The Dusk Room

The Dusk Room chapter 17

Life with Fane has been surprisingly easy. He always told me that it wouldn't be easy being with him, but he's being proved wrong. It honestly couldn't be easier. I make him happy and he makes me happy. The brooding, burdened vampire that first captivated me many months ago is now far more relaxed and resigned. He still has this overprotective edge to him, which can get slightly tiresome at times, but overall, I find it rather endearing. The underpinning of it all, is that he loves me. With that loves, comes his overwhelming need to protect me. My mum has met him and was instantly bowled over by him, telling me that an overprotective man is a man who understands the true value of the person that he's protecting. I know and fully understand why Fane is so protective. Beneath our blanket of happiness still lurks the possible threat of his cousin, but that threat hasn't stopped us from living our lives. Fane and his people are still searching for Doru, in the hope that the threat will once and for all be eliminated. In the meantime, we try to pretend that the threat is not there. We go to the cinema. We go out for romantic meals. We've had those promised picnics, pork pies and all. We've snuggled up in bed and allowed Mozart and Beethoven to unify our contentedness with the emotive and harmonious sounds filling our elated ears. We've been discovering more about one another and simply enjoying it. We have fallen into a loving and comfortable routine. I go to work during the weekdays and Fane works in the evenings. On Saturday's and Sunday's, during the day, we always try to do things that are anywhere away from the club. Even if it's just out for a coffee somewhere, I try to give Fane a breather from The Dusk Room. I know it's his life, his thriving livelihood, but he still needs to get away from it at times. The club is already a big part of his life, it just doesn't need to be his entire life anymore.

My happy thoughts are soon interrupted when I feel the shuddered vibration of a text message coming from my mobile phone that's hidden out of sight in my desk drawer at work. Horrid Hodges hates our mobiles being in plain sight, he thinks it's terribly unprofessional. So my mobey always gets safely snuck into the top drawer; on vibrate.

Pretending to look for some paper clips, I casually take a peep; grinning when I see that it's from Fane.

Afternoon babe.

Can you wear your skinny jeans tonight? Your ass looks really sexy in them. I love how it drives everyone crazy, but they can't do anything about it because you're mine!!

Fane xxxx

Grinning more at his text with a slight roll of my eye, I quickly shut the drawer. Yup, I forgot to mention how charmingly bossy he can be, too.

Not that I'm complaining about it. I love Fane exactly the way that he is. He makes me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. The most intelligent and the most wanted girl in the world, so a little bit of bossiness from his gorgeous self is actually fine and dandy with me.
The truth is, he brings out the best in me. He's unearthed my inner sass and self worth. He's made me believe that I can be who I want, when I want. Let's be honest here, I'm no model. I have ordinary long brown hair, a prettily plain face with not very long legs. I know I'm nowhere near like the drop dead gorgeous girls you see shopping in Oxford Street and Portobello. I'm just me, Darla Johnson. The very loved, and very appealing to Fane Vladimirescu, Darla Johnson. Fane validates me, he validates my subtle beauty. And because he finds me attractive, I feel attractive. I'm no longer that girl who just sat at home moping around, only going to bingo on a Monday night with her mum because that meant she did have some remnant of a social life. No, that girl is long gone. In her place, is a girl who walks with her head held high and a natural sexy sway to her fleshy size twelve hips. Fane helped that girl emerge and I'm glad that he has. I like being who I am when I'm with him, and I like being me when I am not with him. I like me now. Darla Johnson is actually pretty damn special. So I'll gladly wear those skinny jeans for my gorgeous man. I'll wear them with sassy pride because I'll know that sassy pride will be deliciously appreciated. Which in turn, will quietly piss off Kira. Ah, the delightful Kira...not! As mine and Fane's relationship gets excitingly hotter, our relationship is most certainly getting colder. I don't like her, and the feeling is very much mutual. In front of Fane, she's all sickly sweet and smiles with me. When he's not around, she throws me nothing but killer looks and impolite grunts my way. That makes me distrustful of her. Beneath those lashed up lashes of hers, lie only sinister stares. She looks at me like she's counting up all the ways in which she would love to kill me, yet Fane never sees it. If I ever say anything, I just come across as the adorably cute, but very jealous, girlfriend. Unlike her, I don't hide my disdain for the snide and viscous little vamp. I make my thoughts very much known when she subtly tries to touch Fane's arm or shoulder, or with her overly infatuated eyes, she'll flutter her lashes up at him if he happens to call her by her name. Seriously, it's putridly vile to watch. The thing is, she doesn't make me insecure and jealous...she makes me mad. If I were tall enough, I'd knock those perfect teeth of hers so far down her throat, she'd be shitting pearly whites for days! But I can't. I just keep on playing along with her stupid little games, in the hope that she'll mess up one day soon. Which won't be tonight. No, tonight, tramp vamp will be swanning around like she's queen bloody bee. It's her birthday, so I'm told that I'm to behave myself and try to be nice. She has flown in a top DJ, all the way from Los Angeles. He's a huge crowd puller, so of course, Fane was right on board from the start. I think this is where I possibly need to change combat strategy. The more I react, the more ammunition I give her. The more vocal I am about my dislike for her, the more stupid I look. So, me and my skinny jeans are going for all out war tonight—silent, all out war.