Trouvaille (#featured)

· f i v e ·

The past week had been the most grueling Faye had ever had. It was even worse than the sleepless nights she had working on deals with the Silicon Valley big shots who thought her an incompetent greenhorn. At least she knew she was fighting for a cause and accomplishing something productive in her life.

But this? It was just pure madness to battle wills against The Pig! And yet, she found herself stubbornly doing it despite the dark circles that were forming under her eyes.

Not once did she give an inch in giving him all the rights to the bed. Once, she tried lying on the whole thing spread-eagled, only to have her arm numbed by his weight on her. During the day, she felt as if she was some kind of schizophrenic, always expecting him to jump from the shadows with a nasty surprise. She knew that if it were legal to kill anyone, he would have done it.

It was turning out to be so stressful, she knew she wasn't giving her aunt any justice. Not only did she have to be on guard against him every waking hour, but even her sleep was lighter than usual. When he got into the room, the softest footfall could easily cause her to wake, and the moment he went into bed beside her, she would have a very hard time sleeping, if she ever did. In truth, the bathroom was her only safe haven. No matter how much he wanted her out, as long as she was inside, he wasn't coming in.

At least there was still civility left in his barbaric nature.

Which brought her back to the question: How did he get a girlfriend?

Faye stirred the Cranberry Vodka in her hand, inches away from her lips. The deck was filled with families and couples spending their sweet vacation together under the warm sun and in the cool sea breeze. In all of the scenarios, the husband or the boyfriend would be so endearing to her chosen girl and treat her as if she were made of porcelain. She tried imagining Nathan as one of them, but somehow, the image just didn't fit.

Nathan fit more on the other extreme end of the spectrum: the one where...she stopped her thoughts shuddering to even think about how one person can treat another as just an object or a toy.

She sighed and let herself stare off into nothing - her days of unrest finally catching up to her. Her mouth opened to yawn and she felt too tired to cover it with her hands as they absently held onto her drink. She let herself drift off feeling the need to sleep.

A touch on her shoulder made her jump and the contents of her drink spilled onto her lap. It made a pool on her white Capri. Even getting mad about it was too tiring for her. She turned, ready to roll her eyes at Nathan, but stopped. It was one of the cruise's employees.

"I am so sorry about that, Ms. Westbrook. I'll have it dry cleaned, on the house. And I'll get you another drink as well."

She nodded absently, realizing that it was the bellhop who assisted her.

"You have a phone call from a Ms. Hershey."

Faye sighed in frustration that she wasn't able to get her sleep accompanied with a relief that her aunt called her. So, her name was the chocolate empire this time. "Alright. Just come to the room in an hour and pick it up. Don't bother knocking since I don't know if I'm already asleep by then. Just come in. Oh, and just bring my drink there too, please." She followed the bellhop as he led the way still muttering apologies to her.