Chapter 17
Caroline observed the
happy couple as they decorated the Christmas tree with her homemade decorations
in her living room while sipping a steaming cup of Chamomile tea. Nick
and Rina looked lovely together. They reminded
her so much of her and her husband, Monty, when they were their age. Full
of high hopes and dreams for a seemingly bright future. She smiled.
They were very much in love.
She wondered if they even
realized that.
They will soon enough.
She set down her cup and decided to fetch more of her cookies from the
kitchen. Besides, she had the distinct feeling they were waiting for a
moment alone.
She would happily oblige.
***
Katarina glanced around the room with a satisfied
grin. Holly, poinsettias, tinsel and other staple Christmas decorations
definitely converted Caroline’s living room into a festive wonderland.
And the tree…with the twinkling lights, glimmering ornaments and the immensely
bright star at the tip, it was the most beautiful tree she’d ever seen.
Of course, she was admittedly
biased!
Nick’s arms wrapped around
her waist and she leaned back against him and sighed. “It’s perfect
Nick.”
“I agree,” he murmured,
“you know, Caroline’s in the kitchen…”
She giggled and turned to
face him. Noting the mischievous sparkles in his lively blue eyes, she
grinned. “What do you have in mind?”
“If you knew, you’d be
smacking me right now.”
She shook her head.
“Perv.”
He laughed and pulled her
into a hug. “You don’t have to worry about me, Rina.
I’m as harmless as a kitten.”
Immediately she stiffened
and pulled away from his embrace. Kitten...
"Is that you Kitty Kat?...I've been looking
everywhere for you Kat."
She hated that word.
The sudden memory of Kris and his hands invading her body assaulted her mind
and she began to tremble.
“Rina?
Are you okay?” He rested a hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away and
whirled around.
“Don’t touch me!”
Nick’s surprise was soon
replaced with hurt. “Did I do something wrong?”
Katarina took a deep breath and schooled her frightened emotions.
“I’m sorry Nick. I just…was thinking about something else.”
“Did I push you? I
didn’t mean to…”
“No, no.” She
wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a reassuring hug. “You didn’t do
anything wrong. It was just me.”
“Are you sure?” he held
her tightly. “I don’t want to scare you away.”
She drew back slightly and
tenderly kissed one of the ragged scars near his left eye, trying to calm the
uncertainty in his voice. “You could never do anything to scare me away
Nick.”
He pressed his forehead
lightly against hers. “I hope so Rina.
But…I just want you to know that I won’t ask you to do anything that you don’t
want to do.”
How many times had she
heard that one? She’d lost count long ago, but with Nick, it was a whole
other story. She trusted him...and lately she found herself fighting her
own corrupt needs around him.
That had never been an
issue before, but she knew that although she wanted him, the only way she would
give in to her desires would be if he placed a wedding ring on her finger.
Call her old-fashioned. Call her crazy. But that was her decision…
And she would stick to it.
“Thank you Nick, for being
so understanding.”
He grinned and she
couldn’t help but return his adorable smile. She could see why the girls
went nuts for him. Even with his face mangled, that one smile made her
insides turn to jelly. She leaned forward to kiss him when suddenly he
pulled away and tossed tinsel in her face.
Her eyes widened in shock
as the glimmering decorations landed in her hair and attached to her
clothes. “Nick!!”
He cracked up and grabbed
another handful.
Katarina’s lips curved into a sly smile. “All right,
Nickolas Gene. You asked for it.” She grabbed the can of silly
string on the table that had been sitting there since Caroline’s birthday.
Nick dropped his
jaw. “You wouldn’t!”
”Oh...I would!"
She took a few steps forward and held back her laughter.
“Uh…” he took a few steps
backward and dropped the tinsel in his hand. “Bye!” He turned and made a
break for the stairs.
Grinning, she ran after
him. “You can’t hide from me Nicky!!!”
***
“Damn! He showed up
right when you were about to go for it?” A.J shook his head and made himself
comfortable on Howie’s couch. “You must’ve been pissed. I know I
would’ve been.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Howie exclaimed as he poured his best friend a glass of cola. “It’s a
good thing he showed up before I did something I’d regret later!”
“But D, she practically
gave you the go ahead to make your move!” He pulled out a cigarette from
the pockets of his jeans and searched the other one for his lighter. “I
think she digs you man.”
“Yeah. That’s why
she’s marrying someone else.” Howie rolled his eyes and sat in the
loveseat across from him. “And no smoking in my house!”
A.J sighed and slipped the
cancer stick back in his pocket. “Seriously Howie, if Billie was giving
you all those signals, she’s not as happy with this Kris guy like she claims to
be.”
“I don’t know A.J…”
“Well, what was he like
anyway?”
Howie frowned. “I
suppose he’s the kind of guy that girls go for, but to be honest, he seemed a
little full of himself. Don’t take my word for it though. I’m
biased.”
“Hell D. You’re too
nice for your own good. I’ll just bet the guy was a complete asshole.”
“You said it. Not
me.”
They laughed heartily and
finally, A.J decided to change the subject. “So, when are you gonna come
by and visit Sarah and me in
Howie shrugged.
“Just tell me when and I’ll stop by.”
“Cool.” A.J took the
cool glass from the coffee table and took a long sip before setting it down
again. “I called Kev last night to invite him over for a few days but I
just got his machine…”
***
Ohhh… Where the hell am I?
Kevin wanted to open his
eyes, but they felt so heavy. His body ached and his head was pulsing
relentlessly. What the hell happened last night? I didn't even have
any alcohol... He moved a little and realized with shock that he wasn’t
alone. Someone’s bare limbs were entangled with his. Kristin? When did she get back?
Wait… He knew his wife’s body…her scent, her skin…
The woman next to him was
NOT his wife!
The shock was so
overwhelming that he didn’t hear the sound of the front door opening and light
footsteps wandering into the house or his wife’s cheery voice…
Until it was too late.
“KEVIN?!?”
His eyes whipped open and
he sat up in alarm, ignoring his throbbing head. All he could concentrate
on was his wife’s face. Her stricken, pale face.
He’d never forget that
look for as long as he lived.
He ripped his gaze away
from hers to see who it was that lay next to him. No…NO!
“Oh God," she took a
few steps back, "oh God...how could...how could you? How could you
do this to me?!”
Kevin winced at the pain
in her voice. “Kris, it’s not what you think! I would never--”
"You TOLD me you
didn't LIKE HER KEVIN!!"
"Kristin you have to
believe me! It's not what you think!"
“Like hell it isn't!”
Kristin interjected furiously. "To think I actually thought you were
different...that you loved me. YOU BETRAYED ME!!" She broke
into sobs. "You betrayed us..." and without another word she
stalked toward the door.
“Kristin wait!” Kevin lept off the couch and wrapped a blanket around his
waist. “Kris!” He chased her outside.
“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT
KEVIN!”
“But you don’t understand!”
He caught her arm. “Please--”
She whirled around, her
face construed in a scowl and slapped him. “DON’T TOUCH ME! I DON’T
EVER WANT YOU TOUCHING ME AGAIN!”
Kevin gripped his cheek
and felt his heart break in two as she stepped into her car and sped off down
the street. “Kristin…” he whispered before the tears began to fall.
And Rachel laughed
gleefully from the front window of the now broken home and watched as he fell
to his knees in a heap of shame.
***
“You’re not coming home
for Christmas?!”
“I can’t Billie. I
have my reasons."
"Rina,
what's going on? You never keep anything from me. Why the secrecy
all of a sudden?"
That's it baby, Kris cheered on while listening with the other phone in his
fiancée's bedroom, get her to tell you
where she is...and WHO she's with.
"...Billie, you have
to promise me you're not going to tell anybody. Not mom, not dad...and
NOT Kris."
He stifled a laugh. Go ahead honey. Give her your
word...it's not like it's going to make a difference!
"Of course I promise!
You know I won't say a word to anybody."
"All right.
Well, you know I've been staying in that house with Caroline."
"Yeah, the place I
dropped you off at...the scary looking house near Jasper."
Jasper...Jasper,
"Right. Well, I
kind of lied about Caroline having a son...he's actually a...guy who was lost
in the woods last year...He found Caroline's home just like I did when I
wandered off from the camp site."
"Mmhmm...what
exactly are you trying to tell me Rina?"
"Well, he's my
boyfriend Billie."
WHAT?!?
"Boyfriend?!
Are you serious?!?"
Kris listened to her
cheery laughter and felt his blood begin to boil.
"Of course I'm
serious! We got off to a rocky start, but we worked things out...he's so
perfect Billie...I've never felt this way about anyone in my life!"
"Wow, girl, you sound
like you're in loooove!!"
"I think I am
Billie. And I'm so happy!"
By now, Kris had twisted
the telephone cord around his hand so tightly, he felt the circulation cutting
off. DAMN HER! DAMN HER!!
"What's his
name?"
"...His name is
Nick."
"Ooh! He even
has the perfect name! Named after my sweet Nicky...God rest his
soul."
"...Yeah...God rest
his soul...Anyway, I wanted to spend the holidays with him up here. I
hope you understand."
"Well, why don't you
bring him down to
"NO...I mean...he
doesn't want to leave Caroline alone and neither do I..."
"Oh...well maybe some
other time. At least I have Kris to spend Christmas with."
He'd heard enough.
It took all of his strength not to slam the receiver back in its place. Nick huh? He's the asshole who stole
MY KITTY KAT. No...if she thinks for one second that she's gotten rid of
me, she'd better think again. I'll have her in my bed one way...or
another. But I'll be damned if I let her pussy boyfriend fuck her first!
His scowl turned into a smile that would make the devil proud.
He was going to
***
