10 Nights (33 page)

“I think that’s a
really good idea, Leah,” Janie said. “Rhett could come by, and I just don’t
think you’re ready to deal with him yet.” They’d both kept quiet as much as
possible while Sylvia was there, out of respect for the professional, but Janie
was really worried that Rhett wouldn’t be able to stay away from Leah for long.
As angry as she was with him at that moment, she knew in his own strange way
Rhett cared for her friend.

“I think maybe you’re
right and we should get out of here.” The last thing she wanted to do just then
was deal with Rhett, she was too drained, physically and emotionally, for that.
All she wanted to do was get some sleep.

“Don’t even worry about
packing anything,” David told her as she pushed herself to her feet and slowly
made her way towards her bedroom. “I’ll send one of my people out to grab some
fresh clothes for both of you.” His cell phone rang as he ushered the two girls
out of the condo ahead of them but he ignored it, he knew it was Rhett, and he
had no intention of talking to him just then.

22

Back to the Start

Without an alarm to wake
her Leah slept until late; she didn’t realize how late until she finally woke
and rolled over to see that the alarm clock displayed a little after five.

She was shocked. She
knew she had been tired when she crawled between the sheets of the bed at
David’s place, which she hadn’t done until almost dawn, but she hadn’t thought she
would sleep for so long.

Reluctantly she threw
back the covers and got out of the wonderfully soft four poster bed David had
showed her to. Standing up she looked around the room, seeing it properly for
the first time; she hadn’t really paid attention to it when she arrived in the
early hours.

The room was elegant,
in an understated fashion, a contrast to Rhett’s house, which was a display of
wealth. The walls were a neutral cream, set off by soft pale beige carpeting,
that felt wonderful under her feet, and matching drapes at the window.

Several bags just
inside the door of the bedroom caught her eye as she continued to look around,
the clothes David had promised to have collected she realized. Crossing to them
she picked the first one up and carried it over to the bed, where she dumped
the contents out.

Designer labels stared
up at her from every outfit, reminding her of Rhett and the money he had spent
on her, buying her affection. Thinking of Rhett brought tears to her eyes and
angrily she dashed them away before digging through the clothes on the bed for
something he hadn’t bought.  Everything from the first bag had come from him, and
she shoved them all aside, trying not to think about how long she would have
needed to work at her job to earn enough to buy even one of the outfits.

She had better luck
with the second bag, finding an old pair of sweatpants and a sports bra, the
kind of thing she normally wore to the gym. Grabbing up the clothes Leah made
her way into the bathroom, stopping the moment she walked through door,
stunned.

The bathroom was
amazing, like nothing she’d ever seen before, and she could only stare at it in
wonder from the doorway. The bathtub was huge, more than big enough to hold
four people at once, without them being cramped. There was also a shower
cubicle in the corner of the room that looked as though it could hold three
without them bumping into one another while they cleaned themselves.

Aside from the bath and
the shower there was two sinks; why the room needed two sinks Leah couldn’t
fathom, and a toilet. Every bit of plumbing she could see was silver, or at
least silver-plated, she wasn’t sure which.

All of that was
stunning, but it was the sight of a large flat screen television on the wall
above the sinks, across from the bath, and a laptop on a small table next to
it, that amazed her the most. Why anyone would want a television in their
bathroom, let alone a laptop, she couldn’t fathom.

Perhaps there was such
a thing as too much money for one’s own good, she thought as she stepped into
the shower, gasping as the shower heads came out from all sides, surrounding
her.

Leah showered quickly,
though not before investigating the dozens of differently marked fragrances,
soaps and shampoos in the huge egg shaped dispenser that sat in the corner of
the stall. Definitely overboard, she thought with a small grin, though she did
have fun trying out a few of them.

Idly she wondered what
Rhett would have thought of it, his bathroom was almost exclusively a male
preserve. Thinking about Rhett prompted a stab of pain in her heart and she
hurriedly pushed him from her mind as she finished cleaning herself.

Stepping from the
shower she took the towel from the rail and briskly dried herself off,
determinedly thinking of anything but the man who had caused her so much
heartache.

Foremost in her
thoughts, aside from Rhett, was work. Despite the money Rhett had deposited in
her account she needed to find herself a new job, and the longer she put off
beginning the search the harder it was going to be to get started. Baby steps,
she reminded herself, just take it one step at a time and she would manage.

Pulling on her clothes
Leah threw the wet towel into the laundry basket and returned to the bedroom to
find some footwear and, she hoped, her toothbrush and hairbrush so she could
make herself a little more presentable. She found what she was looking for in
the third bag David’s man had brought. There was an assortment of footwear in
the bag but she settled for running shoes that went with her sweatpants, and
after pushing her feet into them she returned to the bathroom to brush her
teeth and sort out the tangle of hair on her head.

Once she had tamed her
hair, and made herself feel as presentable as she thought she was likely to get
just then, Leah left the suite and went in search of her friend. She couldn’t
help but compare David’s house to Rhett’s as she made her way through it, and
hated herself for once again thinking of Rhett, when all she wanted to do was
forget him.

It was with relief that
she heard Janie’s voice, and she quickly followed it until she found her friend
in the kitchen. Walking through the door she got a bigger shock than she had
when she entered the bathroom upstairs. David was wearing an apron that read
‘World’s Best Chef’ with a cartoon character beneath it. She couldn’t help
herself, she burst out laughing.

“Something funny?”
David asked sternly, looking around at Leah, who was leaning against the
doorframe as she laughed and giggled.

“Sorry,” Leah
apologized hurriedly, worried she had offended him. “I didn’t mean to laugh.”
She did her best to stop and be serious but she couldn’t manage it; just when
she thought she had the laughter under control a fresh peal burst from her.
“I’m really sorry, I can’t help it,” she gasped out between laughs, “it’s the
apron.”

“Is there something
wrong with my apron? I happen to like it; it was a gift from my mother.” He
tried his best to look offended by her laugher but couldn’t quite manage it; a
smile creased his face and broadened as he too began laughing.  Soon enough
Janie joined in the laughter as well.

It felt so normal to
Leah, to be standing around laughing, that she began to feel a little better.
This was the type of relationship she wanted, she thought to herself, one that was
relaxed and fun and not filled with intensity.

David obviously didn’t
have a problem dropping the sex stuff and being a normal person outside of the bedroom,
and he was certainly able to laugh at himself. She couldn’t imagine Rhett ever
laughing at himself. Leah’s laughter cut off abruptly as Rhett filled her mind
again.

Janie gave David a
knowing look before turning back to Leah. “Come grab a seat, honey, David is
making his famous Mushroom Ravioli; you don’t want to miss it.” She was
determined to make her friend smile, if it was at all possible; she wasn’t
going to let her drown in thoughts of Rhett and everything that had happened.

“It sounds wonderful,
but I’m not sure I could eat a bite.” Despite the lovely aromas wafting her way
from the cooker Leah found she didn’t have an appetite.

“Okay,” David said,
“but if you don’t eat, my heart will be completely shattered and Janie will
have to baby me all night to make me feel better.” He winked to let her know he
was only joking.

“Alright, can’t have you
making Janie do all that work.” Shaking her head Leah laughed again. She hadn’t
known David for long but he seemed like a really nice guy, and she was happy
that Janie had found him.

“Thanks, hon, you have
no idea how whiny he can be when he doesn’t get his way.” Janie grinned as
David started toward her with his spatula raised and ran round to the other
side of the island bar away from him.

“Be glad my mushrooms
might overcook or I’d take this spatula to that sexy little ass, missy.”
Shaking his head he chuckled. “Seriously, Leah, do you see what I have to put
up?”

“I think you guys make
the cutest couple.” Leah hadn’t meant to say what she was thinking aloud and
she flushed when she realized she had.

“Don’t tell him that,
his ego is already huge, I’m not sure I’ll be able to deal with him if it gets
any bigger.” Janie grinned, sticking her tongue out.

“Janie, baby, you do
know that I’m going to make you pay for every smartass comment later tonight,
right?” He lifted an eyebrow, trying to look stern, but the apron and its
cartoon character detracted significantly from the image he was trying to
present.

“Um, you might want to
take off the apron before you make threats like that.” Leah giggled, joining in
the teasing, feeling strangely comfortable with Janie’s boyfriend.

“Two of you now,”
rolling his eyes David turned back to the stove, “there’s no way I can ever
win.” With an exaggerated sigh he focused on his cooking before chuckling
deeply.

“I’m going to show Leah
the garden while you finish up, Mr. Chef of the Year.” Janie walked over and
raised herself up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“I’ll be done in about
twenty minutes, babe, you girls enjoy your walk.” He winked and slid on a pair
of oven mitts, causing both of them to laugh again. Waving the spatula
threateningly he warned them off with a smirk.

Janie linked her arm in
Leah’s and led her toward the back door. They walked down a surprisingly long
flight of concrete steps and over to a set of cushioned concrete benches that
overlooked a huge fire pit. “I figured you might need some girl time,” she said
sitting down and motioning for her friend to join her.

“I’m going to be fine,
Janie, really I am, it’s just going to take some getting used to.” Leah knew
what her friend meant by girl time but she wasn’t ready to talk about what had
happened, it was too soon, she just wanted to push it all from her mind, at
least for the time being.

“I’m not so sure. I
know you, Leah, you’ll analyze this to death, just like you do everything else,
and I don’t want you torturing yourself, trying to work out what you could have
done differently. This wasn’t your fault, okay?” She knew her best friend
better than anyone else, and knew it would be just like her to come up with
some way in which everything that had happened was her fault, rather than
Rhett’s.

“I can’t do this right
now, Janie. You have no idea how hard it is for me not to call him up and tell
him how sorry I am for the things I said, and for running off.” All she wanted
to do just then was to find her phone and do exactly that.

“That’s what I’m
talking about; you don’t have anything to be sorry for.” She knew Leah was
hurting, and knew she didn’t want to talk about the situation, but if she
didn’t she would find a way to excuse everything Rhett had done and go back to
him. There wasn’t a doubt in Janie’s mind about that.

“You said it yourself,
Janie; neither of us really knew what we were getting into with this.” She
wanted to forgive him; it was killing her to sit there, knowing that she’d
never touch him again.

“Leah, honey, you can’t
do this. Do you think anything has changed? You still aren’t ready for his
games, and he obviously has no idea how to train someone as innocent in the
lifestyle as you.

“He needs an
experienced submissive, someone who can handle whatever situation he puts her
in, and who knows her limits well enough to put restrictions on the
relationship right from the start. And you need someone who is willing to take
the time to let you become accustomed to a sexual life, whether it involves the
lifestyle or not.”

“So you’re saying I
should go and find someone else to teach me about sex and being a submissive?”
Leah hadn’t wanted to be with a man in any way before Rhett came along, and she
wasn’t sure she’d want to be with a man again.

“No, I don’t mean you
should just go out and find someone, honey. What I mean is, if you’re going to
be involved with someone, and I want you to be, I want you to have what I have
with David, then you should find someone you can trust, someone who will take
their time with you.

“It doesn’t matter if
they’re in the lifestyle or if it’s just a vanilla relationship, as long as you
can trust them and they’re willing to be patient with you,” Janie told her
friend, hoping she could convince her. “Rhett has proven that he’s no good for
you, that he doesn’t have the patience to guide you as you need to be. I don’t
want you to go back to him, and I know you want to, and find yourself in the
same position.

“If you don’t do
something he’ll destroy you. You already have problems with men.” She saw the
look on her friend’s face as she said that and hurriedly spoke again. “I’m
sorry, honey, but you know it’s true. After how your dad treated your mom it’s
no surprise that you have issues with men. If you go back to Rhett and let him
continue to treat you as he has then you’ll just get worse.”

Leah was silent for a
few moments, her face turned away from her friend as she stared out over the
fire pit at the expanse of David’s garden. It was beautiful, she thought idly; a
lush green lawn with a pond and water feature in the middle, and the whole
thing surrounded by beds and beds of brightly colored flowers.