Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (2 page)

“No, I wouldn’t expect someone like you would,” she said.

“Of course I do, Nellie. I imagine everyone wants to
escape at one time or another. For some people it’s impossible and for others,
they find they can escape and sort of reinvent themselves.”

“That’s all I want,” she said. “I want to reinvent myself.
And I will too. You mark my words, Sophia Pearson.”

“I believe you, Nellie Daniels. I’m sorry that there’s
nothing I can do for you in the meantime.”

And when I saw the brightness in her face, as soon as the
words came out of my mouth, I wished I could stuff them back in.

“Oh,” she said and slammed her mannish hands on the
counter, “there is something you could do for me! Do you have a boyfriend? You
probably do, of course.”

“No, I don’t,” I said.

“Perfect! Tomorrow, a small group of us are going out. My
childhood friend Brandt’s buddy is in town from Providence and he wants to take
him out. Very cool cats. How about if you come with us?”

“I have a photo shoot,” I said.

“We’re not going until late. Come on, I’m always the only
girl and it would be nice to bring a friend along. It’ll be fun and something
real different. I can tell you don’t get wild very often.”

Very often? I never got wild at all.

“I don’t think so, but thank you for the invitation.”

“Why not?”

“I have to work and I don’t know how long.”

“What time will it be over? We’ll just wait,” she said.

“No, I wouldn’t want to hold up the group. Let’s do it
another time.”

“When?”

“When? Well, possibly next week some time, I--”

“Look, Sophia, if you don’t want to go, just say so.”

“It’s not that at all, Nellie.”

“Then what is it?”

My mind was totally blank as I tried to think of why I
couldn’t go out with them. My mother was the only person who pressed me as hard
to do things I didn’t want to do and I always folded like a deck of cards no
matter how strong I thought I was.

“Sophia, if you don’t want to go out, or even be my
friend, then just tell me. It’s always better to be honest about these things.”

Nellie picked at a red patch of skin on the back of her
hand as she stared at me. Nellie Daniels and I could not be friends. I knew I’d
never in a million years bring her around my friends, I’d be too scared of how
they’d judge me while they judged her. But at the same time, Nellie fascinated
me the way a fetal pig floating in a jar of formaldehyde did.

“Okay, sure,” I said. “Why not?”

“Really?” she said and slammed the countertop. “You know,
I knew it the day I saw you walk in this place that you and I were destine to
be friends. This may sound creepy, but every time you came in here, I tried to
work up the nerve to talk to you. I’m a little shy.”

“I don’t get that impression,” I said.

“It’s true. One thing about me, Sophia,” she said and
leaned on the counter, “I tend to get attached to people, so you have to tell me
to back off, okay?”

“Sure.”

“But I’m loyal as the day is long, that’s what Brandt
says. When I am your friend, you’ve got a friend to the end.”

Nellie and I exchanged telephone numbers and as promised,
I met her at the coffee shop the next evening. The dread I felt about our
outing as I walked to the coffee shop was quickly lifted when I saw the boy
standing next to Nellie as I walked through door.

“Sophia,” Nellie said as she ran toward me, “you look
beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“How do I look?” she said as she did a twirl.

I searched for a word to adequately describe the drab
brown dress she wore, which was not far removed from her blue waitress dress.

“Radiant,” I said.

“Yes,” she said, “I think so too. Come meet the boys!”

“Boys,” Nellie said as she dragged me by the hand over to
the two guys sitting at the counter, “this is Sophia Pearson. Sophia, this is
Brandt Therrault and Conrad Weylin.”

Both of the guys stood up from the counter, but it was
Brandt who got my attention.

“Pleased to meet you,” Brandt said and shook my hand.
“This is my friend Conrad. Conrad’s in town from Providence.”

Conrad was a nice enough looking fellow, but he was
certainly no Brandt.

“Hello, Conrad,” I said and removed my hand from Brandt’s
grip and extended it to him, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“My pleasure,” Conrad said and kissed my hand.

“Conrad, Sophia’s a model,” Nellie said and nudged me out
from in front of Brandt and toward Conrad. “In fact, she did a swimsuit shoot
today. How did that go?”

“Um, fine,” I said.

“Conrad is an art student in Providence. Very
forward-thinking,” Nellie said and winked at me.

“So, what’s the plan?” Conrad said and pulled his jacket
off the back of the counter stool.

“Well, I have a really wild evening planned for us,”
Nellie said and pulled her coat on. “A film in the Combat Zone, for starts.”

“The Combat Zone?” I said. “My father calls it the Ward of
filth.”

“I told you she was rich, Brandt. A real upper-crust, blue
blood. What’s the big deal, Sophia? I’m sure you’ve not even been down there,
have you?” Nellie said.

“Well, no,” I said. “But this is Boston, I’m sure there
are many things we could do on a Friday night that don’t include the Combat
Zone.”

“Look, Nellie,” Brandt said, “if Sophia doesn’t want to
go, perhaps we should make alternate plans.”

Nellie and Brandt looked so strange standing next to one
another. He could pass for one of the All-American male models I worked with.
He had short, blond hair and looked like he fit in with the rugby or rowing
teams rather than with Nellie. But for him, I happily dipped my toe in the
cesspool that was the Combat Zone.

“No,” I said, “it’s fine. I’m all for the Combat Zone.”

“Excellent,” Brandt said and smiled. “Let’s get a cab.”

The group of us filed out of the coffee shop and Nellie
grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside.

“Are you interested in him? Because if you are, I don’t
know if I’m comfortable with that.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No, but...it’s hard to explain. Just don’t like him,
okay?”

“How do you know him?” I said.

“Brandt’s father and mine used to work on the same boat. I
would do anything for him and he would do the same for me. We are extremely
dedicated to each other.”

“Dedicated?” I said and looked over Nellie’s shoulder and
watched Brandt staring at me.

“Yes, you know, as in we’d do anything for each other.”

Brandt stood on the other side of the glass and stared at
me. When he winked at me, I knew that it was me he wanted. My entitlement oozed
as I looked Brandt in the eyes and smiled.

“Sophia?” Nellie said and gripped my arm. “I was talking.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “What did you say?”

“Where’s your head, Sophia? When we get into the cab, I’ll
go in first and pull Brandt in with me. Then you allow Conrad to go in and you
get in last. Okay?”

“Okay, fine.”

We walked toward the door and Brandt opened it for us. As
Nellie went through Brandt leaned down and whispered in my ear.

“I could tell by your beautiful body, you are a swimsuit
model.”

I looked up at him and then caught Nellie looking at me as
if I just screamed fuck in the middle of a church service.

“Thank you,” I said and blew past Brandt and stood next to
Conrad.

We hailed a cab and I made sure that we all got into the
backseat in the order that Nellie instructed. I stared out the window as the
streets turned from first class to no class and we were deposited in front of a
theater.

“Is this place even open?” Conrad said.

“Yes of course, my brother works here,” Nellie said and
walked toward the front door.

I walked ahead of the boys and reached Nellie at the front
door.

“Nellie,” I said. “your brother? Why would you want to be
anywhere he is?”

“I don’t know if he’s working tonight, but if he is, I
want him to see me with Brandt,” Nellie said.

“Is Brandt your boyfriend?”

“One day,” she said.

“This is a porno house,” Conrad said as Brandt reached
above our heads and held the door open.

“I know,” Brandt said and chuckled.

“Anyone want popcorn?” Nellie said as we passed a filthy
concession counter.

“I’ll pass,” I said and wrinkled my nose at the grimy
counter worker who flicked his tongue in and out at me.

“Good idea, Sophia,” Brandt said as he walked behind me.

I looked down at the thread-worn, burgundy carpeting as we
walked down the corridor to the theater and knew my parent’s would absolutely
die if they found out where I was.

“I hope the cops don’t raid this place,” I said to Brandt.

“It’s okay, I will officially be a lawyer soon. I’ll get
us out of it,” he said and winked.

“Where are you going to law school?” I said.

“Harvard. I’m--”

“Guys,” Nellie hissed, “let’s stop talking.”

Conrad turned to me and shrugged. We walked into the
theater room and Nellie stood to the side and let Conrad lead.

“Make sure you go into the row after Conrad. I want to sit
next to Brandt,” Nellie said into my ear.

I nodded and walked ahead of Nellie as I followed Conrad
down the dark pathway toward the front of the theater. I saw the typical
occupants of such a place: men sitting alone in long coats and a few couples
already sitting on top of one another. Conrad turned to me and asked where we
should sit.

“I have no idea,” I said and turned to Nellie. “Where do
you want to sit?”

“Toward the front,” Nellie said as she nudged me along the
path.

We crab-walked down the aisle in front of a row of seats
and sat down in order: Conrad, me, Nellie and Brandt on the end. The theater
smelled of smoke and sweat.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” Conrad said in my ear.

“Yeah, to go home,” I said.

I was barely nineteen and my only dates with boys up until
that point ended with heavy petting in the boy’s car. Now I was at a
pornographic movie theater. As much as I wanted to be unlike my parents, I did
want a traditional relationship with a boy of worth. I wanted to be taken care
of and protected and I was pretty certain I was not going to meet husband
material sitting in a porn theater in the middle of the Combat Zone.

Or would I?

The lights went down in the movie theater and I glanced to
my left and Brandt stared at me.

“Hey Conrad,” Brandt said as he twisted in front of
Nellie’s legs, “switch seats?”

Nellie looked from Brandt to me and back to Brandt as if
she was watching a tennis match. She shook her head at me and looked back at
Brandt.

“Uh, sure?” Conrad said.

“Wait,” Nellie said, “where are you going?”

Brandt didn’t answer Nellie and slid down the aisle toward
me and Conrad. Conrad stood up, waited for Brandt to pass and then made his way
toward the empty seat next to Nellie. Nellie gripped my arm.

“What did you do?” she said through clenched teeth.

“I didn’t do anything,” I said. “I swear.”

Conrad sat down next to Nellie and I looked at Brandt. He
smiled at me and shrugged. Nellie slammed back into her seat, folded her arms
across her large breasts and pouted. I looked down in my lap and wished I was
anywhere but there.

“I’m sorry,” I said into Nellie’s ear and she turned her
head away from me.

The theater lights went down and a grainy film popped onto
the screen. A large woman in a bikini gyrated to canned music that crackled
from the theater’s speakers. There were grunts of approval from the theater
patrons as the woman began a slow striptease.

Brandt grazed my neck with his fingertips as he brushed my
hair to the side and whispered into my ear.

“I hope you don’t mind me sitting here.”

I turned and looked at him and forgot we were in the
middle of a filthy theater that played dirty movies.

“No, not at all.”

I felt Nellie’s eyes burning a hole into the back of my
head and I sat back in my seat and stared straight ahead at the screen.

The large dancer was now naked. Her breasts flopped back
and forth in time to the music and the only thing she wore was a black mass of
thick pubic hair over her vagina. I laughed to myself as I thought of Katt’s
comments about European women who had what looked like carpet samples covering
their areas.

Brandt shifted in his seat and I kept my head as rigid as
I could, neither looking at him nor looking at Nellie who was probably looking
at me.

The music in the film changed to a sort of
psychedelic-Indian track and two men walked into the room with the naked woman.
The woman in the movie feigned distress as the men pawed at and mauled her
naked body. One of the men threw her down on a bed, conveniently positioned in
the middle of the room. The men stood over the woman and began to remove their
clothes.

Despite the weirdness of the situation, I was aroused by
the scene. Brandt stretched his long legs out as much as he could in the
cramped aisle and his leg brushed against the side of mine. I didn’t move away,
but parted my legs a bit until the side of my leg pressed against his.

I glanced to my left and was shocked to see Nellie
practically sitting in Conrad’s lap and the two of them making out.

On the movie screen, one of the men knelt on the bed at
the naked woman’s head. Her arms were stretched over her head and she stroked
his penis back and forth. The man leaned over the woman’s face and kissed her
breasts and sucked at her nipples. Her legs were spread wide and the other man
knelt between her legs and he rubbed his penis.

I glanced back at Nellie and Conrad and did a quick
double-take as Nellie shifted down to the floor on her knees and knelt between
Conrad’s legs. Brandt chuckled beside me. I looked over at him and he was
leaned forward and watching Nellie and Conrad. Nellie fumbled with Conrad’s
belt buckle and he looked down at her. I wondered if Nellie had seen the movie
before as she mimicked the actress’s moves.