The games we play

8

The rest of the day went by too fast, seven was coming closer than she'd like. When she had left the building at five for the second time this week, Bernie had called her worried. He'd never seen her working normal hours. It had taken a lot to convince him that she had a date and that, there were no other reasons for her leaving on time, or what she considered to be early. She couldn't bring her self to tell him she was meeting Dexter, she knew all he'd do was worry. Michael was the only one that knew she was going to meet with him. Someone had to know where to go looking for her body if she never returned. Stepping into her penthouse the smell of grilled chicken hits her. She'd forgotten to tell Rosie her neighbor/ housekeeper that she wouldn't be home tonight. "Helllooo Rosie?" Rosie appears from the kitchen with a worried look on her face. "Carly, what's wrong? What's happened?" With a frown she looks at Rosie, a red and white apron around her round waist, short grey hair, large silver hoops hanging from her ears, round glasses resting almost at the tip of her nose and her short stature made her look like Mrs. Santa Clause. Through in the fact that she always smelled like cookies and that she was a hugger and she really could be. "What's with everyone today? I'm going out to dinner, everything's fine!" Rosie takes off her glasses and gives her a proper look, "Hm. You never leave the office on time, even for dinner, are you sure everything's fine?" She wanted to say: No,nothings fine! I'm about to walk into the lions den! Instead she says, "Don't be silly, Everything is fine! Sorry for not letting you know, it completely slipped my mind that you'd be cooking today." Rosie cupped Carly's face in her hands, "You've said about 3 things in that sentence that makes me worry just a tad sweety, I won't push it but know I'm here if you need me!" Carly couldn't help but hug her, half because she felt loved and cared for and half because she was summoning some kind of energy to get her through the next few hours with Dexter. Pulling away she takes a look at her very tidy pent house and smiles. "You've been cleaning! It looks great, thank you Rosie, you are the best! The penthouse was, too big for one person with four bedrooms that all had ensuite bathrooms but she loved how it was all open plan but still felt cozy and warm, like a little home. The elevator opened to a small hallway where she had paintings and plants, a small sunroof made it light and airy. A large wooden front door covered most of the entry, but as you step inside you were met with 3 different levels all intertwined. To the left of the door three steps down was the hall the led to three of the four bedrooms, all over looking the river and park. The doors on the left side of the hallway led to a laundry room, a guest bathroom and an entrainment room that had a pool table,dart board and self made movie theater, a big grey L-shaped couch with wide seating cushions dominated the room. The living room was straight ahead from the front door, several steps down with brown puffy sofas sitting in a square, and large sliding doors that led to a wide terrace with a jacuzzi and small build-in bar in the left corner, a build-in BBQ was build in the far right corner, the whole terrace covered with a glass roof and looking out in to the river and the park. From the entrance to the left four steps up gave entry into the open plan kitchen and adjoining dining room all cupboards, table tops and chairs painted in white made the room feel bigger. The main bedroom entrance sat between the living room and the kitchen with it's own set of steps going up from the living room, which made the bedroom feel elevated from the rest of the house. Her favorite part was the small room that sat on the roof, an iron and vintage looking spiral staircase that was in the far right corner of the living room led up to a look out room. Large windows looked out onto city lights while the walls to the left and right where covered with shelves top to bottom, not one space free for another book. To the left a large egg shaped, two seater swing chair hung from the ceiling, filled with comfortable pillows. A large wooven Turkish carpet with the traditional patterns wooven in red, brown and hues of gold covered the entire area. String lights with medium sized bulbs hung on the back wall making the room glow at night. Green ferns and other plants sat in a row infront of the windows and hung from the corners of the room and in the corner a large golden lamp sat on a small brown antique side table next to the swing chair. Carly loved this space, it smelled like books and plants and gave her the most serene feeling when she sat down to get lost in a book with a cup of coffee. Admittedly she bought this place because of the little area, the moment she had seen it she knew what she would use it for. It was were she would be most weekends, lost in books and the view. The penthouse was big and she needed help with cleaning and up keep, so four years ago when Rosie, her downstairs neighbor had come by to borrow a cup of sugar and saw the state of the place she offered to help out two or three times a week. Carly had protested but Rosie didn't give up and they ended having a good agreement that she would be hired as the housekeeper and that her grandchildren would be allowed to stay there when they were in town. Cleaning the penthouse was a hassle , because of the steps and Carly knew that Rosie wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer, a pang went through her heart just thinking about it. She gave Rosie one more 'just because' squeeze and started off towards her room. "I have to get ready, come help me pick something to wear?" Rosie gave her a raised eyebrow look. "Must be an important client?" Carly scratches her head, "Hmm, you could say so, I guess." Once in her room Rosie pushes Carly into the ensuite bathroom, "You go shower, I'll pick out a few outfit choices?" Carly nods happily, Rosie always hits it out of the park with her outfit choices, she used to work as a stylist at some woman magazine, she won't say which one but Carly always imagines it to be Vogue. From under the shower she askes Rosie about her day and her children and they chit chat until she's done and starting to do her hair. "OK, I've got the perfect outfit, I know you don't like to be this bold but try it on atleast , for me?" Carly sticks her head out the door to see a black one piece halterneck suit with a dangerously low cut out back laying on the bed, golden wedges and a thick golden chain laying beside it. Rosie had brought it back from a trip to Paris two years ago saying that all she could think of was Carly when she saw it but Carly hadn't put it on, it wasn't quite her style. With a sigh and deciding not to wear it already she gives Rosie a look, "Fine, I'll try it on but I'm not promising I'll wear it.Have a second outfit too, please!" She couldn't be dressing, too provocatively when going out with Dexter, he'd get the wrong idea! She hears Rosie scoff and some shuffling. Then she continues with her hair and make-up all the while chatting with Rosie. When she's almost done Rosie says something about chicken and leaves the room, a little while after that she hears something crashing in the kitchen, "Rosie! Everything alright? She screams from her bedroom ready to get dressed. No answer. "Rooosie?" Nothing. A slow spreading panic starting to rise in her stomach makes her move quicker, she screams again as she runs from her room and down the stairs, ready to go up the stairs to the kitchen. Halfway up the kitchen stairs she pauses, her eye catching something, someone sitting on the brown sofa looking out on to the deck, Rosie on the couch next to him, a broken lamp lay scattered on the floor and from behind she can see Rosie is terrified, her body shaking as she sobs. Carly's voice sounded more panicked than she had wanted,"What is the meaning of this?" Dexter Moore turned in his seat and gave her a lustrous look, only then did she realise that she was still only wearing a towel. "Ah, there she is, now you can tell your little friend here that you're expecting me! She tried to attack me! So I had to tie her up." Carly almost sprinted toward Rosie. Her hands fumbled trying to untie the knots, her efforts in vain. "Untie her right now!" She screamed at Dexter who was still eyeing her because of the towel. He moved his eyes toward Rosie,"Only if she promises to behave! No more throwing lamps around, and threathing with kitchen knives!" Carly made a snorting sound, "Pity she missed! Could have been a good lesson for you!" Rosie didn't make a sound, she sat shaking and Carly had seen tears in her eyes. Dexter moved toward her, took a pocket knife from his pocket and cut the cable from the lamp that he had used to tie her with in half. Rosie jumped up and hugged Carly, "Come on, sweety we'll call the cops, Mac and Ruby will here in a jiffy!" Carly tries to calm the still shaking and crying Rosie, "Rosie this is my uhm, I'm... I mean he is my dinner date. I do of course understand if you'd like to call the cops, press charges, this is classified as assault." She says glaing at Dexter one more time. Dexter gives a low laugh behind them and when she turns around she sees him not facing them but standing with his arm stretched out , leaning his weight against a sliding door and looking out to the river. "What were you thinking? and why in the world are you here an hour early?"Her nose crinkels, "Wait, how did you get in here ?" Silence. "Dexter?" His voice is soft and but he doesn't turn to her, "You're too smart to ask stupid questions like that my little butterfly." Shaking her head she turns to Rosie once more."Are you hurt ?" Rosie was staring at her all the while, eyes big and filled with shock. "Rosie, are you hurt?" Rosie shakes her head no, her voice comes out just a whisper, "You, can't date that man." She says pointing towards Dexter. "Do you know who he is?" She pauses and says even softer ,"What he is?" Carly can see the fear in her. She probably thought she was going to die, when he tied her up. "Here, sit down, I'll go make you some tea, to calm you down a bit." Finally Dexter turns around, "It was all just a misunderstanding, my car broke down and I had the driver of the pick-up truck bring me here, I figured I'd just wait for you, and out she came, I thought it would be you. She hit me with that lamp and cut me with a glass shard," he holds up his hand to show a deep gush oozing blood from the palm of his hand, and trickling slowly into his mint colored dress shirt. "She wouldn't even let me explain, just kept coming at me, I had no choice but to tackle her down and tie her down, to wait until you came." Carly looks to the floor and only now sees droplets of blood everywhere. He pauses a bit and looks Rosie in the eye, "I asked you multiple times to stop and listen, you attacked me anyway. Maybe I'll be the one to call the cops, and press some charges!" Rosie sucks in her breath in surprise. "You... you're still breaking and entering!"

Carly felt trapped between the two of them, both of them overreacting but Dexter clearly in the wrong, he was not supposed to be there. Her eyes drifted to his bleeding hand, it needed to be cleaned he may even need stitches. "Let's go to the kitchen, I have to take a look at your hand, Dex. And I'll make you some tea Rosie, come on." All three of them stood awkwardly around the kitchen island while Carly cleaned and dressed his hand, she was painfully aware of his eyes on her, once again, she felt the intensity oozing out of his blue orbs. "The cut is deep but thankfully doesn't need stitches," she says with a sigh and a half smile. Dexter looks at her brows furrowed togehter, "How would you know?" the question came out blunt and harsh and it offended her. She looked at him, her face blank wondering why she was even helping this arrogant man at all. In her speechless moment Rosie was the one to answer for her. "She's the eldest of five kids, four brothers and her Mama was a nurse, taught her to fix them up when they came crying." Carly resented Rosie for talking about her personal life and gave her a what the hell look. She didn't want to give Dexter any ammunition to use against her. However small the detail she was always the one to decide if and when she would talk about her life. Dexter raises an eyebrow, "Well then nurse, Carly, I concur, you apparently do know what you're talking about, thank you for helping." She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or sincere, his voice was flat. She gives a shrug, "Would you like some tea, too? For the shock?" His eyes went small and he peered at her quizzically, then he let out a murderously loud laugh making her jump slightly, "I'd take a scotch,clean. " He wipes some tears from his eyes and snorts, "Tea for the shock!" Carly rolls her eyes at him as she gets their drinks. After he had downed his scotch and Rosie had had a few sips of tea and wasn't as rattled as before she tightens her towel against her. "How exactly did you get in here?" She tried to hide the fear in her voice, imagining all the possibilities. Dexter gave her a sheepish smile, "Told the door man I had an appointment with you, and your front door was unlocked. I did knock and ring the bell but after there was no answer, I tried the door, you should be more careful with that." Both Rosie and Carly seemed to relax with his explaintion, although Rosie's eyes didn't seem at ease at all. Dexter checks his phone and then gives Carly a look, "It's about seven now, you have to get dressed, there isn't much time left." Carly felt torn in two, she couldn't leave Rosie in the state she was in, but she wanted to have this dinner and get it over and done with so that she could close the book on Dexter Moore and get Hugo his boat back. "Maybe, we should reschedule, I don't want to leave Rosie like this, she's still a but shaken." Dexter's eyes flickered and she could see the anger in them, to him the altercation wasn't anything to be alarmed about, he was probably used to much worse. He couldn't see that an older woman walked out of a room to find a stranger sitting in a living room and that that stranger had a very bad reputation, that he tackeld her, tied her up and scared the s**t out of her. He couldn't begin to understand why she was still crying , felt shaken. Carly could see it on his face. He was displeased with her idea to reschedule. "Surley, now that we've cleared the air, Rosie is doing much better, hm, Rosie?" His voice smooth and almost charming. Carly cut him off, "You haven't even apologized! How is that cleared up? Let's just do it in a day or two? Dexter doesn't like this at all, Carly can feel him growing more and more agitated. "Fine, but then our deal is off. No trade. The boat will go to the diving school as a donation." She can't believe what she's hearing. "What? Why, we can have our dinner tomorrow, what's a day or two? You can't possibly be this pig headed! I'm not standing you up, Dex, I'm taking care of someone I care for! She's clearly not ok! You can't possibly feel intimidated by this!" Dexter takes a few strides toward her and whispers in her ear, "A day or two without seeing you is pure torture, my little butterfly." His words send shivers down her spine, and starts the heat between her legs. His words both possessive and sensual, she can't move as he takes a step back and waits for her to respond but she's frozen as always when he comes this close to her. Rosie's eyes flickers from Carly to Dexter and there was a moment where Carly thought she might burst out crying again. She seems to assess the situation and croaks out, "I-I'm fine dear, you go have your business dinner, no reason to be canceling plans because of me!" Carly could see that she was scared for her and that, that was the only reason she was saying this. "No, Rosie I'll stay with you tonight, no business deal is more important than family ever!" From the corner of her eye she can see Dexter's fists bawling. She knew that he wasn't used to not getting his way, and her choosing her housekeeper over him must be a very difficult thing to face, she doubted he'd ever been rejected by n woman. Rosie is up and out of her chair making her way towards the stairs, ready leave, "Nonsense, you have plans and I'm fine. You go... do what you do, deary. I'll come say hi tomorrow evening?" Carly follows her and stops her just before she reaches the stairs. "Wait, are you sure you'll be OK?" Rosie gives her a tired nod, "Yes, Carly, I'll be fine, you just be careful, please. He's not a person you should be playing games with. " The last part of her sentence came through as a whisper. Rosie moved down the stairs and out the door swiftly, like a gazelle running from a lion, that's seen her escape and takes it. Behind her she can feel Dexter's hot breath on her back, he's so close and the sensation of his breath on her shoulder blades give her goosebumps all over. "So dinner it is then?" Carly turns slowly to face him, "You really are the most self-involved person I've met!" He takes a step back and takes her chin in his hand his eyes fixed on her lips. "I suggest, you go get dressed before I decide to take off my clothes, too, and there's no coming back from that my little butterfly." Carly shivers and a naughty smile crosses his face as he notices the affect his words has on her. It takes all the will power she has to turn around and make her way back to her bedroom. "Dammit, get your s**t together Carly!" She murmers under her breath. Looking at the outfit Rosie had put out for her she sees that she didn't put any other outfits. "Great." There's not enough time to put together another outfit now and she doesn't want to leave him alone in her house for, too long, he most definitely was the snooping kind. With a sigh she jumps into the one piece and gives her self a long look in the mirror, it more revealing than she'd like. The halterneck pushed her breasts together slightly and the thick golden chain layed perfectly in her cleavage. The one piece sat tight around her ass and thighs, coming wider only slightly at her knees. The golden wedges rounded off the simple look. She did like how it made her ass look a bit rounder and tighter but she felt subconscious about the fact that her back would be exposed the entire night, although her long hair would cover some of it, she still felt that it was more daring than what she would usually wears. She hears Dexter's footsteps and then a slight knock on her door, "My driver is here, should I ask him to park, do you need a few more minutes? " Breathing out she looks at the closed door. She felt anxious of what was behind it and of the person standing behind it. "No, I just need to get one more thing then we can go, I'll be out in a second." She runs to her bathroom and puts on some of her favorite perfume then makes her way out. As she descends the few steps into the living room she sees Dexter sitting on the arm of one of the sofas, clutching a red rose. His eyes go wide when he sees her and he clears his throat. "No!" The word comes out loud and aggressive, it stops Carly in her tracks, startled she looks behind her but doesn't see any threat. "What's wrong?" she asks confused. "I can't go out with you looking like that! There's no way we're leaving with you looking like that. " Anger flashes through her, she's seen Dexter on multiple tabloid covers with girls hardly wearing anything. He has some nerve! "Like hell we can't!" Moving past him she makes her way the front door, as he catches a glimps of her backside he makes a low almost pained noise, he breathes out loudly and she wonders what his problem could be. "Don't take offense my little butterfly, but I won't be able to keep my distance when you're dressed like that and every man's eyes will be on you the entire time," His eyes burning holes in her back she can feel it but she keeps on walking, when she's at the top of the stairs she looks for her clutch and phone at the entry table and slips her phone and Atm card inside. Casually she turns back to him, "Tough s**t, that's not my problem, Dexter. You're Thrity-what six years old, high time you learn to control yourself and then and I can not stress this enough...you don't get to tell me what I can and cannot wear. You.don't.own.me." Smiling sweetly now she turns and says over her shoulder, "Coming? I'm starving." In a swift move Dexter is infront of her and pushes her against the door, more roughly than she'd like. His mouth against her ear , "Careful, Carly. I've got my limits like every man. Don't push me." His words are not smooth or tinted with sarcasm but serious and she can tell that he means every word. She doesn't know what's gotten into her but she says into his ear, "Careful of what? I'm not one of your paid girls, Dexter Moore. I don't belong to you and I don't owe you a damn thing. This is what I'm wearing, deal with it or go to dinner alone." Her heart is practically ready to bounce out of her chest and she can't believe she's confident enough to speak to him like this. She's seen fist hand what his temper is like. He moves his leg between hers and moves impossibly close to her, then his mouth is on hers and his kissing her with a fierce need, she can't fight it, her body betraying her once more, she grants him access and for a fleeting moment their tongues are dancing together. Suddenly he pulls away and says onto her lips, "Don't you see? You already belong to me."