Somehow, Vincent had managed to escape the benefit earlier than Blue. As she slammed the front door shut behind herself and kicked her shoes off with an air of frustration no one could ever triumph, she came face to face with a man, yet again, lurking in the shadows. Sitting on the couch, in the dark, head hung, interlocked hands in between his knees and gaze sharp as he finally lifted his eyes to her own, even she couldn’t be any more dramatic if she tried. Against all instinct, Blue couldn’t help but surrender to the pull that ordered her into silence. Couldn’t fit in a snide remark to cushion her pride. Froze in place as their eyes met. “Why were you there?”
“Why were you there?”“I can’t tell you that,”
“And I can’t tell you, either.”
“Then I guess we have an understanding,”
Suddenly, she couldn’t hold herself back anymore.
&
Staring down at the woman who laid across the table eagerly like a prize to be claimed, he bent over her. Took her wrists in his hands. Drove himself inside of her. Sighed as she released a breath that twisted itself into a deviant groan. With a gaze that would have made a nun strip and lay out spread-eagle, Vincent drew his mouth nearer to Blue’s, hips rearing into her own, chest pressing hers with each breath she took to still her heart. Mustering what weak resolve she could, she turned her mouth from his, hair loosening from its ponytail and beginning to spill out beneath her. She watched as he released a wrist. Took her chin in his hand. Bent his mouth towards hers. Met the man’s darkened gaze. Lifted her hand to rest square against his chest. Suddenly, he softened and straightened up so slightly, something Blue never could have accounted for. When she spoke, their hips stilled together, chests parted and faces
Blue waited, bated breath and a racing heart... let it be due to her soul-ripping orgasm, the cold, or the sheer suspense of watching Vincent quietly turn from the door and rub at his face solemnly. When she spoke, she found she had the courage to only in whispers as she pulled the skimpy throw blanket tighter around herself, wishing for even a fraction more of the modesty she had been granted. "Who is it?" She feared she knew the answer. She watched as he all but punched the light switch by the front door. For someone trying so hard to keep quiet, he didn’t seem to be all too concerned with it. If theirvisitorhadn't heard them reproducing on the dining room table, there was no doubt they heard Vincent's outburst. Whether he turned the lights off to hide his naked wife or not. He muttered. Scowled. "Go to bed, I'll meet you there," S
Nothing to Blue could ever or would ever beat the feeling of waking up, sun warm through large, ocean-facing windows, sheets twisted up and duvet fallen to the floor, stark naked, with the male embodiment of sex sound asleep beside her, one arm around her and the other thrown over his eyes. With a small, subdued smile, Blue rolled over, lifting a delicate hand to rest against his steadily heaving chest. She watched as he stirred, arm falling from his eyes and head rolling to face her — to her dismay, still very much asleep.She had dreamt
Blue cursed the fact she didn't have the mind to lather on sunscreen the second she had stepped into the street. Summer was underway, and though not as hot as it could be, just as unforgiving. And although she wasn't showing per se, the steadying gain of weight meant that she was just too big to fit into her old clothes and just too small to size up without looking like a Mormon. Vincent's clothes were always a safe bet—big enough to look deliberately oversized—but she found that, while denim shorts and one of his many white button-ups looked trendy enough to blend into the LA crowd, its ability to advertise her sweat was uncanny.It was a task in itself to hold at bay the vomiting which forced her to bring a pillow to rest on into the bathroom for the better part of an hour—but by ten o'clock, feeling so vile and exhausted, she made the decision so grave in necessity she felt it appropriate to break a promise. And so, the ten-minute walk to the pharmacy began. She was painfully aware
For summer, New York hadn’t quite gotten as warm as Blue had expected.She found that, even with an additional blanket, there was nothing she wanted quite as much as the strong embrace of a particular man—warm enough to make her sweat stark naked with the windows open and the air conditioning in overdrive. And yet her pride made good work of keeping him away.Truthfully, they hadn’t said much to one another since their quick return from their “holiday”. Blue would be lying if she said she wasn’t reeling from all the possibilities that filled the spaces of explanations Vincent kept from her. Was he a government agent? Was Richard involved in a child trafficking ring? It wouldn’t surprise her, that was for sure. Blue was rather confident in the fact that Richard wasn’t guided by ethics nor influenced by what was right or wrong. The only thing then, she feared, was that her father was somehow involved. Sure, they didn’t see eye-to-eye, nor were they all too close—or at least as close as t
“Lovely, isn’t it? That your parents would go through all this effort for us,” Blue forced a bitter smile to Richard, the man who had the meat of her thigh in his hand in a way he’d be able to squeeze warningly when her tongue got a bit loose.She feared, after one too many witty remarks and cold stares in his direction, that the print of his hand would begin to show. Even then, she was sure that Marian would not mind one bit. She seemed perfectly content watching her only daughter be violated by the man
Richard leaned in with an intent Blue couldn’t quite determine—as he inched close enough she could taste the food on his breath, she considered the value of her life. There was a certain cruelty, she found, in her sentence. Was she really to spend the rest of her life with the one person she somehow hated more and more by the day? To be a servant to a powerful man with a disproportionate ego. No self-determination. No purpose outside of attending events by his side and giving him as many children as he desired. And as she sucked in an involuntary breath, she received a vivid reminder of the repulsiveness that shrouded Richard rather exclusively.
Blue found it rather hard to engage with anyone at the dinner table, though her input hadn’t been missed. Richard had been chatting happily for a time she didn’t care to note about his cars and the new house he bought on the suburbs. The suggestive nod towards its family appeal was lost on Blue. Just as the comment on his Porsche SUV and all its passenger capacity fell on deaf ears. She was rather distracted by the fact that Richard was sat by her side in the very seat that had been Vincent’s at the fateful brunch. And if not by Richard’s presence alone, by the rampant questions and confusion that had arisen from Vincent’s detective work in a way that translated directly into anger… and hurt.
Staring out at the living room floor, Blue saw a sight she never thought she would live to see: Marian playing with her grandson on the floor. It was unsettling, in an uncanny-valley way. Something so close to resembling human but just short of enough. She spun her engagement ring back and forth on her finger. He slid his arm around her waist. “’You okay?” She glanced up to the man stood at her side. His dark hair gathered into a short, thick ponytail. Eyes as bright as ever. Smile as devilish. Would it be so wrong to fuck like animals with her mother in the room next to them? After all, to a married couple, sex was the most natural thing. Or so she'd heard. “Yeah,” Blue sighed. Hugged her arms around herself. “I think so,” “How long is she staying?” “Until she can get the settlement money from Bradley,” “I didn’t think he had any left,” “It’s all
It could have been hours by the time Blue came to. Usually, the state of her coffee would be a good indicator, but it had been stone cold for god knows how long. The sun was still up, if that counted for anything. She had left her phone at the house. Vincent was with the baby. She had stolen herself away for some quiet at the very café she had shared with both Vincent and Richard. Sat staring at her right hand where the engagement ring of the latter sat without a band. What was he doing? A thought that crossed her mind often. She hadn’t heard from him after the verdict, though still awaiting the sentencing. She had the thought that he was arrested for assaulting a police officer after his fiasco of escaping custody in the courtroom. Christopher wouldn’t have set any bail, would he? Not after he pretended to have been oblivious to his son’s sins. It would be hard to act surprised if he was actively helping his son as someone ought to. Vincent
Blue stared at the city; Vincent stood at the counter behind her. The windowsill seemed to share her most pivotal moments more than even the universe shared them with her. Though her grief was one of the poorer-kept secrets of the world she felt marginally better whispering her thoughts to the brittle pane. Just as she felt gratitude Vincent had kept the apartment they’d outgrown with the baby for nostalgia’s sake. Or to bolster his net worth. Either one.She was muttering the same three words over and over. Repeated hoping that enough times would unencumber her or the rage that swelled with each inhale to expel them. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate… The world?“I should write him a very strongly worded letter.” She glanced to her husband, the man fiddling with a steaming tea as though debating which moment would be safest to present it to his wife. “But
“It is found,” Blue glanced up at her husband, her arse feeling rather sore from the wooden bench. They had been sat in court for what ought to have been five hours at that point. The room smelt of wood varnish and stale air, having the look about it of a church with generous natural light and the buzz of Catholic choir. Only the silence rattled through much the same way any prayer would. “That the Commonwealth has proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” She had stared at the back of Richard’s head the whole time, if only hoping he would meet her eyes for just a second. She feared he thought no one in the room was on his side, a feeling she had become well-acquainted with over the years. Nothing seemed more dreadful than being carted off to prison with that same feeling. How strange it was to think that the man she was so sure she would murder given the chance had sat on the living room floor playing with her son just a day or two before. Staring into her husband’s deep green eyes, she w
“So, I have a question,” Blue reached for her coffee, eyeing her maid. Well, she wasn’t her maid anymore. She was her mother-in-law. It was complicated. Pregnancy had somehow made her even fonder of coffee, maybe because she hadn’t had it. “Why did you tell me not to stay with Vincent when I told you I was pregnant if he was your son this whole time?” She couldn’t help but smile at her own sentence, taking a long gulp of the latte that had since gone flat. Vincent stared between the two silently. It was news to him.“I thought he was going to prison,” She simply shrugged. It was a good enough answer. Blue wasn’t sure whether Anya—Alfonza, as she had come to know—liked her all that much. “I thought I was doing what was best for everyone,”“So, you tell my wife to leave me?” Then came her husband’s booming voice, deep and accented. Ho
Blue stared at the deep purple wrap dress in the mirror, sleeves to her elbows. Loosened the strings around her waist and tightened the knot again as though it would magically make her thinner. She was yet to properly mourn her pre-baby figure. She looked like a rectangle. A bloated, lumpy rectangle. Or so she thought quietly to herself. She tore the dress over her head.“I think we’ve found a winner,” Vincent entered the wardrobe quietly. Tried his best not to gawk at the woman in her underwear as though he’d never seen her half-naked before. Failed miserably. Wrapped his arms around her middle instead and pressed his mouth to hers. But she shoved him away. Turned back to the clothes instead.“We can’t do this, we’ll be late,” though she spoke as firmly as she could, she couldn’t help but smile softly to herself and blush as she leafed through her clothes without looking. The idea of let
“It’s not fair, why can’t I go with Richard?” Vincent dug his heels in as he stopped behind his mother. Hoped a childish frown would move her enough to let her son be with his only friend. “I’m not a child anymore,”“I’ve seen the awful lot Richard hangs out with, you can either help me out for the rest of the day or go to the deli with your father,”“I’m a vegetarian.” He spoke expressionlessly.“Housekeeping it is!” Alfonza sounded a bit too cheerful for Vincent’s liking. Was it too late to call back the Taxi that had brought him straight from school? “Now find somewhere quiet to sit, I shouldn’t be any longer than an hour,”“I’ve got homework tonight, Ma.”“Then do your work here,” She smiled again. A bit too cheerful. Aga
Her skirt was over her stomach in a matter of seconds, underwear kicked beneath the bed. Heart racing, fingertips beating in the tips of her fingers curled up into her palms, Blue spread her legs with no further instruction. Released a long, shaky breath as her husband hooked her legs over his shoulders and breathed into the inside of her thigh. But she stared at the roof. Watched the shadow cast by the lamp behind him loom over her, growing in size as he neared. And all she could feel was his hot, damp exhale fanning her center; his opened mouth quick to follow. “I still can’t believe I’m your wife.” She grumbled the words quietly, arching her back as his lips closed around her and his teeth grazed her labia. “I’m a lucky man.” He grumbled back, his voice twisting through her and carrying its echo deep into her stomach. “I can’t believe that you were so adamant you never wanted to see me again after your birthday party and now you’ve got your pussy i
“Are you joking?” He had his wife’s face in his hands again, staring between her narrowed eyes with a look of expectation now not quite as well-hidden. “You actually went to the police?”“Of course, I did, all the love I had left for him went when I found out how much my mom actually cares.” She looked like she’d thought it rather obvious. Despite the fact she’d been defending him for so long. “He could be sentenced to death, and I’ll be happy to do it.”“You don’t mean that,” he’d released her, sitting back on the edge of the bed, hands on his knees. But she’d rocked forward. Wrapped her fingers through the sides of his hair. Met his eyes with a stare he wasn’t quite so daffy to break.“He told me it was my own fault Richard hurt me.”“But Richard’