The Power of Weakness

Epilogue

Ari dressed and joined Sebastian in the bed. He fed her cheesecake while they lounged. She shifted, trying to inconspicuously rearrange the menstrual pad that felt bunched or wrinkled beneath her. She hoped Sebastian could not hear the slight sound it made when she moved. He was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice.

He swiped a fingertip across the thin layer of sour cream that was on top of the cheesecake. He spread the cream just under Ari's lower lip.

"Slowly lick it off."

She did.

He watched her cream coated tongue curl downward as she naively ran it over her lip. He looked forward to the real thing. The update Trevor had given him flashed through his mind. He wondered if Ari's unpracticed mouth would be as thrilling as the expert mouth that belonged to the woman who was apparently in town again after a long absence.

That woman had always had the potential to be the catalyst Meyer needed to reach his ultimate goal - becoming either Edgar Fairfield's successor or his equal. In the world he lived in, even brokering billions of dollars in deals each year could only get you so far. Meyer could branch out on his own in a couple of years, but it would take an additional decade, at a minimum, to reach the heights of the Fairfield empire. Getting an empire handed to him, from one side or another, was much more attractive to the impatient man.

Meyer texted Trevor. {Don't do anything it's better if she thinks she's surprising me}

She was a woman who loved to upset the balance others strove to maintain. She had been one of Fairfield's lovers when she met Meyer. Fairfield was far from happy when she dropped him in favor of the lower-ranked man. Initially, the loss had knocked Meyer's boss down a notch in the D category of his own "BDH Scale of Success." It was a philosophy he'd developed that categorized life's happiness into Business, Dick, and Health.

Due to Meyer's father's idolization of the tycoon, Meyer had long ago memorized the tenets which Fairfield lived by. Implementing those tenets led to Meyer being hired straight out of college by Fairfield Management's acquisitions and mergers department. He impressed the higher-ups so much that Fairfield himself offered to mentor Meyer. Now Meyer was in the position to use those same rules and tactics against his boss. It wouldn't be long before Fairfield found out that this woman was still in Meyer's orbit over two years later, lobbing another hit to his outsized ego.

At the same time, her status meant just having her by his side turned Meyer into a potential business rival as well. However, that type of rivalry wasn't clear-cut since Meyer was still an employee of Fairfield's. The complicated relationships between all involved worked more towards Meyer's advantage than anyone else's, but it was still a risky game to initiate. He hotly anticipated each player's next move.

*****

Ari's mind was also elsewhere as Sebastian fed her. Unlike Sebastian who was thinking of the future, Ari was mainly thinking of the past. The story she'd shared with Dr. Acharya was the first time in a decade that she'd spoken about it. Every month her period reminded her of those events she wished she could forget. She didn't know if the doctor had actually believed her or if her kindness and understanding was a fake response bought by the exorbitant fees of concierge medicine. Either way, Ari felt some relief just from saying it out loud and she knew she could trust that her story would remain a secret.

When the cheesecake was gone, Sebastian turned on the tv to watch the news. She studied his relaxed face. She didn't want to think about what his reaction would be if he knew the things she'd told Dr. Acharya. Whether he believed her or not, whether he judged her for it or not, whether he was sympathetic or apathetic or angry - it was just all around better if he didn't know.

It was enough for Ari that there was one person who listened without belittling her, or blaming her, or shushing her. One person who didn't disbelieve her or say she was just seeking attention. One person who gave her something she could do to help stop the pain. She would be forever thankful to her new doctor and to Sebastian for the unwitting part he played by arranging a gyno appointment.

Even with her past a secret, it was stressful enough that she wasn't able to hide all of her accumulated fears. She'd learned to bear with her public reaction to unwanted male attention, but she hated that she so visibly struggled to comply with Sebastian's wishes. She dreaded the day he would ask her why she had those particular difficulties. Part of her wished it had come tumbling out of her mouth on Friday when she got so drunk that she forgot everything she'd done. Except that would mean Saturday night probably wouldn't have happened.

It was wrong of her, but she cherished the fact that Sebastian had unknowingly revealed his fears to her. She suspected she was the only person ever to hear what's locked deep in the broken part of his soul. She was curious what had happened in his past to make him feel like he was easily forgotten and couldn't measure up. She would listen intently with an open heart if he ever wanted to tell her. However, if it meant she also had to open up and reveal her trauma, then perhaps it was better if neither shared the harsher parts of their pasts with each other.

Ari laid down and closed her eyes. She thought about the secrets of her more recent past. She had first seen Sebastian in an advertisement in a fashion magazine. He was standing alongside Mateo Costa wearing some "must have" article of clothing. Mateo had introduced Sebastian to the modelling industry when they were twenty. For a while they were a popular duo and usually appeared together, until Mateo got bored and quit.

Though he only modeled part-time, Sebastian's solo career took off and he became a media darling. Ever since, he'd given numerous interviews and was featured in countless articles. Over the years, Ari had practically memorized them all.

She snuggled into the blankets and tried to recall exactly when she formed a crush on the handsome man whose bed she was currently in. She couldn't pinpoint when her teenage daydreams turned into actionable plans. She'd started out with a naive goal that suited her naive understanding of Sebastian Meyer. She knew dark, dangerous places existed, yet her simple world had been rocked as she got dose after dose of reality. She was no longer the same person she'd been just a month ago, but she realized so much more was now within her grasp. Going after that would either heal her or destroy her. Whichever way she went, she was sure Sebastian Meyer would face the same fate.

+++++ AUTHOR'S NOTE +++++

Thank you so much for reading this first segment of The Power of Weakness!! 🥰🥰
I hope you've had as much fun reading it as I have had writing it!! 🤩🤩

I have Volume Two and a few other stories in their rough draft form. I just need to decide which I will start posting next. If you're looking forward to finding out what happens to Ari and Sebastian, read the next section for some teasers. The next volume starts out with a bang 😉