He kissed her one more time, just as soundly, then he was striding out of the room. She heard the front door click shut, then she was left in silence.
She wandered out to his kitchen and decided to poke around. She was a chef, through and through, so she loved to be in a kitchen. Wulf's was sad, really. He had a great stove top, and a double oven built into the cabinets. Neither looked as if they'd been used. He had cast iron skillets and copper cookware, all shiny and new, except for one small frying pan that had seen a lot of action.
His refrigerator was in a similar state. He had a carton with seven eggs in it, a carton of non fat milk, a half a loaf of bread, and a jar of pickles. That was it. His freezer held a ridiculous amount of ice cubes, one lonely tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and some frozen chicken breasts. His cupboards weren't any better, with a couple boxes of pasta and cans of soup. She finally hit gold when she found an almost empty box of Cheerios. She pulled it down, then went in search of bowls.
She sat on the edge of his table and ate her cereal while she looked out over the view. She tried to pick out where, exactly, they were in relation to her apartment. Tried to pinpoint landmarks to help her along. But they were too far away, or the buildings were too small. She needed Liam to get her a flagpole for her roof, so she could raise up something bright and eye catching.
Liam.
The milk soured in her stomach. He'd been so good to her, and it really had been a great date. Any other time, any other girl, and it would've been a magical night. And what had she done to say thanks? She'd ran away, gone home with Wulf, and had sex all night with him.
Katya lurched away from the table, her guilt suddenly overwhelming. She grabbed at her phone and scrolled through his messages. They were all about how awesome the date had been, how much he cared about her. One asked her to bring him tacos, because he had to go into work early every day as they attempted to catch up on inventory.
Feed me, she-devil. I'm starved for you.
She couldn't bear it. She couldn't stand there in Wulf's apartment, relaxed with afterglow and half naked in his sweaters, while Liam was sitting somewhere, falling in love with her. She felt like the devil. She had to talk to him.
Okay. Two, maybe three hours, Wulf said. That's plenty of time to go downtown and speak to Liam. To at least stop any crazy thoughts he might have pinging around in his head.
She remembered Wulf offering her some of his sister's clothing, leaving them in the hall bathroom for her. She raced into the room and started yanking on clothing. Genevieve Stone was a little bit curvier than Katya, the soft knit sweater was roomy in the chest, the expensive slacks wider in the hips, but she made it work, then turned to look at her reflection. The sweater was a pearl gray color, the pants a charcoal gray. She almost burst out laughing.
Old-Katya and her all-brown-outfit would've gotten along well with Vieve, I think.
Her hair looked psychotic, but she didn't have time to make it presentable. She yanked everything up into a high ponytail and just hoped for the best. All she had were her strappy stilettos, so she put them on, grabbed her purse, then rushed out the door, looking like she was applying for a secretary job somewhere very unexciting.
While she waited downstairs for a taxi, Katya messaged Tori, asking her if she was at work. She wasn't, but yes, she did know that Liam had planned to be in office around ten that morning.
“Why?”
“No reason. I'm gonna stop by the apartment in a bit, okay?”
“Okay, see you then.”
The rain had made an epic return, beating down on top of the cab as they rushed through traffic. When they got to the club, she held her clutch over her head while she made a mad dash down the alleyway, trying to avoid puddles.
“Hey, long time no see, Ms. Tocci!” Jan, the bouncer, lifted a hand to her. He had an umbrella, and as soon as she got close enough, he held it over her.
“Yeah, I've been busy!” she had to yell to be heard over the rain. “Is Liam here?”
“Yeah, downstairs already!”
“Thanks!”
Katya stood in the hallway for a moment, shaking the rain water away and trying to decide what she was going to say. What could she say? “Hey, thanks for the date, but remember how I said that guy was an asshole? Well, he's not, and I spent the last thirty-six hours with him, and I think he's the best thing that's ever happened to me” just didn't sound very good.
Just be honest with him. Liam's always been upfront and honest with you. He's a big boy. He can take it.
With that thought, she squared her shoulders and strode the rest of the way into the bar.
“Hey, it's angel cake!” Timmy the bartender hollered. She rolled her eyes.
“Yup, it's me. How are you?”
“Can't complain. Hey, thanks for sending us Tori, she's a doll. Love working with her.”
“She's really the best.”
“She is. Still raining outside?”
“Pouring. Is Liam here?”
“Yeah, Eden's downstairs in his office. Here.”
Normally, she could push a button on the big vinyl door, and it would ring a doorbell in a security room. Cameras would show her face to a whole team of security workers, they would establish that she was a member, and she would be let in. But the buzzer was broken, it turned out.
Timmy had a key and he let her down into the lower level. He offered to send down drinks, and though she thought some liquid courage might help, she turned him down. As nervous as she was, she might just spew it all up.
She slowed her steps as she entered the lower bar, and eventually came to a stop. She looked around the space. That part of the club wasn't open yet, people were just moving and cleaning. Some decorations had been hung, and she wondered what was being celebrated.
It was so strange – six weeks ago, she'd thought sex clubs were an urban myth. Now she was calmly standing in the middle of one and wondering about the décor. Could look across the room and see the booth she'd had sex in; the memories still made her blush. But she refused to feel even a tiny bit embarrassed.
I'm proud. Proud that I can be this open minded, this accepting, this uninhibited. So thanks Liam, and thanks The Garden, and thanks Eros dating site, and thanks Wulf. Thank you all, for making me a better person.
Feeling good about herself, Katya made her way into the hall with all the doors. Most of the apartments were open, with people setting up the private rooms for the coming night. The locked doors belonged to members who rented the rooms by the month, she knew. The big conference room doors were open, and when she peeked her head in, the space was filled with seats. She wondered what was going on this time, was glad there was no St. Andrew's Cross to really bring out her blush.