Eternal (18 page)
Authors: London Saint James
“So, are you going to give
“Maybe,” she replied then something seemed to
catch her eye. “Winter, you need to try on that dress.” She pointed to the dark
emerald green masterpiece by Dior the shop staff was holding.
“Sure,” I acquiesced.
It would do me no good to argue. I would be
leaving with a dress. It was a given.
I went into the oversized dressing room, which
was completely covered by mirrors, to try on the dark green dress. I couldn’t
hide any of my body’s imperfections in this lighted, reflective space. I wanted
to cringe, but I undressed and stepped into the emerald masterpiece. It fit
almost like a corset around the waist, very tight and streamlined. I had to
have help from the sales staff to button up the back. The neck came to a very
low v, lingering below my navel and the back of the dress came to a v shape as
well. There were no sleeves, but the straps were thicker than spaghetti straps,
adorned with dark green beadwork around the inner edges. The bottom of the
dress started above the tight corset like waist and hung long where it rested
in a silky puddle wherever it hit the floor. It was beautiful, probably beyond
me, but I took a breath and stepped out for Melissa’s critique.
She smiled a wide smile. “That’s it for sure.”
Melissa held up her cell phone and snapped a picture of me.
“What are you doing?” I asked, rather shocked.
“I am sending a picture of you to Cayden. I
think he should see this. That way his eyes pop out now and not when we are in
public where the cameras can catch it.”
“But should Cayden have a picture of me on his
cell phone?”
“Relax.... I told him to look, enjoy, and
delete.”
“So you don’t think this dress is a little too
much?”
“No. It is perfect on you. We are going to be at
a
“Yeah, but I am a little self-conscious in this
type of dress. I don’t usually.” I paused. “I should rephrase that.” I amended.
“I never wore anything so revealing until coming here to
wear this type of stuff.”
Melissa smiled. She called out in her
high-pitched voice. “Jayden, can you come in here please?”
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
Melissa continued to smile.
“Melissa, what is wrong?” Jayden said, standing
stiff inside the room with us.
“Jayden, I want you to do something for me. I
want you to take a look at Winter. Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing.
Answer honestly. Tell me, how do you think she looks?”
Jayden stood still for a long moment. His eyes
were covered in his usual dark sunglasses, but I knew he was looking at me. He
shifted his weight and relaxed his shoulders a bit.
“Stunning,” he said.
“And do you think she is too old to wear this
type of dress?” Melissa asked.
“No,” he answered.
“And
being a man, do you find what she is wearing attractive?”
“Yes,” he said.
Melissa
turned and gazed at me with a sense of victory on her face. “See. You have
nothing to worry about, even Jayden agrees with me.” She giggled like bubbles.
Jayden stood stiff armed again then cleared his
throat, “Ahem.... Do you need anything further?”
“No. Thank you,” Melissa replied.
Jayden stepped out to take his usual post by the
door. I went back into the dressing room, blushing as I took off the dress, and
stepped back into my faded jeans. That feeling returned. Lightheaded. I paused,
took a breath, and placed the dress back onto the silk lined hanger when
Melissa came hopping in quite happy. She held out her phone and pointed to the
name displayed on the front screen of her cell.
“I’m totally sure I made his day. I bet he is
calling about the picture,” she squealed. Melissa held up the phone to her ear
then leaned into me so I could hear the call as well. “Hello.”
“Melissa, I cannot tell you how much I
appreciate you. That picture was beyond words. I am a very, very lucky man.”
“So tell me, Cayden, do you think her choice for
the premiere was a good one?”
“Are you kidding? I had to close my mouth to
stop drooling. She is beyond beautiful.”
“Yeah, I thought it might be a good idea to see
her now so you don’t drool over her in public. Everyone will be at the premiere
with cameras in hand you know.”
Cayden laughed wickedly. “Smart,” he said. “But
I still might drool when I see her in person. Tell her I love her.”
“Here, you tell her,” Melissa said, handing me
the phone.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“You really do take my breath away. You are so
beautiful. I cannot believe how fortunate I am to have you, to have finally found
you.” I giggled. I was the fortunate one. “Baby, I love that giggle,” Cayden
said.
“I love you. I miss you,” I returned.
“Me, too, sorry I can’t talk longer but I’ve got
to go.”
“Cayden?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for today but you really don’t need
to spend so much money on me. I do not need things, I only need you.”
Cayden’s voice softened. “I want to give you
things, it makes me happy. You are the beating of my heart.”
Chapter Ten
Bombshells
After dinner, I excused myself. I did feel
strange, tired. I made my way upstairs. My bed a welcome site. I would take a
shower, put on something comfortable, perhaps lie down. When my cell phone
rang, it startled me a bit, lost in thoughts of a hot shower and some rest. I
plucked my phone from the bedside table and glanced at the number on the
display.
“Hi, Mrs. Carlyle,” I answered.
“Winter, dear. How are you?” she asked.
“I’ve been a little under the weather with some
sort of flu, but I’m fine. And you?”
“I’m fine,” she said, and became quiet for a
moment. “Winter, I’m not quite sure how to say this.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Well, there are some things I would like to
talk about. Things that may be difficult to hear about Doctor Carlyle.”
“Is he okay?”
“He is fine, dear.” Another pause.
“Judith?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Are you sure you are okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Listen, whatever you need to talk about, I’m
here,” I offered.
“Cayden,” she said.
“Cayden?”
“Yes.”
“What about him?”
“Winter, you know I have always respected your
wishes regarding the accident that took our
discuss the accident, his death….”
“Judith, what are you trying to say?”
“Winter, Doctor Carlyle and I knew Cayden’s
parents. We knew them, very well. At one time we were what you could call great
friends.”
“
“He did?”
“Yes.”
“So then you know, we all parted ways?”
“Yes, Judith. And I know it was Cayden’s parents
who hit
car.”
“Winter, once we knew about you and Cayden, both
Doctor Carlyle and I wanted to tell you about the accident.”
“It’s okay. I know I never wanted to discuss the
accident, that you were trying to respect my wishes,” I said.
“I never actually met Cayden,” she said. “Well,
not until the other week. Not until our dinner together. He was born after our
friendship with the Cain’s ended.” She became silent again.
“Judith—”
“I’ve always known,” she said quietly. “Deep
down, I’ve known.”
Oh God.
“Known what?”
“Wells is Cayden’s father,” she said. “He had an
affair with Julia, Cayden’s mother.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Judith.” I didn’t know
what to say.
“Wells doesn’t realize I know about the affair,
but I’ve always known. I suppose on some deeper level it was easier not to
know, not acknowledge the fact the man I loved cheated, but I loved him, needed
him, and I didn’t want to face the truth.”
“Judith, I—”
“Wells is a good man, Winter. He made a mistake,
and even in my denial, I forgave him long ago. But after seeing Cayden, meeting
him.” Mrs. Carlyle hesitated. “Winter, there is very little doubt in my mind.
He is so much like
and if Cayden is my husband’s son, he is my son, too. Wells and I need to make
this right. And no matter the past, Cayden should know who he is.”
“What does Doctor Carlyle say?”
“I haven’t told him I know. I needed to speak
with you,” she said.
“Judith, I love you and I love Doctor Carlyle. I
love Cayden, and I know how difficult all of this is, and how difficult it will
be, but if Cayden is
brother, he should know.”
“I will speak with Wells tonight. Tell him I
know about the affair,” she said.
“And Cayden? What about him?”
“Doctor Carlyle and I will tell him the truth.
There’s no reason to hide the truth from him or from his brother,
“You know this will be hard,” I said.
“Yes, but doing the right thing isn’t always
easy,” she replied.
“No, I guess not,” I agreed.
After our conversation, my own guilt about my
knowledge of the subject subsided a bit. The Carlyle’s would do the right
thing, and regardless, even though Cayden had no memories of his childhood, his
parents, or the crash he was also involved in, he should hear the truth. And I
would be there to support him.
“He needs to know,” I said out loud, as I made
my way into the bathroom.
After my bath, I went to lie down on the bed and
read a book I had found in the small library of the estate. It was a paperback
erotica, but it was actually good. I determined I may need to read more from
this author, forcing myself to stay awake and wait for Cayden, but the battle
of my heavy lids won out.
I remember being moved. I fell asleep on the end
of the bed, lying horizontal with a book in my hand, yet when I woke up Cayden
wasn’t in bed with me. I got up and walked over to the balcony then to the
bathroom, no Cayden. I knew he must have come home because my book was on the
side table closed, not to mention I’d been tucked under the sheets.
I glanced at the clock. 1:08 a.m. I opened up
the door to my room and didn’t hear anything but the low
hum
of the
heater as the warm air flowed through the vents. I walked down the hall then
down the stairs. I saw lights on in the media room. I slowed to listen.
Cayden’s voice. He was speaking very low. I could make out
over in the direction of the media room where I stood quietly outside the door.
“Did you see the pics they have of Cheryl
plastered across the front pages of
The
Inquirer
?” Zander asked.
“Cheryl loves the coverage,”
They were discussing the press coverage of the
day, the man and Jayden’s encounter outside the café that took place earlier
and something about the threat to Cheryl Lynn last year. I was shocked when
they discussed
“Do you think
on?” Zander asked.
What’s going
on?
“I doubt it,”
dick which I have no doubt he wants to unleash on Winter.”
Crude but this is
Chandler
. “But I was very clear with him. If he wants to keep his dick, he
won’t call Winter, try to see Winter, or even think about Winter.”
“I want to kick his fucking ass,” Cayden
interjected before their voices quieted a bit.
I did not catch all of that conversation but did
hear Zander give
stressed as he spoke. He told his brother to remember his manners. I almost
laughed. Cayden’s jealousy was kicking in, but I wasn’t going to hang out in
the hall eavesdropping. I thought I would get a glass of milk. My stomach still
felt weird.
I made my way into the kitchen, flipped on the
lights, opened the refrigerator, pulled out a carton of milk, grabbed a glass
from the cabinet, and poured. My stomach turned a bit. At first, I thought it
might be from the smell of the milk so I lifted the glass to my nose just to
make sure the milk had not soured. It smelt fine so I took a drink. As soon as
the milk settled into my stomach, I had to find the sink where I immediately
tossed the entire contents of my stomach into the steel basin.