ARAWN
“My mom always had this little box filled with cookies, but my brother got diabetes, so she stopped buying them. I’m alright, so I didn’t get why she wouldn’t buy me a box just for me.”
Nerthus laughs, and I admire her as blowing my brains out seems like an amazing perspective. “Danny, eat. You are talking too much.”
Danny pouts shortly before he starts digging in. As he eats his pizza, which must be cold already, Nerthus slaps my chest gently. “Let him talk. There is nothing wrong with it. Don’t be mean.”
“It’s already past one, he should be in bed already.” I straighten my spine with a groan, taking a sip of my coke.
“Come on, I don’t think an evening out will ruin him.”
Danny scoffs, munching on a piece of pizza. “Yeah. Like curfews would exist for people like us.”
“Again, Danny. They don’t exist for people like me. For you, they exist.”
The small restaurant, in which I probably wouldn’t have put a foot in, is actually cozy, and the food wasn’t bad. It would be empty if not for two other customers that are in the restaurant alone. A radio sounds from the kitchen while a waitress is chewing gum and reading a magazine on the counter.
How she manages to do this under the flickering blueish light is beyond me.
Nerthus had brought us here, telling us how she used to spend some time in here on freezing nights.
I put my arm on the backrest of the booth we are sitting in instinctively, my heart squeezing at the thought of her warming herself up in a depressing place like this between one client and another.
She moves, seemingly feeling uncomfortable, and scoops away another bit, creating an even bigger distance between us.
Looking down at her, she must be feeling my gaze on her as she caresses her arm while continuing to listen to Danny, who is going on about his diabetic brother ruining his life.
But keeps ignoring me.
I sigh as I am the master of my own fall.
You told her yourself.
“I’ll bake you all the cookies you want, Danny.” She laughs, getting him to light up, and me to smile.
I lower my head, clearing my throat. “Her cookies are amazing.”
“You are a liar!” She laughs, finally looking at me. “I actually burnt the last one I made for him.”
Danny laughs through his nose as he eats again.
“Make me another bunch then,” I say lowly as my heartbeat picks up.
“No,” she says, blushing slightly.
“You just said that Danny could get all the cookies he wanted. I want some too.”
Danny nods, agreeing with my statement, and Nerthus pushes out a single laugh.
“You got enough cookies already.” She says, and I chuckle.
“No, I didn’t.”
Crossing her arms over her lap, she slumps against the backrest, scoffing. “I don’t care. The slots are full.”
“Is Owen occupying one of those slots?” Danny halting in his movements, has me thinking that this wasn’t the best thing to say even before Nerthus looks at me angered.
“I beg your fucking pardon?”
I shrug, acting like I wouldn’t care. “Is Owen getting my cookies now?”
Her jaw practically hits the floor as Danny restarts chewing. “Is Owen the bougie?”
“What is a bougie?” I frown, looking at him shortly before Nerthus gets me to look back at her as she pinches me.
I can’t remember anyone ever pinching me.
“Don’t you dare!” She shouts as I’m caressing my arm. “This is nothing of your concern.”
Suddenly, she takes a deep breath, her mouth agape. “You asshole! That man on the beach. Was that one of yours?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I say, taking another sip from my coke.
“I can’t fucking believe you!” She says seemingly more to herself than to me as she stands up from our table.
Without even stopping to say something to Danny, she practically storms out of the door to get outside.
Danny jerks up, and looks at me like a lost puppy, making me groan. “Don’t panic. I’m already following her.”
Rolling my eyes, I get back outside with Danny on my tail.
“Amber!” I shout, causing her to turn around while reaching Dario.
“Where are you going?” I ask with a snicker, just infuriating her more.
“I’m going home. And your driver is taking me there.”
Tilting my head, I put my hands in my pockets, and gesture to Dario to get into the car. I figure that it is not the time to provoke her, even without Danny looking at me aghast.
But I can’t seem to stop myself when I’m with her.
“You aren’t going anywhere until I tell you to,” I state, her low gasp underlining her stunned expression.
“Danny!” She hisses, and I’m taken aback at how he acts instinctively, to cover his ears with his hands.
“You have some damn nerve to say that to me! You have no right to speak to me like that! I’m not your fucking employee anymore!”
Her eyes filled with rage would worry me if it wasn’t such a damned turn-on. “I don’t know what you are talking about, because I have a contract with your signature on it.”
“Oh, no! You haven’t! You dissolved it, remember?” She gesticulates with her hands as she steps closer to me.
I grin as her eyes widen. “Must have slipped my mind.”
“I don’t know where you get the fucking audacity to behave this way, but I’m done and over with you!”
Clicking my tongue, I glance at Danny who is still staring at the ground with his ears covered. “I told you I wanted to talk. Let’s sort it out.”
“You are something else.” She scoffs, and I step closer to her.
Even if I sense that it might not be the best move.
She continues to glare at me, and I lower my voice. “Come back to me. Work for me again.”
She barely lets me finish my sentence before she snorts. “No fucking way.”
“Dario can drive you home, but I’m serious.”
Shrugging her shoulders, she looks at the car. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? Leave me alone! I’m being serious as well, Arawn.”
“I’ll let you go, for now. But you know better than me that we are not done, and certainly not over.” As I’m finally standing directly in front of her, I lean in. I can see how her breath hitches in her throat, making me smirk.
“You are mine, Nerthus. And you will work only for me.”
She shakes her head slowly, her gaze still fixated on mine. “I was only yours because you stripped me of my clients. You play dirty, but I get it. You wouldn’t achieve getting anything otherwise.”
“Nerthus, I’m…” I start, but she interrupts me instantly.
“No, Arawn. You have to accept that. You dissolved the contract! I really don’t know what I have to do here.” She chuckles desperately, the chain on her handbag tingling as she lifts her hand to let them slump again. “Aren’t there a swarm of other girls you can exploit for your entertainment?”
Clenching my jaw, I take a shy look at Danny to make sure that he isn’t going to hear me. “No, there aren’t. It’s you I want!”
Her expression falls, making her look at me surprised.
But just shortly, as she catches herself quickly, putting up a mocking smile.
“Don’t look at me like that, Arawn.” She says, lifting her hand to touch my cheek. “Desperation doesn’t really suit you.”
Before my brain catches up with my actions, I have already pressed her against the car with my body.
She gasps, clenching the fabric of my shirt. “Don’t! Danny is watch-”
“Shut up!” I growl, making her go quiet.
“Tell me that you went out with him and spent time with him without even thinking about me once.”
I strengthen my grip on the cold metal of the car, as she looks at me wide-eyed.
“Tell me that you got through the entire fucking date without spending one fucking thought about me.”
She gulps, and something in me shatters as she shakes her head. “No, I did not. Why should I? I wasn’t your girlfriend.”
Serves me right.
“You are lying,” I smirk at her, and she glares at me.
“Get the fuck off me, Arawn.” She hisses, making me tilt my head.
“Not before you tell me the truth.”
I lean in, lowering my voice. “Or I get my kiss.”
Feeling her shudder as well as her deep inhale gives me a bit of satisfaction, but I lose the sensation fast enough as she regains her composure.
“Get. The. Fuck. Off. Me. Arawn!”
Gripping her chin, I force her to look at me. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
I hold her for a few seconds, her labored breathing gracing my hand, before I finally push myself off the car, freeing her from my grip.
It takes her a few seconds to move and walk over to Danny. They hug shortly, and I hear her wishing him a good night.
As she walks back to the car, I open the back door for her, and she gets in with a low ‘thank you’.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She looks up at me, a small smile playing on her lips as she reaches for the car door to close it.
“Please don’t!”