Masquerade (Masquerade #1) Read online

  “Okay. How about their parents?”

  “My grandparents on both sides died when I was young.”

  “Any aunts, sisters, brothers, nieces, or nephews?”

  “I have an aunt that lives in California. She is on her way now. She is my mother’s sister. Her name is Karen Barton. My dad didn’t have any siblings. I have a sister named Lucy Skye Falls.”

  “As far as the funeral, what were you wanting to do.”

  “I found out from the attorney that both my parents wanted to be cremated. Also, I found their life insurance policy, if you are needing that as well.”

  “Great. I will need those. So if they are cremated, we can do this a couple of ways. We can have a service with their ashes sitting on the altar or have a service with a grave site. If you go with the grave site, we could have pillars put up with their names and dates of birth and death.”

  This is too much, I think as I close my eyes. I open them back up and say, “They would have wanted just a service. They were not flashy people or even attention seekers, so I think doing it that way would respect them better.”

  “We can do that.” He writes it down in his files and looks back up. “Well, I guess that is it. Let me walk you two out and make copies of these papers, so I can have these on file.”

  Alan’s hand is on the small of my back as Mr. Carson steps off to the side of the secretary’s desk to make copies.

  He finishes and turns to me. “I will call you with all the information about the day of the service and time. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you again.” I waive haphazardly and turn to leave.

  The ride back home is just as quiet as the way there. I walk in and have a seat on the couch. I lie down and fall asleep only to wake up to my phone vibrating.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Miss Falls, this is Mr. Carson from the funeral home. I was calling to let you know we will be having the service in two days. On Wednesday at 2:00, we will be receiving friends and family to honor your parents.”

  “All right. Thanks for calling.”

  I hang up and throw myself back on the couch. In two days, they will be gone forever.

  Chapter Ten

  Gloom is the best way to describe the atmosphere in the house leading up to the funeral. It is the day of, and I don’t know how to feel. Do I feel sad, lonely, happy, or bitter? I don’t know what to feel. If anything, I feel detached from my body.

  To make matters worse, I have been treating Alan like shit and pushing Chris away. I am treating them both unfairly. Alan more than Chris. I’m being a bitch. I can’t even stand to be around Alan anymore, and all he is trying to do is comfort me.

  I feel dreadful because I am being selfish not wanting Alan, but I’m not telling him the truth about how I feel about him. He thinks my attitude is all to do with my parents, and yes, that’s part of it, but not all of it. I know I need to tell him, but I can’t seem to do it. It’s not the right time to tell him about the love I have for his friend instead of him.

  Finishing my hair, I leave my room to dress Lucy and to fix her hair. I walk in to see her laying down on her bed, staring at the ceiling with a smile on her face.

  “What’s the smile for, Luce?”

  Turning her head towards me, she says, “I was talking to mama and daddy. They told me they loved us, and we would be okay.”

  A lonely tear falls down my face. “We will be. Did you tell them we loved them too?”

  She jumps out of the bed. “I sure did.”

  I help her into her dress and braid her hair down her back. “Okay, I think we are ready. I love you more than my big toe, Lucy.”

  “I love you more than my little toe,” she tells me, hugging me.

  I grab her hand, and we walk to the living room to find the guys. They are sitting in silence, waiting on us to emerge. “We are ready.”

  The service is nice with all the people my parents knew throughout the years, and the people they worked with showing their respect. By the end I have heard most of the same stories about my parents over and over again. I have plastered a smile on my face for so long to the point I think I am going to turn into The Joker.

  My aunt has made it into town and has stayed by my side the entire day of the funeral. After our goodbyes are said and done, we leave to go wallow in our self-pity once again.

  Each day goes into the next. I am having problems even keeping up with which day of the week it is. I make Alan and Chris leave. I need to be with my sister and no one else.

  I have talked to Alan about every other day because he just will not leave me alone. I haven’t talked to Chris as much. We have texted a few times but no more than that.

  My aunt makes the decision to stay in Georgetown to be close to the only family she once left for a man who left her broken. I am actually happy she does. I need some support around me without having the guilt. It’s the only thing that keeps me strong without falling to pieces.

  After two weeks of Chris being gone, he shows up at my door one morning.

  “Hey, sweetie. It’s just been hard without you or Lucy in my life.”

  “I’m okay, Chris. Just trying to figure out what to do next.”

  He walks in to the house, pulling me into a hug. “You know I still want you. These past two weeks have been hell on me. I know you still haven’t really dealt with that fact they are gone, sweetie, and I want to be here to hold you when you do. I want to kiss away your tears. I want to remind you over and over again that I love you. Please don’t shut me out anymore.”

  I relax into his body. “I’m sorry. I won’t anymore.” I burry my face in his chest. “I have been doing a lot of thinking about my next step. Let’s go sit outside in the back yard, so we can talk.”

  “Lead the way, sexy,” he says, letting me go.

  “Yeah, because I really look sexy right now.”

  We walk by the kitchen, and we see my aunt is making herself some coffee. “Aunt Karen, I’m going to be outside in the back talking to Chris.”

  “Okay, hunny. You go ahead. I am going to watch a movie with Lucy,” she says, smiling so sweetly.

  I open the door, step out, and walk towards the big oversized swing we have on the back deck. Chris is right behind me. He sits down beside me and pulls my feet into his lap.

  “Talk to me, Jules.”

  I exhale. “I have decided to buy a townhouse for me and Lucy to live in. I have also decided to find a job and get Lucy ready for school. I still want to be with you. I plan on telling Alan in the next day or two if you still want me, or if you don’t, I still need to let him go.”

  Scooting closer to me, he grabs my face and kisses me gingerly. “I will always want you.”

  “Good.”

  I kiss him again, this time only for it to go into a full-on, wet, passionate kiss. We are all tongues and mouths when I hear, “What the fuck is going on?”

  Chris and I quickly stop kissing and whip our heads to see Alan standing with his face completely red. He looks murderous. This is not good.

  “Alan, we need to talk.”

  He starts pacing. “You think? I can’t believe this. Well, I should have known. Hell, you showed me every sign of it. I was just blind to it.”

  “Alan, I am really sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner but—”

  “But what? You kept forgetting to or you just thought you would still string me along. I have been here for you through everything, and this is what I get? I deserve better than some whore who runs around with my friend.”

  “Alan, I know you’re mad, man, but there is no reason to call her a whore. It isn’t like we planned on this. It just happened,” Chris says, walking in front of me.

  “You know what, Chris, fuck you. You were supposed to be my friend, but you took my girl straight out from under me. I hope you two are happy together. You deserve each other. You can‘t keep your dick in your pants, and apparently, you can’t keep your legs closed.”

  Before I
know what happened, Chris has punched Alan right in his jaw. Alan comes back and hits him in the eye. I finally find my legs and jump in between them.

  “Stop! If you don’t, you will hit me!”

  “You two aren’t worth it. Have a good life.” He turns, storming back through the house until I hear the front door slam shut.

  I turn to see Chris, and he is holding his eye. “Come on. Let’s get something on that.”

  In the freezer, I find a bag of frozen peas. Walking back to the living room, I carefully place the bag of peas on Chris’ eye.

  Sitting down beside him, I tell him, “That is not how I wanted that to go.”

  “I know. Me either. He was pissed.”

  “I think pissed is putting it nicely. He was completely furious. He will never talk to me again. I couldn’t even explain the whole situation. I need to talk to him.” I put my head down. In remorse, a tear dashes down my cheek.

  Chris removes the bag from his eye and engulfs me in a hug. “Jules, I promise I will talk to him once he has cooled down. I don’t want him going psycho on you.”

  I Inhale Chris’ smell. “You’re right, but I still can’t let this guilty feeling go. If something happens to him, Chris, I won’t be able to live with myself.” Tears are falling freely now.

  “It’s okay, Jules. He will be fine. He just needs some time to get his head back together.”

  We are wrapped up in each other when my Aunt Karen comes through the door with Lucy. They both have grocery bags in their hands. She and Lucy drop the groceries off in the kitchen before coming into the living room.

  “Hey you two. How have things been—” She stops midsentence when I see her noticing Chris’ eye.

  “It could be better, Aunt Karen.”

  “Chrrrrriiiiissss. I have missed you.” Lucy comes bouncing in and jumps in his lap. “What happened to your eye?”

  “I got hit in the eye,” he says, snickering.

  Lucy, with the most serious look, says, “Did Alan do this to you?”

  My eyes go wide waiting for Chris to answer her.

  “Yes, baby, he did.”

  She turns towards me. “So does this mean you don’t like Alan anymore because if you don’t, I am really happy.”

  I start howling, not able to hold it in. I fall back on the couch, trying to catch my breath to talk, but it’s a lost cause. I can’t stop. I sit up to see Lucy looking at me, getting madder by the second.

  I take in a deep breath. “When did you get so smart?”

  “I have always been smart,” she says, smiling proudly.

  “Well, to answer your question, and Aunt Karen, who looks like she is wanting an answer too, “Alan and I did break up, but not in the best way. I have liked Chris for some time now. We were going to tell Alan the night of the accident, but everything happened so quickly we never really got to do what we had planned. So yes, if Chris will have me, I hope to be his girlfriend.”

  He leans over and kisses me on my lips then kisses Lucy’s head. “You always have been.”

  Lucy leans over and kisses his cheek. “Good. I like you lots better.”

  Leave it to that girl to say what she is feeling.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chris and I decide to get a townhouse together. Don’t judge me. This has been a long time coming.

  We find a two bedroom, two bath house that is meant just for the three of us. It also isn’t too far from the beach. That is my main priority. Lucy loves it too. She is excited to be living somewhere new with Chris and me.

  I let my Aunt Karen live in my parents’ house. I know I can never live there again. It holds a lot of good memories that I want to keep good. If I was living there, it would always be a constant reminder that they are gone.

  I begin working at the same museum my mother had once worked. Being there in my element, and hers, I can feel her spirit close to me every day. It also helps out that I get off at two thirty, so I have time to pick Lucy up from school.

  Chris has found a job working as a partner at a real estate company. The company is one of the biggest real estate firms in Georgetown. He is very lucky to get the job. The partner previously working there was fired due to embezzlement, so I guess you can say Chris was in the right spot at the right time.

  Life couldn’t be any better for us. We have made our townhouse a home, and we have become a family. I am proud of where my life is going. That is, until I see people at the local Wal-Mart I would hope to never run into.

  Chris was leaving Walmart and saw Chris walking out the door. He thought back to that day that Alan found out about Julia and I. It was a fucking mess. He had every right to hit me and hate me. Maybe time has helped. I walk towards him, “Hey man. How are things going?”

  Alan stops and looks at him like he is sizing him up. He stares at him for five minutes before he finally opens his mouth and says, “Why the fuck are you even trying to talk to me?”

  Alan tries to walk by Chris, but he grabs him before he can get away.

  “Dude, give me a second to say how sorry we both are.”

  Alan shoves him with his shoulder, screaming, “Don’t fucking talk to me anymore. Don’t let my name come out of your damn mouth and leave me the hell alone. I am done with both of you. You made me a fool one time before. It’s not happening again.” Chris stood there watching who used to be his best friend leaving forever. Apparently, Alan needs more time than we thought to cool down.

  Over the next few days after the incident with Alan, the tension is so thick in our not-so-happy house, it feels as if I can’t breathe. I am not too keen with the idea of me and Chris losing each other in ourselves, so I have to do something to stop it.

  Since it happens to be New Year’s Eve, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it, so I have asked Aunt Karen if Lucy can spend the night with her, and of course, she said yes. I take her by Aunt Karen’s house right after I pick her up from school that afternoon. Lucy is so excited. Aunt Karen lets her get away with murder, so for her to be staying there, in her mind, she can do whatever her little heart desires.

  After dropping Lucy off, I go to a lingerie store to buy something special for the night. I walk in, and I am on a mission because I know what I want. I just have to find it. Walking through the store, I inspect everything on the racks, and I can’t find exactly what I want.

  I am frustrated, standing with sheer, pink, baby doll lingerie. It comes with a cute pink thong to match. I decide it will have to do. I hold the gown up and sigh out of unhappiness.

  I turn back around to see a little room off to the side of the store. I walk to the entrance and step down the two steps to eye exactly what I want. Hanging on the rack straight in front of me is a floral black corset. It is gorgeous. It has a hook and eye side closure with the back tied up in lace from the top to the bottom.

  I grab it, ecstatic about my find. I walk to the dressing room, and I can’t hide the giddiness anymore. I take off the top I am wearing along with my bra and ease into the corset. I hook it up then turn to look in the mirror.

  My breasts are pushed up high, and the corset is cut in a little ‘v’ to show the top part of my breasts. It curves down, making my waist look small, and the end of the corset just touches my hips.

  I am eyeing myself in the mirror when I hear a knock on the door followed with, “Ma’am, I saw what you picked out to try on, and I just wanted to make a suggestion.”

  “Er . . . Okay.”

  “I picked out a pair of black thongs along with some black stockings that are lacy at the top and a garter belt.”

  I open the door, slightly peeking out. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. When you get done, let me see.”

  She must see the horror on my face because she quickly says, “Girl, it’s okay. I do this for a living, and there isn’t anybody in here. It helps to have another opinion.”

  Thinking about it, I decide she may be right. “Okay.”

  I go back into the room, removin
g the rest of my clothing to put on the new garments the sales lady has given me. I finally hook the last hook on the garter belt to the stockings. I look myself up and down to see what the sales girl means. This makes this corset.

  I gradually open the door to walk out.

  “It’s okay. Come on out. There is nobody in here but me.”

  I take in a deep breath and make the leap out of the door. As soon as I walk out and pull my eyes up off the floor, I look to see the sales lady standing with her mouth hanging open.

  I start to panic. “I look that bad. Dammit, I should have known this would never work.”

  She starts waiving her hands back and forth. “No, no, It’s quite the opposite. You are a fucking knockout.” Her hand instantly flies up to her mouth.

  I start laughing. “Good. You scared the shit out of me.”

  She starts giggling. “I’m sorry about scaring you and the language, but girl, your man is going to cum on himself before you two even get started with anything.”

  “You think?” I say, staring at my reflection in the mirror in front of me.

  “I know he will.”

  Feeling good about myself, I turn to go into the dressing room to take everything off and purchase the whole outfit.

  Walking out of the store, I run into a girl I haven’t seen in a while. “Mindy, hey.”

  She stops to eye me. “It’s me, Julia.”

  “Oh, hey. I didn’t recognize you to start with. How is everything?”

  “Good. Chris and I are together now. What brings you to town?”

  “I’m just passing through.”

  “Okay. Well, we need to get together sometime. I’ve missed you.”

  “Umm . . . Maybe next time I’m in town.” She looks back towards her car. “I hate to run, but I need to get going.”

  “Sure.” I hug her. “It was nice seeing you.”

  “You too.”

  Then she is gone. That was weird, but right now, I don’t have time to dwell on it. I have a certain person to seduce.

  I get home in record time and decide to take a long, hot bath to ease my nerves. I put some lavender in the tub and light a few candles. I turn on some music and soak.