Synthesis: Book One Page 8

  Chapter 8

  After finally breaking the epic sexual tension between her and Evan, Kelley finally found it in herself to become the confident, sexy schoolgirl-esque programmer the press was making her out to be. Like Cinderella getting ready for the ball, her displeasure in going outside lost the battle to look good for the fundraiser. She found a terrific boutique store that had amazing cocktail and formal dresses. In the dressing room, she stared at her figure with a mix of admiration and apprehension. The shop attendant chimed in from the other side of the dressing room door.

  “Miss Anderson, how is dis one fitting you?” The woman asked in her heavily accented English.

  “Oh, it's amazing!” Kelley replied, while she smoothed the shimmering blue fabric over her hips. “But, why don't any of these dresses cover my chest or legs?” She asked candidly.

  “Oh sweetie, you're in Costa Rica! The men love to see you here. All of you! Now come out here so I can check the fit.” The woman commanded jokingly.

  Kelley made her way out and tried to tug the dress up and down to cover up one more time.

  The shopkeeper batted her hands away lightly and tugged the tight blue dress back up her legs. With two fingers inside her cleavage, the woman brought the front neckline of the strapless dress down to an almost comically low level.

  “There, now that fits perfect!” She said, after spinning Kelley towards a full length mirror.

  She took in her form, while her mind kept telling her to find something to cover up with. After facing the prospect of shopping more, versus the looks she would get for wearing this to a black tie event, she gave in to her shopping fatigue and said, “I love it!”

  The following day tossed Kelley into a makeover session that would rival any 80's movie montage. After taking a tip from the nice lady at Luna Azul, she found the salon that she had written down on a scrap of paper. With a deep breath, and a little bit of fear and apprehension, she walked inside and came out a different person. After stepping out into the afternoon sun much later that day, Kelley fished her new sunglasses out of her purse and stood looking at her reflection in the glass storefront. Her long, brownish-blonde hair had been dyed to a lighter, almost platinum hue.

  With a smile, she remembered the frightened look reflected back to her from the mirror as the stylist razor- chopped her locks into the asymmetrical bob that now brushed lightly against her bare shoulders. The evening was fast approaching, and she needed to get back to her room to finish getting ready for the event. As her heels struck the ground, she smiled inwardly to herself.

  All her thoughts of Caleb had been relegated to the back of her mind. She knew that the big reveal was within a week, but she also knew that things were different now. She had taken the offer from Marcus, and she would now be heading up a team of researchers to develop software to help Genetitech decipher some of Caleb's advanced information offerings. She chalked up her former feelings for him to a mere workplace crush. Something that had been amplified by her lack of human contact, and her obsessive work habits.

  That evening, she had finished getting ready, and sat carefully on the bed in her suite. Evan had been texting her like a teen stalker, and Kelley found herself loving the attention.

  “Hey girl! I can't wait to steal you from my boss!”

  She smiled at the message and texted back:

  “Ha ha! I'm going to tell him you said that!” Kelley smiled lazily as she typed. She was really looking forward to seeing Evan dressed to the nines. She wanted to see how those broad shoulders of his filled out a tuxedo.

  “All I want to see it you.” She texted.

  “Me too.” He replied in rapid response.

  “GTG. My ride is here.” Kelley typed one last time and then dropped the phone in her little purse. The buzzing intercom let her know that it was time to go meet her boss in the limo downstairs.

  The fundraiser was amazing. Kelley had been imagining some kind of jungle-themed event, which made her chuckle to herself while she took in the opulent ball room that was housed at the Marriott hotel. After arriving at the front entry, Kelley was assaulted by a throng of journalists as she and Marcus got out of the car. She had to admit, that getting harassed by the press while stepping out of the limo was her own little red carpet moment. As flashbulbs strobed across her vision, she heard the occasional whistle from the paparazzi that had become part of the scenery in her new life. She smiled to them all and gave a polite wave while Marcus came around to offer his arm like a true gentleman.

  “I have to admit, I don't mind the company having this much attention. You should see our stock prices right now!” He joked lightly.

  “I'm sorry for all of this-” Kelley tried to apologize.

  “Don't ever apologize for what you've done. Those half-wits at DARPA didn't know what they had. Hell, you weren't even under a contract. In fact, they barely had a leg to stand on in the hearing.” Marcus paused to help her go up the steps to the main hall where the ball room was.

  Kelley knew how much heat her ex-boyfriend Charlie was feeling right now. Two weeks after blowing off the whole project, he finds out that a world renowned genetics startup was making headlines with the same thing he dumped. As their lawyers battled it out, Marcus just sat back and laughed while his powerful legal team took apart the DARPA arguments.

  “You just worry about having fun tonight.” He said with finality.

  When the ballroom doors opened, she felt her heart flip flop in her chest. The entire room went silent as she stepped in. In her little blue dress, Kelley now felt more naked than ever before, as all of those eyes fell on her. She looked around for Evan, but she only managed to find the lecherous stares of older men, and the envious glares of their spouses and girlfriends.

  She jumped when she felt a hand at the small of her back.

  “Oh my God! You scared me!” She blurted out to Evan.

  He came around and gave her a long hug, followed by a kiss that was probably a little too involved for the ballroom crowd that was still staring at her.

  “Sorry babe. You look...., terrific!” He said, pausing to step back and take in all of her beauty like a sculptor judging his art.

  “Thanks.” Kelley said quietly. She felt her cheeks reddening. It was as if his gaze was like a heat lamp on her skin. She gave him a taste of his own medicine and looked him up and down as well.

  “You clean up pretty nice yourself.” She said with a smile.

  Evan waved off the compliment. “I hate wearing this thing. But, it helps to make the patrons open their pocket books.” He said with a charming smile. “I can't very well do this event in shorts and flip flops.”

  “Oh God, if only...!” Kelley joked.

  A throng of people finally got up the nerve to come over and start asking Kelley questions. She knew it was going to be a long night filled with endless queries. Marcus had all but disappeared, and Evan politely made his exit to go talk with other donors. Before leaving he leaned in her ear and said, “Meet me out by the pool at eleven o'clock tonight.”

  His breath on her neck made her close her eyes and smile a little. While he made his way out of the oncoming crowd, the hole left in his wake closed in with people like an oncoming flood. Kelley held up her hand to the crowd and said, “I'll answer your questions, but I need a drink first.”

  As the night ticked by, she managed to answer most of the queries, all the while staying inside the confines of the strict confidentiality agreement she was under. Kelley looked at a large wall clock, and felt a twinge of excitement. She made her departure to the pool out back and said her goodbyes to the crowd.

  As she stepped carefully over the etched concrete surface around the pool, she waited under an abandoned cabana for Evan. The night was still balmy, but not too warm. She kicked off her heels and sat gingerly at the pool's edge to dip her feet in. The cool water rose up to her mid-calf, and she closed her eyes to rest from the endless barrage of questions that went way longer than five minutes.

&
nbsp; The quiet footsteps behind made her eyes snap back open. She turned to see Evan, in all of his tuxedo-ed glory walking toward her.

  “Sorry I took so long. I got tied up in a discussion with the foundation's membership chairman and it went on forever!” He said in mock exasperation. With a smile, he looked down at her spot by the pool's edge. The light from the underwater lamps bathed Evan in an almost ethereal glow. “Hey, you wanna go skinny dipping?” He asked with a mischievous look.

  Kelley looked up at him as if her were crazy. “Are you kidding me?! Here? Now? With all of your donors and board members right over there.” She had to admit, the idea of seeing him climbing out of that tux was almost as arousing as seeing him in it in the first place.

  “Sure, why not?”

  He knelt down and took a position behind her. Kelley felt his hands on each of her shoulders. With slow, deliberate strength, he began kneading her tense muscles. She let a quiet moan escape her, and turned her head to the side to touch her cheek to one of his strong hands.

  “Does that feel good?” He asked quietly.

  “Mm hmm,” was all she could utter.

  At the pool's edge, his massage slowly morphed into something more involved. The first straying kisses on her bare skin served to make Kelley that much more pliable to his manipulation. She almost didn't notice when his hands moved into the plunging neckline of her dress.

  “Evan...,” she protested weakly. It was no use though. Her body was already aching with need, and she wanted to have him right here and now. Consequences be damned.

  While his strong hands pushed her dress down even further, Kelley reached back and ran her fingers through his soft hair. When he stood back up, she felt his bulging manhood through his pants. Since the days after the zip line kiss, they had hooked up a few times. Evan was a gifted, if not a little selfish lover, and Kelley always found herself wanting more of him afterward. It was as if he knew just what to do to make himself irresistible to her. Like a big bag of salty potato chips, she kept coming back for just one more. Even if he was a co-worker, she couldn't help herself.

  Now, as he stood behind her, she could hear the telltale sound of him unfastening his belt buckle. Her heart rate ramped up even more while her mind churned over what he may have in store for her.

  After the belt, she heard the rustling of more clothing leaving his body. With a little laugh, he jumped over her and crashed into the water with a gigantic splash. When he surfaced, he smiled to her in spite of her narrowed eyes and playful scowl.

  “It's not nice to tease people Evan.” She chastised him in mock disapproval.

  “Well, get in here and I'll see about fulfilling your request.” He said, after shaking his head like a dog taking a bath.

  She looked around the abandoned pool. There was, literally, no one here. Her skimpy blue dress was already pushed below her nipples, and the bottom had been hiked up almost to her waist. With a little shimmy, she pulled the dress up and over her head and tossed it into the bushes behind her.

  “Yeah! That's what I'm taking about!” Evan encouraged her like a rude frat boy.

  Kelley smiled to him and stood up. After removing her hands from her bare chest, she hooked her fingers into her black thong and slid it slowly down to her ankles. With a little kick, she flung that too into the bushes next to her dress. Like a professional diver, she perched her naked body at the edge of the pool and slid gracefully into the water.

  “Holy Shit! It's so cold!” She shrieked, after coming up from her graceful dive.

  “Shh! I don't want the folks from the party to find us out here!” Evan said in a laughing whisper.

  Kelley looked around the perimeter of the pool. There was still no one there. With her veins still swimming with champagne, she swam over to Evan to try out some hot, late night pool sex. After giving her a quick wink, he turned and swam away from her towards the shallow end.

  “Hey, where are you going?” She asked with a perplexed tone. After following him, he turned and grabbed her by the waist. With the buoyancy of the water reducing her control, Evan gently pinned her against the side of the pool.

  “I figured that you might wanna be in the shallow end for the nasty stuff.” He said with a smirk. She could feel his manhood pressing against her leg in all of its rock hard glory. Even in the cool water, Kelley could feel the heat radiating from it.

  “How are you so sure that I wanted to fuck?” She teased.

  Evan turned her around in front of him with gentle insistence. She felt the familiar loss of control that she always did when they made love. Kelley almost always felt like a passenger on a runaway train. It was fun, but sometimes a little disconcerting. Now, she was facing the pool's edge with her hands placed firmly on the concrete lip. Her toes struggled for purchase on the glossy little glass tiles, but Evan's presence behind hindered her ability to get control.

  All at once, he thrust himself inside of her like he was trying to slay a dragon. There was no tingling foreshadowing or buildup. He just rammed into her. She felt the telltale soreness in her body while it tried to acclimate to his assault. She still loved it. His aggressive nature was a little off putting, but she figured that it was part and parcel to his personality. With his hips slowly thrusting back and forth against her, Evan said something that shook Kelley out of her bliss.

  “Say I'm the best.” He uttered in a low growl. His voice seemed to possess something sinister. Far from the normal amount of bravado she was used to from him.

  Kelley opened her eyes and pondered the odd request. “Um, you're the best?” She asked in a confused tone.

  “SAY IT!” He commanded. His rhythmic thrusts seemed to punctuate every syllable, even every letter.

  “Fine! You're the best! Happy?” She said with a confused shrug.

  His hips were thrashing against her now. While the bubbly water churned in between them, he did it again.

  As his pace increased he said, “Now..., say I'm better than Caleb.” Evan's stubbled chin pressed hard against her back.

  This time Kelley was genuinely scared. The guy she had known so intimately from the last week had turned into some kind of two-faced monster. Why was he doing this?

  Kelley shook her head and tried to fight off his, now unwelcome, sexual advance. Evan responded by placing his hands on top of hers, pinning her in place at the pool's edge. All at once, her mind was panicking while her body climaxed at the same time. His grip on her hands was causing her pain to negate any pleasure that might have come.

  “No..., Evan. Please stop!” She managed to whimper out.

  Evan leaned down and clamped his teeth on her shoulder blade. She felt him laugh against her skin while she struggled and cried out in pain.

  “Say it! Or this will never end, you little cunt!” His voice was no more than a low rumble in the back of his throat while he rolled her skin around in his teeth.

  “Fine! You're better than Caleb! Will you please stop!?” she cried.

  While tears rolled down her cheeks, she felt Evan finally finish inside of her. Sensing his slackening grip on her hands, she pushed away from the pool's edge and swam over to the submerged steps. After she pulled her knees up to her face, Kelley curled up in a ball and sobbed quietly while she held herself in the shallow water. Her eyes stayed on Evan while he climbed out of the pool, watching him as a wounded animal would watch an advancing predator.

  He made his way over with a fake, consoling smile. It only made what had just happened that much worse. “Kel, I'm really sorry about that. I get kind of competitive sometimes and-”

  Kelly wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand while she held the other one out to block his attempted apology. “I still have that little multi-tool I showed you at the falls. It's in my purse. If you don't leave, right now, I gonna grab that thing and sink it into your eye socket.” Her voice trembled as she spoke, but she meant every word.

  She watched Evan stand up and hold out his hands to help her. He now sported the confident
, almost cocky smile that she had come to know him by. But now, it just seemed malicious and rueful.

  “I was dead serious Evan. Leave. Now!”

  “Fine, whatever. Have fun getting back to your hotel, bitch!” He chortled to himself as he walked over to his clothes.

  Kelly watched him until he finally was out of sight. Then, the tears really began to flow. It wasn't just the violating way in which he assaulted her, it was the fact that she was finally feeling at home in this place because of Evan. Now, in such little time, he had managed to destroy all of that. On top of it all, she was now forced to interact with all of these people until Caleb finished the process he was undergoing.

  Caleb.

  Her thoughts of him came rushing back like some kind tsunami. That calm, confident, kind guy that she had created to somehow take the place of the other loser guys in her life. Now, in less than a week, he would be coming out of a vat of chemicals as a real person. What would he be like? How would he think of her as an actual person? Her mind was already clouded with the flood of emotions from Evan's little stunt, and now her overtaxed psyche was trying to process how she still felt about Caleb.

  After shimmying into her little blue dress again, she called a cab from the hotel lobby and rode in silence back to her hotel to hibernate the rest of the week.