50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Thirty-Five

    Options were weighed quickly within a relatively short span of time. Destiny regarded Carlos with an evaluating eye, ran through their short evolution of a friendship. If she were going to spill anything, it wasn't going to be in the front area of the bakery. Abruptly turning on her heel, she trudged through the door separating the front and back room of the bakery.

    "Hey!" she heard Carlos calling after her, but she didn't stop until she was standing outside, behind the bakery.

    Appearing confused, Carlos followed her out of the door. "Well?" he demanded, spreading his arms outward.

    Destiny sighed and tilted her head back, staring up at the sky. The evening's rain had lightened into a drizzle. "So...your assumptions were correct. Aubrey and I...were seeing each other, for a period of time."

    "No shit," Carlos said, withdrawing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "What I want to know is, what has both of you running around acting all crazy?"

    Destiny sat on a low cement ledge behind the bakery with her elbows resting on her knees. She glanced over her shoulder and observed the passing traffic before saying, "He is...a very intense man."

    "Tell me something I don't know, Destiny," Carlos said, gesturing for her to get on with it.

    "I'm trying," she said, covering her face with her hands. "This isn't easy for me to talk about."

    "All right, sweetie, take your time then." He checked the cigarette carton in his pocket. "I have six cigs left. I've got all the time in the world, honey."

    She took a deep breath and lowered her hands into her lap. "He has very...specific interests. Sexually."

    "How specific?" Carlos asked, tapping the end of his cigarette.

    "Have you ever heard of dominance and submission?" she asked him, genuinely curious.

    His eyes widened and he sat down next to her. "No way."

    "Way."

    "Sex slave shit? Him?" Carlos laughed and took a long drag from his cigarette. "That tall, hunk of beauty who knows how to dress? Is into...what? Spanking? Collars? 'Call me Sir'? Bondage?"

    "All of the above."

    Carlos squealed.

    "Shh!" she hissed at him, slapping his arm.

    "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, okay I'm sorry," he said, making an effort to bring down his excitement level.

    "I can trust you, right, Carlos?" she asked, worried. "I don't want this to get out. You have to promise me you won't talk to a soul about this."

    He made a cross over his heart. "And hope to die, honey. Oh my God." He ran a hand through his curly black hair. "So...he's into that and, what? You aren't? So it caused tension?"

    "There's more than that." All of a sudden she wanted a drag of his cigarette, even though she hated the smell of cigarette smoke. Anything to calm her nerves. "To be involved with him, I'd have to sign a contract. A contract saying what I can and can't do, and what he's supposed to do, as my Dominant. And...one of the things was that I couldn't date anyone else, while he could still date and sleep with other women."

    Carlos twisted his mouth in disgust. "Some sexy points were definitely lost there," he said, nodding his head. "That would turn me off, too, yeah. I'm possessive."

    "Right?" she asked him, relieved that he understood. "I want him to myself. The thought of him being with another woman...I couldn't stand it. And I kept having these debates with myself, you know? Could I live with that? Could I live under those conditions, knowing he could be out with someone else?"

    He shook his head. "Not me. I'm definitely not the one to put up with that."

    "Well I was going to try. And I went to his hotel, prepared to sign the contract and give myself to him. But..." She closed her eyes, fighting back the imagery of the woman who'd been draped across his lap, eager to get her punishment. "He was with another woman. Since I told him I had to work for the weekend, he decided to make other plans."

    Carlos was still shaking his head. "It all makes sense, now. Wow. You've been dealing with all of this by yourself?"

    "I do feel better, getting it out," she admitted. "But...just when I thought I was beginning to get over him, he had to pop back up in my life. At my job. And mess up my head all over again."

    "I can understand the confusion," Carlos said. "He's beautiful and perfect and you want to do whatever it takes to be with him, right? But it goes against everything you believe."

    "Relationships are sacred to me," she said, nodding. "Between two people. He claims he doesn't believe in love, but I don't believe him. Or...if he doesn't, I think he wants to. I don't know."

    "Show him the way, honey," Carlos encouraged.

    "He won't let me," she said, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around her knees. "He refuses to let me in."

    Carlos sighed. "With something like this, there won't be an easy answer as to what you should do. Something like this, you just have to feel it out. Follow your heart. Just don't be one of those girls who thinks you can change a man, because those plans almost always fail."

    "I know."

    "If you decide to go back to him, assume that he will stay the same for the entire time you're together. And if that means he'd be seeing other women then you'd have to be okay with that."

    She rested her chin on top of her knees. "All of his other qualities are so perfect," she mumbled in disdain.

    "Isn't that how it always goes?" Carlos asked, finishing off his cigarette and dropping it on the ground. "You find someone who is amazing. Who completely rocks your world. And then there's always something, something major, that rocks the boat. And you can either stay in the boat and deal with it, or jump the fuck out and swim as far away as you can get."

    She remained quiet.

    "Oh pobrecita, come here." He wrapped her up in a bear hug. "Everything is going to work out. Somehow, some way. Trust me. I know these things."

    "I'm usually an optimistic person, but I can't imagine any way for things to work out," she mumbled into his shoulder.

    "Just because the way hasn't occurred to you doesn't mean that it doesn't exist," he said wisely.

    She laughed and sighed as they pulled out of the embrace.

    He lit up another cigarette. "I just need you to promise me one thing," he said, his tone turning serious.

    She arched a brow at him. "What?"

    "If you do decide to go all Secretary on him and allow him to tie you up and a gag you up and shit, you better tell me. I need to know these things."

    She laughed and shook her head.