Infernal Incarnation: Asmodeus to Ari

Chapter 3

*****

Ari felt much better after speaking with Liz. She always knew exactly what to say to help them get through tough emotional situations. They were really happy to have found a therapist like her. As Ari stepped back outside and walked down the steps, Jerome was already parked and waiting for Ari. This was something they were also truly grateful for. Jerome was one of the few people Ari knew they could always count on. He was only 19, but he was very mature; much more mature than Kate was in Ari's opinion. 

Jerome saw Ari coming, so he made sure to have Ari's door open and ready. Ari smiled and nodded their head at Jerome in silent appreciation and quickly seated themself. Jerome was feeling especially happy today. In the hour that Ari was at their appointment, Jerome had enough time to see his mate and have a mid-evening snack with lots of kisses and naughty promises whispered between the two. Getting settled back into the driver's side chair, Jerome buckled his seatbelt and asked, "So, how'd it go, boss?" 

    "Surprisingly well. There was something that happened before my appointment that threw me for a loop, but I think it will be alright".

    "Anything you want to talk about, boss?"

    "Jerome... you know you don't have to call me that, right? Hah, I mean, we've known each other for years and you know you're practically family, right?"

Jerome just smiled at how adept Ari was at evading questions and shook his head as he pulled the car onto the road. Ari reciprocated Jerome's smile, then leaned their head back, closed their eyes and took a deep breath to relax themself.

During the car ride, Ari thought to themself about Kate and Jerome, they used to be really close but they were always complete opposites of each other. Kate was always immature when it came to responsibilities, but she lived to be the life of the party and made it her personal mission to make others smile. Jerome was always more serious in nature, very quiet and not too outgoing. A lot of times, his sheer size made people uncomfortable around him, add his social anxiety into the mix and you had the perfect formula for a wallflower. Jerome would always do his best to stay out of the spotlight and avoid too many eyes on him at once, but he would be forced away from the wall when Kate met him. Ari smiled to themself as they thought about the first couple of times Kate brought Jerome around the house. 

---Ari's Flashback---

    "Mom! Dad! Ari! Come in heeeeere, I have someone I want you to meeeeeet", yelled out Kate in a singsong kind of voice that she knew would make her mom laugh and make Dad and Ari annoyed. As everyone came into the kitchen, they saw Kate standing there with Jerome. Kate greeted everyone with a big beeming smile from one ear to the other. While Jerome just looked nervous as all hell, his eyes darted back and forth between the three of them and he took a big inhale, held it a few seconds and then tried to exhale slowly to calm his nerves. 

    "Kate... who did you kidnap? And how did you manage to kidnap someone so much bigger than yourself?", Ari asked raising an eyebrow and smirking.

    "If you must know, Ari... This is Jerome, and he's my new best friend!" her eyes shone with sheer glee. "Say hi, Jerome"

    "H-Hi, hi e-everyone." Jerome could feel his cheeks burning at stumbling over his greeting. Stupid, all you had to do was say hi and not blow it and you couldn't even do that UGH. Jerome's beratement of himself visible on his face, Ari stepped in to introduce themself. 

    "Hi, Jerome, I'm Noelle and this is Roman. No need to feel nervous around us, how do you know Kate? Or rather, where did she abduct you from?" Roman smiled a kind of lopsided smile and Noelle had genuine kindness and curiosity in her eyes. This interaction made Jerome a little more comfortable and he let his shoulders relax a bit, as he returned the smiles of Roman and Noelle and shook Roman's hand. 

    "Well, me and Kate go to school together actually." 

Kate went on to regale everyone with the story of how she had ran into Jerome, literally, then instantly felt like he was 'one of the good ones', so she decided Jerome was going to be her best friend now. If he accepted, of course. 

---End Flashback---

Ari sighed with a smile, remembering how timid Jerome was when he first met the family. Although, even when he and Kate were starting their freshman year in highschool he was already built like a brick out house, as they say. This dude is like the human version of hulk. 

Jerome made his last turn and pulled up to a stop in front of the massive building where Ari's apartment was located. "Sorry to have to drop you off at the front door instead of driving up the parking garage, but I'm running late".

    "Don't worry about it Jerome, the elevators are only 45 paces from the door, I think I can make it" Ari responds with a chuckle. Ari knew tonight was important, Jerome was going to introduce his mate to his parents and he had to make sure that everything was just so. The details always were really important to him. "Good luck tonight, and have fun! Remember that everything is exactly as it should be."

    "Thanks, boss. I really hope so."

    "Stop calling me that" Ari can't help but shake their head and laugh at Jerome's insistance on calling them 'boss'. What a stuffy term.

    As Ari walked through the sleek lobby of the apartment building, one of the ladies that tends to the tenants called out to them, "Excuse me, Ari, there's a message here for you from a Serafina". Ari's eyes flash with instant lust and a smirk plays at their lips. Ari stops short and walks over to the front desk to retrieve the handwritten note. As the woman handed the note to Ari, their fingers touched for a moment and she let out a barely audible gasp on contact. Ari flashed the woman a devilish smile, then turned to continue on their way to the elevator as they read the note. On it, "Give me a call if you're up for some play time tonight, XOXO S" was scrawled in red ink, accompanied by a crimson colored lip print. Ari bites their lip and takes a deep inhale, considering their options. One, go up to the apartment, have time for a decent work out, some dinner, a nice hot shower and an acceptable bed time that would allow them to catch up on some sleep. Or two, call Serafina so the two of them can do a different kind of work out, shower together, have a snack, work out some more, then take a sensual bath together and Ari might be lucky to get some sleep. Decisions, decisions... "

    Ari, you know damn well you need a good dinner and some sleep, don't you dare call that woman."  Ari heard the voice in their mind nagging.

    I already have a mother and father, I don't need a figment of my imagination telling me what I should be doing as well.

    "I'm not a figment of your imagination, Ari, and you know that. You've done the research. You just can't admit to yourself that I'm your spirit guide... You're much more comfortable thinking that you are either talking to yourself, or you are experiencing some sort of psychotic episode. In any case, you know that it is best if you just forego whatever baccanalian sexcapade you were about to cook up in your mind. There's always tomorrow." 

    True... and it is best to keep the mystery and s****l tension alive. Can't seem too eager. Ari frowned. Besides, judging by the reflections of myself I have seen today, sleep should be higher up on the to-do list. Sleep first, then Serafina on Saturday. "hmm" Ari purred aloud to themself as they envisioned Serafina, her long, volumonous hair, perfect bouncy ringlet curls that grew three times their length in the shower. Her big round, amber colored eyes, looking back at them with an intensity that stirred a primal s****l desire from deep within Ari. Serafina could look submissive, sultry and innocent all at the same time. Especially when she pouted her lips. Ari felt a low growl within their chest, this woman was their perfect s****l partner in so many ways... and Serafina and Ari knew that is all it would ever be. Just s*x. That's why for tonight, it truly is best to take care of themself and then tomorrow they could have fun. 

The noise of the elevator ding and doors opening brought Ari back to the present, and just at the right time it would seem. Ari had gotten lost in a momentary fantasy and their cheeks felt hot as they flushed. Yep, it was definitely going to be a good day and night tomorrow. For now, Ari was content with being alone in the elevator again, riding up to their floor. When they arrive to their level, Ari has to put in their mag stripe card for the doors to open. It's nice to have an entire floor to themself, but it is bothersome to have to use the key card every single time they come up. They should really invest in a fingerprint scanner or something like that... less of a hassel Ari thinks to themself, then immediately scoffs and shakes their head because they realize they're starting to sound exactly like the arrogant sod they never wanted to become. 

As Ari walks in, they look over their apartment. It truly was a privilege to live here. Ari reached over to turn on the lights and rolled their neck as they started leaving all their belongings on their way through the main foyer. The keys get dropped in the big shell-shaped porcelain dish, their bag is left under the same table, trenchcoat on the back of one of the settee's and they continue on. Their apartment really was quite the sight, a black staircase on the left leads up to their loft above the main apartment, immediately ahead of them were the couches on the right side of the living room, floor to ceiling windows with a full view of uptown, an industrial kitchen off around the corner on the other side of the stairs and a wrap-around balcony. This was Ari's sanctuary.

As they made their way across the black subway tile floor, Ari noticed that something on the coffee table was out of place. Something was missing, but they weren't sure what... Ari shook their head, unable to remember what had been there, maybe it was nothing. If it were something important, I would remember what it was and where it was, right? Maybe I just misplaced something again and it just looks off to me.  Ari tried to not let their anxiety kick in, but they couldn't shake the feeling that something was slightly off. Who else could even get in here? It had to be someone with maintenance or maybe one of the cleaning staff just put things back incorrectly once they had wiped down the surfaces.  Ari just took another look and since nothing was immediately jumping out at them, they just chalked it up to an odd feeling. 

Ari made their way upstairs to the loft area to order some take out. As they sprawled out on their couch, scrolling through their food delivery app, an unknown visitor came out of their hiding spot out on the balcony. Whew... that was CLOSE. thought the intruder. After letting out a deep exhale to steady themself, they slowly made their way across the living room below, keeping their eyes up in case Ari made a move to come back down. 

Ari finished putting in their order on the app and went to start the water for their shower. The unknown visitor heard the shower water running and decided this was the best time to slip into the elevator and head back down, since the water would cover the noise of the elevator doors opening and closing. The doors opened and they made it into the elevator and started their descent without incident. They finally released the breath they had been holding and looked at their prize. One of Ari's brushes had been laying on the coffee table, so they swiped that along with one of their small figurines. Assuming one has their DNA and the other has a fingerprint, they should be able to match Ari's identity to see if Ari truly is the missing son of their boss. 

Fingers crossed, thought the mystery theif, as they left the building and drove off into the night, having gotten what they came for.