An angry knock at my door startles the both of us. Michael sinks down below the sheets as I yank them up to my neck. Raegan bursts in, her eyes searching my room.
"Yes?" I ask her, annoyed with her already.
"Have you seen Michael?"
I shake my head and fake a yawn. "Nope, sorry. Why?"
"Hmm. I ran into an old friend of ours yesterday and I wanted to let him know." She steps into my room and closes the door. I silently pray she ignores the pile of clothes next to the bed.
"Oh yeah? Who?" I giggle as Michael's fingers slide across my rib cage. The ass. Not a good time!
"Sorry, I didn't mean a friend of yours. I mean mine and Michael's. You probably wouldn't know them. They were more a friend of mine. Anyway. When you're done getting yourself off, you should probably pick up your room a bit. It's kind of rude when you're a guest, Frankie."
My jaw drops. "I wasn't... Rae, I'm not masturbating..." My cheeks are burning and I'm pissed at her assumption. "And I always tidy up once I'm out of bed. Not that it's any of your business."
Rae's eyebrows arch and she smirks. "Sure." She takes another look around my room before she finally opens the door and leaves.
Michael yanks the covers down the second the door closes. "Air... need... air..." He gasps dramatically, climbing up over me. I can't help but giggle. He gives me a gentle kiss. "Fuck her, Bean. Now focus on me." He nuzzles his scruffy jaw against my neck, trying to help me forget my anger.
But instead of playing along with him, I give him a slight shove. "Not now, Fassbender. She's looking for you and you know she won't rest until she finds you. You better get dressed."
"You're bossy. I like it," he growls and pins me to the bed, his hands gripping my wrists above my head.
I sigh, pretending to be completely uninterested. "Please get dressed and get out of my room before you're caught."
"I don't care if I'm caught." He lowers his face to mine. He watches my lips, his tongue tracing along his own.
"Then why did you hide from Rae?" Michael's eyes meet mine and he gives me a little smile before he sits up.
He climbs off the bed and reaches for his shirt, pulling it on. "It was just instinct."
"Or shame," I mutter under my breath as I sit up, hugging the sheet to my chest.
Michael steps into his jeans. "What was that?" He smiles, waiting for my reply.
"...Or shame," I say a little louder.
"Shame?" He buttons his pants and fastens his belt.
"Yes. Shame. As in ashamed to be caught with me. In my bed. Where we obviously had sex."
Michael freezes, his lips parted, words unable to form themselves. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, like he's appalled by what I just said. "Frankie, what? No, that's not it at all!" He drops to his knees next to the bed and takes my hands. "I felt like a teenager about to be caught by my mum, Frankie. Like I said, it was just instinct. Please stop putting yourself down like that."
I'm embarrassed. I'm sure I sound needy and whiny, which is unlike me. I will never make a man feel obligated to defend his reasonings or emotions. That's mainly the reason my ex-fiancé and I parted. I felt a shift in me that just didn't feel like me, if that makes any sense. I began to feel lonely when he wasn't around. I hated wondering who he was with and when he would be home. I had no reason to be worried or even jealous, yet I was. And I couldn't help it. If he wanted to distance himself, then maybe what we had wasn't love. I wasn't going to fight for someone who didn't want to be around me. If he loved me, I wouldn't have been feeling that way. So I broke it off before it became much worse. I'd like to say that he took the news rather well, but the look on his face, almost shock, still kind of haunts me. Did I do the wrong thing? Had I broken someone's heart? Long story short, he apparently never saw it coming. But I didn't like who I was becoming and I knew it would only get worse after marriage.
Michael kisses my knuckles and stands. "I think I'm going to sneak out. I'm needed at the restaurant later."
I smile meekly, memories of helping him at his father's restaurant, The West End House, rising to the surface. "Okay. See you."
I fell back to sleep and didn't get up again until that night. The house was quiet so I snuck downstairs and raided the fridge, ate whatever leftovers I could get my hands on and then went back to bed.
I didn't see Michael again for a few days. It didn't occur to me to swap cell numbers as we were swapping spit. So when my family began bickering about where to go for dinner one evening, I blurted out "The West End House" in a deep voice and glanced at Carl as everyone looked around to see who had made the suggestion. Carl just shrugged once all eyes were on him.
"Hmm. Yes, it's been a while since we've been there. And it would be nice to catch up with Adele," my grandmother thought to herself out loud.
"Mother, you just spoke to her this afternoon," Mom laughed.
Once we are all seated at The West End House by Adele, who is the hostess for the evening, Rae and I next to each other somehow, it became apparent to me that she had the same agenda I did; seek out Michael. Carl droned on and on, oblivious to his future bride's lack of attention.
The swinging door to the kitchen opened and swung back and forth as a busboy made his rounds clearing off tables. Each time the door opened, I scanned the kitchen for Michael. He was there, helping prepare the food. The second I saw him, my stomach did a flip and my heart began to beat as if I were running in a marathon yet at the same time, I felt every part of me freeze. Rae needs to forget Michael. Maybe I'm being a bitch but I have a bit of a claim on him, I would say. Plus she is engaged to be married! Back off, whore, he's mine now! Whoa, Frankie. Simmer down...
Before Rae could spot Michael, I decided to take advantage of her weakness: focus all attention on her, put her in the spotlight.
"Have you guys settled on a date yet? For the wedding?" I place a gentle hand atop hers on the table and pull away once she finally looks my way.
"Hmm? Oh. Well, not quite yet." Rae pulls out a compact mirror from her purse and pats her lip delicately with her pinky.
Carl joins in. "I'm shooting for no later than April so we can plan a honeymoon for the summer months in Barbados. Maybe, oh Rae! Maybe we could do a destination wedding there!"
"Oh wow! That sounds wonderful!" I may have put a bit too much enthusiasm into my words. "Mom, did you hear? Barbados!" My plan was working. The family all began discussing wedding ideas and Rae couldn't help but be the center of attention. It's what she does best.
I slip away easily, no one batting an eye in my direction. I press my palms to the swinging door of the kitchen and push carefully. Michael is in the zone, gently barking orders. And it's sexy. He's wearing a nice white dress shirt with a black tie and black slacks. A well-worn apron protects his clothing in case he needs to make appearances in the dining area. No one notices me enter the kitchen. I lean against the tile wall next to the swinging door and just watch with interest in how Michael easily works around the kitchen.
"I need the artichokes, please! Then this order needs to get to table twelve immediately." Michael slides a plate of seared beef across the counter to another chef who carefully piles on the artichoke and hands the plate off to a server. There's an easy ebb and flow, much like a choreographed dance. The server walks past and spots me.
"Sorry, ma'am, did you need help?" He stops in his tracks and his question raises everyone else's eyes to me.
"Oh, sorry, no. I didn't mean to interrupt, I was just looking for Michael..." Michael is bent over another plate arranging a fancy orange glaze over pork when he looks up and smiles. "You, I was looking for you," I smile back at him.
"Emmet, can you take over for me?" Michael removes his apron and hands it over to a chef with striking red hair.
"Sure thing, boss." Emmet smiles my way and returns to his work.
"Boss?" I snicker as Michael grabs my hand and pulls me out of the kitchen with him. Glancing back at my table, my family is still giving Rae goo-goo eyes. I follow Michael back to his dad's office. Not much has change, I notice; stacks of paper work and inventory sheets strewn across the desk, photographs of the entire family all across the walls, the old chipped snow globe I had accidentally knocked off the bookshelf dusting. I wonder if his dad ever noticed?
Michael closes the door for some privacy as I look over the photos of a much younger Michael along the wall.
"I remember this," I point to Michael with an accordion keyboard and giggle. "Do you still play that thing?" Michael's arms snake around my waist and his lips press against the back of my neck.
"Mmm I do. Ladies love it," he jokes. "Where have you been?"
I turn in his arms and he presses me against the wall, pinning me with his hips. I stroke his tie between my fingers and then give it a little tug. "What do you mean? You know where I live."
"I put my number in your phone." He kisses me before he continues. "I've been waiting for you to call me."
This time I kiss him. "I had no idea. You should have told me."
He cups my face and plants tiny kisses on the corners of my smile. I love having his tall and broad frame tower over me. "It was meant to be a surprise. You were supposed to scroll through your contacts and see my handsome face on your screen."
"Hmm. Maybe you should have texted yourself with my phone so you'd have my number. Then, you could have called me and I still would have been surprised to see your handsome face on my screen."
"Good point. It's a good thing you like me for my looks and not my brain."
"Yes, lucky you," I grab his neck and crush my lips against his. Michael's hands squeeze my hips before wandering off on their own. They make their way north where he cups my breasts. I moan into his mouth. Here we are making out like a couple of teenagers. I drop my hand to his growing erection and give him a nice firm grasp. He groans and kisses me harder.
"Hey Mike, ya back here, ya dosser?" Michael steps back until he's behind the office chair. It covers his obvious hard-on and I snicker. I grab my blouse by the hem and straighten it out as the door flies open. "Oh," an older gentleman looks alarmed. "Sorry! Aye, Mikey, is this your mot?"
Knowing "mot" means "girlfriend" I flush, embarrassed. Michael stutters, unsure of what to say.
"No, I'm not. I'm just an old friend." I walk up to the man and shake his hand. "Hi, my name's Frankie."
"Ah, aye. I've heard of you. Pleased to meet ya. I'm Colum. Mikey, yer ma has been shouting around for you."
"Ah, thanks, Colum. I'll be right out." Colum gave me a small smile before leaving the office. "Sorry, Bean. Will you wait here for me?" Michael adjusts his tie, eyeing me.
"Actually, I'm here for dinner with my family." I point out of the office toward the rest of the restaurant.
Michael frowns. "Oh. Okay. Well great! Let me go say 'hi'!" He walks up to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I trail behind him out to the restaurant, all the way to the table where my rather loud and boisterous family are seated.
Rae stands immediately and gushed over Michael, giving him a quick hug. "I was so hoping you would be here! I have the best news! I had to beg your mom to get you out of the kitchen!"
I take my seat next to Rae and take a sip of water. Rae sits back down as Michael says his hellos to the rest of the family. Rae impatiently waits for his attention. When he finally looks back at her, she's practically shaking with the need to tell him something.
"You'll never guess who I saw the other day!"
"Oh, yes, I forgot you ran into an old friend?" Michael scratches his scruff before folding his arms in front of him.
Rae looks at me, then back at him. "Yes, did Frankie tell you that?"
We both nod.
"Yes, well, anyway, I was trying on these amazing knee-high boots and let me tell you, 'amazing' is an understatement. I really should have gotten them." She looks at Carl who is hanging on her every word, agreeing. "Maybe I'll go back and get them tomorrow."
"You should, babe. They were amazing." Carl smiles. Poor schmuck.
"I should! And I will." Rae beams and faces Michael.
"Rae? Friend?" Michael patiently reminds her. I take another sip of water to hide my smirk.
"Oh, yes! So I was looking in the mirror to see how the boots looked and in walks Jane! You remember Jane, right?"
I choke, nearly spitting my water across the table and into Uncle Geoff's face. "Excuse me," I mutter as I use a napkin to dab my mouth.
"Jane," Michael smiles. "Wow." I can't blame him for his reaction. Jane was his first love.
"Yes!" Rae claps excitedly and looks at me. She knows this is bad news for me. Oh, she knows. "And I invited her to the New Years Eve party!"
Well. Fuck.