Page 112 of Between Desire and Denial
Me: I know what Dad said. But we need to talk, Knox.
Me: Please call me back.
Me: Please.
There were dots that showed up on the screen, but then they stopped. Our relationship had just started to mend, so I didn’t know how much more I should push. I also didn’t know how deep into it he was, if he would listen to reason.
Without him answering, there was nothing I could do, so I tried to focus on other things. I wrote out my thesis and stared at what I’d done. Suddenly, my degree didn’t feel so important. Suddenly, I knew I was going to be here in Paradise Grove where I belonged anyway.
Sometimes, even when life feels like a complete mess, the path you’ve been searching for makes itself known through the storm of chaos. I sent my thesis in, pulling everything I’d previously written about the syndicate, and chose a deliberate path. It was one where I protected my home and my family.
Lucille had booked a blow out for that morning and it was the perfect thing for me to do while I waited to hear from Jameson or Knox.
“I’m walking to the salon,” I announced on my way out after putting on my black maxi dress.
“I’ll walk you there.” Dimitri immediately closed his laptop like he was ready to keep me wrapped in his bubble for all of time.
“No. I’m fine. You’re going to have to let me take care of myself, Dimitri.” I shook my head at him.
“Or I could just walk you,” he suggested again. “If I don’t, I’ll be pulling you up on the damn cameras.”
“That’s a complete waste of time.” I rolled my eyes at him but felt butterflies in my stomach at the way he wanted to watch over me. He got up from the couch and packed up his laptop in a briefcase. “It’s just a walk for me, Honeybee.”
He wouldn’t take no for an answer and even held my hand the whole way. This was supposed to be normal, something we’d been doing for a while, but somehow it felt more intimate, more real, and more magical all at the same time.
He kissed me in front of the spa when we got there and murmured, “I’m going to stop at the drugstore next door, then I’ll be sitting at the park across the street. Call me when you’re ready to go.”
Minutes later, I was set up to give Lucille a blowout. She sat down and asked, “How’s Dimitri? See he’s out there keeping watch.”
“He’s been a bit overly protective, but fine.” I didn’t divulge anything else to her, but I saw how she narrowed her eyes.
“I’d think you’d be thankful a man was doting on you so much,” I heard from about ten feet away. I hadn’t noticed Melly sitting in Madi’s chair, and she was glaring at me now.
“What?” I knew today wasn’t the day I should listen to her. My brother hadn’t called, a migraine was growing by the minute, which meant stress must have been the culprit, and I was worried about the syndicate. I didn’t need my high school bully adding to all that.
And it probably wasn’t good that Lucille grumbled under her breath, “Be prickly. The girl needs a lesson.”
I understood I was different than her, that I didn’t have my life as together as she did, didn’t make all the right moves right away, and that she thought she was better than me because of it. But she had no right to talk down to me.
“I said you should be happy Dimitri treats you that way. I mean, at least someone is interested in you.” She stared at me, her beautiful blue eyes lined perfectly in makeup, the lashes feathering out as if she’d spent hours coating them.
I felt my eyes well with tears, which was silly. She meant nothing to me. Why was I so emotional about it all of a sudden?Lucille patted my hand quickly and shook her head slightly at me as if she was telling me not to give in. And Zen walked by and nudged my back as if to push me to keep going. I blurted out the next question. “Are you insinuating that he shouldn’t be?”
She sighed and looked at her nails. “Olive, when are you going to learn you’ve never belonged here really. This is an upscale community, and Dimitri is taking it to the next level. You’re not exactly on par. You and I both know that. Everyone does. That’s why you left. Why you should leave again.”
I think maybe Lucille had talked me up about cacti too much. Or maybe I really hadn’t had enough sleep. And then she tilted her head toward the hair dye.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. But just because I left doesn’t mean I wasn’t a part of Paradise Grove, Melly. And now I’m back with the man I’ll marry, and we’ll likely settle here.” I said the words fast, but I didn’t stutter or trip over them. They felt good, right, and they settled in my soul even as I tried to keep a lid on my emotions. The fury in me raged now. She’d crossed lines before, but this, at my job, in front of friends, was too much.
“Zen, what color are you doing in Melly’s hair today?” Lucille asked and when Zen looked over, Lucille winked at her. Zen looked at me and lifted her eyebrows.
I shouldn’t have nodded. I was basically giving permission. Yet, these people encouraged me to be over-the-top for once, and I was taking the opportunity.
“Same as always,” Zen said as she combed through her precious chestnut brown hair and went about dying her roots.
I told her how wonderful she’d look when she was done. She rolled her eyes at me like she couldn’t be bothered to talk to me anymore. Lucille and I watched as Zen put the black temporary dye in her hair and spun Melly away from the mirror so that she wouldn’t be able to see as she typed away on her phone. She made sure to get every strand too.
“You’re all set,” I whispered to Lucille just as Zen murmured to Melly that they could go wash out the dye.
