Eternal (17 page)

Melissa laughed as though I was mental.

“Winter...it is Cayden’s movie premiere.
Memories of a Dream
, it’s out this
weekend. We will be going back to
California
for the red carpet premiere.”

“Melissa, there is no way I can go. Did you see
the lovely little piece of journalism this morning? If I would go, it would
only make things much more interesting to the press. I can only imagine what
they would be saying next. I don’t….” I was ranting.

 
“Winter.”
Melissa stopped me. “Relax. You are all stiff and rambling. It will be fine.
Chandler
will be there
which is to be expected, therefore you, too. Anyway, do you really believe
Cayden would let you stay here? If you don’t go, Cayden would miss his own
premiere and trust me that would make an even bigger scene with the press.”

She was right. If I refused to go, Cayden would
stay here with me.

“I know,” I whispered. “He would stay here if I
don’t go.”

“So what are you doing tomorrow?” Melissa asked.

I laughed. “Hum…well let me think…hiding out
here?”

Melissa shook her head in disagreement. “Nope,
you are going with me into the city. We are going to have a spa day.” Melissa
took in my current tired and shabby condition with an expert eye. “You need a
relaxing day of pampering.”

I pulled my hair back into a tangled knot on the
back of my neck.

“We are going into the city?”

“Yep, it has all been arranged. You and I will
be enjoying a massage along with various other tempting little treats for our
body.”

“When you say it has all been arranged let me
guess….”

 
“Cayden’s
orders and you know I always follow my boss’s orders.” Melissa giggled her
girlish tinkle of a laugh that was like the popping of bubbles.

“You have a great laugh,” I told her. It was
infectious.

She smiled then turned. She obviously heard
someone behind her. I watched Melissa blush as
Chandler
sauntered into the kitchen, still in
disarray, shirt unbuttoned, exploiting his muscles.

“Lissa, Lissa, Me…Lissa.”
Chandler
greeted with a wide smile.

“Hi,” she said rather sheepish. Melissa was
trying hard not to stare at
Chandler
,
but I caught her ogling his ass when he turned for the coffee pot.

****

On Thursday morning, Richard drove Jayden,
Melissa, and I into the city. We made our way to a spa in
SoHo
where Jayden did a security sweep of the facility before he took a seat outside
each room Melissa and I went in to. As usual, we were not very inconspicuous.
We stuck out like a third thumb by having a large and scary man wearing a dark
black military looking coat over his dark brown sweater, dark black sunglasses,
sporting a buzz cut, and looking more like a pit bull than a person, follow us.
But Jayden was necessary, and in all honesty, it did not take me long to admit
his necessity to myself after my last outing without him. I promised to be
good, so I would be good. I made a promise to myself never to upset Cayden in
such a way again.

Melissa and I started with a detox treatment,
followed by an organic lavender body scrub, aromatherapy, a deep tissue
massage, a hydration treatment, an oxygen facial, and ended with a manicure and
pedicure. Our fingernails and our toenails sported elegant white french tips.
Losing the usual tense feeling, I felt very much pampered perhaps even a bit
squishy. I was completely relaxed for the moment. This sense of relaxation
reminded me of what I feel like after making love with Cayden, only if I had to
choose I would choose making love with him over the pampering I endured.

“Come on, girlfriend,” Melissa said then took my
hand and headed for the door of the spa, Jayden of course leading the way.

“Where are we going now?” I asked.

“Hair and makeup, then a little light shopping,”
she returned.

“Melissa, I don’t need to go shopping. I have
enough clothes to last me a life time,” I said, rather exasperated.

She giggled. “No pouting, Cayden’s orders.”
Melissa looked at me for a moment with a slight scowl.

“What’s wrong?”

“You know, I have never seen a woman so opposed
to letting a man spend money on her or so unhappy about shopping or allowing
someone to pamper her. You should really take better care of yourself, Winter;
you seem tired,” she said as she patted my hand, but she perked up again as we
scooted into the backseat of the car.

“I don’t need pampering. I just need Cayden.”

“If Cayden wants to spoil you, let him,” she
said.

I smiled. There was no use to argue. If Cayden
wanted to spoil me, no one, not even I could stop him.

Richard drove us to a high-end exclusive salon.
They were expecting us.
 
Jayden became
ridged when people recognized me. With speed, he maneuvered himself to the
front of me. I assured Jayden everything was fine and spoke to three ladies who
wanted to discuss my books, not
Chandler
or Cayden. It was nice to speak with them but even nicer to be able to speak to
someone without being asked about the Cains.

By the time our day at the salon was done, I
looked different. My hair had some shimmer of blonde highlights, and it was
pretty. My make-up had been applied by a professional, so my eyes were done in
a smoky way that highlighted the green in them. The entire lot of make-up along
with the hair supplies came with us, and Melissa reminded me once again not to
pout.

Our next stop, a late lunch. We picked an out of
the way café, sat in the back of the room where we ate our salads in relative
peace and quiet away from any crowds or cameras. Melissa was telling me about
the last premiere when her cell phone
binged
. She received a text
message. She picked it up then huffed. She was obviously unhappy about
something.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

Melissa looked irritated.

“No, Shawn’s being a pain in the ass. He loves
to bother me. This week he’s been sending blonde jokes.”

“Shawn, the cameraman?”

“Yeah.” She took a drink of her raspberry tea.

“Maybe he likes you, Melissa.”

She shrugged.

Jayden was again much more conspicuous than
Melissa or I. Something caught his attention. I watched as he stood. He decided
to discourage some looky-loos. Once on his feet, they scattered like leaves in
the wind. Jayden could be very intimidating.

On our way out of the café a large man tried to
approach, he called my name. It was hard to see his face covered by the shadow
of a green hooded sweatshirt, not to mention Jayden who stopped him firmly
before he reached me.

“Winter,” he said in a low voice, “I need to
speak with her. It’s urgent,” the man said to Jayden.

“Ms. Wells, get into the car,” Jayden ordered,
never breaking his stance from the man.

Melissa took hold of my arm. Without hesitation,
we scooted in the back door of the automobile. When Melissa and I were in,
Richard hit the automatic locks. The
click
resonated as four locks moved
in unison into the downward position on the doors. I saw Jayden talking to the
man outside the car. Jayden’s back was placed between the man and the car door.
The man threw up his hands, obviously arguing but he made a smart decision, he
left.

“Jayden, what was that all about?” I asked once
he entered the car.

“A fan who wanted to get too close, nothing to
worry about,” Jayden assured.

Finally, we made our last stop for the day.
However, I noticed Jayden was much more on edge, more predatory as we exited
the vehicle and made our way into the shop. We were the only three people in
the store besides the sales staff, but trust me, Jayden was going to ensure it
stayed that way. The store was locked down with the closed sign up once we
entered. It would seem I was in for a special viewing of some fashionable
gowns, something to wear to the premiere.

I looked at Melissa as we took a seat in the
oversized upholstered bright white chairs with our chi tea in hand. We watched
as gown after gown was brought out for our inspection. They were all stunning
from designers such as Versace, Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Vera Wang, Ralph
Lauren, Burberry…. Melissa picked out her dress right away, matching the black
color to the color of Zander’s tux. It was a gorgeous gown by Azzedine Alaia.

“Just once I would like to have a date other
than Zander,” she mused.

“Why don’t you?” I asked.

“I seem to always be working. Anyway….” She
sighed. “Cayden,
Chandler
,
and Zander are who I see the most. I guess I don’t have time to find anyone.”

“Melissa, you should make the time. You’re
young. Don’t give all of your life away to your job, to everyone else, and not
give anything to yourself. What about Shawn? Maybe you could make time for
him?”

“Shawn’s a nice guy, cute and all but.” She
shrugged. “If I tell you something, will it be our secret?” she asked.

“Of course.”

Melissa’s cheeks turned pink. “I kind of have a
thing for
Chandler
,
but he would never notice.”

“You are very pretty, extremely nice, caring,
smart. Why would he not notice? I cannot imagine he has not noticed you.”

“Sometimes I think maybe he has but then I
decide no. He is always so….” Melissa was searching for the right description.

“Irritating,” I interjected. “Oh sorry.”

“No, you’re right. He is irritating, but I like
that in him. He’s so casual, calm, and cool. He has this way about him,
assured, smooth, alpha male sexy, you know?”

“Yeah,” I said.

Melissa’s face became serious. “
Chandler
is kind of a bad boy. He has dated a
lot if you know what I mean. I have watched him with the ladies he dates and actually,
I have been more than jealous, imagining his mouth and strong hands on their
bodies wishing instead of them it was me.” Melissa blushed, abruptly changing
the direction of our conversation. “There’s something about him.” She smiled
sheepish.

Even though
Chandler
bugged the heck out of me, I could
see his appeal.

“If you really like
Chandler
then let him know.”

Melissa gave a halfhearted shrug, set her tea
down then gazed at her twisting hands. “Do you think maybe
Chandler
doesn’t really notice because I have
worked with him and his brother for so long, he sees me as part of the family?
Sometimes I get the feeling he thinks of me as a younger sister rather than a
woman.”

“I don’t know Melissa, maybe? Show
Chandler
what he is
missing out on, let him see the woman. He is a little preoccupied, do something
to make him take notice.”

“Like what?”

“Well,
Chandler
is a straightforward guy so be straightforward in your approach.”

Melissa giggled and twisted a piece of her hair
behind her ear.

“I can’t very well walk up to him and say, ‘
Chandler
, I have a condom
with your name written on it,’ now can I?”

I chuckled then set my tea down before I
returned my gaze to Melissa.

“You could and actually
Chandler
would probably like that. I bet he
would notice you then.”

“Yeah,” she said, giggling.

“How about, do you have a mirror in your
pocket?”

Melissa played along, “No, why?” she asked.

“Cause I can see myself in your pants.”

We both laughed out loud.

“And how about this one,” she said. “Damn…your
ass is fine! Want to come see mine?”

After a few minutes of spouting off lewd, rude,
and crude pickup lines Melissa looked gloomy.

“Melissa, what’s wrong?”

“Maybe
Chandler
thinks I’m too young for him. He is ten years older than me.”

I snorted.

“What?” she asked.

“Melissa, age doesn’t matter. Trust me. If there
should be any issues about age differences when it comes to who we love, well
you know I have you beat on that one. Look at me and Cayden. Do you realize I
was fourteen when he was born? And turned fifteen soon after.”

I sighed because even though I was saying age
did not matter, it did matter to me. If I were honest, Cayden’s youth and my
lack of it did bother me sometimes. Cayden would still be young when I was old.
There was no way around it.

“You are right.” Melissa agreed, her face
determined. “Age isn’t important. You and Cayden are really great together.”
She smiled her bright smile.