Sanctuary of Mine (15 page)

Mackenzie

You know that saying, ‘what goes up must come down’? Yeah, I had a taste of that this week. I mean, I’d been on a high since Tyler blew back into town. We hung out, we kissed and made love. We spent every spare minute together until reality set in. Then we went off to our respective jobs to earn a living. Tyler started off the week training at the ANZ Stadium at Olympic Park with his new team mates. I started off getting acquainted with my new colleagues at Howard and Associates. But there was just something about Kenneth Cole that instantly got my back hairs up.

While the office consisted of a small paralegal team, Kenneth was the odd man out. He handled all aspects of the firm’s accounting. Rather than occupy a desk with the rest of us in an open-plan work environment, he spent his days locked away in the back office, the privacy affording him the solitude he liked. Day one on the job and he had already paged me to pay him a visit.

One of the partners’ secretaries gave me a knowing look as I headed off to see what Kenneth wanted. She seemed a quiet sort of lady, with a few more years in the real world under her belt than what I did. If I had to guess, I’d say she was late twenties. Not wanting to keep Kenneth waiting, I head to his office and knock on the closed door.

‘Come in,’ he said through the wooden door. I open it and come face to face with a cluttered workspace that has floor to ceiling bookshelves filled with all manner of texts and volumes of law books. Kenneth is sitting behind an old oak desk that has piles of documents swamping his computer and keyboard.

‘You wanted to see me?’

‘Yes, Mackenzie. Come in and have a seat,’ he offers. Kenneth is old school. While only about thirty-five years old, he’s already lost most of his hair, wears John Lennon circular glasses and wears a waistcoat under his suit jacket. I almost expect to see a pocket watch.

I take the seat offered.

‘Sorry for all the mess, but this room serves as a library of sorts for all the legal statutes and torts that our staff may need to reference in the future.’

‘It’s no problem.’

‘Great. Well I need to give you some paperwork to fill out. All your personal details will need to be completed – your emergency contacts and things like that. There is also your tax file information to be filled out.’ He hands the documents across the desk towards me. I take them and start to peruse through the paperwork and come across a confidentiality agreement.

‘I need to sign this too?’ I ask, pointing to the agreement.

‘Let’s have a look shall we,’ he says as he gets out of his chair and comes around the desk to look over my shoulder. He reaches over my shoulder to point to the piece of paper, grazing my breast with his forearm as he does. I flinch backwards, but he doesn’t react in the slightest.

‘Just sign there. It just ensures the privacy of the law firm and its clients.’

‘Okay,’ I say, a little rattled from his touch. Maybe it wasn’t intentional. Maybe it meant nothing. Even so, it didn’t sit well with me. Kenneth resumes his seat around the opposite side of the desk and peers over his glasses at me.

‘Well it’s great to have you aboard, Mackenzie. This office could use someone as intelligent and beautiful as you are.’ Erm,
okay.
Weird, but I’m gonna ignore it. I know he knows I scored in the top fifth percentile of my graduating year, but what the fuck did my being ‘beautiful’ have to do with being good at a job? Jackass.

‘Thanks, well I’ll get these forms back to you tomorrow. I need to go now because Jack wanted me to go through some office procedures before I leave for the day.’

‘Sure. See you again soon.’ He winks at me, which looks totally creepy on him. I mean, if you’re hot and young, I would probably make a concession. Coming from him? Eee-yew!

That wasn’t the first or the last time that Kenneth liked to put his ‘busy hands’ on my body or invade my personal space. It started to get to the point where I loathed the days I was due to work at the office. Suddenly the days at uni seemed so much more inviting. I didn’t tell anyone about his increasing attention towards me because I didn’t know whether I was seeing things out of context. I mean, there would be nothing worse than reporting it, only to be told not to flatter myself. It happens. Besides, he’d been with the firm for years. Surely if this were a problem then things would have surfaced before now. So I do my best to avoid him and stick to being around the others in the office. If I need to go to the restroom, which is located in the alleyway out the back of the building, then I make sure that I go at the same time as one of the other girls in the office.

It was only a matter of time before things came to a head. Kenneth’s attention has stepped up a notch in the last few weeks, even asking if I was free for dinner, or whether I was available on the weekend to join him for breakfast. Then there are the inadvertent touches here or there, but making no apology for his hands-on approach. It has always
been when we are alone, which isn’t frequent, but enough for him to put the moves on me. There are days when the legal team go to court and don’t come back to the office for close of business and I’m left to lock up on my own. He, of course, is always here, lurking.

Today is one of those days. It’s a Tuesday night and Tyler is picking me up from work to take me to watch him at practice this evening. He has his first game of the season this Friday night and they have a practice match scheduled with some of the reserves from the Souths football club this evening. I know he’ll be waiting down the side street in his car because he has done it many times before. With only fifteen minutes until knock off, I finished typing the letter I am working on before switching the phones over to the answering service. Just as I’m gathering my bag, Kenneth emerges from his office.

‘Hey there, you want to catch a drink before going home?’

‘No thanks, I have plans.’ I quickly head for the front door, but he already has his briefcase in tow and is following like a dog at my heels. I leave him to switch on the alarm and lock the front door, while I take the extra few seconds to get ahead of him. When I round the street corner, I can see Tyler across the street. Relief floods me. With him about, I always feel safe. He’s grinning at me when I feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder. The look on Tyler’s face turns to thunder as I’m pushed up against the brick wall of the building. Kenneth is oblivious to the murderous boyfriend in the car across the street. Instead his focus is on my chest before his eyes travel up towards my lips. With his close proximity, I can smell his stale coffee breath in my nostrils.

‘Back off Kenneth,’ I say, shrinking as close to the wall as I can.

‘Hey, no need to be nasty. I’m just being friendly.’ His fingers caress my cheek before dropping down my neck towards my breast.

‘Seriously, I wouldn’t.’

‘And why not?’ he says, licking his lips like he wants to eat me in one bite.

‘Because he won’t be happy,’ I say, pointing over his shoulder as Tyler storms at us. Kenneth turns around just in time to have his nose connect with Tyler’s fist. I side-step both of them, eager to get out of their way as Kenneth stumbles sideways. Tyler has white hot rage rolling off him in waves. He easily has 25 kilos on Kenneth and he uses his strength to practically lift him off his feet while he holds him by the scruff of the neck against the wall.

‘You see her?’ Tyler demands. Kenneth says nothing, too dumbfounded to respond.

‘Do you see her?’ he yells, yanking Kenneth’s face sideways to look at me. He nods furiously, suddenly eager to answer the question. Blood has started to pour from his nose, making a right mess of his perfectly pressed shirt.

‘I can’t hear you, you fucking dickwad!’
‘Yes, yes, I see her.’

‘Good. Because if you EVER touch her again, you’re a dead man! You got that? There’ll be no lawsuit filed against you man, I’ll just settle this old school. I don’t know how you feel about having your fingers ripped off and shoved up your own arse, but let me tell you, I won’t be gentle.’

‘I wo … I won’t t … touch her,’ he stutters.

‘Good.
We have an understanding then?’ Tyler’s raised eyebrows ignite a furious nod from Kenneth.

‘Great. Now fuck off before I rip you a new one.’ As Kenneth turns to leave, Tyler directs a massive kick to his backside, making him drop his briefcase and land on his knees. He stumbles back up and scurries down the street to his parked car. The image of him reminds me of a rat; a dirty, slimy sewer rat that needs to be exterminated. Kenneth starts his car and peels out of the street without a backwards glance.

Satisfied that the threat has been removed, Tyler turns to me. Both hands reach for the sides of my face, pulling me close so that he can whisper against my lips.

‘Are you okay baby? Did he hurt you?’

‘I’m fine … now.’

‘I could have killed him, fucking pervert. Seriously, Mack, why haven’t you said anything about this arsehole?’

‘I don’t know. I didn’t want to cause waves at work – he’s been there longer than me. There’s a part of me that thought maybe I was being presumptuous, you know, like he is just that way with everyone.’

‘He probably is that way with everyone because he thinks he can get away with it. He’s nothing more than a filthy creep. If he ever lays a finger on you again, I won’t be able to stop next time.’

‘I don’t think he’ll be any more trouble. In fact, I’m pretty sure you just scared the living shit out of him.’

‘Good, because anyone touches my girl and they’re going to have to answer to me. Are you sure you’re okay?’

‘Yeah, actually, I’m kind of turned on right now.’ I grin wickedly at Tyler and his eyes bulge out of their sockets.

‘Oh really?’

‘Yeah, the whole ‘You Jane, me Tarzan’ thing totally suits you.’

‘Well in that case, I’m going to have to go all testosterone male on you more often.’

‘Hmm, I think I’d like that.’ His lips find mine and he kisses me with an intensity that makes me go weak at the knees. A familiar tug pulls at my belly and I want him. Now.

‘Are you sure you have to go to footy practice right now?’

‘Oh crap, we better go or I’m going to be late,’ he groans reluctantly. Linking his fingers with mine, he runs across the street with me towards his car. Damn. I’ll just have to wait until later to get him alone.

Mackenzie

‘He did what?’ Levi screeches.

‘Yep, totally kicked his arse right there on the street.’ I’m watching Tyler run across the lit field of ANZ Stadium. Their coach, Mick Williams
, is blowing the whistle from time to time and barking out orders to the players. Levi and I both watch from the sidelines; drooling a little as the men run past. Tyler has to be one of the youngest players, but he matches each and every one of them with his size. Their training session is just about over and I’m filling Levi in on the office perv.

‘I wish I’d been there, although I can’t say I would have been any use to you.’

‘Tyler certainly sorted him out.’

‘I’m glad. Hey, are you guys coming to watch Jonas play tonight?’

‘For sure, we wouldn’t miss it.’ Jonas’ band, Walkers Sorrow had a gig at the Coogee Hotel lined up for tonight.

‘Cool. Do you mind if I grab a lift with you guys? I caught a bus over so I could drink without having to drive.’

‘Sure.’

‘Hey, is that … Marla?’ I look to where he’s pointing. He’s right. From where we sit on the bleachers we can see her plain as day. Blonde and buxom, she’s a little hard to miss. Besides, I’d know that head toss anywhere. She’s got a tight black mini-skirt on with a barely-there tank-top. Standing on the sidelines of the field, it’s clear she’s waiting for someone. We watch as she twirls a strand of hair around her finger.

‘What the fuck is she doing here?’ I wonder.

‘We’ll find out soon enough.’

When coach blows the whistle to signal time, the players disperse to hit the showers. As they run past Marla, she waves at a few of them. When Tyler goes to move past her to walk over to where Levi and I are sitting, she grabs his arm to stop him. He looks down at where she has hold of him before meeting her gaze. Like all tarts, she bats her eyelashes at him and smiles coyly. He shakes his head and peels her fingers off him before continuing over to us. She glares in our direction before stopping one of the other players.

‘Hey baby, hi Levi.’

‘Hey man, good game.’

‘Thanks.’

‘What did she want?’ I question, looking over his shoulder with venom.

‘Who? Marla?’ he asks, seemingly surprised.

‘Yeah.’

‘She wanted a lift to the Coogee Hotel. She heard we were all heading there.’

‘Why would she go with you?’

‘She wouldn’t. I have no idea why she asked, she usually hangs out with Benson and his mates.’ Benson from our high school managed to make the team too. Unfortunately for Chuck, he hit the booze and the drugs too hard and never made it professionally. Now when the football team goes out socially, he’s usually a hanger on. He’s a friend through association, although he’s had his face punched in on more than one occasion because they can’t tolerate the fact that he’s a loose cannon.

‘Mackenzie said I could grab a ride with you guys, is that okay?’ Levi is doing his best to diffuse the situation by diverting Tyler’s attention.

‘Sure man, I’ll just grab a quick shower first.’ He leans forward and plants a kiss on my head. He’s sweaty and gross, but his ability to placate me instantly with a kiss is not lost on me. ‘See you out front Mack.’ He trots of in the direction of the locker room.

With Tyler out of earshot, Levi starts in on me.

‘You think you’re going to be able to handle this?’

‘What do you mean by ‘this’?’ I grumble.

‘Tyler, being a wanted man. Because you know there are going to be heaps more Marla’s out there just waiting in the wings for a chance to be with Mr Hot-Right-Now, right?’

‘I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.’ I know I’m acting like a jealous, sullen brat. But I can’t help it. Marla could have anyone – why my guy?

‘Well don’t let it affect your relationship with Tyler. You know the minute they start televising their games he’s going to get heaps more exposure. You’re going to have to prepare yourself for him to start receiving a whole lot more attention. But don’t worry; you’ve got a good guy there. He loves you and won’t cross the line. You just need to give him the trust he deserves.’

‘For his sake, I hope you’re right.’

****

With Walkers Sorrow already playing, we could hear music coming out of the Coogee Hotel from where we parked Tyler’s car down the street. We enter the pub from the beer garden and are hollered at by some of the other football players. Tyler grips my hand tightly as we make our way through the crowd to the inside stage where Jonas is playing. We wait until they finish their set before we say hello.

With them all taking a break for dinner, they decided to join us at a table back out in the beer garden. The only table left is one situated next to Benson and Marla. She seems kind of interested in him, even so far as whispering in his ear. Well, that was until we sat down. Then she couldn’t take her eyes off our group. With any luck she had her eye on one of the musos, but I had a feeling footballers where more her style.

By the time we finish our meals and chat for a while, it is time for Walkers Sorrow to go back on stage. Tonight they are covering a lot of stuff from Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker. For a Tuesday night, the main bar is packed. Normally the beach side pub prefers the live rock bands, but word spreads quickly. When a local footy team assembles en masse, you find a lot of hangers-on come a knocking. Tyler, Levi and I are centred round a barrel, enjoying the music with a few other players from Souths. Tyler leaves to grab a round of drinks and comes back carrying a tray with a smile.

Everyone is drinking alcohol except for me. Tyler hands out their beverages before handing me my bottle of water.

‘Here’s
your bottle of water, babe.’ Tyler slips my drink on the table next to me before wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling my ear. I can smell beer on his breath, tickling my skin and giving me a thrill that runs straight down my back. From the next table over, a whiny voice breaks into my moment of bliss.

‘Water? Shit, what are you afraid of Mackenzie – getting fat?’ Marla and her fucking mouth. I swear to god, I’ve had enough of her shit tonight.

‘You mean
fat like you?’ I retort. Marla huffs in response.

‘At least I don’t vomit all over my date,’ she laughs hysterically. That is it! Something inside me snaps and there is no holding back. Somewhere in the background I can hear Levi snarling at her, saying, ‘she’s the DD you idiot,’ referring to the fact that I’m the designated driver. Through the throng of the pub, I leap out of Tyler’s arms and pounce on her, yanking her perfectly curled locks backwards so I can give her face a good slap.

‘Oh here we go,’ yells someone from the sidelines. I’m pumped, the adrenalin taking over my body makes me feel like I’m invincible. She’s squealing like a pig while I unleash my pent up anger on her. By the time Tyler pulls me off her and throws me over his shoulder she’s yelling blue bloody murder.

‘Get that crazy bitch out of here!’ Marla squeals as though her life depends on it.

‘Serves you right,’ grins Levi victoriously.

‘Nothing to see here folks, carry on. I’m just gonna get this hellcat outta here,’ he laughs.
He laughs!
He weaves through the crowd of people, carrying me in a fireman’s hold out into the back alleyway of the pub. The instant my feet are on the concrete I’m ready to tear back into the pub and finish what I started.

‘Whoa there,’ he grins.

‘Move, Tyler,’ I hiss.

‘Baby, baby. She’s not worth it. She’s a piece of shit who likes to talk trash. Don’t take a single word she says to heart. You know I love you, right? So leave her to her antics and come here and make out with me,’ he coaxes. My temper simmers, just a little bit.

‘She was asking for it.’

‘I know, and I would totally be in there defending your honour, except I would rather be out here with you all to myself.’ God, he knows just how to sucker me in. In the darkness of the alleyway, his blue eyes have taken on the colour of the ocean under a moonlit sky. They’re pleading with me. Begging me. He wants me, just as much as I want him. I realise then, that nothing anyone says is going to change how he feels about me.

‘Fine, you win. But only because I can’t resist those lips of yours.’ In a much calmer frame of mind I casually saunt towards him. In one fluid motion he lifts me up to straddle his waist while he rests my back against the building. My hands circle his neck, pulling his mouth towards mine. His tongue seeks mine out before dancing lightly across my lips. The only thing that cools us down is the light rain that has started to fall. Letting go of the past – high school bullies, my eating disorder, the hurt from my parents’ divorce – it may be hard, but Tyler certainly makes it a hell of a lot easier.