Free
by Gail (gem225@hotmail.com)
A Perfect Murder
No pairing. I know, gen, what *am* I thinking? *g*
Rating: adult for language
Emily makes up her mind to change her life.
Follows That Lovely Money, which followed Knee-deep in bohemian cachet, and companion piece to A Perfectly Good Dream.
Disclaimer: None of the characters portrayed herein belong to me. I make no money from this story.
Please do not archive this story without asking me first. It's more than likely that I'll agree, but I want to know where my stories are.
Thanks to Tinnean for the beta. Happy fifth anniversary, chere amie!
*****
I breathed and pulled the sheet up more. The sheet was the finest cotton, of course - only the finest for Steven. Even after my affair with David, he and I still shared a bed. We were even still married, and sometimes we had sex. I used to call it 'making love', but that wasn't what we did, not any more, not even probably before that.
David and I made love, or so I thought. Then I found out he'd picked up a man and had sex with him for money, and even though I was pretty sure that was Steven's doing, it still made me not want to see him again. Of course what Steven told me about David's background didn't hurt.
David hadn't wanted *me*. All the things he'd said, all the sweet compliments, the attention, the love - they were all lies, all to get me so that he could steal my money as well as my heart.
I hated him for that, and I hated Steven for bursting my bubble.
But somehow I was still with Steven. I wasn't sure why. My mother would support whatever decision I made, and Raquel didn't like him any more. But there was something about him that made it very hard for me to think about leaving him when it was just me doing it, without someone else to go to.
I wasn't happy. I deserved to be happy.
I'd talk to Raquel, see if she'd let me stay with her. She'd stand up to Steven, I was sure of that, and I'd need someone who'd do that. My mother would try, but Steven would find some way to get her to agree that it would be best if we talked, and I'd be lost.
Steven rolled over, and I tensed. Was he going to reach for me? But he didn't.
"Ah, David," he murmured, and I could see in the faint light from the window that he was smiling with satisfaction and even desire.
Why would the thought of David make him smile, especially that way?
I steeled myself and slipped my hand down to his crotch, where with a quick brush of my fingers I found that he was hard.
I removed my hand - I did not want him to think I wanted sex with him - and shook his shoulder. "Steven!"
He opened his eyes and glared at me. "Emily. What is it?"
He always did that - woke up right away, no grogginess. "You called out David's name in your sleep."
He sat up. "Emily, for god's sake, I hate the little bastard. I must have been dreaming about him taking you away from me."
But he'd been smiling and he'd been hard... no, I didn't want to tell him either of those things.
He didn't wait for an answer from me. "I'd appreciate it if you let me get my sleep. I do have work in the morning."
He rolled away from me without any more, and I let him.
He hadn't been dreaming of David taking me away from him. He'd been dreaming of taking some kind of revenge on David, and I didn't want to think about it any more than that.
I shivered, turned away from him, and pulled the sheet higher. I hoped that I'd get back to sleep before the alarm went off.
*****
Raquel poured me a cup of tea and set her lips. "You'll have to talk to David."
"Raquel!" I'd hoped that she'd tell me not to worry about it, but I should have known better, even though I'd made sure to keep quiet about Steven's erection. I loved her, but some things I couldn't discuss with her.
"All right, then talk to Steven again, but we both know he'll brush you off." She gave me a steady look. "*And* he'll lie to you."
"I know." Steven liked me to think that he always told the truth, but I knew better. The only reason I believed him about David was because I'd confirmed his information with Raquel's help. "He was *smiling*."
"Which is weird, unless he's planning something to make David pay."
The thought of Steven's erection niggled at me, but Steven didn't like men that way. I was sure of it. He'd do something cool and from a distance to pay David back. I hated David, but I didn't hate him that much. He'd paid enough by losing me. He shouldn't have to pay any more.
"I'd better warn David, then. Will you come with me?"
"Of course."
I smiled at her. What a wonderful friend she was.
"Are you going to leave Steven?"
My smile faded. I should have known she'd bring that up.
"Emily, he's an asshole. You deserve better than him. A lot better."
I couldn't argue with that.
"I'm thinking about it."
"You've been 'thinking about it' for months."
"Do you want me to just leave him?"
"Yes. I want you to just leave him. You were ready to leave him for David. Why aren't you ready to leave him for yourself?"
She had a point.
"First, let's talk to David. Then I promise you I'll do something to fix this mess I'm in." I wanted to tell her I'd decided to leave Steven, but I was afraid I'd have second thoughts and if so I didn't want her mad at me.
"You're not pregnant, are you?"
"Raquel!"
"All right then."
"I'd tell you something like that."
"You didn't tell me about David for six months."
"Raquel, please."
"I'm sorry, but I..."
"I know. It's all right." She cared about me, and I needed that.
I sipped my tea, and she did the same.
"Do you want me to order something for dinner?"
"That would be great." For some reason I was starving.
She nodded and picked up the phone, and I kept sipping my tea. It was good to be here. I'd enjoy it until I had to go back to Steven and his place, with all of his furnishings, paintings, sculptures - everything there was his, even the copper pots and pans that hung in the kitchen.
I didn't want to be one of Steven's possessions any more.
*****
I called David from Raquel's the next day, both for privacy and for safety, after going to the gallery at which I'd met David and charmed the owner into giving me his number on the chance that he'd changed it. He hadn't, though.
"Hello?"
He sounded just the same. "David, it's Emily. Please listen."
"What do you want?" Now he sounded angry. Hadn't he found someone new to swindle?
"I hope this isn't a bad time."
He laughed. "Me, busy? Nah."
He sounded bitter. Maybe something was wrong. Maybe Steven was already doing something against him.
"Could we meet? I need to tell you something, but I don't want to do it over the phone."
He was quiet a long moment. "Is this Steve's idea?"
"No!" Raquel frowned and put her hand on my shoulder, and I leaned against her. Thank goodness she was there. "I'm fine," I mouthed, and she nodded. "Why would you think that?"
"Come on, Emily."
He had a point.
"I promise you, I'm not doing Steven's bidding."
"Yeah. All right, where do you want to meet? Here?"
"No." I never wanted to set foot in that place again, see that bed, the espresso machine I'd bought him, or any of the other gifts. "Remember the bar we went to that time?" I'd suggested coffee, and he took me there. Of course we had drinks instead.
"I remember."
"I'll be there in an hour. Oh, and I'll have a friend with me."
"Don't trust me at all, do you?"
"Should I?"
"Probably not. See you."
He hung up, and I put down the phone. "I don't want to see him again," I murmured, and Raquel hugged me.
"I'll be there. It'll be fine. I won't let him hurt you."
I shut my eyes. "We could just not go..."
She laughed. "But we are." She took her arm away. "Come on, Emily. Let's get this over with."
That kind of thinking I could understand. I opened my eyes, stood, and headed for the door.
*****
He was waiting for us outside, still scruffy, probably even paint on his fingers.
"Hey there. You look pretty tonight." He nodded to Raquel. "You do too. What's your name?"
Raquel frowned. "Stop trying to charm me, and don't even think about trying anything with Emily."
"Emily told me to fuck off. Doesn't look to me like she's here to rekindle any fires, and anyway, I'm not interested."
I swallowed. Of course he wasn't interested. I'd left a stiff, angry message on his machine after Steven told me all he'd told me, and I hadn't heard from him again. It still hurt to hear him say that, though. But I would be strong, and get this done, and never have to see or talk to him again.
"Shall we go inside?"
"Sure. You probably don't want to hang around long anyway." He stared right at me, and there was a twist of something in his smile that made me wish things hadn't turned out the way they had. "Have to get home to Steve, right?"
I didn't answer, but he nodded as though I had, then turned away and headed for the bar. When we got inside, he was pulling out a chair from a table and sitting down. We joined him.
"Someone better order a couple of drinks, or we'll get tossed."
Raquel stood. "I'll get something. You, behave."
"Yeah."
Raquel gave him one more glare, then turned away. I cleared my throat. Time to make some small talk. "How is your work going?"
"You can't be here to talk about that. Why are you here?"
"Not until my friend's back."
He laughed. "Right. I might, I don't know, screw you up if you talked to me without her here."
"You did screw me up. You wanted me to run away with you and you didn't love me and you only wanted my money."
"If I tell you I did love you, you won't believe me."
I shook my head.
"Yeah, well, then why are you here? She's coming back, you'll be safe in a minute."
I flushed. He had no right to give me grief. "Steven said your name in his sleep last night, and he was smiling. I think that means he's got some kind of plan to hurt you. I thought you should know."
He laughed and laughed and laughed. When he was finished, he shook his head and looked at me. "Yeah, that's really news to me! Listen, get out of here, don't get in touch with me again. And for god's sake, leave him. He's poison. He doesn't give a damn about you. Trust me. I know." He nodded to Raquel. "Get her out of here, will you?"
"Come on, Emily." Raquel tugged at my arm, and I got up.
"I was trying to do you a favor."
"Were you? Or were you seeing if there was any chance for us? Never mind. Just go, dammit."
"He's a jerk. Please, Emily."
The caring in her voice got me to turn away.
He was wrong. I hadn't come for any other reason than to warn him. It appeared, however, that Steven had already come after him.
So much for letting go of the past and moving on with our lives, or maybe that only applied to me.
Raquel hailed a cab, and I got in. It started and jolted me against her. She steadied me and smiled. I loved her smile.
"I'm leaving Steven. Will you go with me while I pack?" It was Steven's poker night, so he wouldn't be there. I'd leave him a note.
"Yes."
"And can I stay with you for a while?"
"I'd love to have you stay with me. I'll put out fresh towels and stock up on your favorite yogurt, and we'll eat and laugh and talk, and you'll be safe."
She took my hand and squeezed it, and I felt safe already. I'd be away from Steven and with Raquel, and I didn't care about anything else. Whatever Steven was doing to David, I couldn't change it. Maybe if I left him, he'd leave David alone, but still, not my problem.
I'd taken the step. I was free.
The End
Posted 8/8/05
The companion piece, A Perfectly Good Dream
