Abandoned but Not Alone (6 page)

Returning
to his original line of thought, himself, Steve and Hope were to spend the
weekend at his house in Newport Harbor. The house was by no means the most
expensive held in his portfolio but it was his favorite. The Mediterranean
style architecture and views of the coastline relaxed him, soothed him. When he
stayed at that particular house, all the hustle and bustle that were normally
associated with his life were left behind. He could relax and be himself, the
fa
ç
ade of contentment of
all that he had accomplished in his thirty-four years could be left behind,
once again being just plain Jason King, the boy who grew up without a family
and who spent a lot of time being taken care of by the state. Who would have
thought that from such humble beginnings where he had so little, he would own
million dollar homes throughout the country.

Steve
wanted to expand their company to take on world-wide projects. After a business
trip to Italy two and a half years ago he had returned bursting with enthusiasm
about the opportunities the country had to offer, sure in the knowledge that
their property development business was strong enough to take on the world-wide
market. Jason wasn
’
t so sure,
nor was he ready for the commitment such a venture would necessitate. Something
other than the development market, currently in a state of flux all over the
world, was holding him back from taking the next and obvious step in the growth
of their business. The world-wide recession in some cases was the perfect
opportunity to make a financial killing, yet Jason still had reservations. He
had unfinished business to take care of, business he kept very close to his
chest
–
Steve had
no part in this portion
of his affairs and he intended to keep it that way.

Steve had
not only returned with big ideas of venturing into the Italian property market
but with tales of the beautiful model he met in Milan. Jason had heard of her,
after all he was a connoisseur of dating models, he liked models; but they were
only around as long as they didn
’
t make
demands he was unwilling to fulfill. This was the case with any woman he dated.

He
consciously kept up a sort of rotation, illustrating that he was not about to
settle down. A few of the women had made overtures of wanting something more
permanent. He went into every new affair with honesty. He was not the marrying
kind, he didn
’
t do
relationships, if they wanted more, they would have to look elsewhere for that
particular need to be met. What he could do however, was show them a good time,
he had enough money for most of the women he propositioned to take him up on
his offer. Despite entering the affair with all the facts, some women, nearly always
the very beautiful ones, harbored thoughts of changing his mind. To date none
had succeeded.

Steve and
Jason were opposite in nearly every way apart from their height and age. Both
men were six-feet-five; Steve
’
s birthday
was at the end of the year while Jason
’
s was at the beginning. Steve was black and while he was tall he
was of a lean muscular build which distracted from his physical strength. Jason
on the other hand was big and muscular and left no-one in any doubt as to his
strength. If Steve
’
s physique
could be likened to that of a basketball player, then Jason
’
s by comparison would be that of a
football player. He didn
’
t carry
around a huge bulk, rather the appearance of his musculature was made evident
in the breadth of his shoulders and the size of his biceps and quadriceps. When
Jason entered a room, people normally took note of his passing. Women typically
wanted to know what he had to offer in the bedroom and men wanted to know if
they could take him in a fist fight.

Steve was
also extremely handsome. All his features seemed to be perfectly linked, the
man was so good looking Jason had seen an argument break out because another
man
’
s woman was so busy
checking Steve out she had poured the glass of wine she had been handing him
down his trousers. Jason had found the situation amusing, had ribbed him hard.
Steve got so mad, insisting he follow him outside so he could kick his arse.
They were both trained martial arts experts and Jason knew he was only reacting
out of embarrassment. After that incident, Steve had decided to grow a goatee
and mustache, it hadn
’
t helped;
he was still eye candy for women and gay men, only now he had hair growing out
of his face that needed a daily grooming.

Jason on
the other hand had his own brand of good looks. However he was much was too
brooding to ever be considered handsome in the conventional sense of the word.
His features were made up of green-black eyes surrounded by thick long black
lashes, black eyebrows that were more often than not drawn together in the semblance
of a frown, a once patrician nose that had been broken one time too many,
coupled with a wide mouth that rarely smiled. He also had an olive skin tone. 
What struck people as odd
was that for all his dark coloring, he had dark blonde hair which he wore short
as it had a tendency to curl.
If on a daily basis
Steve had to deal with his good looks, as a youth Jason had to deal with his
blonde ringlets. The boys at school used to rib him so hard he was constantly
in fights to show that the hair didn
’
t make the man, or in his case the boy.

Steve
wanted love and a family, the sort that he himself had sprung from, so when he
returned home from Italy saying he had fallen in love, he was happy for him.
Jason
’
s third time of
meeting Hope was on the weekend get-away in Newport. Steve wanted Jason to get
to know Hope better. He and Hope had been dating for a while and he now wanted
to make their relationship permanent. Jason felt trapped into agreeing as there
was no tangible reason for refusing without sounding churlish, feeling only
slightly better in the knowledge that Hope was bringing along a friend, who he
hoped would be able to run interference if necessary. But the friend had pulled
out leaving just the three of them to spend the weekend alone. Jason had
arrived before Steve and Hope and awaited them in the lobby of the heliport. On
their arrival Steve had once again made brief introductions. Hope had given him
another of her predatory looks, proceeding to hug him, taking the opportunity
to rub up against him in a way that started warning bells clanging once again
as to the kind of woman his friend was getting serious about. He had made up
his mind to talk to Steve about his misgivings as soon as the opportunity arose
but by the time they made it to the house, settled in and returned downstairs
for per-dinner drinks, Steve made his announcement; he and Hope were engaged to
be married. After the announcement it was as though the incident at the
heliport had never happened. Hope all but ignored him, her attention completely
wrapped up in Steve, so much so that Jason preferred to think it was his over
active imagination that had cooked up the whole incident and that he really
needed to get over himself.

After that
weekend Hope had seemed to change towards him. Sometimes, when in her company
he could feel her watching him; but she seemed to make Steve happy, and that
was all he wanted for his friend and brother. Since then, they had all had
dinner together a number of times, and he and Hope had formed a tentative
friendship that seemed to be working. Now Jason's banked concerns were back.
However Steve was right, it was none of his business and he had other, more
pleasant things on his mind, Aviva.

As the
whisper of her name floated into his mind, the door opened to admit a
resplendent Hope dressed in a gown of startling white that encased her body as
though made for her alone. The gown was made of pleats reminiscent of the
garments worn by ancient Egyptian queens. The neckline sat off the shoulder and
plunged in a daring V that stopped in the middle of her chest revealing the
whole of her d
é
colletage.
The dress went on to gather at her waist in a triangular pattern before falling
away in more gathered pleats that hugged her figure and then trailed to the
ground in a flow of organza. She looked beautiful and knew it. Hope turned in a
circle while extending her arms away from her body to gauge Steve and Jason
’
s reaction. Jason had risen to his feet
at her entrance, while Steve had turned from his perusal out of the window to
take in the appearance of the woman who was soon to be his wife.

“
Well, what do you think
–
will I do?
”

Moving from
his place in front of the window Steve took the hand Hope extended towards him
and raised it to his lips for a gentle brush of his lips.
“
You look as beautiful as ever Hope. I
’
m a lucky man
.
”
Something was definitely
wrong between them, Jason could hear it in Steve's tone of voice, but before he
could further silently question his detection, Hope turned in his direction to
get his thoughts on her appearance.

“
You look great Hope, but I think you
already know that.
”

“
Come on Jason, give a girl a break will
you, one little compliment won
’
t kill you!
”

“
You look beautiful Hope.
”
Jason responded, raising his glass in a
salute.

Just then
the door opened and Aviva stepped into the room draped in a red cocktail gown.
Jason could only describe her appearance as sinful. It wasn't a tight dress but
it clung to every curve it touched and there were a lot of curves to cling to.
The dress was sleeveless and showed off her arms, the neckline fell in drapes
just below her collar bone and then it accentuate every curve it touched
–
it clung to her breast in a gentle
caress, it clung to her indented waist and then it went on to cling to her
generous hips, with a hemline that stopped just above her knees. Jason
’
s mouth began to water as his libido went
into overdrive. She looked like classy sin on legs, and if his body was any
reaction,
sin
had just become his woman of choice. Without a word he
deposited his glass on the end-table and moved towards Aviva, never releasing
her gaze. Taking her hand Jason kissed her fingers and spun her around to get a
look at the back of the dress. This nearly made him bite his tongue; there was
no back, apart from the halter neck strap that kept the dress in place the
material started again at the base of her spine. 
“
You look exquisite; red is definitely your color.
”
Jason murmured against her ear.

“
Thank you Jason, I
’
ve got to tell you, you
’
re wearing the heck out of that tuxedo,
you too Steve, looking good!
”
Turning to
Hope, Aviva began to approach her friend with her hands extended in greeting.
“
Hope, you look stunning, exactly as a
bride should look
…”

“
What the hell have you got on? There is
no way you
’
re wearing
that dress to
MY
party!
”

Jason saw
the look of shock register on Aviva
’
s face as
her hands fell away to her sides and balled into fists of anger.

The men
exchanged looks and mouthed
‘
girl fight
’
but refrained from commenting. Aviva was
the first to break the stand-off.
“
What
’
s wrong with what I have on?
”
Popping her hands on her hips and
sticking her nose in the air as she awaited a reply.

“
This is my party and you are not going to
look sexier than me!
”
Hope
admonished with a laugh that sounded false to the others standing in the room.

Aviva
regarded Hope with a serious look that spoke of humiliation and offense in the
way she had made her dislike of her dress known. Hope
’
s eyes grew cold. Aviva thought of her choices as to how she
could deal with the situation in which she found herself: one, she could tell
Hope to stuff-off, she would wear what she liked and ruin the whole night, or
two, she could go and change, after all it was only a dress. Aviva chose the
latter option. 
“
Okay Hope,
I
’
ll change, but let me
tell you something you may not already know
–
it doesn
’
t matter
what I wear, I
’
m still
going to look fabulously sexy
–
so brace
yourself!
”
Turning
towards the door Aviva paused to look over her shoulder,
“
Oh and Hope, believe me when I say, this
is my last change of clothing for the night.
”