her head around, and hurried into her room. She whirled around and
stared at Rosa wide eyed. "What the hell am I gonna do?"
"First of all, calm down, and second, what are you talking about?"
Rosa leaned against the countertop, her slender armed draped across
her stomach, her other hand lifting a glass of dark red wine to her lips.
Paige thought, it's a bit early for drinking wine, but oh well, that's
her life. Her moves looked effortless and so graceful. Paige had to
shake her head to get her thoughts back on track. "Dalton is in my
room." She started pacing and brought her hand to her mouth again,
79
but dropped it just as quickly. That's why she never got her nails
done, because she always chewed the corners when she became
agitated.
"You should be happy to see him." Rosa told her, tipping the glass
back until it was empty. Licking her lips, she turned and washed the
glass out immediately.
"If I hadn't just gotten out of bed with another man I would be!"
She exclaimed a little too loudly.
"Darling, don't worry about that. Things will be fine." Rosa made
her way to the living room and lowered herself onto the sofa, patting
the cushion next to her for Paige to sit down.
She wanted to shake her head, to pull her hair out, to scream, to do
something other than just sit down. She couldn't believe she had
gotten herself into this and wondered how people cheated on their
spouses then faced them. Then wondered how the hell Dalton had
faced her after having slept with that woman for more than a year
during his affair.
She sank to the cushion and dropped her head back against the back
of the sofa with a groan. "Yes, he cheated on you and you got past it.
It lasted longer than it should have and it left scars on you, but you got
over it. He will get over this."
Rosa sounded so rational, wait a minute. Paige stared at her. How
did she know what I was thinking? With a frown, she opened her
mouth to ask, but clamped it shut when the dreams swam through her
mind.
Rosa stared back. "Just have to be patient. Things will work out.
We are going out again tonight; you will get the answers you need
tonight."
"What the hell has gotten in to you? Can you read my mind or
something? Did you become a psychic or a fortune teller without
telling me? Rosa this is freaking me out! I have never cheated on
Dalton until..." She couldn't even say his name out loud. Her hand
waved towards her room and she covered her eyes with the other. "I
can't do this and I can't go tonight."
80
"Yes you can, and you will. It's not up for debate and Dalton is
already on board with going, so you can't stay in your room and pout."
"How is Dalton on board with this? Did you already talk to him?"
Then the realization hit her. "You knew he was here last night and
you are the one who got him on base." Paige jumped up from the seat
and stared down at Rosa with an accusing glare. "You knew he was
coming and you did set me up with Casey."
"Sit down Paige." Rosa's voice didn't raise, but Paige could feel the
command there and she automatically sat, which was strange to her.
This was all turning out to be one big cluster fuck and she didn't know
how to deal with it. She hated not knowing how to handle a situation.
Her life was ordinary, like clockwork and nothing unexpected ever
happened to her. Not until going to that damned club and meeting
Casey.
Just then she heard the bedroom door open and jumped when
Lamar came around the corner. Oh great, Rosa's husband was here
too. "When did you get here?" Paige gasped when she realized that
she had spoken loud enough for him to hear their conversation
through the bedroom door. Her face flamed once again.
"I flew in with Dalton yesterday." Lamar's white teeth flashed
against his dark chocolate colored skin. Paige had always admired the
rich darkness of his skin compared to smooth light milk chocolate of
Rosa's. Against her Latino coloring, their skin blended perfectly when
Rosa stood up and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and
gave him a long, lingering kiss.
Dalton hadn't mentioned Lamar being with him, but he really hadn't
had time she supposed. If Rosa could be so nonchalant about banging
her brains out on the very loveseat she and Lamar now leaned against,
couldn't she relax and enjoy having her husband with her?
Just then a knock sounded at the door. "The guys are going to run
grab some lunch." Rosa told her and crooked her finger at Paige,
motioning for her to follow her into the bedroom while Lamar headed
to the door and down the hallway with Dalton.
A stack of boxes lay on the bed and Rosa that damned secretive
smile was on her face. The logo from the store they had visited the
81
day before was scrawled across the side and had the same little bows.
There was an assortment of sizes. Paige narrowed her eyes in
suspicion while Rosa passed the boxes to her.
There was no way Rosa would talk her into going out again tonight.
What if Casey showed up? How was she supposed to act then?
Would there be a scene? Would this cause an incident and would she
lose her job? Plopping down on the bed, her elbows on her knees she
cradled her head, rocking back and forth slightly. She couldn't believe
she was in this mess. She had actually been excited at the thought of
Casey being back at her door and had been disappointed.
She had never been disappointed to see her husband, especially
after being separated for six months. Sniffling, she realized she
needed to go take a shower. She was still in her robe and had not
showered since making love with Casey the night before. Then the
thought hit here that Dalton had showered in the same shower as her
lover and oh damn! Standing with a panicked look on her face, she
hurried towards the door. "I have to go."
Running to the bathroom, she glanced at the trash can, realizing she
hadn't done anything with the condom from the day before. It was
gone. Sagging against the door, she remembered the maids had
cleaned her room the evening before. She hurried into her room and
threw the covers up. She could still smell the lingering scent of Casey
on the pillows and sheets and groaned. There would be no reason for
Dalton to check the bed, she hoped.
She hoped like hell that Dalton hadn't noticed Casey's smell when
he had kissed her. Jumping in the shower, she looked almost
frantically around, snatched the bar of soap and scrubbed the smell of
her guilt from skin. If only it were that easy to scrub her mind.
Her skin was raw by the time she rinsed and grabbed the towel to
dry off. Lifting her leg up to the side of tub she leaned over and
noticed the bruises on her thighs. Her eyes darted to her hips and she
cringed at what she saw. How the hell was she going to explain finger
shape bruising like that? Then thought, it wasn't likely Dalton would
see her naked anyway. They would go to bed, him
in his boxer shorts;
her in the same old knee length night gown she usually wore. A few
82
minutes of watching television, he would turn over and go to sleep
while she laid there wide eyed staring up at the ceiling until she fell
asleep. Then since they had been apart for so long, about thirty
minutes later when she was just dozing off, he would turn over and
snuggle for a moment, poking her backside with his hard on.
With the towel wrapped around her she shook her head and slipped
into her room and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt over her
underwear and bra. She was pulling on her tennis shoes when the
door opened and Dalton sauntered into the room.
"Perfect timing." He held the door open for her to proceed him out
and over to Rosa's quarters where lunch waited.
Sitting around the small table, Rosa and Lamar were snuggled up to
one another, giving each other bites of food. Paige was envious of
their closeness and wondered why Dalton couldn't be more
affectionate, while trying to keep the thoughts of Casey far from her
mind as possible. Just then Dalton's hand landed on her lower back
when she leaned forward and took a bite. The unexpected caress
Teary eyed, she coughed up the offending rice and set her chop
sticks down with a shake of her head. "Okay, I'm done." She
whispered hoarsely, her voice cracking from the strain of coughing so
hard, her throat throbbed.
A glass of wine was placed in her hand and she thankfully took a
big swig, and then coughed once more when the warm liquid slid
down the back of her throat. It tasted strange, a slight coppery taste
filled her mouth and she pushed the half empty glass away and
glanced around. Everyone else was drinking just fine, so it had to be
her. Maybe she was getting sick or something.
"You ok Paige?" Dalton's hand lingered on her shoulder when she
stood up.
She nodded, not used to him touching her like this anymore. He
wasn't demonstrative like he was when they first got married. They
touched and hugged, but his hands never lingered on her like they did
now. She felt weird knowing what had just happened with Casey.
83
Dalton was her husband and the remembered warmth of his touches
was nice, kind of. She leaned into him. Reaching up on the tip of her
toes, she kissed his jaw and whispered. "I missed you." And really
she had, until two nights ago. But, Dalton was always at the back of
her mind no matter how long they were apart and she did love him.
What happened with Casey was never, ever going to happen again.
And she resolved to herself that she could not tell Dalton and would
make sure that Rosa nor Lamar, if he had heard, never breathed a
word of it either.
Smiling, she turned to see Rosa and Lamar staring at her. "You
mentioned going out tonight?" Paige made sure her voice was light
and sounded happy. She was ready to move on. She would have to
battle her guilt internally and never let on.
Rosa jumped up, grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the
bedroom. "I was going to give this to you earlier." She raised her
eyebrow, waiting for her to answer.
Paige leaned close. "You can never tell Dalton." She told her,
barely whispering. "And if Lamar heard."
"Don't worry about Lamar." Rosa waved off her worries and
motioned towards the bed. "These are all yours."
"What?!?" Paige's eyes widened in surprise she stepped back, away
from the bed. "I told you no!"
"It appears I don't listen very well." She grinned and began
gathering boxes, shoving them into Paige's arms; she picked up the
rest and motioned for the door. Lamar offered to help, but Rosa told
him to just get the doors so they can get into Paige's room.
Paige's stared at the boxes that had been dumped on her bed. All
the clothes she had tried on and then some were lying across open
boxes. The dress that Rosa insisted she wore out that night was on top
and she felt overwhelmed by it all.
They had hours before it was time to get ready, so they all decided
to go to the fair that had been set up outside the gate. Dalton held her
hand while they walked through the isles, taking in the Japanese
culture, checking out the vendors and their wares.
84
At one point, Paige stood back and stared at Dalton. His shoulders
were broad. His waist a little thicker than it was when they first met,
but he was still in pretty good shape for being forty four years old. He
worked out every so often. She remembered the feel of his arms
around her. She felt his warmth, but had never felt the safety in his
arms like she did with Casey. Shaking her head, she had to stop
thinking of that and move on. Later, if she happened to run into him,
she would tell him it's over. He had promised that if she told him to
leave and never come back he would respect her wishes. She just
hoped like hell he meant what he said, and that she could survive
having to break his heart.
At that moment, Dalton turned around and smiled. Walking up to
him she wrapped her arm around his waist. They walked over and
watched a mini version of the Nagasaki Lantern Parade go through the
the twenty to thirty people moving the poles up and down, side to
side, imitated the slithering motion of a snake.
Paige enjoyed the many different costumes worn by men, women
and even children. Then suddenly, when she turned to look back
towards the rear of the parade, a costumed figure had red eyes that
alternated to black when he blinked, his face was painted white and
fangs protruded out of his mouth. He was so close she nearly
screamed when he made like he was going to lunge at her. Dalton
laughed and put his arms around her when she ducked her head into
his shoulder. She was shaking so hard she felt like she wanted to cry.
The face was exactly what had been in her dreams, other than the
figures being Rosa and Casey.
"I think I'm ready to go." Paige turned away, her hand covering her
mouth, her heart pounding.
Dalton frowned down at her, but turned away from parade and led
her away from the crowd, back towards the gate. Rosa and Lamar had
wandered off and would meet them back in the rooms later.
85
CHAPTER SIX
She already knew what to expect when they got back to her room.
Dalton sat down with the remote in hand and flipped through the
channels on the television. He found reruns of Family Guy, and
settled in to watch. It didn't matter that he had seen the same one at
least a dozen times,
Paige heard him still chuckle while the cartooned played loudly.
Shaking her head she grabbed her school book and began reading.
But the words were a blur and she had to keep reading the same
paragraph over and over again. Her mind kept wandering to the
dreams and the vampire in the street today. She felt out of sorts, her
mind running all her thoughts together. Casey's smiling face, the
dimples, his broad shoulders and the way he held her kept playing
over and over in her mind. Drawing a deep breath she sighed.
"You okay?" Dalton asked without taking his eyes off the screen.
"Yeah, just can't concentrate." She tossed the heavy book onto the
table where it landed with a thud and she got up. There was nothing
really for her to do in the room other than watch TV. Used to going
along with what he wanted. Paige found herself falling back into the
same old routine and couldn't help remember Casey's words. A ll you
have to do is tell me what you want.
What did she want? She couldn't complain about coming back to
the room because she was the one who said she was ready to go. So
she sat back on the couch with a resigned silent sigh.
* * * *
Finally, it was time to get ready for them to go out. Grabbing the
cliché little black dress from the bed, Paige was surprised once again
how well it fit since she had not tried this one on either. She would
have never considered wearing anything that fit so snuggly, the
corseted style top came together in the front and pushed her boobs up
high. Looking down at herself she was afraid they were going to spill
over, but looking in the mirror, there was just enough showing to be
sexy. The corset actually pulled in her waist and gave her a nice
curve. The skirt flared only slightly so she didn't look too hippy. She
86
actually felt sexy. She twisted her hair up into a tight knot at the base
of her skull and slipped the earrings and necklace on that she had
worn the night before. The heels were a little higher than the other
ones. She stepped gingerly out into the living room.
Dalton looked up from pulling his boots on, his eyes raking her up
her body and she actually felt like a piece of meat. She was a little
disappointed when all he said was "Nice."
What had she expected? He was the same old Dalton. Just because
she was resolved to make this work didn't mean he was going to be
any different. Her shoulders drooped a bit and she followed him out
the door to meet with Rosa and Lamar down in the lobby. She