CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ALEXANDRA JONES
ISWIFTLY STACK THE BOOKS INTO THEIR RIGHTFUL shelves, completing the task in just twenty minutes. Clark was on his way to pick me up, and I was excited to finally go shopping with him, armed with Ares’ card. The thought of using his card brought a smile to my face. All of a sudden, I felt two hands covering my eyes, and the familiar scent that envelopes me told me it is Ares. “Guess who?” He whispers playfully.
“James?” I tease, but as he dropped his hands, I turned around and saw it was indeed him.
“Do I need to kill James?” He jokes or I think he was, I playfully push him away while continuing to tidy up the books.
“Ares, what do you want?” I ask, curious about his sudden appearance. He slowly raised the butterfly necklace, and my eyes widened in astonishment. “You got it?” I gasp in delight.
He nodded, and without a moment’s hesitation, I grab his face and kiss him passionately. He seems a bit taken aback but held onto me tightly, deepening our embrace. His presence made me feel safe and loved, and I couldn’t resist the connection we had.
“If I knew you’d kiss me like that, I would have gotten it earlier,” he chuckles, teasing me.
He turns me around gently, and with utmost care, he placed the necklace around my neck. It is a beautiful moment, but suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through my head, and I stumbled back, finding support in Ares’ arms.
“Hey...hey, are you okay?” He whispers; concern etched on his face.
I groaned softly, clutching my head as the pain persisted. “Ow...it hurts,” I begin slowly crouching down as the discomfort overwhelmed me.
“Angel, what’s wrong? Tell me,” Ares urges, his voice filled with worry and tenderness. As the pain continued to ripple through me, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was somehow connected to the necklace.
“Mine.”
“All yours.”
“Alexandra, hey, you’re okay.” I felt a soothing voice pulling me back from unconsciousness, and I slowly open my eyes, letting the light filter through my lids as I blink. I found myself resting against Ares’ chest, his rough hands gently grazing my cheeks. He pushes my hair away from my face with a look of concern in his dark green eyes.
“What happened?” I whisper, trying to make sense of the situation. Maxine suddenly appeared, crouching down in front of me, and she handed Ares a bottle of water. He unscrewed the lid and gently urged me to take a few sips.
“You just fainted, thank God Ares was here to catch you,” Maxine explained, her voice filled with worry.
I look around and saw Clark rushing down the aisle towards us. “I’m fine, guys, I just haven’t eaten,” I reassure them, trying to brush off the incident.
Ares helps me up on my feet slowly, and I held onto his bicep for support as he steadied me. He looks at me with concern etched on his face. “Why haven’t you eaten?” He asks, lifting my chin so our eyes met.
“I’m going out with Clark now; we’ll get something to eat.”
Ares didn’t look entirely convinced, but he nodded, understanding my decision.
“I’ll go with you,” Ares offers, his protectiveness shining through.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“You watch out for her, or I’ll kill you. Understood?” Ares warns Clark, his protective instincts fully on display. Clark raised his hands in surrender, nodding his head in agreement.
“Ares-”
“Yes, sir,” Clark replies, understanding the seriousness in Ares’ tone. I roll my eyes and push Ares back.
“Don’t threaten Clark, he’s innocent.”
“You have my card, right? Buy yourself something to eat, if contactless doesn’t work, my pin is 0920.”
Clark chuckles and pretends to write down the pin on his phone. “Writing that down...” He jokes, but Ares shot him a stern look. “Just kidding, man. I’d never do that.”
I lean in and kiss Ares gently. “I’ll see you tonight okay.” He kisses me once more; I bring his ear towards my mouth before whispering. “I’ll be wearing red…”
His eyes lock with mine, and they slowly darken.
After Ares walks away, Clark and I left the library together. I couldn’t help but grin mischievously as I waved the American Express card in front of him. His eyes widened in surprise, “you’re buying me dinner.”
“You bet I am.”
We hopped into his car and headed towards the mall. As we drove, a sense of camaraderie and joy filled the air. A part of me felt relieved that I had someone like Clark as my friend, always there to support me through thick and thin. It felt nice. All of this felt nice. But then, I remember Catherine, and sudden guilt shoots into my veins. I haven’t been spending time together with her, I’ve left her.
Maybe that’s why she’s drinking?
Maybe she just misses me, misses her friend.
Am I being selfish right now? It feels like I am. I’ll check up on her when I get home.
When we reach the mall, we stepped out of the car and made our way into the lingerie store. Clark playfully threw his arm around my shoulder as we strolled inside. I grab a basket, ready to browse through the various options.
“Okay, you go that way, and I’ll go this way,” I suggest, pointing in opposite directions.
“Yes, ma’am,” Clark replies with a mock salute, making me chuckle.
As I perused the bras, one caught my eye – a dark red lace bra with no padding. It came with a matching red thong, and I couldn’t resist adding it to my basket.
He did say his favourite colour was red.
As I continued shopping for lingerie, Clark re-joined me with an impressive collection of different types. He held up a green set, explaining that it would complement my skin tone beautifully. Then he showed me a lovely purple one that he thought would look great on me as well.
But it was the blue set with the suspenders that caught my attention. It was undeniably sexy, and I couldn’t resist adding it to my growing pile of choices.
“You’re really good at this,” I compliment him, impressed by his lingerie-picking skills. He nods with a grin, confident in his choices, and promptly shoved the blue set into my basket.
As we made our way to the checkout counter, we passed by the toy area, and Clark’s mischievous side came to light once again. He held up a pair of handcuffs, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.
“Who uses that?” I ask.
He chuckles, teasingly responding, “I think your man would like it, since he gives off rough sex vibes.”
“Really?” He chuckles.
“You can tell Ares likes using gags and ropes, the man radiates that energy.”
I gasp, feeling my face heat up with embarrassment. “Clark, you can’t just say things like that!” I look around to make sure no one overheard our conversation. Clark is definitely the type of person who doesn’t fear the public.
He laughs mischievously, enjoying my reaction. “Come on, Alexandra, I’m just teasing you. You know Ares has a bit of a wild side, and I bet he likes to explore different things in the bedroom.”
I shove it into my basket before heading to the cashier, “found everything you need?” She asks me, I nod my head as she begins to scan the items. My eyes widen as I watch the total go up.
Shit.
“That’s going to be four hundred, and thirty-six dollars…twenty-one cents.” I turn my head slowly and Clark moulds his lips, “everything alright?”
I couldn’t believe how expensive the lingerie and other items had turned out to be. As I stood there, feeling a bit overwhelmed, Clark noticed my expression and asked if everything was alright.
“Sorry, one second, I’m just going to make a quick phone call.”
I quickly dial Ares’ number, hoping he would pick up.
On the first ring, he answered with his usual deep voice. “Butterfly.”
“Ares... the total is really expensive,” I said, trying not to sound too flustered or scared.
“Enlighten me, butterfly.” He chuckles.
“Over four hundred dollars, I guess you don’t feel so enlightened-”
“I thought you said it was expensive?” He sounds like he finds this conversation amusing or something. This was not an amusing conversation. This was a conversation about lingerie being round four hundred dollars!
“But Ares-”
“See you tonight, butterfly.” He ends the phone call.
I turned back to Clark, trying to regain my composure as I tap the card against the reader to complete the transaction. The receipt printed out, and the cashier smiled, thanking me for shopping with them.
What colour should I wear?
He said he likes red.
So, I’m going to wear red.
I slide of my shirt, chucking it to the side before swapping my sports bra for the red lingerie. I smooth my hands over my half naked form whilst looking in the mirror. But from the corner of my eye, I notice my curtain shifting to the side and Catherine walking inside. She looked rough, and drunk.
“Catherine?” She held a bottle of vodka in one hand, as she stumbles on her feet.
She glances down at the bags and releases a chuckle.
“Went shopping, did you?” She speaks. She dips her hand inside and slides out the blue lingerie, and then she looks at me after setting the bottle of vodka on my bed, “Catherine, you’re drunk.”
She raises the bra high and looks at me, “who’s this for? Ares? You really think this would look good on you?” She laughs at me like I was a joke, I shake my head at her. “Are you sure you mirror isn’t dirty?”
“Catherine, stop.” I whisper, grabbing my shirt as I slide it over my body.
“What? Why? For telling you the truth? Who did you go shopping with? They lied to you.” She sits on the bed, unscrewing the lid of the vodka. “You look fat in that lingerie. I can see you spilling out of it.” I grab the bra from her grasp and shove it into the bag, tears begin to fill my eyes as she laughs.
“I said get out Catherine.”
“Woah, why are you being so mean to me? All I’m telling you is the truth; you think Ares finds you attractive? He never goes for women like you, he goes for more mature women-skinny, tall, and pretty.”
I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. Catherine’s hurtful words were like knives digging into my self-esteem, and I felt a surge of anger and pain at her cruel remarks.
“Catherine, that’s enough!” I said, my voice shaking with emotion. “You have no right to come into my home and say such hurtful things.”
She scoffed, taking another swig from the vodka bottle. “Oh, come on, Alex. You know it’s true. Ares would never be interested in someone like you, he just wants your virginity.”
Catherine was my friend, but right now, she was acting like a bitter enemy. I couldn’t understand why she would say such hurtful things to me. “You don’t know anything about Ares and me,” I said, my voice steadier now. “And it’s none of your business. But what I do know is that you need to leave. Right now.”
“Please, spare me the sob story,” she slurred. “I know what I see. And trust me, he’s just using you.”
Her words stung, but I refused to let her see how much they were affecting me. “Get out,” I said firmly, my voice steady now. “Keep the lies to yourself.”
“You want to speak about lies now Alexandra?” She grabs my face in her hands, “then ask Ares.” I push her off me, and she stumbles back.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s been lying to you this whole time…him and your parents. They’ve been keeping a big secret from you.”
“What are you talking about, Catherine?” I ask, my voice quivering slightly. Catherine took a step closer to me, her eyes burning with intensity.
“He’s been keeping something from you - something big. Something that would shatter the illusion of the perfect life you thought you had with him.”
My mind was racing, trying to make sense of what she was saying. Could Ares really be hiding something from me? It seemed impossible, but Catherine’s words were like a poison, seeping into my thoughts and causing doubt to take root. Catherine’s hurtful words had pushed me to my breaking point, and as she made her way towards the balcony doors, something snapped inside me.
I couldn’t bear to hear any more of her venomous lies.
“Get out now!” I yell, my voice trembling with anger and hurt. I move towards her, trying to push her out of my room, but she retaliated, shoving me back with force. I stumbled and crashed onto my desk, hitting my head in the process.
The paint pots, brushes and snow globes drop down onto the floor.
Paint dripped down onto me like a twisted mockery of rain, staining my clothes and skin with vivid streaks of colour. I clutched the back of my head, a sharp hiss escaping my lips as I felt warm blood oozing from the wound.
I wanted her out of my sight, out of my life.
“GET OUT! NOW!” I scream at her, my voice hoarse and filled with raw emotion. Catherine shook her head, her eyes widening with surprise, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t bear to look at her any longer.