Forbidden Love (Forbidden Trilogy) (3 page)

“Nonsense. There’s no dress code for what I have planned. You’ll see.” She grabs me by the hand so that I will follow her. When the hotel’s spa comes into view, I snatch my hand away. There’s no way I can afford this and she is smoking crack if she thinks I’m letting her pay. I turn to leave, but she grabs me once again. “See this is why I wanted our spa day to be a surprise. I knew you’d react this way,” she whines.

“Sorry, surprise or not, you’ve wasted your time.” I feel a fight coming on and I hate fighting with her. She knows my stance on her spending money on me. I nearly choked on her utterance of spa day. Not a spa treatment as in singular, but a spa day as in getting a bunch of shit done and spending a lot of money.

“Just hear me out,” she pleas. My dad just became a silent partner with this hotel chain. One of the perks is that his family and specified guest gets to enjoy the amenities at no cost. He told me to share this with some of my friends once I got back to Los Angeles. I only wanted to share it with my best friend. I want this to be our thing. Whenever we want.” She looks genuinely sad. I love her to pieces. I can’t deny her after she puts it that way. I hug her to convey my acceptance of such a wonderful gift. She squeals in delight and we are escorted to the locker room where we undress and put on robes.

We are given fruit-infused water while we wait for our personal masseuses to come get us for our massages. We spend the day indulging in caviar facials and massages, as well as manicures, pedicures, and hair treatments. We had a break in between for a healthy lunch, but now I am starving. Healthy stuff never sticks to you. I need something fattening ASAP. We make dinner plans to eat at the hotel’s steakhouse. I’m too hungry to care about the other appropriately dressed patrons. I would die of starvation if I had to wait until we got home and then for Jordan to cook something.
Who knew all day pampering worked up an appetite.
The masseuse did say something about releasing toxins and yada… yada…yada. My body must’ve expended its entire energy source releasing said toxins.

Jordan and I enjoy a nice steak dinner and several glasses of wine. Well, I do anyway. All is right in the world again. My stomach has reached capacity and I have a nice buzz. Jordan only had one glass, stating she needs to be able to drive. She tells me to enjoy and I oblige.

“I’m glad we had this time to catch up, Shiv. I know our time together was cut short over this Christmas break since I ended up vacationing with my parents.” She grabs my hand across the table and squeezes.

“No. I totally understood. I can admit, this was actually fun. Thank you.”

“This will be our thing when we feel the need for a little pampering. Now let me order a bottle of wine like the one you’ve been guzzling and we can go,” she smiles. I can’t help but laugh. She orders a bottle of wine to enjoy once we get home and we leave. Once we get home, I take my clothes off and leave them in a pile next to my bed. As soon as my head hits my pillow, I am off to dreamland.

I get up around 11:00 a.m., enjoying the fact I was able to sleep in. Jordan has already left to go meet the girls at Bailey’s place. I decide today is going to be a lazy day. Tomorrow we start classes so this is my last chance to enjoy having nothing to do. I contemplate calling Liam to hangout, but decide against it. This may be his last free day too. He should spend it how he chooses, not cooped up with someone he has absolutely no chance with. I make my way to the kitchen and start the Keurig to brew me a cup of coffee. On the counter, I find an omelet that Jordan has left for me in a Tupperware container. I smile at her thoughtfulness as I heat it in the microwave. This is so much better than the grill cheese sandwich I was prepared to make.

I take my brunch and sit in front of the television. Nothing good is on so I watch a recording of
American Idol.
I should totally audition for this show. I love music. That counts right? Okay, maybe not. After three hours in the same spot vegetating, I decide to make some soap. I have a new recipe I want to try with some New Zealand honey. I think I’ll call it Manuka Honey and Oats. I head to the kitchen to gather my supplies. After my preparation, I set about mixing everything. I add honey, vanilla essential oil, oatmeal for exfoliation, and coconut milk to my formula. The final result smells heavenly.

Jordan may just have a new favorite. I pour the mixture into a wooden mold and wrap it with a quilt before putting it in a dark place to saponify, also known as the back of my closet. Jordan picks this time to check on me. My phone plays her Lana Del Rey ringtone
This is What Makes Us Girls.

“Hey Jor,” I yawn.

“Oh my God. Tell me you are not just getting up?”

“Shut up. I’ve been up since eleven smart ass.”

“Yeah, because that’s early. I knew you were going to sleep in. What have you done all day?”

“I have, you know I made soap today. Just finished actually,” I defend.

“Yay! What kind did you make? Do I get a loaf?”

I knew that would get her attention. “Calm down crazy person. You don’t get a loaf this time because I only made one. You still haven’t used all of your other loaf I gave you.”

“Whatever. I can still want more. So don’t keep me in suspense. What kind did you make?” I can tell she is becoming impatient.

“This scent is new. It’s called Manuka Honey and Oats.” I continue to tell her the ingredients of the soap.

“Ooh. I can’t wait to try it.” Soap is supposed to cure for at least four to six weeks, but we always steal a bar after the saponification process is done, which is usually the next day. “Okay, you side tracked me with the mention of the soap. I called to tell you I wouldn’t be home for dinner. The girls and I are going to hang out a little longer. I won’t be out too late since we start class in the morning.”

“No worries Jor. I can cook dinner for myself.” And it’s true. I can manage things that come in a box. I hear snickering on the other end of the line.

“Just don’t burn the place down,” she teases.

“Hush. I can cook when I want to. Too bad you’re going to miss out on this gourmet meal I’m planning.” That does it. She is laughing hysterically now. I hang up on her. I can cook. I put a pot of water on the stove to boil and pour myself some white wine. I’ve gone from hardly drinking to being a lush in one semester. I open a pouch of albacore tuna and set it aside. I look through the pantry and score a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. I also see a can of Rotel tomatoes. Who says I can’t cook? After the macaroni and cheese cooks, I add in the tuna, tomatoes, and top it off with Cajun seasoning. It is so good. I think I’ll return Jordan’s earlier sentiment. I put some aside for her in a Tupperware container.

I polish off two more glasses of wine while I lay my clothes out for the morning. It’s close to midnight now and we both have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Our first class starts at eight. We planned our long day of classes to be the same so we could carpool. She doesn’t need much sleep like I do, so she’ll be fine. I set my alarm on my phone and snuggle under my covers. I’m proud that I was able to keep my thoughts of Grayson to a minimum today.

“Shiv, get up,” Jordan sings as she bounces on my bed. How in the hell does she always manage to get up so early?

“What time is it?” I groan at the fuzziness in my head. Maybe I went a little overboard with the wine. “And what time did you get in this morning?”

“It’s a little after seven and I got in at one. Now get up or you’re going to make us both late.” She takes the covers completely off my bed and put them on the ottoman in the corner. “Be ready to go in twenty minutes lazy bones.”

I get ready and meet her in the kitchen with two minutes to spare. The aroma of coffee wafts in the air. “I made the dark espresso roast. You look like you could use a boost.”

“Thanks. We all can’t be morning people.” I roll my eyes at her perceptiveness. I get the biggest travel mug I can find and add a second cup of coffee to it.

The ride to school brings on my anxiety about running into Grayson. I don’t have my marketing class until tomorrow, but I am nervous about seeing him around campus. I try to think logically about how big the campus is and the odds are in my favor. Jordan I make plans to meet for breakfast after our first class and then I’m left alone with my fear as I head off to class.

Three classes later, Jordan and I meet up by the library as planned before heading home. She mentions the girls are meeting at our place to start margarita Mondays again.

“Didn’t you guys just see each other yesterday?” I grouse. I plan on getting in the bed much earlier tonight and I don’t want to even see any alcohol.

“Yes, but we want to continue our tradition. This is our last semester before everyone goes in different directions,” she pleas. “And absolutely no Vanessa.”

“You can’t be sure. You know Bailey likes to invite her along to these things,” I huff.

“No, I can promise,” Jordan insists. “I saw her at Bailey’s get-together yesterday and I told her that I would beat her skinny ass if she set foot here again.”

I can’t help but smile. Jordan is the nicest person you ever meet until you get on her bad side, then you better watch out. “No you didn’t,” I chortle. “What did she say?”

“She didn’t say anything. She’s no fool. She turned her bony ass around and left the room. She was only there because she knew Grayson was there.”

The smile disappears from my face in a nanosecond. “What? Grayson was there? You weren’t—,” She cuts my inquisition off.

“Sorry, that was a slip. We’re not talking about him remember? You’re supposed to be moving on. Besides there’s nothing to tell. He just stopped by to pick something up from Bailey. He had one drink and then he left.”

“Did he ask about me?” I can’t help but wonder if I am constantly on his mind too.

“Damn Shiv. No he didn’t. It was better that he didn’t. I don’t know if I could have contained the can of whip ass that was dying to come out the minute he walked through the door.” She’s getting worked up just on the recollection alone. I know this conversation is done. “Now we are going to have the girls over, drink our asses off, and you will not give one thought to that jackass.”

I stay quiet because I’m not interested in partying. When we get home, I head straight to my room and change into sweats before returning to the kitchen and plopping my books on the counter. I look through the syllabus of my classes as Jordan prepares dinner. She said she ate the meal I left for her when she came in this morning and that it was actually pretty good. However, I’m glad she is back to take over the cooking duties. I clean and she cooks. It’s a match made in heaven. Lord help me if I ever find a husband. My mind lands on Grayson again and I pinch my nose in frustration.

“You have a headache?” Jordan asks.

“No just tired,” I lie. Well not totally, I guess. “I think I’m going to eat and just show my face for a little bit before I turn it for the night.”

“Fair enough,” she agrees. Tomorrow we only have one class as it is our short day. For me though, I have my marketing class in that building. His teaching day was today, but I am still anxious over the possibility of a run in.