Page 3 of Where the Dark Knelt
The living room washuge and bright, with large, wide windows on one side, and a huge balcony patio window at the front. Oak hardwood floors gave a warm, rich appearance to the room in the sunlight. I walked in the direction of the balcony, passing the massive cream leather sofas and deep pile rug, which set the room off perfectly.
Black, wrought iron rails wound around the whole balcony, which seemedmuch bigger than I remembered and wrapped around the apartment on two sides. Our apartment was situated on the corner, giving us a view to the west and south. Looking through the large sliding doors, I could see the quality extended out there as well, with an intimate patio breakfast table and two chairs.
There were two distinct sections of seating. A formal seating area, again with big cream rattan chairs, covered with deep plum cushions, and a leisure area with a fantastic, rounded daybed. Glancing beyond the railings at the undisturbed view of the ocean, I realized what a great location we had and how lucky I was to be here.
Although, I wasfortunate to have lived and grown up in one of the most exclusive areas of London, everything here was a world away from what I was used to at home, in terms of having access to sea, sunshine, and sand. When I left the day before, the weather had been cold, wet, and windy.
Here, I hadbright sunshine on tap and just having that, made me feel much more optimistic about everything in general. I wandered through to my bedroom. The girls had already allocated the master suite to me because of my distance from home.
Kicking off my shoes the relief I felt in my feet was incredible. I decided to use the time I had until my roommates arrived by having a leisurely shower and grabbing a nap. I felt confident about the future, partly because of my choice of roommates whom I already knew well.
Besides, I wouldn’thave made the choice of college I had if I had to share a dorm with eighteen-year-olds fresh out of high school. Apart from my music, I came here to spend time with my friend,Saffy.
Saffyand I had been friends since we were fourteen-year-olds. We met when my parents took me on vacation one summer to Colorado. My dad was a big hunting fan, and he rented a camper during his getting-back-to-nature phase, my mother preferred to refer to it as his midlife crisis.
Saffy’sdad was having the same midlife issues and had dragged his family with him to do the same. Her family was in the next pitch from us on the campsite for three weeks, and both families gelled immediately. We girls both loved our guitars and wrote romantic love songs. Two of our songs, as far as we were both concerned, still stacked up with the best today.
Through the years,Saffy’slove of science outweighed her love of music though. Her twin brother Max leaned toward being a penniless musician, so her parents more than encouraged her ideas of becoming a marine biologist instead of chasing rainbows with a guitar for a career.
At the end of our holiday that summer,we both wept so hard when it was time to move on and vowed to keep in touch, and we did. During the previous seven years therewere times when our respective lives made our contact wane, but we still managed to rekindle our friendship and share our trials and tribulations during our teenage years.
Maxrealized his dream to be a musician, like I aspired to be, and moved to Nashville. Leaving his home fresh out of high school, he’d been lucky to snag a job writing lyrics for a famous country artist. I can still picture his handsome face in my mind’s eye, but I hadn’t seen him since I was seventeen.
Chapter Two
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
My amazing friends arrived in the early afternoon after their long road trip from Oklahoma, and they went straight to the coffee house near the condo. Partly because they were starving, but the deciding factor was that Holly desperately needed to pee and she knew she wouldn’t make it to the apartment.
My cell buzzedand vibrated on the nightstand. Answering,Saffy squealed excitedly for about thirty seconds, before telling me where they were and asking me to join them at the coffee shop.
Dressing quickly, I pulled on a creammaxi dress with a smattering of gold spots, and some cream flats. Wrapping my long dark hair in my hands, I put it in a bun and tucked it under my large sun hat, then grabbed my keys, phone, purse, and shades, before I headed out to meet them.
Holly wavedat me excitedly from the window of the coffee shop, before both she andSaffyran along inside, waving at each window as they passed. They disappeared from my view for a second before bursting out of the door.
Excited screams pierced my ears, and they both huggedme in a group hug kind of way. “Wow. You look fabulous honey,” Holly said in her slow Texan drawl.
Wehugged tightly again. She looked great and smelled of vanilla and peppermint chewing gum. Holding my hands, she pushed me away from her and took in my appearance. “Well, look at you, pretty as a picture, and cute as a button, but we’ll have to help you get a tan, honey, you’re way too pale.” Giggling, she flashed her perfect white teeth at me with her perfect smile.
Holly’ continued to smile sweetly. I looked at her pretty sun-bronzed face, as her almond shaped brown eyes gave me the once over. She was stunningly beautiful—a classic model shape—tall, leggy, and lean, with natural platinum blonde hair. No effort to look good was needed, she just did.
Saffypushed Holly out of the way. “Hey, stop monopolizing Lily, she was my friend first.”Saffysnickered at Holly, and Holly gave her a look of mock anger.Saffyalways looked like a rock chick.She looked a bit like Avril Lavignebut with an added bohemian, chic twist.
Petite and pretty, her hair wasa sun-kissed golden color. It cascaded thickly down to just above her waistline and she had stunning, vivid blue eyes. Her dad called her a ‘pocket rocket’ because she was small but housed a sassy nature and a fiery temper.
She was wearing the cutest burnt orange dress, made from chiffon, that hung on her curves and ended mid-thigh—few women could carry a look like that off, but Saffy rocked it. Gorgeous, tanned legs ran down to feet encased in little ankle boots that were incongruent to the outfit, but on her, were a perfect finish to her ensemble. She’d accessorized perfectly with just the right jumbled assortment of beads and bangles.
Holly ordered some bagels and more coffee, and we all sat down to chat. Everyone began to talk at the same time.Trying several times to restart, we all began to talk together again. Once we settled down, we chatted like old times.It felt incredible to be able to spend time with them without worrying about how soon we’d be leaving as was often the case in the past.
Holly hadbeenSaffy’sfriend since the age of five. Saffy’s dad was an engineer, working at Holly’s dad’s oil company, but there was much more than an employer and employee connection. Their dads also spent time together outside of work because they shared a common interest, a love of classic cars. The girls also spent a lot of time together growing up in their dad’s garages with them.
Time flew by, and we sat in the coffee shop until almost 3:00 pm, making plans and talking about the previous week.Saffyshocked us when she candidly told us about the night before when she said she hadfucked a guy in the back of his truckafter spending an evening in a bar with friends.
Apparently,this hot looking guy had slipped his hand up her skirt when she stood at the bar, tugged the leg of her panties to one side and began fingering her. When my mouth dropped open in shock, she laughed and threw her head back, her hair fanning through the air.
Normally, Saffy was a forward, free spirit, but when I heard her nonchalant disclosure, like she’d just gone and picked up some milk from a store or something, it was jaw dropping.“Saffy.” I blinked hard then stared in disbelief.The wickedgrin on her angelic face was too much as she looked mischievously back at me. She shook her head and laughed so hard I began to feel like it was my reaction that was off.
“What?”
