Shades of Shame (Semper Fi) (15 page)

She lay motionless on the bench while he untied her.  Her mind was racing back and forth between the love she felt for Logan, and the naughty void his father filled.  Guilt began to demolish her; she knew she couldn’t go back to Logan now.  There was no future with David, not that she wanted one with him.  But Logan offered her something she didn’t even know she wanted.  Now she had nothing, nothing at all.

“Very good fucking, Miss Johnson,” David said as he slapped her ass and began to get dressed.  “I want to see you come like that again later.”

Leila was shaken to her core, both literally and figuratively.  Her body was still shivering.  The Senator slapped her ass with fervor, “Alright slut, get the fuck out of my house now,” he said as he walked out of the room.

Leila found her clothes and struggled into them.  Enough was enough!  Fuck him!  Leila Johnson wasn’t going to let some prick Senator keep her from what she wanted.  She’d beaten men a hell of a lot stronger than his old gray ass.  That was the exact moment she’d realized that she no longer wanted this man or any other who treated her this way.  Not now, not ever again.  What she wanted was Logan McNarry and the entire world could go straight to hell if they tried to stop her from having him.  She felt abused, neglected and tortured.  What she wanted more than anything was to fall into Logan’s arms now; let him surround her, protect her from this horror.  Everything she’d thought she wanted was no longer viable. 
If getting to the White House meant putting up with this kind of crap
, then she wanted nothing to do with it.

She climbed down the stairs and found him sitting at his desk as though nothing had happened.  “Go fuck yourself,” she said as she walked past his desk towards his front door.  She was trying to unlock the door when she felt his hand strongly on her forearm.

“Excuse me?” he said, anger emanating from his words.

Leila flung around despite his grip on her arm, “I’m sorry; I thought I was speaking English.  I said go fuck yourself.”

He let go of her arm and glared at her, “Young lady, language like that is not acceptable!”

Her eyes leveled on him, “Look David, I’m done with this.  I thought I wanted something from you, as it turns out you have absolutely nothing I want.  You disgust me.”

His blue eyes flashed, “Wait, did little Miss Johnson think that I’d leave my wife, my entire life for her if she swallowed his come?” The Senator laughed wickedly.  “Oh my dear, I certainly expected more from a girl like you.  That’s such a rookie mistake!”

“Thank you, sir.  I agree with you.  It’s not one that I plan on making again.  You’ll need to find another intern to abuse from now on.  As for me, I’m going to find your son and beg him for forgiveness.  If he loves me as much as I love him then maybe, just maybe, he’ll forgive me.”

David grabbed her by the neck sternly, “You will NOT tell my son any of this, do you hear me you little slut?”

Leila jerked away from him and pressed the panic key on the car keys in her hand.  David was momentarily shocked by the sudden noise of her car alarm sounding just outside his front door.  It gave her a moment to find the latch on the door.  She opened it in front of her and took a step onto the front step, “Count your blessings that it’s only Logan I plan on confessing to!” She stomped down the brick front steps and climbed into her BMW.  She was careful to lock herself inside the car before turning off the alarm.  On a last glance back at the McNarry house she saw David standing in the doorway glaring at her, she lifted her hand and flipped him her middle finger.

Here for You

Patricia Johnson pulled her sleek new beamer into the visitor’s spot in front of the McNarry home.  The short drive from her townhome was barely enough time to go over in her head exactly what to say to Elise.  She knew this day would come, but nevertheless, the pain in her lover’s voice was almost too much to take.  Elise was, after all, her oldest and dearest friend.  Elise’s husband, David, was her meal ticket.

Patricia no sooner stepped out of her car when Ronald appeared to greet her.  “Thank God you’re here, Miss Johnson.  Elise’s been screamin’ and cryin’ for the last hour!”

“She’s okay?”

“Don’t know for sure.  She’s locked up tight in her room!  But you can hear her kickin’ and throwing stuff in there.  I tried to call Mister McNarry, but I can’t get him on the phone.”

“I’ll take it from here, Ronald.  Would you grab my bags for me?  They’re in the trunk.”  She rushed into the open door and nearly ran right into Gracie, who was delicately balancing a silver tray of food in her hands.

“Whoa!  Slow down, Miss Johnson,” Gracie said as Patricia nearly knocked her down in her rush to get to Elise.  Gracie never had any qualms regarding letting Patricia Johnson know that she didn’t approve of her.

“In her room?” Patricia asked, pointing up the stairs.

“Yep.  Won’t come down for supper.  I think he’s done it for good this time.”

“Logan?”

“He’s at the Boston house for the weekend.”

“He’s okay?”

“Oh sure, he ordered a new boat and went up there to pick it up.  That girl of yours might have gone with him, I heard him talkin’ to her on the phone.”

“Oh good, I’ll take that,” Patricia said, taking the tray out of Gracie’s hands.

“Sure,” Gracie said as Patricia turned and headed up the stairs.

She knew the day would come when Elise finally had enough of David’s indiscretions; she didn’t blame her friend one bit.  Still, with an upcoming campaign on the horizon, this was the most inopportune time possible for this to happen.  Steadying herself against the ornately carved cherry handrail, she slowly climbed the steps, her thighs and arms burning under the weight of the silver tray.  She was pleasantly relieved to reach the door to Elise’s room and thankful for the wooden buffet table that sat majestically next to the heavy colonial style door.  Sliding the tray onto the buffet table she straightened her skirt and cursed her heels.  She could hear Elise sobbing through the door, and it crushed her heart.

She slipped her master key out of her pocket, a key she’d used many times before with Elise.  She pushed the door open slightly and peered into the room.  She stuck her head and her head alone in the room to survey the situation.  Patricia and Elise had been best friends since college.  After all these years, Elise’s tantrums were nothing new.  That certainly didn’t mean they weren’t disturbing on many levels.

Patricia slipped off her heels to assure herself good footing through the carnage left in the wake of Elise’s rampage.  There was no doubt Elise was way past the point of anger.  She made her way over to her friend and dropped to her knees on the thick oriental carpet and wrapped her arms around her friend.  “Shh, it’s going to be alright.”  She held her head in one hand while trying to cover her friend with the remnants of the silk blouse.  “It’s okay, I’m here now.”

“I can’t believe he’d do this to me, to Logan.  I just can’t believe it.”

Patricia held her tight as she closed her eyes, the utter and complete decimation of her dearest friend was something she’d dreaded since the day she’d met David McNarry.  She had warned David too many times, now he’d screwed up big time and to top it off this time there were photos.  At that moment an incredible sense of ownership swept over her, she pulled Elise to her tightly and sobbed with her.  She knew one day that David’s indiscretions would eventually destroy his family.  But she also knew the lifestyle of a politician was such that one cannot describe unless one has lived it.  It was way too addictive, and once the taste of power was consumed, there was no turning back.  Even she had fallen victim to the pressures of politics.  Her times alone with Elise were the only moments of sanity she seemed to have anymore.  She couldn’t blame David exclusively, his personality was more than just infectious and alluring, it was downright smoldering.  She just never felt the toll political life takes on a person until it affected someone this close to her.  Once again Patricia was acutely aware that her own feelings for Elise ran much deeper than any she had for any other human.

She felt the warmth of her body as she pulled Elise to her.  She could fix this, Patricia thought.  She could fix the entire scenario.  She just had to come up with the best solution possible.

Patricia stood and pulled Elise to her feet and guided her to the couch in front of the fire place.  She poured a glass of red wine and sat next to her friend.  The sobs had just about run their course as Elise’s visibly shaking hands took the glass from Patricia.  She sipped the liquid slowly as Patricia wiped Elise’s hair out of her eyes.

Patricia’s mind scanned her thoughts for comforting words.  There was nothing she could say that would take the sting out of seeing photos of your husband with some slut intern.  By this afternoon, Lindsay Smith would be out on her heels; Patricia had already taken steps to have her sent to another office, one that was far away from David.

“It’s hot as balls in here Elise!” Patricia said wiping the onset of perspiration from her upper lip.  “Why in hell do you have a fire going this time of year?”

Elise choked a little, “I burned them, the pictures, I burned them.  You can turn it off now.”

Patricia stared into the gas fireplace, sure enough remnants of a manila folder rested on the fake logs.  They were melted completely now, but still smoldering.  She chuckled as she poured herself a glass of wine, “did it make you feel better?”

Elise laughed with her, “as a matter of fact it did!”

Patricia kissed the top of Elise’s head tenderly, “So what now, baby?”

“I’m going to have to divorce him,” Elise said.  “I’ve endured enough.  I just can’t take it anymore.”

“Slow down, Elise.  You’ve got to think this through.”

“What’s to think about?  I’m not stupid.  I know he’s been with others, but it was never flown in my face like this!”  Her anger rose to a visible note once again as she pointed to the fireplace.

“You can’t divorce him, Elise.  You simply can’t.”

“What should I do, embrace him for the embarrassment?  I think not.  No, I want him to suffer!”

“You can’t do this.  You have to think about Logan.”

Elise pulled back, leaning into the arm of the couch as she looked at her oldest friend with contempt and amazement.  “What the hell do you think I’ve been thinking about all these years?”

Patricia looked down at her own glass of wine.  She spoke slowly, plainly, and without emotion as the words stumbled from her lips.  “Divorce would ruin him, politically.  And you need him to be as successful as we all know he can be.”

“Elise settled back on the loveseat facing the fireplace in her bedroom, “Patricia my darling, I have no doubt in my mind that you can make all of this disappear.  I just want to deal with David on my own terms this time.”

Patricia settled on the sofa next to her and watched the gas fire burn, “Do you have a plan?”

Elise laughed, “Well it certainly doesn’t involve a mishap like what happened to that girl last summer,” she shot Patricia a knowing glance.

“How was I to know that girl was allergic to peanuts?”

Elise let out a burst of laughter, “Simply because you know
everything
about the people who work in David’s office?”

Patricia held up her hands in concession, “Okay, okay, but no real harm was done.  A few nights in the hospital taught her the lesson she needed to learn.”

“You switched out his ‘massage’ lotion with peanut oil!  The poor child’s ‘T’ was closed shut for months!  No, you are too damned dangerous.  You let me handle it this time.”

Patricia stared at Elise with a spark of humor; this was why she was so in love with her.  “Alright, I’ll give you this one.  But if I find him fucking another intern I’m going to remove his balls, fair?”

Elise didn’t have one single doubt in her mind that David’s balls would be an ornament on Patricia’s tree at Christmas if she caught him again.  She almost looked forward to it, but this time Elise needed to handle the affair, especially since she’d seen the photos.  “Sounds fair to me!

“Are you sure, because I already had something in mind for Miss Lindsay Smith?”

Elise choked back another swallow of wine, “Lindsay Smith?”

“Isn’t that who was in the photos?” Patricia asked with sincere curiosity.

Elise maintained a perfect white smile, “Oh yeah, I guess.  I just didn’t know her name.”

“And there’s no need to remember it, because as we speak she’s packing her apartment for our district office in South Boston.”

Elise laughed, “South Boston?  Isn’t it fairly dangerous down there by the docks?  I mean for a young, single girl?”

Patricia grinned and gulped her wine, “Probably.  We’ve given her some perks though, an office vehicle and an apartment… near the office… near the dock.”

“Ah, I see,” Elise already knew all about the ‘package’ given to Lindsay Smith as concession for her trouble.  Lindsay had just left the McNarry house a few hours ago after delivering the manila envelope.  Spiteful little bitch.  If she couldn’t fuck David, she wanted to make sure that Elise knew who he was fucking.  It worked out fine; Elise had made a call and asked Wendy to make damn sure that little cunt who was threatening her husband took the worn out office vehicle that Logan had just turned in.  The one that had left him stranded at the Marina a month ago… with an unresolved brake issue.  How dare that bitch come in her house and try to destroy her life!

As for David, Elise had other plans for him, “Enough of all this, darling, how about a hot bath with me?  We can tackle the rest of the world’s problems this afternoon.”

Patricia leaned over and touched her lips tenderly to Elise’s.  Her tongue slid from her mouth and tasted the nectar that was Elise;
damn she always tasted so good! 
“That actually sounds great.  Taking a weekend off to spend with you is just what the doctor ordered to mend my shredded heart.  I won’t have him continuing to hurt you like this, Elise, I can’t stand it.  Do you know that?”

Elise kissed her lovingly, “I know princess, I know.”