17. Carter
CHAPTER 17
CARTER
I showed up Megyn’s house, right on time. I had been very pleased to learn she lived on Staten Island, where she belonged, amidst the other many artists and creative souls who fed off the nearness of the ocean and many parks, using the sights to inspire them.
I was less pleased with the location, a high-density neighborhood with tiny houses and a bad reputation to boot. While not exactly on par with Harlem, or Skid Row, her neighborhood had seen more than its fair share of robberies and unfortunate incidents. Gang activity, while managed well enough by the police, was nevertheless present, and I had personally participated in an investigation on an artist who had been using his works as a drug front.
Megyn deserved better.
At least her street seemed to be relatively safe. I saw no graffiti tags, and while a few homes were behind on lawn work, it was within a respectable range. The owners had been too lazy for a couple days, most likely; they hadn’t neglected the care for months, never leaving their drug dens to notice.
As for Megyn’s house, the exterior had little in the way of decoration. The cold weather had already killed off most of her small lawn, which had bare patches of earth on it already, anyway. She had hung no decorations, hadn’t turned on her porch lights or set out candy for trick-or-treaters. I could have convinced myself no one was at home if not for the light in her bedroom, an orange glow much like the moody light of the rising moon.
I leaned my elbow on the steering wheel and put my chin in my hand. I understood her embarrassment. She had a roof over her head, but she knew a lot of people had much nicer rooves, myself included.
Who is her father? And her step-mother. What’s the story behind this place?
I briefly entertained the drugs idea. Megyn was absolutely not an addict or even a user. I knew the signs. Something weighed heavy on her, but it wasn’t a demon of that nature. Unless, as my theory went, her father and step-mother were the users. It would explain the tiny house, the neighborhood, Megyn’s shyness and seeming inability to recognize her own worth.
The light went off in Megyn’s bedroom. I turned my head, watching her progression through the little house by which lights turned on. Her silhouette passed in front of the living room window, and the sight of her took my breath away. She was so slim, so fragile and breakable. I wanted to rush in there and wrap her in my arms and refuse to let go, shelter her from the world that was often so hard on people like her.
The living room light went off. Megyn’s front door opened and she stepped out, illuminated in the headlights. Her Cinderella dress hugged her curves without being too revealing, letting her beauty stand on its own. Her skin gleamed, her hair shining like copper.
I couldn’t sit around any longer.
I got out of the car and went to meet her. She stopped, eyes widening, and then her lips curled into a smile and she went into my arms and hugged me tight. “Carter!”
I hugged her, burying my face in her sweet-scented hair. Her warmth chased away the fall chill and stirred desire for her in my groin. “Megyn, you look amazing!”
“You’re only saying that because it’s dark.” Megyn tried to duck her head.
I caught her face in my hands and kept her from looking down or away. I brought my face very close to hers and whispered to her, “We’re standing right in the headlights. It isn’t dark.”
At that moment, the headlights went out.
Shadows dropped down around us, draping across Megyn’s face like inky cobwebs. “Now it is,” she said. I could just barely make out her lips moving, the slope of the bridge of her sweet nose.
“Still beautiful,” I said. “I can picture you in my mind.”
She clutched my shoulders and gave me a little squeeze. “I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder.”
“Didn’t the Magic Mirror say Cinderella is the fairest of them all?”
“That was Snow White.”
“Wasn’t she like 14?”
Megyn laughed. “I mean, back when people died in their 30s, 14 was probably like in her prime. Kind of like you.”
I smiled at her. “Am I the fairest of them all, then?”
Megyn pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If you aren’t, then I don’t know who is.”
I ran my fingers over her cheek, into her warm hair. Her lips parted and she looked at me with her eyes all deep and liquid in the dark. I knew I was going to kiss her, then. She was too beautiful. I needed to feel her mouth beneath mine, have her soft breasts pressing on my chest. I needed her to be joined with me, in some way, right now.
I brought my face closer to hers.
Megyn closed her eyes, her lips pursing slightly, seeming to seek mine.
A sudden, sharp wind blew, cold and wet in that way that sinks straight into your bones. Scattered droplets of rain spattered against Megyn’s cheek, splashed into my eye. I sputtered and leaned away, shaking my head.
Megyn looked up at the sky. Clouds whipped over the moon, breaking the mellow shine into pieces. “I forgot that it’s supposed to rain.”
As if waiting for her cue, another wind gusted, carrying more freezing rain.
“My dress!” she said, half-laughing.
“Into the car!” I cried.
We ducked into the car and ended up with our faces meeting in the middle, over the center console. I paused with my hand clenched tight around my key, wavering a mere inch from the ignition.
“Hi,” I breathed.
Megyn dipped her face. I reached and tipped her chin back up, sliding deeper into my seat until our noses brushed together.
“Carter?” she whispered.
“Yes, Megyn?”
“Out there. Were we going to kiss?”
I admitted, “I was planning on it.”
“Can we… still?”
“Do you want to?”
I felt the muscles in her neck tense as she swallowed hard. She tipped her head forward. Rather than try to hide this time, she brought her lips to mine.
I stayed motionless, breathing softly, unable to move for the joy of her lips so gentle and sweet on mine.
Megyn sat back, nibbling on her lip. “How was that?”
I leaned to her and touched my lips to hers, pressing in oh so lightly it must have seemed like butterfly wings. “How was that?” I asked, echoing her question, my lips rubbing over hers.
“Good,” she whispered, hardly more than a breath.
“Good,” I said, letting her know what I felt and that I was happy she had liked the kiss in the only way I could think of. My brain wasn’t exactly working as well as it could be I had no room for thoughts when my mind was so full of her.
Megyn didn’t say anything else.
I pulled away from her and stuck my key in the ignition. Megyn put her seatbelt on and I did the same. That seemed to be the end of our romantic interlude, though I hoped I was incorrect in that assumption. I would rather this be an interlude to the interlude, a time of reprieve where we could both think about what had been done and where to go next.
I found us a parking spot a few blocks away from city hall and parked. “This looks like it’ll be as close as we can get.”
Megyn looked pale. She stared at the people streaming down the sidewalks, heading to and from the party. “I had no idea it was going to be so… lively. What is this, an Carter Bryant party?”
I laughed out loud. “You know what they say. Competition is good for progress.”
Megyn stepped out of the car and I joined her, linking my arm with hers to help combat the cold. We found a gap in the flow of partygoers and hopped onto the sidewalk.
Megyn leaned her head close to mine. “I don’t think you need competition.”
“Oh?” My breath frosted in the air.
“Yeah,” Megyn said, puffs of white drifting from between her glossy red lips. “You’d make progress anyway because that’s just the kind of guy you are.”
“While I’m flattered,” I chuckled, “I wonder. Maybe if I could have, I would stayed as a humble gallery owner.”
“No one forced you to advance. You did that on your own. I wish,” Megyn halted and cried out, voice shrill with alarm. “Carter, your mask!”
I touched my own face. I’d completely forgotten about it—and my plan not to wear it anyway.
“Do we need to go back to the car?”
I shook my head. “No. There’s no reason for me to hide my identity this time.”
“Why?”
I held her arms and smiled at her and kissed her nose, which made a few people surrounding us either cheer or pretend to gag. “I’m not looking for a wife this time. I have found you. It doesn’t matter who I am, because I will be spending the whole night with you.”
“Carter…” Sudden tears shimmered in Megyn’s eyes.
I brushed my thumb over one as it fell, catching it and wiping it away. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked, my chest tight with worry.
Megyn shook her head and took my hand. “No. I’m just happy.”
“Well, don’t cry. Or you’ll make me cry too, and no one wants to see that.”
“I’d pretend not to know you.”
I got us walking again, carving our own path through the crowd. “You wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, it depends on how hard you cried.”
We got up to the front door and headed inside. Right away, I felt a surge of pride that this party wouldn’t be nearly as good as mine. The city government hosted this party and they couldn’t even get live music, choosing instead to pump classic Halloween movie soundtracks through speakers a few years old. I hadn’t ever really cared for A Nightmare Before Christmas and I liked it even less all staticky and distorted.
I doubted anyone could actually hear much of the music, though; I certainly couldn’t. The enclosed, tighter spaces of the city hall magnified the voices of the guests, making it so that everyone had to shout to be heard, which in turn lead to louder shouting.
“Where do you want to go?” I yelled to Megyn.
She yelled back, “I do like pumpkin pie. Why do you ask?”
I prepared to repeat myself and she burst out laughing. I grinned and pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Seriously,” I said into her ear. “Want to see what’s on offer? Spooky green punch and Vienna sausage fingers, maybe?”
Megyn bumped her hip lightly on mine. “Actually,” she said. “I wondered if…”
“Yes?” I encouraged.
“We didn’t get to really finish our dance together. Maybe we could try again?”
She finally seemed to be opening up to me, at least a little bit.
“I’d love to. Let’s go see where everyone’s dancing at.”
We found the dance floor in the meeting hall, chairs having been cleared out to make room. Up on the stage was a DJ wearing oversized headphones that couldn’t have been comfortable.
I took Megyn’s hand and pulled her to the center of the floor, finding a spot where we wouldn’t run into anyone. She slid into my arms and I pulled her to me, closer than I had dared to at my own party. Heat flowed through my veins.
“I promise to try not to step on your foot this time,” I said, trying to distract myself from my mounting need for her. I ached to kiss her again, but it didn’t seem proper in such a public place.
“It’d be okay if you did.” Megyn grabbed a handful of her dress and lifted, showing off her blue Converse.
I laughed and swayed against her, and she swayed with me. We turned and turned, and turned again, in a slow and spiraling dance that left me dizzy, though not just from all the spinning. Megyn’s thighs pushed on mine with every step. The constant rubbing stirred arousal inside me. I felt myself starting to get an erection and backed my hips off, but Megyn moved back closer to me, seeming not to notice my hard bulge prodding her.
Maybe not minding.
I pressed my forehead to hers and closed my eyes, and circled with her, letting sensations of her become my entire world.
The song ended. Somewhere, in another part of me, I sensed the crowd thinning as dancers left, taking a break. I didn’t care. I didn’t need music. Megyn was making my heart sing.
“Carter! You’re here!”
My eyes snapped open. I spun, my erection wilting, watching in utter disbelief while Suzie sauntered out of the crowd and right up to us. She had greatly improved upon her cat costume from before, donning a velvet romper with plush trim that framed a significant amount of cleavage. Someone had done a better job on her cat makeup, and though the ear headband was the same, she had added a tail which no doubt dangled right between her butt cheeks.
I had no interest in finding out if that was the case. “Hi, Susan.”
“It’s Suzie,” she corrected with a smile. She took her tail into her hand and playfully swatted me on my thigh, right next to my crotch.
“Right,” I said. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to remember.”
Suzie glanced at Megyn. Megyn shrank back, letting go of my hand. I tried to grab her to keep her with me. She backed out of my grip again, giving her head a little shake. “I’m going to go get a drink.”
“Can you bring me one?” I asked.
Megyn nodded and scurried off, slipping easily through the crowd. She looked less like a princess than a scared little mouse ducking for cover. While I didn’t like seeing her go, I hoped that she might take her time and come back feeling better.
And if she takes her time, I might be able to get rid of this nuisance.
Suzie pointed her finger at me. Her nails were tipped with glued-on cat claws, glinting in the chandelier light over the dance floor. “You’re here with her again.”
“Yes,” I said.
“Why?”
“Why not?” I challenged. “Since we were interrupted last time.”
“And interrupted again this time,” Suzie purred. She tracked in a slow circle around me, forcing me to turn with her in a mockery of a dance. The music started up again. I felt, for a moment, a sort of displacement, like I had wandered into a movie where a soundtrack always accompanied important scenes.
“It’s almost like I’m doing it on purpose,” Suzie said.
“Why?”
Suzie shrugged. “Sure, Megyn looks nice. When she actually tries and gets all prettied up, she looks like a catch. She’s even fooled you. But she isn’t a princess. She’s just a pauper. You might like her, but she’s not a match for you.”
I could feel myself getting angrier. I wanted to grab that ridiculous tail of hers and rip it off the back of her skimpy costume. The way she toyed with it as she walked around me, so suggestively, really got under my skin.
“How can you say that about someone you work with?” I scoffed. “It’s a wonder she even can work with someone like you around. You think I haven’t seen your behavior?”
Suzie beamed and I winced inwardly. I had just informed her that her antics were working. No doubt she’d try even harder now to keep my attention. “You have me all wrong. Megyn and I don’t have to be friends or get along. She’s an okay person, though not my favorite kind to be around. Really weak. You don’t want someone like that to be your wife.”
“It’s none of your business what I want.”
Her eyes flashed. “Really? I have money. I have the family. I know how the business world works. I could be your partner. If you fall for Megyn, you’ll realize she’s just a burden to you.”
My chest tightened, rage swelling inside me. “Listen here—”
From behind me came a quiet little voice. “Carter?”
I whirled. Megyn stood behind me, clutching two solo cups filled with green punch. She looked stricken, moisture brimming in her big eyes. Her dark red lips trembled.
I didn’t need to think about what was more important for me to do in this moment. I ignored Suzie and went to Megyn, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and whisking her off the dance floor, out into the quieter hallway. I lifted the cups of punch from her hands and set them aside, and wrapped her up against my chest and held her tight.
Megyn trembled against me, her tears warm on my neck. “Suzie’s right. I don’t know how to live the life you do. I couldn’t ever offer you anything.”
My throat was tight. I held the back of her head in my hand and stroked her hair. “Suzie is jealous of you. Even before we met, she’s been jealous of you. I can tell. It’s been festering inside her.”
“No.” Megyn shook her head.
“Yes. You have passion. She doesn’t understand that and it makes her strike out at you. She’s maybe not a bad person, but she really is a bit too crazy for my tastes. Not that I’m even looking, since I have you.”
Megyn kept shaking her head, refusing to agree. But, she didn’t pull away. She clutched at my prince costume and pressed to me. She wanted so much to believe. I could feel her heart trying to open up to mine, she just needed a little bit of help.
I let my head rest on top of Megyn’s and closed my eyes, letting the two of us be the only people in the world. “Megyn, sweet Megyn, I don’t want anything from you. It’s I who wants to offer you something. I want to share. I want to show you what I have, and I want to make happy memories. You’re beautiful. You’re special. I’ve seen it for myself. You’re being silly if you think I’d rather be with someone like Suzie.”
Megyn sniffled and tucked her face more to me. “Why are you so nice?”
“It’s a character flaw,” I said sadly.
Megyn gave a tearful laugh against my neck.
I held her face and brought my lips to her, kissing her, tasting the salt of her tears. “You really don’t know yourself. You’re so much better than you think. We’ve only just arrived and already I’ve caught so many wandering eyes being drawing to you.”
“No way.”
“Way. I’m lucky to be the one with you tonight. I don’t want anyone to steal you away from me.” I took her hand and squeezed it. “Why don’t we drink our punch and then try dancing again? I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.”
Megyn nodded and passed one of the drinks to me. “You stepped on my foot towards the end there.”
I choked, almost inhaled the sugary fruit punch. “I did?”
“You did.” Megyn lifted her cup and drank, her eyes smiling at me over the rim. “You really need more practice.”
I laughed. “I’d love to.”
We took our time, walking through the party to look at all the cheap surplus Halloween decorations scattered here and there. When we both finished our drinks, we made our way back to the dance floor and tangled our arms around each other.
We danced.
No one interrupted, not even Suzie, though I caught her watching through the crowd.
As the song came to an end, I held Megyn’s waist and pulled her in for a kiss. She pressed her lips to mine, her breath hot and shuddery. When she pulled away, I caught sight of my lipstick-smeared reflection in the black mirrors of her irises.
I kept it there, because it made her laugh whenever she looked at me, and because it was a sign that in some way, however small, I had been marked and belonged to her.