his finger down his rippling abdominals. “Getting back to your question, you should come back to the ‘otel with me because what I wanna do with you, I’m going to need more space—a lot more.”

I frowned at him, crossing my arms as his haunting blue eyes undressed me. “You are unbelievable,” I slurred.

“And you, miss, are adorable.” He laughed, watching me as I swayed in my high heels. “How much have you had to drink? You’re completely smashed.” I pointed at the near empty wine bottle as I pulled a face. Grabbing me around the waist, he pulled me between his open legs and looked up at me with longing desire. “We’ve wasted so much time, Siena. Time is
so
precious. It’s the only thing I can’t buy. Time… and you.”

He lifted up my t-shirt and started kissing my stomach. I closed my eyes in pleasure and then gazed up at the ceiling—urgh. Bad idea. It was covered with cobwebs and massive water stains—not “cheerful” in the least. He kept kissing and licking up my body, as he pulled off my t-shirt and looked up at my breasts.

“You don’t need this,” he said, unhooking my sheer black bra as my breasts spilled into his warm hands. “I’ve missed them,” he mumbled as his tongue explored the curves.

“You’re a breast man, aren’t you?” I giggled as his stubble grazed over my nipples.

He looked up at me, smirking. “I don’t ever want to be categorized, Siena. I love every part of a woman—front and back.”

“Charming,” I replied, watching as he lay back on the bed, resting his arms behind his head as the familiar bulge in his trousers made an appearance.

“I want you to put your hands out in front of you on the desk, spread your legs, and bend forward, so I can get a good look at that beautiful ass of yours.”

I shrugged, following his orders without hesitation, as I walked past him wearing just my jeans and stilettos and bent over the desk. “You’re a naughty man, Daniel. I’m concerned for your mind.” When I turned around, he was licking his lips and staring at me like he had gone into another world.

“Turn back around, Siena, so you’re facing the wall.”

I looked straight ahead at the wall, my moistness building as I felt his eyes burn through me.
God, how I enjoyed his instructions
.

“Now, undo your jeans and push them halfway down your legs—slowly.”

I undid the buttons and shimmied the jeans down.

“Mmm. That’s right, darlin’—you’re making me so hard.”

I turned around and kicked off my jeans, watching his eyes as they hooded in lust.

“Take your panties off too, but leave those shoes on.”

I smiled, watching his hardness grow as I stepped out of my G-string.

“Take a seat over there.” He motioned to the rickety old chair that sat in the corner. I seductively trailed my naked body past him, feeling his eyes glued to me as I turned around and took a seat gazing at him. He got down on his knees and crawled across the wooden floorboards towards me, where he came to a stop at my ankles and looked up at me with burning desire.

“Let me taste you—all of you Siena.” His rough hands spread my legs wide open, as he pulled me towards his stubble covered jaw, his hot wet tongue flicking across and then deep inside my wetness as I moaned in ecstasy.

The pleasure he gave me as the evening ticked on by ripped through my body and into his mouth. It was like time was standing still. “Daniel,” I panted, still shaking from the orgasms, “what
do
you do to me?”

He looked up at me, his beautiful blue eyes now serene. “I love ya—that’s all. That’s what they call love, Siena.”

I closed my eyes, feeling myself drift into the beginnings of sleep. “Lust, you mean.”

Within moments I felt like I was floating. Daniel had scooped me up into his big strong arms, lifting me into the tiny bed as he placed me carefully between the sheets then squeezed his muscular body around me.

“This is so high school, Danny. I can’t believe we’re in a single bed together.”

He chuckled, whispering, “I don’t care about the bed, darlin’—just you.”

His words floated through my mind, dreamlike, as I fell asleep wrapped in his arms.