The Good Bad Girl

Chapter 10 Farmer's Market

"Thank you," I say to the florist. 

"So, what is with you and the one rose," Mara my best friend and Klaus's girlfriend says. We were in the farmers market shopping for everyday essentials. Well, she was shopping and I was buying flowers. Or just rose for Leona. "You promoting Beauty and the Beast?"

"No, they have Emma Stone for that," 

She laughs, "You mean Watson," 

"You got it, right? That's what matters."

"How can you always forget their names but remember the periodic table?" She says while balancing her shopping bag that was filled with all sorts of root vegetables and sauces. 

"I would if their name is as interesting as the periodic table," I take the bag of sauces from her and sway it on our way to the meat shop. "You're cooking dinner tonight?"

"No, please I don't even know how to boil water Liv." 

Right. How could I forget that? Her cooking is as bad as Klaus's archery. Maybe this is why they both have managed to stick together with each other for two years. Their idea of dividing work they both have a strong hand in has helped them a lot.

And the third wheel I am. The best friend to Mara and sister to Klaus, their added relationship has come to my advantage in many ways mostly which includes food.

"Besides, you know how testy Klaus can get if I work in his area. I am just shopping for the things he told me to get for tonight and also before I forget, I've set you up for a blind date,"

My eyes widen with panic, "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because you're my friend and it's been a long time since you've been out and about with a guy." 

"Out and about?" I press my lips, "Seriously?"

"What? Do you want me to say fucked in front of kids?"

"There are no kids here." I say looking around, "It's a farmer's market. Unless someone wants their whiny kids in the middle of the busy road screaming and crying for marshmallows I don't think they're needed here."

We stop in front of the meat shop. Different sizeable portions of chicken and red meat are displayed inside a plastic container. I quickly turn my head and focus my eyes on something else that doesn't remind me of blood and flesh. 

"I'll take the chicken," she says to the vendor and I try to find interest in the pottery shop a block away from us. It's ceramic and muddy art looks good. It's unique if not new with those ink lines of flowers along their surface.  "What do you think?" Mara nudges me, "You want to consider this person? He's nice and I think he used to have a crush on you."

"Do I even know this guy?" I ask looking back at her. 

"You might, he used to attend Northern High School,"

"Our high school?" 

"Yep, he's a North alumnus."

"What is his name?"

"Michael Lynch."

"Never heard of him," I say as we pass the potter shop and exit the market. 

"That's not a big deal. He was a senior when we started our freshmen and by the time we climbed the classes he was already a graduate. He now works with me at the firm."

"He's a consultant?"

"No silly. He works at the consultancy firm but he's not a consultant. He's a PR agent. Looks good, has broad shoulders, is brown and you might like this fact about him but he's a big no-no spot for clowns. Just like you,"

I drawl, "I am not afraid of clowns and if your forgetting, I wasn't the one who peed while watching IT,"

She gasps, "And I told you it was a pee. I dropped the juice. How many times do I tell you?"

"Truth does come in light, you know. There's nothing wrong with you peeing in the dark,"

"Oh, my god." She fastens her speed. 

I laugh and we quickly fetch a cab to her and Klaus's place. Twenty minutes later, I was in the living room of the grossest couple in town. Their love makes them so blind that one, forget they have their sister on the couch of their apartment before smooching.

"I swear to god if I hear another giggle from her, I am burning this building down and taking you with me," I say throwing a pillow at Klaus's face. He catches it and tucks it underneath his arm before pushing Mara out of the kitchen. 

"Go accompany her. She's being testy because of her dry spell." Klaus says and I throw another pillow at him. 

Mara hops on the couch beside me and takes the remote from my lap. "I have a better option to make you less cranky. How about instead of thrillers you watch this?" she changes the show and picks a different movie on Netflix. 

"The Notebook?" 

"I am sure Ryan Gosling will help you find answers with the blind date thing."

I sink deeper into the couch, "I don't think going on a blind date is a good idea," I say but when she skips the entire movie and stops it at those parts where Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are kissing, I get a flutter in my belly. 

I shove a cushion between my legs unconsciously as a vivid picture of someone flashes with each kiss between the actors. It was the famous rain scene. I try to keep my focus on the movie but it's hard when every now and then I get a reminder of his smell. 

Charcoal and mint.

And something else. 

His emerald eyes turned darker once he took my mask off. So dark and deep like the depth of the ocean. The rough flake of his beard on my skin. A shiver rose and I shudder at the memory of his teeth pressing up my neck then going up till my cheek and mercilessly grabbing the strap of the mask. I close my eyes as Noah picks Allie up. Both of them were drenched in the rain, their clothes sticking wet to their body like paper.

Suddenly, the air conditioning in the room doesn't seem to turn my arousal down. I bit my lip and looked toward their open balcony. The afternoon air blew outside in a summer glow. The rake of leaves with blue of the sky colored the city in a palette of green and blue. 

I suck a sharp breath when I saw my face on the window. Flushed and heated. Just like him. His long hair tied in a slick ponytail, the perfect outline of his broody shoulders. 

Fuck. 

I still can't believe I was married to a man like him. He not only devotes raw masculinity but something about him tells me he is a dangerous person. He's the last person on the revenge list. I was saving my husband for the end I don't know why but now, just a glimpse of him is making me regret all my decision.