Velvet

I unlocked the boot of my car and started unloading my groceries from the trolley. It was only ten am and already the idiots were out in force, which meant my day so far hadn’t been the best. People never failed to irk me. Perhaps I should seriously think about doing all my shopping online.

As I struggled to lift the box of coke cans I’d bought, into my car, a pair of strong hands took over and lifted it for me. I looked up at Nash’s face in surprise. It had been just over a week since I’d seen him; since he’d abused me. He hadn’t been into Indigo in that time and I wondered if he’d been avoiding me because he normally lived at that place.

He laid a huge smile on me and that just pissed me off. I slammed the boot shut and pushed the trolley into the trolley bay before returning to my car. He was standing there with his arms folded across his chest, smile still in place.

I glared at him. “So this is how you’re going to play this out?”

“Play what out?”

“I haven’t seen you for a week and the last time I saw you, you told me to back the fuck off. Now you show up and act like nothing happened.”

His smile disappeared, and he rubbed his hand over his face. “Can we pretend that didn’t happen?”

“No, Nash, we cannot pretend that didn’t happen. I’m not a fake friend who is happy to let shit slide. If you want that, you won’t find it with me, so I suggest you go back to your skanks, who I’m sure would be happy to provide you with a shallow friendship and a place to stick your dick.” God, he riled me up lately and I couldn’t even begin to understand why.

“Fuck, Velvet, you make it hard on a man.”

“Oh good Lord, get over yourself,” I muttered, and tried to shove my way past him to the front door of my car.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and stopped me before I could get past. “I’m sorry for being a prick the other day,” he forced out. His eyes flamed with displeasure, and his shoulders tensed; this was hard for him to do, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“And what about the fact you’ve been a prick to me for months now?” I challenged him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut straight away and stared at me. I waited to see what he would say but nothing came out; he simply continued to stare. As much as I tried to figure out what he was thinking, he was unreadable. To me, anyway.

“Fine!” I huffed, and turned away towards the front door of the car, ready to leave. But before I left, I had one more thing to say, so I spun back around. “We’ve been friends for four years, Nash. I’ve always felt like you were there for me and vice versa. It upsets me that you’ve shut that down, but I’m not the kind of person who will allow someone to keep treating me like shit which is what you’ve been doing to me for awhile now. So, if you want to still be friends, you know where to find me and what you need to do. Until then, I’m done with this.”

I didn’t even wait to see his reaction; I got in my car as fast as I could and sped off. It had hurt to say that to him, but there came a time in a friendship where you had to put yourself first and refuse to be walked all over.

***

As I pulled into my driveway, I realised with a sinking feeling that my day was about to get worse. My ex-husband was leaning against his car, waiting for me.

“Shit,” I muttered, and psyched myself up to deal with him.

“Velvet,” he greeted me in his smooth, honeyed voice. That voice could charm the habit off a nun. I should know; he’d dazzled me years ago and smooth talked his way into my heart.

“What do you want, James?” I snapped.

“Someone’s having a bad day?”

I didn’t have time for small talk with him. “I haven’t heard from you since the day you trashed my heart five years ago. I’m guessing that the only reason you’re here today is because you want something from me.”

His cool composure was momentarily challenged, and I saw the darkness cross his face fleetingly, but he quickly pulled himself back together and walked towards me. He’d kept that darkness hidden from me for most of our relationship but when I’d not performed in the manner he’d wanted and had failed to provide him with what he desired, his dark side had shone through and slapped me in the face. I’d been naive in my love for him and he’d taught me that love is a fickle master; one to be avoided at all costs.

He moved into my personal space; he knew I hated that. “I have a proposal for you.”

“I’m not interested in any proposal of yours.”

“This one will interest you,” he stated with the arrogance I knew so well.

I pushed past him and began walking towards my front door. “The answer’s no.”

He reached out, grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. His grip was hard and I was sure it would leave me bruised. And shit, he scared me. I’d spent years building my walls up against any further hurt this man could inflict on me and here he was, smashing those walls down with ease. “You should know by now that the answer is never no, Velvet,” he threatened on an angry breath.

My heart raced with fear. “What do you want from me?” I tried to hide my anxiety, but my voice cracked slightly; just enough for him to notice, and just enough for him to be able to play his manipulative games knowing that he held all the power.

He kept me in his tight grip. “That’s my girl,” he said, his voice washing over me like poison, “It’s very simple really. I’m going to offer you a lot of money and in return you’re going to keep your mouth shut if anyone should ever come and ask you questions about me or us.”