I sat outside on Mark’s balcony smoking a cigarette and enjoying the beautiful August night. Despite the heat of the day it had cooled down quite a bit and there was a nice breeze. I stretched my long legs out and rested my ankles on the railing. Taking a long drag I let it out slowly savoring the taste. Smoking was the one indulgence I allowed myself and even at that I had cut down to less than a half a pack a day at this point it was more of a guilty pleasure than a need. I sighed contentedly and burrowed deeper into the chair wrapping Mark’s red silk robe around myself.
I felt like a cat in the sun. Satisfied and content in every way. It was amazing what a great night’s sleep and a day could make, and what a day it had been! Although I had slept over nine hours before Mark woke me up, after two orgasms and that amazing shower I slept right up until the alarm went off at noon. After rolling around in bed for a little while longer hunger finally forced me to get up. His fridge was full of healthy food and protein shakes so I settled for yogurt and a banana; I was already looking forward to eating like shit at the restaurant later.
After taking a few minutes to unpack I called the folks house and after getting no answer called moms cell. As always mom was thrilled to hear from me, I usually called at least twice a week but hadn’t in a few days because I knew she would read the tone of my voice. I was sounding pretty good now however I wanted to surprise her so rather than tell her I was in town simply asked what she was up to.
I’m glad I did, as she told me they were in New Hampshire for a day trip. If I had told her I was here she would have made dad drive her right back. She told me they were coming back early tonight so I figured I would surprise her tomorrow. It was like pulling teeth to get dad to do anything these days and I didn’t want to interrupt. We made small talk and she asked about Laura, I started to say something lame but she read through it and asked if it was over. I told her it was but enjoy her day I would call her tomorrow and we could talk about it.
That made her happy. Mom still loved the “girl stuff” as she called it, and I enjoyed making her feel a part of my life as there were years that I all but pushed her out of it. Before she hung up mom asked if I had heard from Mark. I told her I talked to him last night and she asked me to get him to call she hadn’t heard from him in weeks and hadn’t seen him since he took her out for mother’s day a couple of months ago. I told her I would get him to call and hung up before it turned into drama.
Seeing I now had no afternoon plans I figured I would swing by and see Mark’s new office. Afraid of losing him to a large firm in New York the head of Mark’s firm made him partner last year at the age of thirty six. The promotion came with a much bigger office, the Lexus, and because the firm had bought four units when the Promenade opened Mark didn’t even pay rent only condo fees. Not bad for a street rat as Mark was fond of saying.
Not that there weren’t a few people I wanted to catch up with, but I was here for an entire week and wanted it to just be family the first couple of days, hell another night with Mark and I would be all but reborn. If the way he treated me this morning was any indication my little brother must have really missed me.
Thinking of Mark I put on a simple white sundress and pulled my hair back in a pony tail. Mark was constantly surrounded by either gorgeous women around his age or hot little barely legal’s and because of that he had a weak spot for plain old cute which I could still be well as cute as someone with a full sleeve tattoo of Medusa could be anyway. Just as Mark could play both pretty professional, and hot bad ass, I could pull off queen of the night as well as girl next door especially when I pulled out my ultimate weapon and Mark’s total weakness; the pout.
I went into Mark’s home office and grabbed the keys to the Lexus that were hanging on a hook. Before leaving I looked around. Mark was a neat freak and nothing was out of place making me want to mess it up on him but I would be nice for now anyways. I walked over to his desk and looked at the framed picture of the two of us that had been taken after he had graduated Suffolk law at a party held by several of the wealthier parents. It was another of the many humbling memories being home brought back.
The picture itself was wonderful, Mark was wearing a black suit and I was in a beautiful red dress. I had just given him a big hug, and my boyfriend Tommy had called out to us for a picture. We were cheek to cheek and smiling happily. Part of me always thought what a pretty couple we would have made. That thought however was always marred by the fact that with us that close and at that age you could really see our resemblance as brother and sister.
The tough part of the picture was at the time I was in my last month of a ninety day inpatient rehab and needed special permission to attend my brother’s graduation. Not only that but I had absolutely nothing left of my own and Tommy bought me the dress that day. Poor Tommy, he was better than I deserved. We had dated off and on for years having met at a party back when he was also doing a lot of drugs. Tommy had straightened out and kept waiting for me to do the same.
Over the years I had stolen from him, cheated on him, and one terrible time he had been beaten badly by a drug dealer named Carson who I owed money to. Despite all that Tommy never gave up on me. He came to see me every day in rehab, and asked me to move in with him when I got out. I took him up on that offer. Three months later he proposed to me. Three months after that…
I stopped myself there. As my therapist keeps telling me living in the past will never help the present. I sighed also thinking of the Rod Stewart song “Every Picture tells a story.” Well if that were true then the picture on the other side of Mark’s desk told the story of his own heartbreak; it was of him with Samantha and had been taken on cruise about a year or so ago.
Mark had won a big case that had taken months to settle and his firm sent him on the cruise to Bermuda as a bonus. He had taken along “Sammy” as he called her. In the picture Mark was shirtless leaning against the railing, Samantha was leaning into him and his arms were around her waist. Mark was smiling and I have never seen him look so happy, and as far as Sammy went she was beaming, all but glowing. Looking at her she hadn’t even seemed my brother’s type.
Samantha was attractive, with olive skin long dark curly hair and hazel eyes, but was nowhere near as hot as most of my brother’s girls. She was even a bit on the curvy side but she had something that appealed to him; innocence. Ironically it was that innocence that attracted Mark to make her a pet. He was going to corrupt her, his own personal 120 days of Sodom. In the end Samantha had turned the tables showing my brother that not only could he be loved but love as well.
Knowing Mark he kept the picture here as a reminder of what he had done. How he had broken not only her heart by sending her away, but his own as well. I shook my head it was time to go. Last night was great, the morning even better, and still ahead; an entire week of letting my little brother spoil me. I would not succumb to the recent melancholy that I had come here to escape. Just before I left I stared at the framed poster hung over Marks desk; it was the 11th Satanic Principal;
“When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them.” Words to live by I thought as I closed the door.
My brother was surprised to see me and the first thing out of his mouth was how much he liked my dress. His office was nothing short of amazing a testament to the fact my brother never finished second at anything. One wall was a series of glass cases that were full of karate trophy’s as well as academic awards from both PC and Suffolk. I had brought him an ice coffee and a sandwich, and as I sat across from him at his enormous mahogany desk –the one with another Decosta original hanging behind it- I couldn’t help but think that he had earned every bit of this, just in what I put him through, never mind dealing with his own demons.
I told him the folks weren’t around and I was probably just going to head back to his place but wanted to stop by and see his office. Mark told me to hold that thought and getting up walked away calling someone on his cell phone. Sitting there I could tell by the tone of his voice that not only was he speaking to a woman but one that he wanted something from. Those suspicions were confirmed when, I heard him promise dinner next Friday night. Hanging up the phone Mark came back smiling and reaching into his wallet took out a business card and handed it to me.
“Spadyssey,” I asked my eyes lighting up. “Are you kidding?”
“Nope, better get moving you have a two thirty appointment with Fiona for a massage, then a manicure, pedicure.” He shrugged. “The works.”
“You are the best Mark really!” I gave him a huge hug.
“Yeah well I heard you had a hot date tonight you should look your best.”
“This place is the best.” I told him.
“I know I send all my girls there.” I rolled my eyes. Mark spent a fortune on his little playthings.
“Well I guess I’m off then.” I told him. I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. I think I felt giddy I hadn’t been pampered like this since… well maybe since the last time I came up here. Looking to make sure his door was closed Mark took my face in his hands and gave me a long lingering kiss that if he kept it up any longer was either going to make my legs weak or cause me to hop on his desk. Breaking it off he gave me a soft smile;
“Go enjoy my sister, you deserve it.”