I step into my apartment and place my keys and wallet down on the table in the hallway, the same as I do every time I get home. Walking into my study, I grab a highball glass and pour three fingers of Balvenie 50-year-old scotch into it.
As I settle into the chair in front of my unlit fireplace, the scent of my little dove wafts into my nostrils. Her natural smell mixed with the light floral perfume she wears is incredibly intoxicating. I think about the time we just spent together.
Sex with Josephine is always extraordinary, but when we take risks like we just did the thrill of the forbidden adds a little bite to it. We’ve never had sex in her married bed before and I can promise you that it won’t be the last time either.
Take that Nathaniel.
Memories of the way she moved her hips, driving her pussy deeper onto my cock has me ready and geared up to go again. I rub myself over my pants as I down the rest of my drink in one gulp. Surrendering to my thoughts, I head into the bathroom to rub one off to more memories of my sweet Josephine when the sound of Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton sings from my phone.
Josephine is calling. That’s her special ringtone.
“I was just thinking about you, my sexy little bird.”
She doesn’t speak, instead, I only hear weeping coming from the other end of the phone.
“Jo? What’s the matter?”
“Carver…” she can barely get my name out between sobs. “I-- I have to leave town.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. Are you still at home? I’ll come to get you and we can talk.”
“NO!” she screams, terrifying me.
“What’s going on, Josephine? Is it Nathaniel? Did he hurt you?”
“Seb--Sebastian saw us. He took a picture and threatened to tell Nathaniel unless I left right away.”
“I’m coming over to get you! Do not leave! I can protect you from him. We can finally be together!”
“I’m already on the road, my love. I d--don’t know what my future will hold, or if I’ll ever see you again, but I wa--wanted you to know that I’ll never stop loving you.”
Her last word was more of a choked-up sob.
“Jo, I’m begging you to please come to me. Or at least tell me where you’re headed? I can meet you there.”
“Good-bye, my sweet Carver.”
“Josephine!” I scream, but she’s already hung up the phone.
The silence she left behind is as loud as a rocketship. My heart drops into my feet and I run to the entryway of my apartment, grab my keys and wallet and get to the garage as quickly as possible.
I jump into my car and race over to her house faster than I’ve ever gone before. I don’t live very far from her and if she’s just left then I might still be able to track her down.
When I get to her development, I ask the guard at the gate if he’s seen her leave in the past few minutes.
“Mr. Brooks, you know that I am not at liberty to mention the comings and goings of the residents.”
“She’s in danger! You know how Nathaniel Johnson can be. He’s threatened her life and I am trying to save her.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie, and it was good enough for the guard to answer me. Nathaniel’s reputation precedes him. There isn’t one person in Silvercrest who doesn’t know what a vicious and evil man he is.
“You just missed her. She took a left out of the neighborhood, sir.”
“Thank you!”
I do a u-turn around the gate shack and speed off in the direction that she went, determined to find her and bring her home with me, where she belongs.
The highway is the other way, so she must be making another stop somewhere before she goes. Where? What is in this direction?
The bank.
Of course, she wouldn’t leave without any money.
I downshift my car, propelling it faster and arrive at First National Bank and Trust in a matter of minutes.
There! I see her car parked out front. I pull in behind it just in time to see the brake lights illuminate. Leaving my car running, I jump out and sprint to the driver’s side window of her car.
“Josephine!”
I shout her name through the glass window, scaring the shit out of the guy in the driver’s seat.
It’s not her. This isn’t her car.
“I’m--I’m sorry,” I say to the man who looks at me like I’m a psycho. “I thought you were someone else.”
I stand back, trying to catch my breath as I watch the powder blue BMW drive away.
After what seems like ages, I walk back to my car and pick up my cell phone. I dial Josephine’s number, ready to demand that she tell me where she is.
I click send and pain cripples my heart as I feel it shatter into a thousand pieces.
“The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected.”
No.
I dial again.
“The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected.”
The phone drops out of my hand and I sit in my car in silence for several hours. No matter what I try to do, I can’t get my body to move. It isn’t until much later, when the bank is getting ready to close, that the security guard tells me I have to leave or else he will call the cops.
Fucking call them, what do I care anymore?
Somehow, I managed to break through my paralysis and drive home.
All the years that have passed since then, and I still can’t get her out of my head.
She was the love of my life, but when you’re in The Society, that oftentimes doesn’t matter. If it's not good for business, it’s not good for anyone. That's all that Nathaniel and Josephine’s marriage was.
A business deal.
Chapter Two
When I get back to my apartment, I head straight for the bathroom. I have to get
