Shadows in Me (9 page)

Vincent

I hadn’t wanted to go out, but Cole had insisted that we celebrate, Simplicity was opening another branch.  In the past two years we had really done well.   But it all meant nothing without my woman with me. 

Caitlin had made everything worthwhile.  She was my ray of sunshine on rainy days. I was so stupid to have done what I did.  My world was miserable without her, we needed to fix it.  

Heather had said she was going to be there. I needed to see her, I needed my girl back.

When I had walked in on her and Brent it had nearly killed me.  I fucked things up so badly by missing her big night, and all I wanted to do was surprise her.  Boy was I the one who was surprised.  How could she not have told me that he was in town?  I had to find out like that, with him in her apartment. I couldn’t control myself, I just lost it, the things I said to her…god I wished I could take it all back.  If only I could’ve gone back in time. 

She had tried to phone me a few times but I was too stubborn to listen, and when I was finally ready to talk, Henry wouldn’t let me speak to her. 

From what Heather had told me, Caitlin had found out he was in San Diego the night she went out with some of the girls from work.  But nothing had happened.  They were just friends, but I knew how he felt about her, I saw it in his eyes that day on the beach and again in her apartment. But she had lied to me!  I saw red, we screamed at each other and I had walked out, telling her it was over. 

The night just wasn’t going my way, I was hoping she would be there so we could talk, but she wasn’t.  To add to everything, Alexis was all over me. I hadn’t felt like dancing but she somehow managed to get me onto the dance floor.  With my eyes closed it almost felt like Caitlin was right there with me. I was quickly snapped out of my fantasy when I felt her lips on my neck, they weren’t Caitlin’s.  No one would ever even come close to her, and her lips were the only ones I wanted on me. 

It was after midnight, she hadn’t arrived. It was time for me to head home. 

“Cole, I’m out of here.”  I walked up and slapped him on the back. 

“Cool Bro, see you tomorrow.” Cole was sitting with Heather on his lap. 

“Heather, let me know what’s happening with Caitlin, she didn’t come tonight.  I really need to talk to her, please.”

“She was here, but you fucked it up jet again, you and that red headed bitch slut. Caitlin was standing right behind you, while Alexis had her tits all pressed up against you.” Heather took a sip of her drink and turned away from me. 

“What? When? I didn’t see her.” I couldn’t believe I had missed her. 

“Exactly. YOU didn’t see her, but I did and so did Alexis. It’s over Vincent. She had that look in her eyes, there’s no fixing it now.” 

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me when it happened?” I grabbed Heather by the arm. 

“What’s the point, she is gone, and Rex said she took a cab.  All she needs rights now is for you to leave her alone.  Not even I can fix this.”  Heather pulled out of my grip.

I needed to get to her, quickly, I needed to tell her what she saw was not what really happened.  I felt nothing for Alexis. 

Just my luck, every fucking traffic light seemed to be against me. I just couldn’t get to her quickly enough.  As I stopped outside Caitlin’s Longbeach home, something didn’t feel right.  Her car was in the driveway, but all the lights were off.  Maybe she was in bed already?  I still had my key, at least she hadn’t asked for that back yet.  I let myself in.  The house was dark, there wasn’t a sound.  I walked up to her room opened the door, her bed was empty.  Where the hell could she have been?

Maybe Rex had seen where she had gone, he had called her a cab.  I needed to find her.  I made it back to Roxy’s in record time.

“Rex, have you seen Caitlin tonight.”

“Yeah, she was pretty upset when she left.”

“Do you know which cab company picked her up?”

“Yeah, but I can do you one better. I heard her give an address in San Diego, Dukes or something.”

Fuck!! Just perfect, she ran back to him!!!!! How could I be so stupid? I turned and walked back in. 

“Vincent, you came back!” Alexis smiled up at me. 

Fuck Caitlin, if she can why not me. 

“Hey Alexis, you want to join me for another drink?”  Booze and sex, just the right cure for a broken heart.   

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all night, let’s go.” She took my hand and we made our way to the bar. 

I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I just didn’t give a fuck.  I needed to numb the pain in my heart.  I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me.  I could feel her body mould into mine, the lust radiating from her was overpowering.  I knew that this was trouble, but I didn’t care. 

I found a spot at the far end of the bar.  I ordered us a round of drinks and told the barman to keep them coming.  Alexis was talking a shit load of crap about the shop, and what she wanted to do.  I didn’t really care; Simplicity was so far from my mind at that moment.  All I could see was Caitlin and Brent, together, and the more I thought about it the more my anger boiled. 

FUCK!!!!!  I needed to get her out of my fucking mind.  An hour, and a couple of shots, later Alexis made herself comfortable on my lap and was trailing kisses along my neck.  What the hell, I was probably never going to see Caitlin again. I should have seen this coming, they had a history together, and I probably never really stood a chance with her. 

I was sitting with my back to the crowd with Alexis whispering shit in my ear when she screamed.  What the hell? I spun around to find Heather standing right in front of me.  She had Alexis by the hair and was pulling her away from me. 

“Get your fucking ass of him; he is not yours to poison Alexis.” Heather was angry, and if I was a little less pissed I would have cared. 

“Get your hands of me bitch, he invited me. I can do what the hell I want to, you’re are not my boss.  That little pathetic girlfriend of yours is gone. She lost, he’s mine now.”

Oh crap, these girls were going to kill each other. 

“Cole!!!!  Control your woman.”

“Control me? What the hell Vincent, you left here earlier to find Caitlin and fix your fuck-up! Now I find you here, sucking face with this bimbo.  You’ve got no brains, asshole!”

“Don’t give me that shit! Yes, I tried to find Caitlin, but she was gone. She ran back to her Black Knight.” I tried to stand, but the alcohol in my system had other ideas, I staggered back against the bar. 

“What the hell do you mean?”

“Caitlin went back to San Diego, back to Brent.  It’s obvious she’s done with me.”

“You’re lying, she would never do that, she loves you.”

“I guess neither of us knows her as well as we thought we did. Rex was there when she gave the taxi driver the address.”

I turned to Alexis; she was doing something with her phone.  I knew it wasn’t the way to deal with the situation, but once again, I didn’t give a shit.

“You coming with me Lexi, I’m done with this place; let’s go party at my place.”  I grabbed her hand and started walking out of the club.  Cole followed me out. 

“Bro, you’re making a big mistake.  Don’t do this, come on man.” Cole tried to hold me back. 

“I’m done. Caitlin has made her choice.  Now I’m making mine. See you on Monday.”

I grabbed a taxi home, I had had far too much to drink to risk driving. Alexis was all over me, and I was not stopping her.  I needed to fuck Caitlin out of my head, and why not use this sexy piece of ass.    We got home just in time, she was about to stick her hand in my pants.   

“Hold on a bit, let’s get inside first.” I grabbed her hands. 

“Oh, you’re so boring.”  She pouted. 

I paid the taxi and then tried to scoop Alexis into my arms, but we were both too drunk. We staggered up the stairs, and I somehow managed to unlock the door.  Alexis, was biting my neck and licking my ear.  I lost my footing and stumbled against the entrance hall table, knocking the photo’s to the ground.  I put Alexis down, maybe a little too hard.  I picked the broken photo frame off the ground.  It was a picture of Caitlin.  Shit, what was I doing, this was a bad idea.   I pushed Alexis out my way and ran outside to see if I could stop the taxi.  

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”  She was shocked.

“I’m sending you home; we.....this is not going to happen.”

“Why?” She carried on groping me, trying to stick her tongue in my mouth.

“I love Caitlin and I can’t do this.”  I pushed her away.

“You can’t send me home in this state.”  She pleaded.  “I don’t have my keys with me and my roommate went home with her date, so I have nowhere to go.”

“Well you can sleep here tonight, but not with me.  I’ll help you get home in the morning.”

“Fine, your loss though.” Alexis was angry. 

I showed her to the spare bedroom and then went to bed.

I was drunk and angry, not a very good combination.  I thought that maybe I would think a little clearer in the morning, and would be more likely to find a solution to our fucked-up situation.  I didn’t even have the energy to shower; I stripped and climbed straight into bed. 

Alexis

So close yet so far, I really thought I would be able to get Vincent into bed with me.  Caitlin needed to feel the pain I had felt, after what she had done to me.  Hunter was my everything, and then she came back.  I had pleaded with Hunter to let her go, but he just couldn’t.

Neither Caitlin nor Heather had recognized me, it was as if I had never even been there.  Ok, we weren’t in the same class or anything, I was a year behind them, but still.  Just before they had graduated, Hunter and I had hooked up. I knew they were together but I didn’t care, we had had a good time.  After they had broken up, Hunter came looking for me. I fell so hard for him…and then they killed him. 

I couldn’t sleep, I needed to finish what I had started. I needed to hit her where it would hurt the most.  I softly knocked on Vincent’s door, if he was still awake I would tell him some bullshit story about not being able to find the kitchen.  I opened the door and found him lying naked on the bed; the covers were a tangled mess.   All I needed was a pic with us in bed together.  I slowly made my way over, as quietly as I could. I stripped off my clothes and placed them in a pile next to the bed.  I climbed into the bed with him; it was dark but I made sure you could see the tattoo on his back, with my naked body next to his.  I snapped a quick photo. He stirred and my heart leapt into my throat. I jumped out of the bed, grabbed my clothes off the floor and quickly left the room. 

Now all I had to do was send the pic to Caitlin.  By now she must have figured out that I’ve been the one sending her the text messages. 

Alexis:  Thanks for leaving, we had a great night.  Oh by the way, the sex was great. Here’s a little memento for you. 

My work was done; I could get out of there. Leave the shit hole and get back to my real life. 

Brent

“God dammit woman, answer your phone.”  I was desperately trying to call Heather. 

Ring, ring, ring

“Heather, where are you?” At last, she’d answered.

“Who the hell’s this?” Her sleepy voice came from the other end.  “Brent?”  She suddenly seemed awake.  “Is she with you?”

“Yes, what the fuck happened, she’s a mess.”  I replied.

“She caught Vincent in Alexis’s arms, it’s totally screwed up.  I don’t think there’s any coming back from this one. 

“I’m going to fucking kill him!” I was angry all over again.

“I don’t know what to say Brent, I’m just glad she’s ok.” 

“I won’t say she’s ok, but she’s safe.  Pack her a bag, I’m on my way.  She’s sleeping now and probably will be for a while with the amount of alcohol in her system.”

“Ok, see you just now.” 

That bastard needed to know that this was the last time he was going to hurt my princess.  Luckily for me I had been at his place before.  

When I pulled up outside I saw what was obviously the infamous redheaded bimbo sneaking out the front door.  Heather was right, he had taken her home.  But why was she sneaking off like a thief in the night?  It was only four in the morning.  I parked my truck right in front of her, keeping her in the spotlights.  I climb out of my truck determent to give her a piece of my mind. 

“You must be Alexis!” She looked surprised as first.

“Yes, and let me guess… you’re Brent, the murderer.”  She snapped back.

“Excuse me, what did you just say?” I was completely shocked.

“Never mind, I need to go my taxi is here.” She pushed past me.

“You not going anywhere until we have a little chat.” I grabbed her arm.

“Fuck you, who the hell do you think you are.  You can’t tell me what to do, go to hell!  Besides, I’m out of here, I’ve done what I came to do, you won’t be seeing me again.”  She pulled away from me and walked off.

I was dumbfounded; I just watched as she walked away and got into a cab.  That completely knocked the wind out of me.  Who was this woman, and what did she mean by murderer?  I needed to find out more about her, but first I had to deal with the scumbag inside. 

I stormed up to the front door and banged on it as hard as I could.  It took a good couple of bangs before I heard movement from inside
.

“I’m coming!!” Vincent’s voice was groggy with sleep, and clearly irritated with the early morning intrusion.

As he opened the door I landed my right hook. 

“I warned you what would happen if you fucked with her.”  I turned and started walking to my car, but before I even got to the bottom of the stairs he tackled me to the ground. 

“Who the fuck do you think you are? This all started because of you.”  He landed a fist on my ribs, fuck, it hurt like hell. 

“Oh, and that bitch that just left here had nothing to do with it I guess?” 

We had made such a commotion that a few neighbours had approached us.  The next thing I knew some fucking idiot started pulling us apart before I was done with him. 

“I thought as much, I knew you would come here.”  Heather was standing next to me with her hand on my arm. 

“Are you two quite done comparing cocks?  Brent, just take her bag, it’s almost morning and you still have to go home.” 

“I’m not done, he needs to ….”

“You are done! Go, I’ll sort this out.”

“Yes, leave, you fucking coward! I’ll come for you though, just you wait and see!” Vincent lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat.

“Vincent let go of him!” Heather tried to come between us but Cole grabbed her and pushed her behind him. 

I landed another right hook square on his jaw that knocked him out. 

“You sort that idiot out, I never want to see him near her again you understand me?”  I got into my truck and drove off. 

I needed to find out who this Alexis chick was, something just wasn’t sitting right with me.  It was early but I knew Rick would be the man to help me out.  I pulled to the side of the road to send a quick text. 

Brent:  Hi Bud, I need you your help. 

Rick: Good morning, little early for a rocker to be up isn’t it?  What’s up?”

Brent:  Need you to do a background check on someone for me.

Rick:  Sure, who?

Brent: Alexis, not sure of the last name, she works at Simplicity in Longbeach.  Don’t have much more info; see what you can do with that. 

Rick: Will get back to you, how urgent is this?

Brent: Day or two if you can.

Rick:  Done

Great, now to get back home in time. 

It was close to eight by the time I parked my car in front of Dukes.  So much for helping Cassy out today.  But I needed to look after Caitlin, she needed me. 

Thank god she was still asleep; I needed to get cleaned up before she woke up.  I walked into my room to find her still fast asleep.  I sat down in the chair next to the bed and watched her.  She was lying on her stomach, her hands tucked in under the pillow and her hair cascading over her back.  She looked so peaceful, a great improvement from the girl I had left the night before.  

Getting into a fight with Loverboy probably wasn’t the best idea, but fuck, what he had done to her just wasn’t right.  

I looked like shit, and didn’t feel that great either. I needed a quick shower, and I wanted to be there when she woke up.  I was in the shower when the door to the bathroom flung open; my instant reaction was to cover my dick even though the shower curtain was closed.   

“Sorry!”  Caitlin rushed in just in time to vomit in the toilet. 

I took my towel and wrapped it around my waist not even bothering to dry myself off.  I lifted her hair from her face gripping it in a bunch behind her head. 

“Shit, is it the alcohol?”  I asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve been like this for a week now.”  She sat up and I handed her a cloth to wipe her mouth before I helped her up. 

“How often do you get sick?  Is it only when you eat or drink something?”  I was concerned. 

“Mornings mostly, but some times when I smell something.  Why?”  She looked up trying to smile. 

“Just asking.”  I was no freaking expert, but I had watched enough TV to have an idea on what was going on.  I certainly wasn’t going to rock the boat by stating the obvious though. 

“What’s that look about, spit it out.” Caitlin lifted her chin and placed her hands on her hips, trying her best to look tough. 

“Nothing, you want some coffee?”  I thought maybe it was me that needed a cup more than she did.  There I thought I finally might have had a change with my Princess, but now this. 

“Yes please but no milk, the smell of it will make me puke again.” 

I walked out of the room leaving her.  I took my phone off the table and headed to the kitchen.  Cassy has sent me two text messages already; I was supposed to have spent the day with her fixing a few things at Dukes. 

Brent:  Sorry Babes, I’m not going to make it today.

Cassy:  I thought as much, my dad told me she was in town again.  Have a good one. 

Brent:  Really sorry, I will make it up to you, I promise. 

I walked back into the room to find Caitlin curled up on the bed with her phone next to her, she was sobbing her heart out. 

I rushed over to the bed and lifted her into my lap, cradling her head to my chest.  It took a good ten minutes before she calmed down enough for me to get an answer out of her.  She lifted her head from my chest, searching for her phone.  She handed it to me, then started crying again. I held her with one hand while navigating her phone with the other. 

“That bitch!”   As the words slipped out, I knew it was a mistake.  Caitlin’s head snapped up, she squinted her eyes looking at me, it was like a penny had dropped. 

“You knew already!  Where were you last night, I was looking for you?!”

“Yeah, I saw her last night leaving Loverboys house.” 

“You saw her when you went to see Vincent.  What happened, what did she say?” 

“Yes, I spoke to her as she was leaving, there was something strange about her.  She called me a murderer. 

“What? She knew you?”  This was becoming more bizarre by the minute.

“Vincent and I…how can I say this? We didn’t actually talk.  But now you tell me your side of the story.”

“Where do I start?  Heather convinced me to go to the club with them to try fix things with Vincent, I walked in on him and that red headed slut making out on the dance floor.  I got into a cab and came here.  Then this morning I got this text, it’s obvious he’s moved on.  I really loved him, and I thought he loved me.  Oh Brent, I’ve been so stupid.”  She started crying again, she wrapped her arms around me and just cried. 

There wasn’t much more I could say to her, so I just held on to her, allowing her to let it all out.  Sometime later she fell asleep; I lay her down on the bed and took her phone with me to the kitchen.  At least I had a phone number to work with. 

“Rick, here’s a number, see what you can do with this. I think it belongs to the person I’m looking for 256 876 9010.

“Ok, Bro I should have something for you by this afternoon.”

“Thank you, chat soon.”  I hung up.

I needed to find out who this woman was, there was something familiar about her, as if I had seen her before.  I knew I was being selfish, but having Caitlin here with me, all to myself, felt great.   Maybe…just maybe, we would have a chance with Vincent out of the way. Maybe she could learn to love me. 

I was deep in my thoughts when my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Brent, its Heather, how’s Caitlin doing.” 

“Hey, she’s asleep now; she got another text from Alexis.”

“What?  What did it say?”

“It was a little more graphic, it was a picture of her and Vincent, naked and in bed together. She’s devastated, I must be honest, I’m not too sure what to do.”

“You must be kidding me? I spoke to him last night and he promised me that nothing happened between them.  He said he realised he still loved Caitlin and being with Alexis was wrong, so she slept in the guest room. After you left his house he went looking for her and she was gone.  She didn’t even come back to work today, it’s like she just disappeared.”

“I saw her leave last night when I got to the house.  There was something familiar about her Heather, like we’d met before, she also called me a murderer.  Heather do you believe Vincent?” I had to know.

“Right now I don’t know what to believe, after what happened at the club anything’s possible.” 

“I think I should keep her here with me for a few days.  Just until she more on her feet and able to deal with this, at the moment she’s broken.” 

“I wish I could be there with you, I’m so worried about her.” 

“Well let’s see how things are looking by Monday, if she’s up to it I’ll bring her back home.  Keep me up to date on what’s happening with Dickhead, and if you happen to see Alexis again.”  I was worried about Alexis. 

After the phone call with Heather, I sat down and made a list of things that just didn’t add up.  I was depending on Rick to come up with something soon.  This Alexis woman spelled trouble, and I needed to sort it out.