The Crush

The Crush (Part 18) - In Love With Another Man

Inside I was boiling. Why hadn't Michael told me that Piper knew about me and what he was planning to do? He had obviously been truthful with her about me all along. I just didn't understand why he hadn't given me the same courtesy.

"I don't know what Michael has told you, Piper," I started, "but as of now and for the foreseeable future, Michael and I are just friends." I couldn't tell if she was playing mind games with me because Michael had told her the truth and she didn't like it. Or if she was being real with me. I had already come to a realization the night before that a possibility of a future for Michael and I seemed pretty slim, but now it seemed even slimmer. I was not planning on being anyone's mistress. Even if the marriage was arranged.

"Hey, girl," she said, leaning in conspiratorially, "just between us he is a good fuck. Have you seen the size of that junk he has?" She laughed and her eyes got big. "It will change your life." She shook her head.

For the first time, I wondered what the hell she had in that tea cup. Was this bitch drunk? I was so shocked and overwhelmed by how she was coming at me, I just stared at her speechless. This was not the impression I had gotten from Piper at the gala. This girl was a hot damn mess.

"I just want you to know, Nia," she started, "as long as you don't get in my way I won't get in yours."

Did she really think I was going to settle for being Michael's mistress? She could have him if this was the shit I was going to have to go through to be with him. I had already started having reservations about this whole situation after the bomb he had dropped on me last night. And he had sent me here, basically to the wolves to be blindsided by his little mail order bride. They both had me all the way fucked up. A part of me wanted to tell her I could ruin her and her little arranged marriage. I could put the whole thing out into Pretty Fetish and set their whole world ablaze. The way I was feeling right now it sounded like sweet revenge.

I stood and grabbed my purse.

"Piper, are you happy with this arrangement?" I couldn't help but ask. Even though she was tripping, I felt bad for the girl in the same way I had felt bad for Michael last night. Neither of them was free to live their own lives. They were victims of their circumstances. It was liberating to know that I did not have to live a life like theirs.

"Look around you, Nia," she said. "I have everything. I have my father's money. I have a handsome, successful fiancé. And I still get to have my fun on the side. Why shouldn't I be happy?"

She was too tragic for words.

I started back through the pool house determined to find some way out of her presence.

"You're not going to put any of this in your article, right?" She asked, sounding worried for the first time.

I turned back to her and smirked. "It would make a hell of a story, wouldn't it?"

I found my way back to the front of the house. I found the maid on the porch and asked her to call the driver around to take me home. I halfway expected Piper to attempt to stop me, but by my observations she didn't seem to care too much about me or what I did. She was a person used to letting money and Daddy solve all of her problems.

I waited out front for about ten minutes before the driver finally came around. I didn't know what I was going to do about my article. Pretty Fetish sales would go through the roof if I published the exclusive story that Piper Newman was in an arranged marriage. But I also knew with the type of money her family had they would shut that article and the magazine down before it even saw the light of day.

I still couldn't believe how Michael had sent me over here totally unprepared. I was halfway home when I decided to tell the driver to make a detour. I had some things I wanted to get off my chest and they had to be said in person. I was anxious, my nerves were shot, and my heart had been beating erratically ever since I had left Piper's mansion.

When the driver got to my destination, I thanked him and got. He told me he would wait out front until I was ready to head home. He seemed to take pity on me. I felt pathetic. I made my way upstairs and knocked on the apartment door. It was the middle of the afternoon. I wasn't sure if he would be home, but I had taken a chance.

When he opened the door, he looked surprised to see me.

"Hi," I said, a bit taken over by emotion. Being in his presence brought a rush of feeling over me.

"Nia?" He said.

"Hey, Edward," I said on the verge of tears. How had everything gotten so messed up? How had I let myself get sucked into all this craziness? He was like a breath of fresh air. Everything that had been good about us came flooding into my mind. Why had I been so stupid about all of this? Had I ruined my chances of happiness chasing after a ghost of a chance with Michael? I hoped I hadn't.

"You were right," I said, a tear escaping from my eye. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I'm sorry for sneaking around behind your back. I'm just so sorry."

I broke down then as the weigh of everything that had happened in the past few days knocked the wind out of me.

"Hey," he started. He pulled me into his apartment and led me to his sofa. He put his arm around me and I leaned into him. I loved him even more in that moment for not telling me, 'I told you so'. He had every right to hate me. He had every right to slam the door in my face. I had been so stupid. I had hurt him in the worst way and he was still comforting me.

I sat up and tried to pull myself together. I swiped at my face with my hands and wiped my tears on the fabric of my skirt.

"I'm sorry to just show up here," I said. I twisted the ring on my right hand. It was his ring. I had been wearing it on my right hand ever since the night he had given it to me. He looked down and noticed it. He inched away from me and I held his eyes.

"I want us back," I said. "Please tell me I haven't messed everything up."

"What made you realize that, Nia?"

"How much I've missed you over the past few days? How much I miss just having us and what we had going? I feel hollow without it. Without you. I've felt it since I walked out of here the other day." It was all true. My heart had been slowly deciding all along who the better man was. That was the reason I could never bring myself to fully go all the way with Michael. I knew in the end I would have to be able to face Edward and I wouldn't have been able to do that if I slept with Michael.

I leaned in and kissed him with no hesitation. This was the man that I wanted. This was my fire. This was my happily ever after. This man and what we had was what I wanted. I was 100% sure about it – with no doubts about it. His hand went to my face and he kissed me back, hungrily. I straddled him and felt his hands caress my back. I felt my heart soar with relief that he wasn't pushing me away. That he wasn't telling me to leave. That it was too late.

A knock on the door made him pull away from me. I looked at him, questioningly. He cleared his throat and untangled himself from the weight of my body. He positioned me back on the couch.

"Are you expecting somebody?" I asked him.

He met my eyes. "Yea," he said. "I wasn't expecting you to come by, Nia. You should have called."

"I did call," I said. "You wouldn't pick up."

"Look," he said, "we have a lot of things to talk about and sort out, but I don't have time to do it right now."

"Who is at the door, Edward?" I asked, my heart sinking.

"My date."