Beauty in Cinders

CHAPTER 9

Beatrice tucked her blouse into her pencil skirt before running her hands through her strawberry blond hair. She made a face when she noticed her lips were bare from the rep lipstick she had originally put on before arriving at the motel room. Placing her clutch purse on top of the dresser, she took out her lipstick and reapplied it. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Gregory who was still in bed. He leered at her.

"I needed this so bad," he said to her. Beatrice rolled her eyes. She took out her travel size version of her favorite White Gardenia perfume and sprayed it all over her chest. She always felt dirty after sleeping with Gregory. She thought back to the times she slept with Heath and how she never felt that way with him. She resented that this was what she had to resort to now – not that she had a choice in the matter. Beatrice glared at Gregory through the mirror grudgingly.

"Aren't you going to say anything, babe?"

Beatrice whirled around, putting her things back in her clutch. "Don't call me."

"Well, aren't you in a mood," Gregory snickered. "I don't know about you, but my bad mood just disappeared the moment we hit the sack."

"Lucky for you," Beatrice replied curtly as she sat in bed and put her shoes back on. Gregory crawled up behind her and kissed her neck.

"I love that scent on you," Gregory said to her. Beatrice pushed his face away.

"Please don't taint it," Beatrice said in disgust. The last thing she needed was for Gregory to make her start hating the perfume. She remembered the first time she ever smelled it. It had been the very first gift Heath had ever given to her. Beatrice thought back to the day she opened the little box he handed to her. When she saw the perfume she immediately put it on and fell in love with it. Beatrice had worn it ever since. No other fragrance had ever compared to her White Gardenia. Beatrice stared off sadly into the boring undecorated wall of the motel room. She missed Heath very much.

"Where are you?" Gregory asked, finally starting to sound annoyed. "We have an agreement here. This is no fun if it seems like I'm forcing you."

"You are," Beatrice said to him and stood. Gregory reached up and grabbed her hand before she could walk away. She looked back at him angrily.

"You don't have to make it so obvious, though," Gregory gritted his teeth, forcing a smile. "Need I remind you that we have a deal? You and I are in all this together."

Beatrice yanked her hand away, "I didn't think it would mean sleeping together."

"Don't pretend like I started it," Gregory scoffed. "You were the one who kissed me that night. You started this little affair of ours."

"I was drunk," Beatrice retorted.

"All inhibitions seize to exist when drunk," Gregory said, "So you were actually acting out on your real feelings. I would hardly call it an impulse."

"There is only one man that I've ever cared for," Beatrice said to him, trying to keep her anger under control, "That's Heath. Just because I have an occasional urge does not mean I'm proud of the fact after it's done."

"Ah-ha! See? Why make it seem like I'm forcing you to have sex with me then?"

Beatrice bit her lip, realizing he was right. While she hated herself each time she had sex with Gregory, she couldn't deny that sometimes her desires got the best of her. She couldn't help it, she was a woman with needs. Of course, there was going to be days and nights where all she wanted was to feel the caress of a man. Sometimes, when she's with Gregory, she even pretended it was Heath who was making love to her. The disappointment always appeared rather quickly the moment it was all over. That's when she felt sad, lonely, and disgusting. This was her right now.